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NaNoWriMo 2011 • Page 104

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  • TechnoHippy 3 Sep 2012 13:13:56 14,247 posts
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    @sunjumper

    You always give good feedback, but please don't feel compelled to. I'd rather you devoted your energies to your own stuff. I'm pleased to hear you're feeling better.

    The Cult of Me [ Blog ] [ e-book ] [ An Odd Quartet ]

  • Blerk Moderator 3 Sep 2012 13:32:33 47,712 posts
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    Hey, sunjumper - welcome back! I actually read all of your Skyshell stuff while you were away, I guess I ought to write a few things down about that and let you know. :)

    I've been off for a while as well, and the bad news is that my short story has stalled again. The good news is that I've made some very decent progress on my Drowner's Mill edit, which is pumping me full of feel-good. Still a long way to go, mind, but I finally feel like I'm off my arse and doing something.

    As for this year, I thought I was most of the way there with a good idea. But now I'm having doubts. Bah.
  • sunjumper 3 Sep 2012 13:37:10 2,871 posts
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    NOOOOO. The browser just ate my reply!

    Short version then:
    I only give feedback out of pleasure.

    Giving feedback is great because it forces one to think more in depth and detail about what one has just read.

    And last at least before November one should read books, articles and everything else, listen to music (and their lyrics), watch films, people, paintings, nature. Maybe even taking note of the most impressive things witnessed.
    Because 'inspiration' is just a nice way to say 'stealing everything that is not nailed down and luckily you brought your pliers'.
    So the more you steal the more original you'll be!


    @Blerk
    You did? Really? I'd love to hear some feedback . You saw the whole mess devolve horribly and having another take on the stalled monster would be most helpful.
    Also if you do not take part this year my ghost will travel back in time just to haunt you!

    Edited by sunjumper at 13:39:21 03-09-2012
  • Blerk Moderator 3 Sep 2012 14:19:19 47,712 posts
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    sunjumper wrote:
    @Blerk
    You did? Really? I'd love to hear some feedback . You saw the whole mess devolve horribly and having another take on the stalled monster would be most helpful.
    Also if you do not take part this year my ghost will travel back in time just to haunt you!
    Yup, the whole lot. It's been a few weeks so I'm a bit rusty, but I'm sure I made some notes. I'll dig them out and drop you a PM or an email or something.

    I do intend to do NaNo again this year, it's just my idea that's faltering. I had a cool dream a few months back which suggested a neat idea for a 'mild' sci-fi story (much like last year's was a 'mild' ghost story) with more attention on the characters and their situation than on the tech involved. But now I'm not convinced I can pull it off without it sounding... hokey. I might just need to reign it in a bit.
  • MetalDog 3 Sep 2012 14:37:04 23,448 posts
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    You can pile all sorts of pure bullshit on top of believable characters so long as the bullshit has internal logic =)

    -- boobs do nothing for me, I want moustaches and chest hair.

  • Blerk Moderator 3 Sep 2012 15:20:08 47,712 posts
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    I'm just worried it'll turn out like last Saturday's Doctor Who.
  • sunjumper 3 Sep 2012 16:26:36 2,871 posts
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    @Blerk Less worrying more writing!
    Your ghost story turned out allright and narratives have a tendency to do what ever they want once the reach a certain stage. If I were you I'd go with it. ONe day your children will reach puberty and you will need all the expirience with well behaved things suddenly going insane that you can get.
  • Carbon_Altered 3 Sep 2012 19:16:15 672 posts
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    Hi Sunjumper, good to see you back around, and glad that things are looking up.

    I'm gearing up for Nano 2012 with the (potentially idiotic) plan to write a game-book (or "interactive novel" as a slightly more pretentious way of calling it). This will mean I can't really post it up as I go along anyway as it won't be written in order. However, I'm (a) currently writing a blog to keep track of my efforts that I'll link to in the new 2012 thread and (b) be begging people to play/read it after November.
  • Metalfish 3 Sep 2012 19:36:43 8,276 posts
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    I'd love to try my hand at that interactive fiction thing one day. I imagine I might just about have the attention span to complete one whole scene.
  • TechnoHippy 3 Sep 2012 19:38:58 14,247 posts
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    I'll be happy to play and/or read through it.

