Today I worked on some forum banners, to use with Project Wonderful (Or to give to other people to use to self advertise with).
You'd possibly be surprised at how hard it is. I am not a graphic artist. :P So all the banners are just text so far. But it's even hard to come up with the text. Something that's hopefully all encompassing, not just about writers or artists, and also something that grabs the attention, without making us look completely insane.
If anyone has any ideas, please, tell me.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
A Bit Of Fun
I think it's always good to occasionally have a bit of fun, a bit of a fad, on your forum - take note fellow Admins! I don't like things that go on forever, like chatrooms, because that can kill your site. But things like this, are really cute.
http://nihland.myminicity.com/
This is NiH's 'mini city'. For every unique click on the above link, you get another person living in your city. At the point of me typing this, we have a population of two- two houses, a barn, and a few fields.
Later on there'll be links available to give out to increase security, transport, industry, environment and business.
Sure, we'll get bored with it in a while, but for now it's great!
http://nihland.myminicity.com/
This is NiH's 'mini city'. For every unique click on the above link, you get another person living in your city. At the point of me typing this, we have a population of two- two houses, a barn, and a few fields.
Later on there'll be links available to give out to increase security, transport, industry, environment and business.
Sure, we'll get bored with it in a while, but for now it's great!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson
NiHers write book reviews, both about on topic (things about creativity) and offtopic (ones they just enjoy or read) books. I thought that I'd share one that was recently posted by LadyAbby. Her blog can be found here, but the review was also posted on http://www.notebookinhand.com
Let me start by saying I really truly enjoy a good happily ever after. I love it. And I was pleased with the happily ever after for the characters, though there was a lot that I -didn't- like.
The book is about a girl named Jane who has an imaginary 'friend' named Michael, who is about 30ish and has been her friend for an undetermined amount of time, at least since she was four. She's eight years old now and approaching her ninth birthday. She's the somewhat neglected daughter of a famous producer and Michael is in her life to help her have an easier time of things. He must leave though, once she turns nine.
Flash forward 23 years and Jane is now working for her producer mother and though she loves her job, she's still letting people walk all over her and run her life for her. She's got no self-confidence and a controlling actor-boyfriend. Then one day she suddenly sees Michael again. She was supposed to have forgotten him when he left but she never did, and as a grown up, she's able to appreciate Michael in a whole new way.
Michael and Jane are very cute together but there's one -big- problem for me. Michael is seriously underdeveloped. He's basically the 'perfect' man. He's a great listener, knows what you need in a friend, good looking, charming, athletic, great 'daddy' material, basically it's all there in Michael. He's got no flaws, no failings as a character and no backstory. All we know about Michael is that he's been around a while, working as an 'imaginary friend' to children all over though he only remembers his most recent assignments. And though he's had this job for a long time, there's no explanation of what he is, be it guardian angel or just imaginary being.
Another flaw of this book is how short it is. Jane and Michael's romance consists of remeeting, hanging out twice and all the sudden they're going off together to Nantucket for the weekend, having 'perfect' sex and a brilliant time. This left their romance very underdeveloped, we as the audience are supposed to believe that these two people are so perfect for each other that there's absolutely no problems in their relationship.
I think, though it had flaws, one part that stood out that made it a very enjoyable read for me was how -real- Jane was. She is in her early 30s but feels stifled by her mother. She's close to her mother (or as close as her mother will let her get) but she's still being bossed around by her. She struggles with feeling good about herself, with her weight and even though she loves her job, it's far from a perfect experience for her. The one pitfall here is how quickly having Michael back in her life seems to 'fix' Jane of her problems. They were all more or less wrapped up by the end, including her weight problem, which simply disappeared as a problem when Michael was around again. She just 'wasn't hungry' anymore.
Overall I think I'd have to give this book three out of five stars. It's a great little book but there are some things that keep it from being something absolutely amazing. I'd recommend reading it once but borrow it from the library.
Let me start by saying I really truly enjoy a good happily ever after. I love it. And I was pleased with the happily ever after for the characters, though there was a lot that I -didn't- like.
