Best Viewed with Curiosity

I'm off to read, bake cookies, have friends over and otherwise not step one foot out of the house (my guy is in retail, so I expect him to drag himself home sometime around 1 am.) I hope your holidays are going well.

So that your visit here was not entirely wasted, here are:

Ten Links from Leogeo.com
(caution: most of these links come with music or sound effects, so turn off your speakers if you're at work)

Day and Night

E-Site Study

Encircling Circles

Green

Harlequin (one that won't piss you off)

On the window

RGB

Round-round

Time

Time beat

Leogeo.com is the online art studio/journal/experiment/poetry/you name it of Leo Mariño in Barcelona, Spain; (Leogeo.com Version 1 is equally as cool.

Wishing You

Mid-week NaNoPost

Including today, you NaNo'ers out there have almost a week left to work on your novel. Of course there's also a holiday tomorrow for those who celebrate Thanksgiving, the holiday weekend that follows, and assorted celebrations, visitations, possibly traveling . . . plenty to do, and to derail you during this last stretch.

I'll tell you a professional secret: there's always the possibility of something to derail you. Holidays, domestic crises, disappointments, arguments, family emergencies, equipment failure, power outtages, illness, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods -- and they all seem to happen at the worst moment, like right on the first day of a deadline week. Or on the last. Usually, on the last.

Here's another professional secret: whatever it is, don't sweat it. Deal with life, write when you can, and let the rest go until the situation improves and allows you more writing time. To do otherwise is like trying to juggle chainsaws. It's just not worth it.

That's not me saying give up. Doing this job is never about quitting, it's about making it a part of your life. Life is not going to stand still while you write, so you have to work it in. Sometimes you can do that, and sometimes you simply can't. You'd never give up watching television just because you got a flat tire on the way home from work and missed one episode of your favorite program, right? Same thing with writing.

I'll be back on Saturday with my NaNo wrap-up post. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving, and have a great weekend.

T-Day Prep Secrets

For Thanksgiving this year I bought our bird a week in advance because last year I learned that all the other home cooks in my town buy theirs a week in advance, leaving only 5- or 35-lb. turkeys for those of us who'd rather wait. If you did the same, thawing a frozen turkey by transferring it from the freezer to the fridge is still the ideal method. I was taught was to allow 24 hours thaw time in the fridge per 5 pounds of frozen meat; Butterball say 1 day per 4 pounds, and has an entire page here with info on how to thaw your bird safely.

We love baked apple anything, and I wanted a lighter dessert this year for Thanksgiving, so I'm going to try the puff-pastry apple strudel recipe in the December 2009 issue of Cooking Light. They don't have it posted online yet, but there's a similar recipe here on Pepperidge Farm's Puff Pasty site. If I can find my candy thermometer, I'm also going to try a recipe CL has in the holiday issue for popcorn brittle -- you use popcorn instead of nuts; I bet the kids will love it.

Before people start to e-mail, my recipe for no-brainer fudge is here.

My favorite holiday centerpiece is an edible one, and I usually make mine out of apples and nuts. But this year in deference to my daughter's braces I'm going to make one from white, red and concord grapes and some gold-wrapped chocolate coins. If it turns out well I'll post a pic of it on the photoblog.

Thanksgiving is my one old-fashioned full-blown all-out cooking day during the year, and friends who drop in to visit early before they go home for their feast often ask me what they can bring. I suggest donuts, coffee cake or a brunch item that can be served easily and immediately to my drop-in guests (including the ones who bring it.) These are great because I don't have to prepare them or make stove or oven space for them, and they provide a gathering point for everyone else, which keeps them out of the kitchen and my hair (I love you guys, but if you touch my crudites before the platter is finished again, I'm going to hurt you.)

If you have hungry little ones with nothing to do, you might set up a card table with the ingredients they'll need to assemble this fun fruit turkey either as a snack for themselves or as a dessert alternative.

For those of you who dread turkey disasters on the big day, Butterball also has their annual holiday Turkey Talk-Line open once again this year: 1-800-288-8372 qeekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST, or if the turkey isn't on fire you can also e-mail them at talkline@butterball.com.

Do you all have any special T-Day preps or tips you'd like to share? Let us know in comments.

