Progress is progress

Even if you only write x number of words today, that is still x words more in your manuscript than you had the day before.

The number of words that your manuscript grows by can be determined by the function:

n+dx=t

Where:

n = starting word count
d = time (in days)
x = average words added per day
t = end word count

See how tiny that equation is? It seems small when you compare it to the monstrous task of increasing your word count. But remember that, in the end, increasing your word count is as simple as adding words.

Totally conquerable.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to studying for my calculus placement exams.

Age-banding and 9

Okay, so. If you've been writing YA lit at all in the past two years, chances are you've heard about age-banding. You may even have seen the website No to Age-banding. It's all very controversial and hyped.

Here's my thinking: age-banding was originally suggested because parents and other adults were scandalized by the contents of some books marketed for the impressionable youth. Okay. That's understandable. Some of us have delicate sensibilities. After all, we rate movies, don't we? So if we have movie ratings, why not ratings for books? (That was sarcasm.)

Well...

Yesterday I went to see 9, on 9/9/09, because I am a dork (also because it was my birthday). This film is rated PG-13.

I take two steps into the theater, look around for seats, and see this woman sitting with her two five or six year-old sons in the front row.

Let me ask you, O wise internet, if people ignore rating systems, why do we even have them?

I have another question. Why are we only rating children's literature? Why aren't we rating all the books on the shelf? Because adults can make intelligent choices about their reading material? I've ranted a lot about how people shouldn't discount YAs' intelligence simply because of their age, but here we are again: People under 18 are not intelligent enough to read the back of a book and decide whether the book is appropriate for them or not.

I think my biggest pet peeve is that a rating system would be another excuse for parents to disengage from their children. Glance at the back of a book, see that it's rated whatever for swearing and smexy smexing, cue freak out... instead of having a conversation with your child about what they're reading and what you consider appropriate. Geebus.

In the end, I don't know if age-banding is necessary. We already have divisions between children's lit, MG and YA (wouldn't these be ratings in and of themselves????); cover art; back cover copies...

At some point, people are either being lazy, skittish or reactionary.

Word of the Week: Effervescent

From Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:

Main Entry: ef·fer·vesce
Pronunciation: \ˌe-fər-ˈves\
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): ef·fer·vesced; ef·fer·vesc·ing
Etymology: Latin effervescere, from ex- + fervescere to begin to boil, inchoative of fervēre to boil — more at brew
Date: 1784
1 : to bubble, hiss, and foam as gas escapes
2 : to show liveliness or exhilaration
— ef·fer·ves·cence \-ˈve-sən(t)s\ noun
— ef·fer·ves·cent \-sənt\ adjective
— ef·fer·ves·cent·ly adverb

I love this word a lot. It's one of the rare words that sounds like its meaning without being an onomatopoeia.

Snow Leopard?

So I bought a new Macbook Pro, and they told me that I could buy Snow Leopard for $10 because of some neat promotion. Of course I said yes, and that's all great and whatever, but after hearing about all the glitches I'm kind of terrified of bringing my writing and that operating system anywhere near each other. For fear of death death death. :( I'm so freaked out about this that I still haven't taken my new Mac outta the box. I'm such a bad computer owner.

I'm sorry new Macbook! You'll have to wait until my paranoia settles down.

(Insert transition here!)

I've often given a lot of thought to novel writing software, and I know that people buy special word processors solely for writing. I don't know if I could handle learning a whole new software system just to write a book. I mean, writing a book is complicated enough. Where the hell did all these subplots come from? What? Who are you? The MC doesn't have a younger brother!

ahem. You know what I mean, right? Anyway, I'm hesitant to try and incorporate anything new into my writing... regimen? Is that the word I'm looking for?

The problem is, of course, that sometimes I really want something to jumpstart my writing. Sometimes I wonder if I should invest in this nifty software because it might make writing easier rather than harder. (This pondering all takes place in a parallel universe wherein I have monies.) Will a shinier, amped up version of my post-it note system do that?

I have no idea. (Or money.)

(So I guess the point is moot.)

That Moment

You know that moment when everything crystallizes and you see the plot laid out neatly before you and all your characters are smiling up at your genius and it's gonna be smooth sailing clear coasting bright blue waters from here?

That moment?

It's fantastic.

Internship. What?

Like many aspiring writer peoples, I have procured an internship in a publishing venue. It is a magazine. It is called Fantasy Magazine, and those of you with sufficient Google skillz will undoubtedly find it and in doing so stumble upon my humorous last name.

While we were still taking submissions, I had the happy if befuddling task of trawling through the slushpile. This would normally not be entertaining. In fact, most of the time it was not entertaining, except for the three or four times I found a good story. Usually, slushing was entertaining because the slushpile is, in fact, ridiculous. Anything that contains letters from "Jester McDragonFang" is going to be inherently ridiculous.

Okay, so the name is a slight paraphrase. But the spirit of the name is still there, upped in ridiculousity by maybe .002%.

I wish I had some wisdom to share with everyone about the slushpile, but in light of "Jester McDragonFang", my brain has melted.

Lists and lists!

Sometimes, I make lists. I make lists of things that amuse me, lists of things I need to do, lists of things that bother me, lists of things that are ridiculous about my day to day existence, lists of colors of things on my desk, lists of books I want to read, lists of books I haven't read yet, lists of skin care products that people tell me will prevent my eczema from coming back ever ever in a billion years, lists of citrus fruits.

Very rarely does this tendency carry over into writing. However, since I'm sort of stalling on the whole wordcount thing (lol wordcount what is this mysterious creature oh you mean it's supposed to get larger aka grow in magnitude what are you talking about silly internet people), I decided to come up with a different form of motivation.

We're going to call it the "vocabscribble" method. This is what you need (in handy dandy list format!):

- paper
- a pen
- a book, which may be either fiction or nonfiction but must be entertaining or you will want to stab yourself with the aforementioned pen
- your WIP

Now, carefully open the book with your hands. It may be a long time since you've last read a book (*raises hand guiltily*) and so all the books in your house may have a) gotten incredibly dusty or b) began to plot your demise.

After ascertaining whether the book is going to be cooperative, begin to read. Embrace those words with your eyeballs! EMBRACE THEM. Whenever you come across a particularly titillating word, pick up the pen and record it on the piece of paper. Repeat until you have a good list, about 10 to 20 words.

At this point, you may want to have a tea break.

Once you've finished sipping, open your WIP and start writing. Keep a couple of brain cells thinking about the words you've written down. Can you use any in an upcoming sentence? Do any fall into your deathless prose naturally? If so, check off the word and continue writing. When you've checked off all the words, give yourself a reward. A new book, perhaps. Or a cookie.

Note: I don't worry about going in order. My rough drafts don't go in order, and neither do my vocab lists.