This is going to feel like a throw away post but decorating isn't a big part of how I celebrate the holidays. I like looking at what other people do, with their lights, but I'm not putting up much this year. I've got two of the things that make the house feel like Christmas but otherwise, there's no tree at my house this year.
We're in the process of doing a lot of things in the house, so that's one of the reasons. The other is... as much as I like the idea of Christmas trees, I don't like the idea of putting them up and putting them down. If I could get something like you see in the Grinch where the tree just folds up like an umbrella and I could stick it in a box fully decorated, I'd do it. So, yeah, not so much for me with the decorating.
However, I'd love to hear what you guys think about decorating. Do you go all out or do you do minimalistic? Do you have outside lights or is everything indoors? Tell me below in the comments or hit me up on either Facebook or Twitter. Until next time, happy holidays!
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Monday, December 5, 2016
Putting Your Novel in a Drawer and Pulling It Back Out
Coming off of the heels of NaNoWriMo, you might have a completed novel in your hands. Or a completed project or on the verge of finishing what you started in November. This is to talk about the next step that you could or could not take, depending on if you feel that it's right for you or not. Like I've been saying all along, this has to be something that you want to do. If it doesn't feel right, then don't do it. I feel like that should be the subtitle for my blog considering how many times it makes it into the posts.
So, putting your novel in a drawer. This goes to the idea that you can get burn out on a project that you're working on. You've pushed it to the forefront of your mind for the last however many days you're working on it and you're fatigued. Worse, you might miss dummy mistakes like she for he and other things. So you put it away for x amount of time. Some recommend a month, some a week, but at least it is out of sight out of mind. You can reboot your mind and come back fresh to the project in order to see the tiny typos.
So, after an amount of time, I recommend at least two weeks but no longer than a month, you dig it back out of the drawer. It is time to figure out how you want to edit the novel. Some like to do so on the computer but my favorite method is to print out the entire thing and go through it in a smaller binder. That smaller binder could hold up to five to seven chapters at a time. You should also read what you've written out loud and make sure that all the lines work. One should also remember, something I'm a bit horrible on, is that your reader doesn't live inside your mind. What you think sounds good and descriptive to you could be that your mind is filling in the gaps. Whenever you have a page that has no editing marks on it, go back and read it a second time. If you still have no marks, bookmark it and go back to it when you're done with the chapter. This will make sure that you really are sure that the novel completely makes sense.
When you're all done with editing and putting in the edits, that's when you stick it in a drawer again. However, it needs to be 1 month this time, as a max and a minimum. Any shorter and you won't see things that you missed. Any longer and you forget about it. This is where you give it one more read and then send it out to either friends who expressed interest reading it or an editor you hired. Or, if you're feeling ambitious, you send it out to be published.
Yes, it is going to take a while. No, there are no shortcuts. You can make it shorter, in the beginning, but you really need to give a complete break with the second drawer. Any shorter and you'll only see the brightness of your idea and not the fingermarks dirtying it. As always, I hope this helps and gives you the kick in the pants you need to start editing. Until next time, keep on writing (and editing if you're there).
So, putting your novel in a drawer. This goes to the idea that you can get burn out on a project that you're working on. You've pushed it to the forefront of your mind for the last however many days you're working on it and you're fatigued. Worse, you might miss dummy mistakes like she for he and other things. So you put it away for x amount of time. Some recommend a month, some a week, but at least it is out of sight out of mind. You can reboot your mind and come back fresh to the project in order to see the tiny typos.
So, after an amount of time, I recommend at least two weeks but no longer than a month, you dig it back out of the drawer. It is time to figure out how you want to edit the novel. Some like to do so on the computer but my favorite method is to print out the entire thing and go through it in a smaller binder. That smaller binder could hold up to five to seven chapters at a time. You should also read what you've written out loud and make sure that all the lines work. One should also remember, something I'm a bit horrible on, is that your reader doesn't live inside your mind. What you think sounds good and descriptive to you could be that your mind is filling in the gaps. Whenever you have a page that has no editing marks on it, go back and read it a second time. If you still have no marks, bookmark it and go back to it when you're done with the chapter. This will make sure that you really are sure that the novel completely makes sense.
When you're all done with editing and putting in the edits, that's when you stick it in a drawer again. However, it needs to be 1 month this time, as a max and a minimum. Any shorter and you won't see things that you missed. Any longer and you forget about it. This is where you give it one more read and then send it out to either friends who expressed interest reading it or an editor you hired. Or, if you're feeling ambitious, you send it out to be published.
