Choices, Choices
Amy Garvey on Romancing the Blog has a few things to say about choice. It recalls to mind a trip to the grocery store. Not just any grocery store. Woodman’s in Madison Wisconsin. They make Walmart foods look like a Quickie Mart. Oh, to have a store like that around here.
Alice
Tag. I'm It.
Meankitty tagged anyone who played on her … um, his? … blog, so I’m going to go ahead and do it. Here are five “interesting facts” about me, or at least they are facts if you want to look at it that way. One is a complete lie. Can you guess which?
1] I once sold my home in a yard sale.
2] When I turned 13 my hair went from so limp it wouldn’t take a curl to just short of afro curly. The odd part? No one in my immediate family could help me deal with it because they don’t have curly hair.
3] The fastest I’ve ever written a book – rough draft – was 13 days. The slowest was 21 years.
4] I once gave a gerbil mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Hey, my daughter was watching. I had to do something.
5] I believe accounting is a form of social justice.
Alice
Grazing
My son gave me a bunch of little kisses while I was saying good bye one morning. These rapid-fire kisses can be a bit annoying, a bit like a cow grazing. I was going to complain, which I have done before, when he looks at me with big bovine eyes and says “mooo”.
Alice
It Isn't Fun Unless It's Fair, Reprise
Why is it so important that a writing contest be squeaky clean in the way it’s run? Why must the efforts to prevent cheating be loudly proclaimed? Because writers as a group are unusually obsessive.
We need to know that whatever rank our piece landed at has some legitimacy. Knowing that my first effort achieved spot 205 out of 223 entries because it sucked may be hard to take, but to think it ended up there because some b*tch with a dozen sock puppet accounts took a disliking to me personally is much worse. Ok, so that didn’t actually happen to me, but I certainly know how it feels.
Do you think writing is easy or something? Everyone who made an entry in the Avon FanLit contest put a little chunk of their soul out there to be ridiculed, stomped on, complemented, and/or instructed. We need for the ranking to be as solid and valid as possible so we can worry it over in our minds, thinking of ways we could have done it differently and maybe trying those ways in the next round. Having a ranking that truly reflects the likes and dislikes of readers lets us plan and experiment, learn and hone our craft.
Entering the Avon FanLit contest wasn’t simply about wanting to win. It was about testing ourselves. It was about testing the way our words interact with a marketplace both in the writing itself and in our efforts to promote the writing. When the feedback is tainted by cheaters and unfair biases then nothing about the contest can be relied on.
It’s like trying to cross a river and having the stone you thought large and well-attached to the river bed roll under your foot. Eek! Splash.
Once the cascade of doubts begins it’s hard to stop it. Suddenly, everything gets called into question. Did the entry fail to reach the top ten because it wasn’t good enough? Or because someone was out for blood? Or because the promo sucked? Or because we weren’t generous enough in ranking others? Or too generous in raking others? Or because the hero was too mean? Or because there weren’t enough setting details? Or because our Shameless Self Promotion was a little too shameless? Or because…. Why? Read that why with a certain amount of tortured desperation.
Even the upside can twist down. Are the compliments real? Or is everyone simply kissing up to everyone else in an effort to gain popularity and a better ranking? If the complements are effusive, but the ranking is low, what does that mean? Anything? When the system lacks moral integrity then it’s very hard to be sure of anything.
I’ll be honest. When it comes to FanLit Forever – The Writing Game I am counting on three things to keep the moral integrity intact. First, the fact there isn’t any life-altering prizes. Although it would be nice if editors and agents discovered us, and maybe checked in now and again with an eye toward picking up fresh talent, there is no $5,000 contract in the offing. Thus we have more incentive to be honest with one another than to play head games. Second, those who have signed up for it have surprised me with their openness, kindness, and enthusiasm. In other words, we have a great bunch of people doing it. And Third, transparency.
The polls are out there for everyone to see and are a straightforward count. Those who like to obsess about numbers can crunch them as much as they like, drawing a sense of security each time they come out right. The storyline is generated by us in an open forum every member can see.
We are still working on the ranking system. I’m in favor of using polls, except doing it that way will leave most of us wondering how we really did. If everyone can only vote for 1, or even up to 3 and most of the votes go to the winner, many entries my not get voted for at all. Perhaps we could do ratings to get finalists, then a poll for the winner. Whichever we end up with, you can bet there won’t be any “fudge factor” built in.
The entries are always right in front of us, accessible at any time without skipping, or being forced to read something you don’t want to. If something goes wonky with it, we are all going to know and legitimately demand the darn thing be fixed.
There is still an element of trust. Maybe even more than FanLib required of us. It’s not a fancy program that can make sure every entry gets a chance to be read and commented on. We are feeling our way here, trying different things to see what works best. We don’t have a team of experts available to ferret out sock puppets. Yet I suspect we are going to find FanLit Forever ultimately more satisfying. Because it caters to our obsessions.
Alice
Ramen Noodle Soup
Sarah, you think I put a lot into my cooking? Hah! I do this one a lot more often than I do eggrolls.
3-5 cups of water, brought to boil in medium pot
1/2 to 1 cup frozen vegetables
1-2 Ramen Noodle soup packages
1-2 eggs
All measurements are guestimates. [like you hadn’t already noticed.] I don’t generally bother with a measuring cup for this one.
Toss frozen vegetables into the water while waiting for it to boil. Add ONE of the foil seasoning packets to the water. When water reaches a boil add noodles. I crack the eggs right into the pot as soon as the noodles are in and let them cook intact. If you stir, do so carefully. I don’t bother. Cook until noodles are soft. Serve. From pulling the pot out of the cupboard until putting it on the table – about 10 minutes.
