Friday, December 31, 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE ORACLE AND THE MUSE

"Let him that would move the world, first move himself." ~Socrates

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year!

It's a time of rebirth, reinvention, and... let's face it, renegging on resolutions. Here is my desire for all my friends, fans, readers, and passersby:
  • Do make a list of things you want to accomplish this upcoming year.
  • Do create a plan for how to achieve them.
  • Do create a meaningful way to monitor your progress.
  • Do make a back up plan if your Plan "A" fails.

Strive to make 2011 your best year yet. If you aim for the stars, at least you'll get off the ground.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

*see you on the other side*

Thursday, December 30, 2010

ARTFUL THURSDAY: A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words- My Writing Process


I figured for this edition of Artful Thursday, I would give my readers and passersby a glimpse into my process. In this set of pics, I was writing a retelling of the Greek myth of Jason and Medea. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, that particular story is told primarily from Medea's point of view, and offered few details into Jason's mindset and his daunting labors in obtaining the Golden Fleece.

So, that's where I came in. I told it from Jason's pov and provided fast paced details of his grueling tasks, and threw a bit more fantasy in there. Right now the short story retelling of Jason's Quest for the Fleece is on submission. Cross your fingers for me.
















Tuesday, December 28, 2010

TUESDAY TIDBITS: Good Enough Never Is.

      
     I'm finishing up my Caenus manuscript. It has seen a lot of iterations. It's gone from plot twists to plot strangles. It's marginally recognizable from it's younger days, in the same way that a grown person doesn't really resemble themselves as a baby, yet you can still see the signiture lines and features. My manuscript is grown now... or at least I hope it is.

     Which leads me to my next point. WIP's are *never* really grown... they're always growing. They can always be improved, yes? So, thinking that my Caenus WIP is all *grown* is simply to say that I think it's ready to be queried. But even as I think that, every time I read back through it, I change something. OK, who am I kidding... something(s). A writer's job is never done.

     Which leads me to my next point. Good Enough Never Is. Agents and editors turn down "Good Enough" every day, all day long. "Good Enough" still needs more work. In some cases, lots more work. Even "Great" manuscripts need more work. So why try to submit something that is simply "Good Enough?"

     Keep working, striving for perfection, honing, sanding, smoothing, sharpening, and polishing. Look at every word, every verb, every dialogue tag, every sentence through the *Good-Better-Best* lense. The difference between "Good Enough" and "Great" is not huge, but it is significant. And it could mean getting an offer of representation versus simply a request for a partial/ full and then a response of "not for me."

Here's a great post from Clarissa Draper over at Listen To The Voices
Here's another great resource

And with that... I'm off to hone some more before I travel maneuver wind through get beat down by enter the dreaded gauntlet of querying.

Happy Writing. Happier Editing.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Peer Deep Into My Mind... What Do You See?

I saw this over at Labotomy of a Writer and just *had* to do it.

You can go to Typealyzer and the program will analyze your blog and tell you what kind of person you are. And as for me, and apparently Anastasia at Labotomy, this program is scarily accurate.

Go ahead. Try it. I dare you.

SO I had my blog analyzed and it said this:
****
The analysis indicates that the author of http://caenus.blogspot.com is of the type:

INFP - The Idealists


The meaning-seeking and unconventional type. They are especially attuned to making sure their beliefs and actions are congruent. They often develop a passion for the arts or unusual forms of self-expression.
They enjoy work that are aligned to their deeply felt values and tend to strongly dislike the more practical and mundane forms of tasks. They can enjoy working alone for long periods of time and are happiest when they can immerse themselves in personally meaningful projects.
****

Let me just say that this is eerily... scarily accurate. Got. me. Pegged.

How about you? Try it and see. Click here to go to Typealyzer.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

ARTFUL THURSDAY: Poseidon- The Ultimate Marine



Poseidon was the Greek God of the Sea (and horses) and brother to Zeus (King of the Gods) and Hades (God of the Underworld). His Roman counterpart was Neptune, who, in many cases, is more well known than he is. Consider that the eighth planet from the sun in our solar system is named Neptune. And while we're on the subject of crazy eights, Poseidon's holy number was, you guessed it... 8! And the eighth day of every ancient Greek lunar month was celebrated in honor of Poseidon.

