Just a quick dip in. I know it’s been forever since I last posted. (Sorry. Life started getting busy! Both kids in school, helping the hubby with his college homework, cleaning house, the usual stuff… Takes up a lot of time!) But life is looking to settle down once more. We’re moving… to Texas. Yup. You heard right. Texas.
The Lone Star State
I would’ve blogged sooner, but this last month of preparing, cleaning, packing, etc. has been a real doozy. The final transition is made this weekend. Soon after I will have my own personal office (which means lots of quiet time for writing!! hooray for that!!) and lots of distraction-less time. (Moving to a new place sorta does that.)
Anyway, the blog will be continued soon enough. With lots of new goodies in store!
Have a great Valentine’s Day, y’all! I’m a-gonna be moving that day, but it’s all good here.
I derive much of my motivation to write from music. Many authors do. Stephen King talks of listening to hard -classic- rock (AC/DC, among others) while writing. I imagine plenty of authors, those established and starving, do. I just don’t have intimate knowledge of their musical playlists.
When it comes to my writing playlist, however, certain songs or musical styles help me to unleash emotionally into my work.
For example:
In my general every-day writing, or the beginning of nearly every writing session, I listen to this song first.
Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums
I can’t begin to describe why this song reaches into me and unlocks my Muse. Perhaps it’s the beat, the lyrics, the overall package…. I couldn’t tell you. Music, while one of my many loves and in many ways my own religion, it’s not exactly my most knowledgeable area, either. (As in, I understand the terms, couldn’t begin to demonstrate them though. I know a quarter note is a quarter of a full note, but could I play it for you? Heck no!)
Either way, this song is how I begin every writing session. I don’t generally listen to this song much in my non-writing activities, but should it cross the path of washing-dishes/exercising/waiting-in-the-ONLY-checkout-line-at-Walmart-after-midnight/folding-laundry/etc., I am instantly hit with the need to write. Much like when a smoker passes another smoker lighting up, or watches it happen on television and they are hit with the full-force desire to light a cigarette RIGHT NOW!
This song brings out my Muse. It is her Siren call.
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When I’m writing a scene that’s particularly sad, say a scene about grief, loneliness, crushing depression, or whatever reason you can think of to be sad about, I usually turn to blues (what little I have on my mp3 player. I need to get more.)
One of my favorites is taken from the movie, Black Snake Moan. (With Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci. It came out in 2007, if I remember right.)
Yet again, I couldn’t explain why this song in particular reaches out to me for scenes like this, but it does. If I had a better collection of blues, I’d probably offer up a different song, but alas, I have not entirely wetted my appetite for the blues yet and as such, don’t have much knowledge of that musical genre yet.
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This next video is one of my favorite songs to listen to period, but most especially when I am writing a scene or story that is to me surreal, a dream scene or something rather weird/unexplainable.
I think part of why I love this song is just the strangeness of it. (Again, I am familiar with only a few musical terms. Here, in this arena, I lack all my usual nuances and charm.) I particularly love what sounds to me like a weed whacker. (I know that’s actually the guitar–at least, I think so–but it still sounds like a weed whacker to me. And I love it.)
Ultimately, this song is perfect for scenes about surreality, things that may or may not be real. The artist suffered from schizophrenia and wrote this song specifically about his delusions and hallucinations. For me, this makes it a very personal and beautiful song about insanity. That automatically makes it a favorite.
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Let’s talk about love, shall we?
When I’m writing about a good, positive emotion, I look for high spirited music to motivate me emotionally. (Captain Obvious for the Win!)
Coldplay, to me personally, is one of the best bands for “love/romantic” music. Again, I can’t really explain why I think this. I just find their music always revolves around a certain timbre, pitch, tone, octave, whatever, that seems to scream “LOVE” in a wonderful soprano. (Or, uh, whatever.)
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I love talking about music, even if I don’t know any of the technical aspects of music. I tried to learn an instrument in 5th grade– the violin. I wouldn’t mind trying to learn again, but I’m just not patient enough to learn how to properly play a musical instrument.
Mostly, I love to discuss music because it’s one of few things that everyone has a true opinion on. One song will never sound exactly the same to another person as it does to me. How we perceive music, how we understand the emotional language of music, these are all reflections of who we are underneath the layers of civilization and society that we camouflage ourselves with.
Music reveals everyone for who they truly are.
Which is why music is such a powerful tool when it comes to writing believable, sympathetic and realistic characters. Music helps the writer to peel away the layers of civilization that would cover the character as they do ourselves, allowing us to reveal our characters as they really are, in much the same way music reveals us in our real lives.
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I would include more from my playlist, but I think I’ve put enough up for now. The next blog will cover more music, which scenes I use certain songs to help write, etc.
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RANDOM PARANOID FEAR OF THE DAY #172
One day while flying paper airplanes with my kids, one plane will fly right by my neck, in such a way that it slices my flesh open to the jugular, killing me by paper cut.
Hello again, Constant Reader. (Oops. Slipped into some Stephen King verbiage. Let me change that up to….)
