Cheklov's Stuff

Inspiration to write is hella weird. It can jump out of nowhere and bite you in the ass, it can wake you up from a dead sleep going, "WTF? Where is my notebook?" Or, inspiration can abandon you completely. That really, really sucks. I've been lucky the last few years that, by the time NaNo rolled around, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do. Execution is pretty terrible, but at the very least I like what I have and do enjoy the process. I go through a half-dozen plots every time, though. Some of them I still like, some of them are shelved permanently. A ton of them come from the Adopt-A-Plot thread on the NaNo forums, others come from watching movies, and some just pop up. What I'm trying to say, I guess, is know that it's always around. Don't shut inspiration out, or, more importantly, NEVER IGNORE IT. Doesn't matter how dumb you may think it sounds, it's always worth it to keep that idea. Even the silliest idea can be expanded into...

18 days and counting until NaNoWriMo kicks off! Today, I'm talking about clichés. A cliché is defined as an idea that has been used so many times that the power it originally had is gone. Clichés are a massive worry for a lot of writers, and one of the things that might get in your way when you're trying to plot something up for NaNo this year. A lot of websites try and tell you all these ways to avoid clichés, or how to phase them out of your story. It's a little strange, but I, personally, don't think going out of your way to avoid clichés is a good idea. I can give you the reason in two short little lessons right here: LESSON ONE: Everything is a cliché. Yes, as far as I'm concerned, EVERYTHING is a cliché, or takes off from a cliché. You can't avoid it. Even if it seems new and original, someone, somewhere, can find something it is apparently derivative of. The secret is to accept it and embrace it, and know that you can give these clichés back their...

22 days and counting until NaNo! I'm going to start off today by bringing up the dreaded Mary Sue . Now, it used to be fairly straightforward for people to pick these little nuisances out, but the term has become a lot more widespread in it's use in the last few years. A discussion that you might find interesting on what it means to have a Mary Sue can be found here in the NaNoWriMo forums. Mary Sue has a long history. I'd say more, but you can find a delightfully informative essay on the matter at 150 Years of Mary Sue . I can't beat that out, and I;m kinda just trying to get past this. I'm lazy, so what? So, today's links are to my favorite Mary Sue tests. The Writer's Mary Sue Test The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test The Original Fiction Mary Sue Litmus Test Now on to the fun part. I mentioned in my last post that I was planning on having totems/guests this year to help out with my NaNo? Well.... They arrived. I open up my package, and p...

26 days and counting until the kickoff of NaNoWrimo! For those not in the know, NaNoWriMo , or National Novel Writing Month is a yearly challenge where participants write a 50,000 word novel between November 1st and 30th. 50,00 words, 30 days. Fun times. Okay, ditching the stiff style of writing, it bothers me. This is going to be year six for me, with two wins under my belt. I'm taking a big ole left turn into WTF and out of my comfort zone by writing what is best described as Scifi this time around. The image above should be a link to my NaNo page; feel free to check things out over the course of the next two months. This year I have a special plan. I have acquired a special guest/totem who will be arriving soon, and he'll be assisting me over the duration of prep month, NaNo, and then into the future. More on that when he and his buddy arrive. Normally, I'd post a little about my plot, but I'm not ready to start chewing on that right now, so instead I...