May 10, 2007
Linky Goodness
I have bronchitis and have for two weeks, so in lieu of actual content, you get linky goodness.
Max Adams is reading for the Nicholl again. She has advice from the trenches that should be obvious (but obviously isn't) on brads, humor, and action.
Also, Script Frenzy is coming up and I need a script idea. Winging it is part of the fun of NaNoWriMo, but I don't want to sit down and stare blankly at my computer and finally write 20,000 words of "Kitty Legal," the cat-based Boston Legal parody. ;)
Kitty Legal
Because Brian double-triple-dog-cat dared me.
EXT.BALCONY - EVENING
DENNYCAT and ALANCAT are sitting on the balcony sniffing
catnip and eating tuna. AlanCat is also washing, with a smug
air.
DENNYCAT
That was a great trial. We kicked their
mangy asses!
ALANCAT
We certainly did, my friend.
DENNYCAT
Their attorney was so stupid. I'm
going to go over to his office and
take a nice stinky dump. It's the
only way I can think of to properly
express my contempt.
AlanCat looks over at DennyCat, paw raised in mid-wash.
DENNYCAT (CONT'D)
What?
ALANCAT
You'll get arrested!
DENNYCAT
Will not. Mad cow.
ALANCAT
Another shocking scandal for the
pet food industry.
DENNYCAT
What's Kitty Legal without some
relevant, topical humor?
DennyCat scratches his ear.
DENNYCAT (CONT'D)
Want to come back to my place? We
can sleep in a heap.
ALANCAT
How is this different from the TV
series again?
DENNYCAT
Talking cats. David E. Kelly needs
more talking cats on his show.
May 12, 2007
A farewell to pantsing?
If I look back over the stories I think have been the most successful and easiest to write, they have something in common. A sense of structure. Even before I wrote the first word I had some idea of the story's structure.
It's a lot easier to write that way than to come in later and add structure so something vague and nebulous and fuzzy. (The hurricane story, alas.)
The easiest, in a sense, was "The Last Wasicu." I spent time before writing asking myself, "What kind of story can I tell with this premise? Who should the story be about?" Things like that. I think "The Last Wasicu" benefitted from NaNoWriMo, where I tried to plan, too.
Of course, the actual outlining thing didn't work very well, in the sense of estimating how much space everything should take. I kind of blew through the outline in the first 10,000 words. But it had enough structure that I was good for the rest of the novel.
The hurricane story was started long before NaNoWriMo, and I just started writing and ended up where I ended up. That's interesting and satisfying during the drafting, but it's hell when I go to edit. On the other hand, having a vague structure in mind doesn't preclude surprising myself, which is fun!
So, note to self. No more pantsing without a structure.
May 16, 2007
May 27, 2007
The Reading
The Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading went well. I read seven minutes of "The Last Wasicu." I expected to be more nervous, but it was oddly non-terrifying. I guess all the high school drama club paid off.
I'm writing this at Jay Lake's party, off on a couch in the corner, because I'm a dork. It's very loud and crowded, but the people-watching is first rate. Jen just came over to ask if I'm okay. Yes, I'm just Jonesin' for the Tubes. And tired. Debian's WPA supplicant doesn't seem to love unsecured networks, so I had to use Puppy instead.
The best party I've been to tonight was the haiku earring party. Haikus for earrings! I gave permission to reprint, so my haiku may pop up again some day.
More later, when I'm more awake.