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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
halseanderson
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7:17a
The care and feeding of julenisse & Revision Tip #22
All work in the Forest today will grind to a halt as we enjoy the ceremonial viewing of Elf. And we might even make spaghetti with maple syrup.
I got to thinking about my family's tradition of setting out rice pudding for the julenisse. Nisse have been around long before Christmas celebrations. English words that describe them as elves, or gnomes; I've seen "pixie," too. If properly cared for, nisse will watch out for your farm animals, your house, and your barn. If you don't take care of them, they will cause all kinds of mischief on your property.
Nisse are low-maintenance creatures. All they require is a bowl of rice pudding (risengrød) set outside your door or in your barn on Christmas Eve. We've always done this faithfully and I think our nisse appreciate it.
But as the sun was setting yesterday and I was lighting candles in honor of the solstice I realized that the nisse have been around a lot longer than Christmas celebrations. Ack! Have I been disrespecting the nisse all these years? They are ancient creatures... do they wait, forlorn, on the night of the winter solstice, their tummies grumbling, while the Big People go about their ignorant business? And when the pudding FINALLY shows up on Christmas Eve, do they call up the other nisse and complain?
So last night I put out rice pudding for them. And I will again on Christmas Eve. You can't be too careful with nisse.
Revision Tip #22
Are you sure that you've chosen the right point of view for your novel?
Take your favorite chapter and rewrite from a different POV; shift from third to first, or first to third, or if you are bold and way smarter than me, experiment with the second person POV.
Or.... (and.....) fool around with the tense structure. If your story is told in present tense, rewrite that favorite chapter in past tense. If you've written the whole thing in past tense, try out that chapter in present tense.
What's the point of all this mucking around? It helps you see your characters and the Story from a slightly altered perspective.
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(4 comments | comment on this) Monday, December 21st, 2009
halseanderson
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7:37a
Two Tips In One Day!
Good Solstice, everyone!
I feel like calling your main character Rudolph today. (Humor me.)
Revision Tip #20
Don’t make it too easy on Rudolph.
Your story should not be a tale of the desires of Rudolph. It should be the thwarted desires of Rudolph up until the very end, when finally, FINALLY, things go right, tho' not in the way he originally thought they would.
For every desire, there should be an obstacle. Every step on the path leads to another detour.
Review your manuscript and make sure that poor Rudolph runs into obstacles over and over again. You fiend.
Revision Tip #21
1. Record yourself reading your manuscript aloud. The whole thing.
2. Listen to it with your manuscript in front of you (I am most comfortable with the printed-out version at this point.)
3. Pause whenever necessary to make notes on what needs fixing. This is when I find repeated words, awkward phrases and dropped plot points.
4. After a marathon listening session, go back in and finish all the repair work.
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(3 comments | comment on this) Saturday, December 19th, 2009
dracphelan
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12:15p
QOD
"Today's might oak is yesterday's nut that held it's ground."
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dracphelan
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11:39a
Mmmmmm.....
I bought a whole beef tenderloin. Now, I need to see how many ways I can cook it.
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halseanderson
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9:26a
Revision Tip #19
Beware of echoes and doppelgängers!
Maybe I am the only writer in the world who suffers from this bad habit. It makes me crazy. I do it in every blasted book, no matter how hard I try to be aware of it early in the process and avoid it.
I always create characters that are identical, both in their core characteristics and the purpose they serve in the book.
(I may have mentioned this earlier this month, but it is such a big pain in my writing butt, I must rant about it again.)
I spent all day yesterday and the wee hours of this morning extracting one of those characters from my book, and turning over many of his scenes to a different fellow who – I can now see with the blazing clarity of humiliating hindsight – should have been driving those scenes in the first place.
It was a bloodbath, I tell you.
How can you perform this radical surgery in your manuscript?
1. List all the characters.
2. Define – using only a few words – that character’s relationship to the main character.
Examples: comic foil, trusted friend, villain, complication, love interest.
3. If (like me) you have two or more characters that serve the same purpose, get out a magnifying glass and sharpen your scythe. Is it possible to have one of the characters take over scenes from the others?
Example: in the early draft of SPEAK, the character who is now called Heather was two separate girls. Each girl was a “sort of” friend of Melinda for a few months. Each friendship died. Their personalities were a bit different, but not in a strong enough way to affect Melinda’s interactions with them. By melding them together, the story was cleaner.
