Holly Lisle: Writer

Worrrds? We don’t need no steenking words!

Yeah. Well.

I got my big birthday present a couple of days early.

A Sony Reader. Red. Spiffy. WAAAAY spiffy.

And instead of being a good and faithful writer and getting my words, I’ve been sitting here working my way through the user’s manual and discovering that, yes, I CAN put the entire Think Sideways course on my e-reader, and yes, it is readable if I bump the text up one size.

And looking through the Sony bookstore, and though the Gutenberg Project e-book library and squinking along trying to find other sources of good e-books…

It’s an awesome present.

No words, though.

How about you?

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36 responses to “Worrrds? We don’t need no steenking words!”

  1. Clare K. R. Miller Avatar
    Clare K. R. Miller

    Ooh, I’m jealous! But I can’t hate you too much, because you used a Blazing Saddles paraphrase, and because our birthdays are in the same month 😉

    620 words for Tuesday. Coming along nicely.

    Reply
  2. PolarBear Avatar
    PolarBear

    I guess this means Sony is speaking Mac now? When I looked at earlier Sony Readers, they weren’t Mac compatible (which seems kind of dumb since you’re just transferring files to the machine via a USB port).

    Reply
  3. Gabby Avatar
    Gabby

    Happy birthday Holly. That’s the coolest gift. I would also be glad to hear how you end up liking it. Also, if you ever have a chance, are you still liking the dvorak layout. Are you still pain free?

    Anyway, 1843 today. Shaved a few days off my expected end date–gotta love that 😉 yay

    Reply
    1. Gabby Avatar
      Gabby

      Forgot to mention that my muse handed me a couple of lovely twisties. Still working my way out of my current scene. I was able to set off one of my muse bombs early. I was afraid before that it was going to seem like an afterthought (because I thought it would go off in the end). but now, earlier in the book, I think it rewards careful readers for paying attention. Of course, I’ll be better able to tell once the WIP is done.

      Reply
  4. Rabia Avatar
    Rabia

    600+ words last night. I’m taking tonight off to read and get to bed decently early. Happy birthday, Holly!

    Reply
  5. Ann Avatar
    Ann

    Happy Birthday, Holly!

    Reply
  6. Don Avatar
    Don

    Happy B Day did 590 today another good day.

    Reply
  7. red_dot Avatar
    red_dot

    Past three days no words just zombies and grand baby.

    Today 478 words.

    Reply
  8. Sandy Jensen Avatar
    Sandy Jensen

    When I declared Holly Magic Day, I had no idea it was your birthday season–how does she do it, boys and girls?

    I thought I wanted a Kindle. Is a Sony Reader a better buy and/or a better mechanismo?

    800 words for me this morning, and I could keep on going if I didn’t have to friggin’ work.

    This is a project I’ve worked on over twenty years, so I have a lot of pieces written (and published); however, when I review the old, unpolished stuff, I see that my style has clarified. My early work suffers from imitations of my favorite essayists, and an arch, witty voice I am going to accuse Mary Stewart of giving me, although it’s not her fault I got addicted to her literary adventure/romances at an impressionable age.

    Good, clear style takes integrity at the level of the sentence. My bullshit detector picked up on some doo-doo-quack-quack sentences I had the good sense to catch now at the drafting stage.

    Onward!

    Reply
  9. Kait Nolan Avatar
    Kait Nolan

    547 yesterday through a series of microsprints.

    Reply
    1. Larkk Avatar
      Larkk

      Microsprints?!
      Sounds fun, I will have to try that!

      Reply
  10. Lisa R Avatar
    Lisa R

    675 words. I enjoyed the writing. More was discovered and the pieces are starting to fall into place for the MC even though she doesn’t want to accept the extent of her destiny. Very soon, the climax is going to hit and I am hoping for it to be a ride!

    Reply
  11. Tami Avatar
    Tami

    Congrats on your eReader! That’s awesome. The Sony bookstore is a bit of a jungle yet, but the eReaders are so very incredibly handy.

