Umberto Eco

I am reading Umberto Eco's autobiography.  I picked it up at the library on a whim because I like his stories and because it states, "he published is first novel in 1980 when he was nearly 50"  That gives me hope.  I'm finding that a good number of authors that I like started their writing careers late in life.



I love that he asks questions like, "Why is a bad poet a creative writer, while a good scientific essayist is not?"
So much to ponder and agonize over.

I Warn You Now

You - yes you - if you are not nice I'll make you a character in a story and then kill you off in ignominious ways.

Lipstick moments

I learned from a good friend to always keep a notebook and pencil handy at night.  Why?  For what I've come to call "Lipstick Moments".  Those times when you are trying to get some sleep only to have a flash of brilliance.

Now, if you are single and sleep in your own room it's easy to sit up, turn on the light, and jot things down, but  many people I know have either roommates or spouses and turning on a light just isn't going to happen.  So, I recommend a large notebook and a mechanical pencil.

I bet you are wondering why "lipstick"...well a good friend once had a flash, couldn't turn on the light and didn't have a pencil/notebook handy so she wrote a poem in lipstick on her arm.  Went back to sleep and by morning.......yaaaa her arm was a lovely "Autumn Rose", but the poem was gone.

I share this because last night I had one of theses LMs and was ever so glad I could sit up, write, and in the morning read it.  Actually I've gotten quite good at writing in the dark.  So that is the advice for now;  keep paper/pencil handy even in your sleep.

Pick One and Be That

I am taking this opportunity to kvetch about a trend in fantasy novels.   Turning them into SiFi in the last chapter or so.

A series I picked up a few years back started as clear and entertaining Fantasy.  An immortal who wanted to die, got himself arrested and sentenced to death by beheading (which would only make him have amnesia, but that's better than nothing), but when the day came the executioner had a family emergency so they decided to just hang him...Trust me it's quite funny.

By the end of the series *sigh*  no humor, almost all of the characters DIE - that happens when a planet explodes - and it's suddenly some vague time in Earths future.  NONE of the interesting conflicts in the plot are resolved and in fact the author takes great pains to make sure that the angst of the denouement is still in full force as you close the book.  It's labeled as a "trilogy" so no more books....it was worse than a Japanese movie.

SO, my advice as a long time reader.  PICK ONE AND BE THAT!  If you are getting "board" with a book or series take a little time to write something else don't turn your current project into the new thing.

Plotting

I'm having conniptions about plotting.  I've tried all sorts of styles with various success, but honestly the best thing I've found is a giant dry erase board.  I don't have a dry erase board. 

I've tried spider grams, LOCK system, re-plotting. *sigh* All would work a lot better with a giant dry erase board.

I'm waiting on Jo Ann's 7 point plot system, but I think that requires the dry erase board too.  How did writers do it before dry erase or chalk board?

WAS

I'm taking a note from a friends Blog.  Passive voice. 

If you are having trouble with the use of passive voice instead of active voice the best thing you can do is go though your manuscript with a highlighter and mark ever use of the word "was".  Then go through and rewrite to eliminate it.