Hello, kiddies. (Ok. The Crypt Keeper will have to do. Definitely suits me better.)
Here we are with The Writer’s Online Toolbox Part 2.
Today we’re going to discuss the various websites at your disposal, in particular market websites.
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Now, when I first began writing seriously and looked for publishers, I hit a major obstacle. I had a copy of The Writer’s Market. I used it. I recently gave that copy away, marked up but still mostly good, to a friend of mine who needs to get moving publishing her work. (You know who you are.)
But when it came to the search for markets online, I was stumped. I googled “horror story publishers” and “horror magazines.” Neither of which provided any good results, all of which required I click on individual links.
Google search is one of, but not the best, way of searching for markets.
As you probably can’t see, the website breaks down markets according to pay.
On top of pay, it breaks down into Anthologies, Book Publishers, etc.
This is very helpful for the newbie writer. No longer must you browse through your Writer’s Market, searching endlessly between entries and index to know what the little symbols mean, which market pays a lot of money, which pay none at all, etc.
I personally find the information provided in the entries section at Ralan’s to be quite helpful. Take a look.
(Sorry about this image being larger, but I would like for you all to have a peek at the going’s-on at Ralan’s.)
The entries are easy to read, easy to understand and best of all, no-nonsense. Exactly the type of thing I enjoy seeing in my market databases.
Ralan’s is my first go-to. Here is where I begin all my market searches.
I should also point out the website is free to use and runs entirely on donations. So in this hard economy, let’s remember that writers aren’t the only ones struggling — so are our publishers and the people who help us find the publishers.
The reason I enjoy this site is because, as I’m sure you can see, they actually provide a membership option. The website is entirely free, and runs on donations as well, so if you find yourself with an extra ten dollars this month and you were going to spend it on books, try sending some of that their way.
Having a membership at Duotrope isn’t necessary. You can anonymously access their database, perform searches that go into lots of detail….
And incredibly, report your market reponses!
They also have a wonderful facet to membership. You can create your own Submissions Tracker. You input the various data requirements, and the program tracks your submissions. As well as let you know what your average acceptance vs. rejection ratio is. (It’s not anything major. I would honestly prefer a lower acceptance vs. rejection ratio, because I don’t submit as often as I should. If I had a lower ratio, it would reflect how much I submit.)
Ultimately, this is again, a fantastic site. It’s difficult to browse the site. You can’t break down the markets by genre or any other category when exploring the site. All markets are put on a single page in alphabetical order. If you have a story in mind and are looking for the just right market, Duotrope is the answer.
If you’re cruising for a market to sub to, then I would suggest Ralan’s.
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Another favorite website of mine that is both amusing and helpful, is Submitting to the Black Hole. This is just another submissions tracker, though completely anonymous and designed to showcase the response rate of the markets in question. The markets on the list are broken down by Books and Magazines, then listed in alphabetical order.
You’ll have to click on the above link and check this website out in full.
If you’ve sent off a story to never get a reply, come along and find that market on the list and report the negative response. If you’re just curious how long that one short story will take at a certain magazine, come along and see their average response time.
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These websites are amazingly helpful to me when it comes to searching for a market to submit to. Give them a try and see how they work for you.
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RANDOM PARANOID FEAR OF THE DAY #69
On one of my nightly walks, I will come across a foggy patch of road, where I’ll be swallowed into the greyness…. never to see the light of day again. And force fed pea-soup until I die.
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There you have it, kiddies. Part 2 of the Writer’s Online Toolbox series. Next we’ll tackle work-shopping/tip websites and where you need to be at right now.
I told you I’d be finishing up the Writer’s Online Tool Box Part 2 and throwing it up here for your amusement, and perhaps education, a few days ago.
However, I received this notice earlier today:
To Shanna Wynne, writer extraordinaire:
We must unfortunately inform you that the links you wish to provide on your latest and greatest blog are down. They have crashed and appear as Network Not Found. The internet equivalent to the Blue Screen of Death.
When these links are resurrected, we will update you immediately. Then you may proceed to write and publish your blog.
With deepest regrets,
The Internet
There you have it. The problem-at-hand. I could post the blog unfinished, without the links, but it just wouldn’t be the same.
As such, here are funny pictures to amuse us while we wait.
One of my favorite Calvin and Hobbes comics.
This one makes me think….. Would I do that?
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I suppose two funny pictures are enough. Not only is the Internet ashamed for messing up my links, but for some reason, it’s also interfering with my blog – writing. (Buttons and stuff getting stuck. Had to undo stuff several times. It wants to put everything in block quotes. *sigh*)
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RANDOM PARANOID FEAR OF THE DAY #56
That there will be that fateful day on the escalator when my shoe laces or the hem of my jeans will get caught in its vice-like teeth and I will be chewed up into fajita meat.
That thing is just scary looking…. It is in disrepair, I admit, but even the working ones terrify me.
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Have a terrific Sunday. I will return and post more. Hopefully the Internet fixes my link problem so I can post Part 2 to the Writer’s Online Tool Box series.
