Old People Writing for Teens, IV

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Sage

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Trying to decide whether Paranormal Bromance should borrow tropes from paranormal romances or if it should just be a fun contemp fantasy/paranormal with a funny name and concept
 

JSSchley

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in ur B&N...facin out AWers bookz...
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Dear heavens this thread moves fast!

But I got almost 900 words written last night in #WriteClub and found Sage on twitter! I'm so happy.

I broke my kitchen timer some weeks ago--I'm going to go get another one today. My productivity has suffered since I can't time myself writing.

I updated my blog a bit, changed the background, played around with the colors. Would y'all mind taking a look and letting me know what you think? Is it easy to read, links clear, etc. The background is from an old poetry book I have; I tried to keep the words kind of blurry and covered so I wouldn't stray into copyright infringement territory. Thoughts?

https://wordencounters.wordpress.com/

Stiger, you know I love you already, so, these are constructive comments, I hope. I think the blog looks great as far as readability and navigation, but it also looks like a wordpress blog using twenty-eleven. (I think that's twenty-eleven, right? It's one of the twenty themes.)

I'm a big fan of "blog tzujing," i.e., making tiny tweaks to your theme so even if you're using the same theme that everyone and their mother is using, it looks uniquely yours. In the twenty themes, you can upload your own header image and your own background image. It might be worth it to spend some time on the flickr Creative Commons archives searching for things like "books" "writing" etc. or even looking in your own photos for something that speaks uniquely to you. You can also change the colors (I think right in the 'theme' menu for that theme, but if not, I can tell you how to do it in the CSS--it's not hard to figure out) so that they uniquely match the photos you choose.

I think it looks great and fine and functional, but I think you could also do a couple easy tweaks make it really look like "Stiger's blog" and not like other authors who use the same platform and theme.
 

Sage

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Nope. It's on twitter. Basically it's half-hour sprints, then 15-minute rests, with a bunch of other authors. @FriNightWrites hosts them.
 

parumpdragon

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Windcutter

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Nope. It's on twitter. Basically it's half-hour sprints, then 15-minute rests, with a bunch of other authors. @FriNightWrites hosts them.
Thanks! I'll have to revive my Twitter account to join next time. :)
Trying to decide whether Paranormal Bromance should borrow tropes from paranormal romances or if it should just be a fun contemp fantasy/paranormal with a funny name and concept
I vote for fun! Haven't seen those around for a while.
 

Stiger05

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Stiger, you know I love you already, so, these are constructive comments, I hope. I think the blog looks great as far as readability and navigation, but it also looks like a wordpress blog using twenty-eleven. (I think that's twenty-eleven, right? It's one of the twenty themes.)

I'm a big fan of "blog tzujing," i.e., making tiny tweaks to your theme so even if you're using the same theme that everyone and their mother is using, it looks uniquely yours. In the twenty themes, you can upload your own header image and your own background image. It might be worth it to spend some time on the flickr Creative Commons archives searching for things like "books" "writing" etc. or even looking in your own photos for something that speaks uniquely to you. You can also change the colors (I think right in the 'theme' menu for that theme, but if not, I can tell you how to do it in the CSS--it's not hard to figure out) so that they uniquely match the photos you choose.

I think it looks great and fine and functional, but I think you could also do a couple easy tweaks make it really look like "Stiger's blog" and not like other authors who use the same platform and theme.

Those are my own images. :( The header image is the top row of my bookshelf and the background is one of those books. I don't know how to edit the rest of the header to change the colors (except for the text), but I would love to learn if you have any advice. I played around with and got frustrated, haha. I may just have to pay the $30 or so and get more fonts, etc.
 

Sage

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I decided this one character should have a name that starts with B. And I found one that felt so perfect, but I couldn't figure out why the name worked for me because I know I don't know anyone with that name.

The name is Blaine. And clearly I had blocked Glee temporarily from my mind. (But he still might be named Blaine)
 

lisalulu09

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There is nothing wrong with nicking a name from something you love. ;)

I got a notebook and ringbound index cards today. I might use the index cards to put scene ideas in order and use the notebook for any worldbuilding, research and character and random notes I do.

I'm a terrible pantser. :p
 

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There is nothing wrong with nicking a name from something you love.
Oh, yeah, definitely. As long as the character or situation isn't similar.

Although, there was one trait that I was going to give him that I'll probably avoid if I name him Blaine, lol. I was actually thinking Blake, just because I love the name, even though the only one I ever met was a girl, but then I saw Blaine and it called to me.
 

lisalulu09

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I think I might be a plantser. I believe that is the right term?
 

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Plotser/Plantser? Someone who plots a little, but not like the whole thing. Like I know several scenes and plot points to aim for, but don't outline. So I both pants and plot.
 

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Interesting. So the reason I fought against Blake is that the only Blake I ever knew was a girl. And the only Blaine I know is the one from Glee (a guy). But it's interesting to see that most people see Blake as a guy, and a lot more people see Blaine as a girl than a guy (according to twitter and FB peeps that follow me)
 

lisalulu09

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I see them both as guy names, but that might just be because of my Britishness (I think Blake is commonly a guy's name over here).
 

Sage

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I really liked the Blake I knew (not like we were friends, just that I always thought she was pretty cool), but I don't think I've ever met a guy named Blake. Yet I knew it was a guy name usually.

Someone on FB said that it was a really "All-American" guy name where she lives, so I think that might cinch it for me. Although he's not really an All-American boy (only Eric, Troy (pre-TBI), and maybe Taylor are), I do want his name to be clearly that of a guy.
 

Stiger05

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Every Blake I've ever known has been a dude. I think the only female Blake I've heard of is the actress Blake Lively, and it struck me as odd when I first heard it.

I've only heard of guys named Blaine too.
 

Stuck In Kansas

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Sage! Weighing in on the great controversial Blake/Blaine debates.

Like you, I think Blaine's a dude's name (but I'm tainted by Glee. And was that last episode the most joyless, depressing thing you've ever seen? Yes, I have no life and apparently watch every t.v. show ever).

And Blake? ALSO, a guy's name. Maybe people are thinking of Anita Blake and doing the, you know, switcharound.

Hey, ladies, I'm just glad to be alive! Seriously. I went through some scary "old folks" health scares this week and just got the all clear to be sarcastic for some time to come. Huzzah!
 

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Skipping Glee paragraph to avoid potential Glee spoilers, as I am 8 days behind, at least. I watch on Hulu.

Okay, my human boy is Blake. My ghost is Lawrence (who will possibly be called Ren by Blake, we'll see). And the girl just up and named herself Julie. Thanks, Julie, that is handy.

And I now may have something resembling a synopsis for the NaNo website.
 
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