The book is about a girl named Jane who has an imaginary 'friend' named Michael, who is about 30ish and has been her friend for an undetermined amount of time, at least since she was four. She's eight years old now and approaching her ninth birthday. She's the somewhat neglected daughter of a famous producer and Michael is in her life to help her have an easier time of things. He must leave though, once she turns nine.
Flash forward 23 years and Jane is now working for her producer mother and though she loves her job, she's still letting people walk all over her and run her life for her. She's got no self-confidence and a controlling actor-boyfriend. Then one day she suddenly sees Michael again. She was supposed to have forgotten him when he left but she never did, and as a grown up, she's able to appreciate Michael in a whole new way.
Michael and Jane are very cute together but there's one -big- problem for me. Michael is seriously underdeveloped. He's basically the 'perfect' man. He's a great listener, knows what you need in a friend, good looking, charming, athletic, great 'daddy' material, basically it's all there in Michael. He's got no flaws, no failings as a character and no backstory. All we know about Michael is that he's been around a while, working as an 'imaginary friend' to children all over though he only remembers his most recent assignments. And though he's had this job for a long time, there's no explanation of what he is, be it guardian angel or just imaginary being.
Another flaw of this book is how short it is. Jane and Michael's romance consists of remeeting, hanging out twice and all the sudden they're going off together to Nantucket for the weekend, having 'perfect' sex and a brilliant time. This left their romance very underdeveloped, we as the audience are supposed to believe that these two people are so perfect for each other that there's absolutely no problems in their relationship.
I think, though it had flaws, one part that stood out that made it a very enjoyable read for me was how -real- Jane was. She is in her early 30s but feels stifled by her mother. She's close to her mother (or as close as her mother will let her get) but she's still being bossed around by her. She struggles with feeling good about herself, with her weight and even though she loves her job, it's far from a perfect experience for her. The one pitfall here is how quickly having Michael back in her life seems to 'fix' Jane of her problems. They were all more or less wrapped up by the end, including her weight problem, which simply disappeared as a problem when Michael was around again. She just 'wasn't hungry' anymore.
Overall I think I'd have to give this book three out of five stars. It's a great little book but there are some things that keep it from being something absolutely amazing. I'd recommend reading it once but borrow it from the library.
Helping and Donating To NiH
There are many ways that you can aid NiH, both monetarily and with your time and effort.
1. A donation through paypal - notebookinhand@hotmail.com
It will help give your admin some sort of wage- most of which will no doubt go to keeping NiH running.
2. Clicking the ads.
Unlike Google Adsense, you can feel very free to click Project Wonderful ads- in fact it's encouraged. People pay per day rather than paying per click.
3. Advertising NiH.
Go around and post the link to NiH around the internet! You have no idea how much this helps us.
4. Clicking the Amazon ads before you go and buy anything on Amazon.
I then get a small amount of money from Amazon for referring you, for no extra charge to yourself.
5. Writing an Article or Review, and finding people to Interview
This really helps us- it helps people find us via google. It doesn't have to be perfect or fantastic.
6. Getting people to join
Pretty obvious what that means.
7. Posting
Yes, as simple as that- just post around the forum. You may not be able to donate with money, but donating your time to other members is so important, and it also helps me very much with keeping the forum going.
1. A donation through paypal - notebookinhand@hotmail.com
It will help give your admin some sort of wage- most of which will no doubt go to keeping NiH running.
2. Clicking the ads.
Unlike Google Adsense, you can feel very free to click Project Wonderful ads- in fact it's encouraged. People pay per day rather than paying per click.
3. Advertising NiH.
Go around and post the link to NiH around the internet! You have no idea how much this helps us.
4. Clicking the Amazon ads before you go and buy anything on Amazon.
I then get a small amount of money from Amazon for referring you, for no extra charge to yourself.
5. Writing an Article or Review, and finding people to Interview
This really helps us- it helps people find us via google. It doesn't have to be perfect or fantastic.
6. Getting people to join
Pretty obvious what that means.
