Have decided to attempt this how to write a novel meme that has been going around, since I've been motivated to peck a bit on mine again today. I wrote a paragraph. And yesterday tried a spreadsheet. Now, I'm playing on lj and procrastinating all the other things I've planned for today. I am giving myself no more than an hour or two to play here. Must stick to the schedule. Playing on lap-top all day will lead to back pain and much misery. This we've learned the hard way.

How I write a novel:
1. Come up with an idea, jot it down on something, anything
2. Think about idea. Come up with a working title.
3. Start writting - can be on paper or computer, eventually ends up on computer since you have to have it on a computer in order to have anyone else read it or look at it
4. Take frequent breaks and fiddle about on internet while on computer
5. Struggle with writer's block
6. Go back to writing, set goals - must finish chapter 1, etc.
7. Plot out future chapters
8. Re-read prior chapters if stuck
9. Write more
10. Write notes in various notebooks regarding ideas for plot. Come up with new book ideas, jot down, put aside
11. Write more
12. Send out first chapter to one person after much bugging by people, because you can't keep your mouth shut and not tell them that you are writing a novel, and you are worrying about whether it is any good.
13. Get positive/negative feedback
14. Keep writing, swearing not to send out any more until finish the first draft at least
15. Finally finish the thing.
16. Revise. Re-read. Re-format. Make sure in format necessary for publishers.
17. Figure out readers
18. Send out to readers.
19. Put aside and start on something else, until readers get back to you.
20. Get criticism and use to revise and make better. Re-format again. Spell-check.
21. Send to readers again.
22. Revise. Work on query letters and synopsis statement. Send to readers.
23. Send query and synopsis to agents and publishers. Wait. Can be anywhere to a month to eight months to a year
24. Send MS to publishers and agents who respond positively to query/synopsis/first chapter.
25. Wait.
26. Wait.
27. Forget about book and work on something else.
28. Get rejection letters.
29. Decide if worth it to keep sending out.
30. Either send out again or drop completely and start new novel.

Now we've added this odd spreadsheet thingy.

Writing? It ain't for wimps or for people who like instant gratification or validation. Trust me on this, very very few of us ever get validation or gratification from others when we write a novel. I know I come from a long line of frustrated novelists.



Read all of EW last night - which does a great breakdown of all the returning and new tv shows in the fall. Also a great break-down of movies. If you are a culture junkie who likes TV and movie reviews - Entertainment Weekly is a great mag. I don't always agree with them. Their critics hated Little Miss Sunshine (don't ask, well okay - Owen Glieberman, a New York critic who to my knowledge has not lived outside NYC - did not think the characters in Little Miss were realistic or that they rang true. Here's the quote: "Little Miss Sunshine is trying to be an intimate comedy of family manners. It's far from a throwaway (if anything it raises the bar), but there , in a strange way, is the problem: if the characters don't ring true, how can we be seduced , or amused, by the film's comedic observations about them? " Well, here's the thing - the critic is assuming that just because they did not ring true for "him" they don't for others. He is limiting it to his own experience, which being a NY critic, from a higher income bracket, and a good education - is not necessarily the experience of the majority of his audience. So he cannot possibly understand why his readers like the movie, because based on his critique, one's enjoyment of the film is dependent on what one's experiences are and how one personally views the characters. Glieberman's critique is subjective and as a result easy to dismiss. Since it is based on his own perceptions of human behavior. Little Miss Sunshine worked for me, because the characters rang true for me. I've met people like this. I've known them. While I can't watch stylized gonzo slapstick-surreal idocy such as Benchwarmers or You, Me and Dupree - because those characters are not real, but stylized versions, meaningless pawns of a joke. I'm a character girl. EW, like most of Hollywood, thinks BTVS and Angel were just teen shows or marketed and written solely with teens in mind (which I have major quibbles with considering some of the mature content on that series - content that rivals anything shown on Nip-Tuck, the Shield, or Rescue Me - which were marketed directly to adult viewers. Last I checked teens were 13-18. The idea they were marketing the show to 13-17 year olds or think it was only for that market, makes me queasy and wonder a bit about these people. Do they frigging watch the show? If so? Ewww. Can we ensure they don't have kids or work with them ever? Probably not. But it does explain some things.)

That said, EW's a good resource for previewing things.