For the Writer on Your List

Ten Things That Make Great Gifts for Writers

Books: We write them, we read them, we love them. There isn't a single book gift I've received that I haven't wallowed in during the holidays, especially when it's a surprise book. One year a friend of mine filled a stocking with a mug, some packets of hot chocolate mix and some new mystery paperbacks she thought just sounded cool; I discovered three authors (Harlan Coben, Linda Fairstein and Sue Grafton) I still read ($7.99 for most new paperbacks; B&N.com has free shipping for orders of $10.00 or more for their members)

Bookseller Online Gift Certificates: Hands down the most painless for you/most welcome for them gift for any writer on your list. You purchase and e-mail it to them and you're done (B&N.com offers them in amounts ranging from $10.00 - $250.00)

Healthy Cooking X 2: Cooking Light Magazine is offering a 2-for-1 holiday gift subscription where you get 1 year/12 issues for your writer plus a second subscription for you. ($24.00 = $12.00/subscription)

Just for Journaling: For the writer who doesn't put everything on their blog, Vera Bradley Frankly Scarlet Flexi 6" X 8" Journal has 160 lined/lightly decorated pages and a closure band ($10.36/$9.32 for B&N.com members)

Levengers: With a catalogue writers and readers have been known to drool over, and some very dreamy but extremely expensive items, Levengers is definitely dangerous. But they also have a sales section that usually has some decent buys under $25, like this Notable Impressions Notebook and a colorful collection of Wordsmith's Rubber Bands and Clips, each marked down to $9.95 (various prices)

MagPo: I absolutely love Magnetic Poetry, and there are all kinds of editions for everyone on your list (most are $19.95.) For writers I like to give the Writer's Remedy ($14.95) or The Poet Edition ($19.95.) I admit, the one I still play with most is the little kit in the back of The Magnetic Poetry Book of Poetry ($13.95/$11.92 for members at B&N.com)

P&W: It might be stuffy at times -- okay, most of the time -- but the monthly, extensive listings of contests, open calls, grants and other writer sub ops make the print version of Poets & Writers magazine worth the annual subscription rate (currently $14.97/six issues)

Shakespeare's Den: For those classic lit-lovers and calligraphy nuts on your list, I recommend having a look around the unique offerings over at Shakespeare's Den. They always have some cool stuff in the sales and clearance section; I like this stylus and nib set for a very reasonable $9.95 and this very unusual musician's writing set for $19.95 (various prices)

Smithsonian Online: The virtual gift shop of the Smithsonian Museum is where I go when I need a gift for a hard-to-shop-for writer. Like Levengers they can be very pricey, but they run weekly web specials during the holidays and have a decent selection of gifts under $25.00. Two that appealed to me are a set of six Cloisonné pens for $24.00, a set of six Cloisonné kitten bookmarks for $15.99, and a calligraphy letter holder for $14.99 (various prices)

Thesaurus & Art: Thinkmap's Visual Thesaurus is one of my favorite gifts to give to writers; they offer a free 14-day trial if you want to test drive it first, and they also have a couple of subscription options, including online access on a monthly basis, which you can cancel at any time ($2.95 per month as you go, $19.95 for an annual subscription, and $39.95 for CDs for the software.)

Have you guys found any great gifts for writers or readers out there? Tell us about them in comments.

New Moon

The kids and I went on Saturday to see New Moon, mainly to avoid all the crazed Twilight fans who packed the theaters for the Thursday midnight and Friday shows. Still, the show we planned to see was sold out when we arrived (15 minutes before start time; traffic on the way there was really heavy) so we bought tickets for the next show and went and had a leisurely lunch.

When we came back for our show, they sent us to the largest stadium-style theater, and it was packed to the rafters. I actually had to sit in the row behind the kids because we couldn't find enough empty seats together. I'm going to do this again, too, because while I could keep an eye on them from where I was, I didn't have to put up with trying to watch the movie amidst a thousand giggles, whispers and Omigods from the girls.

Some potential spoilers follow; you have been warned.

Overall I thought the movie was okay, and stayed pretty faithful to the novel, although I only read New Moon once so don't quote me on that. I liked the characters of Jacob and Carlisle best, and they both made the movie for me. The filming was beautifully done, with plenty of interesting angles and special effects -- and please note, computer-generated stuff never bothers me because I'm too old and near-sighted to tell if it's real or it's digital; your mileage may vary.

I still didn't like a few things that were carried over from Twilight, like the weird vampire makeup and the odd-colored contacts they wear. I wish Emmet would get more lines and screen time; he's fun. The scenes with Victoria running through the forest were a waste of film. Most annoying/overdone detail: there were so many audible gasps and other breathing sounds from Bella's character I felt like I should be yelling for a rescue inhaler every time she came on screen.

