Meanwhile…

Work is killing me, so I really haven’t had any time to get much done. I have, however, managed to squeeze out an article for the Flash Fiction Chronicles. You can read it here.

I’m thinking of making a regular series of articles here about the sort of thing featured in that post. Each week feature something that I think is awesome to write about. I’d talk about why they are important to storytelling and point out what I think are a few good examples. Any interest in that?

Whatever attempt at NaNo I might have made is a complete bust. I simply haven’t had any time with all this overtime at work. But at lunch last week I managed what may be the first rough paragraph of a Chuck Chaykin novel. Enjoy. Continue reading

Since KC has abandoned her post (I kid, I kid, KC!), Every Day Fiction is looking for a new slush reader. If you love to read and critique, and want learn a little bit about how the publishing biz works, you should consider volunteering. I understand it’s actually a highly valuable experience. I would, but I hesitate to commit to something like that – I’m not sure I would have the time. Maybe at the beginning of the year, when work is less busy.

1. She is sassy! Whenever her inferiors are around our heroine is always ready with an arched eyebrow and a snappy remark to make the upstart feel foolish.
2. She takes no guff! She is always ready to point out how wrong her superiors are (by superior we mean only that they have greater rank – rank likely earned through politics, seniority, or luck, not merit, clearly) and it’s up to her to put things right when the situation goes, ahem, tits up. They should have listened to her to begin with!
3. She is infinitely good at her job. Even if she’s had no training, and in particular knows more than anyone who’s knowledge comes purely from books, not experience. If a particularly unique scenario comes up, feature the following exchange:

   “Wow!” said the intern. “Where have you even done that before? It’s not in the manual!”

   Our heroine arches an eyebrow, wipes the sweat from her brow. “Who said I had?”

4. On the rare occasion that our heroine gets something wrong, it’s not that she was wrong, but rather that the other character was right. Use the opportunity to develop the other character, not her.
5. You must give your heroine some flaws, obviously. Just make sure they are relationship problems. Divorce is a popular choice. Just make sure she leaves these personal issues at home! She doesn’t have time to let that nonsense interfere with her career.
6. She always takes the hard road to achieve her goals, and it always pays off. Bonus points if her parents wanted her to do something else with her life, for any reason – if they also question why she is lacking a husband/child, prepare yourself for a trip to the bank to deposit your giant novelty check.
7. If writing for a younger (young adult, perhaps) audience, make sure she has boyish qualities – maybe she likes cars, or disdains pink dresses. The less feminine your female is, the better. This is especially the case for any story aimed at teenage boys. Obviously, boobs are still a necessity, and if possible she will still have a crush on the cute boy next door who doesn’t notice her until she puts some makeup on for gods’ sake.

This concludes, for now, my seminar on writing strong female characters. I hope you have found it useful. Please refer to page 3A of your handout for further questions.

I’ve got a post on the importance of community building for online writers over at the Flash Fiction Chronicle. Check it out!

For today’s post I will direct you to the Flash Fiction Chronicles, where I chat about research for stories. Exciting!

The article also talks about some of the inspiration for “Four Liars,” in case that is of interest to you.

I’ve got a new post up over at the Flash Fiction Chronicles, about what to do when real life and fiction pass uncomfortably close in the night. Check it out! Comment!

The good folks over at Every Day Fiction have created a new branch of their site, a blog for writers to write about writing. I offered up an article for today’s entry, so you can cruise over to there if you’d like.

http://www.everydayfiction.com/flashfictionblog/

If you have anything you’d like to say about writing, feel free to submit! They are voracious for content! And keep an eye on that space, I will likely have more to add there in the future.

I’ve stumbled across this rather nifty site: Forgotten Bookmarks. It’s pretty self-explanatory. The owner works at a used bookstore and finds all kinds of crazy stuff in the books they purchase. I particularly like “Scandalous!” about half-way down the front page, hehe.

Weirdest bookmark I ever found: someone had used the miniaturized Oxford English Dictionary I bought at Recycled Books to press a rose, then left it in there.

Anyway, great sites like this can be perfect for busting up writer’s block or crafting some fun “found object” writing prompts. Enjoy!

As NaNo looms, research becomes more and more important. With a daily word count of almost 2,000 pressing in, we simply don’t have time to scour the library for every little question we have. In fact, I wouldn’t blame someone for giving up on research entirely during November, and saving all that nitty gritty for later revisions.

But I thought I’d post a few more sites I like to consult for ideas and definitions, pictures and history (these in addition to the World Building post I made a short time back). These are sites that make an internet connection a valuable tool rather than a distraction while you’re trying to write.

Fashion! If you’re like me, you know next to nothing about fashion. I don’t even do my own clothes shopping anymore. My wife just buys stuff and sticks in my closet, and I may or may not notice that what I’m wearing is new.

http://www.fashion-era.com/index.htm

Names! Some people just flip open the phone book. I like to use this site, which allows you to search or browse by ethnicity, popularity, and definition. And there’s a great random name generator. And they have a sister site dedicated to surnames. Make your names mean something! You’re a writer! Be pretentious! There are of course many random name generators out there, and even more general name sites, I just happen to like these.

http://www.behindthename.com/

http://surnames.behindthename.com/

Units of measure! I’m not even sure how to describe this site. But it has a ton of information on, well, measuring things. And converting measurements, and all the history and science behind all that stuff. Can be very handy. The home page has tons of general science info. You will no longer have any excuse for not knowing exactly how long a jiffy is.

http://home.att.net/~numericana/answer/units.htm

Quotes! Can’t remember who said what? Search here!

http://www.politicalquotes.org/default.aspx

Over the past couple of years I’ve become more and more interested in crime fiction. Not really mysteries, necessarily, but stories about crime and perpetration thereof. Not really mob fiction, either – I appreciate material like The Godfather and The Sopranos as much as anyone else, but they don’t interest me as much as small-time criminals. I’m not really sure why that is. Maybe I’m more interested in why and how relatively normal people would commit crimes, out of desperation or passion or psychosis or whatever. I also have a weakness for stories about detectives, both private and official.

Stories about corrupt cops? Oh boy, look out.

It’s a bit at odds with my general philosophy concerning heroes vs villains. Usually I find heroes more compelling, because villainy is so easy and natural. I’ll have to think about it some more.

Really, though, this is just an excuse to post this nifty link I found a week or two ago. It’s a website set up by the Los Angeles Times, charting all the homocides that have happened this year. There’s a map with all the locations marked, and the story to each crime, along with tons of statistics. They even allow (moderated!) comments, so you get to see messages left by friends and family and other members of the community. It’s pretty interesting, and may prove to be a valuable tool for those of us looking to write about crimes, especially in a large urban area like LA.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/crime/homicidemap/