Timewaster's Guide Archive

Something about this article in the NY Times (you have to register to read it) gave me a good, devious chuckle.  It is a report about how men are watching less and less TV--especially men in the 'prime' demographic of 18-24.

For those of you who don't want to register, here's a clip:

"The television industry was shaken last October when the ratings from Nielsen Media Research showed that a huge part of a highly prized slice of the American population was watching less television. As the fall TV season began, viewership among men from 18 to 34 fell 12 percent compared with the year before, Nielsen reported. And for the youngest group of adult men, those 18 to 24, the decline was a steeper 20 percent."

They cite a lot of reasons, internet and games being the biggest.  I, personally, am happy about this.  TV is an outdated medium.  It expects us to conform to its demands of timing and had limited programming.  Plus, it's just not stimulating or interesting enough, not when compared to more interactive content.

Viva la revolution!

So, I'm curious how authors can put that little 'Any resemblance to living persons is purely coincidental' clause at the beginning of their books.  We all know that we steal profusely the things around us.  Or, at least, I do.  It's not coincidence that a person who looks kind of like Tage appears in my latest book, for instance.

TWG Forum FAQ

Part One: The Time-Waster's Guide?
1) What is the Time-Waster's Guide?
2) Who runs the Time-Waster's Guide?
3) Where did the Time-Waster's Guide Come From?
4) Can I write a review?
5) Can I have something free to review?

Part Two: The Forum
1) What forum etiquette do I need to know?
2) What's the main theme of the TWG forums?
3) What are the different forum sections?
4) There's a lot here.  How do I know what to read?
5) People are making fun of me.  What should I do?
6) Who are all you people?
7) What's the deal with all these levels and titles?
8) Anything else I need to know?

Part Three: Writing Groups and Forum RPG games.
1) Any special etiquette I should know here?
2) How do these forum RPG's work?
3) How do these forum writing groups work?
4) How do I join one of the RPG's or writing groups?
5) What is TW(i)G and how do I participate?

Part Four:  Acronyms and Terminology
1) TWG
2) TLE
3) AORP
4) LDS
5) BYU
6) Regular User Nicknames

So, here's the latest from Tor.  They're thinking of using this guy:  

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0312860722/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-2702599-9990217#reader-link

on my cover.  

Comments?  His name is Richard Bober, and I personally really like his attention to detail, but I'm not sure I like his faces.

SE's questionings about his future made me ponder on this topic.  Put quite simply, writing does consume my life.  If I'm not physically typing, then I'm either thinking about storylines, working on my writing through a writing group, or I'm doing something else and WISHING that I were writing.  

I've heard a lot of authors say that this is what happens to them once they hit 'zen writer' stage.  Everything else in life becomes secondary to the current story.  This is why writers have such high instances of divorce, and why a lot of writers drink so much.  

I have to admit, this kind of worries me.  I see this already in my life.  What do the rest of you think?

I figured this goes here, rather than in books, since this seems more like the appropriate place for a thread dedicated to the writing process.  So, post gripes about writing, problems with writer's block, questions about style--or, if you feel like it, personal victories.

So I'll start.  Woot!  30 pages so far today, and it's only 1:30!

Haven't seen many posts from you lately (probably because I don't look at the RPG section much) and the last three or four times I've gone over to your house to hang out with Sprig and Prometheus, you weren't there.

So, what's up lately?  How are things?

So, I'm thinking of buying one.  The thing is, I already have an mp3 player.  It's a Nomad, by Creative, and I really like it.  It just has two problems.

1)  It is bulky.  It's the size of a CD player, and quite a bit heavier.

2)  It won't play itunes songs.  

So, what do you guys think?  Do I wait a bit longer and see if Creative gets on the ball and adds AAC support for their Nomad series, or do I just go get an ipod so I can be cool.