In a mirror, dimly

The BBC Website reported

Distinctively odd
For the past 30 years, the Bookseller magazine has awarded a prize to the oddest book title it can find. The first ever winner was Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice

Mind-boggling as that is, it is far from the strangest. Now the top prize has been won by the 1996 magnum opus Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers, published by the Hellenic Philatelic Society and edited by Derek Willan.

They finished by saying:

We want to give listeners a chance to construct their own stories, inspired by the titles which have won every year.

The Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year

• 1978: Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice
  (University of Tokyo Press)
• 1979: The Madam as Entrepreneur: Career Management in House Prostitution
  (Transaction Press)
• 1980: The Joy of Chickens
  (Prentice Hall)
• 1981: Last Chance at Love: Terminal Romances
• 1982: Population and Other Problems
  (China National Publications)
• 1983: The Theory of Lengthwise Rolling
  (MIR)
• 1984: The Book of Marmalade: Its Antecedents, Its History and Its Role in the World Today
  (Constable)
• 1985: Natural Bust Enlargement with Total Power: How to Increase the Other 90% of Your Mind to Increase the Size of Your Breasts
  (Westwood Publishing Co)
• 1986: Oral Sadism and the Vegetarian Personality
  (Brunner/Mazel)
• 1987: No Award
• 1988: Versailles: The View From Sweden
  (University of Chicago Press)
• 1989: How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art
  (Ten Speed Press)
• 1990: Lesbian Sadomasochism Safety Manual
  (Lace Publications)
• 1991: No Award
• 1992: How to Avoid Huge Ships
  (Cornwell Maritime Press)
• 1993: American Bottom Archaeology
  (University of Illinois Press)
• 1994: Highlights in the History of Concrete
  (British Cement Association)
• 1995: Reusing Old Graves
  (Shaw & Son)
• 1996: Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers
  (Hellenic Philatelic Society)
• 1997: The Joy of Sex: Pocket Edition
  (Mitchell Beazley)
• 1998: Development in Dairy Cow Breeding and Management: and New Opportunities to Widen the Uses of Straw
  (Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust)
• 1999: Weeds in a Changing World
  (British Crop Protection Council)
• 2000: High Performance Stiffened Structures
  (Professional Engineering Publishing)
• 2001: Butterworths Corporate Manslaughter Service
  (Butterworths)
• 2002: Living With Crazy Buttocks
  (Kaz Cooke - Penguin)
• 2003: The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories
  (Kensington Publishing)
• 2004: Bombproof Your Horse
  (J A Allen)
• 2005: People Who Don’t Know They’re Dead: How They Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It
  (Gary Leon Hill - Red Wheel/Weiser Books)
• 2006: The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification
  (Harry N Abrams)
• 2007: If You Want Closure In Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs
  (Simon & Schuster US)

If that doesn’t make for a fun writing prompt, I don’t know what would!

One … two … three … four … We declare a thumb word war

I only discovered the concept of a thumb war a few years ago. (one consequence of growing up in another country) The concept of a word war is even newer on me. I’d heard about them 3 years ago. I’d shaken my head when people had participated … I thought myself above that sort of silly nonsense … and then I tried it last night. Oh how the mighty have fallen. I guess I need to eat my words (pun intended). They are fun!

The official definition goes something like this:

A word war is when two or more people decide on a time to start writing, write for a certain amount of time, then compare wordcounts.

Simple really. The official Nanowrimo forum has discussion threads for word wars of different durations. The 10-minute word war was my downfall.

My usual level of output during Nanorimo is (roughly) 1000 words an hour. Not huge. It means about 2 hours or so every day through the month of November and I’ll hit the 50,000 word goal. Ten minutes would be roughly 160 words at that pace. I had a measure, and I smoked it: 275 words in 10 minutes. It feels good to beat a personal goal. That said I knew exactly where my character would be and what she’d be doing.

So, yeah, I’ll be entering Nano this year with a more combative and competitive stance. One … two … three … four … I declare a word war! GO!

There’s a lot all in one place, all in the one diagram. Basically, though, this is a handy one-size-fits-all guide to both the pacing of a Nano-novel, and a roadmap of where you ought to be based on an even writing pace through the whole month.

Hope it helps.

         0    -----------------    01    Ordinary World                -----------------
                      .                                                      .
                      .            02    Call To Adventure                   .
               WEEK 1 .            03    Refusal Of The Call                 .  ACT I
         "separation" .            04    Mentor                              .
                      .                                                      .
    12,500    -----------------    05    First Threshold               -----------------
                      .                                                      .
                      .            06    Tests, Allies And Enemies           .
               WEEK 2 .                                                      .
            "descent" .            07    Approach To The Inmost Cave         .
                      .                                                      .
    25,000    -----------------    08    Supreme Ordeal                      .  ACT II
                      .                                                      .
                      .                                                      .
               WEEK 3 .            09    Reward (Seizing The Sword)          .
         "initiation" .                                                      .
                      .                                                      .
    37,500    -----------------    10    The Road Back                 -----------------
                      .                                                      .
                      .            11    Resurrection                        .
               WEEK 4 .                                                      .  ACT III
             "return" .            12    Return With The Elixir              .
                      .                                                      .
    50,000    -----------------                                        -----------------

I thought I would look up the actual definition of “plot bunny” online. Google is good for that sort of thing, you just type

define: plot bunny

and back comes a wealth of definitions. Only they didn’t. I got a single, rather bland:

An idea for a story, usually referring to an author having more ideas than he or she can use

So it made me wonder if there might be space online for yet another definition of “plot bunny”.

