New laptop!

June 29, 2013 at 23:16 (Uncategorized)

My old laptop kind of said more or less goodnight a while ago(so my co-op in my previous post probably went down the drain as I haven’t been able to exchane emails), and when I saw this Samsung with alright specs on sale, I couldn’t help myself. Though I can’t say Win 8 is what I had hoped for. It’s surprisingly similar to Apple(and it has a touch screen, which is kind of cool), and good lord in heaven how I searched for that damned controlpanel! Startbutton? No such thing! What do you need that for! I got lots of messy tiles you can play with!

So I just reset the damn thing to a more classic view:P 80s kid with a controlfreak-issue. Sue me!

So now I’m doing a cleanup of all my files which where pretty much one big mess on my old laptop, particularly my documents-, and images-folders(surprising I know). Got so much crap there I didn’t know where to start.

But now I feel a bit nostalgic about my old laptop. It will probably become a stationary backup-computer with Linux OS as it is so broken I can’t even close it anymore to take it with me(it’s a huge beast anyway). You have served me well, old laptop. Enjoy your retirement in bermuda shorts and fruity drinks!

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Keep it simple?

June 9, 2013 at 19:25 (Fantasy, General, Uncategorized)

I’ve recently been working a lot with my story The Unheard, and it kept bothering me that the monsters I created didn’t have a place or point of origin. They were just there. It bothered me that I didn’t know where they came from? I had a legend in the story itself of their creation, but I didn’t want it to be the truth. It’s kind of the same as with Zombie-movies; what caused the zombie outbreak in the first place? I sat there with the same issue.

Now, normally I come up with incredible complex ideas of how it all happened, terrified of face-planting into a cliché(although I probably do so more often than I am aware of from time to time), because surely, monsters don’t just rain from the sky(although that might actually have been an interesting twist too…!).

But I couldn’t bring anything up to a boil in that black pot of ideas I have in my head. I kept obsessing about where the monsters came from since they are central to the story. All I knew was that they could not always have existed as it would damage the storyline.

Then, my penpal, who has no interest in writing, suggest something so incredible simple, yet it solved all my problems. A curse. Simple and straightforward, and everyone knows how a curse works.

This idea didn’t just solve the issue of creation, it rose more questions which had to be answered. Who cast the curse? Who did they cast it on? Why were they able to do so? Why did they do it?

And thus, the story thickened. It was like adding salt to a watery porridge:)

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Let’s Collaborate

June 9, 2013 at 19:19 (Uncategorized)

Thought this was a great idea for a lonely writer!

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To plot or not to plot

June 2, 2013 at 22:40 (Ideas, Plot, Writing)

Writing in English can be a treacherous thing to do. It most definitely has its pros and cons. I keep stumbling the cons every-so-often, and I recently did so again. I went to a forum to ask for help on a story, and posted it, obviously at the time, in the plot section.

It didn’t belong there.

Why? Because the plot wasn’t what I was having trouble with. Plot meant something different than I thought it did. Apparently the Norwegian equivalent of the word plot means something a little different. Wouldn’t have hurt to have known that a little earlier…

The plot is what drives the characters towards, or away, from the goal; their motivation. I already know what drives the character in this particular story forward, what his motivation is. But the clues that leads to his goal, is what I was having trouble with. He’s got the motivation to reach the goal, he just doesn’t know how to get to the goal. I have to drop a trail of breadcrumbs for him to follow, each time a little closer(or further away, I might be an ass and drop some moldy crumbs!) to his objective.

So now I feel a bit dumb to be honest! But now another question arises; just what AM I in the need of help with? What do you call the breadcrumbs as I have just named it?

I normally ask a friend for a lot of help and brainstorm with her, but she is so busy with work that it feels like my head is going to explode with ideas I cannot air out to see what she thinks(Yes, her opinion is important to me). So in the end I ended up bugging my penpal on Skype for over an hour with my problem. He actually had a few good ideas I could spin of on, but unfortunately nothing that could turn into a breadcrumb. But maybe it will be easier to put them out as I have more of the storyline? I’m writing down the rough outline as a result of our chat, so maybe that will help.

Gonna go sleep on it!

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The story that wrote itself

April 22, 2013 at 20:40 (General, Short story, Uncategorized)

I’ve always thought this expression was just a figure of speech, that people were just being humble about their work and commitment to it. Although that probably is true in many cases, it’s equally true the other way around; because a while ago I did just that. A story just wrote itself.

I opened my Libre Office, started typing, with no plan, no idea, no plot, no nothing. I was just bored and needed something to do. But it was as if I was possessed as my fingers flew across the keyboard. Because after 2 pages I stop, look at it and say loudly to myself: Holy shit! This is the best thing I have ever written!

I was in awe!  That moment of total enlightenment as I stared at what I, a measly little small-town girl from Norway, had written; it took my breath away. I had written something I genuinely, without a sheer of doubt in my mind, could say was great writing. Writers are usually their own worst critics, which is true for myself as well, but this time I just couldn’t bring myself to doubt it.

But now what. I have a great opening for a story, but since I had no plan, no idea, no plot to begin with, AND it kind of just wrote itself, I don’t have the faintest idea how to continue the damn thing! So now I’m obsessed about this story, and cant bring myself to discard it.

