Backup! We need backup!

So here's the story. At the writers group I attended last weekend, I learned something interesting. If you are writing a romance, there should not be more than 10 pages in a row where the hero and the heroine are not together. Thinking about it, this makes absolute sense. It is after all, a story about the relationship between two people.

This also threw me into a panic, because I knew for a fact I had big chunks of time where the hero and heroine aren't together. I just didn't know how many pages each chunk of time took up. I started sifting through my book.

Something strange happened. I couldn't find a scene. It was that feeling of, "Where did I put that thing." I knew I had written the scene. I knew where it should be. The scene that followed it was in place. Where was it?

It was gone.

I had this flashback to a couple of times where I had trouble saving (some sort of little warning popped up), but then the warning went away and the file opened again so I forgot about it.

Now, I remembered the warning.

My computer's memory always seems to hover on the edge of full (I have an iTunes addiction but refuse to seek help). My theory is the file made room for the new information by getting rid of some old stuff.

Here is where I rejoiced:

I had backed up my work! I don't always do this but there are some things that are just easier to back up than not. This story is one of them. After a frantic ten-minute search, I found the little folder with back-up versions and one of them had the missing scene!

Much rejoicing.

Now, I was curious. I did a bit more sleuthing and found another scene was missing! Guess where I found it? In the same backed-up file!

It may sound like I am bragging about my back-up skills, but in reality, I am just amazed this worked out. As soon as I knew my scene was missing, I had assumed it Lost Forever. More than once, I have written a school report only to have the computer crash and all my work lost. Finally, I learned the ctrl+S trick and life has become much more pleasant.

So here is my tip of the day: This very moment, pick your most favorite file (or most important file). Heck, pick all of them, and take some time for a little bit of back-up. Stick it on another computer, put it on a disk, email it to yourself, print it out. You just never know when you will be glad you did.

Now, back to counting pages.

The Little Red Hen

In the real world, the Little Red Hen does not eat the bread.

In the real world, the Little Red Hen ends up roasted and served on the table for supper.

There are times in life when one has to stop and realize they have become the Little Red Hen. Unlike the Little Red Hen, one cannot make a snap decision at the end of the story and say, "I have made my decision. I am putting my foot down. No bread for you." Once this point has been reached in the real world, the time required to lower a foot is exponentially higher than the amount of time it took to raise it.

My point: Don't be the Little Red Hen. But don't be the Duck either.

One of the best things about writing stories is never having to be the Little Red Hen.

I suppose there may be some authors out there who have wearied of writing for the masses and only write for themselves. They may consider themselves The Little Red Hens of the writing world. The late JD Salinger comes to mind. Anyway, this title assignment comes nowhere near something that could be applied to myself in this context, so I am going to go ahead and stick with my previous statement.

One of the best things about writing stories is never having to be the Little Red Hen.

If the Duck and the Marmot want bread, they know they will need to plant their own wheat. As for the Hen, she knows from the start the bread tastes better if you grow your own wheat, water your own wheat, chop your own wheat, grind your own wheat... random farming and cooking references related to wheat.... Bake your own bread.

Every now and then, you might need to stop by the neighbor's house to borrow a scythe or some other device to remove the occasional noxious weed that creeps into the mix, but that doesn't mean your neighbor is baking the bread for you. It might mean lending them your tiller if they need it.

And the whole way through the process, the best part is smelling your bread cooking. Even when the wheat it is still in the ground, you catch an occasional whiff in the air and it smells warm and buttery.

However, at times it can be difficult to keep this in mind. Especially when being measured for the roasting pan.

Writer's group

I have joined a writers group. A group of writers have allowed me to join their group. Whichever way you want to look at it.

Either way, last Saturday, I got to sit in a room full of writers and talk about books and writing and listen to other writers and hear about their group adventures and IT WAS SO EXCITING! As a friend of mine says when she is in a good mood, ILOVECAPSLOCKS!!!!!!!

At first, I was nervous about being a stranger asking to join a group of people who already know one another, but it was wonderful. Everyone was so interesting. There was tea. Did I mention there was book talk?

I can see why people rave about these things. Looking forward to the next meeting!

Avatar etiquette

There is that unspoken / spoken rule that Canadians, in general, are polite.

Too polite.

Excessively polite.

Embarrassingly polite.

What I should let you know is while Canadians are polite, they also have a high set of standards for politeness from others, especially amongst themselves. Here is an example of what I mean:

My husband and I went to Avatar. Now we want to be blue. Anyway...

