National Novel Writing Month is over for this year, and it's time to look upon my results. Yeesh. Monday night I was idly wondering if I was close enough to cheat until I added up how many times I'd have to copy what I'd already written and paste it in again to win, and gave [...]
Read MoreNaNoWriMo 2009 badges are out! OK, yes, granted it's still a few months till November when National Novel Writing Month attacks, but they couldn't wait and frankly I can use the nudging to get ready. I started strong in my first NaNoWriMos but my performance the last few years has been sad. Getting psyched already…
Read MoreBack to funny fantasy. Since I had just gotten into collecting autographs myself, it seemed like a natural thing to give my protagonist my obsession. He was also a sniveling, selfish jerk, but obviously that part was all made up. Ahem. Attempting to liven up his life a little, he clicked on a joke eBay [...]
Read MoreThis year marks the 10th annual National Novel Writing Month, meaning that somewhere out there are people who have written at least one book every year for a decade. This event, started by writer Chris Baty, encourages would-be novelists to get over their stalling ways and finally take the plunge by whipping out a 175-page [...]
Read MoreThis year I cheated a bit, and worked on adapting a story I had tried doing in screenplay form for ScriptFrenzy, the annual screenwriting equivalent of NaNoWriMo. Didn't help – I still rewrote it to death without actually completing it. This is another I'm definitely coming back to, because some of the stuff I didn't [...]
Read MoreOctober is zipping along, and that means only one thing: Christmas decorations in Wal-Mart! Also Biketoberfest, Halloween, Breast Cancer Awareness… OK, October means a lot of things. But mostly it means that very soon it’ll be November, time to crank out another novel for National Novel Writing Month, and that means preparation. Not preparation for [...]
Read MoreIn 2005 I came up with a list of suggested new science fiction TV shows, and one of them was called "Hiatus." No description of the show itself, mind you, just the fact that it was brilliant and well-received and canceled by episode 7. Some friends started contributing details about the nonexistent show, even writing [...]
Read MoreOn this night, October 31st, All Hallow's Eve, as the wind shrieks through the trees outside my window and the dogs huddle under the couch, barking at suspicious noises buried in the night, I find myself facing the most terrifying, scarifying, soul-wrenching sight known to man: a blank page. In one hour National Novel Writing [...]
Read MoreThe 24 Hour Comic is upon us, you might want to start cracking your knuckles now. Haven't heard of it? The 24 Hour Comic was started by comic writer/artist/philosopher Scott McCloud as a challenge to fellow comics creator Steve Bissette back in 1990. Bissette responded with his own, Dave (Cerebus) Sim and Neil Gaiman both [...]
Read MoreIt's said that there's an unwritten novel in the back of everyone's head (or, possibly, lower). And coming up is your chance to get it out where it can terrify passersby. National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), where entrants agree to pound out 50,000 words in thirty days, starts November 1st but registration at the Web [...]
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