7. Posting
Yes, as simple as that- just post around the forum. You may not be able to donate with money, but donating your time to other members is so important, and it also helps me very much with keeping the forum going.
Dollhouse Miniatures as an Adult Hobby
Yesterday I put up a small article on Dollhouse Miniatures as an Adult Hobby, which I actually originally wrote for a Zine.
Enjoy! And like all the articles in that section, you can feel free to reply to it or pass the link around.
Today I'll be trying to drum up some more articles.
Enjoy! And like all the articles in that section, you can feel free to reply to it or pass the link around.
Today I'll be trying to drum up some more articles.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Second Interview
Finding people to interview is surprisingly hard. Finding people to interview who the NiHers will find interesting, is even harder. Finding people to interview who the NiHers will find interesting who give a good interview... really cuts down the options!
Our second interview is underway- it's a fanfiction writer. She writes in quite a few fandoms and the interesting thing is she somehow manages to write many thousand word stories, which is something that rarely happens in fanfic. I'm hoping that even people who don't write fanfic will find it interesting. If you'd like to, come in and ask her some questions- you'll find the thread in The Drawing Room.
Our second interview is underway- it's a fanfiction writer. She writes in quite a few fandoms and the interesting thing is she somehow manages to write many thousand word stories, which is something that rarely happens in fanfic. I'm hoping that even people who don't write fanfic will find it interesting. If you'd like to, come in and ask her some questions- you'll find the thread in The Drawing Room.
Nanowrimo Survival Tips
We had a thread about tips and tricks for NaNoWriMo, and this is what the members came up with. One of our members compiled it for us.
NaNoWriMo Tips and Tricks
Give yourself LOTS of room to not know where you're going with this.
Write autobiographically. Don't be afraid to fictionalize people and scenes from your past.
This is especially important during NaNo. If you're busy fretting about whether or not Johnny from third period will recognize himself in a story he probably won't ever read anyway, you'd not getting anything written. It's very likely that the characters will end up differing significantly from their real-life counterparts, but even if they don't, you can worry about that later. The point of NaNoWriMo is the creative process. Editing comes later.
Get a small notebook today and carry it (and a pen) with you everywhere you go. Ideas and inspiration strike at very strange times.
Do this even outside of November. I even keep a small pad of paper in my purse and I have been known to jot down notes while sitting at a stoplight or standing in line at the grocery store.
Listen to movie soundtracks while writing sentimental scenes.
Get out and have fun once your writing for the day is done.
Set a word quota for the day and stick to it. No matter how tired or uninspired you feel.
Write with a partner or two, and don't let the other go to the bathroom or get water until the agreed-upon word count has been met. Challenge each other. Have prizes and punishments. If none of your friends are writers, hold write-ins with other local NaNoers. When other people are writing around you, you're less likely to procrastinate. That, and you can go to the bathroom without worrying about leaving your laptop unattended.
Let chapters be any length you want. I like to have many, many chapters.
Read Anne Lamott's nonfiction Bird by Bird.
Keep a reference novel or two close at hand to see how writers handle dialogue.
Don't feel like you have to "tie it all together." Reading is by nature an act of assembly and interpretation. Leave some events unstated and plot moves unelaborated. It gives readers an active role in creating the story. But most importantly, it means less work for you as writer.
Try and pace your story so you hit "The End" exactly at 50,000 words. This will probably mean leaving out some scenes and writing others in a slightly truncated form. But getting an entire story arc out in a month makes it much easier to come back in December and get the edits rolling.
This is much more important than most people realize. I, like so many others, always focused on reaching 50,000 words, no matter at what point in the action that left me. This meant I did a lot of rambling at the beginning and never actually finished anything...which meant that I did not have a completed first draft by the end of November, which meant I had a lot of writing to do before I could start the editing process, which meant I never got around to starting the editing process.
If you don't know how something works and you have to write about it, find someone you know who does, or try the NaNoWriMo.org Forum's Character and Plot Realism Q&A.
If you can't find someone to explain it to you, just make stuff up. Invent. Lie. Wing it. Most people won't notice anyway. And you can always go back and add realistic details later.