Halfway through the show a man got up (we think he had to go to the washroom). He opened an exit door, but it was a door to the outside world.

HERE IS WHERE HE WENT WRONG:

He walked away without ensuring the door was shut. He walked across the front of the theatre and went out the actual exit.

MEANWHILE:

Sunlight was streaming into the theatre! While Avatar was playing! ARGHhhhh!

HERE IS WHAT I DID:

Step 1: I decided I would shut the door (Avatar was on. Who wouldn't be inspired to be a hero?). With my goggles still on. I almost fell down the stairs.

Step 2: I took my goggles off, ran down the stairs, across the theatre, shut the door, ran back across the theatre, up the stairs, across the aisle, sat down and put my goggles back on.

Here is my point: people who pay a small fortune to watch an amazing 3-D movie do not want that experience ruined someone with bad manners. Someone letting in the daylight (ahhh, I'm melting!). Especially in the middle of a battle scene.

Oy with the poodles already

My husband and I have become those people who, when asked if we have any children / when we are going to have any, we say, "Oh no, we have a dog."

Not that we treat her like a / our baby. When she was a puppy, she had her fair share of babying. Now, however, she is three, therefore an adult. Since at most times it is clear to pretty much everyone she is smarter than the average bear, we treat her like an adult. A friend. A colleague. One of those friends from work that you go for lunch with every day and hang out with every afternoon and go on family camping trips with every weekend.

This week, however, she was sick, and although no one wants to hear about a stranger's sick dog, I want to write about it. One of those things about a sick animal vs a sick person is they can't tell you what is wrong. They can only show you something is wrong.

Thus, a week of my dog lying on the couch like a sad little slipper. A week of carrying bowls of water to her and making her rice, which led to egg whites, which led to chicken breast, which led to my husband wondering if she was MUCH smarter than the average bear.

She is perking up, finally. I can. Dog or not, if you love someone, you are going to worry about them when they are sick. I suppose the worry is a feeling I will be able to tap into with my writing, but this is one of the few times where I am not thinking, "I am glad I had that learning experience."

Pretty much all I have talked about this week is my poor little friend.

Here is one of my absolute favorite phrases, from one of my absolute favorite TV shows. I think it is appropriate for me this week:

Oy with the poodles already.

Using the internet as a research tool - Unjinxed version

I have decided the last blog post was jinxed. Ergo, I have deserted it and am writing what I wanted to say there, only here.

We are to be wary about doing research for our writing online. However, I have been doing a surprising amount of it and have compiled a list (Surprise!). Here are some ways I think using the internet as a research tool can be effective in helping a person write what they know.

• Amazon (and other online book stores). Sometimes, there is that strange, obscure book you can't find in your local library or used book store. It is worth a shot trying to get the library to order one in. If that fails, try the internet.

• Finding that strange, obscure book. There are a number of book review sites or sites that list books related to a number of topics

• Youtube. Online videos provide a way of showing an event that cannot be experienced in real life. This could be a moment in history, a particular activity (to get the feeling of the moment - ex. watch the parents at a kids sports game vs fans at a professional sports game. The feeling is different).

• Podcasts and other voice recordings can help give a feel for accents and regional dialect, sounds of things (ex. church bells in a specific town, horse hooves on concrete (there is more than one type of clop), the sound of a tree falling).

• Online images. See how a place looks when it is raining, when it is snowing. How a person's hair looks when they are falling. A nervous smile. A friendly smile. A goofy looking donkey. The possibilities are endless.

• Online recipes. Learn how strange foods taste. Learn a fancy recipe. Learn a foreign recipe. Purposely burn something you normally like. Purposely add / remove an ingredient.

• Online catalogues. Order that unobtainable item. That thing that must be physically experienced, not imagined.

I know there is so much more. Does anyone have more examples?

Using the internet as a research tool - Jinxed version

Okay, here is a post I have really wanted to do for a while now. I've wanted to do it so bad, I made up a few notes, and set it to post at a date I considered to be far in the future. I feel it is cursed. I keep forgetting about it and I'll switch to my blog and see my little list of notes posted.

I am considering this my learning experience and from now on, will post notes YEARS in the future, then switch the dates when I am done. Yes, folks. Where I come from, this is how a MASTER PLAN is born. Okay, well, I made that one up. Moving on.

Jinxed again. Hubby made supper. Back in 10.