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NaNoWriMo-stumble

January 19, 2013 at 00:18 (Contest, Writing)

I tried for NaNoWriMo, but I kept stumbling in the fact that I couldn’t work on just ONE project, even though I had this agreement with myself of sticking to one. But then I suddenly stumbled onto inspiration for another project and… well, the snowball kind of started rolling uncontrollably from there. So I did actually produce quite a lot, though not 50 000 words…

I figured I had to post some of what I have produced, it is sadly not some of the best things I wrote, but with the Internet being a notorious place to have your work stolen, maybe it’s for the best. I might just be full of myself but better safe than sorry I guess.

Well, here goes!

 

Erica sighs. She wanted to leave this frozen hell hole for as long as she could remember. Bozuk Ruh encounters had gone through the roof, and nobody had the guts, or was suicidal enough, to take the long mountain road down the mountain to head for the docks. There you could sail away to… well, whatever was outside of this mountain.

But the way there was too far. Too cold. Too dangerous.

With the mountain infested with Bozuk Ruhs, The Unheards came walking through the village quite regularly. The village would divide in two to make a path for the freak of nature that came walking with the ridiculously huge sword on their backs. They would disappear up into the stormy mountains to go hunting to thin out the population. They sometimes stayed there for months before they returned, only to pass through and leave again. Some never made it back. Others returned barely still in one piece, their faces still vacant.

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NaNoWriMo?

November 3, 2012 at 02:05 (Contest, Fantasy, Ideas, Writing)
Tags: , , ,

This is an acronym that is found often around the Internet during the November month, but what is it? I first discovered it last year, and had to find out what on earth it was. NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. And the concept is easy; the goal is to write 50 000 words during November. In other words(no pun intended), write a whole novel.

What’s the prize?

IF you make the deadline with the 50 000 words, you can be added to NaNoWriMo’s Winner’s page, receive a certificate and a web badge to pride your blog, website or whatever you have.

Why?

Well, why the hell not?:)

Not is it only an adventure in it-self to (try)writing a whole freaking novel in just a month, but you get the chance to develop your writing skills, come in contact with fellow writers, and even risk the chance of being published, like some of the previous participants have.

Am I participating?

Well, I kind of discovered the whole thing two days ago. Namely November 1st. NaNoWriMo’s kickoff in other words(there is that unintended pun again…), so I haven’t actually decided yet, although I’m writing. How’s that for a paradox…

What am I writing?

I had the basic idea for a fantasy novel, the starting setting, and a few characters, and it has been laying dormant for quite some time. So I figured that if I was going to write for NaNoWriMo, I might as well breathe life into it. I’ll see if I post some extracts here on the blog as I write, and of course on Wattpad and Writerscafe. If you’re a member there, look me up! My usernames are Cookiemonster87 for Writerscafe and Theivorypen for Wattpad:)

Do I think I’ll make it?

No.

Probably not a good attitude, but I’m a realist, and I know myself; I don’t think I have the self discipline to write a certain number of words each day. But trying never hurt anyone. Well. Except when you try to go skiing and crash into a tree. So much for my viking blood, eh?

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Like it! Urno has a facebook-page!

August 25, 2012 at 19:55 (Uncategorized)

My book project “The battle of Urno” has been granted it’s very own facebook page. Go like it! If you’re still unfamiliar with my works, take a look at my wattpad account.

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Reply from the editor!

June 24, 2012 at 01:10 (Scriptwriting, Writing)

My friend Jane and I just got a reply from the editor after we sent in the script and the drafts of the comic strips. I honestly didn’t expect her(the editor) to reply on a Saturday, but it’s only a first-impression feedback for the time being, but her feedback was indeed positive!

She liked the unusual spy vs. spy concept(can’t really reveal more than that) and that she hadn’t seen anything like it before, which was usually a good sign. But she wanted to see more drafts of the strips themselves, to better give a full feedback. So while Jane makes more drafts, I’m gonna try and come up with more ideas:)

Did this totally make my day? Yes it did:) I’m even getting paid for it! I’d be happy just to get the script on print, but hey, my wallet contains more moths than coins, so I’m not saying no-thanks either!

Then there is the really stressful part that my friend Jane mentioned. If this becomes a success(unlikely, but who knows?) we would have to establish a firm. That would mean deadlines for more script. Wage distribution. Taxes. All the legal stuff. Makes me break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it. Particularly since I’m completely retarded when it comes to numbers and economics, and anything even remotely related to it. I think derp, is in order here.

But like Jane said; One step at the time!

*Breathe*

 

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Testdriving as a script writer

June 22, 2012 at 19:48 (Funny, Scriptwriting, Writing)

I recently got the opportunity to test-drive the art of script writing. It quite literally dropped into my lap! My friend Jane, who is a great illustrator, got an opening in a Norwegian cartoon magazine where she was offered a few pages for a cartoon of her own.

My friend ran into a roadblock though, she already had a deadline for a different customer coming up and now she had to come up with a cartoon out of the blue. Considering she “only” had been granted couple of pages, she couldn’t have something too big and epic. There simply wouldn’t be enough space to develop the characters and the plot. The solution was a humor based cartoon, which tend to be a bit simpler.

But Jane complained to me that she wasn’t good at coming up with funny stuff. Somehow it ended up with me throwing together a script on my laptop. I have never tried writing a script for a cartoon before, it was all new to me! And it was in my least explored genre too; humor.

But I finished the script, Jane made a draft of one of the strips before it was all sent to the editor. Now we are just waiting for the verdict, if it is a go or no-go. I don’t know what to expect, I’m a complete newbie at scriptwriting, but it was a funny experience. Working with Jane was pretty easy too since we have good chemistry.

So I do hope our idea will be published. If it does get published… could I start referring to myself as a writer…?:P Since I’m published? Beginner obviously, but still… Writer… It does have a nice ring to it;)

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