Centenary dance!

Just a moment ago, the 100th post went live on the Apocalypse Blog. WHOO-HOO!

It feels like a real milestone. It turned out to be luck that there was a bit of a resolution in it (with Matt finally joining the group and leaving the nasty sharks behind), and that pleases me immensely.

I’m two months into my (goal) year of AB, and it’s still fun to write. I still sit down with loads of ideas and so much stuff that I want to do that I struggle to fit it all into the posts. I still have a pinboard full of notecards, marking out the places I want to go with it.

There’s lots, lots more in store. It’s hard (particularly for me at the moment, but I’m not going to go on about that right now, because YAY), but I am loving it. I hope you all are too!

100 posts. Wow. Picture me dancing.

Low

I looked into getting the laptop fixed, and the Apple store wants to diagnose it first because it might not be the battery causing the problem. Even though it only acts up when it’s running off the battery. Money is so tight that I’m wary of buying a new battery in case that doesn’t help, and I’m stuck with the same issue and less cash.

So frustrating. I don’t know when this money issue is going to sort itself out. As soon as it is sorted, I’m going to pick up a mini notebook to write on anyway, so the new battery seems like a waste of money.

Except that it’s driving me nuts. I lost a chunk this afternoon (despite compulsive saving every two seconds) and it’s almost down to 20mins before it cuts out now. Hardly worth lugging it all the way to work and back for that. I can’t get a post written in one sitting and I’m worried that that’s starting to show. I’m sure that I’m forgetting stuff and worried that it’s sucking more than it should.

I certainly can’t keep up with AB like this. I think I’m going to try switching to pen-and-paper for the rest of the week. I don’t particularly want to – the posts will come out differently if I do, because I write differently when I handwrite. Hopefully I can tidy it up enough in the typing/editing. 

Bear with me, my kind readers. I shall attempt to reduce the level of suck and keep the Apocalypse Blog rolling along.

In the meantime, I added a Cast page to the blog so you can keep track of who is where and why. I’m planning to expand on it and make proper use of tags to mark up the character-centric posts. I have a lot to go through, so bear with me. 

Now if only I can get some more sleep. Where can I get more sleep? Anyone? No. Oh well. 😉

Destination achieved

I got all of this week’s posts sorted out yesterday – rewritten, tidied up, and scheduled properly. Huzzah! It took all of Sunday afternoon to get it done, but it’s sorted out now. And, even better, I have a couple of ideas for next week as well that I’m itching to write (I was afraid I’d be a bit burned out after a weekend full of AB-stuff, but apparently not!).

Unfortunately, the laptop battery is down to 20-25mins of life before it cuts out on me, so I could only get down a fraction of what I wanted to write this morning. I’m going to check out a possible battery supply store here in town at lunchtime – I don’t want to buy one until my current money situation is sorted out, but this is ridiculous. I think I’m just going to have to bite it and do it.

Got the emails sorted out for the writing groups as well, so that’s one more thing off my list. Not sure what to prep for the novelling group yet – we shall see! We probably don’t need anything this time around, but I’ll see if I get ten minutes with my writing books before the meeting.

I was going to do another writing tips entry this weekend (I have one I’ve been poking at since last week), but I didn’t get to it yet. It’s on my list – hopefully I’ll get the chance to sort it out in the next couple of days. I have an aunt visiting, so doing it in the evenings isn’t really possible at the moment.

I think that’s it for this morning. Time to get my head down and sort work out. I am feeling better about things. This is nice.

Sanity, check?

Not such a productive day today. I’m a bit burned out after this week.

Last night was my writing group meeting. Great fun, as always! I had 16 people turn up – I think that’s the biggest turnout yet! I had forgotten what it was like to have so many people to handle. I enjoyed it, though, and got some good feedback on the piece I had turned in. Big group of us went to dinner afterwards – it’s good to get to know my writers more!

Today I struggled to get the AB posts up. I decided that I had a better idea for how today’s posts should go, so I wound up rewriting them. Which means that I also need to rewrite tomorrow’s, and probably Monday’s. Ahhhh.

I’ve got one of tomorrow’s posts sorted out. That should give me enough time to get the rest up and sorted. I think I’m going to call it a day for post-writing, as my head really isn’t in the right space. I know what I want to do with it, and I don’t want to ruin the momentum and feel of it because I was tired when I wrote it.

