Fun with Vine

I recently downloaded the app, Vine, to my phone, and I must say, it's a lot of fun. For those of you who don't know what it is (though if you're reading this blog, I kind of doubt that fits anyone's description), it's an app that uses your phone's camera to take six second long looping videos. When the app is ready to shoot, you simply touch the screen and it records. You can lift your finger off to stop recording, and then put it back on to record more. Stop and start as often as you'd like, as long as it's six seconds.

So why am I writing a post about it? It's fun! I've created four videos so far, and each depicted a part of my writing life. And, as writers, don't we always want to see an inside view of other writers? I've not done anything profound with it (though, if I put my mind to it, I'm sure I could come up with some great little videos that would help my writing life), but the short, looping clips give a little insight. Why does it need to be anything bigger than that? I don't think it does. However you use it is great!

My first video was simply me sitting in a Carl's Jr. fast food restaurant after breakfast showing a filled notebook page that I'd written while eating. Just a little, "Hey, look, I was productive this morning!" Check it out.

I then took three videos that showed the decorations in my writing room. Sure, in various places, I have photos of my writing room, but I know my fellow authors. As I said above, we want to see the inner workings, the inner lives, of our fellow writers. So I took three videos for people to see.

Writing Room Decorations 1
Writing Room Decorations 2
Writing Room Decorations 3

Hope you enjoy these short glimpses into my writing life. I can almost guarantee you'll see plenty more. Probably not here on my blog, but on Twitter for sure. If you don't follow me on Twitter, here's my page in case I've peaked your interest/curiosity.

How about you? Do you have any interest in using Vine (or similar apps/programs) to give glimpses into your writing life? Or do you maybe have grand plans with said apps/programs that will push your writing career into high gear? Let me know!

Writing Prompt #139

Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm not labeling it this week, so, as always, take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun!

Something is scratching the inside of your closet door.

Friday Flash - The Duel

The Duel

by Eric J. Krause

The two master mages stared at each other, neither willing to give an inch. Their kings' armies clashed below in the valley, but the battle would be won and lost here on the mountaintops.

Power flowed from both. Each controlled a unique discipline, one not shared even with their most prized apprentices, and neither would tip their hand too soon. Both wove classic webs of magic with precise perfection, and that's how the majority of the war was waged.

Without a proper cue to commence, energy rained down on both combatants, enough to raze a small village. Neither so much as flinched. Kept to a strictly generic set of rules, this would prove to be a war of attrition rather than one with a knock-out punch. Once they realized this, that they were as evenly matched as could be, both fell back to their secrets.

The Master of Sunlight tore a hole through the smoke and haze, clearing a straight path for his magical life force to reach him. Once the power of the sun burst through, he readied a spell which would obliterate his opponent off the face of this world and any others he might hope to land on. Success, for him, his army, and his king would have followed if he hadn't hesitated that split second. The flash of crimson on the other mage froze his thoughts. A jab of pain deep in his skull drew forth a staggering fog, and then he felt nothing ever again.

The Blood Mage laughed, which was more of a wheezing sputter. His army took control in the valley below, and his king would enjoy the spoils of war that very night. He hoped his favorite apprentice could decipher the first clue to the quest to discover the discipline of Blood Magic and its almost limitless power.

As his life force bled out, he realized how limiting the magic really was. The most powerful, unstoppable spells could only be accessed by slitting ones own throat. It was a total victory, but with the cost of the Blood Mage's life.

The SFWA Controversy and the Disgusting Internet Culture

So this whole SFWA thing is a mess. Yes, I know I'm a week or so late on this, but hang with me; my points about what this has stirred up are and will continue to be valid. (If you're not sure what I'm talking about, simply Google "SFWA" and scroll down a bit. Depending on when you're reading this, you probably won't have to even leave the first page.) To be honest, I've basically just skimmed the situation, so I'm likely missing some points, but, again, hang with me; I'm more worried about the Internet Culture than the SFWA. First, though, I'll give my view on the inciting incident.