I am crossing my fingers that the work I am doing this weekend will have the same effect.
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(9 comments | comment on this)
mzmadmike
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3:07a
Why do I have to solve all the problems?
http://www.damninteresting.com/this-place-is-not-a-place-of-honor
Some thoughts.
First, marking it in any fashion draws attention to it.
Second, anyone who can drill 1000m is high enough tech to figure out what it is. Nonissue.
Third, if they're not, but dig that deep anyway, we owe it to the gene pool to clean them out.
Fourth, this stuff has energy. We should be saving it for future use.
Fifth, how do the French and Japanese get rid of their nuclear waste? Surely someone has addressed this before.
Sixth, the danger really isn't that great http://muller.lbl.gov/TRessays/26-Witch-of-Yucca-Mountain.htm and making a big deal out of it just complicates things.
Seventh, I like the idea of shooting the scientists and asking 5 year olds to draw warning signs. Let's not overcomplicate it.
Eight, re: The "New Zealand is morally superior to all of you" poster. I'm sick of that crap about them not having a strategic military--they know the US, Australia, the UK and even Indonesia will save their asses if China gets frisky, and their "green" energy will work until the volcano powering it blows Auckland and all its smug inhabitants into screaming, blistered rubble. Remind me when I am World Dictator to evacuate the Maori, carpet bomb with ERRBs (Neutron bombs), then send the Maori back to civilize the survivors.
Nine, the floor is open. Thoughts?
current mood:  apathetic
current music: Manhattan Project, Rush
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(19 comments | comment on this) Friday, December 18th, 2009
(7 comments | comment on this)
halseanderson
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8:48a
Christmas Memories & Revision Tip #18
Sometimes people forget that I wrote PROM because it is not exactly a depressing book. In fact, it's pretty funny, if I do say so myself. (If I had dread, depression and death in all of my books, I would not be a healthy person!)
So it is with great joy that I announce that PROM has been nominated to the 2010 Popular Paperbacks List, in the "Change Your World or Live to Regret It" category!!
School Library Journal has posted their annual collection of Christmas Memories written by children's authors and illustrators. This year's essays were written by me, my buddy Deb Heiligman, Barbara McClintock, Lauren Myracle, and our National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Jon Scieszka. Enjoy!
Revision Tip #18
Are you stuck?
Have you tried all my plotting tips and dialog wisdom and adverb scorn and still you are stuck?
Try this.
1. Make yourself some comfort food.
2. Put on music that relaxes you.
3. Snuggle up in a warm, cozy place with a pen and a pad of paper.
4. Write a letter to your main character. Tell her everything that is worrying you about the story in general.
5. Pause to eat a bit. Make some tea or hot chocolate.
6. Pick up pen and paper again. Tell your character why you are specifically worried about her. Ask her what is going on in her life, in her relationships that you don't understand. Ask her advice about how to help her move forward.
7. Write down what she tells you.
8. If you can't hear her voice, then it is time to put that manuscript away for a while and work on a different story. But I am pretty sure you will hear the voice, so be chill and write.
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(9 comments | comment on this) Thursday, December 17th, 2009
halseanderson
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7:45a
ThinkB4YouSpeak & Revision Tip #17 - consider the reader
Wonderful news of positive change from GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network)! After one year of their hard-hitting "Think Before You Speak" campaign, teens attitudes about anti-gay language have significantly shifted.
From the GLSEN website: "For instance, findings from a recent survey conducted by the Ad Council in 2008 and 2009 of teens aged 13-16 suggest that a higher percentage of teens in 2009 think that people should not say "that's so gay" for any reason (38% in 2009 vs. 28% in 2008) and a higher percentage also report "never" saying "that's so gay" when something is stupid or uncool (28% in 2009 vs. 18% in 2008).
"In the Ad Council's nearly 70-year history of creating campaigns to raise awareness and change public opinion and attitudes, we don't often see shifts of this magnitude in just over a year," said Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of the Ad Council. "We're looking forward to building on this success with a new series of PSAs and online tools that will help to further raise awareness and engage teens online."
Here is one of the videos that made the huge impact:
I adore Wanda Sykes. Just saying.
