down the writer's path

Pack power into your writing life. PowerPOPP!

Okay, I've been working on a new site called PowerPOPP. If you want to pack power into your writing life, practice these four principles: Plan, Organize, Pursue, and Persist. Take a look around. Don't forget to sign up for the mailing list. If you have any ideas, want to contribute a mini-article, or have other suggestions, let me know. Your input is definitely appreciated.

I've added subscription boxes here and on PowerPOPP where you can join my mailing list. (There's some kind of glitch in the text for DWP's mailing list subscription but I'm trying to work that out. I truly wish I had a better handle on all this html and widgets and web whatnot stuff.) 2007 should be a busy year. The hoppers around here are bursting with new ideas, plans, and projects. Of course, that means I'm on an intensive learning curve. Hey, I've even managed to come up with a banner for PowerPOPP's feedburner.

Exactly what kind of reader are you?

Okay, here's another one of those pesky surveys to fill out. This time we get to find out what kind of reader you are. I am, of course, a "dedicated" reader. Now, don't be shy. Tell us what type you are.

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Michael Crichton and NYT Book Review Editor on Sunday CSPAN2 Book TV

Quick. Grab your remote, click to the CSPAN2 channel and set your timer for these upcoming BOOK TV events. (The schedule will fill up over the next few days.) This Sunday, December 8th at 7:30PM, Michael Crichton's speech to the National Press Club will be aired on C-SPAN. Crichton always delivers a provocative and interesting talk. Given the subject matter of his new book, you can imagine the depth and breadth of his talk. Then, if you've wondered what really goes on at the New York Times Book Review, make sure you watch CSPAN the following Sunday, December 17th. The program will air at 11 AM and 7PM (Eastern times).

Weekend Highlights ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michael Crichton, Next Saturday 8 PM, Sunday 7:30 PM ET In his novel, Mr. Crichton describes the genetic world as "fast, furious, and out of control." During this event hosted by the National Press Club in Washington, DC, the author discusses recent scientific leaps in the study of genetics and talks about how gene manipulation can help cure drug addiction.

**Coming up on Book TV next weekend - December 16-18**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam Tanenhaus, Editor, New York Tiimes Book Review
Sunday, December 17 11 AM and 7 PM ETA rare look inside the influential New York Times Book Review, featuring Editor Sam Tanenhaus. Mr. Tanenhaus guides viewers through the editorial and production process including how books are chosen, how reviewers are selected and how the review is fact-checked and copy edited.

If you aren't in the habit of watching CSPAN on the weekends and you love books, particularly nonfiction, you'll love watching CSPAN on the weekends. Often a weekend is devoted to one of the national, regional, or state book festivals. While 90% of the time the subject matter is nonfiction books and their authors, occasionally, like this weekend, a writer known more for his fiction than nonfiction turns up. Of course, nothing compares to the 3-hour in-depth interviews that happen on the first Sunday of every month where an author sits for an interview that covers their life and complete literary works. Great stuff. Another favorite of mine is the National Press Club meetings. Most of the time the subject matter is timely and the author interesting.

And if you're keeping up with the latest book talk gossip, then the in-depth interview with former President Jimmy Carter Sunday morning might be of interest. If you do watch one or both of these shows, stop back by and tell me what you thought.

No Excuses: First NaNoWriMo, then, NaNoFiMo, Now JaNoWriMo

So, you've heard of NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month). We discussed the December NaNoFiMo (National Novel Finishing Month) yesterday. Today we continue with--what else?--JaNoWriMo. The "Ja" is for January. This one is for those folks who have too much to do during the holiday season to successfully challenge themselves to a 50,000 word marathon but still want the "WriMo" experience. However, this challenge has two major differences that make it more doable for just about any novel-writing fool who wants to start the new year off right. First, you can use this challenge to begin a new project; but you can also use it to continue working on a novel that you began in the NaNoWriMo challenge or a any other novel that is still in progess. Second, while the contest expresses a desired 50K wordcount for the monthly total it's not an absolute requirement as it is in the NaNoWriMo challenge. JaNoWriMo makes room for those writers who want to establish their own goals for the month and the wordcount can be more or less than the stated 50K wordcount. Here are a few Q&As from JaNoWriMo's FAQ page:

Q. How does this work?

If you're going for 50k, all you have to is join the forums. For personal goals, either PM tiakall on the forums or send an email to notawebmaster AT gmail DOT com with your forum name and personal goal. This needs to be done by January 5 or within 24 hours of joining the forums, whichever is later, so we can hold you to it. ;) After that, boot up your favorite word processing program and start writing! Once you've hit your personal goal, just email it to notawebmaster AT gmail DOT com for validation!

