In Which I Am Not Sure What to Say

Greetings and hallucinations, readers!  I'm back!

(In an all new adventure...)

Don't you just love it that I blog only when I've exhausted all the other things I need/want to do on the internet?

The thing is, I'm not sure what to blog about.  I keep "updating", and I really hate doing the same thing over and over.  It gets old.  And it probably gets old for you.

So what to do?  Let's mix it up.  To the side is a picture that I am very fond of - the Doctor, tipping his Stetson.

And now for updates: as of right now, I'm still planning on doing NaNoWriMo.  We haven't left for Africa yet, but it's looking likely that we'll be off before the month is up.  But we'll see what God has planned, aye?

The novel in question is the Prophecy of Einarr (the title of The Prophecies, Book #2).  So far, I've got a hazy direction for it, and possibly a prologue idea, which is likewise hazy.  Ah, the life of a SOP writer...

I plan to do a lot of brainstorming at the farm this week, however.  It'll be a quiet week, away from civilization (and internet :P), with only school and yardwork to contend with.  Hopefully I can spray some cleaner on this novel and make it shiny instead of hazy.

In the meantime, I'm hoping for snow before we leave for Africa.  It was actually below 30 two nights ago - I can always hope!  A lot of weatherly change can happen in a week.

This turned into an update, didn't it?  Sticklebacks...

So, those of you who are doing NaNoWriMo, what're you doing?  How's the brainstorming/outlining going?  Are you prepared for a month of literary abandon?

If the answer to the latter is no, then you're ready.  It's called "abandon" for a reason.

And, to get this post meaningful in some way or form, here's a little writing tip:

ACTION BEATS


Action beats are extremely useful in dialogue.  In fact, if you use them often enough, it becomes habit and saves you the trouble of editing your dialogue to make it interesting.

Here's a few lines without beats:

"How're you doing?" Joe asked.
"All right," Tom replied.  "You?"
"Well, I'm surviving," he said.

(As a side note, I'd recommend using basic words like "said" in dialogue.  Words like "expostulated" and "screeched" (etc.) distract the reader.  There are purposes for such words, however, if used sparingly in your novel; i.e. "'Forward!' he thundered")

Action beats are basically actions that are used to indicate who is talking in a conversation.  After all, that's why we use phrases like "he said", right?  And it provides a visual of what's happening during the conversation, making the dialogue much more interesting to read.

Here's what action beats are like, used in prose.

Joe plopped himself down beside Tom.  "How're you doing?
"All right." Tom shrugged.  "You?"
"Well..." Joe grimaced. "I'm surviving."

Not the best of writing quality, but it'll do.

So, have you written anything good lately?

With that, I have books to read and more to brainstorm.  Au revior, readers!

::POOF::