Odds & Ends, Updates & Invitation to Guest Post

Hello there!  Today will be a bit of a mishmash, instead of anything themed, but there are some things I wanted to mention, and I've got some catching up to do (still).

Guest Posts - I've been getting a lot of contact about guest posts.  I'm delighted to feature guest posts or do interviews (those will take longer to get up since they take time to do, at least how I do it).  However, any guest posts on my blog need to involve writing or be related to one's book, as my intent is to help fellow writers out.  Guest posts will typically go up on Fridays.  If you'd like to guest post, or would like to do an interview about your book/writing process/etc., contact me through my profile or post in the comments at any time. 

Randy Lindsay Featured Me! - I was so flattered to see that Randy Lindsay of Author in Training featured The Warrior Muse on his Friday post.  Check out his blog and show him a little love.  He posts a writing prod (with his response to it), features other blogs, and does movie reviews.  He's a great guy, and well worth checking out.

BuNoWriMo - Sigh.  I never got past 5% progress on Myth Stalker.  However, I'm happy because it got me started on writing it.  I was already behind on it, but the fire sort of did me in.  Not so much the evacuation, mind you, but I was so distracted and nervous once it started so close to me that I failed to get any writing done at all.  I spent a lot of time refreshing Twitter to track #WaldoCanyonFire, as well as the local paper's site, which was updating regularly, and Facebook, where I was getting information.  If I was on the computer, that's what I was doing.  I am looking forward to getting started again, AND I made progress with...

Project 52 - I did a little bit of work toward the list, so I can now strike out:

7. Work on poetry
8. Submit at least 1 poem for publication
16. Develop Warrior Muse logo (Jeremy did this one for me, but it's done, all the same!)
19. Compile spreadsheet of publications
33. Go hiking at Red Rocks/photos
36. Get at least 1 piece published (more details to come soon!)
38. Prepare for the 2012 A to Z (obviously done!)
44. Take four "field trips" this year (we've been taking these almost weekly)
50. Attend more writer's meetings
51. Get better about reading through Writer's Digest magazines when they arrive

Wow!  I didn't realize how many I'd finished.  15/52.  I may be updating a few things, due to projects that have changed, or a change in focus.  Anything removed will be replaced by something else.

Michael Abayomi - Fellow blogger, Michael Abayomi is conducting an Indiegogo campaign to gather funds for his next project Guardians & the Lost Paradise.  Pass it along, if you're interested.  Good luck, Michael!

That's it for today!  I will have a choice between two field trips I took this week for [Mostly] Wordless Wednesday: Helen Hunt Falls and the Royal Gorge Bridge.  I haven't decided which will go up this week, and which next week, but I'm excited to have something positive to pass along...and purdy.

How did you do in BuNoWriMo?  Interested in guest posting?  Are you doing, or have you done, Project 52?  How are you doing at meeting any goals you've made for yourself, now that we're more than halfway through the year?

May you find your Muse.

To Prologue or Not to Prologue, That is the Question

Post Prologue

Once, in a dungeon far, far away, there was a girl who pounded out a story born of dreams.  When she completed this story, she edited and edited, finally giving it to a beta reader, then editing again.  She gathered up all her courage, despite fear and insecurity, and submitted that story to a contest, then another.  Each set of feedback she received was seriously considered, some of it used to tweak the story a bit, but one question lingered...

Should I put a prologue or keep the discovery of the situation gradual?

The word out there is so anti-prologue that it's hard to decide if I'm avoiding a prologue because I think it's the wrong choice, or if I'm doing it because I'm afraid of the prologue due to constant "NO PROLOGUE" dialogue around the cyber writing world.  Are they really so bad?  

I've been paying close attention to the books I read, and whether they feature a prologue or not.  So far, I have not run across one (at least not while I've been paying attention) that I found to be annoying or unnecessary.  Well, maybe unnecessary, but I didn't think that it was a bad thing.  

A prologue can set the scene or give back story that might be too hard to place convincingly into the story.  However, some consider it a lazy writer's crutch.  While I don't agree with this concept, at least to an extent, do I want to face those who do and have them automatically turned off when it comes to my story?  Do I want others to consider me a lazy writer?  Am I?

Here's the thing: I've already written the story without a prologue.  In fact, I don't recall wanting to put a prologue in at the beginning.  Instead, I worked to weave bits of the back story into the tale, making sure the reader discovers answers alongside the characters.  BUT there is a catalyst that has put them in the position they're in, something the characters are fully aware of from the beginning. that might benefit from the prologue treatment.  In the meantime, that's one thing I've had to establish immediately in the story, and that involves a little more "telling" than I might have preferred, though I've broken it up.  If my concept is that the reader discovers the answers with the characters, shouldn't the reader know what they know from the beginning?

