Friday Fun Words

So last Friday in the comments, Summer from ...And This Time Concentrate gave me an award. Mommy tried to take it from me but I gave her a mean doggy look and she backed away. We also got this award from the lovely Roxy at a women's write so check them both out.

This is MY AWARD so therefore I get to list the 7 random fact about me, because, this is my day to blog.


1. I was a shelter puppy. My first human mom brought me to Anne's shelter when I was 12 weeks old and Mommy and Anne scooped me up and brought me home. My first name was Boo.



2. Yvie is actually short for Yvette, but mostly I'm kind of named for Evey from V For Vendetta

3. Once, when I got stung by a bee, my face swelled up and I had to go to the ER Vet and get a shot. It was OK, I like the vet.

hey you guuyyyysss...

4. I love people. A Lot. Sometimes I get so excited I pee...

5. Sometimes I snore when I sleep.




6. When I get anxious, or maybe when I'm just really sleepy, my tongue sticks out.

7. When I was still a puppy, I was named Belle of the Ball at Whisker Whirl, which is a black tie event for the shelter I came from. I was picked out of all the other girl dogs to win a crown, prize and the title.



So now you know a little more about me. Onto the words!


Mornac - cognac for the morning

Beepaces - how far a bee travels to find nectar

Uverr - how the french say "over" in english (I know this, because i'm a frenchie)

Norsh - a drunken nordic fellow

Mygibins - personal monkey attendants. Watch out for their grabby fingers and their poop throwing

Weepoo - when you cry over all the poop. So much poop...


Bark at ya later!

In Which My Writing Group Meets

I got together with my writing/crit group on Monday after a few months off. We took a break during Nano and then the break just swelled to cover the holiday season as well. But now that we've started up again we'll hopefully meet every three to four weeks to crit work and talk about nerdly pursuits.

One of the BEST things about having a writing/crit group, at least for me, is that it gets me all jonsed to get to work writing or editing, etc. You know that funk I was in? Gone after meeting Monday night.

Since it had been so long since we met, only one member (Your Friendly Neighborhood Palindrome) brought anything to crit (because she's always on top like that and can pull something out at last minute. Also she likes to use writing prompts, where myself and Teebore are less than fans...)

Next time Teebore and myself will also bring something to crit (for him it will be the beginning of his Nano piece and for me it will be the prologue of Foxfire even though I plan on junking it...)

We meet at Old Chicago where there is often food and beer to be had (not typically by me, though, because I'm cheap and also we split dinner duties at my house). In fact our writing group was dubbed by a friend as UMWADS (United Midwest Writing And Drinking Society) and the title just seemed to stick.

I have to say that I, personally, enjoy meeting in person as opposed to online. I'm sure there are many benefits to an online crit group and I may look for one in the future to supplement UMWADS, but meeting a crit group in person is awesome, not to mention the fact that my writing group members are also my best friends so we always have a good time.

Do what about you? Do you meet with a crit group? How did you get started and is it in person or online?

In Which Characters Are Dragged Through Hell

So yesterday we discussed passive characters and fixing disasters that are (hopefully) brought about by the MCs trying to fix things.

Another trick you can use to force your characters to remain active instead of passive is to put them through hell.

And now I will use an example from my favorite of all favorite shows...

MAKE IT OR BREAK IT!

That's right! And you forgot all about it...

So if you remember from last time I discussed the awesomeness that is the show (BTW, I'm now making Twin watch it with me. Converting the unsuspecting, one person at a time...) Payson broke her back in the season finale last season and her doctors said she wouldn't ever do gymnastics again. Which sucks for her because she was a favorite for the 2012 Olympics.

So Payson tries to pretend it doesn't bother her, but of course it does and she alienates her friends and family and breaks all her trophies and refuses to even go to The Rock to visit the other gymnasts or consider being a gymnastics coach.

So things are crappy for Payson.

Then, her pseudo boyfriend tells her about this back surgeon in LA who is the best in the world. So even though Payson and her parents decided she wouldn't see any more doctors, Payson gets her hopes up about this doctor and convinces her mom to allow her to get a consult.

The new super doctor tells her that he agrees with her original prognosis. No more gymnastics.

So Payson is broken hearted again.

Payson then has to go to public school, because there's no point to being home schooled anymore. She hangs out with a bit of a bad crowd and gets in trouble based purely on association, but this helps her realize that she can't spend her whole life thinking about how she can no longer be a gymnast. She has to move on, and find something else she'll love just as much.

So things are looking up for Payson, she's making new friends, joining clubs at school, gets to go to Prom and doesn't even have to wear her back brace at the dance.



And then, a doctor from Europe calls Payson's father and advises them that she believes she can perform an experimental surgery which will allow Payson to compete in gymnastics again.

Payson is excited about the chance, but she catches her parents fighting over the idea and because she doesn't want to be the source of their arguments or their fear she tells them she doesn't want the surgery.

If we look over all of these scenes (which of course have happened over the span of 8 or so episodes) we can see that every and any time Payson starts to feel good, or happy or things start to "come up Milhouse" for her, things then go to crap.

If you continue to throw horrible things at your characters, drag them through hell, then it's difficult for them to remain passive.

But you want to be careful that you allow the characters to make a mess of things as much as possible. Yes, the doctor calling from Europe is a bit of Deus Ex Machina (I LOVE saying that), BUT it's going to come down to Payson deciding if she wants to take the risk of surgery (a surgery that could possibly leave her paralyzed) in order to get another chance at her lifelong dream.

If your characters try and fix the bad things that happen to them, make their solutions cause even more problems (for example, Payson's big let down at the LA surgeon's is due purely because she fully believed she would be fixed and convinced her mom to bring her to LA for the consult. She caused herself that moment of heartbreak).

