..:: Written .:. Off ::..

My first musical disaster happened a long time ago while I was living with my parents. I woke up to find that my basement had flooded, ruining over 200+ albums that I had accumulated. All of my original Yes, Genesis, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Alice Copper were gone. Not to mention a load of others that were out of print.

I still lament over the loss of my record collection. Even back then, it would have cost me thousands to replace them. When I lost my records, CDs were already available. I ended up replacing all of my vinyl on CD.

This past weekend, I suffered another music disaster. My hard drive, containing no less than 12000 songs. At first, I didn’t panic. Most of the songs on that drive were copied from my CD collection, which remains intact. Still, there were still several albums that I purchased from iTunes that were lost on the drive.

I still remained calm. I have some of those albums backed up on CD and the rest were on my iPod. There are programs that allow you to pull files from your iPod and load them back to your computer.

One thing of note, Apple does NOT allow you to re-download your music. You download it once and that’s it. If you lose it, you are SOL. To be honest, this policy sucks. They have a record of everything that I downloaded, why not let me just pull the files down again?

The final part of the disaster struck yesterday when my iPod got wiped. I’m not sure how this happened. One minute, all of my songs were there and the next minute…gone.

So now, I don’t have any backups of those albums. Now I’m pissed.

Since Apple does will not allow me to download these albums again, I’ve vowed never to purchase digital music again. Sorry, but I’ll keep my hard copy CDs.

If music is going to become completely digital, then these companies need to come up with some kind of policy that allows customers to get their music back in case of a disaster. Even if I could get the last 6 months of purchases back, I would be happy.

So let this be a lesson to you:

1. Whenever you buy music online, make a hard copy or two.

2. Read the policies of that store before you buy.

3. Pray that CDs never go away…

Yikes! This blog is beginning to look like an obituary column. First Gary Gygax left us and now famed Author Arthur C. Clarke has passed on.

I’ve read a few of his books, including the 2001 series and the Rama books. Clarke is one of the more

You can read about Mr. Clarke here.

The stars aligned today and I was able to go to the bookstore-by myself.

Usually, I have my daughter with me when I go to the bookstore. This is usually a different experience than when I go by myself. Consider these metrics:

With Daughter:

99% Time spent in the kids section

1% Time spent trying to browse the Science Fiction and Fantasy section while my daughter dives in and out of every chair in the area

So you can understand my excitement at getting to go myself.

I drove past the Best Buy and laughed at the line of people standing outside in the blustery wind, waiting to get their hands on a Nintendo Wii. Honestly, does anyone need anything that bad?

I got to the bookstore and went straight to the Writing section (after browsing through the latest copy of Terrorizer, which I placed in front of the copies of AP Press that were labeled as the “Staff Pick of the Month.)

While checking out the writing section, I found a new book called “Write a Book in 30 Days“. The book is a work plan for writing your novel. You write inside the book and perform certain tasks each day for a month. At the end of 30 days, you are supposed to have your book written. Since I am always up for new methods, I considered buying it, but at the hefty price tag of $22.99, I wanted to browse through it before buying. After checking through it, I came to the conclusion that I already knew about most of the methods in the book. The book did seem useful, but I still stand by my belief that you should not rush a novel. Most of my best ideas developed over time.

After leaving the bookstore, I remembered reading about something called the Snowflake Method online. The snowflake method is another plan for writing a novel. I know some writers who have used this method in the past, but I never got confirmation as to whether it worked for them.

Have any of you used the Snowflake method?

Do you have your own method of novel writing that works?

If you got the joke in the title of this article, then you are probably one of the countless people mourning the loss of Gary E. Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, and the fore-father of role-playing games. Gary’s influence can be seen in both pen and paper and online role-playing games even to this day.

