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mary rosenblum
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Hello, all!
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you've had a great
week.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. Today we're talking about keeping
track of research, characters, and your world. I've published seven novels
and more than 60 short stories and will do my best to answer any questions
you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a
Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the
top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send
bar if that works better for you..
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mary rosenblum
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I wanted to talk about keeping
track today...when you begin to write longer than the very short short
stories, it become increasingly important to keep track. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Readers sure do!
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mary rosenblum
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I already have a question up
here from Ethan.
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mary rosenblum
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By the way....if you can't
make forum, try posting a question in the auditorium before the Forum...
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mary rosenblum
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they seem to show up here on
my screen when I log on.
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roe
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Yeah and thank God for
critiqurers I changed the name of a charachter halfway through a story and
never noticed it no matter how many times I read it
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mary rosenblum
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It's easier to do than you
think and readers are invaluable...that's one of the jobs of your
editor...to catch your logic errors like that.
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ethan
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How can I organize my ideas for
a story or a trilogy?
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mary rosenblum
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When you're looking at really
large stories...a novel or even a series...
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mary rosenblum
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it's a good idea to begin a
plot summary document.
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mary rosenblum
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I tend to start these on the
computer so that I can add things in the middle easily and change things...
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mary rosenblum
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but it can help, too, to
unroll a long sheet of shelf paper and lay out your story as a 'plot line'.
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mary rosenblum
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You can pencil in scenes or
events and you'll have a sense of the overall shape of your story.
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janp
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and I updated information but
forgot to change previous date
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mary rosenblum
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Those are what I call revision
lapses, janp. :-) You change something but you miss some of the earlier
references that you also need to change. :-)
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info
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is it a good idea to keep notes
on the little things that aren't real important but might need later?
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mary rosenblum
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It is indeed, info, especially
in a novel length work.
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mary rosenblum
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In the middle of chapter 18,
you are about to have your MC notice the pickup of the bad guy in a strange
location.
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mary rosenblum
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Uh oh...what color is his
truck again?
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mary rosenblum
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You KNOW you mentioned it
earlier in the book...
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mary rosenblum
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but now you have to skim
through 280 pages of ms to find it!
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. Today we're talking about keeping
track of research, characters, and your world. I've published seven novels
and more than 60 short stories and will do my best to answer any questions
you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a
Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the
top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send
bar if that works better for you..
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neo
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When I wrote two novels in the
B.C. era (before computers), I used the notebook method with dividers to
keep track of info. When I started a novel last year, I thought it would be
useful to use Word documents and a spreadsheet. Still, I ended up
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neo
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printing out everything and
pinning it up on a bulletin board. Can you use computer files to keep
track?
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mary rosenblum
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Depends on how you work, neo.
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mary rosenblum
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I keep all my character,
world, words, plot files on the computer, but for example, I print out the
growing plot file and have it lying around the house so I an brainstorm at
odd moments...
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mary rosenblum
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or scribble notes on it as
they occur to me.
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mary rosenblum
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On the other hand, when I'm
working on the novel, I'll have the character and world file up on the
desktop so I can switch back and forth...
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mary rosenblum
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into those documents as I need
to add a character or a world detail.
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mary rosenblum
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Or check on something.
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mary rosenblum
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Another point...make a
timeline. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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In they YA I just turned in,
my final reader pointed out that I had my MC expecting to go to school the
next day...and if you counted days, this was FRIDAY.
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mary rosenblum
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oops.
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mary rosenblum
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Fixed that. :-)
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neo
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That's what I meant. When I try
to use the files on screen while I'm writing, I find it too distracting.
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mary rosenblum
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Just print them out. The nice
thing about keeping them on the computer (and do back them up) is that you
can add and change and not end up with pages of scribbles and crossouts and
new scribbles.
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mary rosenblum
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AND...if they get very large,
that search feature is a real boon.
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mary rosenblum
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Another trick to keeping track
is to use a tag in the body of your draft if you think you'll need to come
back to this point.
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mary rosenblum
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I tend to use something like
xxx inserted in the text. Say I know that I'll want to refer to this scene
later and the details need to match.
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mary rosenblum
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I can just search for that
xxx. There I am.
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lbaggins
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Doesn't each genre of a novel
have a different mainframe to
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lbaggins
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go by, as in a mystery or saga?
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mary rosenblum
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I'm not sure what you mean by
mainframe baggins. Could you elaborate a bit?
