Blogman To The Rescue

On Wednesday, Elana had a post begging the question "What Does Blog Stand For?" I put in a comment with a few choices, but the one moment of brilliance (dare I say it...yes I will) I had was Batman Looking Over Gotham. It was evidently a hit with the rest of the commentors, and Abby even went so far as to create a badge for it (thank you Abby, and I hope you don't mind me stealing it). The badge is really cool.

I cannot tell you how awesome this has made my Monday. It's rare that I come up with something cool like this, so to see it spawn comments and badges is too cool for words. Since this has made my day and given me visions of black capes and pointy-ear masks, I'm going to spread the love. Here are the rules of this badge. Feel free to have fun with it, and hopefully it will create smiles all 'round.

1. Tell us your favorite hero/superhero (it doesn't have to be Batman, after all) and why.

2. Copy the badge and post it on your blog.

3. Present the badge to five (the number of points on a Batarang) other worthy bloggers.

4. Post links to the five people you nominate.

5. Comment on their pages to let them know they have been nominated.

My favorite superhero actually is Batman. I've always liked the Dark Knight persona - an extremely capable martial artist (ninjitsu, in his case), an untouchable pillar of good, and someone who doesn't mind tossing the bad guys around a bit to get the answer he needs.

I've copied the badge from it's creator Abby and have posted it here.

I am presenting this badge to:

1. Elana - I can just see her tying on the black cape and jumping across rooftops.
2. Brian - Although his site is not dark at all, he is a fully-fledged knight.
3. Rebecca - Despite the fact that she's on the other side of the pond, she is a staunch defender of writing in all it's forms.
4. Danyelle - Her sunny disposition is exactly what every superhero needs.
5. Lost Wanderer - Her darkened blog is in contrast to the shining example she sets as a writer.

I am winging my way to let the respective awardees know of their great fortune. Hopefully everyone else will enjoy this as much as I am.

The '80s...You Gotta Love Em

A friend of mine sent me an email with a YouTube link to a cheesy 1980's movie (not Ice Pirates), and it got me to thinking. For those who weren't old enough (or born, for that matter), the 1980's was a period of extreme cheesiness (is that a word?) The movies of the era were often enough really bad (or good I suppose, depending on your preference), and the music industry produced alot of one-hit-wonders.

It was a weird time, at least here in the U.S. One thing I can't answer however, is whether literature followed the same pattern as movies and music. I did read alot of books back then, just as I do now. But I don't know if what I read was representative of the culture at that time. I'm talking about mainstream literature (whatever that equates to), that was subject to the cultural norms or acceptance of the time period.

I was in school for almost all of the '80s, graduating in '89 (yes, I'm showing my age here...Michelle H. and Guppster, stop counting up the years). So the books I was reading at the time were probably either something I was forced to read (i.e. homework assignments) or sci-fi/fantasy only, since I hadn't broadened my reading horizons as much back then.

Can anyone tell me what it was like back then, with regards to the number of cheesy (but accepted) books? Did the literary world abstain from this foolishness or did they follow along just like everyone else?

In Awe...And Taking Notes

I recently picked up a copy of Duma Key, a Stephen King novel. I've been a fan of King for many years, but I had stopped reading him for a while because I wanted to find new authors and explore other areas of literature. As I was browsing through the bookstore however, he came calling back to me with a fury.

Purchasing the book at that point was inevitable. When a book grabs my attention - or an author - there's no turning away. I generally am stuck with picking up whatever their latest book is and plunging in. This was no exception. Earlier I read Davin's post where he introduces the idea of 17 pages, and it was in my subconsious. Sure enough, I happened to look up at the page number and I was at page 15. I was already hooked, and I had formed impressions of the characters. What's more, I got there without even realizing I had turned past 14 other pages.

Now I'm a quick reader, so it should come as no surprise that I can speed through 14 pages in an instant. What I realized however, was that if I hadn't paused to think about things, I'd still be heavily engrossed in the story and turning to page 20 by now. This is the goal I am striving for, to be such an exceptional writer that my readers are instantly wrapped up in my story and are willingly available for the whole ride. I don't have any clue where this story is going, but I don't mind because the book is impossible to put down.

