Brief Intermission...

It was a crazy weekend - crazy busy, not crazy Weekend At Bernies. The next few days will be just as busy. So while I have no shortage of things to blog about... I'll probably be off the radar for a few more days.


Until then... some stuff.


NaNoEdMo has gotten off to a slow start. Here's my progress as of Day 6. See the dark blue line? The sad looking one? Yeah... that's me. The few hours I have logged have not been focused on a single work. I feel like I should have gotten more today, but I feel weird about logging work stuff.

This might be, in part, due to some misspent time....


Pawn Stars is a great show - seriously, I know it must be somewhat staged but it's amazing what these guys know.

Still, I have questions...

• These people go in there and take a hit because the pawn shop has to be able to find a niche market for many of the items. In this day and age of the internet... WHY?
• How does one not notice the Made In USA stamp on the "original" French art?
• How much of that money actually leaves Vegas?
• Does anyone ever mess with Antoine?

Speaking of distractions...

Bucket List Blogfest is coming up - sign up today!


What else...

I made this for dinner last night. It also makes an excellent breakfast.

Pizza with fennel, pancetta, mozz, cheddar, and 1/2 with red onion.
Yes, breakfast. Don't judge.

I'll be at the Biophysical Society's annual meeting this week. I saw someone there today with something very much like this. I still am not quite sure what to say about that. I wish I had stopped and asked her about it.

Happy Monday folks. See you in a few days.

Obligation Versus Inspiration

I hear this a lot: Writers write because they have to.


I also hear this a lot: I can only write when I'm moved to write, when I'm inspired.


Is one more write than the other?


(I'm sorry. I won't do that again, please keep reading. :) )




"Writers write because they have to."


This just sounds badass and deep. Writing's part of me, man. It's something I must do to survive.


I feel like I bump up my art-cred one every time I say or write this phrase. And I do use it, because on some level I feel like it's true.


At the same time, I might be writing because I have to, but that doesn't mean I'm writing well. I might be slogging through a tough part of my WIP (dear chapter 4, I hate you). I might be churning out sloppy incredibly awesome blog posts to fulfill my blogging goal. 


I might be writing 20,000 words I'm just going to junk next week.


Or I might be writing because that's what I need to do to collect a royalties check and not starve and/or relocate to my parents' couch and/or go to jail over defaulted student loans. Ah, the life. 


Maybe some day.




"I can only write when I feel inspired."


Words flow from my fingers and fill the page with Times New Roman gold. I can do no wrong. I am a WORD NINJA nunchucking my way to a Pulitzer. 


Don't get me wrong, when it happens, this is a good thing.


But my experience has told me that's how things don't get written. This philosophy results in low output and high "amount of time spent staring at blank screen."


Not only that, but if one can only work on a project when the inspiration is there, what hope is there for editing when the moment has passed?




I think there has to be a happy medium. If you're going to write only when you're inspired, you better be prepared to adapt and find that inspiration in many places so you can actually get the writing done. But if you're only writing to slog through words, your material may very well feel that way to the reader.


IMO, writing should be a passion, because there's magic when the writer's inspiration/passion comes through the written word and touches the reader. And writing has to be an obligation, not for lofty, artistic reasons but for the simple fact that sometimes things just have to get done. Or started. Or pushed forward. Or torn apart and remade.




Why do you write (blog, etc)?  Does it feel like work to you, or does your inspiration run deep?

Helpful Dialogue advice.

There's tons of writing advice out there.


There are some writing books I like.  Bird by Bird and How to Write A Damn Good Novel are among my favorite.  (I got a few for Christmas this year, so look for reviews in the next few weeks).


I also follow some blogs on writing. The NeverEnding Page Turner, The Rejectionist, Artzicarol Ramblings, KidLit.com. (Sorry for those not listed, but I heart your blog too.)


There are videos available that have pieces of interviews.  And some good TED talks that give me food for thought.


But the most direct and helpful writing advice I've gotten in the last few weeks came from a site dedicated to pointing out the sloppiness, editing errors, and offenses to the written word that are apparently found in Twilight.*

Go to ReasoningWithVampires.  Read it.  Laugh some.  Sure, some of the points are anti-Twilight or more focused on the blogger's dislike of the book/characters/story/etc.  Whatever, it's her blog.  And many of the posts are very educational.  


And some of the things she points out?  ...yup.  I've done them. >.>


I need to go do some editing now....








*I'm not getting pulled into the pro-/anti- Twilight debate, mostly because I just don't care.  I've read enough of the books to know that it's not my kind of thing. If you are pro-Twilight, go you, I am glad you are reading.**






**But while we're at it, the blogger of ReasoningWithVampires does post an interesting comment about whether or not Twilight should even be analyzed for things like story sense, structure, or grammar.  Her short answer: Yes.  Check it out here.  This question, I think, should be increasingly more relevant as the publishing industry changes - should all genres of work be held to the same standard?  Is it better that people are reading, or should they be reading 'good' books?  Who decides if a book is 'good'?  If Twilight is so bad, how should we interpret its success? ...that's another post.