To Groan or Not To Groan

Serious Friday Stuff...Sort of

I need your help.  Very weighty decision pending here. 

For some time now I've been closing my posts with a groaner, a pun guaranteed (hopefully) to make you groan and laugh.  Many of you have asked where I come up with them and my answer is always, "everywhere".

Well, there seems to be less "everywhere" than there used to be and I'm having trouble coming up with enough good puns for every post.  (No snarky comments allowed.)   

So I've decide to cut back the groaners to once a week and do something else for a closer on the other two days.  Now the decision part...what should I use to replace the groaner?

Regular jokes?

Bloopers?

 (you know, those misworded lines from newspapers, church newsletters, etc.)

Straight quotes?

Trivia questions?

Something else?

Please toss in your two cents on this earth-shattering issue and help me decide.  What would you like to see?

By the way, I'm sorry this post is going up late today.  I spent last night at a dive/swim meet.  Ever attend one of these?  The diving portion lasted two hours.  My granddaughter had four dives.  A dive is over in about a second.  Maybe three if you count standing-on-the-board time.  That's 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 48 seconds of waiting and 12 seconds of cheering.  The swim meet lasted four hours.  She swam in four events.  Maybe 30 seconds each.  That's 3 hours... well, you get the idea.

Oh, and it was in the mid 90's and VERY sunny at the pool.

(She took first place in the 25 meter backstroke.)

In the winter we go to my grandson's wrestling meets.  Wrestling meets can last over six hours.  He will wrestle in three or four matches.  Each match lasts about...

Okay, don't forget to leave your preference on a groaner replacement.  (Maria!  Stop cheering!)

Have a fantastic weekend.

Groaner of the Day:  In the days of old, when Genghis Kahn's men were running over Asia, they set their sights on further shores. Rather than 'huns', these warriors were known as Kahn's men, or simply, Kahns. When they had conquered all the way to the water's edge, they build boats, gathered their loot, and bravely went to sea.

By a sad twist of fate, they encountered an island of lepers, which resulted in most of the crew being infected. Hastily leaving that island, they set sail again, but by the time they reached Ireland, there wasn't much left of them. Disembarking on stubby limbs, they set forth, but were soon set upon by the natives for the riches they carried.  Rotted away, but still clever, they hid on the island and awaited rescue, and the locals never did get their hands on the treasure.

And that's how the story of the little people got started in Ireland - the leper Kahn's and their pots of gold.

Bonus groan:

Cunning though diseased, the Kahns were never fooled by those who tried to trick them out of their pots of gold by swapping them for an empty pot - thus the saying: "You cannot change a leper's pots".

Decision!

Last Friday I was wrestling with the question, to NaNo or not to NaNo.  I offered up my quandry and asked for your advice.  My sincere thanks to all who responded.

As is so often the case, hearing opinions on both side helped me figure out what I really wanted and needed to do.  This is what I came up with:

• I would like to do NaNo.  It would be fun just to be part of it and challenges are very helpful for me.
• It's more important that I stay focused on my WIP until I finish the final polishing and start actively querying.
• None of the projects I have pending are at the "start writing" point.

And a biggie I hadn't really considered:

• November is a ridiculous month to devote to a major writing challenge. (Remember, I admitted last week that the other thing that always sneaks up on me is Christmas.)

So, I've decided not to do NaNo. 

BUT -

I don't seem to be the only one who isn't quite ready for NaNo and/or who can't give up a month in the middle of the holiday season for a writing challenge.  So here's what I propose:

In November, instead of donig NaNo, I'll figure out the details on setting up a writing challenge, which will take place in January - after the holidays, when we need a little spark.    If you're interested, you've got two months to pull that new project together so you're ready to go with the New Year.  We won't be quite as ambitious in our goals as NaNo and if you want to start writing your story before we start, that's fine, too.  This will just be a support and encouragement challenge.  With maybe a little added incentive thrown in (give me time to see what I can come up with).

I'll post the details of the New Year Challenge around the beginning of December and if you're interested, or know someone who might be, perhaps you would help spread the word.

What do you think?  Sound like a plan?




This picture has nothing whatsoever to do with today's post.  I just thought it was funny.


Groaner of the Day:  Two robins were sitting in a tree.

"I'm really hungry," said the first one. "Let's fly down and find some lunch."

They flew down to the ground and found a nice plot of newly plowed ground that was full of worms. They ate and ate and ate till they could eat no more.

"I'm so full, I don't think I can fly back up into the tree," said the first one.

"Let's just lay back here and bask in the warm sun," said the second.

So they plopped down, basking in the sun. No sooner than they had fallen asleep, when a big fat tomcat came by and gobbled them up.

As the cat sat washing his face after his meal, he thought...

"I JUST LOVE BASKIN ROBINS."

Decisions, Decisions

It snuck up on me.  The way Christmas sneaks up on me every year.  Even though I know the date.  Even though I'm surrounded by signs of its coming.  When it gets here, I'm still not ready. 

NaNoWriMo.

I want to do it.  I've planned to do it. 

I thought my current book would be at query stage now and I'd be ready to move on.  But I'm still getting feedback from my beta-readers and crit partner so there's work yet to be done.

And the novel-to-be isn't exactly ready to go.  I've got one story with a plot that's coming together nicely but the characters are still pretty sketchy.  I've got another one with most of the characters ready to go but the plot isn't there.  (No, the two wouldn't merge at all.)  And then there's a decades old 85% complete sci fi I found recently with a decent plot and some characters that are probably worth a total re-write.

NaNo would be good for me.   I've been a bit unfocused in my writing lately and I reponse well to challenges.  But with the prep work I still need to do - I'm a total plotter, not a panster - there's not much chance I can get a 50K complete story done in November.

Do I sign up for NaNo and set myself up for failure?  Or maybe take on a modified challenge, i.e. I will get the plot/character design finished and the first 30K written.  Or do I just pass on the whole thing and work on getting the WIP polished and start querying.

What do you think?  Door number one, two, or three?  If you think I should go for it, which story should I tackle: good plot with sketchy characters, definite characters with unformed plot, or old resurrected sci fi?

Looking for your good advice here.  Help me out.

Groaner of the Day: The Lone Ranger and Tonto walked into a bar and sat down to drink a beer. After a few minutes, a big tall cowboy walked in and said "Who owns the big white horse outside?"

The Lone Ranger said, "I do, Why?"

The cowboy said, "I just thought you'd like to know that your horse is about dead out there."

The Lone Ranger and Tonto rushed outside and sure enough, Silver was down from heat exhaustion.

The Lone Ranger got water and soon Silver was starting to feel a little better but the heat was still oppressive.

The Lone Ranger turns to Tonto and says, "I want you to run around Silver and see if you can create enough of a breeze to help cool him down".

Tonto agrees and begins running circles around Silver. Unable to do anything except wait, the Lone Ranger returns to the bar to finish his drink.

A few minutes later, another cowboy struts into the bar and asks, "Who owns that big white horse outside?

The Lone Ranger says, "I do, what's wrong with him this time?"

The cowboy looks him in the eye and says, "Nothing, but you left your Injun running."