This is Ley. Never-After.ORG is her blog, an eclectic mix of reviews and opinions regarding cosmetics, movies, writing, & anything else.
Book reviews are posted on Devices.
Participant in the Fangtastic Fiction Challenge.
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Girl Talk Thursday: Bitching
Categorized as Other /5 COMMENTS
I haven’t participated in Girl Talk Thursday in aeons — since before my URL changed. As anyone who knows me can attest, I love to express my opinions. Bitterly, venomously, and with passion. Thus, I felt this week fit me quite well: Bitching.
What has irritated or pissed me off recently?
Writing Set-Up: The External
Categorized as Writing /3 COMMENTS
Setting is an integral aspect of success in most anything. It can especially be so when it comes to writing. It’s not the type of work that most go to any particular workplace for. We can’t all afford chalets in the wilderness, or motel rooms for months at a time, or to attend writer’s retreats in the forests of Washington state.
In my case, I can’t even afford my own office. My writing station is instead a mere two feet away from my bedside. Mid-afternoon naps are unbelievably tempting.
At my desk, I try to keep everything clean and organized. I create a nest out of pillows (since the chair I have is old and rickety and painful to sit on), and have a stool since my feet don’t touch the ground otherwise. I keep my Gregg Reference Manual handy, a cup of coffee nearby, and little else.
I am minimalist and particular about my writing set-up, and this extends into external stimulus as well. If the television is playing in the living room, I have to wear headphones and block it out. Lyrics or speaking upset my concentration. The only words must be my own.
The music I listen to while writing is instrumental or in a language I can’t even try to understand—essentially, anything that isn’t English or French.
My first novel was written while listening to Glay’s Heavy Gauge, a 1999 Japanese rock album. (As far as Japanese rock goes, another favourite artist includes Shiina Ringo/Tokyo Jihen.) Not that my novel has anything to do with Japan. I just didn’t know of anything else to listen to before Melissa saved my life—see below.
My second novel—a post-apocalyptic fairytale set in a circus—was written primarily to the soundtrack from Mirrormask, which was composed by Iain Ballamy, and World’s End Girlfriend’s The Lie Lay Land. Both are circus-themed, fantastical albums—I like to listen to music that suits the novel.
My darling Melissa introduced me to post-rock, such as do make say think, Explosions in the Sky, Mono, and Sigur Rós. My (other) darling, Shilo, introduced me to Immediate Music and X-Ray Dog—film score composers who create fantastic, dynamic pieces that are superb for action sequences. [Thank you to both of you for being such great writing buddies. ♥]
I would take a picture of my set-up, but it seems a bit silly since there really isn’t anything fancy about it. I use an iMac with a 21.5″ screen and the dinkiest little keyboard you will ever see. (Seriously. It’s dinky. Look at the full-sized one.) Aside from the Mac, I’m really not fancy. I just try to keep as pristine a writing environment as possible.
My dream set-up? A tiny closet of a room with just my desk, computer, a (decent) computer chair, reference manual, and an espresso maker. Is that really so much to ask for?
Link Salad #001
Categorized as Movies, Other, Writing /NO COMMENTS
Demon Made, by Elizabeth May
If you’re looking for something free and fun to read, one of my favourite photographers and writers has an ongoing serial novel in the works. It is young adult supernatural fiction, with an anti-heroine who is a half-demon.
The City of Roses, by Kip Manley
Another serial novel, this one far more dense in terms of writing structure and plot. This one is really hard to describe. It’s grungy and intriguing and has lesbian undertones, which are always fun.
12 Secrets To Being A Super-Prolific Short Story Writer
I do love writing-based articles, as you may have guessed. Though it is aimed at science fiction, writers of any genre are sure to find something useful. I have yet to find an excellent short story writing guide, but this article is pretty handy nonetheless.
Feet First, by Ley Saulnier
I neglected to mention this when it happened, but I had a second flash fiction piece published on EverydayWeirdness. It’s not perfect, but I have a lot of practising to do in the realms of short fiction writing. (I am far too accustomed to long form, rather than short.)
Tonight one of the few television shows I watch will be put to rest: Dollhouse. I am both excited and dreading the series finale, because I know it will be fantastic. I know it will make me hate Fox even more than I already do. I know I will probably have my mind blown, because that’s what the past few episodes of Dollhouse have been about.
io9 summarizes my feelings pretty well: 10 Reasons We’ll Miss Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse (Honestly, there are so many articles similar to this out on the intarwebz that it would be redundant for me to write my own.)
Proper post soon, when my mind is less scrambled.
Writing Article Focus: Nina Munteanu
Categorized as Writing /1 COMMENTS
When you don’t have the funds (or the time, really) to attend Creative Writing courses in universities, or to strive towards your MFA—which, in the grand scheme of things, is not necessary to becoming a “proper” writer—then there are a number of fantastic solutions for the aspiring writer. Until now, I’ve collected a few books about writing, and sleuthed through the bowels of Google for information. I like to think these have worked well for me.
I attended my first workshop yesterday. There is something to be said for an information session where you don’t have to search or hunt for everything you’re looking for.