    And Blerk needs to get that ghost story edited :-)

    The Cult of Me [ Blog ] [ e-book ] [ An Odd Quartet ]

  • Carbon_Altered 3 Sep 2012 19:40:49 672 posts
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    400 paras at an average of 125 words each will get me to 50k.

    I need to get all the decision points/plot mapped out by the start of November to have a chance - at least then it will just be sitting down and writing it out.

    Been reading some old Fighting Fantasy to work out how they do it. The mechanics are really interesting in a geeky sort of way.

    Edited by Carbon_Altered at 19:41:29 03-09-2012
  • Metalfish 3 Sep 2012 19:42:58 8,276 posts
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    Oh, that reminds me. Sorry to those who've sent me scripts to read -I haven't got around to them yet. After somebody decided to publish before I'd got around to doing a proper line-by-line I figure I should probably do a proper job or not at all. ;)

    I've got people waving PhD thesises (theses? thesis'?) at me as well. Obviously those come first since those come from real people, not you bunch of pixels.
  • TechnoHippy 5 Sep 2012 16:08:43 14,247 posts
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    As I have a bit of holiday spare I've booked a week off for the start of November, hopefully it will get me off to a good start.

    Edited by TechnoHippy at 16:09:18 05-09-2012

    The Cult of Me [ Blog ] [ e-book ] [ An Odd Quartet ]

  • MetalDog 6 Sep 2012 10:36:26 23,448 posts
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    Deadlines at work co-inciding with Nov, nonetheless, I have a shitonne of unspent holiday and have booked every Friday off that month, which should help a bit, if only with sleep and nutrients.

    Be careful though, techno - I never get as much done on weekends as I /ought/ to compared to weekdays.

    -- boobs do nothing for me, I want moustaches and chest hair.

  • mowgli 6 Sep 2012 10:41:28 31,778 posts
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    MetalDog wrote:
    Be careful though, techno - I never get as much done on weekends as I /ought/ to compared to weekdays.
    This is so frustratingly true.

    Pissy pants.

  • MetalDog 6 Sep 2012 10:50:55 23,448 posts
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    Yep. The brain goes, "Ahhhh, I've got all day!"

    16 hrs later...

    "Shit!"

    -- boobs do nothing for me, I want moustaches and chest hair.

  • TechnoHippy 6 Sep 2012 12:33:49 14,247 posts
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    I'm actually pretty good at the weekends and usually manage to get 4-5 hours done.

    The Cult of Me [ Blog ] [ e-book ] [ An Odd Quartet ]

  • mowgli 6 Sep 2012 13:02:52 31,778 posts
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    I'm lucky if I manage to be dressed for that amount of time at the weekends :/

    Pissy pants.

  • TechnoHippy 6 Sep 2012 18:49:04 14,247 posts
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    I didn't say I did it dressed ;-)

    The Cult of Me [ Blog ] [ e-book ] [ An Odd Quartet ]

  • mowgli 7 Sep 2012 19:46:32 31,778 posts
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    This is going to sold slightly odd, especially coming from me...

    But I've given myself a mini project to build some websites and I was wondering if anyone here (or any lurkers) would be interested in letting me build a website for them? I don't want any money, and I will give you the website, I just want to build one/some and I'm not interesting enough to do one about me.

    On that note, don't worry about it being a vanity project. All sources point to how important it is to start building a website sooner rather than later (create a website the moment you have your book idea is what was suggested to me!). The reason I'm 'targeting' the writers on EG is because a writer's website will be style over substance (although I can implement an ordering/basket service if you want) as opposed to a fleshed out business/online store.