There are authors I have read that are good at their craft. There are authors that make me curse and wish I hadn't wasted my money. But there are also authors that just leave me in awe. King is one of those. While I don't always agree with the level of...ahem....colorful language, I've grown accustomed to his style so it's okay. I'm also a former soldier, so it's not like I'm going to blush either. But his ability to instantly take me away to wherever the story is happening leaves me whirling. I read the words, I watch the structure, but I can't nail it down to any one thing; he's just a great storyteller.

I've had an epiphany while working my way through this post, figuring out how to vocalize everything. I started this writing journey with the intent to become published. I've said that often enough, because that has been my goal. I realize now however, that publication isn't really what I want to do anymore. I want to become an exceptional writer. Period. If I manage to publish something, cool. But if I can learn to write at even half that level, I'll be very happy. Perhaps this should be obvious, and I'm sure everybody is nodding their heads, but I have had the idea of publication hanging out there in front of me like a hallucinatory vision. The golden chalice sitting just beyond the fingertips. Not anymore. It's time to swivel the arrow in a new direction, pointing exactly where it should have been all along.

Are there any authors you read that leave you awestruck? Have you ever written a passage yourself that just made you say, "Oh yeah....that's good stuff"?

Somedays We Just Don't Feel Worthy...

...or is this just me? I have been remiss in mentioning honors others have bestowed on me, as if they didn't really mean anything. Nothing could be further from the truth. I can't explain what has been going on in my world lately, other than to say I haven't been particularly productive. Part of it might be because I'm currently in 'Technical Writing Hell' as I work on a 20+ page project for graduation. If you've never had the pleasure of doing technical writing, you have no idea what you're missing out on. Here I am trying to pare down my writing, clear out the fluff, make everything precise and effective. Along comes my technical writing project, and they actually demand and expect a huge amount of fluff. I have to re-iterate things multiple times, just stated in different ways. To say it drives me crazy is a huge understatement.

Needless to say, a number of my fellow bloggers have bestowed awards on me and I would be remiss if I did not mention their names. Windy, TereLiz, and Jenna all have awarded me with the Kreativ blogger award. TereLiz even went so far as to re-work the icon so that it is more "manly", just for me. I hope you don't mind me stealing and posting it here. I just really like what you did with it and think everybody should see your awesome Photoshop skills!

I have been given the Kreativ blogger award before, but I cannot express my thanks to the three of you enough this time. As I said, I haven't been feeling very creative, so this reminded me that I have a job to do and a muse to keep happy. Since I can't possibly follow ALL the tenets of this award (naming 7 other individuals to give it to, meaning 21 other people), I will at least tell you 7 things about myself that I haven't revealed before.

1. In high school, I was my Biology teacher's assistant for two years straight and was often referred to as "Beeker" by my fellow classmates. For those who don't know, Beeker is the lab assistant in the Muppets. Not exactly a flattering nickname perhaps, but probably closer to the truth than I would care to admit.

2. In 3rd grade, I wrote a poem about my grandparents house in Missouri. I still have it laminated on posterboard somewhere in my garage, so if I can find it, I'll post a copy of it here.

3. I have a tattoo on my chest of Superman and The Incredible Hulk. The former is for my younger son, and the latter is for my older. Hulk towers over Supes, almost in the same manner one brother towers over the other, and he's just as protective. The bad part is I still have to go through probably 4 more hours of work to get Hulk finished.

4. I was given an Article 15 (disciplinary action for those who don't know) in the Army - during Basic Training, no less - for going to the Main PX (general store) on base even though I was not allowed to be there. Oh, the fact that a few of us were taking keepsake pictures (via an Instamatic camera) of fellow soldiers and selling them at a buck a piece didn't help either.
5. I was in the All City choir in middle school, All State choir in high school, have played piano since I was 9 (although its been a few years since I've "tickled the ivory"), and I even tried out for the Army Band - unsuccessfully, of course.

6. Despite the fact that I have lived all my life (mostly) in Denver, Colorado, I have never tried skiing or snowboarding. The funny thing is, there are more of us like that here than one would think, and the skiers that come from out of town stare at us in wonder. How could we dare live so close to the Rockies without skiing? My answer is simple: I like my bones unbroken.

7. I truly believe I am part lizard, because I absolutely love hot days. There are times I will drive home from work with all the windows up, after my truck has baked in the sun all day, just basking in the waves of heat like a sauna. As far as I'm concerned, it's never too hot.