The violence wasn't too over-the-top, but there seemed to be a great deal more of it in this movie compared to Twilight (it's been a while since I saw the first movie, though, so I may have forgotten it.) I saw a lot of very young kids in the theater, and personally I'd be very hesitant to bring a child under the age of 13 to see this movie.

Some other thoughts:

If you're going this week, buy your tickets in advance and get there early to see what sort of lines you'll be dealing with. The show after ours had at least three hundred people waiting in line by the time we came out.

New Moon is a long movie, clocking in at 2 hours 10 minutes, so definitely hit the restroom before it starts and don't drink a vat of soda during the film.

Having a healthy lunch immediately before the movie provided an unexpected bonus; no one wanted the movie theater's very unhealthy popcorn, candy or sodas when we went back for our show. Probably saved me at least $40.

You might consider pre-screening the movie yourself before you bring kids who are easily impressionable or under the age of 13 for a couple of reasons:

-- The romantic content remains hugging and light kissing only, but there is definitely more of that, and a building adult theme to the relationship between the protagonists.

-- The werewolves are not of the drippy or gross variety, and the transformations are almost instantaneous so you don't even catch it if you blink, but there are several group attack scenes and one battle between two werewolves that might frighten a little one.

--There was also a lot more implied/offstage violence, as when they lead a large group of unsuspecting tourists (including a small child) in to the Italian vampires. You don't see anything, but you do hear screams begin and none of the heroic characters do anything to intervene.

-- I thought the most graphic scene was one that showed a before-and-after manual decapitation of one vampire by another. It wasn't bloody or extended, but it was brutal and disturbing.

My two hardcore Twilight fans said it was better and much more exciting than the first movie. So it made the kids happy, although the girls were completely on the edge of their seats during the very last scene, which ends on another Bella gasp. After that both girls swore they'd have to be first in line to see the next movie, which means we'll be doing this again in June 2010, when Eclipse hits the theaters.

EndWeek NaNoPost

I'm hoping by the time this post shows up on the blog that I've completed 50K and made my NaNoWriMo goal. But if I haven't, I'm sure you'll forgive me; we've still got nine days left.

This past week for me has been all about striking back. I got over a major disruption and took back my writing space. Every time I sat down to work it felt like victory, as if I'd taken back my Road Runner lunchbox from a schoolyard bully. Life can interrupt and shout and hit and stomp you, but at the end of the day if you really want that PB&J, you have take it back and say "Mine."

The last week of NaNoWriMo will be a bit like a deadline week is for a pro. You may become painfully aware of time, or see November 30th bearing down on you like a train without brakes. Panic can set in, and so can the urge to have multiple marathon writing sessions. Just the other day I caught myself doing the math in my head to see how much I'd have to write per day to finish the entire book by November 30th (about 5.4K, or eight hours of writing sessions per day, which is doable -- but I'd have to set aside all my other WIPs to do it.)

If you've fallen behind, I'm not going to tell you to give up on your goal. Some things are worth a couple of marathon writing sessions. Just be smart and try to pace yourself, take regular breaks and don't do a wordcount every five minutes.

If you're on schedule or you're in the home stretch, don't rush things to finish early -- keep up a steady pace. One thing most pros do is learn how to take advantage of time and make the best use of it versus forever trying to beat the clock. There are no prizes for the fastest writer, or the most prolific.

At this point whether you have 10K, 20K, 30K, or 49.9K, you may also have another visitation from the Ghost of Doubts and Fears Past. They like to drop in around now to remind you of how much you suck, and there's nothing they like better than to derail a writer who is coming within sight of their goal. I think they have prizes for that; little shrunken writer heads that they put on necklaces and wear around their scrawny necks.

If those old feelings get into your writing space, remember what you have to do: accept them, agree with them, and then write your words for the day. Don't waste your time and energy wrestling with invisible jackasses who only want to suck the life and joy out of your work and your skull.

So how are you NaNo'ers out there doing? Has anyone won, or gotten close to the finish line? Let us know in comments.

No-Cost Ten

Ten Things You Can Have for Nothing

Freeware caution: always scan free downloads of anything for bugs and other threats before dumping the programs into your hard drive.

ALEX Personal Knowledge Base is "a very simple tool to organize your knowledge, notes, ideas and other information" (OS: Windows32/64, Linux32/64, OS X, Solaris, AIX and etc.)

