{"id":1551,"date":"2017-04-17T16:44:01","date_gmt":"2017-04-17T20:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2017-04-17T16:44:01","modified_gmt":"2017-04-17T20:44:01","slug":"writing-challenge-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/2017\/04\/17\/writing-challenge-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing Challenge #1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ahoy, folksies.<\/p>\n<p>I have a new idea! And it stems from my perceived inability to write tension without a threat of violence.<\/p>\n<p>But before I get all ahead of myself, let&#8217;s take a breath and explain. Athletes need to warm up (well, not according to Tallahassee from\u00a0<em>Zombieland<\/em>, but whatever) and writers do, too. Because time&#8212;our most valuable yet most infuriatingly difficult to use resource&#8211;is limited, one might as well make the warm-up also developmentally worthwhile. I mean, want to get that <em>swole<\/em> writer <em>bod<\/em>? Then never spend a word willy-nilly. Trust me, or I&#8217;ll sic Hemmingway on ya&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>So, as a pre-writing warm up, your (and my) job is to construct a scene of less than 250 words that increases tension without a single ounce of\u00a0violence.<\/p>\n<p>Got it?<\/p>\n<p>Good.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Mountainous Interludium&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1552\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1552\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1552\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zacharybarnes.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/rail-fence-spring-mountain-meadow-wallpapers-1440x900.jpg?resize=300%2C188\" alt=\"Credit: Crazy Frankenstein\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zacharybarnes.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/rail-fence-spring-mountain-meadow-wallpapers-1440x900.jpg?resize=300%2C188 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zacharybarnes.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/rail-fence-spring-mountain-meadow-wallpapers-1440x900.jpg?resize=768%2C480 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zacharybarnes.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/rail-fence-spring-mountain-meadow-wallpapers-1440x900.jpg?resize=1024%2C640 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zacharybarnes.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/rail-fence-spring-mountain-meadow-wallpapers-1440x900.jpg?resize=1440%2C900 1440w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/zacharybarnes.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/rail-fence-spring-mountain-meadow-wallpapers-1440x900.jpg?w=1280 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1552\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: Crazy Frankenstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Mountainous Fin&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Now, about the book!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>Avengarde<\/em>. Yes, let&#8217;s talk <em>Avengarde<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The marketing hat is a strange one for me, a little too tight around the temples, but it&#8217;s wearing in. Since the book released in November, I&#8217;ve done 10 signings and have a few more in the works. Panda Monk (my publishers) are currently working on the ebook variety of this tale, which should go on sale relatively soon &#8482;. Everything is gravy, and I&#8217;ve already got a few people clamoring for the sequel.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">That being said, we could always use a little help in the publicity department, so if you read the book, share it with a friend or toss a recommendation someone&#8217;s way. Or, review it on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/32955013-avengarde-1\">Goodreads<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Avengarde-Zachary-Barnes\/product-reviews\/0990517608\/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_top?ie=UTF8&amp;reviewerType=avp_only_reviews\">Amazon<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/avengarde-zachary-barnes\/1125125749?ean=9780990517603\">Barnes &amp; Noble<\/a>, Craigslist, you name it!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">If you haven&#8217;t read the book, then I&#8217;d like you to imagine a little scene; a squirrel, tire tracks for a face, limp tail wavering in the breeze. Looking on: a baby squirrel with Disney sad eyes, who goes to its mother in the middle of the road. A tear drips off its tiny nose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I am that sad squirrel baby. And there&#8217;s not much you can do for the mother squirrel or her offspring, but you could consider <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Avengarde-Zachary-Barnes\/dp\/0990517608\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1491868451&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=avengarde\">buying my book!<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">And, as always, check the <a href=\"http:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/events-and-media\/\">Events <\/a>page to see if I&#8217;m doing anything cool in the future.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Cheers, and happy writing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ahoy, folksies. I have a new idea! And it stems from my perceived inability to write tension without a threat of violence. But before I get all ahead of myself, let&#8217;s take a breath and explain. Athletes need to warm up (well, not according to Tallahassee from\u00a0Zombieland, but whatever) and writers do, too. Because time&#8212;our most valuable yet most infuriatingly difficult to use resource&#8211;is limited, one might as well make the warm-up also developmentally worthwhile. I mean, want to get that swole writer bod? Then never spend a word willy-nilly.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amazonpipp_noncename":"","amazon-product-isactive":"","amazon-product-single-asin":"","amazon-product-content-location":"","amazon-product-content-hook-override":"","amazon-product-excerpt-hook-override":"","amazon-product-singular-only":"","amazon-product-amazon-desc":"","amazon-product-show-gallery":"","amazon-product-show-features":"","amazon-product-newwindow":"","amazon-product-show-list-price":"","amazon-product-show-used-price":"","amazon-product-show-saved-amt":"","amazon-product-timestamp":"","amazon-product-new-title":"","amazon-product-use-cartURL":"","amazon_featured_post_meta_key":"","_amazon_featured_alt":"","amazon-product-template":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[17,21,39,44,50,52,211,53],"tags":[214,185,215,212,213],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1551"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1555,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions\/1555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacharybarnes.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}