Author: Doyce

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IN CASE YOU FORGET…

So, as I may have mentioned, I’m doing revisions on Hidden Things right now. Having wrapped up the main effort, I sent the document to a couple of readers. ***Dave sent me his feedback already, all of which was valuable (even if I don’t end up using all of it), but I wanted to share one comment that really tickled me.
In one section, Dave points out an inconsistency in my use of typographic settings by noting the following:

Dragons speak in all-caps italics.

Now granted, I established that particular rule in the story, so really he’s just telling me that I’d forgotten to do that in that spot.
Still, it really amused me to see the rule summarized and stated so clearly.

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Writing News

So back in early February, I wrote:

One deadline done — the short piece is off to the editor — here’s hoping that taking the path less traveled for this anthology will pay off. One thing I really like about this one over the others that Kate and I have done for these anthologies: this one is funny. I don’t say that without some small amount of hubris, maybe, but it’s not wrong, either — there’s a lot of stuff in this one that makes me laugh.

Well, I don’t know if it made the editor laugh, but he did pick it for the anthology. It’s a ‘supernatural’ collection of shorts, and we decided to do a superhero story instead of a predictable Hamilton rip-off with vampires or witches or werewolves or whatever — that choice definitely paid off — the editor was very happy to have something different to balance out all the more predictable stories, and some very nice things to say both about that choice and about the story itself. After a few editor-requested tweaks (name change, et cetera), it’s a done deal — check off one third of one of my New Year’s Resolutions.
In other writing news, the Revision Death March is going along like a millstone in a muddy field. Which is, sadly, an improvement.

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Forest … Trees… something like that.

So I’m being a typical neurotic writer in need of babysitting right now — I’m working on a third draft of Hidden Thingsight now — I’ve got an outline/list of things I need to add/tweak in the story, and I keep circling the end of the story with a frown on my face, because it does not make me happy. In the last couple days, it’s felt more like ‘circling the drain’ circling.
I had a burst of creative emotional energy on Tuesday and literally could not WAIT to get to my keyboard. Of couse, when I did get to my keyboard, the first thing I did was get caught up on a long weekend of work and personal emails, fiddled with some other online to-dos, and by the time I was done, I couldn’t even bring myself to open the document.
Ugh.
After beating myself up about it for awhile (and being wisely told to talk to Kate, a suggestion I shrugged away, because she’s got tons going on right now), I talked to Kate.
“Go read Teresa’s Writing Journey,” Kate said. “Now. Do it.”
So I went. I read.

Late winter is a bad time for me. I’d managed to hold off the doldrums with regular exercise, but we had a fierce cold snap and I just couldn’t do it. But for some reason, I just couldn’t figure out myself that my writing blahs were related.

So imagine me slapping my forehead. Hard. Back in South Dakota, I used to have a Regular February Flipout — toward the end of the month, every year, I’d just get so worn thin and worn out and wound tight that I just spun out. I attribute a lot of this to the lack of sunlight in winter months up there, and I rarely if ever experience it here in Colorado, with all its warmth and sun, but…
… cold snap.
… lots of snow.
… few group activities.
… exercise in the last two months that I can count on one hand.
… reading more online journals than offline fiction.
Right. Duh.
So… I’ll see you guys later. I’m going to go outside, walk somewhere (anywhere!) for lunch. Tonight, I’m going to the gym.

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Life Imitates Game

Seven Things I Learned from World of Warcraft (Go to http://johnaugust.com/?p=718 to read it — I’m killing the link because the trackback spammers are coming back here.)

1. Kill injured monsters first
In Warcraft: When facing multiple bad guys, the temptation is to go after the one who’s hitting you hardest. This is often a mistake. That injured razorback, the one who is running away? He’ll be back in 15 seconds, likely with other baddies in tow. So take a few clicks to kill him now. Once he’s dead, you can focus completely on the guy who’s smacking you.
The real world may not have druids and paladins, but it’s chock full of monsters. They’re called “term papers” and “errands” and “mysterious car problems.” At any given moment, there may be one monster that looms larger than all of the others, who clearly needs to be attacked. But before you do, look around for injured monsters — the half-finished tasks that probably need only a few more minutes to complete. If you don’t deal with them now, they’ll be a constant distraction, and may eventually come back stronger.
This “injured monster theory” is why I try to return every phone call the day I receive it, and respond to every email within 24 hours. If a warning light comes on in my car, I go to the mechanic that day. Whenever I find myself thinking, “I need to remember to…” then I know I’ve failed. I don’t need to remember. I need to do. I need to finish.

There’s more I could write about this, but honestly? I need to train up my Revision skill, grinding on adverbs in Hidden Things.

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Writing Update

If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.
— Anna Quindlen
One deadline done — the short piece is off to the editor — here’s hoping that taking the path less traveled for this anthology will pay off. I think it’s a good story, though thinking back through it I can see at least a couple places where a minor addition to the dialogue would have made things that much clearer. Ahh well. One thing I really like about this one over the others that we’ve done for these anthologies: this one is funny. I don’t say that without some small amount of hubris, maybe, but it’s not wrong, either — there’s a lot of stuff in this one that makes me laugh. Also, frustratingly, this is the second one we’ve done where I finished up the short thing wishing I could write something longer with those characters — knowing I could write something longer, and that it would be good. Maybe we’ll be able to talk the editor into a full-length story once we get a few more shorts into their collections. Here’s hoping.
The second deadline is trickier, as it’s a revision deadline on The Book Project That Wouldn’t Die. I’ll confess that, as much as I love Vikous and The Dragon and Calliope, I am getting a little tired of working on this particular book. Two things that make it bearable — I’m making this revision at the request of someone who seems genuinely interested in working with me on it, and… well, the changes are going to make the story better; there’s absolutely no question about that, either. Hopefully, that will be enough to make the whole thing feel ‘good in my heart’ again.