GLSEN is now started their second-year of education and awareness about the devastating effects of anti-gay hatred and language. Their website has information for parents and educators, along with all kinds of stuff you can put on your blog or website, plus polls, videos and lots more. Please take the time to check it out nd pass the word. (Thanks to School Library Journal's Extra Helping for the heads-up!)
Revision Tip #17
I keep thinking about the slightly different approaches Barry Lyga and I have to writing dialog.
I forgot to mention one part of that.
Your audience might affect your decision about how you structure dialog.
Many people are not sure who their audience is when working on the early drafts of their novel. Nothing wrong with that. But as you revise, you need to know who your reader is. The way you tell a story to olders teens will be different than the way you tell it to middle grade students. At least, I hope it would be.
My theory is that teen readers (ninth grade and above) have enough reading and life experience under their belts that they do not need as much visual action details accompanying dialog as younger readers do.
(This could also account for part of the difference between the Lyga and the Halse Anderson Schools Of Proper Dialog; Barry only writes for teens.)
The danger, of course, is that your middle grade (or younger) reader will get bored if you layer on the descriptive action with a heavy trowel.
Try this: Pull out only the action words from your dialog scene. Here's an example from a page I am working on now:
Character A speaks.
Character B gives reader visual description of Character A.
B speaks.
A reaches into sack and speaks. Hands apple to B.
B grabs apple, bites and speaks (note: he hasn't eaten for more than a day). Apple juice runs down his chin.
A removes hat, nods and speaks (introducing self)
B swallows, wipes faces on sleeve, speaks
A speaks
B speaks
A speaks
B chews and thinks
A speaks
I know - it's kind of boring to look at it that way, but by putting it under the microscope, I can make sure that the action details are an integral part of the story. They reinforce the fact that Character B is hungry, that he needs help, and that Character A might be a person he can turn to. It also balances a debt, because B helped A out of a bind in an earlier scene.
Bonus tip: since action in dialog scenes needs to be minimal and precise, it is a great opportunity to hone in on that perfect tiny detail that says volumes about the characters, setting, or conflicts at hand.
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(16 comments | comment on this)
mzmadmike
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1:24a
Oh, Gee, how about that?
From: NASA News [mailto:nasanews@mail.arc.nasa.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 2:11 PM
To: local-reporters@lists.arc.nasa.gov; ames-releases@lists.arc.nasa.gov
Subject: NASA Calculates a Carbon Budget for the State of California
Dec. 16, 2009
Ruth Dasso Marlaire
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-4709
ruth.marlaire@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 09-155AR
NASA CALCULATES A CARBON BUDGET FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- While world organizations struggle to find a
benchmark and tracking standards for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,
NASA has been supporting California's new carbon emissions inventory
report, using its satellite imaging data and computer models of the
state's natural ecosystems.
Researchers report that in 2004, the state's natural ecosystems
absorbed as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as fossil fuel
carbons emitted into the atmosphere. They also discovered that during
periods of above normal rainfall, ecosystems trapped significant
amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in forests and soils.( Read more... )
This project was funded by NASA as part of a long-term research
program dedicated to understanding how human-induced and natural
changes affect our global environment.
For more information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home
-end-
current mood:  amused
current music: Mr Obvious
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(9 comments | comment on this) Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
mzmadmike
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5:43p
Buzzword Bingo, Copenhagen, and Nukes
How to be Agents of Change (some intermediary comments deleted for flow)
Shooter: only reason why I'm up so early is that SOS test...which didn't work out so well. Screw AFSO 21 and buzzwords. Not to mention "distance learning"
mike: SOS?
Shooter: squadron officer school
Shooter: pme for captain-types.
Shooter: absolutely meaningless.
Shooter: the focus has moved from "being a military officer and knowing about effective use of violence" to "meaningless buzzwords"
mike: hah
mike: actualizing your unit's paradigm?
mo: that's scary and entirely plausible
Shooter: the sad part is that might actually be in one of the readings
mike: Determining goals and end plans to maximize effectiveness?
Shooter: ...fuck.
Shooter: that actually WAS in there
eightbit: He should facilitate the realization of his mission statement through synergy between the traditional process and the new, dynamic decision-making paradigm.
eightbit: That would definitely proactively increase mindshare.
mike: I'll spank you.
eightbit: LOL
eightbit: I'm just trying to be a change agent for best practices! It is one of my core competencies.
mike: I need a world where I can exploit my core competencies.
eightbit: Wanking is a core competency? ;)
mike: Sure, if I can get paid for it.
mike: DON'T YOU JUDGE ME.
mo: ROFLMAO
mo: I don't know enough of that vocab to effectively spout the requisite BS
Shooter: by more elegantly implementing the new AFSO21 decision-making model, as opposed to the Army's Military Decision Making Process, how could I have more effectively streamlined my processes?