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roe
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I like to keep the names and
descriptions of my characters on index cards that way I can go back and
check to make sure I didn't give someone wtih blue eyes brown in the middle
of the story
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mary rosenblum
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This is another list that
really matters.
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mary rosenblum
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Every time you invent a new
spear carrier, never mind a more important charcter, take the time to add a
physical description to your character file.
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mary rosenblum
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So that red haired stable boy
doesn't end up with black hair three chapters later.
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seigfried007
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timelines are necessary when you
have female characters, pregnacies, or species that go into season ;-
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mary rosenblum
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No kidding.
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geezer
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I gotn the tides, the phases of
two moons, the orbit of a comet down. Then I noticed I had one week to move
100,000 troops 10,000 miles!
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mary rosenblum
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Better invent yourself some
good rapid transport, Geezer. :-)
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lbaggins
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I mean a different main plot.
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mary rosenblum
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I thought that's what you
meant, baggins, but wasn't sure.
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mary rosenblum
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Every genre has its own
'expectations'...and it's own form.
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mary rosenblum
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These rules are not carved in
stone, but if you fall 'outside' that genre in form, it's harder to sell
your book...it needs to be VERY good.
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mary rosenblum
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That's why I really suggest
that novice writers write in the genre they read.
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mary rosenblum
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If you read mystery for fun,
write it.
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mary rosenblum
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If you're a serious Romance
reader, write it.
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mary rosenblum
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You KNOW how that genre works.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. Today we're talking about keeping
track of research, characters, and your world. I've published seven novels
and more than 60 short stories and will do my best to answer any questions
you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a
Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the
top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send
bar if that works better for you..
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mary rosenblum
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THe genres are not rigidly
formlaic at all...outside category Romance, that is...(think those
Harlequin thin paperbacks)...
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mary rosenblum
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but they do follow a roughly
general form.
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lbaggins
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Is there a book out that shows
plot formulas for different
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lbaggins
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genres?
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mary rosenblum
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If there is, you shouldn't
read it, baggins.
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mary rosenblum
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Because the formulas are not
'set'.
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mary rosenblum
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You can find books on writing
mystery, or SF, or romance and they'll tell you generally...
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mary rosenblum
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what the readers in that genre
want.
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mary rosenblum
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But you're really better off
to simply write in the genre you read.
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mary rosenblum
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You already ARE an expert in
that one.
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info
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don't formula books have a
tendency to confuse the novice as well
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mary rosenblum
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Well, they have a tendency to
help you write something that is very wooden and unimaginative and won't sell.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. Today we're talking about keeping
track of research, characters, and your world. I've published seven novels
and more than 60 short stories and will do my best to answer any questions
you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a
Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the top
of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send
bar if that works better for you..
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carla
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lets say you have like 3000
pieces of paper all with bits of stuff on them relating to the story ....
any suggestions on organizing them other than covering my entire wall with
tacks
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, happens to me with nearly
every novel, carla!
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mary rosenblum
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Think articles, pictures,
scraps from the newspaper, scenes, scribbled notes!
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mary rosenblum
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The method that has worked
best for me is to buy an inexpensive cardboard file box that will
accomodate hanging file folders....and a box of file folders.
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mary rosenblum
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Label the folders. Character
bits. Setting. Setting pictures.
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mary rosenblum
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Whatever categories seem to
work.
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mary rosenblum
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Toss each scrap into its
appropriate folder.
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mary rosenblum
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You can do the same thing with
envelopes, but I usually have a bunch of magazine articles so the folders
give me more room and they're easy to shuffle through.
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mary rosenblum
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Make each category as narrowly
specific as you can so that you don't have 150 of those slips in one
folder!
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mary rosenblum
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When I'm all done with the
novel, I bundle all the notes, etc into one box, label it, and store it in
the basement.
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mary rosenblum
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In case I need that stuff for
a sequel, etc.
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mary rosenblum
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I have begun to learn the hard
way that writing is for life and what you published ten years ago can come
back to life or come back to haunt you in other ways...
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mary rosenblum
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and all that background stuff
can suddenly matter.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. Today we're talking about keeping
track of research, characters, and your world. I've published seven novels
and more than 60 short stories and will do my best to answer any questions
you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a
Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the
top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send
bar if that works better for you..
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carla
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Is it more work to record on a
tape recorder - tends to think the words faster than can type or write -
then transcribe them
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mary rosenblum
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I've done that quite a bit,
carla. When my kids were young, on long driving trips...
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mary rosenblum
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I have to start and stop
recorder as I transcribe, but I also edit as I transcribe, so it's almost
like getting two drafts for the price of one.