So, in recap, ways to avoid passivity = bad things happen to MC, MC tries to fix bad thing, which makes things worse, which MC tries to fix, which makes things worse, etc, until we reach the end and (hopefully) a point of change for the character.

You want to be careful that you have moments of breathing space for your readers, give a little taste of good things before the next disaster happens. This will allow your reader to take a breath and will also make the next disaster even weightier if things were going OK for a bit.

Again these are all things I try to keep in mind as I'm drafting, but truthfully I'll have to go back in during revisions to heighten the drama in each scene.

Does anyone else follow the "drag your MC through hell" approach to prevent them from remaining passive?

In Which I Fight Passivity

Let's talk about passive characters.

They stink.

I mean, they can have their place in a piece, but it's hopefully not in a main character role.

My previous WIP, the stalled one, has a passive MC, which is one of the main issues I have with it (well that and I've got too many main characters and little to no character motivation or conflict. Hence why I am no longer a pantser...)

When I'm outlining a piece (which is not so much an outline as it is a list of MCs their conflicts and motivations and then maybe a list of scenes) I try to think of the story arc as 3 disasters and an ending. It's OK if the first disaster comes around due to an environmental issue or something else, but the story and the characters will carry more strength if the following disasters are caused by the MC trying to fix things.

This is something I struggle with, the passive character bit. I like to have things happen to people and typically when I write a story arc, that's what I start with. And then I have to go back and think of ways the MCs can mess things up instead of just waiting around for things to happen.

Boring.

(On a side note, I was looking for a picture regarding passive characters, and at least 25% of the pictures that came up were of Bella Swan.)

Hopefully the passivity is something I can catch before I finish, or better yet even start, the first draft. But if it's not, as long as I'm aware that it's an issue of mine, I can search for passive character moments and scenes and even story arcs during revisions.

Tomorrow, more discussion about characters and ways to interrupt passivity.

So does anyone else struggle with passive characters?

In Which I'm In A Funk

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. I think it's directly related to finishing the WIP.

At first it's fun to have it done and getting some free time again. But then, the free time just sits there and I know I should fill it with things (like cleaning, finishing up a final revision on a short story, or better yet, starting a new WIP) but every time I think about doing one of those things, or something else, I just think, meh I don't want to do that.

Hence, a funk.

I don't really know the cure for a funk. I suspect its mostly just time. And actually yesterday I did a bunch of cleaning all before 9:30AM so I think that may have erased much of the funk.



On the plus side, I've only got to really sit through another week before I can break open Foxfire and get to work on revisions!

On the negative side, I actually have to read the manuscript before I can start editing. Boo.
Not because I don't want to read it, just because that will take up some more time before I can start on the edits.

Sigh.

Unless you think I could start reading the manuscript a few days before...so then I can start the edits exactly 4 weeks after I finished it...

Hmm.

Of course all of this is just based on a timeline I made up, so I suppose I can also make up my own rules.
Excellent.

So how does everyone else get themselves out of a funk?

Friday Fun Words

I'm back, babies! Me, the fantastic wunderhund (is that right? I don't know... well it's right now.) Yvie, to give you the definitions for word verification words so you may increase your vocabulary.

I've pretty much spent my week sleeping, which is what I do most days. However this week we got to do some training, because puppy Tula (who may or may not be a brat) is taking training classes and is being a dunce.

she thinks she's so great, but she's making Mom and Anne look dumb...

The good thing about that is that it means I get to do some training too. I LOVE TRAINING! Because I love to eat. As it should be for all dogs.

Anyhoo, onto the words!


Ireshe - a woman's anger.

Istic - the religion of those gummy octopi that you throw at a wall and who then "crawl down". Their deity is Nounstik - She who never loses her grip...

Immist - when a light fall of water is aimed at you but misses it's target

Imperor - clearly the king of the imps and gremlins

Lankles - also, clearly, the lower leg joints for people (or dogs - think great danes) who have long legs

Ticton - when the clock sounds weigh too much. Yes sounds have weight, didn't you know that? That's common dog knowledge. Just like how smells have looks

O'Tingle - (yes I added the apostrophe) - lord of the "funny feeling". Can be used for some guy who rubs you the wrong way. You know the guy... (IE: "Oh great, here comes Jerry O'Tingle")

Lunalli - prescription weight loss pill for our fat fat moon. Clearly only works sometimes because the moon always gets fat again.


And that's it for this week folks!

Have a good weekend and eat lots of treats!

In Which I Don't Wear Pants?

When I was younger and used to write, I could sit in front of a blank sheet of paper and write whatever struck my fancy and make it into a viable story.

I think for the most part I can still do this, a blank piece of paper - or in my case, a blank word document because I am not a hand-writer - isn't something that stresses me out or causes writers block.

I also used to start stories with just the barest understanding of what my plot held. I'm a great starter and love jumping into something new when the excitement and idea is fresh.

But over the years I learned that if I jump in too soon, the excitement that comes with a new piece will wane and I'll be left with a story that I still like, but typically have no idea where it's going. I'll keep plugging along until I get stuck, and then typically, I would stop.

After a while I told myself I wasn't allowed to just start things willy-nilly until I gave them some more thought. And then that morphed into not really starting anything until I have at least a bare bones outline (most recently I now know that I need to have character conflicts, motivations and goals at least internalized if not written out if I want the story to have any sort of chance).

So what I'm getting at is, I used to be a "pantser" (flying by the seat of your pants sort of writer) and now I no longer am.

I think most writers fall into one or the other category - the pantsers or the... what are we called? Non-pantsers? sure...

I wonder, are there any other writers who fall in between, or, like me, started out as one way but then discovered that the other way was much more suited to them (even though I still sometimes consider myself a pantser - short stories especially)

What about you? Pantser or Non Pantser?