Rush Song List Countdown (Full List)

A compilation of all three parts of "The List" previously posted.

Recently on twitter, I was challenged to list my top 10 songs by the band Rush. Rush is, of course, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart- three musical geniuses who have kept the same line-up intact for over 40 years. If you're a fan of this band, even a casual one, you know this was not an easy list to compile. This got me to thinking - where would I rank all of their original studio songs?

So, I sat down and listed all of their original studio recordings (no live albums, no cover songs), and proceeded to rank them all. All 19 original albums worth. First, I took the list and graded each from "A+" to "D-". This broke a stellar body of work into more manageable chunks- sort of. C and D-list Rush songs are still better than most others bands A-game, but that's just my opinion. Then I could start my list with "A+" grades - rank those, then move down to "A", "A-", etc.

After much gnashing of teeth, pulling out of hair, and re-listening to much of the catalog in question (I've really suffered to put this post together, heh), here is my list, with selected commentary. As always, your mileage may vary.

Top 165 Rush Songs Of All Time

The Full List

165. "Mystic Rhythms" (D-) -- Nearly 30 years of listening and I just don't dig this song. Sorry, I've tried. 

164. "Witch Hunt" (D) -- This is an auto skip for me.

163. "Tears" (D)

162. "Jacob's Ladder" (D)

161. "Peaceable Kingdom" (C-)

160. "Here Again" (C-)

159. "Rivendell" (C-)

158. "Good News First" (C-)

157. "BU2B2" (C)

156. "Madrigal" (C)

155. "Take A Friend" (C)

154. "Nocturne" (C)

153. "Spindrift" (C)

152. "What You're Doing" (C)

151. "The Weapon" (C)

150. "Sweet Miracle" (C)

149. "Vapor Trail" (C)

148. "Out Of The Cradle" (C)

147. "Armor And Sword" (C)

146. "Bravest Face" (C)

145. "Ceiling Unlimited" (C)

144. "The Stars Look Down" (C) -- As you may have guessed by now, "Vapor Trails" and "Snakes & Arrows" aren't doing too well on this list. Neither of these albums really grabbed me.

143. "The Main Monkey Business" (C)

142. "The Way The Wind Blows" (C)

141. "Tai Shan" (C)

140. "Speed Of Love" (C)

139. "Working Man" (C)

138. "In The End" (C)

137. "Freeze" (C+)

136. "Time And Motion" (C+)

135. "The Necromancer" (B-)

134. "Halo Effect" (B-)

133. "The Garden" (B-)

132. "Malignant Narcissism" (B-)

131. "The Color Of Right" (B-)

130. "Earthshine" (B-)

129. "Half The World" (B-)

128. "Anagram (For Mongo)" (B-) -- Can anyone tell me what this anagram ACTUALLY is?

127. "Chain Lightning" (B-)
126. "Lock And Key" (B-)

125. "Xanadu" (B-) -- Controversial opinion time!! This may upset some of twitter's #Rushfamily, but I think I would like this song more and it would work better (to me) as an instrumental.

124. "Chemistry" (B-)

123. "Before And After" (B-)

122. "A Passage To Bangkok" (B-) 

121. "Bu2B" (B)

120. "We Hold On" (B)

119. "The Larger Bowl" (B)

118. "Carnies" (B)

117. "Hope" (B)

116. "How It Is" (B)

115. "Workin' Them Angels" (B)

114. "Carve Away The Stone" (B)

113. "Neurotica" (B)

112. "Between Sun And Moon" (B)

111. "The Big Wheel" (B)

110. "Secret Touch" (B) 

109. "Heresy" (B)

108. "Face Up" (B)

107. "Need Some Love" (B)

106. "High Water" (B)

105. "Driven" (B)

104. "Bravado" (B)

103. "Emotion Detector" (B)

102. "Afterimage" (B)

101. "Something For Nothing" (B)

100. "One Little Victory" (B)

99. "Scars" (B)

98. "Open Secrets" (B)

97. "Lakeside Park"(B)

96. "The Twilight Zone" (B)

95. "Kid Gloves" (B)

94. "Cut To The Chase" (B)

93. "Resist" (B)

92. "You Bet Your Life" (B)

91. "War Paint" (B)

90. "Second Nature" (B)

89. "The Camera Eye" (B)

88. "Finding My Way" (B)

87. "New World Man" (B)

86. "Digital Man" (B)

85. "Wish Them Well" (B+)

84. "The Wreckers" (B+)

83. "Seven Cities Of Gold" (B+)

82. "The Anarchist" (B+)

81. "Different Strings" (B+)

80. "Entre Nous" (B+) -- I always forget how awesome this song is until I come back and listen to it again. 