Robyn over at Putting Pen To Paper has honored me with an award for Energizing and Inspiring Reading. I don't know if I consistently attain that level of writing, but I'm happy she seems to think so (or at least did long enough to add me to the list, heh heh). Thank you Robyn for the award. I hope you know my delay in acknowledging this was not an intended slight.

Finally, if anyone out there can help me put these awards on my blog in a side panel or whatever, I'd appreciate it. Despite the fact that I'm a 'puter geek, I can't ever seem to figure out how to adjust my layout for things like this.

Oh, and do you have any advice for effective technical writing? I'm hoping I won't have to resubmit my project more than once, but I'm open to any words of wisdom from the experienced technical writers out there.

Review - Offworld By Robin Parrish

The first manned mission to Mars is the greatest accomplishment humanity has achieved. A crew of four incredible astronauts make the journey, advancing the knowledge of the human race beyond expectations. Something happens to Commander Burke - the man in charge - while he is on Mars, but his memory of the experience is patchy at best. He has begun hallucinating at various moments, and he is beginning to question himself.

The hallucinations strike again as the ship is returning to Earth, causing them to crash land back at Kennedy Space Center. The crew barely escapes with their lives, crawling from the wreckage to find Earth has changed significantly while they were gone. There is no homecoming party, no grand celebration; in fact, home is ominously silent. To be more precise, it appears that every living thing on the planet has disappeared at exactly the same instant. To make matters worse, an ominous bright light is present in Houston, Texas; it's bright enough be seen from a satellite circling the globe.

To say that all is not as it seems is an understatement of great proportions. The world appears to be completely unstable around them, the only other human being they run into is completely odd, and the hallucinations and memories of Mars continue to plague Commander Burke, leaving too many unanswered questions. The journey to find these answers will test them all, and what is revealed will be something they never expect.

This entertaining novel by Robin Parrish showcases a unique voice, an intriguing storyline, and fast-paced action from beginning to end. There wasn't a single dull moment, and just when I thought I knew what was going on, the book took turns in surprising directions. I have not had the pleasure of reading any of Mr. Parrish's other books, but I am quite happy to have become acquainted with his writing. I can happily say that I will be looking for other books by Robin Parrish, and if I'm very lucky (keeping my fingers crossed), I may be able to wrangle an interview with him. Keep your eyes open for it and wish me good luck. If you haven't read this book however, you need to go pick up a copy. It's an entertaining read that you won't want to put down.

Monday Muse - Necessary Thoughts And Reflections

Today I walked through many of your blogs and I found entries that really made me think. Now you all get to listen to me pander on as I work through these thoughts. Feel free to get yourself a snack. I'll wait. Okay, ready? Not everything here will be about writing, but all of these things are important for one reason or another.

One of the first noteworthy posts I stumbled onto belongs to Weronika. She had the opportunity (and I view it as a great opportunity) to work with autistic children. This is a post you really need to read through, because it illustrates an important fact of life that I've always tried to impress on my sons. Every parent tells their child "Make sure you eat all your food. There's starving children in China, dangit!", but most children (hopefully) don't really have any experience with starvation. The same idea holds true for our health. If we're really lucky, we are born fairly healthy and manage to maintain that throughout our lives.

I was actually born two months early, and my parents had to wonder for some time whether I would survive. I had to be cut open at 2 days old to unblock my intestine, and 38 years later I still carry a huge scar creasing my stomach. It is a constant reminder to me how lucky I am that I survived, and how even luckier I am to be fairly healthy.

Autistic people (as well as anyone else dealing with debilitating diseases) remind me just how lucky I am. I'm able to sit down and write in an intelligent manner, and my mind is able to coherently form sentences without much effort. It's something we often take for granted, but if you spend any length of time with an autistic person (I have an autistic nephew), you realize just how difficult your life could be. Thanks Weronika for helping to remind all of us how lucky we are. Sometimes we need to remember that and reflect on how different life would be if we had to walk in their shoes.

