Looking back (1) - NaNoWrimo 2011 + authonomy

Already finished my piece for TIW final and did Weekend Quickie 35 and I can't imagine a life without writing. When did it all begin? Where? In November 2011.

Some time in 1995/96, I wrote up my experiences of being in a band and tried to change it into fiction. This was my first serious attempt at writing and I even sent it to a publisher...it came back with a 'Thanks but no' note. (When I was 9 I wrote my first story about a family who lived in a speck of dust).

After moving to Hungary, it never came into my mind that I should try again until someone said 'You should write a book about that', a sarcastic remark, I think. Mid 2000s, I did write a children's ESL book but the project was destroyed by a manager who 'fed' his friends.

Anyway, I saw on the internet an advert about NaNoWrimo, "write 50,000 words in a month" challenge.

For 30 days I wrote. And I got 51,000 words. I won the challenge. I then saw another thing about 'authonomy.com' and uploaded my 'book' (after some editing). It received 44 backers and got to No.81 (good for that website) with a ton of comments and help. After a little more cutting, 'Man by a tree' was born. The ride had begun.

http://www.amazon.com/Man-tree-Dani-J-Caile-ebook/dp/B007UJE86G

TIW Weekend Quickie 35

Here's my latest TIW Weekend Quickie, mixing a few TIWs with the elements given in that great little nursery tale.
Go see it, on the site (and the comments) and many more stories from other TIWs (including Jordan :-))
http://theironwriter.com/weekend-quickie-35/

"Little Red Shiny Jordan"

Little Red Shiny Jordan listened to his darling mother.

"Now, run along into the forbidden Iron Writer woods and take your Aunty Brian his weekly beer and jello."

"Arr, Mom! Do I have to?"

His mother rubbed his shiny little head.

"And don't forget to start that nice little relay idea of yours in his website's forum when you get there…What's wrong? You look suspicious, my little man?"

"Someone's been sitting in my chair…"

"Wrong tale, son, wrong tale. Now get going, he's waiting. And what have I told you about wearing sunglasses in the house?"

Little Red Shiny Jordan skipped his way through the woods and past the "Don't go in the woods" sign put there to stop the fly-by-nighters' voters from entering.

Suddenly, from behind a facebook comment, out popped Mamie Fox and Amanda Wolf.

"Hello there. What's a fine-looking little chicken leg like you doing in the woods?"

"I'm running an errand for my Mom. Ooo, Mamie Fox, what big hair you have."

"All the better to mess your mind up with."

"And Amanda Wolf, what strange big mesmorising eyes you have."

"All the better to twist your little heart up. Come, Mamie Fox, supper has arrived...."

The FINAL piece - How

Finally, it starts...
I've got the 4 elements. I now have 7 days to create the greatest story I've ever done for TIW...a tall order, there have been some crackers, for example the '1st Anniversary' 500 worder, where I added 1 element from each of the 1st 52 weeks to the given 4 elements. Crazy but great little story...here...(http://danijcaile.blogspot.hu/2014/02/first-annual-2014-iron-blog-tour.html) - it'll be in 'Dani's Shorts 3' for FREE.
So, I've gotta do better than that? How?

Okay, so let's run through the process of creating a 500 word TIW Challenge Final story :-)
1. Look at the 4 elements and make sure you understand what they are (some have been very obscure over the last year)
2. Research
3. Look for links between elements
4. Remember any personal or media-driven memories connected to all 4 elements
5. Grab the one or ones which are the most imaginative. Expand on it/them, research it/them again.
6. Sleep on it.
7. Re-read all your notes, try to think of something....anything. 1 day has already gone.
8. Go off and do something else.
9. Later, re-read your notes, then write.
10. Edit, edit, edit, edit, edit....
11. Hand it in 1 hour before the deadline, in multiple ways.
Done. :-) ..well...starting...now.
Let's see what happens.
....finished in one night. Added something, did something special. :-) Editing, editing, editing.

Waiting for The FINAL

Today I should know what the 4 elements for the TIW Final are. I hope I can do them justice, find an angle, add a parody, a message. I will try to fight for the 'crown' but I know from past experience that it may well be all in vain..hell, you have to try! I'm up against two guys who have a ton of 'followers' and against DL Zwissler who is well loved in the TIW community and has 1000s of readers (lucky her - great writer). I'm up against the wall. But I can only step forwards.
For example...

'Circuits & Systems' - it's coming out in May 2014, published by Three Fates Press. I have a story in this anthology called 'Tracer's Choice'.
'How to build a castle in 7 easy steps' - Three Fates Press are also looking at this, my latest novel, and will get back to me about it mid-May 2014. It looks promising.
'Torn' - this is a novella I'm still editing, and re-editing, and re-editing...I keep going around in circles with this one, trying to get it 'just' right. It's a Brad Shaw detective story set in 1880s Steampunk sleepy town USA. I also have a certain portrait I'd like on the cover, an inspiration/memory of the story itself.
'Dani's Shorts 3' - almost at halfway, another 3/4 months to go of challenges, weekend quickies and extras, including my latest, my Challenge 63 take (hehe)...http://danijcaile.blogspot.hu/2014/05/my-challenge-63-take-with-jello.html 

...and, of course, the FINAL, voting Poll opens next Thursday! Don't miss the voting! I need YOU! Yes, YOU!