The first time that I played D&D was ages ago (27 ages actually) with a few friends. We played the module Keep on the Borderlands, and to my recollection, we barely knew what we were doing. That didn’t stop role-playing from becoming the game of choice in my group of friends for the next 28 years. I dropped out of role-playing about 8 years ago when I was bit by the writing bug, but some of my friends stil play on weekly basis.

Even though I don’t play anymore, those early adventures (The Tomb of Horrors, The Temple of Elemental Evil) still influence and inspire me to this day. While many people disparge D&D as a game for nerds, I challenge anyone to show me a game that let’s exercise your creativity and imagination to the extent that role-playing does. Monopoly just doesn’t hold a candle.

So, let’s raise a horn of ale to ole Gary, who has begun his next adventure into that great dungeon in the sky.

Cheers!

Gadgets are everywhere. Some are useful, while others just plain useless, like this Toaster Notepad. Last year, while Christmas shopping, I came across the Fly Fusion pen, a pen/computer that records what you write and gives you the ability to transfer it to a computer. The idea really appealed to me, but the Fly Fusion pen seemed to be geared toward kids, and frankly, the pen is big and looks uncomfortable to use.

After doing some research, I came upon another pen computer called, The Pulse by Live Scribe. The Pulse is smaller and geared toward professionals and college students. While the Pulse is not yet available, some of the features that it includes make it much more appealing than the Fly Fusion. For one, you can record audio while taking notes. Afterwards, you can tap on a section of your notes and the pen will play back the audio that it recorded during that time.

The Pulse requires that you use dotted paper (as does the Fly Fusion). There is a camera built into the tip of the pen that records your strokes. When you are finished, you plug the pen into your computer and transfer it to the Livescribe’s desktop software. From there, you can transfer what you wrote into MS Word. The Pulse will also transfer drawings.

The dotted paper will be sold through Livescribe in the form of both notebooks and leather bound journals. One nice feature is that you can print the paper out yourself if you don’t want keep buying notebooks.

Being someone who likes to write in notebook, but hates transferring what I wrote into my word processor, the idea of a pentop computer sounds great. I plan on buying a Pulse when it’s ready to ship. After putting it through it’s paces, I will post a review.

So, what do you think? Would you consider using a pen computer?

I started writing my second novel about a week ago with a skeleton outline that maps out the first few chapters. I have some idea where the story it headed, but I haven’t quite figured out the end of the book.

The story takes place in the same world that set my first book, but in a different area of the world. As I wrote, I kept hitting spots where I needed some history or descriptions that I hadn’t thought about yet. Yesterday, I forced myself to take a break from writing the story, and write some of the background, something which I normally hate doing.

I started with the initial location of the story, an old outpost at the very end of the highway. I asked myself about the history of the outpost and just wrote it out free form. The exercise helped in many ways. I know how it was built, who built it, in what sequence the buildings were constructed, and the layout of the facility. Most of this info will never make it into the story, but just knowing these little bits will allow me to add more depth as I write.

After that, I wrote the history of the organized militia that upholds the law. I wrote out everything from how they formed, their jurisdiction, their enemies, and their dress code.

All of this background writing took only about an hour or two of writing, but I’m already thinking differently about the story. Most of the info was in my head already, but in rough form. Writing it out allowed me to think about things in more detail than I ever would have.

The list below is an updated repost of my Nanowrimo tips. Every year that I fail at Nanowrimo, I learn something. Here are my tips:

NanoWriMo Tips

If you are considering doing National Novel Writing Month in November, here are some tips from a two-time failure. I may not have ever made 50,000 words but I did learn something along the way:

1. Try to do more than the required 1,666 words a day. It’s always good to have a buffer if you miss a few days. If you can get to 2000 words a day, you will have a nice buffer if you miss a day or two.

2. Make as many notes and outlines as possible during October so you don’t have to think too much out where your story is going. You don’t want to be on a roll only to get snagged by a plot point.

3. Pick a point of view that you comfortable with. It’s easier for me to write in the first person, so I usually use this POV during Nanowrimo.