Yes, it is going to take a while. No, there are no shortcuts. You can make it shorter, in the beginning, but you really need to give a complete break with the second drawer. Any shorter and you'll only see the brightness of your idea and not the fingermarks dirtying it. As always, I hope this helps and gives you the kick in the pants you need to start editing. Until next time, keep on writing (and editing if you're there).
Sunday, December 4, 2016
A Festive Playlist / Groups to Listen to
Pentatonix Carol of the Bells
It's the Christmas season, so it is more than time to break out the Christmas music. I have a ton of groups that I listen to, but one of my favorite groups is Pentatonix. I love their Mary Did You Know but it's a bit too on the nose to be simply holiday. Another good group is the Transiberian Orchestra or TSO who did their own Carol of the Bells / God Rest You Merry Gentleman combo called Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24. Harry Connick Jr is another wonderful voice to listen to during the holiday season but he works for all year round too.
I do like listening to the classics too. They include Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Vince Guaraldi Trio (they did the Peanuts music), Burl Ives, and many others. There is a lot of classical Christmas music - meaning the guys that have been gone for years now but we still keep listening to them - that it would take nearly the entire holiday season to listen to them. They make a very good mix with the ones in the paragraph above, which is how you get a holiday radio channel.
So I hope that adds some fun to your holiday music for the year and years to come. Until next time, happy holidays!
Saturday, December 3, 2016
Christmas in Chicago
Image from dnainfo
Christmas in Chicago is a fun time. The image above is of the current windows in Macy's, which used to be the Marshall Fields, down on the Magnificent Mile. This window has the Cubs celebration because, you know, 108 years since we won the World Series and all. This really should be the first stop, especially if you're going for holiday shopping or just shopping in general. There are a great many stores and just going in for the decor is half of the fun.
Another part of the city to spend some fun time is in the Lincoln Park Zoo. They do an event called ZooLights, where they have free family-fun activities and light up the zoo with Christmas light displays. The dates for ZooLights are December 2-4, 9-23, 26-31, and the 1st of January. It's a very nice and fun thing to go to and just spend time with family. It will be cold, so do bundle up, but you'll have a lot of fun. Don't expect to really see any animals - if you want that, go during the day - but the lights make up for it.
The last big stop to make is at the Christkindlemarket - the Christmas Market - at Daley Plaza. It is another free event, mostly because you will probably spend more than you think you will there, and there's a lot to take in. The idea was taken from one in Germany in 1545 and has a lot of German influences throughout the market. I highly recommend going on an empty or near empty stomach so you can also eat some of the excellent German food that is sold there. Just don't drink any of the wine until you've gotten something to eat. They've still got the boot shaped mugs around and you should pick up some for a nice Christmas present.
There is a ton more going around Chicago during Christmas, like ice skating, but these are the top three that I enjoy. They're things that you can do with family or alone without feeling alone and I hope you enjoy them as well. Until next time, happy holidays.
Friday, December 2, 2016
Friday Five: Favorite Christmas / Holiday Movies
Welcome to day 2 of Blogmas and a Friday Five! Today's list is my all time, watch them a zillion times during the holidays, and I feel that you should too. Some of these are no brainers and some of them might not be movies that you've seen before. I'll put the year they were produced as well as the bigger name stars. You should be able to find them via a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon or your favorite way to rent videos.
So, let's go!
1. Love Actually (2003) - Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, and a lot of your favorite British actors including Martin Freeman - This movie kicks off my holiday movie watching spree. It'll get put on Thanksgiving night, unless we decided to do something different like watch the parade because we missed it or something dire happens. This is one of the few ensamble cast movies that are successful due to the threads being all connected even without you realizing it. Of course, there's the big ones, like Hugh Grant's character being the brother of Emma Thompson's character, but there's a lot of little ones too. It's just a great feel good fuzzy sort of way to kick off the season.
2. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - Maureen O'Hara, John Payne: If you don't know this movie, I don't know what you've been doing with your life. Okay, maybe you don't like the classics, but this is the movie that, until very recently, was on after Macy's Thanksgiving Parade because the movie starts the day of the parade. Basically, the plot is about the impact that a guy who is the department store Santa who claims to be the real one. If you haven't seen this movie, stop reading this, sip your coffee as you find a streaming service that has it, and watch it. It's a classic for a very good reason, that being the acting and the plot works so well, and... yeah. Go watch.