Galen had a post regarding military buddies that hit home for me. For those who don't know (I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before), I spent about 5 years in the US Army myself. Although I've been out since '95, my blood still flows green. I proudly wear a huge patch on my biker jacket reminding everyone to support our troops. No matter whether you support the current initiative they are a part of, support the soldiers anyway. Galen's words reminded me of some great people I have known, and as usual his storytelling is superb. Too often we tend to forget or marginalize these invisible people, out there doing what they have to. Way too often, their deaths are a statistic on the news rather than a moment for silent reflection. Take a moment and read Galen's words. They are inspirational and heartwarming.

The New Author has a great post by Larry Brooks that is awesome and irritating at the same time. Irritating, because it strikes a little too close to home. Larry cuts us "pantsers" to the quick with a precise scalpel, highlighting a topic I touched on recently - my own lack of structure in writing. Not holding anything back, Larry does an awesome job of illustrating why even us pantsers need some structure in our writing process - and he's right. He even goes so far as to throw Stephen King at us, dangit. Admitting you're a pantser is the first step.

Hello, my name is Eric and I'm a pantser.

The next step is agreeing to put some structure in your writing process, which is much harder but just as important. Larry says it better than I can, so if you haven't read this post, check it out.

If you need a laugh and a good story, stop by Michelle's page. She talks about dreams and nightmares in her usual wonderful way. Zombie bats indeed. Guppster, new story idea for you. You better ask Michelle if you can steal it though (or co-author something together, which would be awesome).

Finally, celebrations are in order. I evidently received two blog awards (which I will talk about in a later post, since this one is long enough as it is) from Michelle Mclean and Robyn Campbell. Thank you so much ladies; I am deeply honored and really appreciate it. And Rebecca Woodhead is officially Ms Twitter UK. Go give her a virtual pat on the back for doing an amazing job of marketing and promotion. She beat out celebrities for cryin' out loud.

This has been a longer post than I planned, so thanks for bearing with me. These are just things that needed to be said, and I hope you get from them what I did.

Thursday Thoughts - Prologues, POV, and Pronouncements

Today is a day for thought. First off, Johanna over at Once Upon A Novelist got me thinking about prologues. For the uninitiated (or just those of you who like clarification), prologues are a prequel of sorts. They can also be referred to as backstory, and they are used to provide a little background for the reader. Every writer has their own opinion on this, and I've read quite a few angry rants against the practice. On the surface, I can see their point and I do agree that prologues can be a bad thing. For one thing, prologues can easily end up "telling" the story versus "showing", because after all this is what you are doing - narrating what happened before your MC got to where they are now. If you're a decent enough writer, you will hopefully avoid this pitfall. I do acknowledge though, that prologues can make it more difficult.

I consider a prologue a good thing however, if it makes sense for the story as a whole. If you step back from your work and see that a prologue is necessary to make the work complete, then by all means add it in. There are contingencies with this though. You have to be extra careful not to get caught "telling". You need to maintain your author's voice throughout, so that the prologue is no different in voice from the rest of the work. The POV (something I'll touch on more in a moment) needs to stay consistent. The thread that weaves its way from beginning to end should remain unbroken throughout, so that you are not "pulling your reader out of the action", so to speak. If all of the above is in place and done well, then a prologue might work perfectly.

That's enough on prologues, so thanks Johanna for giving me something to ponder. Now let's talk about POV or point of view. This is an aspect of writing I hadn't given much thought to until other bloggers started pointing it out as significant. I then realized that my POV was all over the place, meandering around like a drunken bumblebee. So why is POV important? Well, if you're writing in 1st person, this is obvious. You can't tell the story from one person's perspective if you include other perspectives.

Telling a story from 2nd person POV is odd in my opinion. Basically it is where you tell the reader's story. It becomes more clear with an example, trust me. Writing in 2nd person would look something like this:

"You stood next to the swift river for some time, gazing into its depths. Without warning, you plunged in."

I honestly can't remember any book I've ever read that is written (entirely) in this fashion, so if anyone can enlighten me, that'd be great. I also cannot imagine writing an entire story from this POV, but I can see how much of a challenge it would be.

Writing in 3rd person POV is probably the most common (an assumption on my part, so feel free to correct me here) perspective used. It can be omniscient, where the narrator or storyteller knows everything about all characters. This particular POV is where you have to be careful, because you can get caught jumping from one character to the next, describing their feelings or whatever, and you may end up confusing your reader. You can also use 3rd person from the perspective of a certain character (I am unfamiliar with what the term is, so feel free to supply it, English majors). In this instance, only what that character actually knows, feels, sees, etc is related to the reader. For example, my MC wouldn't know exactly how a stranger on the street really feels inside, especially if their facial expressions or body language didn't provide clues.