Eldy is "the first easy software dedicated to the elderly, from European Eldy’s non-profit organization. Eldy allows seniors use computers and enjoy the Internet revolution, by providing a software that allows easy access to all the most important functions: e-mail (any pop3/imap account), chat, Web browsing, weather, text editor, streaming and a lot more." [I'm listing this one for writers out there like me with older parents who are often perplexed by Internet; this might make things a bit easier for Mom & Pop.] (OS: Windows and Linux; multi-lingual, multi-user version available.)

FotoMix is "a versatile program that allows you to mix and manipulate different pictures, to create a wide variety of images. Features: Remove, add or alter backgrounds; add or remove your loved and not so loved ones from your pictures; design eye-catching photo collages, illustrations, wallpapers, CD and DVD covers, and miscellaneous Web graphics; create photo montages by combining multiple pictures into a unique heirloom depicting retrospectives of a birth, marriage, anniversary, etc." (OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7)

Idea Knot for Mac allows the user to "Quickly tie ideas together. That is what Idea Knot does. With it you write documents that contain ideas written quickly at the instant inspiration hits you. You then organize these ideas together into relevant groups. Finally, when you have more time, you can edit those ideas until they are complete. Freeware for Mac OS X only. Source code posted on developer's site. We use it internally to develop drafts for legal documents, use-cases for software development and brainstorming documents during meetings" (OS: Mac OS X)

Image Tricks is "an application to edit and generate images. It uses Mac OS X Core Image filters that transform pictures to unimaginable extent. Various mathematical algorithms let you generate unique images. Created artwork can be used as a background, web-design illustration, for print materials and more" (OS: Mac OS X 10.5 Intel, Mac OS X 10.4 Intel, Mac OS X 10.5 PPC, Mac OS X 10.4, Mac OS X 10.6, Mac OS X 10.6 Intel, Mac OS X 10.4 PPC)

iSnip is "a new freeware application that allows users to manage and edit a collection of text clippings that can be easily accessed from a system wide menu. iSnip includes the ability to create a snippet from the clipboard contents using a global hotkey, inserting or copying of the selected snippet, instant filtering of your snippet collection, full drag and drop organization, full rule-based organization (with wildcard support), integrated software updating, import and export of the users snippet database, and more" (OS: Mac OS X 10.3, Mac OS X 10.3.9)

Read your Kindle books on your PC with this free Kindle app (OS: Windows 7, Vista and XP; Mac version coming soon.)

OneLoupe is a screen magnifier that is "simple and easy to use, the small Magnifier is always ready when you need it to view all fine details, even the small print in the I-Net to decipher. OneLoupe is very practical and user-friendly. And it is virtually no burden on the system, an installation is not required. Once placed on the desktop, it is always ready for use. Adjustable zoom range, and the zoom factor allow an individual adapt to the needs of individuals. This will of course be saved for the next start of OneLoupe with your favourite settings. Get color pixel from your desktop screen is also implemented, and not to forget that it offers the possibility for the quick creation of images from the zoom range, for comfortable work over the clipboard. It is also suitable for people with visual impairments or weak eyes. The control of the zoom window is done through direct input of the keyboard and mouse motions" (OS: Windows Servers 2000/2003/2005 Win 98/XP/Vista and Windows-7 x64/x86)

"Part scrapbook, part “to-do” list (or to-buy list), Ript mimics the actions of ripping, piling and arranging scraps of information. If you can see it on your computer, you can “rip” it. Simply drag and drop images and text from the internet or your computer and arrange them however you please — making it easy to compile, print and share your handiwork" (OS: Windows XP and Vista)

Text to HTML Converter is "a free tool for plain text to html conversion. To convert your text file to html -- just open the text file and press "convert" button" (OS: Windows)

Last minute extra: want to read a novel by an award-winning writer as it's being written? Author Holly Lisle is giving away the first draft of her new novel, TalysMana, to readers by e-mail. There's no cost involved, you just have to sign up by name and e-mail here, and you'll receive the book one scene at a time as she writes it.

Newsy Bits

NY Time bestselling author Bob Mayer has joined the line-up over at my group blog, Genreality, and his first post is already up.

Google has this image search thing called Image Swirl that is currently in demo stage, but looks pretty neat; evidently it's set up to operate a bit like ThinkMap's Visual Thesaurus (link swiped from The Presurfer.)