The lists below are limited to shows on currently, premiering this fall and do not include anything on premium cable channels - since I don't have premium cable. I do, however, have Weeds in my netflix queue along with Season 3 of The L Word (which isn't out on DVD yet, but has been announced), DeadWood and Six Feet Under's latter seasons, but it will take a long time for me to get to some of them.

Returning shows that I will watch:

1. House (already seen the season premiere - and this show just gets better each season it's on. Unlike the other procedurals on, with the possible exception of The Closer, this is the only one that is more interested in its central character and uses the medical mysteries to figure out and examine the flaws of the main character and how the people around him relate to him. It is the best procedural on tv. Sure the medical procedures and mysteries are outlandish, but I have news for you - all of them are. Real doesn't make good drama and tends to be pretty dull. Fingerprints can not be lifted off anything under the sun.)
2. Veronica Mars (which I'm praying will not air opposite House like EW predicts, but actually opposite Stand-Off as indicated in TV Guide. VM is by far the best mystery series on tv and the least predictable. The characters are complicated, well-acted, and prickily. It keeps to the noir tone and genre. And has witty dialogue.)
3. Lost (depends on how long they play with the social psyche experiment gone haywire storyline which fascinates me. Also if they keep focusing on the ensemble cast and the characters. If the show becomes a romance between two star-crossed lovers and the evil billionaire father keeping them apart, I'm outta there. Even if I like the two people playing the lovers. Because that's just been done to death.)
4. BattleStar Galatica (yes, I wasn't fond of the ending, and the previews of this coming season aren't thrilling me, but I still adore the actors and characters and the writing while uneven last season, was still markedly better than most things. So yep, definitely.)
5. Grey's Anatomy (Sigh...my comfort show. One of the few where women are real and men romanticized. Nice to see the flip for a change. Also I adore all the characters, with the possible exception of McDreamy...who I'm ambivalent about. Very happy about the time slot change - now I can watch it at a decent time.)
6. Desperate Housewives (Just fun. A satirical soap opera. Peyton Place with a hint of Twin Peaks and a touch of SoAp. Very black comedy. I'm watching for Bree at the moment. And Edie.)
7. Project Runway (my new guilty pleasure and the only reality show I enjoy. I think I watch partly to enjoy spikewriter posts on it. If you are a fan, you have to read her recaps - I've learned more about fashion, design, sewing, and the industry from her posts than the show.
8. Nip-Tuck - amongst my favorite shows on. Great show about mid-life crisis. Why sex has consequences, always. And a good commentary on our societal obsession with sex/sexual identity and physical beauty. Another show in which I enjoy all the characters.

New Shows that I will Try:

I've put stars next to the ones, I'm anticipating with glee.

***Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (fantastic cast - Bradley Whitford, Sarah Paulson (who I've followed since American Gothic), Amanda Peet, Mathew Perry (the only reason I watched Friends in later seasons), Timothy Busfield, DG Hugley, and Steven Webber. Also Araon Sorkin's witty dialogue - which I adore. About writers and producers in the TV industry - which fascinates me. Yep, looking forward to this baby. And relieved that NBC wisely shifted it from Thursday to Monday. So it is not opposite Grey's. Only one possible problem - Sorkin like Kelly and Whedon occassionally gets preachy about political issues. Which tends to drag down the plot and make me roll my eyes, even though I agree with him. Show me, buddy, don't tell me.)
****30 Rock ( a humorous take on the same topic Sorkin covers, by a former SNL writer and actress - Tina Fey. Stars Fey and Alec Baldwin (another actor that I enjoy watching).)
****Heroes (innovative concept and interesting cast - sort of X-men meets well a type of Lost anthology story-telling style. Its main focus is "what happens when you're faced with a choice and how you adapt to changes in your life" - which is something I can identify with.Also weakness for superhero shows, again. But I love this one's take on the genre, people discovering their talents for the first time - instead of focusing on "saving the world", it's focusing on how do you deal with developing an extraordinary gift. Also stars Adrian Psdar and that under-used agent from Alias that I loved.)
****The Nine (another innovative set-up and asking the question - how do you handle a traumatic experience and how does it change you? About a bunch of people who survive a bank heist - the mystery is what happened during the heist that changed them or why did they become something different because of it? Stars Tim Daly, John Billingsey, Chi McBride, Kim Raver...great cast).
Smith - (great cast, interesting concept. Curious. Ray Liotta, Virgina Madsen...)
Shark (yes, it's another legal show, but it stars JAmes Woods and Jeri Ryan, who I enjoy, so giving it a chance. Plus it has zip but ER opposite.)
Jericho (Skeet Ulrich - who I get confused with Billy Crudup for some reason - also interesting premise. Then there's the nostaglia factor. It's a post-apocalypse series that takes place in Lawrence, Kansas or thereabouts - this brings back memories of The Day After - which was filmed while I was in high school in Kansas and had friends appear as extras in it. So curiousity factor big time. Course it's opposite 30 Rock so we shall see.)
Ugly Betty (interesting concept. Not sure I can handle the comedy - which is stylized slap-stick based on humilation. About an ugly duckling in the fashion world. Sort of Devil Wears PRada without the makeover, which may be more realistic.)
Men in Trees (sounds like Sex in The City meets Northern Exposure. Not sure will work or not. But like the cast and xip opposite it.)
Brothers and Sisters (great cast - Sally Field, Ron Rifkin, Patricia Wettig, and Rachel Griffiths (who I adore), only weak link is Clarissa Flockhart. Sounds a bit like Thirtysomething meets Eight is Enough, but we shall see. Willing to give it a chance. Definitely want to see the pilot - since Tom Skerrit is making an appearance as the dad.)