4. Try to write at the same time everyday. This will help you get into the swing faster and will also build good writing habits in the future.

5. Tell your friends and family that you joined the contest.  Good supporters will cheer you on and yell at you if you’re not writing. Find some Nanowrimo buddies and stay in contact with them during the contest.

6. No editing. Don’t go back and edit anything until the month is over. Getting caught up in editing is certain doom. DOOM!

7. Create and account at the NanoWriMo site so you can upload you’re word count at the end of the day. There is something satisfying about seeing that little bar go up every day!

8. If you get really stuck, take a break, look at your outline and try to figure out different paths to take your story on.

9. The first week of Nanowrimo is easy, when you get into the second and third week, you start to feel the drag. Stay positive, and focused. Remind yourself what an accomplishment it is to get as far as you did, and keep writing.

Good luck!

Well, I just put the 7th and final (?) Harry Potter novel on the shelf next to the first six books. I wanted to write a review that was a bit different, so I’ve decided to review it purely from a writing point of view.

J.K. Rowling is certainly a skilled writer. She has created a world full of characters who are loved world-wide. Most of the previous novels followed a similar formula. The stories usually took place over the school year at Hogwarts. Rowling has broken this formula, since deem it necessary to have most of the action take place off school grounds. Without giving too much away, Harry is on the run and needs to figure out how to destroy the Dark Lord.

Pacing

The novels pacing is a subject of much discussion by readers. The novel starts off with a bang but somewhat sags in the middle. This is somewhat understandable since the characters know what they have to do, but clearly have no idea where to start. Much of the middle section of the novel revolves around the characters following leads into dead-ends. It’s realistic but still drags the story down.

Action

There are three major events in the novel that are almost purely action. The action scenes are elaborate and well written. Rowling does a fantastic job of keeping track of the characters during these scenes which sometimes span 2-3 chapters. During these scenes, there is a lot going on in the background, and Rowling manages to keep the level of suspense high.

Characters

Since this is the final novel, it is jam packed with characters from previous novels. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of all of them. In the final action sequence, it seems that everyone who is still alive shows up. Again, Rowling does a great job of giving these characters their 15-minutes (or in some cases, their 15-words). One thing that did annoy me a bit was some of the characters reactions to certain events. Some of the sub-plots (there are dozens) seemed forced. I also thought that the relationship between Ron and Hermione seemed a bit forced at times. They spend most of the novel arguing, and don’t seem to see eye to eye on anything.

Details

One thing you will notice as soon as you start reading the book is the sense of finality. She goes through great pains to let the reader know that this is the last book. It feels like the last book. She manages to tie up every loose end from the previous novels. You will also learn things about characters, like Dumbledore, that are very surprising.

World Events and Baddies

Voldemort is really, really, really bad, and Rowling is not afraid to show it. She certainly holds up her end of the deal in this respect. Everyone is afraid of Voldemort, even his closest followers. He achieves record level nastiness that is liable to give young readers nightmares. My opinion on this matter is, if you are going to spend 6 novels building up a bad guy, he had better be the King of all Baddies. In a lot of fiction, the bad guy usually ends up coming off as much cooler than the good guys. Not so in Harry Potter. There is nothing likable about Voldemort. Anyone who idolizes him probably needs a few visits with counselor.

The big picture of how his return affect the wizarding world is very well done. There is a great sense of paranoia running through the book. The characters are unable to trust anyone, even those who they thought were allies.

Overall

Even though the novel had some short comings, I really enjoyed it. Even when the book dragged, I still felt compelled to read more. The final battle and epilogue were masterfully done and should leave no reader disappointed. I

Wow! The country is once again going crazy over Harry. No surprises, since this is the final book in the series. I’ve actually been a fan of Harry Potter since the second book was released. I had never heard of Harry, until I saw a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, prominently displayed at my local bookstore. I was kind of surprised to see a fantasy book displayed in the front of the store.  The title and the cover art got my attention, so I picked it up and leafed through it. A few days later, I purchased the first book in the series, and have been reading about Harry ever since.