I'm going to be doing some blog renovations during the month of December, when I'll also be wrapping up my 2009 online art project, PBWindow. While I won't be posting every day after 12/31/09, I am going to keep the photoblog and post to it whenever I have something interesting or fun to share.

Anyone besides me and the kids going to see New Moon this weekend?

Mid-week NaNoPost

We've passed the mid-way mark of NaNoWriMo, and I really felt the burn this past week. The words were not interested in me or my novel and tried to avoid me. All the fun went out of town. I got mired down in scene after scene and slogged, slogged, slogged. If there was an Olympic slogging event, I think I would have qualified five times over.

A couple of times my mercenary self (a bit like TssVar from StarDoc, but with more teeth) tried to reason with my writer self (a lot like an exhausted hamster lolling in a wheel, with less teeth.) The money-hungry lizard self kept asking, "Why keep doing this when we could be 100% focused on the stuff we do for money?" My little fuzzy squeaky self was smart, though, and hid under the bed until my mercenary self got tired of poking at the dust pellets and slithered off to balance the checkbook and conquer some helpless planet.

If you writers out there are where I was, this is a wonderful time to laugh at yourself. Writers are never as funny as we are when we're frustrated. We do crazy stuff, we say ridiculous things, and occasionally we find inspiration in the most unlikely of places.

To cope with this slog-fest I've been stuck in, I went to see the same play twice in two days, made myself fish for breakfast (after everyone left the house) and cleaned out my laundry room (you could now comfortably dine on any surface in there, including the ones inside the machines.) I also worried and fretted and meditated and wore my ugliest pair of socks and at one point considered stopping by a tattoo parlor (fortunately that last impulse was defeated by the memory of my mother's life long threat to chop off any part of my body that I ever have tattooed.)

Writing is glorious. It's also heart-breaking. But somewhere in the middle it can get a little ridiculous, too. So can we. In those times, the best medicine is laughter, directed at yourself, at this rather insane calling of ours, and at everything we do to cope with it.

The highlight of this past week was when I shut off the computer, went into the kitchen and baked a big batch of cookies that I really didn't have time to bake. It reminded me that spending time doing something frivolous and unnecessary, just for the joy of it, is always a good thing. Kind of like NaNoWriMo . . .

Snow and Trees

In addition to my NaNoNovel, I'm working on the third Kyndred book, and one major obstacle I have with this one is the setting for one of the early chapters of the novel: snow and trees, trees and snow. There are mountains (background) a road (lost early on) and one cargo truck (ditto) but that's about it. During the length of one chapter I have to move my characters through a setting in which there are no other people, vehicles, houses, towns or any sign of civilization.

This is the sort of place I think of as a non-setting setting, and it's one of the toughest to write because it seems like you have so little to work with. It's always tempting to start adding in things into this bleak landscape to remind the reader that the characters are still on this planet: critters (wild), caves (abandoned) and cabins (ditto) would be my first choices. But a magical distraction or solution to their immediate problem doesn't serve this story, so I have to work with what I have: snow and trees.

Fortunately I've visited several remote areas during winter, and I know I have a bit more than snow and trees to work with. There is the sky, various forms of natural light, water (streams, lakes, ponds) rock formations, animal tracks, and remnants of earlier passages (some hikers don't seem to know what trash cans are.)

Cold is always touted to mute the senses, and it does restrict my sense of smell, but I've found it also sharpens my hearing. You'd think a setting of snow and trees would be pretty silent, and it can be, but there's also the wind, snow falling, birds, echoes, etc. If you're in thaw weather, you hear water dripping, rushing, shifting debris and cracking as solid surfaces break up; if you're in a freeze you hear branches snapping, drifts collapsing and this odd crunchy sound ice-covered objects make when they rub together. In such places you also tend to regularly hear your own breathing and (occasionally) your heartbeat.

I find visuals help, too. I regularly go over and search Landscapes 2.0 for inspirational pics using keywords like mountains, snow and winter. Often photographers find things in otherwise deserted landscapes that are beautiful, poignant and even astonishing.

Once I put together all my visuals, notes and ideas, I found I had quite a bit more to work with than just snow and trees. But I'll admit, I'm glad it's only for one chapter. As much as I like snow and trees, I like great big fireplaces, warm snuggly quilts and huge steaming mugs of hot chocolate even better. So will my characters.

Related links:

How Setting Influences Story by J.C. Hewitt.

Fun with Setting by PBW.