79. "Think I'm Going Bald" (B+)

78. "Totem" (B+)

77. "Limbo" (B+)

76. "Red Lenses" (B+)

75. "Circumstances" (B+)

74. "The Fountain Of Lamneth" (B+)

73. "Making Memories" (B+)

72. "Clockwork Angels" (B+)

71. "Ghost Rider" (B+)

70. "Middletown Dreams" (B+)

69. "Grand Designs" (B+)

68. "Ghost Of A Chance" (B+)

67. "The Pass" (B+)

66. "Faithless" (B+)

65. "Animate" (B+)

64. "Hand Over Fist" (B+) -- It took me several years before I really started getting into most of Presto. I remember listening to "Show Don't Tell" then the rest of side one of the cassette, flipping it over to side two (remember that?), and "Superconductor" came on, and thinking "Yes! Finally something that rocks!"

63. "Time Stand Still" (B+)

62. "Nobody's Hero" (B+)

61. "Between The Wheels" (B+)

60. "The Body Electric" (B+)

59. "The Enemy Within" (B+)  -- The highest ranking portion of the four parts of the Trilogy Of Fear. 

58. "Virtuality" (B+)

57. "Dog Years" (B+)
56. "Cold Fire" (B+)

55. Everyday Glory (B+)
54. Headlong Flight (B+)
53. Far Cry (B+)
52. Mission (B+) 
51. In The Mood (B+) - The opening riff on this one just sucked me right in. I have mix tapes on cassette(!) from the 80s with this track on it. Still haven't learned to play it yet.
50. Lessons (B+) - Another one I've always wanted to learn.
49. Turn The Page (B+/A-)
48. Anthem (A-)
47. Best I Can (A-)
46. Alien Shore (A-)
45. Distant Early Warning (A-)
44. Bastille Day (A-)
43. Marathon (A-)
42. Losing It (A-) - For a long time, I didn't care much for this song. It was only years later, after I started writing fiction that I came around to this song. Suddenly it made a lot more sense to me.
41. Double Agent (A-)
40. Test For Echo (A-)
39. Available Light (A-)
38. Red Tide (A-)
37. Force Ten (A-)
36. Cinderella Man (A-)
35. Stick It Out (A-)
34. Superconductor (A-) - I got this album new on cassette. I'd heard 'Show Don't Tell' already, and the rest of side one was... disappointing. I flipped over the tape and this song came on and I clearly remember thinking "Yes! Finally something that ROCKS!". It took me a long time to get into Presto.
33. Presto (A-)
32. Beneath, Between, And Behind (A-)
31. Prime Mover (A-) - I've always liked the lyrics at play here "The point of a journey is not to arrive" and "The point of departure is not to return".
30. Roll The Bones (A-)
29. Tom Sawyer (A-) I think this one scores so low because of ear fatigue. When listening to Moving Pictures in the car, I've been known to skip from somewhere in TS right on to track two, especially along a certain stretch of road...
28. Show Don't Tell (A-)
27. Dreamline (A-) - This is such a great show opener and the very first Rush song I'd ever heard live at a concert.
26. Leave That Thing Alone (A)
25. Where's My Thing? (A) - It just felt natural to pair these two together.
24. Natural Science (A)
23. Red Sector A (A) 
22. Cygnus X1 Bk 1: The Voyage (A) B- Who didn't want to board the Rocinante and go spinning through the galaxies, aside from that whole dying in a black hole bit?
21. 2112 (A)
20. By-tor And The Snow Dog (A)
19. Countdown (A) - I was a fan of the space shuttle growing up, so this was a favorite.
18. A Farewell To Kings (A) - "Scheming demos dressed in kingly guise / Beating down the multitudes and scoffing at the wise". Written in 1976 and very apt for the a portion of the current political climate... Maybe Neil is psychic?
17. Closer To The Heart (A)
16. The Trees (A) - Don't be greedy Oaks or we all get the hatchet, axe,  or saw...
15. Territories (A+)
14. The Big Money (A+) - Rush doesn't really do "quiet' songs to open albums.
13. Vital Signs (A+) - I've always felt this was a peek behind the curtain, of what was coming on Signals. The next way forward.
12. Limelight (A+) - I get it, Neil. I'm right there with you...
11. Freewill (A+)

And now, onto the Top 10...