Truth be told, the controversy that sparked the outrage didn't land much on my radar. Yes, the conversation and subsequent bikini chain mail cover were both in poor taste. I'm not a member of the SFWA, so I don't have much insight into the group, but from what I've seen online (twitter, blog posts, etc.), it was a bad choice by an editor (or editors) who should have known better than to print these. The two dinosaurs who made the comments, from what I heard, didn't really know they were in the wrong - too many years of yes men and women parroting their points of view. Does it make it right? No, of course not. But my hope is that the current leadership, which looks to be rightfully offended by what has happened in their own organization, will clean this up and make not only a stronger SFWA (which, since I'm not a member, doesn't really matter to me one way or another other than it's always good to have people treated with respect), and, more importantly, a stronger, friendlier, and more respectful writing community as a whole.

So why am I writing this? As I said, my anger didn't come from the inciting incident at the SFWA (that was more of an eye roll and a mutter under my breath of "That was dumb"), but from what happened afterwards. It came from the Internet Culture (this time comprised of mostly, I'm assuming, immature males of any age) saying such hurtful things because of their anonymity behind their keyboard. I'm hearing (or, more appropriately, reading) too many cases of women (authors or not) saying they are being harrassed simply because they are making their feelings known about this controversy. Sure, a good discussion filled with facts and other constructive comments and opinions would be fine, healthy even. But from what I'm seeing, that's not the case. Too common feedback women are getting for simply stating their opinions are sexual harassment, threats of sexual violence, being called vulgar names, and plenty of other horrible things. This is not okay. It's sick, quite frankly. I know it isn't limited to this particular argument, but happens all too often on any type of argument and controversy on the Internet, but that doesn't make it right. It's as far from right as we can get. And that's my point. The culture of hate on the Internet needs to stop.

I dream of a world where Internet posters don't rely on hateful comments on anything they disagree with. It seems that is the first, second, and third option many anonymous keyboard-sitters have when faced with controversy. The cyberworld (and the world in general) would be a much nicer place if people would use intelligence and tact instead. Everyone deserves respect until they prove, without a doubt, differently. As Wil Wheaton says, "Don't be a dick." I wish everyone would live by those four simple words. Or, if you want a sanitized version, "Treat others like you want to be treated."

Whether you're online or unplugged, treat women with respect. Heck, treat everyone with respect! Until some of those science fiction tales members of the SFWA pen come true, we only have this one planet to share. Why not make it a nice place to coexist? That's what I'd like to see.

First Drafts

Writers tend to write differently. Some come up with an idea and immediately start writing their story. This is their first draft. Others, like me, tend to plot it out first. But is this considered a first draft? Does it matter how much is plotted? For example, one writer might sketch out the chapters of a novel on 3x5 cards - a few sentences, maybe a paragraph, on each card - simply to get the writing flowing. Others like to write out a page (or sometimes much more) on each chapter before starting the actual writing process. I tend to write this way - a notebook or more is filled before I begin putting pen to paper on the traditional first draft. But is it a first draft? Or is that big outline actually considered the first draft? After all, when I'm done writing, the story is basically in place, meaning I don't change much of the structure in the editing process. Thanks to the outline I spent so much time on, the story is intact. (It still needs major editing, but that's basically for word and phrase choices and things like that, not the structure of the story itself.)

So what do you think? Is a big outline considered a first draft, or do you wait until the story is written before calling it a first draft? Chime in!

Writing Prompt #138

Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm not labeling it this week, so, as always, take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun!

Your life is on your phone, but you just dropped it into a pit of deadly vipers.

Writing Prompt #137

Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm labeling it as fantasy this week, but, as always, take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun!

Your mouthwash is actually a magic potion.

Lowering Word Count Goals

Like many writers, when I'm working on a first draft, I give myself word count goals. It's a great way to feel like something has been accomplished that day in the draft. Personally, since I outline quite heavily before I ever start with the first draft (which sometimes makes me wonder if I'm right in calling it a first draft, but that's a topic for another post), I don't throw big chunks of words away, so the final word count of my draft is almost always in the same ballpark as my finished product. This makes the word count goal that much more important to me (in my mind, anyway, and at this stage in the game, that's what's important, right?).

I tend to set my word count goal at 1000 words daily, though when it's all said and done, I make it a weekly goal. Therefore, my word count goal is actually 7000 words a week. Or was.

When I'm being productive, 1000 words are usually what I'm producing, on average. But at times that number gets to be intimidating. If I fall behind one day, it takes a lot to get back to my goal the next day. And two bad days in a row? It might spell disaster for the week, and I may decide to give up for the week, which is stupid, but that's how the mind works at times.