See, bunnies are famous for certain things. Think about it:

1. They’re fluffy and cute
2. Bunnies naturally look disapproving
3. They breed at an impressive rate
4. What do bunnies do other than eat, sleep and poop?
5. They’re not obedient
6. Bunnies are skittish

1. Plot bunnies are fluffy and cute

All ideas for a story seem like good idea the time. When a plot bunny hops up unbidden (as they usually do) they seem so innocuous and safe. Its only when you start writing and incorporating the latest idea that you find the fluffy coat is full of burrs and tangles. In general plot bunnies should be welcomed and made to feel at home when they turn up. Be that 4-year-old blond baby girl who points and goes, “awww, soooo cute!” or before you know it, the flow of ideas might dry up.

2. Plot bunnies naturally look disapproving

New ideas arriving don’t necessarily mean that the ones you already have are bad. Changes in the flow, in the moment, are OK. Those cute little bunny faces naturally look disapproving, its nothing personal. Don’t get discouraged if new ideas arrive, just keep going. Remember: every plot bunny is cute and fluffy when you first encounter them. Take a moment to dwell on how good the idea was originally, even if new ideas seem to disapprove, or old ideas disapprove of newly arrived plot bunnies.

3. Plot bunnies breed at an impressive rate

Treat them well and your plot bunnies will breed. Ideas beget other ideas. Let the bunny hop around in your brain for a while and its amazing, you’ll return to the cute lil’ fella, and there will be others with him. One of the big down-sides of welcoming plot bunnies into your home, or more accurately, into your brain is that they breed. There will generally be more ideas than you have time to write. Don’t be discouraged. Just like baby bunnies, there are plenty of nice people who will adopt a story idea.

4. What do plot bunnies do other than eat, sleep and poop?

Its so utterly frustrating to be writing and notice a cute fluffy plot bunny arrived. You put down one train of thought to welcome the newcomer and before you know it, the creative juices have dried up. What’s worse is that the original bunny is hopping around, munching on clover, and acting like nothing happened. This is the moment when you realize, truly realize, that plot bunnies aren’t there to help you. Converting a great story/plot idea into the finished product is work. And while you’re working hard, the plot bunny that started the whole thing is happily hopping around a field somewhere in the middle of your cerebellum, and don’t even think that all that eating means they are open to bribery (even using fresh carrots)!

5. Plot bunnies are not obedient

I still remember the first writer who told me that a character did something that they didn’t want. I thought they were mad. Characters are your own creation. Ideas are sparked in your own brain. How can they possibly not be obedient to you? Well, that was before I wrote my first Nano novel where (a) my main character remained stubbornly dead for the first 10,000 words and (b) a secondary character stubbornly refused to stop drinking and was persistently too drunk to help the main character stop being dead. Bunnies are notoriously disobedient and hard to train. Don’t be surprised if you begin bribing characters to do what you want, arguing with them, or even killing them off/writing them out in sheer frustration at their unruly behaviour.

6. Plot bunnies are skittish

Plot bunnies may hop into your brain at any time. They might breed. They may hop around your cerebellum chewing on brain cells before you catch them, but they are also easy to frighten off too. Have a welcoming attitude when a bunny hops up. If you can’t make use of the idea, store it away for later. Unlike real bunnies, plot bunnies are quite happy to be consigned to notebooks, ignored for long periods and left unfed and unwatered. What they don’t appreciate, however, are loud dismissive tones. Remember plot bunnies are cute and fluffy creatures, and easily scared off, and you’ll be surprised at how many plot twists, interesting characters (with quirks!) and new story ideas will flow.

All of my fiction writing projects now have a “book cover” or “movie poster” and the fiction page on the site has had a make-over. In the process I reijigged some of the URLs. Apologies if that means some bookmarks are now broken.

I used the fabulous Celtx screenwriting software to participate in “Script Frenzy” last year. I also used it to write an original screenplay for a writing group that I’m part of. It takes a little work but it is actually possible to post the output from the application directly on a website like this. I’ll post step-by-step instructions later but suffice it to say, it means editing your site’s CSS to add screenplay related details, installing a Wordpress plugin and then some copy + paste effort for each screenplay you want to self-publish. Easy really.

I’m a “sometimes writer” and was a huge fan of the “pretend writer” LJ community mostly because the name applied to me. Anything to get me writing is a good thing, so these links are as much personal for me as they are for the wider Internet community!

• Toasted Cheese Literary Journal

  Daily writing prompt
  In calendar format, the Toasted Cheese Literary Journal daily writing prompts look quite fun. Short and pithy. Just the way I like ‘em!

• Writers Digest

  Writing Prompt
  Yes, the Writers Digest, with some fascinating prompts to break through writers block.

• Dreaming on Paper

  Random Inspiration
  I clicked the link to this site merely because of the domain name. (Note: this is not always an advisable course of action, but the link was posted from a trusted source!)

• The First Line

  http://www.thefirstline.com/index.htm
  The First Line is pubished four times a year and includes stories generated from first lines that are posted on the website. Even if you dont plan on submitting, the first lines make a great writing prompt!

Happy writing!