I'd die without...

Okay, it's mid- summer. By this point, we're all probably feeling some degree of lazy, sweaty or frazzled (depending on our level of activities, air conditioning and family on hand). So, maybe it's time to kick back, grab a strawberry lemonade and play a game of:

I'd Die Without...

(metaphorically speaking, of course)

Since oxygen, food and water are fairly obvious answers, let's put on our writing hats and answer these like authors would. Maybe we can learn a bit about each other and pick up some new tools and tricks to help us improve our prose. Give your answers in the comments and I'll update them into the blog proper for ease of reference.

1. The Old-School Writing Tool I'd Die Without...

My trusty 1962 Roget's International Thesaurus Third Edition. It was my mom's and she passed it on to me when I was in high school. Oh, I've tried other thesauri, but I always come back to this one. I love thumbing through the numbers in the back - it's like a treasure hunt for words.

Spiral notebooks--I have a thing about not throwing them away because on a page somewhere inside there is probably a brilliant idea that I wrote down and promptly forgot about.

 I could not do without the backs of receipts to scrawl random ideas on here, there and everywhere. I have a drawer full of them.

Paper and my favorite rollerball pen.

 Reading. That's as old school as it gets.

2. The New-Cool Writing Tool I'd Die Without...

Scrivener has won a very firm place in my writer's heart. I am an outliner and a re-re-re-writer and so the set up is perfect for me (left column: outline, right column: deleted stuff, middle: my current work). The trial is free, and the program very reasonable (I got it 1/2 price when they were doing a promo for people who completed NaNoWriMo a couple years ago).

My laptop.

 Laptops count as new school, right?

 My laptop (except that my laptop died, and I didn't.) Maybe my iPhone. The Internet, in general, and Wikipedia, specifically.

Computers. I know there are those who swear by writing by hand, but if it weren't for computers, I think I'd stick to oral storytelling.

3. My Writing Would Have Died W/O This Writing Book...

Love, love Stephen King's, On Writing. I've never read one of his novels (me and scary do not not not mix), but I found so many gems and so much encouragement in his book. Truly excellent.

Orsons Scott Card's How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy
Chris Baty's No Plot? No Problem

 I've actually only read writing books in the most scattered of ways. But my writing most definitely would have died without Hatrack.

Any and all the books in the Elements of Fiction Writing series.

OSC Writing Sci fi and Fantasy, and King's On Writing.

4. My Writing Never Would Have Started W/O This Book...

At 12, Anne McCaffery's DragonSinger made my fantasy heart soar, but it wasn't until The Riddle Master of Hed Trilogy by Patricia McKillip that I just had to write.

Twilight. Yup. It's true.

I don't have a particular book that I started writing for, but I adore Patricia McKillip. I first read the Riddlemaster trilogy at 12, and it stuck with me where many other books from that time faded away.

 I would never have begun writing if it hadn't been for Graham Dunstin Martin's books Giftwish and Catchfire.

 Tamora Pierce's Alanna Series.

5. Besides The Prosers, The Writing Website I Have To Visit Every Day...

Hatrack was the cradle for my fledgling writing self. It's populated by incredibly kind and supportive people. Love it.

+1

 goodreads.com

 Duotrope.

 Pub Rants. Kristin Nelson is my hero.

6. A Non-Writing Site I Have To Visit Every Single Day...

Oh, this is a bad one to have to decide (and I'm the one making up the questions!). I make the rounds of news sites and frequent some fabulous home sites like this and this, but I can't think of a particular favorite. Why don't you give me something new to look at by telling me your favorites?

Regretsy (not the nicest of sites, but it makes me laugh like nothing else. NOT for anyone under 18 for the occasional image of nekkid people)

Cakewrecks.com is a hilarious site to waste a few minutes (or hours.)

I check out utahrealestate.com more than is healthy for a human person.

7. The Muse-Satiating Food I'd Die Without...

Chocolate.
You don't actually expect me to narrow that down, do you? Good, because I can't. (I often pity the poor pre-Columbian European women. How did they ever survive!)

+1

 Carrots. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Nachos, made at home, chips and cheese and onions broiled with fresh tomatoes on top (and occasionally chicken, avocados, and black beans). 

 Macaroni and cheese. But not the box kind, I'm talking about the read deal.

 Cereal. Especially Cocoa Roos, or any kind of cereal that makes Chocolate Milk.

8. The Writing Tip That's Kept My Writing Alive...

Okay, I'll give you a two-fer on this one, since it's a toss up. First, Stop Inging. Stringing sentences out using ing, thinking it will keep your sentences flowing isn't working. Stop Inging, Sue, just stop it! Second, BIC TOI WNW (Behind in Chair, Turn Off Internet, Write New Words). Okay, still desperately failing at that one, and frequently getting depressed about it. Think I need to refer back to #7 now. Sniff.

Get the story on the paper before you worry about making it shiny.

That writing is just as much perspiration as inspiration, and that you'll get better with practice. I held on dearly to that during the early years of constant rejections. And guess what? I have gotten better.

"It can be fixed." I've written this inside the cover of every journal and notebook I own.

Use your own voice, and write your own stories.

9. My Writing Would Die If I Didn't Rejuvenate By...

Talking and spending time with real live people. Most often my hubby, then the kids, friends and neighbors (family if they visit). Keeps me out of writer's tunnel vision, and, especially with the kids, gives me lots of inspiration.

 Running, and my family support (oh and the prosers and ex-proser support too).

Visiting nature.

 Walks: my best method for getting through convoluted plot points.

 Getting in the car, cranking up the radio, and just going for a drive.

Taking showers. My best writing comes from zoning out with the water pouring on my head.


What would you die without? 
Thanks for playing!