Shooter: ....wait. I just blacked out. what happned?
Shooter: okay. have reached buzzword-bullshit saturation.
zeros: Man, we're missing out. We need to go to Copenhagen.
mike: for the limos and hookers?
zeros: COPENHAGEN — Police officers fired tear gas and wielded batons on Wednesday to beat back hundreds of demonstrators outside the global climate meeting here, as a police spokesman said 250 people had been arrested.
zeros: For the violence.
mike: awesome
zeros: Not that I've got a problem with limos and hookers, but they're just the icing.
mike: indeed
mike: so, are these left or right wing protesters getting gassed?
zeros: Left-wing, I assume. Right-wingers have better things to do than that shit.
zeros: Besides, the right can call on military expertise, and think rationally.
mike: wow. What doesn't the left like about it? Not enough socialism and rectal probes?
zeros: Essentially.
zeros: According to one organizer, Anne Petermann, the overarching message of Wednesday’s action is that the United Nations process for curbing climate change is a failure, and that there are “thousands of other solutions to climate change that aren’t being considered,” she said.
zeros: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/science/earth/17climate.html
zeros: No, the overarching message is that these people are a bunch of clueless shits.
Who's Shooter?
zeros: Hm, military captain?
mike: missile launch officer.
zeros: AF?
mike: yes
zeros: Pretty. Missiles of the nuke-tipped variety?
mike: yup
zeros: Hm, does he get an employee discount on them?
Shooter: who is zeros, anyways?
mike: friend of mine
mike: Aussie expat
mike: right now he wants to go to Copenhagen
mike: because the police are gassing protesters and he'd like to help.
Shooter: not bad.
Shooter: bonus points if he tapes the Mohammed cartoons to the gas canisters.
current mood: amused
current music: Dos Gringos, S.O.S.
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(32 comments | comment on this)
(15 comments | comment on this)
halseanderson
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7:55a
Skipped one, sorry about that, Revision Tip # 16
Yesterday was.... let's not go into it.
Today is here and that is all that matters.
If you are still shopping for a winter holiday, read "Cheese and Crackers Never Changed Anyone's Life" and then finish your shopping at Indiebound.
There now - wasn't that simple?
Congratulations to Melissa on this WINTERGIRLS video - the project earned her a 100 in her class.
Revision Tip #16 (yes, I know it should be 15, but yesterday really was something of a mess and it's easier this way. Do you remember the "Bruce" sketch of Monty Python? Remember how there was no Rule #6? This is the same thing.)
Where was I?
Right, Revision Tip #16
Revision is the perfect time to brainstorm.
Really.
Brainstorming is not a one-and-done part of the writing process. Not the way I see it. After that messy first draft, I usually have chapters that feel empty or out-of-place. I mentioned the way I use huge sheets of paper to organize my chapters. Here is another technique.
1. Identify the critical chapters in your novel. Which are the ones that contain The Really Big Stuff?
The Really Big Stuff chapters will usually be separated by chapters in which the action unfolds in a slightly less intense way. Think of your novel as a wide river that your reader needs to cross. The RBS (Really Big Stuff) chapters are small islands in the river. The other chapters are either stepping stones or bridges that get the reader from one island to the next.
2. List the Stones & Bridges chapters, then prioritize them by how alive they feel. What is the chapter that feels the most flat - the chapter (or chapters!) you are secretly wondering if you should cut?
3. Don't cut them yet.
4. There is no Four.
5. Brainstorm as if you were starting from scratch. For each of the flat chapters, dream up ten different ways the action could unfold. Go ahead - be outrageous. I dare you. Sometimes thinking way outside the box is what you need to jolt your writer brain into clearer storytelling.
6. (Please note; there IS a Rule Six, Bruce!) Pick one of the ten and just freewrite the chapter over again. How does it help the reader understand the characters better? How does it move the story forward?
7. Rinse. Repeat. Send me questions.
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(2 comments | comment on this) Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
(1 comment | comment on this)
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