Since I’m a bit of a slacker, I still have yet to pick up a copy of the new book. I’m currently reading Beowulf by Seamus Heaney, and plan to read Grendel by John Gardner next. After I’m through those, I will probably make time for Harry.

Since so many people are lining up to buy the new Potter book, I was curious as to how many copies were flying off the shelves. While reading some news articles, I found an interesting story regarding how retailers aren’t making too much money off this book due to the deep discounts being offered. Check it out here:

Harry Potter and the Diminished Returns

One of the reasons that I started blogging was to meet other writers. Many of the writers who I’ve met through this blog have been have been really cool, and open-minded individuals.

It’s when I move into the general populus of writers, that I get into trouble. The more writers that I encounter, the more I find that they are a drain on my personal drive to be a successful writer.

My annoyance always mounts when it comes to the subject of Self-Publishing. I was talking to some writers about my novel and immediately found myself on the defensive because:

• I’ve hired a professional to proofread my novel.
• I firmly believe that Self Publishing is a viable alternative if you are willing to create a product that is as professional as a book published by the “big houses”, and you are willing to promote your novel to death.

The general consensus seems to be, if you can’t get your novel published traditionally, then it’s not good enough and should be shelved. Self-publishers are considered to be hacks. Well, guess what, I’d like to have a $1000 (no need to be conservative) for every traditionally published contrived, poorly editied novel I’ve slogged through over the years. The book shelves are lined with hack writers. Being published does not mean you’re not a hack.

I’ve also been told that you can only hope to sell about 250 copies of your novel if it’s self-published. These same people seem to be ignorant of the fact that many traditionally published novels never even sell 2000 copies. Being published is not the be all, end all it’s made out to be.

I don’t argue too much with these people because I realize something; they’re thinking is way to rigid. Sure, there is a huge stigma when it comes to self-publishing, but I think that most of the bias is perpetuated by us writers.

Why do I think this? Until I started writing seriously, I was blissfully unaware of terms such as Vanity Press, POD and Self-Publishing. With decades of book-buying under my belt, I never once knew if a book I was buying was from a traditional publisher or from a self-publisher. I would just buy a book and read it. I didn’t check the spine to see who published it. If the book looked good, or was recommended to me, I bought it.

End of story.

Only now, since I’m a writer and read books on the subject, and interact with other writers, am I aware of these different publishing avenues. And the only reason I may have thought that books from PODs or Vanity Presses are bad, is because I’ve been told so by other writers. I’ve never once had a non-writer tell me, “Don’t buy that book! It’s self-published!”

Writers moan about how publishing eludes them, but will turn around in an instant and burn their bridges by condeming viable alternatives.

It’s funny. A rock band that self-produces a CD, and sells it by hand is considered to be “grassroots” and given credit for having a DIY work ethic, while the writer who takes this path is considered to be an amateur who couldn’t make it with the big boys.

I think that if you are going to succeed at anything, you have to be flexible, and open to any alternatives. If you believe in your work, you should be willing to promote it, and do whatever it takes to get it out there. If I can’t get my book published traditionally, you are damned right I will self-publish. And if you are too good to do it yourself, then it’s less competition for those who do.

I remember reading Henry Rollin’s Get In The Van (which is self-published), which chronicles his years as singer of the hardcore band Black Flag. In one section, Henry is depressed because only one person has shown up to the gig that night. To paraphrase, the guitar player says, “Whether there is one person in the crowd or a hundred, you still give it your all every night.”

I firmly believe in this philosophy. No matter how you are publishing your book, if you put out a polished product, and get behind it, at least you can say that you tried. I don’t want to be 70 years old, lamenting about how I once wrote a book but couldn’t get it published. I’d rather 250 people read something that I wrote, than nobody.