Keep the story about characters, not plot. One of the most magical things about writing a novel is the supernatural way these people you create end up shaping their own stories. Bring your characters to life, then stand back and let them go where they will.
This is very very true, and a lot of people end up writing themselves into a corner because they're too focused on their outline. As schizophrenic as it sounds, the characters will do their own thing. When you're really cooking, it'll feel more like you're taking dictation than making it up as you go along.
If you are at all susceptible to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or any RSI, be REALLY careful in November. Pamper your body with treats and delights. Make your loved ones give you frequent massages.
Keep your priorities straight. NaNoWriMo is NOT more important than your schoolwork, spending time with your family, your best friend's birthday party, band practice, or your job. Be wary of the attitude that says, "I'm writing a novel and if you really loved me you'd understand that and not expect me to be there for you until December."
You have more time than you realize. Be mindful of how much time you spend watching television, reading for pleasure, surfing the internet, playing video games, or pursuing other hobbies.
Remember that only writing is writing. Thinking about writing and talking about writing are not writing. Fire up that old word processor and get to work.
Don't get it right, get it written
Don't get all hyped up if you DO write yourself into a corner. You can always check the Dare thread for some wacky character or plot to step in and help. If SF writing, you can create an alternate universe/reality from a quantum string or whatever the heck phenomena you want. If something other that SF & F, try memories. In my writings, memories often help flow from one event to another event that is seemingly unrelated on the surface. A memory triggered by one event can triggered a thought or even another action of the character.
If you’re stuck, try what I call the Ender's Series Method. Stop your book right where you are. Now, write the same story again, but this time, from another existing character's point of view. (Like Ender's Game was from Ender's POV; Ender's Shadow was the same story, but from Bean's POV...) The ESM also helps character development if you do this more than three times, or do a sequel in more than one POV.
Let yourself get a little sloppy if you must. Lock the door and try going a few days without showering (probably as the Nov. 31st deadline approaches.) Think of it like camping. Only do what you have to to stay alive. Wear your favourite inspiration-cardigan, even if you spilled dressing all down the front and if you turn on the space heater the entire room fills with saveur-de-warm-blue-cheese. Don't let the little things get you down, is what I'm sayin'. If you take every opportunity to go put on some lip chap cos you feel a little dry, or paint your toenails, or trim your goatee, whatever: it will eat at your time like nothing else. Maybe that cabinet needs to be dusted, or you promised you'd clean out the fridge--NO! Stop now! Go sit and write!
If you get assignments, do them as soon as you can because that way, you have a chance to get them done without getting distracted later. Same comes with work projects - get them done quickly unless the time runs over the 30th.
Find a completely distraction free corner to write.
Reward yourself! Even if it's just saying, "I'll have a 10 minute break after ... words, it makes you feel better and the words just chug along!"
NaNoWriMo Tips and Tricks
Give yourself LOTS of room to not know where you're going with this.
Write autobiographically. Don't be afraid to fictionalize people and scenes from your past.
This is especially important during NaNo. If you're busy fretting about whether or not Johnny from third period will recognize himself in a story he probably won't ever read anyway, you'd not getting anything written. It's very likely that the characters will end up differing significantly from their real-life counterparts, but even if they don't, you can worry about that later. The point of NaNoWriMo is the creative process. Editing comes later.
Get a small notebook today and carry it (and a pen) with you everywhere you go. Ideas and inspiration strike at very strange times.
Do this even outside of November. I even keep a small pad of paper in my purse and I have been known to jot down notes while sitting at a stoplight or standing in line at the grocery store.
Listen to movie soundtracks while writing sentimental scenes.
Get out and have fun once your writing for the day is done.
Set a word quota for the day and stick to it. No matter how tired or uninspired you feel.
Write with a partner or two, and don't let the other go to the bathroom or get water until the agreed-upon word count has been met. Challenge each other. Have prizes and punishments. If none of your friends are writers, hold write-ins with other local NaNoers. When other people are writing around you, you're less likely to procrastinate. That, and you can go to the bathroom without worrying about leaving your laptop unattended.
