You write like....who?

On one of those larks that writers pursue when they're supposed to be putting fingers to keyboard, I checked out a site called I Write Like.  Paste in a few paragraphs from something you've written and, voila, you find out who you write like.

I write like William Gibson.

So I had to Google William Gibson, since I was feeling guilty wondering if he was some 17th century English poet that I ought to recognize.  Although I can't see my writing resembling some dead English poet, but still....

Wikipedia calls him the "noir prophet" of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction.  He coined the phrase "cyberspace" and went on to write "steampunk" science fiction.  "Gibson is one of the best-known North American science fiction writers, fêted by The Guardian in 1999 as 'probably the most important novelist of the past two decades.'"

OK, then.  I have used the word "cyberspace" before, often referring to e-mails and checks promised by my Nigerian great-great uncle who died without an heir.  Knowing that the internet does not lie, I'm wondering if I should re-think the genre I've chosen.

Would a William Gibson look-alike write mystery when steampunk science fiction awaits?  I'll let you know as soon as I figure out just what it is.

Those headlines

My current mystery involves a young newspaper reporter on a small weekly newspaper.  I've spent time in the field of journalism and have collected humorous headlines over the years.  I ran across a site today with more.  Here are a few:


• Killer Sentenced to Die for Second Time in 10 Years
• Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
• Quarter of a Million Chinese Live on Water
• Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped
• Reagan Wins on Budget, but More Lies Ahead
• Robber Holds Up Albert's Hosiery
• Safety Experts Say School Bus Passengers Should be Belted
• Shot Off Woman's Leg Helps Nicklaus to 66
• Smokers are Productive, but Death Cuts Efficiency
• Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Experts Say
• Soviet Virgin Lands Short of Goal Again
• Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim
• Stiff Opposition Expected to Casketless Funeral Plan
• Stolen Painting Found by Tree
• Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
• Two Convicts Evade Noose, Jury Hung
• Two Sisters Reunite after Eighteen Years at Checkout Counter
• Two Soviet Ships Collide - One Dies
• War Dims Hope for Peace
• William Kelly was Fed Secretary

Taken from alphadictionary.com's funny newspaper headlines.

A writer's drive

Fascinating post on co-writing at The Kill Zone today but what I found interesting was Michelle Gagnon's description of a dedicated writer.  Such things as drive, daily writing, working hard to perfect the craft of writing.... that separates the wanna-be's from the writers.

I'm trying to take the path of a dedicated writer.  If you know me, you know that lions roar.  I'm not giving up on this.

A new goal

First, the 10,000 word hurdle went down.  Then 15,000.  Now I'm hoping to clear 20,000 words this month.  Thanks to ACFW's NovelTrack, which has provided the structure and the encouragement to write daily and look at my word count.

I want to continue writing like this so watch for new progress meters after July.  And now I'm wondering if I can take on NaNoWriMo in November.  50,000 words in 30 days. Sure!  

Look out!

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.  

~Henry Ford

Names

Picking the right names for my characters can bog me down.  I want my main characters to have perfect names, whatever those are.

Recently I named a character "Ken" but after two chapters decided he really wasn't a Ken but a Mark.  So I did a find&replace.  That worked well until I re-read chapter 1 to discover that my main character had not "taken a walk" but "taMark a walk."  So be careful with those name changes.

I like to use the Social Security popular baby names page, which shows me the top names for each year.  That helps me find a name appropriate to the age of my character.

And I also found a list of most common surnames, in case I can't think of those.  That list is at Mongabay.com.

In my current WIP, my main character is named Addie.  After my kids asked, "Why THAT name?" I had to admit I had no good reason.  Who knows?  We may be doing a find and replace soon.  Or not.

First drafts

James Scott Bell has an excellent post today at The Kill Zone about writing that first draft.  It's easy to overanalyze your work in a first draft rather than just pounding it out.  Bell lists four basics for the first draft.  Concentrate on those and edit later.  Check it out.