Untitled Writers' Group

Anne Harris -- Metro Times Online

Through the wonders of modern technology, you can now read my Metro Times article online.

Lisa Leutheuser — Tracking Time in Novels

UWG member Karen raised the issue of how do other people keep track of passing time in their novels. I thought we could discuss that here.

I use an Excel spreadsheet for tracking time. I track month, day, phase of moon, "absolute day", and main events that happen on the day. I don't track every day that passes (ugh!), but in addition to major events, I also track uneventful travel periods and days that have small pivotal events in the plots and characters' lives. This kind of tracking is necessary for me because most of my novel/trilogy plot ideas tend to take place over months and years.

"Absolute day" is the total number of days that have passed in the story. The very first day of the novel is "day 1" and I count up from there. This makes it an easy subtraction to find out how many days between any two events, rather than the more difficult calculation of, for example, "How many days have passed between April 2 and September 18?"

My take on moon phases in the extended post...

Anyone have other methods they use to track time? Or do you have other data bits you find useful to track?

Steven Harper Piziks--Con Cliches

I'll post by own con report when Lisa's done with hers, but in the meantime I need to fulfill a promise . . .

At ConFusion, I sat on a panel about cliches. We ended up doing a round-robin add-a-cliche game for different genres, and I promised to post the results. So here they are:

SCIENCE FICTION
Zap! went Acton's laster, bursting with energy. It struck the Thalusian in mid-thorax. The creature unleashed its mind scream, and Captain Acton clenched his long, square, manly cleft jaw in pain.

"You will never escape!" the Thalusian said.

"Your plan must fail!" Acton said.

"We have ways of making you talk," rumbled the alien.

"Never!" cried Acton. "I will never betray the Alliance."

Fists clenched in angry defiance, legs apart and arms akimbo, he swallowed his blaster and made the ultimate sacrifice. Zap!

FANTASY
Thorak the barbarian, muscles bulging, swung his mighty broadsword with a blood-curdling roar. "Foul, infernal demon-spawn," he snarled through clenched teeth, "go back from whence you came!!"

The abomination reared back and recoiled in fear and terror, its fangs dripping with venom and bloodlust in its eyes. A diamond of gigantic proportions glittered in its noisome coils. The creature struck desperately, narrowly missing Thorak's well-hewn thigh. The Hero of Vyzanthium laughed with savage glee and chopped the squirmiong, heaving, slithering mass in twain. Foul-smelling green ichor spurted everywhere, spattering Thorak's powerful thews.

ROMANCE
It was a dark and stormy night at the old millhouse. The limping, tragic figure fled on foot, choked with emotion, bidding farewell, and having saved herself from a fate worse than death. She cast back her hood, revealing glowing golden tresses, eyes like limpid pools of sapphire, and rose-tinted cheeks. The rocky road tore her lily-white feet as she gasped for breath, her bosom heaving beneath her bodice. There was no going back now--she had reached the point of no return.

"John," she whispered to herself, "I will love you forever, but ours is a love that cannot last."

--Steven

Erica Schippers - Paths of the Just Sampler PDF

Guardians of Order has posted a PDF sampler from the SAS book Paths of the Just. The sampler contains small teaser sections from a half-dozen stories, including Covalent Bonds by Erica Schippers.

View PDF here.

Lisa Leutheuser — UWGs of the World Unite!

I've just learned that there are (at least) two other UWGs out there:

Meet the Unnamed Writers Group in Reno. And the unstructured writing group in Silverdale.

General Announcement — More Quotes on the Webpage

Hey, check it out! The twelfth volume of weird and funny UWG quotes is up on the website.

Lisa Leutheuser — Ideas in Search of a Plot

My contribution to the "discouragement" topic:

I don't need a ton of ideas for novels — a novel takes so long to write that by the time I reach the end, I know I will have a few more novel-length ideas stewing on the back burners. Coming up with plots, sub-plots, and character conflicts is easy. Though I still have so much to learn about constructing a novel, I know I can write a novel. If I'm disciplined enough to keep plugging at it, I will eventually finish. But short stories are another matter entirely.

Erica Schippers - Time Management and Discouragement

I think that these two things, time management and discouragement, are perennial issues for writers. I know they are for me, so I am hoping to open a discussion about the experiences my fellow members of the writer's group have had relating to these issues and their strategies for dealing with them.

One of my greatest challenges is time management. The hours of my job are mostly standard business hours, but I have periods of greater demand at irregular intervals. I try to have certain days set aside with dedicated writing time, but I find that disruption of this schedule really throws me off, even when the schedule is '3 weeknights and one weekend morning'. I know the trick is to 'just do it', but if anyone has any mental exercises, system of rewards, or other suggestions about how to stay on track, I would be more than happy to hear them.

Steven Harper Piziks -- A Strange Interview

An interview with Steven is appearing in this week's issue of the "Strange Horizons" on-line magazine. Way cool!

Erica Schippers - Path of The Just Amazon Listing

Steven Harper (aka Steven Piziks) and Erica Schippers both have stories published in the upcoming Path of the Just, published by Guardians of Order. All stories are set in the Silver Age Sentinels superhero universe. Steven's name is on the cover and Erica is the only female author in the anthology.