Scrabbling for Words and Software.

I've been playing Scrabble since I was two bricks and a tickey high, as they say. And very seldom have I achieved that glory of all Scrabble glories - using all seven letters in one turn and scoring that additional 50 points! But last night, I did it. Not once, but TWICE. In a row. On my first and second turns!!

Woo hoo!

My first set of letters included IRESUE and a blank: REISSUE was the word.
Second time around included NRLARE and another blank, which led to LEARNERS.



Two very sad faces stared back at me over the board, but not for long. My kids are nothing if not triers! Later during the game, I got another two seven letter words - but there was simply nowhere to play COVETOUS and GRAVITON. Dang!! However, we played very happily all the way to the bitterly contested end of the game ... it was fun. And yes, I won but only thanks to my extra 100 points!! :-)

Final Scores: Me: 240, Son: 159, Daughter: 156

And in other Nano news: yesterday a friend linked me to an amazing site where I downloaded some awesome free writing software called yWriter.

It looks really impressive so today I'm going to spend several hours organizing my Nano book into this software. Two things I really liked at first glance are the fact that each scene carries labelled tags to help you remember the goal, conflict and resolution of each particular scene, not just for each chapter. This is very in line with the way I learned to write (as taught by gurus McKee and Swain) so that pleases me a lot. And second, there is a place within the software for character stuff.

The best thing about yWriter, as far as I can see, is that it organizes all your stuff into one place. At present, I have folders and folders full of different drafts, character work, outlines, notes, and attempts at chapters, and its a mission to remember where I put what and when, if I'm trying to track down something from way back when. You can import and export files with yWriter, so you don't have to retype anything to use it.

Features include: (from the website description)

Organise your novel using a 'project'.
Add files to the project, each containing a chapter.
Add a summary to each file, showing the scenes in each chapter.
Print out summary cards, showing the structure of your novel.
Display the word count for every file in the project, along with a total.
Saves a log file every day, showing words per file and the total. (Tracks your progress)
Saves automatic backups at user-specified intervals.
Allows multiple scenes within chapters
Viewpoint character, goal, conflict and outcome fields for each scene.
Storyboard view, a visual layout of your work.
Re-order scenes within chapters.
Move scenes from one chapter to another.
Automatic chapter renumbering.

Til later, Nano dudes! I'm off to play!

Walking the Cat and other Procrastinatory Pursuits


Finally, this blog will have a real reason for being. :-) In November, the annual NaNoWriMO event takes place and together with my buddy Kells, I have signed up to participate. The goal is to write a 50K novel in 30 days ie around about 1600 words per day, on average. As organizer Chris Baty says, the trick is to forget about writing a bestseller and concentrate on producing prose that won't actually make anyone vomit!!

Hee hee hee!

The main problem here is that I've had a nasty case of writer's block for longer than I care to remember so I'm really not sure I can do it. BUT: today I found a site that addresses this issue - it's HERE.

There are many reasons for writer's block, which is defined as either being unable to start or finish a specific piece of writing - and my block falls into both categories. I have two novels 'almost completed'. I have another two novels that are about three chapters long. I have lots of ideas and thoughts and dreams floating around in my brain.

The trick over the next while is going to be to get my brain out of block mode and into writing mode. That's what this blog is going to be all about. I'll be using it to hammer out some of the unblocking exercises - these involve a lot of freewriting, copywriting, researchwriting, dialogue-writing and writing about writing itself, which is what THIS post is all about.

I have to interject here and say that the Backspace key on this laptop just fell off so each time I make a mistake I have to aim for the little bump in the middle of the Backspace space. Gotta get that fixed asap - it's driving me mad!!

Later, writing dudes! :-)