Geek La Femme Shout-Out

Hi everyone! Just a short entry this time, since life has been a little crazy. I’m currently a little sleep-deprived after going to see Steven Spielberg give a speech at the 149th Dedication Ceremony of the Gettysburg Address. (My friends and I were within 5 feet of him at one point! *happy nerd dance*). So that was very cool. (And I have the best onii-san EVER! He gave me a Nintendo DS, so now I can play Okamiden! ^_^ Hooray!) So, between that, seeing friends, various life events, and a bad encounter with Pizza Hut food, things have been a little hectic.

The biggest eater of my time has been National Novel Writing Month. Yep, this is my third year and my second serious attempt at reaching 50,000 words in 30 days. I was doing well for a while, but hit some snags this week so I’m about 4,000 words behind schedule. Hopefully I’ll make that up this week. As a result, most of my attention has been on filling my daily word count rather than thinking of topics for The Cat’s Cradle.

However, I do have some good writing news! I am now a weekly contributor to the nerd blogsite GEEK LA FEMME! While my blog is dedicated to writing, Geek La Femme is dedicated to all things nerdy with a mostly-female writing staff. I’ve been enjoying the opportunity to fangirl squeal on Geek La Femme, something that I don’t get the chance to do as often here on The Cat’s Cradle (since this blog is dedicated to writing.) Speaking of which, I need to get back to my NaNo entry. So much to do!

So if you are interested in reading about some awesome, weird nerd topics, like stop-motion animation, fantasy maps, Latin codes, Halo and Skyrim, and weird music videos, please stop on by! You can also follow us on Twitter at @GeekLaFemme. Hope you enjoy!

Writer Shout-Out: Chuck Wendig of ”Terrible Minds”

I’m afraid that I don’t have much to say this week, mostly because I just finished the third season of Castle and I’m frothing at the mouth trying to get access to the fourth season. (No, I do not have regular TV and no, I am not willing to wait a week for each episode to air. Not when we have the Interwebz, bitches!) *ahem* At any rate, I did want to share a delightfully foul-mouthed writers’ blog known as “Terrible Minds” by Chuck Wendig, Penmonkey Extraordinaire.

My writing group spent this past Sunday discussing two of Mr. Wendig’s articles, 25 Things Writers Should Start Doing and 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing (Right Fucking Now). If you don’t mind cursing and some interesting but anatomically impossible metaphors, then I highly recommend reading some of the articles of “Terrible Minds.” He treats the material in an irreverent manner that is hilarious to read, but the subjects and suggestions are quite viable. I don’t agree with everything he says in each article, but it’s still worth taking a look and is fun to read, for both newbies and professionals.

Some examples, in addition to the ones above, to give you a taste of this juicy goodness, are as follows. Hope you enjoy!

A Long Look At “Show, Don’t Tell”

25 Reasons I Hate Your Main Character

How To Be A Full-Time Writer: A “25 Things You Should Know” Investigative Report

25 Lies Writers Tell (And Start To Believe)

Ten Things You Should Know About Writing Screenplays

25 Things You Should Know About Creativity

A Wonderfully True Repost

My friend Foxglove Zayuri found a wonderful article on Terrible Minds, and I simply had to share it with everyone this week because it is hilarious and so, so true.

CAUTION: If you are offended by crude language, you may wish to skip this article. You have been warned.

“25 REASONS THAT WRITERS ARE BUG-FUCK NUTS”

It seems like a good time for a spiritual successor to my earlier “Beware of Writer” posts — this time, jacked into the popular “25 Things” format here that all you cats and kittens seem to like. Plus, it’s sometimes good to speak to the non-writers out there, let ‘em know why we get that spooky glint in our eyes once in a while. You wanna know why we’re a little wacky? I gotcher 25 reasons right here.

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