Image credit: © Luminis | Dreamstime.com

NaNo Ten

Ten Things to Help with NaNoWriMo

Customize your anagrams with Wordsmith.org's Advanced Anagrams generator.

Over at the forums on the NaNoWriMo site I found the quite excellent Big Scary Character Quiz '09, which gives you a long list of questions to answer in character.

Another detailed character worksheet template: The Epiguide.com Fiction Writer's Character Chart.

For those who need to make maps and have GIMP, here's a neat step-by-step tutorial on how to do it.

If you want a common last name for your ordinary Joe, check out the Most Common Surnames in the U.S. using data from the 1990 census.

If you want to put up a simple progress meter on your blog or site, check out Writertopia's page on Writing Meters.

The Great American Novel by . . . Sky Halillee -- get a writing pseudonym that is an anagram of your real name (or anything you type in the box) over at Technologies du Langage here (enter the name or words you want anagramed in the box next to "Tapez sans accents.")

How many characters or words do you type per minute, and how many mistakes do you make? Find out with this online Typing Speed Test (warning, highly addictive.)

A nice collection of world-building links can be found at World Builder Projects.

Dr. Wicked's Write or Die is "a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. Start typing in the box. As long as you keep typing, you're fine, but once you stop typing, you have a grace period of a certain number of seconds and then there are consequences." (I tried this in Kamimkaze/Strict moder and deliberately stopped writing to see what would happen. It flashed a few colors at me, then it began erasing what I'd already typed. That is wicked.)

All of the above links were found while rifling through at NaNoWriMo.org's Helpful Orgs and Site forum.

Off to Write & Deal

Create a sticky note online for your blog at Wigflip.com's sticky note generator, Superstickies (link swiped from Gerard over at The Generator Blog.)

EndWeek NaNoPost

Since the midweek NaNoPost I've been dealing with things that don't belong in my writing space that I let get into my writing space. Why? Well, I had the best of intentions. It was important. I thought I could sort it out quickly and get back to work. And I didn't, not for two days, and it wrecked me and derailed the decent momentum I had going with the NaNoNovel.

People who are not writers often have very little idea of how much havoc they can create in the writing space. At times it's the equivalent of going to someone's workplace to empty a garbage can on their desk in front of their boss while shrieking obscenities at them. Kind of difficult to get back to being a happy, productive worker after someone subjects you to that.

So what do you do when someone intrudes and dumps their garbage in your writing space? I believe the writer has to first get them out of it. The next task is to clean up the mess they made and carry out the trash they left behind. Once the writing space is restored to optimum working conditions, the writer can then make peace with what happened and get back to work.

Easier said than done, I know. Sometimes you have to relocate your writing space, become very creative with handling other people's garbage, or even take some time away from work to clear your head, focus, and find a way back to where you were before this happened.

After an intrusion, I depend on meditation and work to reset my head and help me cope. It never happens fast enough to suit me, but I've also learned that pretending me and my writing space haven't been trashed doesn't work. I do know better than to stop writing, even when I have to work through days when I can't produce a single decent sentence. I write badly anyway. The very act of writing anything is quietly, enormously healing.

I'm hoping today that I get back on track. If not, I'll keep working until I do. I may not always guard my writing space as I should, but as long as I keep writing there, it will always be my sanctuary.

In case anyone is interested in seeing some excerpts from my NaNoNovel, I posted one at the groupblog last Saturday and another at the Stories blog today.

Dimensional Ten

Ten Free RPG Generators I Played with over at Dimensions Game Software

Sight: A thickening fog Sound: A whistle Taste: Bland Touch: Springy Smell: Inviting (The Ambience Generator)

"You hear rattling sounds." (The Automated GM)

The Catacomb Generator

Rhapsodomancy: Divination by using random verses, passages, or words from the works of a great poet. (The Divination Generator)

Fern: Hart's tongue Flower: Gardenia Fungus: Bread mold Herb: Henbane Moss: Peat moss Tree: Cashew Grass: Buffalo Grass Shrub: Snowberry Vine: Ivy Weed: Bindweed (The Fantastic Flora Generator)

Name: Colm Origin: Gaelic Gender: Male Meaning: Dove (The Name Generator)

"The trees shall die before the desert shall stumble." (The Obscure Prophecy Generator)

Demeanor: Oblivious Hardship: Deaf Phobia/Mania: (None) Occupation: Doll maker (The Personality Generator)

chybblaerm ~ kralychaeg ~ laefdraz ~ mylyglah ~ wiemy (The Word Generator)

Number of Continents: 3 Number of Major Island Chains: 4 Number of Oceans: 6 Number of Moons: 2 Number of Suns: 3 [also generate continents, island chains, regions and more] (The Worldbuilder)

To check out more of Dimensions Game Software's free online RPG generators, head over to their RPG toolbox page and scroll down to the bottom.