I missed the 8th day of Poseideon this year but that doesn't mean it's too late to honor the Earth-shaker. Today, The Oracle and The Muse honors the God of the Sea and his ever present trident.


















Tuesday, December 21, 2010

TUESDAY TIDBITS: He Said/ She Said-- Principles of Great Dialogue!

Today's little TIDBITS workshop is dedicated to Writing Better Dialogue.


Great Dialogue Begins With Characters
First, really get a good sense of your characters, their motivations, their nuances, their quirks, their voices. Good writers, in some cases, can write dialogue with no tags (Dan said, Molly said). If their characters are fully realized, it's possible to know who is talking simply by what they say and how they say it.

Be Your Own Thespian
Role play the scene you're writing to see if it flows well. Grab your roommate, husband, wife, or crit partner and *run through your lines* like you're rehearsing a script. If it flows naturally... roll with it.

Avoid Redundancy
Part of this goes back to dialogue tags. If you can discern who is talking without a dialogue tag (he said/ she said) then telling *who* said it is redundant. Also, try not to repeat things previously said. There's nothing more annoying than a dialogue echo. Echo. Echo. Echo

Use Dead Spots In Conversation
Sometimes there are actions that eat up dead space. Non-verbal communication is just as important in writing dialogue as it is in real life. Use them to your advantage. For example, consider a convo between a mother and daughter about the daughter's report card.

Mom: "So, Marilu, do you have anything you want to tell me about this F in Chemistry?
Marilu cast her eyes downward, continuing to spread mayo on her sandwich.
Mom: "Did you hear me?"
Marilu nodded without looking up.

By the way... when you look at the pic above, do you see a candelabra... or do you see people talking.

Hope this was helpful. Happy Writing.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

ARTFUL THURSDAY: How Many Faces Does A Mountain Have?



How many faces does a mountain have? Does it depend on how many peaks it has?

When you cast your gaze upon the hallowed Olympus, the answer is... infinite. Mount Olympus is one of, if not, the most iconic home for a pantheon of gods... the Greek Gods to be exact. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Athene, Aphrodite, Hephaistos, Hermes, Dionysos, and Hestia all called Olympus home. Although, it is debatable whether they threw Ares out for being a rabble rouser of sorts.

The beauty of the mountain itself is undeniable.   Artists' rendering of Olympus through the years... priceless.





The many faces of Mount Olympus:










Thursday, December 9, 2010

ARTFUL THURSDAY: King Of The Gods- My, You've Aged Well!

Since November to December was the ancient Greek lunar month of Maimakterion, and since the principle deity worshiped during this month was Zeus... then HE is the subject of this week's Artful Thursday. From King of the Gods to boss of the video game God of War, Zeus has captured our imagination. All men have wanted to be him. All women have wanted to be with him, including those Zeus had to transform himself into animals in order to seduce... but that's fodder for another blog post.

Without further ado... Zeus!























And here's another wonderful rendition
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/194/e/a/Greek_god__Zeus_by_Alayna.jpg

Sunday, December 5, 2010

SUNDAY INSPIRATION: Homage To Some Of The Best Writing Around

So today's installment is part inspiration-part homage.

Yes. The following clip has some of the most inspiring words from some of my favorite moments in film. Therein lies the homage. To all the writers who contributed to these iconic films and moments... I salute you!



NOW, the following clip is one of my most favoritest inspiring speeches, EVAH! Even as I watched the clip again to see if I would use it today, I got goosebumps and chills. Go ahead. View it.
I dare you to not get chills.




Tell me below, what are your favorite moments in film as a result of great writing?

Thursday, December 2, 2010

ARTFUL THURSDAY: Boreas- When The Cold Wind Blows

Since it is beginning to get cold here in south-east United States, and has already gotten cold in many parts of the northern hemisphere, Boreas came to mind for this week's Artful Thursday.

Boreas is the vicious, winged Greek God of the North Wind and Winter. With inky hair and beard spiked with ice, he swept down upon the Earth, chilling the air with his icy breath. Here's a bit of trivia: One of his children is Khione, the Goddess of Snow. Predictable. But, two of his other offspring, the twins Zetes and Calais, accompanied Jason of Iolkos on his mythic Quest for the Golden Fleece.

And now for images of Boreas. Enjoy.