The important thing here is to pick a POV and stick with it throughout. With 3rd person omniscient, it's very easy to get into head-hopping so be careful. Thorough editing and/or multiple drafts should help you get rid of any POV mistakes though.

Finally, as stated in the title I have a pronouncement. I have since the beginning of time proudly stated that I am a by-the-seat-of-my-pants writer. Fear not, I am not completely abandoning this practice. I still think there is value in discovering the story, but part I of Scott Bailey's post here got me thinking about my own writing processes. In my current WiPs, there are some questions I can't honestly answer that I should be able to. I should have at least some general idea of why my protag is in this story. I should have an idea of what it would take to resolve whatever the conflict is that is going on. Too many questions...too many questions...

I have therefore decided that I need a little more structure in my writing. I need to at least answer some of the basic questions from the outset - Who, What, Where, Why, and How. I can see how not answering at least 4 of these questions causes me to stumble midway through. I usually just plunge in and start writing, and I don't answer these questions. Then as I get farther down the road, I'm stuck wondering where the heck this train is headed. I already know I can't do a formal outline. Been there, tried that, it don't work. But a rough question/answer scribbling just might be what I need. Ta Da! Are you impressed? Yeah, I know it's very anti-climatic. It's been difficult for me to admit (or realize maybe) that my process just isn't working, but I don't expect everyone to hoop and holler in celebration.

What are your thoughts on prologues? Are there any POVs you absolutely would not write in (for me, its 2nd person)? Any grand pronouncements we should all be aware of (it can be just as silly as my own, with just as much fanfare)?

Changing Opinions...Slowly

Before I launch into today's topic, I'd like to extend congratulations to Rebecca over at From Brain To Bookshelf. She has been crowned Ms Twitter UK, beating out celebrities and divas alike. Nice job Rebecca; I'm so happy for you.

I have become aware of a change in my opinion on a book series I have griped about (a certain set of vampiric books). The odd thing about this change is that book one really had me convinced that it was poor writing, that the masses who chose to read this fluff were obviously ignoring so many blatantly bad things. I'm working my way through book two a.k.a. New Moon, and although I can't say I'm much more impressed by the writing style, I can say I am getting drawn into the story. I'm not a complete fan yet, but I do have to admit I see a few things here and there that have been done well.

This isn't a Twilight bashing post (and definitely not a Twilight celebration post) however. I would just like to talk about books that change as we read them. What I mean by this is that our impressions of a book can change, depending on how hooked we become. Is this just me? I hope not, otherwise somebody out there is calling the men in white coats.

I have on occasion started a book and just had a really rough time getting into it. I can't stand to leave a book unread however, so I'll plod through no matter how poorly it's written. Every once in a while, an author somehow turns the tables on me though. Before I know it, I'm actually enjoying the book and can't wait to turn the page. James Michener is a perfect example of this. The guy writes wonderfully - of that there is no doubt. I have found however, that I often have to get to a point somewhere deep within his books before I am hooked. Once the hook sets however, I'm in it willingly until the end.

This also begs the question in my mind as to how in the heck they got published? If a query letter and the first ten pages are what an author presents to an agent, I cannot imagine how anyone ever got hooked to Michener's tales. I'm glad they did of course, since I have enjoyed a few of his books. I just know that he failed to impress me right off the bat.

How do authors like that manage to alter opinions like this? My thoughts are that despite the lack of a gripping opening that demands my attention, the author's voice is so clear that I just can't put it down. It's like working on a very difficult word search puzzle, where I know the word is right there if I can just find it. So I keep on looking, examining every single letter of the puzzle until I finally find what I'm looking for. The little angel (or devil) sitting on my shoulder will not let me put a book down no matter how bad it may or may not be. They're published after all, so there has to be something worthwhile there, right?

I am still undecided with regards to New Moon as to whether it's really worthwhile, but I will grudgingly acknowledge that I am intrigued. Have you ever had an author change your opinion of them, just when you thought you were ready to put the book down for good?