10. Subdivisions (A+) - No matter what age you are (or admit to),  or where you came from, we can all relate to this one. The intro keyboards are still killer.
9. Fly By Night (A+) - Striking out on your own, in a new direction in life. Try it at least once. This one I CAN play, at least the intro and verses.
8. The Spirit Of Radio (A+) - Anthem. If you don't smile and sing along (especially if it's on the radio) you need to be checked for a heartbeat.
7. Caravan (A+) - After tepid and mediocre albums in Vapor Trails and Snakes & Arrows, this song finally dragged me out of the Dark Times of the hiatus. This one said to me loudly and proudly that Rush. Was. BACK.
6. Manhattan Project (A+) - The trifecta - history, aviation, and the music of Rush came together and just fascinated me. I think my best friend got irritated with me for wanting to hear this song so often.
5. The Analog Kid (A+) - Rush does punk? Hell yes! I've always loved the energy in this song. The two double time hooks right after "the music of the spheres" snagged me and never let go. I'm still looking for that dance with the faun eyes and sun-brown legs...
4. Cygnus X1 Bk 2: Hemispheres (A+) - When I first got into Rush, this was one of the main songs that hooked me. Again, back to the infamous mix-tapes, I had both books leading directly one into the second. Their best one-side, one-song progger. Fight me if you disagree. :D
3. La Villa Strangiato (A+) - Tag-teamed with #4 to blow me away. Wow. What else can I say but Alex needed to have more bad dreams if this was the result.

And now, for the Top 2. Drum-roll please! (Actually, feel free to watch/listen to one of Neil's drum solos. I might suggest a classic at the top of it's game - The Rhythm Method off A Show Of Hands. Go ahead, I'll wait.)
(Worth it, wasn't it?)

2. YYZ (A+) - Another blend of Rush's music with aviation (and I didn't even know the story behind the song at the time). These guys just got me. I've air guitar-ed (and air bass-ed and air drummed) to this one forever it seems like.
1. Red Barchetta (A+) - Wow. The Big Kahuna of them All. This song is just such a cinematic experience. The opening harmonics played by Alex (so easy once I learned it, and still so damned fun to play). The lyrics and the story. All of the dynamics of the shifting sounds and time signatures. It's a complete tale, beginning, middle, and end. It's about flaunting the law and sticking it to The Man. My favorite "as-fast-as-I-dare" driving song (especially paired back-to-back with YYZ). I've made so many Sunday drives over the last few years with this one cranked up enough to rattle my windows. If I ever sat down and made a a soundtrack to a speeding ticket, this is Track 1.

And... that's it, folks. Like I said up top, your mileage may vary. Some songs change positions depending on my mood, but that's my definitive list. For the moment anyway, or until Geddy, Neil, and Alex gift us with another studio album. Thanks for going on this journey with me. If you've read this to the end,

You. Rock.

Rush Song List Countdown (Part 1)

Recapping:
"Recently on twitter, I was challenged to list my top 10 songs by the band Rush. Rush is, of course, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart- three musical geniuses who have kept the same line-up intact for over 40 years. If you're a fan of this band, even a casual one, you know this was not an easy list to compile. This got me to thinking - where would I rank all of their original studio songs?

So, I sat down and listed all of their original studio recordings (no live albums, no cover songs), and proceeded to rank them all. All 19 original albums worth. First, I took the list and graded each from "A+" to "D-". This broke a stellar body of work into more manageable chunks- sort of. C and D-list Rush songs are still better than most others bands A-game, but that's just my opinion. Then I could start my list with "A+" grades - rank those, then move down to "A", "A-", etc.

After much gnashing of teeth, pulling out of hair, and re-listening to much of the catalog in question (I've really suffered to put this post together, heh), here is my list, with selected commentary. As always, your mileage may vary."

So, here we are, down to the nitty-gritty,  just the Top 55 songs left on the list. (Just a note: The astute observer will notice this list was released "Part 3", "Part 2", and now "Part 1". It's a cheeky reference to the Trilogy Of Fear, which was also released Parts 3, 2, and then 1. And for some strange reason several years later, Part 4. Maybe I'll do album rankings, or the best live version of each live cut. That might be fun.)