    I like the Baen free eBook library (there’s even a book or two of yours up there) and Harlequin has a beautiful habit of offering free eBooks every now and again, if you like romances.

    I’d be really interested to hear if you use it for your own manuscripts or if you feel it helps you as an author and not just as a reader.

    As for writing, I edited and posted the newest Choose installment (the original didn’t have a description of the ship in it and I needed my engineer/husband to remind me of the fact that it looks like a rusted lemon dropped into a bathtub.

    Reply
  12. Jessica Avatar
    Jessica

    Early happy birthday Holly!

    No words for me either. My cold has gotten worse again and by the time I got home I just crashed into bed. How sweet though that my mom drove over (on her birthday) just to give me some home-made chicken soup! Time to see the dr. today I think.

    Reply
  13. Debora Avatar
    Debora

    250 words exactly. Brainstormed the next scene using my notebook and pen, then transferred it to SuperNotecard, including one very fine muse bomb and five, or was it six?, LUCs.

    Fun!

    Happy Birthday, Holly! (Will it be the big 50?)

    Reply
    1. Gabby Avatar
      Gabby

      what is an LUC?

      Reply
      1. Debora Avatar
        Debora

        Sorry, that is Think Sideways jargon. A very helpful technique, called the Law of Unintended Consequences.

        Reply
        1. Gabby Avatar
          Gabby

          Thanks!

          Reply
  14. Peggy Avatar
    Peggy

    715 for Tuesday.

    Tuesday night, I didn’t sleep well at all, so we’ll see if I can focus enough to get any words or not.

    Good writing to everyone else!

    Reply
  15. Khena Avatar
    Khena

    325 words for me. I didn’t spend much time writing, since I hurt, but I had to finish up the thought I had. It took me a little farther than I planned, but I;m not going to complain =)

    As of right now, NaNo is out of the question, again, unfortunately. I refuse to abandon this book I am writing to start another, and I don’t think I’ll have time to work on two at the rate NaNo requires. I think this is my forth year of failing… =/ No babies this year though, so I was really hoping…

    Reply
    1. Jessica Avatar
      Jessica

      You don’t necessarily have to start a new story for NaNo. A couple of years ago I was 15K into a story already when November 1st came and I just continued from there to add 50K. I won, narrowly, but it ended up in a pile of forgotten things that I never got back to.

      I’ve won 3/4 years of NaNo (the time I lost is because the house complex beside ours was in a 5-alarm fire and I was too freaked out to write). The trick, for me at least, is to get a good head start early on – have a buffer against unexpected non-writing days – and to give myself a good 3-4 hours writing time every night.

      Reply
      1. Khena Avatar
        Khena

        Actually, one of the rules in their FAQ is to start a new novel, not bring an old one in. An arbitrary rule, they admit, but they have good reasons for it, ones that would cause me a great many problems. I’m 80k words into my novel, and if I went at it with the abandon I would need to for NaNo, it would hurt me, a lot. I’ve spent so much time working on this novel now, I don’t think I could. Maybe if I had less time and words into I could, but not now. I’m considering doing 250 a day on my current, and then switching to a NaNo one, but I don’t know if I have the stamina for that =)

        Thank you for the suggestion though!

        Reply
  16. HannaBelle Avatar
    HannaBelle

    Happy Birthday. Nice, a Sony reader. It is on my list of things I want. I used to read books on my Palm and it was surprisingly easy. Plus, I loved traveling with 5 books or more that fit in my pocket rather than having to carry an extra bag just to hold the books. 😎

    No words. Still getting settled after vacation. Have a job interview today so that will eat up a big part of the day.

    Reply
  17. Larkk Avatar
    Larkk

    1486 words starting to answer the question, “Was there a girl?” It wasn’t his sister who, thinking she had seen a ghost, chased after him when slipped away into a dark alley. It was the girl.

    Also, starting to plot out some scenes for the nano novel that are starting to tug at me, begging to be written. The challenge will be to PLAN out the whole thing and wait until Nov. 1, and not just plunge in. About 500 words planning out a scene, or actually a series of smaller scenes in one setting.

