Comments for Finding the Words

Comment on Countdown to Nanowrimo! by jadepark

jadepark — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 06:03:12 +0000

Good luck, good luck!!!!

Comment on Countdown to Nanowrimo! by deano

deano — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:30:21 +0000

3 times? Have you no shame? Is there no limit to your masochism?

A friend, who is a community college english prof no less, has decided to give it a try this year.

Here is the true horror: he will _collaborate_ with others. They say they’re going to collectively outline a plot, then divvy up chapter writing responsibilities. His so called collaborators are yet more teacherly types.

As a past sufferer, er Winner, I pointed out that their little plan mitigates the exquisite pain of Nanowrimo and is therefore just about the only rule the contest expects participants to keep. In reply, I received some half-baked anarchistic ‘rules are meant to be broken, power to the people’ mumbo jumbo excuse.

Teachers. Cheating @ Nanowrimo. So lame.

Yes, we are a bitter lot, we past ‘Winners.’

ENJOY YOUR BURN!!!

Comment on All written out? by writinggb

writinggb — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 14:47:59 +0000

I’ve been there. Maybe allowing yourself to be done in for a while will give you the space to start fresh. Take a walk. Play a game with a kid. Or do something totally different from your normal routine. Then get back to the writing.

Oh, and if this works, please let me know.

Comment on Ack! I’ve lost it! by itsy

itsy — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 18:39:15 +0000

Hm… maybe I’ve been looking in the wrong places?

Thanks for the encouraging words!

Comment on Ack! I’ve lost it! by Cliff Burns

Cliff Burns — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 05:46:04 +0000

Nah, you haven’t lost “it”, just misplaced “it” until you NEED to find “it” again. And then “it” will turn up in the most unlikely places. I’ve found my “it” at the bottom of a swimming pool, in a hotel minibar (nuzzling up to a six dollar can of beer) and, once, in the passenger seat of a grey Ford Taurus. Keep looking, you’ll find “it”…

Comment on Plot plot plot! by jadepark

jadepark — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 04:05:47 +0000

isn’t it just AMAZING? when a novel writing friend of mine and I were stuck at certain points in our novels (I, in the middle…and she, ahem, at the END!) we really did spend an afternoon together with BIG ASS pieces of paper and plotted out our novels!

It really did feel like craft class (haha–double entendre: craft as in scissors and pens and art…craft as in the honing of one’s writing). Tons of fun to go into another mode.

Comment on Uh… you mean like Lord of the Flies? by itsy

itsy — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 17:18:46 +0000

Yes, that’s true. I’m just a big fan, so far, of all these “what-if” scenarios. I loved 1900 house, then Frontier House. I missed the colonial one, and the pirate one (how could i have missed _that_?).
This one, of course, is totally fake in that it doesn’t follow any historical precedent. But still… I think I’ll have to watch a few episodes.

Comment on Uh… you mean like Lord of the Flies? by elizabeth

elizabeth — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:51:56 +0000

I saw the commercial for that. In addition to the whole ethical question, it seems so contrived…I mean, aren’t there adults behind the camera?

Comment on Ambiguity by itsy

itsy — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:57:11 +0000

No, I didn’t delete! I don’t know what happened–I saw it on the site, too, and then it showed up as a comment needing approval. Maybe I’d inadvertently selected it somehow.

Anyway, you bring up a good point about ambiguity of message. This is something I continue to struggle with.

And you’re right, while Frodo was the good guy, he did sort of succumb to the ring. Even Luke sort of succumbs to a point. But Sauron, well, Sauron is still just Sauron. At least Darth has a history.

Comment on I lost my voice! by jadepark

jadepark — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:46:25 +0000

I agre with everyone! An outline is a foundation off which to jump–at a certain point your characters’ personalities will come to life (much like babies growing into children growing into teenagers into adults) and perhaps rebel from the outline (much like how children and teenagers rebel from their parents). If this is happening, that perfect. You have done your job, you have raised your characters.