3. Children's Classics - The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (1966 by Chuck Jones), A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), Frosty the Snowman (1969), Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964): Okay, I really could do a Friday Five just in these four movies, but I'm going to spare that of you. These are all of the movies that, when I was a kid, it was timed around when they would be. I would make sure that I saw them or at least recorded them. Now that I'm in my 30s, I still watch them because they have the nostalgia feeling going on. When I have kids, they'll be parked down in front of the TV to watch them as well because I want to pass on how special they are. I want to pass on how well done they were and were morals, in a way, without being overly preachy. They were the best of their time and continue to be, which is why you'll find them on TV.
4. Christmas in Connecticut (1945) - Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan: This movie involves a writer for a popular food column in a magazine lying to her boss, using the home of a friend who is in love with her and tries to get her to marry him throughout the time at the house, and a war hero who was lost at sea and, while recouping in the hospital, reads her articles and is fond of her. It becomes a comedy of errors, centered around a Christmas meal, and has a happy ending. It is a ball of sap but it is really good sap. I watch it every year as it started with watching it with family as we made cookies. So, yeah, good memories are attached to the movie.
5. The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) - Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolly: A radio personality, who is a rude egotistical jackass played by Monty Woolly, comes to Ohio and slips on icy steps to make a nusiance of himself with his host family. It's set during the weeks leading up to Christmas and is another one of those comedies that's got a bit of family history. We watch it at least once a year, again due to family memories, but I like the story too. The rude guy stays rude at the end of the movie, which works with the overall story, but does enough things to make up for it.
So there's my top five (okay, more than five with one of them) but I hope this gives you some ideas of what to watch this holiday season. Until next time, keep on writing!
So, let's go!
1. Love Actually (2003) - Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, and a lot of your favorite British actors including Martin Freeman - This movie kicks off my holiday movie watching spree. It'll get put on Thanksgiving night, unless we decided to do something different like watch the parade because we missed it or something dire happens. This is one of the few ensamble cast movies that are successful due to the threads being all connected even without you realizing it. Of course, there's the big ones, like Hugh Grant's character being the brother of Emma Thompson's character, but there's a lot of little ones too. It's just a great feel good fuzzy sort of way to kick off the season.
2. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - Maureen O'Hara, John Payne: If you don't know this movie, I don't know what you've been doing with your life. Okay, maybe you don't like the classics, but this is the movie that, until very recently, was on after Macy's Thanksgiving Parade because the movie starts the day of the parade. Basically, the plot is about the impact that a guy who is the department store Santa who claims to be the real one. If you haven't seen this movie, stop reading this, sip your coffee as you find a streaming service that has it, and watch it. It's a classic for a very good reason, that being the acting and the plot works so well, and... yeah. Go watch.
3. Children's Classics - The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (1966 by Chuck Jones), A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), Frosty the Snowman (1969), Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964): Okay, I really could do a Friday Five just in these four movies, but I'm going to spare that of you. These are all of the movies that, when I was a kid, it was timed around when they would be. I would make sure that I saw them or at least recorded them. Now that I'm in my 30s, I still watch them because they have the nostalgia feeling going on. When I have kids, they'll be parked down in front of the TV to watch them as well because I want to pass on how special they are. I want to pass on how well done they were and were morals, in a way, without being overly preachy. They were the best of their time and continue to be, which is why you'll find them on TV.
4. Christmas in Connecticut (1945) - Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan: This movie involves a writer for a popular food column in a magazine lying to her boss, using the home of a friend who is in love with her and tries to get her to marry him throughout the time at the house, and a war hero who was lost at sea and, while recouping in the hospital, reads her articles and is fond of her. It becomes a comedy of errors, centered around a Christmas meal, and has a happy ending. It is a ball of sap but it is really good sap. I watch it every year as it started with watching it with family as we made cookies. So, yeah, good memories are attached to the movie.
5. The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) - Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolly: A radio personality, who is a rude egotistical jackass played by Monty Woolly, comes to Ohio and slips on icy steps to make a nusiance of himself with his host family. It's set during the weeks leading up to Christmas and is another one of those comedies that's got a bit of family history. We watch it at least once a year, again due to family memories, but I like the story too. The rude guy stays rude at the end of the movie, which works with the overall story, but does enough things to make up for it.
