5.16.2011

Look! Shiny! Ooh, Squirrel! (and a joke blogfest entry)

Leigh T Moore and Lydia Kang are hosting a blogfest today!  The purpose? To laugh a little (or a lot)! 
  • Post a joke that pokes fun at yourself, or writing, or your job (including parenting, of course!), or anything personal. Or if that's too much work, any joke that you think is funny will do.
  • Visit all the sites on the linky (at each of their blogs) to get a good ab workout!
Here goes!  (This joke comes from a site I found and referenced on the A-Z challenge day J.  For more writing jokes go here!  It's worth another stop.)

There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed his desire to become a great writer.


When asked to define great, he said, "I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry, howl in pain and anger!"
He now works for Microsoft writing error messages.

(LOL. My (christy's) hubby is a software architect so I found this one particularly funny.)

**And now, for erica's planned Monday post.**

Bright, shiny ideas. They're the dream of every writer. They make it feel like you can do anything.

Switch genres? YES!!
Develop new characters? FUN!
Become a pantser? Of course, that's what bright, shiny ideas are all about!!
Complete, edit, and complete again in two months? HECK YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN-

Wait a minute. I just got a new idea. This one is EVEN BETTER!! And it's way more fun than plowing through this tricky plot point. God, what was I thinking? My WIP sucks - it seemed like such a good idea at the time. Screw it, on to the next. Nobody ever gets their first second third book published, anyway.

Be honest - does this sound like you??!!
(because, well, it sounds a little like us, too)

I (erica) have lots of bright, shiny ideas. I'm trying not to let them distract me, but seriously, I have *pauses to check* 8 books started right now. That doesn't include my completed ms.

EIGHT!!!!!

Is that normal? Do you come up with ideas easily and jot them down right away? Then what? Do you work on them for awhile? Or do you ignore them and keep plowing through bettering your WIP?

Okay, if you're interested, here's what I've got (word counts/progress in parentheses):

(my completed ms is a 67k word YA contemporary)
MG paranormal/ghost story (21k, then stuck, 4k into the rewrite)
MG contemporary/sports (2206)
YA sci-fi (bunch of research and 2 pages written)
YA contemporary "edgy" (2055)
YA dystopian (that is really just a horrible first page that will never see the light of day and I should delete it)
MG/young YA contemporary (10k) (I wrote this a long time ago and don't know if it will go anywhere)
PB (very rough draft)
Non-fiction for adults (roughly outlined, first chapter barely started)

Hmm, now that I look at that, I just had a great idea for a chapter book...

(I wrote this post last week. A few days later, I found out my grandfather had passed away. My husband, my kids, and I are taking a several days to be with my grandma, visit family we don't get to see often, and pay tribute to a wonderful man. Sometimes, no matter what, you have to do what your heart tells you to do. I am offline, but will return soon.)

38 comments:

  1. So sorry to hear about your loss.

    I suffer from Shiny-New-Idea distractions, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry about your grandfather.

    I usually write my ideas down and let them develop in my mind as I work on another project. If there's something to them, they'll continue to speak to me until I'm ready to come up with the characters and plot.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have kind of the opposite problem. I usually have one idea at a time (that I obsess about), but I live in fear that I'll never have another idea! So far, so good, but the fear's still there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Erica, I don't have quite as many started as you, but I do have that one pager that probably should be buried in the backyard along with our last two beloved hamsters.

    Cute joke, Christy!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, eight. Love the joke. I found you from the blogfest. Thanks for the laugh :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I loved your joke!
    Boy, how do you balance so many projects at once? I'm a one-project-at-a-time kinda girl. Go you!

    Thanks for participating in the blogfest!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your jokes are great! But I was so sorry to hear about the loss in your family. Sending up good thoughts for you that your travels will be safe and the trip will be healing to your hearts.

    Thanks for the jokes and smiles. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello new here!

    Thanks for the Monday Morning Chuckle!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm so sorry to hear about your Grandfather Erica. Take all the time you need, we'll be here when you get back. In the meantime Christy can entertain us with her great jokes! Loved that one btw Christy!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Loved the joke!!!