Hot Spots

I followed a link over on Gerard's Presurfer blog and found a new and very interesting online generator, described on the site as:

"Feng-GUI simulates human vision during the first 5 seconds of exposure to visuals, and creates heatmaps based on an algorithm that predicts what a real human would be most likely to look at. This offers designers, advertisers and creatives, a Pre-testing technology that predicts performance of an image, by analyzing levels of attention, brand effectiveness and placement, as well as breaking down the Flow of Attention."

To test drive the service, I uploaded my latest cover art into the online generator (which you can use for free, but only once every five hours, btw. Also, they seem to save a copy of whatever you upload, at least temporarily, so I wouldn't upload anything you don't want the world to see.)

Here's the heatmap I got in return:



According to the site, the heatmap information should be interpreted as follows:

"Heatmap color - The more intense the color (from blue to red), the more interest the viewer is. * Hotspots - Fixations - Regions of interest. The circles represent the focal points and their size.

Hotspots Order - The number next to the circle, represent the order in which the eyes move.

Gaze Saccades - The lines represent the movements of the eyes between hotspots.
Which areas are being ignored. If there is no color or circle in an area, that section has no interest."

I'm glad to know that my title and byline were the first thing the simulator looked at; that's a little reassuring. Not that I mind it then looking at the nice young man on the cover; kind of difficult to ignore him.

I don't know how accurate the results are, but this might be an interesting generator to try if you're putting together your own cover art or web page design and want to see what it thinks your hottest spots are.

Mid-week NaNoPost

It's a little more than a third of the way toward the NaNoWriMo deadline of November 30th, and if life hasn't interfered in some fashion, I imagine most of you have kept at it. You've probably encountered a few bumps over the last ten days, so it may not feel as exciting or fun as it did when you started out, but you're also learning from it. Success is a lovely thing, but adversity is a better teacher.

Some of the lessons you may have encountered since our last NaNoCheck:

Characters: Your cast seems to have turned into a collection of giant sloths who only want to stand or sit around talking to each other.

Details: You can't remember her exact hair color, his exact eye color, or you're afraid you switched them and she now has green hair and he has red eyes.

Dialogue: You're sick of using said, so you're trying to mix up the dialogue tags. But you don't want to use anything else but said. But you're tired of said. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Jumping the Gun: Three more words: Premature sex scene.

Modifiers: -ly adverbs keep coming out of nowhere like barnacles to latch onto your verbs.

Repetition: The eye references are multiplying like tribbles.

Ugh Factors: Your protagonist is starting to remind you of that bitchy unmarried relation you avoid at all the family reunions, and the antagonist is beginning to behave exactly like your ex right before you started looking at rentals and stowing away money for the lawyer.

Wishy-Washy Watercolor Memories: You never used to write like this.

Work? Who knew it was going to be work, hard work, very hard work, and why didn't anyone tell you in advance?

Youch: They should call it National Novelist Torture Month.

There are ways to cope. You can skip along, you can trudge on, you can start over (50K/19 days = 2631.5 words per day), you can quit or you can pick it up from here.

Characters: To handle any slothlike creatures populating your story, think through your next scene before you write it. Use the situation and the setting actively to engage the characters in accompanying, scene-appropriate action during any conversation.

Details: When in hair, eye, or skin color doubt, check your character worksheet. Or stop describing what color they are.

Dialogue: Make peace with said. Employ it frugally. Obsessing over varying dialogue tags can and will suck the joy out of your scene. And when possible, resist the retorteds, reproveds, reiterateds and any other dialogue tag that has not been in active use since the eighteenth century.

Jumping the Gun: Think of sex scenes like sword fighting scenes. They should take place at logical and justifiable moments.

Modifiers: -ly adverbs are not the enemy. Nor are they your friend. Allow yourself one or two per page maximum, and instead use action to modify dialogue.

Repetition: Your characters have many other interesting body parts; don't ignore them all for the peepers.

Ugh Factors: Protags and Antags who start to morph into family or ex-family members are getting away from you. Go back to your outline or character worksheets and renew your acquaintance with the original characters before you write them into a scene.