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tory
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If you had that info on
computer, do you print it and then deleter files?
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mary rosenblum
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Right now it's either on disk
or on the current hard drive, tory. I keep all my novel stuff in one folder
and back that folder onto CD with a date.
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mary rosenblum
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That's one folder for each
novel. :-
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info
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couldn't all that background
stuff also lead to a whole different story idea?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, of course. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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And if that novel, say, does
very well, you may want to do a sequel, or some short stories set in that
universe with those characters.
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tory
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LOL re timeline, Mary. Just read
a book where MC put on a pot of coffe. Saddled horse, went to woods, cut
down Christmas tree, decorated it, went to tattic, got cedar chest,
polished it, wrapped it all while the coffee initially perked!
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mary rosenblum
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I'm laughing. That's what I
do! Way too often. Burned more pots to death that way.
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mary rosenblum
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This is why you need a reader
with a real eye for detail.
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roe
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sounds like she was making a 50
cup pot
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mary rosenblum
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Or melted it down, roe!
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mary rosenblum
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AFter you spend hours
searching for details in your first novel, you'll learn to write everything
down.
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mary rosenblum
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You're sure you'll remember
it.
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mary rosenblum
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But 200 pages later, you
cannot for the life of you remember whether her eyes were green or blue...
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mary rosenblum
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or ...and this is MUCH more
important...whether your MC revealed an important secret to this character
before...
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mary rosenblum
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or if this is her first
mention of it.
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mary rosenblum
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I have learned to list the
important events in EVERY chapter.
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mary rosenblum
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So when I wonder if this
happened or did it happen that way...
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mary rosenblum
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I can skim my chapter list and
see where that took place.
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carla
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if you are asked to break a
novel down to different short stories for a series ... how important is it
still to transcend the details from month to month
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mary rosenblum
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That's a challenge, carla. YOu
have to have enough 'backstory' each time to help readers who missed the
earlier segment...
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mary rosenblum
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but you can't bore the
faithful.
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mary rosenblum
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It's harder than writing the
novel. Each start will require some kind of VERY brief recap of the story
and then segue into the new story.
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lbaggins
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That's like The Cat
Who...mysteries.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, that's a series of
novels, baggins.
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mary rosenblum
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EAch one stands alone,
although they are all part of the same universe and have the same main
characters.
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mary rosenblum
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A series of shoft stories that
make up a novel is a bit different.
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mary rosenblum
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Carla you could actually do a
quick recap of the story to date at the start of each story...but I'd keep
it to a paragraph if possible.
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mary rosenblum
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The editor would probably set
it off into a different font...or ask the editor to do that.
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janecj333
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mary, do you have any advice for
keeping the whole book in your head? I've tried index cards, an outline,
chracter thumbnails, and have basically given up and just write in the
current scene, now, and hope to go back and fix my errors later
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mary rosenblum
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That's something you learn to
do with practice, jane, and believe me, when I'm in 'whole picture' mode, I
am a zombie to the rest of the world...
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mary rosenblum
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but you can't do that easily
in the first draft...
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mary rosenblum
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if you are writing
now...break...writing again...
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mary rosenblum
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so that is where your DETAILED
notes for each scene will help you.
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mary rosenblum
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Before I sit down to work, I
read over my notes and then I read the last chapter or scene I wrote.
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mary rosenblum
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That takes me back into that
universe and allows me to pick up pretty seamlessly where I left off.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm usually working on two or
more projects at once (two novels right now) so that reentry is critical
for me.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. Today we're talking about keeping
track of research, characters, and your world. I've published seven novels
and more than 60 short stories and will do my best to answer any questions
you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a
Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the
top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send
bar if that works better for you..
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mary rosenblum
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Wow, our Pacific storm just
hit the valley. Wind!
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geezer
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Send it down here, Mary!
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mary rosenblum
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Will do, geeze. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I should be here unless a tree
takes out a power line.
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mary rosenblum
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That chapter by chapter list
of events...include even the tiniest...
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mary rosenblum
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will save you SO much time
later.
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mary rosenblum
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Did she mention the lost purse
to her mother? What chapter was that in?
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mary rosenblum
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You can skim 100 pages trying
to find out if she did...
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mary rosenblum
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but if you wrote it
down...it's right there.
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carla
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sorry so many questions but am
most disorganized person will ever met .... have drawn a map on one wall
trying to visualize locations and time to move from one place to another
....will the reader really make note of the intriquicies of where a flower
bed is compared to the door entrance
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, questions are most
welcome, Carla! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Good for you for the map,
Carla...
