Ok, So I’m Still behind and still Plugging away. Way, Way Behind. Had a minor elective surgery ( I’m Forty and have a daughter going away to college. You’re smart. I’m sure you can figure it out).

So I’m about two weeks behind where I want to be. My two month Deadline is looking more and more like a one month deadline. Luckily, I’ve got the Book in a month things to keep me honest.

But I’ve got a problem. I’ve got two new ideas  hogging my brain.

One is pretty much a direct lift from a podcast I listen to. Sputnik at Tank Riot was talking about how much he loves submarine movies, and mentioned that since he liked zombie movies too, he wanted someone to make a zombie on a sub movie because, “Where would you go?” Ding! Why Not? Modern Nuclear or WWII Action? Pre or Post Apocalypse? Hmm, wheels are turning.

The second one came out of the ether- it’s not directly related to anything. I was just turning over a steampunk Idea and came up with something I’m really excited about. Because this is a lot more personal, and a lot less like “Theft” if I go forward with it, I’m not telling what it is. But it’s pretty cool. A quick google search shows that I don’t think anyone else has had this idea- at least not in this form.

I see on forums all the time the question “Where do you get your ideas?” and I’m always flabbergasted by it. Ideas are all over the place. You can get them from news stories, other writers, or just pull them right out of the air if you concentrate.

Some ideas are stupid: the world doesn’t need anymore vampires or werewolves, thank you very much. But if you keep an eye out, maybe you can catch a few good ones.

Then, of course, there’s a big difference between an idea and the execution. I can guarantee that i am not the only person this week to jot down “Submarine Zombies” in my notebook. Whether I’m the first to execute that idea or the best or even the most popular is as random and up to chance as pulling that idea out of the gestalt in the first place.

Hopefully, I can turn these ideas into something exciting. If not, I’m sure there’ll be more ideas my antenna will pick up on.

Working my Novel- Day 20: Plugging into the Gestalt ©, .

So is Writing a solitary profession? It doesn’t seem like it should be anymore. I mean, if your primary activity is writing, it’s easier than ever to connect with other writers and get your stuff out there, Right?

So Who do you follow? Who gives you the inspiration and advice that you value?

Here’s a couple of my favorite sites:

• Whatever- Hugo award winning John Scalzi’s site is the first one I Turn to each and every day. John’s blog is an addictive� mix of humor, politics and biography. John offers a fascinating and candid look inside the life of a professional genre writer. A big plus is the comments on each post: With 20,000-40,000 readers a DAY, many of them in the industry, every post becomes� resource for the aspiring writer. Plus, John shows how to do a platform right. No hard sell, no ads, just clean, valuable content on a daily basis. Really, you just can’t go wrong here.
• A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing- J.A.Konrath’s site. Joe is a chief evangelist of the “Indie Writer” scene. After writing the Jack Daniels Mystery series, Joe has turned to self publishing on the Kindle and other e-books, undercutting the competition and turning a substantial profit.� There are flaws in his model- I do believe that his name, platform and history do help him sell, but he offers enough evidence that any writer can be successful on their own to make it seem possible.
• 365 Days of Novel Writing- How’s Your New Year’s Resolution to write everyday working? Yeah, mine to. J. Kaye on the other hand went public with hers and it’s a must read. Great inspiration flows both ways. Give her a hand!
• Pics-N-Pens- I’m a sucker for this site. Yes, it looks out of date, but the rotating stable of writers provide lots of content, and the fun they have shines through the posts. very comfy, it feels like spending time with the family
• Creative Penn- A more commercial site, if you can get past the hard sell marketing, this site is informative and stays on top of the news.
• Author Tech Tips- Just tips. Just short informative articles that get to the point and move on.� Good for the basics and refreshers, but not a lot of depth.
• The Book Designer- There can be only one, and this is it. If you’re going to be putting out your own books, you need to be here first. From Creative Commons, to selling, to marketing, this one has it all.
• Pimp My Novel- A news aggregator for the publishing industry. I read primarily for the friday roundups, but check out the blogroll for some other sites to visit.
• CopyBlogger,� Chris Brogan and Seth Godin- Not for writers per se, but marketing blogs that often deal with inspiration, perseverance and writing.

That’s my List: My Go to inspirational and news sites. What’s Yours? What did I miss?

What Writing Sites Do You Follow? ©, .

This covers a lot of the same ideas I wrote about previously in the best writing Advice I never listened to.

Youtube.edu is a collection of lectures and speakers from many prestigious universities collected n one spot. Be prepared to waste an evening browsing: Many of the videos are over an hour long.

Ray Bradbury on Writing ©, .

• Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
• Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
• Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
• Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.
• Start as close to the end as possible.
• Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
• Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
• Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Nice- Short, Sweet and to the point. And Delivered with Vonnegut’s trademarked wit and humor. But there must be other lists like this one, right? Other writer’s who have distilled a lifetime of writing into a few short words. Small lists of the purest essence of craft and function. What else is out there?

Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing

• Never open a book with weather.
• Avoid prologues. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.
• Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said” . . .
• Keep your exclamation points under control.
• Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”
• Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
• Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
• Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.
• Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
• And his executive summary:If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

Ten too much to remember?

Orwell’s Five Rules of Effective Writing

• Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
• Never Use A long word where a short one will do.
• If it is Possible to Cut a word out, Always cut it out.
• Never use the passive when you can use the active.
• Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English Equivalent.

Still Too Wordy? Still Looking for the distilled essence of effective writing? I’ve got one more, from the master of brevity and economy, taken from the “Kansas City Star’s” style guide:

Hemingway’s Four Rules:

• Use Short Sentences
• Use Short Paragraphs
• Use Vigorous English
• Be Positive, Not Negative

Think You Can Remember That?

Rules for Writing from Masters ©, .

And Bee sure to check out our post on Distance Learning Master Programs also!

Free College In Wisconsin! ©, .