Nina Munteanu was the woman behind the information session. A Canadian author, she released her first novel, Darwin’s Paradox, in late 2007. She has some fantastic writing essays available online that I recommend to anyone, and also writes for Suite101 (one of those sites that makes my research easier).
This is where we get to the heart of this post; my attempt to impart some wisdom on you. Following are links to some of Nina’s (many) writing-based articles—the ones I’ve found useful, and hopefully you will too.
• Common Pitfalls of the Beginning Writer: (Part 1) Characters
• Common Pitfalls of the Beginning Writer: (Part 2) Language
• Six Ways to Handle Exposition in Your Novel
• Five Ways to Improve your Fiction Writing
• How to Write Great Dialogue
There are, of course, many more—these are just my favourites.
2010, Before We Get In Too Deep
Categorized as Beauty, Other, Writing /1 COMMENTS
You have no idea how glad I am for 2010.
Aside from the odd person, everyone I know professed a deep, scathing hatred for 2009. It was a terrible year. It pushed us around, and kicked us in the gut, and threatened our collective sanity. Damn that 2009!
But it’s over now. As it is still the beginning of January, it’s time to look forward. I’m not one for New Year’s Resolutions, but goals in general are important things. Much more obtainable than resolutions, I think.
I would like to point out that my life will be undergoing many changes in the months to come. I will be attending the Hair Design Centre for makeup artistry, and entrench myself in that industry any way I can.
I will be responsible for my own finances again; independent again. But with independence comes less free time to write. This is all the more reason why goals are so important.
ley’s goals for 2010:
• Participate in NaNoWriMo for a second time, and attempt to write at least 90,000 words — 10,000 more than I hit in 2009.
• Write another novel (aside from NaNoWriMo), whether it involves finishing The Powered, finally working on that Triptych companion/sequel, or something new.
• Learn how to write better short stories. And then write some. Lots of them. At this moment, I’ll say at least one a month — this number may increase or decrease, depending on how my novel work goes.
• On a beauty-related note, I would like to begin posting tutorials and essays on cosmetics. I don’t know if I will necessarily bring anything new to the table, but we’ll see.
• Finish editing Aeon. This is the goal that trumps all others. If I wind up with no new novels to show for it, then so be it; at least I will have a finished draft of a novel. Hopefully 2010 will be the year that I also send out my first query letters to literary agents. We’ll see.
Goodbye 2009 (Good Riddance)
Categorized as Writing /NO COMMENTS
I am not going to lie. 2009 was a pretty shitty year.
There were a lot of losses, beginning with that of one of my dearest friends: Willy, the family dog. (Granted, he died in the final weeks of 2008, but it was still quite the blow.) From the very beginning, 2009 seemed inclined to slap me around—not to get into details, because this isn’t that kind of blog.
But those lows taught me a lot. They taught me what I truly want to do (writing), and I managed to pick everything up and make 2009 worthwhile. I am in a far better place, and I’m truly excited for what 2010 has to bring.
My accomplishments in 2009:
• I wrote my first novel. Aeon’s first draft was completed at the end of October, with a meagre 60,000 words.1
• I participated in and won my first NaNoWriMo—after years of thinking it was such a nifty idea but that I would never try it. Which leads us to …
• My second novel. Triptych’s first draft was completed in the span of 24 days, with 75,000 words. It is messy and imperfect but I love it.
• I received my first publication credit—at EverydayWeirdness. This was also my first instance of being paid for writing.2
Tomorrow’s post will take a look at my plans for 2010. Until then, I hope you all enjoy your New Year’s celebrations, whatever they might be! (Mine involves movie watching with my best friend, Adri.)
- Which makes it little more than a novella, but that will be fixed in the heavy rewriting and editing processes. ↩
- *glee* ↩
NaNoWriMo Hangover
Categorized as Writing /1 COMMENTS
The fantastic expedition that was NaNoWriMo 2009 has come to an end, and I have been fruitful in my quest to write 50,000 words in 30 days.
In fact, I wrote 50,000 in my first 15 days. In total, I succeeded in completing Triptych with 75,158 words, and wrote an extra 5,000 for my new project, The Powered1.
I like to think I could have written a full 100,000 words for the entirety of NaNoWriMo, but finishing Triptych and beginning a brand new novel sapped my energy. I know: excuses, excuses. Just shut up and get to the statistics, Ley.
Personal Statistics
Total words: 80,587
Average words per day: 2,686
Best day: (Nov. 15) 8,865
Worst day: (Nov. 28) 568
Zero word days2: Nov. 7, 14, 27, 29, & 30
Region (Canada :: Nova Scotia) Statistics
Member count: 223 users / 173 active
Total words: 4,841,207
Average words per day: 161,374
Massive thanks to my word sprint crew: Melissa & Shilo. I could not have done this without you guys. ♥♥
To everyone who was a part of NaNo ‘09, whether or not you succeeded, a huge CONGRATULATIONS. Can’t wait to do it again this time next year.
Speaking of next year: My number one hope is that I will have time to take part in NaNoWriMo 2010. Number two is that I would like to be somewhere that actually has write-ins and local events (I was the only one writing in Liverpool, to my knowledge).