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mary rosenblum
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that was next on my list!
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mary rosenblum
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DO draw a map...of the rooms,
of the town, of the house...
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mary rosenblum
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because readers DO
notice...and if the flowerbed ends up in front of the door by the end of
the story...you'll hear about it.
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mary rosenblum
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If your MC goes into the drycleaner
next to the bank and later gets a coke at the grocery store next to the
bank...you'll hear about it.
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mary rosenblum
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And it's not that readers
throw rocks at you...
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mary rosenblum
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it's that you shatter their
credibility and they don't quite trust your story after that.
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speckledorf
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Any mapping tips?
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mary rosenblum
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I tend to use shelf paper,
since it rolls up neatly for storage, speck.
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mary rosenblum
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Saves space.
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gskearney
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Ahh, trick em! Move the
flowerbed and then have your character mention, "Hey, I notice you
moved the flowers! Neat."
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mary rosenblum
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Ha, I just did this in my last
YA. :-)
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robastor
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I was working on a story where
geographical locations actually change. The trick I used to make it work
was the characters noticing the changes.
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mary rosenblum
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And that's important.
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mary rosenblum
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If you have something that
MIGHT be an accident of bad writing...the flowerbeds change...
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mary rosenblum
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then 'point at it' so that the
reader realizes you did it on purpose.
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mary rosenblum
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If that character acts in a
way that seems out of character...
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mary rosenblum
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let someone comment on it.
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mary rosenblum
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THat way the reader
understands it's not an accident.
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lbaggins
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How about a print of a map in
the front of the book?
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes you see those in
fantasies that take place in a complex landscape, baggins...
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mary rosenblum
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but there are some problems
that make it a measured choice.
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mary rosenblum
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It adds to the cost of the
book.
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mary rosenblum
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That is important.
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mary rosenblum
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People who will buy your
paperback, say, for 6.99 may pass on it if it is 7.99.
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mary rosenblum
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There are real reasons to save
the reader that dollar, believe me.
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mary rosenblum
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If the map is really critical,
you can include it, but if you can leave it out, I would.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. Today we're talking about keeping
track of research, characters, and your world. I've published seven novels
and more than 60 short stories and will do my best to answer any questions
you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a
Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the
top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send
bar if that works better for you..
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freja
|
what about keeping track of
wounds and such during books where fighting is going on?
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mary rosenblum
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That's VERY improtant, freja.
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mary rosenblum
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I've seen many stories where
the MC gets a deep sword cut on his thigh in one scene, and five pages
later leaps onto his horse and gallops off.
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mary rosenblum
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Be very careful that you give
your characters time to heal.
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mary rosenblum
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You do NOT weild a broadsword
with that broken arm three days later!
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gskearney
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I've never found those maps at
the front of books to be very useful, and I'm a visually oriented person.
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mary rosenblum
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Me neither. I prefer clear
description.
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janecj333
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There's always search by
keyword, if you can remember a unique word from the scene :)
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mary rosenblum
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And that is a GREAT way to do
revisions by the way...
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mary rosenblum
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if you do your revisions on
hardcopy and then type the changes into the computer...
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mary rosenblum
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instead of scrolling through
the ms...if you need to skip a few pages to the next change, use 'find' and
select several contiguous words. You'll go right there.
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lbaggins
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Unless it's a cartoon
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lbaggins
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and he grows another arm again!
JOKE
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, then you can get away
with the broken arm/sword thing, baggins. :-) Or unless he's an alien with
amazing talents...
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mary rosenblum
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and then you'd better 'point
at it'.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. Today we're talking about keeping
track of research, characters, and your world. I've published seven novels
and more than 60 short stories and will do my best to answer any questions
you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a
Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the
top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send
bar if that works better for you..
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seigfried007
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Another thing to keep track of:
the way a character talks. nothing frustrraes me more than trying to write
a weird-talking character and looking at teh line of dialogue only to
think, 'my gosh. that's not right!'
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mary rosenblum
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Well, that's the basic task of
creating a consistent character.
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mary rosenblum
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If they're not consistent,
they're not real to the reader.
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robastor
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About maps, I like to make the
visualization in my head myself. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Most people do, but I've
polled fans at conference panels and quite a few people really like the
maps.
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carla
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Is thinking going to need start
typing on the computer instead of my old fashioned ribbon typewriter
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mary rosenblum
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I'll tell you, Carla, for all
the romance and muse-satisfaction of hand writing or typing a draft (and I
know people who do their first drafts by hand always), a computer is a
great gift to the writer.
