You Never Know What You’ll Hear at a Writers’ Brainstorming Retreat

Posted on October 7, 2011 by SloanParker

Two weeks ago I attended a brainstorming event with some of the writers in my local writing group. It was my third year attending this annual event, and I had such a fabulous time. Not only is it productive in generating story ideas, it’s also a time to recharge my writing energy. Just hanging with these fabulous women (and our lone, brave man who slept in a lake cottage with 12 women) gets me excited about writing. These people have amazing energy and talent. I’m always in awe of their creativity.

We spent the weekend talking about each other’s stories and coming up with titles, plot ideas, ways to kill off characters (don’t worry, that wasn’t mine), and more. We have writers of all genres and heat levels in the group. From contemporary to sci-fi. From sweet inspiration to steamy erotic romance and erotica. Most write romance, but some don’t.

So what kinds of things did I hear that weekend? Here’s a sampling:

“He’s a schizophrenic vampire priest!”

“Die, bitch, die!” (which worked for several of the stories)

“Orgasmoplasm“

“Hooha goo”

“Viagraville”

“Regrow the cherry!”

“Everybody use frickidous in a sentence.” Our 18-year-old, youngest member immediately told us all to, “Go frickidous yourselves.”

“bilabial frickidousness and glaodal stoppages”

And perhaps my favorite…“We need to make his junk grow!”

So yeah, it was a blast. Thanks ladies and Ray! I had a wonderful time.

Friday Photo: Scene Board

Posted on September 30, 2011 by SloanParker

Just for fun here’s the scene board for Take Me Home (cleverly covered by my editing check marks to avoid spoilers). Each scene actually has 8 or more check mark post-its. I kept track of my read-throughs on a scene-by-scene basis. First time I’d ever done that, and it worked well for me. Gave me a nice sense of accomplishment at the end of every day.

Get Me Off or Get Off Me

Posted on September 26, 2011 by SloanParker

I was scrolling through my work-in-progress the other day when three words caught my eye. “Get me off.” I couldn’t remember having one of my characters demand that from the other. Nothing wrong with that line, but how odd that I couldn’t remember something I had written on a current project. I stopped to review that section.

My character wasn’t talking to another guy. He was talking to a dog.

Ew.

Wait. The line was “Get off me.”

What a difference the order of the words make.

I hope nothing like that ever slips by me.

And if it does, I hope to God my beta reader, critique partner, editor, the copy editor, or the proofer catches it.

Thanks to all those hardworking people behind the scenes who help an author put out the best work they can. And who save them from embarrassing typos like this.

Link Roundup: m/m Role Playing Game, Customize an m/m, A Coming Out & more

Posted on September 23, 2011 by SloanParker

A Rush of Ideas: my group blog post where I talk about one of the aspects I love most about writing: the start of a new story. As I work on Walter and Kevin’s book, I’m getting the ideas down for a new story, and I’m having a fantastic time with it (and yes, I still have two more MORE books coming also). I love when there is no shortage of ideas.
A yaoi role-playing game: Hot Guys Making Out. I read what one guy said about playing this game (in a private email) and it sounds neat. (Thanks to my uncle for sharing this one. Thanks, T!)
Interesting… an M/M romance in which you enter your own details and customize the book.
Joanna Stampfel-Volpe responds to a recent PW blog post on LGBTQ YA. On Being Used, the Lack of LGBTQ Characters in YA, and Why It’s Important to Work Together

Source: (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Repeal of gay ban causing few waves in military
Airman tells dad he is gay as ‘don’t ask’ policy disappears. From his Youtube video: “I called my dad to tell him the hardest thing that gay guys will ever have to say.” Brought back memories of talking to my own parents. Not an easy thing to do even when everyone already suspects. (thanks to my niece for sharing the link. Thanks, A!)
As gay military ban ends, officer sheds his alias
I haven’t really had time to check out this blog but it looks interesting: gaytwogether
For the writers out there, this is an excellent article from Joseph O’Connor. He shares his tips for writing fiction and I’ve included a couple fab quotes below.
As Checkov said: ‘Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me moonlight reflected on broken glass.’ One of the strangest paradoxes of writing fiction is that the more you tell the reader, the less he or she knows. If you write ‘we were very happy indeed’ the reader thinks ‘big deal’. If you write ‘we grabbed each other and hugged and we couldn’t stop laughing’ the reader is in the scene. Putting the reader in the scene is everything to the storyteller. So describe what you can see, not what you know. Use visual words when possible. And never be afraid of leaving something out. Leaving something out is a powerful invitation to the reader, an incitement to the imagination of the person you must never forget. The reader is an essential participant in what you are writing. Meet them half way, and never more than that.
– From: Joseph O’Connor
I think of it in musical terms. The writer is providing the sheet music. It’s the reader who is singing the song. To know who you’d like to make sing is an important factor. It also helps to stop writing being egotistical. Writing must always be about the reader, in the end, not the writer. If I have one single commandment, that’s it.
– From: Joseph O’Connor
And another one for writers: Paper Boats: Bail water or bail out? Knowing When to Abandon Your Wip by Josh Lanyon
And a little eye candy for everyone:
- Loved the second photo on this blog post.
- This is an old post but there are some lovely pics over at Yummy of the Day (link is NOT WORK SAFE)
Lastly, because you know I love this site, here are some screenshots from Damn You Auto Correct
- I Don’t Remember That Sesame Street Character
- When Craigslist Goes Wrong: 5 Autocorrected Text Fails

Have a great weekend, everyone! I’ll be doing some brainstorming with my local writing group. We have such a blast when we get together to work on our story ideas. The conversations that come up are priceless. Last year there was mention of Fire Lube and artificial immaculate insemination and orgasming (is that a word?) your way across a room full of bodies. I wonder what we’ll discuss this time around.