    Reply
  18. Jeff Avatar
    Jeff

    Making the switch from 3rd person omnipotent to 1st person narrative. I was able to finish changing the first scene and added a couple new ones. The MC is far more witty and it is much easier to inject a sense of mystery when to reader is not receiving the whole story while the characters are in the dark.
    Tuesday’s Count.
    New words = 352
    Old words made new = 791

    Reply
  19. Clare Avatar
    Clare

    1,424 words on Tuesday. Finished the second scene and did a short, aftermath scene that hints at one of the character’s fears. That also brought me to the end of the first chapter. It’s going to need some serious cleaning up in the revision phase, but I MUST NOT do it now!

    Reply
  20. Greg Avatar
    Greg

    D&D: 549
    OFL: 1002
    RFW: 1026

    Reply
  21. KQ Avatar
    KQ

    1507 to report, still in the game.

    Have fun with your reader, Holly!

    Reply
  22. Treelight Avatar
    Treelight

    205 for me, and I don’t feel too bad for not reaching the minimum.
    I had to start working on a birthday present for a friend, which has to be ready by weekend.
    And I was watching a documentary about New Zealand in cinema, which sent my thoughts quite in another direction.

    Besides, I still haven’t decided how exactly Jheyrien is going to find or stumble over the hint that will show him the way to Cathrine.

    Reply
  23. Joyce Avatar
    Joyce

    Ooh, toy surprise! Excellent. I’d love to hear what you think of this particular reader. I’m not exactly in the market for one (need to spend money on that like I need a hole in my head), but I’m curious. The comparisons I have heard between the Sony and the Kindle have mostly ragged on the Sony for their limited number of available titles. What made you choose the Sony?

    632 words for HoC. The little engine that could needs to pick up the pace, but at least I’m not still stuck at the bottom of the hill.

    Reply
  24. Charmaine Avatar
    Charmaine

    1623 words for Dog Show Detective, I now have 8 chapters. In this chapter Kitty is assessing the clues so far: half a ransom note, a missing dog, a mystery dog, the wrong microchip, a missing vet’s nurse and an old lady’s will. All this, plus she has a show to prepare for.

    Close to my necessary wordcount for NaNoWriMo. Now to do some work on The Pirate Girl.

    I hope you have a lovely birthday when it comes, give yourself a day for play.

    Reply
  25. Leah Avatar
    Leah

    579 words today. This scene goes perfectly here, but it is so odd. I have had such experiences, where I find myself consciously awake while sleeping and find strange things about my body and mind, and dreaming all at once. Yeah, like I said, weird. But it works. The Muse gifted me with it while in the shower nursing sore muscles this morning.

    Reply
    1. Leah Avatar
      Leah

      Oh, by the way, I WANT A SONY READER TOO!

      Reply
  26. Patricia Avatar
    Patricia

    2,652 words, and another beautiful night when words are magic at my fingertips. Ryan has decided to be noble, and he is racing against time to try and bring Growmr to the village before the venom spreads (dragons are venomous), but I have a sinking feeling that Growmr is going to die. Ryan and Growmr’s struggles together over the past few days have brought them closer, almost like a father-son relationship. It’s not fair!

    Reply
  27. Teri Avatar
    Teri

    Thank you, Holly, for inviting us to write our books with you. I didn’t want to write today, and didn’t “need” to because I’m a little ahead of schedule, but neither did I want to have nothing to report. So I thought I’d just throw out a hundred words or so, just to have done something. Final total: 284 words! It’s the getting started that’s the hard part, and your invitation really helps with motivation.

    Most of my words were Taskh refining his argument, and me discovering that he does actually a pretty good point. There is a good military reason for taking out the patrol. The company comander is slowly being convinced.

    Reply
  28. Ieva Avatar
    Ieva

    Ahhh. You must be soooo happy now 🙂 Happy birthday!

    I wrote 1400+ words despite a horrible spell of melancholia, and I did one of the key scenes of the book. I think I’ll have to spice it up in rewrite.

    Reply

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