I managed to get the Chronology page up today, though, so that those new to the blog can see what comes where. Hopefully that’ll be useful. Almost come to the end of the Family section now. I have the name of the next one in mind; hopefully that’ll kick things up a notch, too. Not that the blog is lacking in excitement, I think (and hope!).

Today I got to the first marker on my pinboard for AB’s plot. Huzzah! I have been trying not to rush to the plot-markers I have already planned out, letting the story take its own path there. I didn’t want to rush past other things on the way, but tried to keep up the momentum at the same time. Two months in and we’re only just getting to the start of the stuff I’ve had in mind since we started this adventure – my goal of keeping it going for a full year is seeming possible at the moment. 

The next marker is much closer than 2 months away, though. Going to be time to throw some more (different) complications at them soon. Ahahahaha.

The Two Sentence Story competition for this week ends tomorrow. I’m curious to see what happens! My first entry is still doing well – it was in third place the last time I checked. Cross your fingers for me, or better yet, go give me lots of pretty stars! 😉

My aunt is coming over from NZ tomorrow. Have to get more AB written and scheduled. It is entirely possible that my head might explode.

Uh oh

I did another one! I was winding down at work and needed something to do with my brain. So here’s another entry to the Two Sentence Story competition for your deliberation! This one’s a little more topical and solemn (though the last one was hardly cheerful): Casualties.

Maybe I should try a happy one out for size. Though, as has been pointed out, maybe I shouldn’t compete with myself. Hee hee. Fun though!

Two sentence stories

I came across this competition – Two Sentence Stories – a few days ago, and finally got around to having a go yesterday. The idea is to tell a story in two sentences. It’s great fun! Some of the entries are hilarious (some of the entries also fail to be stories, but that’s another issue), and everyone gets to rate the entries they think should win.

I recommend taking a look! Also, feel free to give my entry lots of pretty stars – you know you want to. 😉 Cross your fingers for me! (Or rate entries. Rating might work better 😉 ).

Twit me!

I am succumbing to the social networking fever. Woe. As if I don’t have enough going on in my life.

Twitter is incredibly compulsive and addictive. But feel free to follow me on it anyway. 😉

There is a lot of chatter about the bushfires down in Victoria at the moment. My heart goes out to all those people who are struggling to survive down there.

It never goes smoothly

Yesterday was an exercise in frustration. I was overtired and restless, and couldn’t settle to anything.

I tried to write AB posts, and managed to get one down. But my brain didn’t want to focus on being creative, so I left it alone before I wrote something awful. I’m wrangling my way through a big and important encounter for Faith, and I don’t wany my restlessness to suck all of the emotion out of it. I managed to do most of the second part of the encounter this morning, before my laptop battery crapped out.

Which leads me to frustration number two. I’ve checked out a few utilities (thanks Ann for linkies), and they all tell me that the battery is not well. I tried to do a bit of manual reconditioning, but that requires being able to fully drain the battery, which I can’t do (the computer switches off when it hits about 72% charge remaining and won’t stay on until I plug it in). I reset the PMU a couple of times, but that made no difference. According to the stats I found, it hasn’t done the cycles that would be expected of this type of battery before replacement, but it’s over four years old now.

I think the only thing for it is a new battery. Which is perfect, because I really can’t afford it this month. I’m gonna have to just cope with about half an hour of frantic typing on the train before it switches itself off on me (I save very frequently, so I don’t tend to lose work). It’s not long enough to do a proper AB post, but better than attempting to do it longhand. I might see how I go with writing posts in the evenings as well, but that depends on how drained I am after work.

I also tried to set up my computer at home for VPN access to work. Got everything installed okay, but despite checking with the tech guys twice, I still didn’t have all the logins required to get into the system. I’ll have to try to get that out of them today so I can test it out tonight. Also, someone switched my machine off in the office, which meant that the VPN wouldn’t have worked anyway, as it has to be on for me to log into. Rrrrr.

On the plus side, I decided to ease my technical frustations by putting together a test-site for the next fictional blog I have percolating in the back of my head. Definitely not going to start writing it until AB is done (because my head will explode), but it’s nice to have the site all tidied up and sorted. Spent an evening fighting with CSS code, and came out mostly victorious. It doesn’t display completely right on Safari, but it looks fine on a Windows machine.