    So so sorry for the loss of your grandfather :(

    I have a file just for bright shiny ideas. I jot down the idea and all the details I need to remember in a document and save it for later. It would so be an ADD nightmare if we allowed ourselves to bounce to each idea everytime it came to us!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Loved your joke~lol

    Yes, we need to protect those shiny ideas and get them out~
    Sorry for your loss~

    ReplyDelete
  12. Laughter and loss all too often go together. Thanks for the laughter. May the memory of good times with your grandfather support you now. Go where you need to be. Your friends will be here when you return, Roland

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks so much for visiting us! And welcome to newcomers! A joke blogfest was such a great idea! christy (btw, I have a couple of ideas saved in my "book ideas" file too.)

    ReplyDelete
  14. So sorry about your grandfather, erica. yes, you won't go wrong listening to your heart. Best to you and your family.

    Christy, loved your joke. I smiled all the way through (thanks!).

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sorry about your grandfather.

    I try to concentrate on the WIP and jot down other ideas for later. Cute joke!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm sorry.

    I find it hard to write about how funny your joke is now. But I did find it funny.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Erica, I'm sorry about your grandfather. I cried buckets when mine passed. Still miss both of my grandparents verrrry much. Vist with your grandmother as long as you can; she needs you!

    Cute joke, Christy. My girlfriend's hub was a geek before it was fashionable. Don loves those error messages. He lights up like a Christmas tree!

    Thanks for following, guys; I'm happy to follow back.

    ReplyDelete
  18. So sorry about your loss.

    I have five novels, nothing published. It's a tough industry. Caroline B. Cooney's first eight books were never published.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog, commenting, and following. I am now following you too.

    Joyce
    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow! You're so prolific! That's great. I have completed ten YA novels and have mounds of ideas for more. Always thinkin; :)

    Great blog!

    ~Melissa

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm so sorry about your grandfather...I learned that about a close family friend a few days ago, so I guess I am going through a similar ordeal.

    ~TRA

    http://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. So sorry for your loss - hope you and your family are OK.

    As to your list of mss, it sounds so much like mine that I actually laughed out loud reading it!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I've seen that Microsoft one a few times ;)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oh, Erica,

    I am so sorry for you loss. I hope your grandmother gets through her sadness with little pain as possible.

    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  24. That's too funny! Probably because I own a PC instead of a Mac and don't get those error messages. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Sorry to hear about your grandfather.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Sorry about your grandfather. Take your time.

    I totally get the Shiny New Idea thing. I just got one last night an am dying to start it. One small problem, I'm only halfway through my current project.

    This means I'm going to put it on a shelf and start it when I'm finished with my current work.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Funny joke to help take the edge off your grandfather. Thanks for sharing both with us.

    ReplyDelete
  28. LOL! Whoa--eight. You win! I only have four... LOL!!! I think it's the absolute RIGHT thing to do--jot down those ideas. Man! You never know~

    Thanks for playing in the fest~ :o) <3 <3

    ReplyDelete
  29. I left you a little something on my blog :D

    <3<3<3

    ReplyDelete
  30. So sorry about your grandfather!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Oh, that's an awesome joke! I noticed that most of your bright shiny ideas have just a page or a couple thousand words.... that sounds like just enough to "capture" the idea, and save it for more development later. I definitely take the time to jot down several pages of notes or a scene or two when a great idea hits! Then I try to get back to my work has planned.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Just read that interview you guys did with Akoss. Great story ideas! An underwater world - and an honor roll kid with ghosts at his command - cool!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Christy, I love that joke! Hilarious!

    Erica, I also get tons of ideas. Mostly I just open a new document/page of my notebook, jot down the ideas for later (much, much later!) and then force myself to carry on with my current WIP!
    And I am so sorry about your grandfather. I hope the time you spend away with your family now is very special.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Oh wow... you've got a lot going on. I try to stick to one story still it's complete, then I go back and revise old ones before coming back to newer ones... but I have to finsish a story when I start it. I crave that closure.

    ReplyDelete
  35. So sorry about your grandfather. :'(

    ReplyDelete
  36. Love the joke, especially after Blogger was down.

    I'm very sorry about your grandfather. Thinking of you.

    As far as partial WIPs I have tons. Many chapter ones. Then I move on if I don't know where to go with it or lose interest. A couple of weeks ago, I dusted off one from 2-3 years ago, and I think it will be my next WIP.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Just saw your sad news. So sorry about your grandfather.

    ReplyDelete

Stay and chat with us! Share your thoughts.