Before I sign out, I wanted to say that I am FINALLY catching up on my blog comments from April to now.  I know I dropped the ball in a few places, and I'm going through to respond, though likely few will see it after all this time, and visiting the blogs of those who commented during that time and did not get a previous visit from me.  As of today, I've made it back to the A-to-Z Reflections post, so it is just the A-to-Z posts I got behind on, which isn't all of them, thankfully!  Then I can start catching up on the lists of participants.  Shew.  Feels good to finally be catching up.

Also, here's a BuNoWriMo status update (based off of one half-hour of writing, plus three hours on another day):

Myth Stalker
is 5% complete

2553 / 50000 words written

What are your feelings on prologues?  Is there a place for them?  Do you have any examples of particularly good or bad prologues?  Do you think it's the sign of a lazy writer or a useful tool, when necessary?  Did you ever get around to all your A-to-Z commenters?  How are you BuNo'ers doing?

May you find your Muse.

What Makes a Writer? Also, Award & BuNoWriMo

I attended a Pikes Peak Writers Write Brain last month, entitled "A Right-Brain, Left-Brain Write Brain" (say that five times fast!)  I didn't take notes, and it wasn't something I'd be able to really pass along and make sense of on here, but I found it interesting how the two delightful ladies (Barbara Samuel and Laura DiSilverio) broke down the parts of writing.  They explained how they each approached the different aspects of writing, and it got me thinking about the integral parts of the writing process.

First, you have the creativity.  That's innate.  Each of us is creative in a different way, inspired in varying ways, but we all have a story to tell, something that floats around in our heads and begs to be released.

But then you get into the more linear business of writing.

For instance, you have pantsing vs. plotting, and everything in between.  Some people create an entire outline, with every single plot point, before they write a regular line of prose.  Others just write the first line and go from there.  Then there are all of those who fall in between.  Everyone approaches it differently, but each of us has our own preferred method (or we're working to find it).

Next, we have consistency.  There are those who manage to sit down at the same time every day, a routine firmly established, and write for a specific amount of time.  Others might sit down at the same time, but write a certain number of words, rather than pre-selecting a period of time, no matter how many words are written.  Still others write whenever the heck they can, many only sporadically. 

Stories can be written via PC, laptop, Mac, handheld portable device, typewriter, voice recorder or the classic pen to paper.  They can be short stories, flash fiction, poetry or novels.  They can be self-published or traditionally published.  It can take decades to write them, or days.  It all depends on the writer.

So what makes a writer?  The story, and the desire to put that story out there for someone else to enjoy.  It all comes back to that creativity, but the spark that compels that person to present it to others finishes it off.  Without that spark, you're just a dreamer, which is okay, too.  A writer has to want to share their work, for one reason or another.

Having said that, I'm participating in BuNoWriMo this month.  I was just going to use it as inspiration to get started without officially signing up, but I love this progress tracker and why the heck shouldn't I just go ahead and sign up??  So I have!  I started today, so a couple days late, and I only had half an hour to actually write after getting everything set up, but I feel good about it, anyway.

Myth Stalker
is 1% complete

674 / 50000 words written

The Burrow is the host site, and there is a Facebook page you can access from there to chat with other BuNo'ers.  While I don't intend to shoot for the full 50,000 words, I need to get my butt in gear and figure out my summer routine, and I'm hoping this will help me. 

Also, the always engaging Lover of Words, at Of Shoes and Ships and Cabbages and Kings has given me the One Lovely Blog Award.  The things I have learned from her about my own state via her comments on my blog are fantastic enough, but her blog is always compelling, as well.  I'm delighted to have had the opportunity to get to know her, and I'm delighted she thought of me.

The rules include listing seven random things about myself:
1. I am currently hooked on watching episodes of Quantum Leap from beginning to end.  Still a great show!
2. I am ridiculously excited about the plans I have with my kiddos this summer.
3. I started my new novel today!!!!  EEK!  So happy!
4. I have a bad habit of chewing on the insides of my cheeks, whether nervous, bored or concentrating.
5. I started going "gray" in high school.  I insisted I would never color my hair, but I hit a point where it started aging me beyond where I was willing to age...
6. When my hair has grown out between colorings, I refer to it as sparkling. 
7. I'm really terrible at thinking up random things about myself that aren't completely dull.  Sorry!

How are you at talking about yourself?  Participating in BuNoWriMo?  What makes you a writer? 

May you find your Muse.

BuNoWriMo

Hello! Another vacation post coming out to ya'! Don't forget that tomorrow is the beginning of BuNoWriMo. If you haven't checked this out yet, hop on over to Burrowers, Books & Balderdash to get more information. It will run for the month of June and is a good opportunity for those of us who have been slacking on their writing. I'm hoping to use it to get into my new summer routine. NaNoWriMo comes a little late for that at the beginning of the school year, but the timing of this is perfect. So get those fingers and brains warmed up and join me!

There is also a Facebook page for chatting with those participating.

Now for a little bit of fun, learn about a few literary holidays, courtesy of OnlineUniversities.com blog.

I hope everyone is having a pleasant last day of May.

Happy Writing!