    So all I ask is for some self indulgent wording about you and your book/to be, and any pictures you would like included. If you want me to do the whole domain/hosting then of course I'll need pennies to cover that cost but I can leave that to you if you want.

    I'm not doing this on wordpress, instead I'm using a programme I bought recently.

    If anyone is interested feel free to PM me.

    Pissy pants.

  • meme 7 Sep 2012 19:55:32 15,310 posts
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    I'm not sure what sources you're referencing, but from my own research and experience, they're wrong. The best time to launch a dedicated website is when you have multiple books out to promote. Having a website before you've even published is like having a webpage that has "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" labels everywhere. If you're just a one-time author then it's best to just stick to a basic blog or something.

    Of course, you can quite happily build one in the background (it's what I've done), but there's zero point in putting it out there until it has the substance of multiple works behind it.

    Basically - the statistics show that people don't really investigate someone with only one work to them. They may buy the book on impulse if they stumble across it, but they won't check out your website or facebook or twitter and whatnot unless they see that you have multiple works out and are actually an author, rather than just a writer who uploaded a vanity novel that's been years in the making and will most likely never produce anything again (which are by far the majority of indie publishers).

    GHOSTBUSTERS

  • mowgli 7 Sep 2012 20:00:52 31,778 posts
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    My sources are basically just me googling 'when to build a website for my novel' and reading several links shouting 'asap!'.

    As far as I see it, website is only a small part in that it is very unlikely anyone is going to stumble across it, and even if they do there is little you can have on a book website anyway. For me at least, a website before publication is a good motivation booster. Just like sticking a picture of your cover design above your station - there is the end goal.

    Anyway, offer is there for people who have and haven't finished their book. I just want a mini project.

    Pissy pants.

  • meme 7 Sep 2012 20:25:01 15,310 posts
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    Fair enough! If it's purely for introspective reasons then go for it.

    Incidentally, Amazon launched the Audiobook exchange today. Not only can you submit your own book to be audiobooked (or record it yourself if you really want to) and sold on Audible, but you can audition to narrate other people's books. Another revenue stream for those with dulcet tones and decent sound equipment.

    The really impressive stuff is that they now sync audio and ebooks via whispersync, so if you stop reading at page 38 on your Kindle and start the audiobook, it'll start at page 38. And vice versa.

    GHOSTBUSTERS

  • Metalfish 7 Sep 2012 20:39:30 8,276 posts
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    Amazing, but who the hell listens to a book some of the way and then decides to read it (with enough frequency for this to be, you know, a thing)?
  • meme 7 Sep 2012 20:46:53 15,310 posts
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    I think the point is that people would like to, but it's never really been all that feasible (as they don't sync up, or audiobooks are abridged etc etc). Linking the two together means you could listen on a commute (which lots and lots of people do) and read at home or something.

    GHOSTBUSTERS

  • Metalfish 7 Sep 2012 21:27:00 8,276 posts
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    I'm going to have to sign up for that bus pass and bag of wethers originals, aren't I?
  • MetalDog 21 Sep 2012 11:42:15 23,448 posts
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    T minus 40d and counting.

    -- boobs do nothing for me, I want moustaches and chest hair.

  • Blerk Moderator 21 Sep 2012 11:51:32 47,712 posts
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    Uh-oh!
  • TechnoHippy 21 Sep 2012 12:00:03 14,247 posts
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    Looking forward to it, I need to do some planning and prep though.

    The Cult of Me [ Blog ] [ e-book ] [ An Odd Quartet ]

  • Blerk Moderator 27 Sep 2012 11:34:52 47,712 posts
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    Just a heads up for 2011 winners - those 50% off Scrivener vouchers are due to expire on October 1st. If you were interested in picking it up then there's just a few days left, works out at about £16 with discount once you add on VAT and such.

    For what it's worth, I've been using it for a few months now and I really like it. The text editor itself is solid but fairly unremarkable, but it's all the other bits and pieces to help you manage something novel-sized that make it worth the cash to me. YMMV, of course.

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