Wishy-Washy Watercolor Memories: What you wrote in the past was then, what you write now is now. Stop thinking about how well or poorly you're writing and just write. You can edit brilliantly later.

Work!: Writing is work, or they wouldn't pay for it. You're earning your future keep.

Youch: I have it on good authority that National Novel Torture Month will be next July, or whenever Alison Kent gets tired of making Sven sweat, whichever comes first.

The phase of writing you're moving into demands three P's from the writer: patience, perseverance, and problem-solving. It's where we as storytellers pay our dues so we can make it to the home stretch. Don't beat yourself up over what you haven't done or what you won't do, focus on what you're doing. Write today, in this day, and let the rest fall away (don't worry, it'll be waiting there to jump you next time.)

Winners

It was fun to see the many different types of inspiration you all draw on to create in comments to the Blogging Inspiration giveaway. Photography has been such a strong, new creative force in my life this year that I have to put in a good word for giving a new skill or hobby a try.

We cranked up the magic hat, and the winners of the giveaway are:

Liza, who's never read Artful Blogging (you're in for a treat.)

Carissa, whose very creative good friend and neighbor Laurinda (a lovely name) inspires her.

Phoenix-Karenee, who uses reading, hearing, viewing, touching, and otherwise interacting with the thoughts and creativity of others to inspire (I'm very tactile, too.)

Robin Bayne, who is inspired by a well-written, meaningful devotional (a reminder for me to catch up on my Daily Guideposts; they always help me see beyond my limitations.)

Winners, when you have a chance please send your full name and ship-to info to LynnViehl@aol.com so I can get your mags and surprises out to you. My thanks to everyone for joining in.

Telling Ten

Ten Things That Appear in Your Novel, and What They Tell Me

Cats > 4: You don't own cats, because if you did you'd know that your heroine will have to run a lint roller over every article of clothing and furniture she owns at least three times a day to keep them as immaculate as you describe them, and spend most of her spare time cleaning up hairballs and emptying litter boxes. Also, her house would not smell like the wildflower meadow you've repeatedly compared it to; it would smell like cat (or the litter boxes she forget to empty.)

Dream Sequence: There was just no other way to deliver that flashback while sparing the reader the worst details except while your protagonist remembered it while sleeping (and woke up two seconds before Uncle Frank was mowed down by that runaway weinermobile) -or- you remembered in the middle of writing Chapter Seven something important that you should have told the reader in Chapter Two, but don't feel like rewriting.

Identified Black Moment: Does RWA now require their members to actually incorporate the phrase "black moment" during the black moment?

Kidnapping: Either someone doesn't want the hero and heroine to have sex, or someone does.

Love Scene: a) Fade-to-black -- Right as you were getting into the big love scene, your kids came home from school, your husband came home from work, or your mom called; b) Public -- Your mom called, and you had a fight with her, then you wrote the love scene; c) Unexpected -- your husband came home from work two hours before the kids are due home from school.

Spell of Convenience: You've suddenly realized that no one is going to survive the final showdown unless they employ the magic spell written on the scroll one of them just stumbled over on the way to their doom.

Sword Fight Scene, Extended: You've watched The Princess Bride more than fifty times.

Treasure Chest, Diamond-Filled: In lieu of the sperm or ovum-shaped journey diamonds you were expecting for your birthday, the hub got you a new vacuum or microwave.

Unexpected and Brutal Torture of Hero: The treasure chest filled with diamonds didn't quite make up for the lousy birthday gift.

Weather Report: You rewrote the opening line three hundred times, you're sick to death of opening lines, and who cares what PBW thinks?

Blogging Inspiration

During a quick stop at BAM today I found the latest issue of Artful Blogging magazine, which includes in the buzz section a quote from Yours Truly (is there anything cooler for online art junkie than being quoted in online art magazine? Probably not.) Naturally I bought up all the available copies, so I also have some to give away here.

For your chance to win one of them, in comments to this post name someone or something who inspires you to blog, write, or create in any fashion (or if you're running short in the inspiration department, just toss your name in the hat)* by midnight EST on Monday, November 9, 2009. I'll draw four names at random and send the winners a copy of the Nov-Dec-Jan issue of Artful Blogging magazine along with a surprise I hope will further inspire your creative talents. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

*Note: I'll be out of town tomorrow and Tom will be at his day job, so if your comment doesn't show up right away tomorrow don't worry; between the two of us we will moderate all pending comments before the giveaway deadline.