The Week in Words (July 31)

At the Editor's Desk

At last, it's here! Three months of talking about it, a month straight of setting up, and a week-long, thrilling extravaganza of business plannery have combined to make this the most exciting weekend at Unstressed Syllables since that one time when I wrote an e-Book.

We'd better get straight to the action!

The Consortium

This week I finally unveiled the glory that is my current project: the new new media, the right-brained brain trust, the Consortium...OKC. It's amazing.

If you haven't already been by, go check out the website. My graphic designer hasn't gotten around to making it pretty yet, but it's packed with good information about what we're doing, and grandiose hints at what we plan for the future.

Believe it or not, you'll probably hear more about it below, too.

The Girl Who Stayed the Same

I'm still talking about the girl I've been talking about for a while. (In case you haven't been keeping up, her name is Kelly Lane.)

This week I added three new scenes to chapter seven of The Girl Who Stayed the Same, messing with my newest narrator's muddled mind, and bringing back Jonas with the promise of chess. I'm looking forward to exploring his devious technique.

On Unstressed Syllables

This week we covered two major topics: a business plan as an example of a good document template, and a business plan presenting the ultimate solution to a month's worth of complaining about (C).

Sunday I introduced the Technical Writing series on business plans with a story about my first effort at a sales pitch for the Consortium. It wasn't terribly compelling...but it worked anyway.

Then on Monday I reminisced about the week before and its obscenely long list of template elements. I answered the questions in that list with a look at how the parts of a standard business plan line up with the template elements.

Then Tuesday I got into the nitty gritty, with a look at exactly what goes into the standard business plan. If you ever need to write one, it's probably a good place to start. Not a good place to stop, but you could at least start there.

On Wednesday, Courtney proved she's been paying attention with a timely look at how you can (and should) find inspiration in the public domain. By way of illustration, she talked Lincolns, zombies, Frankensteins, and Koontzes. (Personally, I find the Koontzes scariest.)

Thursday I introduced the Creative Writing series on art with a story about a story about the Academy of the Arts in my fantasy world. Turns out fifteen years ago I was already laying a conceptual groundwork for the world-changing ideas I just dreamed up last February. How unsettling.

On Friday I settled down, though, and spoke to you for the first time in a totally mature and professional voice. Don't worry, I promise you won't hear it from me often. This was a special occasion, though. It's not every day I share the Executive Summary to a business plan about my world-changing ideas.

Then I wrapped up that discussion with today's invitation to become a part of the movement, and find your place in the Consortium. I want you working for me. I've got nothing to offer, and it's going to be a bunch of work, so dive right in!

Around the Web

I've also seen more than a handful of good articles around the web this week, that I thought you might find interesting. Here's the best.

• Kate Shaw at Ars Technica reported on a recent experimental study that found "Pay what you want" benefits companies, consumers, charities. That's a pretty promising finding non-profit organizations and new-media artists hoping to compete with traditional publishing on customer service rather than litigation campaigns.

• Speaking of litigation campaigns, the litigious J. K. Rowling is defending her own work against claims of copyright infringement, but she came out swinging this week. The Bookseller sums up the current legal situation with J. K. Rowling moves to dismiss plagiarism charge.

• Meanwhile, guest writer Phyllis Zimbler Miller writes at BookBuzzr explains why Book Authors Need a Dedicated Website for Their Books. That's something that's been on my mind lately, with all the work on the Consortium. I'll let you know if I find any better ways to get it done.