So what can I do about it? I've cut my goal in half. Instead of writing 1000 words a day (or, more appropriately, 7000 a week), I now put my goal at 500 words a day (or 3500 a week). I'll admit that it looks like I'm much less productive, but I've actually found the opposite to be true. 500 words a day, for me, is easy. And on days where I can't get to my draft for whatever reason? Making up those 500 missed words isn't nearly as hard as making up 1000. Heck, on good days, I write 2000 or more words, which instead of making up for one missed day now makes up for 3! Sure, it's all a mind game, but I'm guessing many of you know exactly what I'm talking about. And what's more, I've discovered I continue to write about the same number of words as before with the lower word count goal - it's simply that I have much less stress now, which makes for more pleasant writing experiences (which usually means a better quality writing session).

You may find this helpful, too. You might not make 1000 your goal, but whatever number of words you choose, halve them. If you normally write 2000 words, make your goal 1000. If you choose 500 words, now make it 250. Easy! But here's the kicker. Don't just stop when you hit your word goal. Keep going! You'll do so with the knowledge that you've already conquered your words for the day. Everything else is simply gravy! Try it for a few weeks. If you find you need the pressure, the stress, of a higher deadline, no one says you can't go back to your original word count goal. The whole key is getting your draft done as quick and efficiently as you can!

Writing Prompt #136

Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm labeling it as horror, but, as always, take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun with it!

You awaken to find yourself locked in a casket. 

Friday Flash: A Brief Encounter

A Brief Encounter

by Eric J. Krause

That moment didn't register with me until years later. Now when I tell the story, someone will invariably ask if I wish I had a time machine, and I can truthfully say I do. But it's never for the reason they think. I don't want to kill the guy, but befriend him. That statement loses almost everyone. If looks could kill, as the old adage goes, I'd be dead a hundred times over.

I ran into him 20 years ago, and nothing about our meeting stood out. We shared an elevator down and made brief small talk. That was the extent of my encounter with the evil that would one day construct a neural bomb and release it over the Internet, resulting in the death of half the world's population. Why I even remember those three minutes from all those years ago baffles me. I'm the type of guy that can barely remember what he did a few weeks ago.

So why wouldn't I want those moments back to put a bullet in the monster's head before he had even the seed of the idea to decimate the world's population? Think about it. What if I could have made him my friend? What if that's all he needed? What if I could have turned him in a direction to help humanity instead of hurt it? He obviously had the smarts; he obviously had the drive. He only needed direction. Instead of this hell, the world could have been in a much nicer place. We may have been in or on our way to a utopia. Think about it. Kindness stops violence, not more violence.

Plans to Pimp Free Short Stories

I have a Tumblr account, and I've been wondering what the best way to make use of it. I've discovered it. I plan on using it to showcase short stories I've enjoyed on free webzines. I think it's important to both short fiction authors and the webzines that publish them. This will also get me out there reading more short fiction available on the web. I have a big list of webzines (or whatever you like to call them) that I rarely read. With this plan, I'll start reading like I should. Hopefully my short reviews/publicity will get more of you reading them, too! I don't have a plan as to how often I'll publish these, but I'll aim for at least once a week, and hopefully more. If you'd like to join in, point me in the direction of a free short story you enjoyed (or wrote), or get in on the action yourself and write your own reviews/publicity, you can do like I'm doing and use Tumblr, or you can use your blog, your Facebook page, or whatever other medium you'd like. Getting more people to read short fiction is not a bad thing!

I've already done one post, and you can see it here.

If you have any comments, questions, or requests, give me a comment here or get a hold of me on Twitter or Facebook.

Writing Prompt #135

Here is this week's speculative fiction prompt. I'm not labeling it this week, so take it whatever direction you choose. Have fun with it!

You trade lives with your cat for a day.

Pictures of the Xtreme Mud Run

Click here to read the write up about the run

The opening few seconds of the race. I'm out in front.

 My big lead. I enjoyed it while it lasted.

 Crawling through the mud underneath barbed wire.

 Exiting a muddy pond.

 Another view of a muddy pond exit. There is no traction getting out of that!

 The log was so low I had to get my face wet.

 At least I'm having fun, right?

Approaching the final obstacle.