Each soup package will feed about two people, so this should feed a family of 4. You’ll notice it covers all three of the main food groups – grains, vegetables, and meat. I like to undercook the eggs. You may like it better if you beat the eggs then drizzle them in. I generally put the second seasoning packet out to sprinkle on for those who like it salty.
I invented this one while living in the dorms as a college student, but the kids love it.
Alice
It's Alive!!
I can not tell you how thrilled I am with the warm reception the FanLit Forever site has received. So many people have transferred over from Yahoo, and so quickly! The boards I thought would work well are jumping. Thanks to ChrisJournal the place looks great. Plenty of people have stepped up to the plate to help out. It feels like this idea I had took on a life of it’s own.
Good.
I can’t wait to see how the first challenge goes. I hope I’m not the only one who writes something for it.
Alice
Announcing FanLit Forever – The Writing Game
We did it! With a lot of help from ChrisJournal and a little from Krardon we created a web-based board in which to hold our version of Avon’s contest.
The board is great, if I do say so myself. It isn’t simply a place to post a submission or bits of conversation like Yahoo. It has places in which to discuss the publishing industry, places in which to post your personal work in progress, places for every aspect of the game right down to “shameless self promotion”. We even have a chat room!
We are limited by technology, of course. We can’t offer the invite function, though players are welcome to invite anyone they please to join us through their regular email. Stories aren’t presented one at a time. They are all entries on the board. Nor can we offer a slider to rate a submission. Instead we vote through a poll function.
But everything else needed for a community is in place. Except for one thing.
You.
Come join us at http://fanlit.chrisjournal.com/
Alice
Happy Halloween!
The kids are off to play and I’m sitting here with an enormous bowl of candy. Hmmmm……
Alice
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." – Thomas Edison
Story of my career as a writer.
Alice
Hired by Email
We have dialup service. Two of us entered the FanLit contest which means for the last six weeks our phone line has been constantly tied up. We have received complaints about it from employers, teachers, doctors, family members, and friends.
I didn’t care. I was busy writing, submitting, rating, commenting, inviting, and generally having a grand old time. Little did I know we almost cost my husband a new job.
Luckily the same medium that messed us up saved us. When my husband’s new boss couldn’t reach him by phone to tell him he got the job, she emailed him. Doomed and saved by the Internet. Aint life grand.
Alice
Let Them Eat Cake
Cat was wondering if anyone had a good, moist chocolate cake recipe. So I asked my mother. She says the recipe on the back of the Hershey’s Cocoa can is her favorite.
She went on to say that where it comes to cake you have do a balancing act between ingredients that tenderize and those that provide structure. If you add more of something that tenderizes then you have to also increase whatever gives structure.
The tenderizers are oil, shortening, and sugar
The structure providers are eggs and flour
So if you use more oil and/or sugar then you also have to use more egg and/or flour or it’ll fall apart. Too much Four or egg for the sugar or oil and it gets tough. If you increase the water or milk instead of the oil or sugar to make it moist, the center will fall. She says shortening makes the cake finer, but the oil gives more of a feeling of moisture even as it makes the cake heavier.
Apple sauce can be used in place of some of the oil/shortening but don’t try to replace it all our you end up with “an inferior product.”
And that’s bound to be more than you really wanted to know about cake.
Alice
Confession Time
I offered anyone who I knew to be of legal age a scene that continues my entry Signed and Sealed from the point where Damien blows out the candle. I actually got a request for it!
Now for the confession. You guessed it, I haven’t written the scene yet. I have it mostly done, but still need a few parts. In motion. *blush*.
To anyone who wanted to see it I will get it to you as soon as I finish writing it. *grin* Thanks for your patience.
Alice
FanLit Withdrawal
I had a blog titled “Patience the Wimp” and another titled “The Five Star Fairies”. While writing my entries, then trying to support them I was too busy to finish either blog. Now that we are down to the final ten those topics seem passe.
Just as well. I am so far behind in everything. My crit group really caught fire while I wasn’t looking and my CP – Hi May – has been waiting forever for the next installment of Zackly Right, and my kids aren’t taking “later” for an answer anymore.
It’s time to wean myself from FanLit and get on with my life.
So of course I want to invite everyone over to Yahoo to do it again!!!
Alice
Needs More Conflict.
I find myself putting this in the comment line a fair amount this round. I can just hear the authors who receive it sputtering about how it’s the final chapter, already. Why can’t they just tie up a few loose ends and be done with it!
Boy, I feel your pain. I really do. And I was tempted to simply go through the laundry list of issues that needed to be dealt with to make the story work, but I already know from bitter experience that every single scene, darn near every sentence, needs conflict.
Why? Because without it no matter how pretty, or fun, or seemingly meaningful, the scene, chapter, or entry without conflict is boring.
The first word that comes to my mind when I say boring is “ouch”. You can do everything else right, but if you end up boring, you have lost your audience.
But seriously, conflict is the most powerful tool available to an author for 1] gaining reader interest. 2] keeping reader interest 3] revealing character 4] moving a plot forward 5] developing themes, and did I mention something about reader interest?
Conflict doesn’t need to be melodramatic or large-scale, or even significant, although that’s nice. It simply needs to be something that your reader can relate to and appropriate for the material.
I could say a lot more about it, but I’m trying not to be so long winded. See? I’m in conflict. *grin*
Alice
Latest Greatest
I always think that whatever I wrote last is the best thing I’ve ever written. For a long time I thought I was alone in suffering this particular dilusion. But one day I was reading Hawthorn’s TangleWood Tales to my son and realized that Hawthorn suffered the exact same delusion in much the same way. To quote:
Oh shoot. I can’t quote. I packed the silly book away. Nevermind.
Alice