My TIW Challenge 63 take - with jello!

Still waiting for the elements for the FINAL...so I wrote up my take of Challenge 63. The special thing I did with this was to increase the 4th element, the chat up line, into more than one. And then I added jello. :-)
Enjoy :-)


Creep

(The 4 elements - cave etchings, wooden club, fur, best/worst pick up line ever)

"What's a good looking girl like you doing in a place like this?"

"Jesus, hell! What the...?" Sheila quickly pulled up her skirt and tights and ran out of the toilet cubicle, holding onto the sink for dear life. "What the hell are you doing in here? This is the women's!"

The man's head, which had popped out of the toilet seat so suddenly, slowly sunk back down, only to reappear as if by magic from the water tank a few moments later.

"Can you keep a secret? I'm a spy on a dangerous mission. I need your help."

"Mission or not, you definitely need some help! If you don't get out of here right now, I'm gonna call for the management!"

The man looked sad as he vanished once again, with his hand pulling on the flush chain. Sheila wondered whether she'd had too much to drink in the bar. This couldn't be happening. Her urge to go had disappeared as quickly as the man.

When she got back to her stool and saw that her glass was empty, that same head came into view, sliding across her sight.

"What the...! You again?"

"Hello. Sorry, but do I know you? You look very familiar."

"What do you want, creep?"

"Fancy a drink, darling?"

"Why the hell do you think I'm sitting in this bar?" The head slid back from whence it came. She looked around to check whether it was only her, and everything was as before, people chatting, some dancing, groups of friends having a good time. It was only her. She needed another drink and tried to get the attention of the barman who was nowhere to be seen. The man, this time cleaning a glass and dressed as a waiter, popped up from behind the bar, smiling.

"Hello. Would you like to come up to my place and see my cave etchings?"

"What? How...? Do you work here?"

"My! Is that a wooden club in my pocket or am I pleased to see you?"

"Yuck! Jesus, guy! Lay off me, will ya!"

He leaned even closer and wiggled his eyebrows.

"If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?"

"Who the hell do you think you are? Manager! Manager! I demand to speak to the manager!"

The man submerged below the bar, still cleaning the glass.

"Where the hell is the manager?"

A man in a fancy black suit and tie walked up to her through the crowd, suave, extraordinaire. The light hit his face...it was the same man.

"What is going on here?" shouted Sheila.

"You know, I'd climb the highest mountain for you, swim the widest ocean, wrestle the strongest bear. I'd rip the fur off its back and make you a coat to be proud of."

Sheila didn't know whether to cry or scream. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, her mouth trembled as the words escaped her lips.

"Does that come with jello?"

TIW Thanks (9) - to The Challenge! :-)

Yes, the last big thanks...for the moment...goes to...the Challenge!
Without you, Challenge, many stories would never have been seen, would never have been written. You are a phenonemon in your own right, Challenge! You continue to amaze, excite and stress 4 writers every week with your 4 sometimes incomprehensible elements and your insistent and undoable deadlines! You have evolved into a beautifully sculptured torture instrument, leaving only one person victorious and 3 dying in the gutter. Starting off as a 'popularity' vote, with writers, friends, relatives, hamsters and tortoises with their own server able to vote, you have now after a year, moved on, allowing other wiser...people... to dictate over the polls and point their fingers to the 'chosen' one.
We will all say 'farewell' to your old system in the FINAL and have already 'welcome'd the new (after a little 'discussion' or two) :-)
I say 'thank you' to you, Challenge. you have shown me that I can write whatever I wish (within the constraints set, of course) and that you, Challenge, can help any writer reach their epitamy. We bless you, and all who write in you!
http://theironwriter.com/

TIW Thanks (8)...to ...

TIW thanks No.8...goes to...well, who does it go to? I think it goes to ALL TIWs. Without the group working as a community on facebook (there are some who do nothing but let's ignore them) TIW wouldn't be the same, just a slushpile of people who like writing. TIW is a living, breathing collection of people from all walks of life who love to write. If I mention anyone in this post, then if I miss anyone out, they'll surely get hurt...so I won't. You know who you are. You are TIW who pops into the facebook page every day, maybe post, make a comment, write a little story, insult someone. You are TIW who keeps the group alive! A little dedication goes a long way! Thank you! Because of you,  all of us at TIW are able to write how we please and please how we write :-)
....mmm, there seems to be some mess on Jordan's post when you go to this blog's home page...what can that be? Anyway....:-)
Two days to go before we know what the elements for the FINAL are...I'm terrified!