 Here I still think I can do it.

 I'm beginning to realize there might be a problem.

 A few seconds after I crashed to the mud and lost my shoe.

Almost done!

 You can pretty clearly see my shoe in my hand in this one ...

Just a bit muddy.

 Another view of the mud caked on me.

 My uncle had to shake my hand after that.

 My wife, on the other hand, wouldn't get any closer to me than this.

Finally time to clean off. Just have to wait in line with the other finishers.

Friday Flash: Zane's Closet

Zane's Closet

by Eric J. Krause

Roger finished clearing out Zane's closet and put a drop cloth down, though he wasn't sure quite why. They needed to replace the carpeting in this room soon anyway. Zane's slovenly ways had been murder on the walls, carpeting, and anything else unlucky enough to be stuck in here. Now that he was away at college, Roger and Lisa could make the room habitable again.

As Roger examined the inside of the closet, contemplating the best spot to start painting, an imperfection in the drywall caught his attention. He ran his hand over it and discovered a makeshift door. He pulled it open and found a crawl space that ran for a few feet and then took a hard turn to the right.

He turned and saw Lisa coming in with another drop cloth. "Check this out," he said. "There's a crawl space in here I never knew existed."

She tossed the sheet on the bed. "What do you mean? In the closet?"

"Yeah. I wonder if Zane knew about it."

She looked over his shoulder and scoffed. "He kept the closet so full of junk he couldn't see the back of it."

Roger started shimmying down the tunnel. "Yeah, and he's so lazy that he wouldn't explore it even if he knew it was there."

"Poor Zane," Lisa said as she followed. "How in the world is he surviving on his own in college?"

Roger turned the corner and found it opened up into a larger space. How in the world did this exist in his house without him knowing?

"How big is it?" she asked from behind him, but in the dark he couldn't answer at first.

They crawled out into the bigger space and stood up. This hidden room was as big as Zane's. There also seemed to be things in here, though it was still too dark for him to tell.

Lisa's eyes adjusted first. "Zane! What in the world are you doing here?"

"Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad. I, uh, was hoping you wouldn't notice me."

Once Roger was acclimated to the dark, he saw Zane lying on a ratty couch, presumably with crumbs on the front of his shirt.

"Hard not to when you're supposed to be away at school," Roger said.

"Yeah, well, they expected me to go to my classes, like, a lot. I mean, that's not why I went to college."

Roger waited for Lisa to explode, but instead she threw up her hands and dove out through the crawl space. Roger and Zane stood quietly for a minute until Roger broke the silence. "You expelled?"

"No," Zane said. "I just left the day before yesterday. They probably don't even know I'm gone."

"Then you have two choices. Head back to school or get a job."

That got Zane's attention, and he sat up for the first time. "A job? C'mon, Dad. Jobs are for tools."

"Then you either need to be a tool at school, or a tool with a job. Make up your mind. I'm sure your mother has worked herself into a frenzy by now. I can probably keep her out of here for an hour or so."

"Come on, Dad; be cool."

"I tried to be the cool dad during high school, and look where that got you. Since she'll be back soon, I'd suggest you be halfway to school by then. I'm guessing you have another way in and out of here."

Roger fell to his hands and knees and crawled back out of the secret room, ignoring Zane's moans and complaints. It was time to paint the closet.

10 Mile Xtreme Mud Run Part 2

If you haven't read Part One, you can do so here.

I took off fast, leading the small pack through the first obstacle, which was through the straight-aways of a horse stable with bales of hay to hurdle over. As we got through that, the course didn't have any obstacles for the next mile or so, unless you count the terrain. Most of it was soft sand, hard and tiring to run through. My legs ached, and though I didn't stop running, my speed dropped considerably. Of course, so did everyone else's. As we finally made it to harder-packed dirt, I found myself in third place, with a much younger competitor not far behind me (he passed me not too much farther into the race). I wasn't racing anyone but myself, but it was fun to keep track of such things.

