Sail on, brave explorer!
Monday, November 9, 2009

BEHIND him lay the gray Azores,
Behind the Gates of Hercules;
Before him not the ghost of shores,
Before him only shoreless seas.
The good mate said: “Now must we pray,
For lo! the very stars are gone.
Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?”
“Why, say, ‘Sail on! sail on! and on!’”

“My men grow mutinous day by day;
My men grow ghastly wan and weak.”
The stout mate thought of home; a spray
Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.
“What shall I say, brave Admiral, say,
If we sight naught but seas at dawn?”
“Why, you shall say at break of day,
‘Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!’”

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow,
Until at last the blanched mate said:
“Why, now not even God would know
Should I and all my men fall dead.
These very winds forget their way,
For God from these dread seas is gone.
Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say”—
He said: “Sail on! sail on! and on!”

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate:
“This mad sea shows his teeth to-night.
He curls his lip, he lies in wait,
With lifted teeth, as if to bite!
Brave Admiral, say but one good word:
What shall we do when hope is gone?”
The words leapt like a leaping sword:
“Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!”

Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck,
And peered through darkness. Ah, that night
Of all dark nights! And then a speck—
A light! A light! A light! A light!
It grew, a starlit flag unfurled!
It grew to be Time’s burst of dawn.
He gained a world; he gave that world
Its grandest lesson: “On! sail on!”
- Joaquin Miller




When you're striving for a word count, exploring the great unknown territory of a new book, it's easy to get discouraged. It's tempting to give up because you don't know what comes next, or because this part is hard, or because you aren't where you wanted to be today.

Take the difficulties in stride.

Are you hitting a wall with NaNo? Not sure where to go next? Not sure if you can get the necessary 1,667 words in today?

Let it go.

Worry and doubt kill the creative spirit faster than anything I know. If you let your evil Inner Editor fill you with doubt you won't make it to the end. You will fail, if you quit.

We're in week two of NaNo. It's hard. We're hitting the point where so many people quit writing because they don't know what to do next. So.... kill someone, steal a necklace, let a wild pig run through the wedding, kidnap your character, land some aliens in the back yard, unveil a juicy secret, splatter blood somewhere, do what you need to do to keep writing.

When the writing gets tough, pull out your list of shiny things. Indulge in some scene description. Love on your character a little and let them talk about a favorite childhood memory.

Don't be afraid that some of this novel won't survive to the last draft. You need to know what the scene looks like. You need to know your characters. So what if you wind up chopping that chapter next year when you go to edit? At least you'll have the information saved for later.

Above all else, KEEP WRITING!!!!

Posted byLiana Brooks at 9:07 AM 1 Writers With Opinions  

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November Posting Schedule
Saturday, November 7, 2009

My usual 4-5 posts/week schedule will change to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday posting schedule for the month of November to accommodate NaNo.

As always, if you have questions about writing, editing, NaNo, or science feel free to e-mail me. Just click on the E-MAIL tab above and be sure to put "Blog Question" somewhere in the title line.

Posted byLiana Brooks at 12:05 PM  

Which one's naked?
Friday, November 6, 2009

Random Question from an Alpha-reader: Which character gets naked first?

What? *blinks in confusion*

I write sci-fi and fantasy, not romance or erotica! That was one series that had naked people running loose.

ONE!

It's not like I make a habit of my characters running around without clothes on!

But, apparently, that's what my friend remembers. In the ViS series there is a subculture that embraces nudity, and really freaky full-body tattoos. That stuck in her head, but not the million other characters that wear clothes all the time.

Just for her, I'm going to add streakers to my NaNo nov- ... oh, wait, would naked demons count as naked characters? Um.. whoops. *blushes* I just can't picture psychotic death demons with clothes. Sorry, Yuna!

Random Love of the Week: Write or Die!!!!

Putting the "Prod" back in productivity!

The first two thousand words every day aren't hard to reach, as long as I write in the morning. The other thousand that I need to make my word count goal are murder. Hence, write or die. Where last night I pulled off a cool 1,477 words in 37 minutes. I meant to write only 600, but the scene came alive and so I kept going. <3>Random Food of the Week: My kid's school sells pickles for $1 on Fridays. I didn't realize giant pickles were that much of a treat. Ice cream, yes. Popcorn, yes. A chance to wear a hat, yes. But a giant pickle in a plastic bag? I don't get the attraction.


Random Trend that Confuses Me: Monogramming your car.

I understand having your initials on your luggage. I kind of get why you might monogram a towel (you never know when some unruly houseguest might try to abscond with it). But do you really need to initial your car so that it looks like it has a spring-break-butt-tattoo?

I mean, how many other SUVs are perwinkle pink with bright blue flowers on the hood? Do you think adding your initials will help you find it in the parking lot?

And I won't even go into what I think about putting your kid's name and school on the back of the car. Wait... I will.

It's an invitation to kidnap your kid! Not only do I know your mom's name (thanks to her initials and vanity plate) but I know where you are all day and what your name is. Want to bet someone couldn't use all that information to kidnap your child?

Seriously, there's vanity and then there's stupidity. If you want the world to know who you are, that's awesome. But try to think safety first, 'k?


Random Street Sign that Freaked Me Out This Week:
"Look before you pass."

As an ad for a funeral home. And next to one of the busiest intersections in the city.

I'm not sure if it's a warning to drivers so they won't hit another car or an invitation to come check out caskets. Because everyone knows you need to have a color-coordinated funeral... o.0


Random Bits of Writing from NaNo This Week: characters having a little to much fun before the battle starts...

The scroll burned to ash in her hand. She blew it away. “What’s all the excitement up here?”

“Sisters,” Errod said with a nod in the direction of Verdunfelfel. His eyes didn’t leave the priestess’s chest. “You serve the elven archer goddess?”

“No. Kith, the elven god of war, maddness and literature. I am Kith-Alyssia. And you are?”

“Errod.”

“Just Errod?”

“Yes.”

“Not even Errod of the North?”

“No.”

Kith-Alyssia’s smile grew wider. “Are you busy tonight, Just Errod?”

“No.” His grin grew to match hers.

“Would you like to be?” the priestess whispered.

Posted byLiana Brooks at 8:55 AM 5 Writers With Opinions  

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