Top 165 Rush Songs Of All Time

(Part 1 of "The List")

55. Everyday Glory (B+)
54. Headlong Flight (B+)
53. Far Cry (B+)
52. Mission (B+) 
51. In The Mood (B+) - The opening riff on this one just sucked me right in. I have mix tapes on cassette(!) from the 80s with this track on it. Still haven't learned to play it yet.
50. Lessons (B+) - Another one I've always wanted to learn.
49. Turn The Page (B+/A-)
48. Anthem (A-)
47. Best I Can (A-)
46. Alien Shore (A-)
45. Distant Early Warning (A-)
44. Bastille Day (A-)
43. Marathon (A-)
42. Losing It (A-) - For a long time, I didn't care much for this song. It was only years later, after I started writing fiction that I came around to this song. Suddenly it made a lot more sense to me.
41. Double Agent (A-)
40. Test For Echo (A-)
39. Available Light (A-)
38. Red Tide (A-)
37. Force Ten (A-)
36. Cinderella Man (A-)
35. Stick It Out (A-)
34. Superconductor (A-) - I got this album new on cassette. I'd heard 'Show Don't Tell' already, and the rest of side one was... disappointing. I flipped over the tape and this song came on and I clearly remember thinking "Yes! Finally something that ROCKS!". It took me a long time to get into Presto.
33. Presto (A-)
32. Beneath, Between, And Behind (A-)
31. Prime Mover (A-) - I've always liked the lyrics at play here "The point of a journey is not to arrive" and "The point of departure is not to return".
30. Roll The Bones (A-)
29. Tom Sawyer (A-) I think this one scores so low because of ear fatigue. When listening to Moving Pictures in the car, I've been known to skip from somewhere in TS right on to track two, especially along a certain stretch of road...
28. Show Don't Tell (A-)
27. Dreamline (A-) - This is such a great show opener and the very first Rush song I'd ever heard live at a concert.
26. Leave That Thing Alone (A)
25. Where's My Thing? (A) - It just felt natural to pair these two together.
24. Natural Science (A)
23. Red Sector A (A) 
22. Cygnus X1 Bk 1: The Voyage (A) B- Who didn't want to board the Rocinante and go spinning through the galaxies, aside from that whole dying in a black hole bit?
21. 2112 (A)
20. By-tor And The Snow Dog (A)
19. Countdown (A) - I was a fan of the space shuttle growing up, so this was a favorite.
18. A Farewell To Kings (A) - "Scheming demos dressed in kingly guise / Beating down the multitudes and scoffing at the wise". Written in 1976 and very apt for the a portion of the current political climate... Maybe Neil is psychic?
17. Closer To The Heart (A)
16. The Trees (A) - Don't be greedy Oaks or we all get the hatchet, axe,  or saw...
15. Territories (A+)
14. The Big Money (A+) - Rush doesn't really do "quiet' songs to open albums.
13. Vital Signs (A+) - I've always felt this was a peek behind the curtain, of what was coming on Signals. The next way forward.
12. Limelight (A+) - I get it, Neil. I'm right there with you...
11. Freewill (A+)

And now, onto the Top 10...

10. Subdivisions (A+) - No matter what age you are (or admit to),  or where you came from, we can all relate to this one. The intro keyboards are still killer.
9. Fly By Night (A+) - Striking out on your own, in a new direction in life. Try it at least once. This one I CAN play, at least the intro and verses.
8. The Spirit Of Radio (A+) - Anthem. If you don't smile and sing along (especially if it's on the radio) you need to be checked for a heartbeat.
7. Caravan (A+) - After tepid and mediocre albums in Vapor Trails and Snakes & Arrows, this song finally dragged me out of the Dark Times of the hiatus. This one said to me loudly and proudly that Rush. Was. BACK.
6. Manhattan Project (A+) - The trifecta - history, aviation, and the music of Rush came together and just fascinated me. I think my best friend got irritated with me for wanting to hear this song so often.
5. The Analog Kid (A+) - Rush does punk? Hell yes! I've always loved the energy in this song. The two double time hooks right after "the music of the spheres" snagged me and never let go. I'm still looking for that dance with the faun eyes and sun-brown legs...
4. Cygnus X1 Bk 2: Hemispheres (A+) - When I first got into Rush, this was one of the main songs that hooked me. Again, back to the infamous mix-tapes, I had both books leading directly one into the second. Their best one-side, one-song progger. Fight me if you disagree. :D
3. La Villa Strangiato (A+) - Tag-teamed with #4 to blow me away. Wow. What else can I say but Alex needed to have more bad dreams if this was the result.

And now, for the Top 2. Drum-roll please! (Actually, feel free to watch/listen to one of Neil's drum solos. I might suggest a classic at the top of it's game - The Rhythm Method off A Show Of Hands. Go ahead, I'll wait.)
(Worth it, wasn't it?)