The next part of the race had plenty of obstacles. The first one was a ten-foot wall with hand and foot holds of an indoor climbing course. I'd never done that before, but I scaled it pretty easily, which made me happy. Mud finally made its way into the course with the next obstacle. It was monkey bars over a mud pit. I'll be the first to admit my upper body strength is severely lacking, so after attempting the first few bars, I decided to simply drop down and run through the mud. Hey, gotta get dirty at some point, right? Other obstacles in this part included pushing a large wooden cable spool up a 2x4 ramp, crawling in the mud under barbed wire, running up loose piles of dirt and into watery mud pits, and, my favorite, plunging head-first down a slick tarp into a huge mud pit. That one was refreshing!

After that group, some real challenges came. There were big hills of soft dirt, probably 20 or more feet high, to run up. This was tiring! Luckily, some had ropes dangling down to help us pull our way up, but the others were there for climbing without help. I'm not used to such challenges, but I found myself going up and down these big hills easily, which made me happy. Tired, but happy. After the final big down, which luckily had a rope to help, it was time to crawl through more mud under barbed wire and other things.

By this time, I was in sixth place in my group, and I think that's where I stayed throughout the race, but it was hard to tell because I came upon fifteen milers who started at 7:30. I lost track of my place, and I've yet to see any sort of final posting online. So I'm going to go with I finished six out of thirty or so competitors.

Next I came up to a rope dangling across a big mud pit. I've never had to shimmy across something like this, but there's a first time for everything, right? I made it approximately three-fourths of the way across before I decided I'd had enough. I let go, splashed down into the mud, and took off for more fun. The next little while was simply running on hard-packed dirt, which was a nice change of pace from the muddy and dirty obstacles. At about the six-mile mark of the race, I reached a volunteer who had sandbags piled up near him. He told me to pick one up (I'm guessing it was somewhere around twenty to thirty pounds and quite awkward) and run down the path until I saw the used sandbags piled up. I picked it up, looked where he was pointing, and saw it was about a quarter of a mile - quite a distance with a sandbag in tow. It wasn't an easy jaunt, but I managed to jog most of it. Let me tell you, it was a nice feeling when I made it to the end and put down that sandbag.

Next was another mud pit with barbed wire over it, and then it was another long run to the next set of obstacles. These consisted of an eight-foot wall (which I tried, but couldn't get over - again showing off my lack of upper-body strength), a ten-foot wall made for teamwork (I didn't even try this because I was out there alone), and a ten-foot wall with a knotted rope to help traverse (which I again tried, but came up with the same result as the eight-foot wall). There was then a set of three mud ponds with a log across the middle. There was little room between the log and muddy water, so I had to dunk my head under. Yuck, but also refreshing. To get out of the mud ponds, there were large mounds of mud, and since there was no traction, this was the toughest part of the obstacle. Each of the ponds had a bigger mound than the last, but after a few false starts with each, I exited and headed for the final major obstacle of this group, another mud pit with barbed wire to crawl under. This one was the toughest of the course because, although it was muddy, it wasn't muddy enough to slide right through. I had to actually crawl the whole way though muddy but rocky ground. I'm proud to say I stayed low enough to not get nicked by the barbed wire once. After that, it was a pretty straight shot to the finish building, with only a few four-foot walls to hurdle over, which were easy enough to clear even in my tired state.

The final obstacle was housed in the start/finish building - a mud pit with rings over it to cross. I tried, but after two rings, I couldn't hold on and plummeted to the mud below. I landed awkwardly and though I didn't hurt myself, one of my shoes came off. I had to pick it up and dash to the finish line in one shoe and one muddy sock. I finally crossed with a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 24 seconds. I had no idea how long this would take me, so I was proud of that time.

Once finished, I picked up my race t-shirt, my finisher medal, my wristband, and a cold bottle of water, which I downed greedily. My family took many pictures of my muddy self, and I headed outside to join the line for the hoses. I tossed my shoes and socks into the trash, and then decided my shirt could join them. And then it was time to go and continue our vacation.

I thought for sure I'd be sore for days afterward, but I really didn't feel that bad. My wife and I did a lot of walking, both while we were staying in Arizona with my aunt and uncle, and when we went back to Las Vegas, and I felt good. There was one point a couple of days later when we were walking through one of the casino malls in Las Vegas that my upper body started to feel stressed, but luckily there was a five-minute shoulder and neck massage booth handy, which cured me right up for the rest of the trip. All in all, it was a great experience, and I'm looking forward to doing another mud run in the future. Maybe I'll tackle this one again next year!

Pictures of me during and after the race coming soon!