Might also try Help Me Help You with Danson and The Knights of Prosperity - about guys who plot to rob Mick Jagger's penthouse - but they are opposite Veronica Mars, so we shall see. Kidnapped is another one I might try - purely to see Timothy Hutton, Dana Delaney, Jeremy Sisto and Ving Rhames - has an amazing cast. But I hate the format - which is yet another copy of 24, and originated by Stephen Bocho's forgotten Murder One.Find this gimmick annoying. And far too many dramas are copying it. Yes, another trend. Watch it die fast. And blame it on PRison Break success not on 24 (the idea of telling one story all year long).

Quite a lot of good drama premiering this year. Nice to be proven right regarding the ebb of the reality shows and remergence of the quality/serialized drama. Entertainment like everything else comes in waves. OR trends. Nothing lasts forever. If you hate a particular trend - don't worry, it will be replaced by something else eventually.

Will have to make choices, since do not own a DVR or TIVO and there's something wrong with my TV so the VCR can't work. Yes, I know I need to buy a new TV, it's on the list of things I will get once I get a new job. Until then, this one is fine. (Prays it does not break down on me.)




1. Have given up on Outlander, although I did make it to page 610 before I gave up. Enjoyed first 300 pages, last 300 pages...sigh. Going to attempt Marcel Proust's Swann's Way now. Yep, moody reader.
2. The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon. With forward by the commission of the actual report. It is based on the Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. I decided to buy it instead of watching the lame ABC miniseries, which outside of the political firestorm, has gotten horrendous reviews - it sounds dull and status guo. Not worth my time and energy. If you are interested in the Iraq War as a history, there's a great book that my father recommended entitled Fiasco:The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks. Go here for more information:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/07/07/DI2006070701061.html

Basically explains how the war has been mismanaged and who was responsible. Well researched account by an investigative foreign correspondent.

[Updated: 9/11 Commission Report: A Graphic Adaptation - Fascinating book. Just finished it tonight. Tough to read, but then I find everything on 9/11 tough to read. That said - it is possibly the best graphic novel I've read in a while. The Commission's findings are shocking and I can see why many people did not want to believe them and dismissed them out of hand. If you voted for President George W. Bush in the first election, and the second one, this report would make you unhappy. It is unbiased. It demonstrates major flaws in the government prior to Bush. But by the same token it details what steps could have been taken and weren't during Bush's administration. Stating clearly and succinctly what we can do now to prevent terrorism. And, this is very disturbing, how few of these recommendations were undertaken by our government. The score-card is pathetic. Making me feel even more ashamed of my country's government and current administration. The focus should NOT be on Iraq, which clearly was never involved with Osm Bin Laden - the two entities hated each other. But on Saudia Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, and other targeted countries. IT also should not be on destruction and war, but on defense, on productive and helpful measures to unite the world. I'm hoping people read the report or the graphic version, instead of watching dramtizations.]

3. The New Yorker - "The Moderate Martyr - Interpreting Islam for the Modern World" - by George Packer.

Which is enough for one day. Off for lunch. A walk. Reading. Writing. And hopefully cleaning out my closet.

Was fairly productive yesterday - phone interview, thank you letter to HH company, called unemployment office, ran errands, and spoke with outplacement services. Also read.