And now, here I am at work, using up some lunchtime to post. Haven’t had a very productive morning, but hopefully this afternoon will be better.

Guidelines – Synopses

Here are some guidelines for creating a synopsis, which is part of the standard novel submission package for agents and publishers. Remember that a synopsis is a tool for selling your book – it is a marketing exercise. It is also expected that there will be differences between a synopsis and the final novel, so don’t worry about making it match the novel exactly.

What’s it for?
Most submittees (agents/publishers) will ask for a synopsis, either with the first 1-3 chapters or before seeing any of the novel at all. This is to show that you:

• Can be professional.
• Have a whole story (not just the first three chapters), and that you are capable of telling it.
• Have well-rounded characters.
• Have a logical and believable plot.

What do I put in it?
A synopsis is not an outline (a breakdown of the story chapter by chapter). It is an overview of your story, and should include the following elements:

• The story’s progression from beginning to end.
• The same writing style as the novel (even if the POV or tense are different). Try to make it engaging and interesting to read, not just a list of facts, names and events.
• The end/twist/denouement. This one is very important: never put in cliffhangers or teasers.
• All the important details of the story. It’s easy to miss some, so try to make sure that it’s all in there.
• Motives – for the major characters, give an idea of why they act, as well as what they do.
• Subplots – and how they link to the main plot.
• An introductory first paragraph – one that brings in the protagonist, the situation and the main issue/thrust/problem of the story.

Format
This can very widely between agents/publishers – always check with whoever you are submitting to for their exact guidelines. However, here’s an idea of what you should be aiming for:

• Length: 1-2 pages. 
  No more than 2 pages (A4). Changing the margins or font size is cheating (and they will notice this). Some submittees can have wordcount limits, but that is unusual.
• Spacing: single or double. Usually single should be fine, but some require double-spacing.
• Paragraphs: space between each one.

Mechanics
These do not vary between agents and are considered non-negotiable industry standard:

• Point of view: third person.
• Tense: present.

Things to remember
A synopsis can seem like a chore, but it does serve an important purpose. These things are worth keeping in mind:

• This is an example of your writing. Let it reflect you properly.
• Spelling and grammar are important. It does make a difference. Get it proofread, get it right!
• You are not bound to it! Agents and publishers are aware that stories change as they are worked on, so don’t feel tied to reproducing the exact story in your synopsis. No-one else is expecting you to.

Sources:
Talks with published authors.
The Creative Writing Coursebook – Paul Magrs, Julia Bell
Teach Yourself How To Write A Blockbuster – Helen Corner and Lee Weatherly
The CWA guidelines for submissions for the Debut Dagger competition

I love lists

I had a time management course at work a couple of weeks ago, learning how to make the best use of my time, how to plan, and so on. Useful stuff! Nothing I didn’t already know, and most of the stuff I do already. I do like to be organised when I can be.

Lists are a good thing. All those bits that I have to get done laid out, and can be ticked off in a productive manner. It gives my OCD side a happy glow. 

So far today I have edited and scheduled up this week’s AB posts, poked Twitter with a stick and tweeted like an overcaffeinated loon, and sent out emails to my two writing groups to prepare for this month’s meetings. 

Last night I did the final edits on my novel and sent the submission in to the Debut Dagger competition. Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback on it and helped me pull it into shape!

Still to go this weekend, I have to set my PC up for VPN access to work and test it. This is in case the rail strike goes ahead on the 16th Feb, as it is currently scheduled to do. No way I’m getting to the office if that happens, so I might as well work from home!

I also have to read and comment on a couple of writing pieces for my mum, take apart the vacuum system built into the house so I can clean it out, and plan the writing group meeting on Friday. I want to get a few more AB posts done, too, to give myself a bit of breathing space.

I’d like to start putting up some of the writing info that I amass for my writing groups on here. I’m finding that a lot of the same issues come up when we do exercises and workshop pieces. I’ve already got one piece up on the local writing forum, but there’s not much activity there at the moment. I think I’ll put them here too. No harm in that, right?

Right. So there’s my list for this weekend. Best get on with it, I suppose. 😉