So there's my top five (okay, more than five with one of them) but I hope this gives you some ideas of what to watch this holiday season. Until next time, keep on writing!
Thursday, December 1, 2016
The December Blog Project: Blogmas
Yes, blogmas. Blogmas is where a blogger writes and posts a Christmas themed post everyday up until Christmas. While this is my plan and I will probably succeed, there will still be the talking about writing posts. It's taking the idea of blogmas and turning it over on it's head.
Why, do you ask? Well, because, if you're reading this (thank you, by the way!), then you know this is a blog about writing and books. Sure, it's been more about the writing than the reading (even though I am reading, it's just at the molasses stage), but that's what this blog is at the core. So we're going to be doing a compromise and this will also help you, dear reader, in case you don't want to read any sort of Christmas posts. That's your right and you are more than free to ignore the rest that goes on.
Monday and Wednesday will be when I will post / talk about writing. It's following what will be my normal schedule come 2017 with possibly another post thrown in randomly. I do want to get into this idea of posting what I'm working on / word count in a project on Sundays but I'm not 100% sure about if I will or not. So, basically, Mondays and Wednesdays will become the dedicated "Yes, there is a post here!" days of the blog.
For December, until Christmas Day, all the rest of the days will have Christmas in them somehow. It might be just a little speck to the entire post being about the holiday. I will try to make it more general happy holidays but I can't promise anything because I celebrate Christmas. I also celebrate the winter solstice / Yule but that's to a lesser degree than the other holiday. I just sort of celebrate it and be merry.
So, that's the plan for the month. We'll get into blogmas post 2 tomorrow and go from there. Until then, keep on writing!
Why, do you ask? Well, because, if you're reading this (thank you, by the way!), then you know this is a blog about writing and books. Sure, it's been more about the writing than the reading (even though I am reading, it's just at the molasses stage), but that's what this blog is at the core. So we're going to be doing a compromise and this will also help you, dear reader, in case you don't want to read any sort of Christmas posts. That's your right and you are more than free to ignore the rest that goes on.
Monday and Wednesday will be when I will post / talk about writing. It's following what will be my normal schedule come 2017 with possibly another post thrown in randomly. I do want to get into this idea of posting what I'm working on / word count in a project on Sundays but I'm not 100% sure about if I will or not. So, basically, Mondays and Wednesdays will become the dedicated "Yes, there is a post here!" days of the blog.
For December, until Christmas Day, all the rest of the days will have Christmas in them somehow. It might be just a little speck to the entire post being about the holiday. I will try to make it more general happy holidays but I can't promise anything because I celebrate Christmas. I also celebrate the winter solstice / Yule but that's to a lesser degree than the other holiday. I just sort of celebrate it and be merry.
So, that's the plan for the month. We'll get into blogmas post 2 tomorrow and go from there. Until then, keep on writing!
Recap: NaNoWriMo
Well, November is over and December begins. NaNo, for me, went extremely well. I'm 20 chapters into a new project and I have plans for it to be finished before the new year. I also have my first editing project of 2017, so there's that too.
I don't know. I don't have a lot of pros vs cons on how it went. I got the word count I wanted for the month. I tried to get a completed novel done but I'm not beating myself up too badly for failing that personal goal. What I do need to work on, which I realized even before I started NaNo, is that I need to stop beating myself up for only writing a few words. You know why? The mantra - those few words are more than you had before you started. So, yeah, I need to remember to be less hard on myself.
I hope that everyone else's NaNoWriMo went well. Even if you didn't win, you still have more words than you did at the start of the month. For me, I'm going to have another post up today explaining what will be happening in December and it kicks off the blog project for the month. So, I will see everyone in a little bit. Until then, have a great day!
I don't know. I don't have a lot of pros vs cons on how it went. I got the word count I wanted for the month. I tried to get a completed novel done but I'm not beating myself up too badly for failing that personal goal. What I do need to work on, which I realized even before I started NaNo, is that I need to stop beating myself up for only writing a few words. You know why? The mantra - those few words are more than you had before you started. So, yeah, I need to remember to be less hard on myself.
I hope that everyone else's NaNoWriMo went well. Even if you didn't win, you still have more words than you did at the start of the month. For me, I'm going to have another post up today explaining what will be happening in December and it kicks off the blog project for the month. So, I will see everyone in a little bit. Until then, have a great day!
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