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mary rosenblum
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Saves TONS of time.
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mary rosenblum
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I started by hand and with
typewriter and when I got my first computer, the screen intimidated the
heck out of me.
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mary rosenblum
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Ha!
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mary rosenblum
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I would never go back.
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freja
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what about the more in-depth
books with serious politics and intrigues and traveling and all of that
stuff together. I have pages and pages of stuff. How can i keep it ALL
organized so i put in what needs and not leave out anything important?
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mary rosenblum
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I do pretty complex stuff,
freja, and I have all the world and science stuff as well...
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mary rosenblum
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I often rough out paralell
plot tracks for multiple characters so I can cross reference events..
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mary rosenblum
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makes sure people learn things
or do things at the right time in relation to other characters or events.
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janecj333
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I don't know if it's just my
computer, but MSWord doesn't like novel-length files. I break my text into
chunks as I go ending up with 5 or 6 files in the end. Is there an easier
way, does anybody know?
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mary rosenblum
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I don't recommend using a
single file for you novel. It's cumbersome, even with a fast computer.
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mary rosenblum
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I save each chapter as a file.
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mary rosenblum
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Means I can rename chapters as
I move 'em around or add or delete chapters.
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mary rosenblum
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And they save and search
quickly.
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geezer
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Maps are useful for troop
movements.
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mary rosenblum
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I've seen 'em in WWII memoirs
and that sort of thing, geezer.. Don't know how much they're used in
miltary fiction.
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speckledorf
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Do you use your roll of shelf
paper for this plot roughing out?
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mary rosenblum
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If I need to speck, yes. Gives
me LOTS of space and I don't have to write tiny. I leave room to add stuff
later.
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mary rosenblum
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I use it for mystery to decide
where I need to plant clues.
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janecj333
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It's crucial for me to switch to
pen and paper when I can't go any further on the computer; there's nothing
like a warm corner with pillows and hot tea to feel ambitious, again
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roe
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Oh I can't even imagine going
back to typewriter
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mary rosenblum
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And both are right...:-)
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mary rosenblum
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Whatever works for YOU.
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mary rosenblum
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Me, I get writers cramp when I
hand write.
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mary rosenblum
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I do it when I don't have a
computer with me...
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mary rosenblum
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but put me in front of a
screen and I'm gone....
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sallyk
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Have you ever run into a space
problem at the folder level?
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mary rosenblum
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My son gave me a huge hard
drive, sally, and I don't have games and such on it. So I have a lot of
space...
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mary rosenblum
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and there are neat little usb
drives ...thumb drives...you can use now.
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mary rosenblum
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LOTS of space and
portable...just make more than one so if the dog eats one, you have the
other.
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gwanny
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I spent about 10 bucks, bought a
file hnger box, black plastic, bought hanging files, labeled them a-z. I
put all names in "N" all places in "P" and so on. It
has helped me keep up with scraps of notes and such and makes looking for something
simple.
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mary rosenblum
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That really helps when you're
looking for something specific, gwanny.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. Today we're talking about keeping
track of research, characters, and your world. I've published seven novels
and more than 60 short stories and will do my best to answer any questions
you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a
Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question mark at the
top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into the regular send
bar if that works better for you..
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ltsonya
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this is a little off topic, but
what about when you first start thinking about a story? How do you
organize/sort all your thoughts on magic or technology without losing the
story?
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mary rosenblum
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Not off topic at all, sonya!
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mary rosenblum
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I find that story and
background work together.
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mary rosenblum
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Your setting should be
important to your story...so as they evolve they influence each other.
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mary rosenblum
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AS I create one aspect of
setting, I might think...'oh, cool, I can put my character there and this
can happen...' and the story zigs in a new direction.
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mary rosenblum
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Try to work with them
together. How would this affect your characters? What if one of your
characters has a flawed version of this magic?
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mary rosenblum
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Maybe someone should come from
this strange land?
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mary rosenblum
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Let your setting research add
to your plot.
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freja
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usb thingy's are also good if
your comp crashes and you can't back it up....
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mary rosenblum
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They are...my friends haul
their novels around at cons that way...
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mary rosenblum
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gonna have to get 'em. But CDs
work, too.
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mary rosenblum
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The main thing with story
research and details is make as much information as easily available as you
can.
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mary rosenblum
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Keep a time line so you know
what day you are on.
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mary rosenblum
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Keep a complete character list
...even the spear carriers...