Q. Okay, so what are the rules?

Writing begins January 1 at midnight, your local time and end on January 31 at midnight.
-The goal is 50,000 words.
-Personal goals lower than (or higher than!) 50k must be submitted by email or PM to tiakall in order to be eligible for validation.
-Yes, you may continue a previous novel, including your NaNo novel.
-No, you may not write one word 50,000 times. No, you may not write 10 words 5,000 times. Stop asking.

Q. Why January?

Chris Baty gives his reasoning for picking November because it's a dark, dismal month. Well, for those of us in the northern hemisphere, January is even more dark and dismal, but without the added stress of a major American holiday and the end of a semester for the schoolkids. This is also for all the crazy nonstop novelists who just can't wait for November to roll around again.

For more information check their FAQs.

Now there are no excuses for not working on that novel--any novel. In fact, you could use the January challenge to work on a short story if you wanted. Make plans now to start 2007 off in a white heat rush of words that will create momentum to carry you into the new year.

NaNoWriMo ends but the writing continues

Well, folks, the National Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is at an end and the website reports a total collective word count of 982,564,701 words written during the month. 18,478 words are my 2006 contribution. I'll be pulling down my daily graph later today. My Whirlpool blog will be up for a few more days, then it's back into the cyber-closet until next year.

"WriMo" generates a lot of discussion and a lot of questions about the process and why I participate. I've found that I respond well to external carrots and self-generated goals. The annual November event pretty much assures that I begin something, and that I make some gains even when I don't make it across the finish line. I don't always have the goal of 50,000 words in mind. NaNoWriMo is an annual bootcamp for my writing muscles. It's good to push your creativity now and then and stretch the imagination's tendons. Besides, working on a new project and racking up a wordcount is also a nice way to end the year. (Yes, I do continue working on the project so I also end up with another finished manuscript down the road.)

Earlier this year I had made a commitment to an agent to have 100 pages for him by March 2007. Not perfect pages but pages that would show that the crime novel I've had in story development the last two years has moved to the next stage: the actual writing of a rough or first draft. NaNoWriMo coincided with the need to begin this work, so I signed up again with a personal goal of getting the rough draft down of a minimum of 50 pages by the end of the month. Right now I have 71 pages so I'm pretty happy. That's 71 more pages than I had on November 1st. The creative pressure also squeezed out a few other major character and plot decisions that are pretty exciting, too. I more than accomplished my personal goal even though the larger NaNoWriMo goal evaded me. No complaints. I now have 71 pages to push, pull, massage, stretch and contract during December--still in rough draft but definitely getting reshaped.

Many people find NaNoWriMo or an exercise like it helpful, particularly when they're beginning a new project. The rules for the contest state that the work must be new, so you're essentially writing a white hot draft from beginning to end. But, as we all know, writing a novel can take a long time. It's also true that many, many entrants in the annual NaNoWriMo challenge do not finish their novel in one month. So along comes NaNoFiMo.org. While this one is not affiliated with the original NaNoWriMo, "FiMo" is for those who want to continue the experience. FiMo also adds another twist. Writers who didn't qualify for "WriMo" because they already were in the throes of writing a novel can particpate in FiMo. The founder of "FiMo" has built on the WrMo concept because she wanted to continue the NaNoWriMo experience while working on her novel. Like WriMo, you can open up an account and be part of a group with the same intention. There are banners, plot point helpers, wordcount calculators and all sorts of things to help you continue. If you want to give yourself an extra nudge to write during this busy season, you might want to consider NaNoFiMo.

If NaNoFiMo doesn't lure you in, never fear. There are several other writing opportunities and over the next few days I'll post about them.

Writing prompts and exercising your writing muscles

Spent the weekend exercising my writing muscles. I worked up a piece for blogHouston on the Houston museum that is featuring the dog in art exhibition. Museum exhibitions offer some good opportunities for Artist Dates (in the vein of Julia Cameron), spontaneous writing exercises, and old-fashioned inspiration. Why not check your local calendar and see what opportunities are available right now at your local venues? Plan an Artist Date with your creativity and go alone. Another option is to call up a few fellow writers/artists and wander through the exhibit; then, separate for about 15-20 minutes of free writing before you share your experience and your impressions.

I also wrote up and posted another book review at Blogcritics.

Have to say it feels good that I'm starting the week with two short pieces under my belt and at least 1500+ words published.

BlogHOUSTON gains new blogger: Me

Big announcement today, folks. I've joined the blogHOUSTON team and will be chatting it up about Houston. You can find my first post about--what else?--Houston bookstores. If you've a mind to, stop by and say hello.