IWSG: March 2018

I missed a few weeks blogging in February, but no way was I going to miss the IWSG blog hop held on the first Wednesday of every month. Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting the group and all the administrators who do so much work to keep it running and growing. Join us and share your woes, successes, and ask questions. There's lot of talent here to help. Check out all the participants on this complete list.

The optional question this month: How do you celebrate when you achieve a writing goal or finish a piece of work?

I BUY BOOKS, OF COURSE! Not just buy them, but go meander around a bookstore for hours. And books plural, not just one.

Speaking of bookstores, here's an interesting article where comparing the buyer experience at an Amazon physical store and a Barnes and Noble bookstore. I know lots of us are bracing ourselves for the coming doom of Barnes and Noble. At my most recent writers' meeting, more than one author referred to Amazon as the evil empire.

I ordered a new printer. I had my last one for probably six years. I don't know if that's a good lifespan for a printer or not. It's arriving today so next Monday's post could be full of curse words in reference to how difficult it was to get it all figured out and WiFi active.

I'm almost 20K into my next WIP. Starting a new series that I don't have a title for yet, but I'm back in space for a little space opera romance. I'm writing a bit more than one thousand words per day but I'd like to up that to two thousand. I do use some of the techniques described in this article on how to write fast.

A member of my local writing group, Hope Stephan, gave a presentation on procrastination at our writers meeting. It was extremely interesting. There's an entire industry of books, podcast, and every other form of self-help stuff aimed at procrastinators. Hope shared this quote:

"Work finally begins when the fear of doing nothing exceeds the fear of doing it badly." Alain de Botton

Also,last Saturday, my granddaughter turned one year old. That year went so fast. She's walking though only when she wants to. She loves being outside though the weather isn't always cooperative. She's my little joy. We all need some joy.

My youngest son has a birthday tomorrow, so we're all in on a week of celebration. Not good when it's snowing again and I can't get outside to walk.

I'm looking forward to the return of Timeless this coming Sunday. I re-watched the first season last week. And my favorite summer show, Salvation, did get a second season. March Madness is almost upon us. I played basketball in high school and all my children played the game at some point in their athletic careers. But I'll be so sick of it in a few weeks, I won't be able to enjoy it. Way too many hours of it on TV.

Don't forget to turn your clocks ahead this weekend for Daylight Savings Time. And remember this:
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." Groucho Marx

How do you celebrate reaching a goal? Are you a procrastinator? How long should a printer last? Are you dreading springing ahead?

M: George RR Martin

My theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge this year is a mishmash of books, movies, writers and TV shows that have in one way or another taught me something about writing and helped me be a better writer. Some inspired my own stories and a few taught me what not to do. Each post is a one minute lesson on writing. And stop by IWSG blog for some inspiration all month long.

Most readers and writers have heard of  The Game of Thrones and George RR Martin who writes the book series, A Song of Fire and Ice. The books are famous for killing off popular characters and HBO has rocketed the series to stardom. For the show fans who haven't read the books, some of the violent endings to characters is shocking. Martin is also know by book fans as one of the most frustratingly slow writers ever. His longest stretch between books in a series is 6 years. That's a long time to keep readers waiting and a good way for most writers to lose fans. Thanks to the HBO series, Martin continues to sell the first books in the series. I had started reading the series years before the TV show came into being so the violent deaths didn't surprise me. That HBO would make the show

knowing that the writer hadn't finished the books yet did surprise me. The show is good. The books are good though not my favorite. Martin had been accused by fans of being lazy, not having the story plotted out and not knowing where its characters are going or where it will end. Some think he kills characters just for the shock, or that he has too many plots going and is constantly adding new characters and ignoring the story lines of the original characters. 

Lesson: If you're going to write really slow, you better have a loyal fan base. Slow won't work for most of us. Kill your characters if it makes the story better but not just for shock. Know the ending of your story before you start it. If HBO offers you a contract, write at whatever pace you want.

"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die" Cersei Lannister

"A dragon is not a slave." Daenerys Targaryen

How quickly do you expect an author to write the next book in a series? Know any authors slower than Martin? Have you read a book where a character's death disturbed and didn't seem to make the book better? Are you a fan of these books or the HBO show?