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mary rosenblum
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keep an events chronology...a
list of what happens in each scene so you can look for a particular moment
without a lot of thumbing-through.
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mary rosenblum
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Organize your research
materials into specific folders, envelopes, boxes, or what have you.
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info
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I like the idea of burning
stories on cd's but isn't it better to save to disk's and usb's until the
story is complete before burning to cd's
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mary rosenblum
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Yes,s to the usb drive. I use
floppys for working drafts and CDS for complete drafts.
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cherley
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I know, now I am having to go
back through 50,000 words to search for my time line
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mary rosenblum
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Beeen there. How do you think
I learned? :-)
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cherley
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Why not use cd's as you go
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mary rosenblum
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You can. Nothing wrong with
it.
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janecj333
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the passage of days in a novel
is very hard to track
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mary rosenblum
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That's why you keep notes! You
probably don't go into the 'go to bed' details every night...
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freja
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i know this is a bit off topic,
but how do you know when you have revised enough, when it is finally
completed?
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mary rosenblum
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That can be tough,
freja...often we are our own worst critics.
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mary rosenblum
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When I am changing words only
and not content...it's time to quit.
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mary rosenblum
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That's when I send it to my
readers.
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mary rosenblum
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You can tweak a ms endlessly.
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info
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I guess I've been under the
impression that once you save part of stuff to the cd, you can't add to it.
Is that true?
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mary rosenblum
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YOu have to save a new file,
info.
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cherley
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Who are your readers?
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freja
|
where do you get readers?
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mary rosenblum
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We writers swap with each
other all the time...and I have some readers who are not writers but are
very accomplished readers...
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mary rosenblum
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or are novice writers with a
good eye.
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mary rosenblum
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You can find readers for your
work right here on the website...just hang around here and visit with
folk...
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cherley
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once you open the cd you can add
to it.
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mary rosenblum
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Oh yes, you can keep adding
files to the CD until it's full...just like a 3.5 disk.
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cherley
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Do they give you critique?
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mary rosenblum
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Of course. We swap.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm doing a novel for another
SF writer right now...she crittted the novel that will be out this year.
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freja
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what if you find someone who IS
that good and you want to let someone know ?
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mary rosenblum
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I'm not sure I follow what
you're asking, freja? Want to rephrase?
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info
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a problem I have in creating a
world, say a sci fi world, is knowing if something like tv's are important
or what other ways a mc can get their info without ease dropping. Any
suggestions?
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mary rosenblum
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I'ts your world, info. :-) You
have a starting point of today...where do you think we're going?
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freja
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what if we (us unpublsiehd folk
around here) find another writer unpublished who IS really good and wants
to let someone know about it? What should we do?
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mary rosenblum
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Tell people to look for
his/her work, freja. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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If that person publishes, tell
ALL your friends to buy it.
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greenfaile
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Do you use a format when you
critique? I think it helps.
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mary rosenblum
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I don't, green. Realize that
pros critique a bit differently than say I do for one of my students. We
all know that we're striving for power so we don't stand on ceremony and
we're less polite than we'd be to a novice.
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mary rosenblum
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You essentially say 'good'
'bad' 'good' 'bad', very straightforward.
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mary rosenblum
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I tell novice writers what
they need to improve, but I am very careful to point out what they do well.
I don't necessarily do that for my pro people...
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mary rosenblum
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It's not nasty, it's just
blunt.
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mary rosenblum
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We do know what we do well,
what we need is to fix what we don't do well. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Well, this has been a fun
Oregon hour, and I hope it helps you keep from drowning in scraps of paper!
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mary rosenblum
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I'll post the transcript of
this in the usual place: Writing Craft; Forum Transcripts.
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mary rosenblum
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Do join us Sunday...
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mary rosenblum
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for our casual chat. Same time
as the Forum, but we just hang out and talk about whatever.
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speckledorf
|
Ha...I got so many pieces of
paper it isn't even funny any more.
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mary rosenblum
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Ha you should see MY boxes in
the basement! LOL
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roe
|
wish i had a basement or any
kind of storage area
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mary rosenblum
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That can be a problem! But you
know what? Boxes of novel ms or notes make nice furniture. :-) Put
bookshelf planks on 'em...
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mary rosenblum
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a couple of ms used to boost
my monitor to a better height...
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mary rosenblum
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use your imagination and a
pretty tablecloth!
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mary rosenblum
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I have some very odd furniture
in my house between giant dog crates and boxes of books!
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mary rosenblum
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Good night, all!
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mary rosenblum
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See you Sunday!
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