Let chapters be any length you want. I like to have many, many chapters.
Read Anne Lamott's nonfiction Bird by Bird.
Keep a reference novel or two close at hand to see how writers handle dialogue.
Don't feel like you have to "tie it all together." Reading is by nature an act of assembly and interpretation. Leave some events unstated and plot moves unelaborated. It gives readers an active role in creating the story. But most importantly, it means less work for you as writer.
Try and pace your story so you hit "The End" exactly at 50,000 words. This will probably mean leaving out some scenes and writing others in a slightly truncated form. But getting an entire story arc out in a month makes it much easier to come back in December and get the edits rolling.
This is much more important than most people realize. I, like so many others, always focused on reaching 50,000 words, no matter at what point in the action that left me. This meant I did a lot of rambling at the beginning and never actually finished anything...which meant that I did not have a completed first draft by the end of November, which meant I had a lot of writing to do before I could start the editing process, which meant I never got around to starting the editing process.
If you don't know how something works and you have to write about it, find someone you know who does, or try the NaNoWriMo.org Forum's Character and Plot Realism Q&A.
If you can't find someone to explain it to you, just make stuff up. Invent. Lie. Wing it. Most people won't notice anyway. And you can always go back and add realistic details later.
Keep the story about characters, not plot. One of the most magical things about writing a novel is the supernatural way these people you create end up shaping their own stories. Bring your characters to life, then stand back and let them go where they will.
This is very very true, and a lot of people end up writing themselves into a corner because they're too focused on their outline. As schizophrenic as it sounds, the characters will do their own thing. When you're really cooking, it'll feel more like you're taking dictation than making it up as you go along.
If you are at all susceptible to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or any RSI, be REALLY careful in November. Pamper your body with treats and delights. Make your loved ones give you frequent massages.
Keep your priorities straight. NaNoWriMo is NOT more important than your schoolwork, spending time with your family, your best friend's birthday party, band practice, or your job. Be wary of the attitude that says, "I'm writing a novel and if you really loved me you'd understand that and not expect me to be there for you until December."
You have more time than you realize. Be mindful of how much time you spend watching television, reading for pleasure, surfing the internet, playing video games, or pursuing other hobbies.
Remember that only writing is writing. Thinking about writing and talking about writing are not writing. Fire up that old word processor and get to work.
Don't get it right, get it written
Don't get all hyped up if you DO write yourself into a corner. You can always check the Dare thread for some wacky character or plot to step in and help. If SF writing, you can create an alternate universe/reality from a quantum string or whatever the heck phenomena you want. If something other that SF & F, try memories. In my writings, memories often help flow from one event to another event that is seemingly unrelated on the surface. A memory triggered by one event can triggered a thought or even another action of the character.
If you’re stuck, try what I call the Ender's Series Method. Stop your book right where you are. Now, write the same story again, but this time, from another existing character's point of view. (Like Ender's Game was from Ender's POV; Ender's Shadow was the same story, but from Bean's POV...) The ESM also helps character development if you do this more than three times, or do a sequel in more than one POV.
Let yourself get a little sloppy if you must. Lock the door and try going a few days without showering (probably as the Nov. 31st deadline approaches.) Think of it like camping. Only do what you have to to stay alive. Wear your favourite inspiration-cardigan, even if you spilled dressing all down the front and if you turn on the space heater the entire room fills with saveur-de-warm-blue-cheese. Don't let the little things get you down, is what I'm sayin'. If you take every opportunity to go put on some lip chap cos you feel a little dry, or paint your toenails, or trim your goatee, whatever: it will eat at your time like nothing else. Maybe that cabinet needs to be dusted, or you promised you'd clean out the fridge--NO! Stop now! Go sit and write!
If you get assignments, do them as soon as you can because that way, you have a chance to get them done without getting distracted later. Same comes with work projects - get them done quickly unless the time runs over the 30th.
Find a completely distraction free corner to write.
Reward yourself! Even if it's just saying, "I'll have a 10 minute break after ... words, it makes you feel better and the words just chug along!"
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