2. YYZ (A+) - Another blend of Rush's music with aviation (and I didn't even know the story behind the song at the time). These guys just got me. I've air guitar-ed (and air bass-ed and air drummed) to this one forever it seems like.
1. Red Barchetta (A+) - Wow. The Big Kahuna of them All. This song is just such a cinematic experience. The opening harmonics played by Alex (so easy once I learned it, and still so damned fun to play). The lyrics and the story. All of the dynamics of the shifting sounds and time signatures. It's a complete tale, beginning, middle, and end. It's about flaunting the law and sticking it to The Man. My favorite "as-fast-as-I-dare" driving song (especially paired back-to-back with YYZ). I've made so many Sunday drives over the last few years with this one cranked up enough to rattle my windows. If I ever sat down and made a a soundtrack to a speeding ticket, this is Track 1.

And... that's it, folks. Like I said up top, your mileage may vary. Some songs change positions depending on my mood, but that's my definitive list. For the moment anyway, or until Geddy, Neil, and Alex gift us with another studio album. Thanks for going on this journey with me. If you've read this to the end,

You. Rock.

Part 3 of "The List"                                           Part 2 of "The List"

Rush Song List Countdown (Part 2)

Recapping:
"Recently on twitter, I was challenged to list my top 10 songs by the band Rush. Rush is, of course, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart- three musical geniuses who have kept the same line-up intact for over 40 years. If you're a fan of this band, even a casual one, you know this was not an easy list to compile. This got me to thinking - where would I rank all of their original studio songs?

So, I sat down and listed all of their original studio recordings (no live albums, no cover songs), and proceeded to rank them all. All 19 original albums worth. First, I took the list and graded each from "A+" to "D-". This broke a stellar body of work into more manageable chunks- sort of. C and D-list Rush songs are still better than most others bands A-game, but that's just my opinion. Then I could start my list with "A+" grades - rank those, then move down to "A", "A-", etc.

After much gnashing of teeth, pulling out of hair, and re-listening to much of the catalog in question (I've really suffered to put this post together, heh), here is my list, with selected commentary. As always, your mileage may vary."

The Top 165 Rush Songs Of All Time

(Part 2 of "The List") 

110. "Secret Touch" (B) 

109. "Heresy" (B)

108. "Face Up" (B)

107. "Need Some Love" (B)

106. "High Water" (B)

105. "Driven" (B)

104. "Bravado" (B)

103. "Emotion Detector" (B)

102. "Afterimage" (B)

101. "Something For Nothing" (B)

100. "One Little Victory" (B)

99. "Scars" (B)

98. "Open Secrets" (B)

97. "Lakeside Park"(B)

96. "The Twilight Zone" (B)

95. "Kid Gloves" (B)

94. "Cut To The Chase" (B)

93. "Resist" (B)

92. "You Bet Your Life" (B)

91. "War Paint" (B)

90. "Second Nature" (B)

89. "The Camera Eye" (B)

88. "Finding My Way" (B)

87. "New World Man" (B)

86. "Digital Man" (B)

85. "Wish Them Well" (B+)

84. "The Wreckers" (B+)

83. "Seven Cities Of Gold" (B+)

82. "The Anarchist" (B+)

81. "Different Strings" (B+)

80. "Entre Nous" (B+) -- I always forget how awesome this song is until I come back and listen to it again. 

79. "Think I'm Going Bald" (B+)

78. "Totem" (B+)

77. "Limbo" (B+)

76. "Red Lenses" (B+)

75. "Circumstances" (B+)

74. "The Fountain Of Lamneth" (B+)

73. "Making Memories" (B+)

72. "Clockwork Angels" (B+)

71. "Ghost Rider" (B+)

70. "Middletown Dreams" (B+)

69. "Grand Designs" (B+)

68. "Ghost Of A Chance" (B+)

67. "The Pass" (B+)

66. "Faithless" (B+)

65. "Animate" (B+)

64. "Hand Over Fist" (B+) -- It took me several years before I really started getting into most of Presto. I remember listening to "Show Don't Tell" then the rest of side one of the cassette, flipping it over to side two (remember that?), and "Superconductor" came on, and thinking "Yes! Finally something that rocks!"

63. "Time Stand Still" (B+)

62. "Nobody's Hero" (B+)

61. "Between The Wheels" (B+)

60. "The Body Electric" (B+)

59. "The Enemy Within" (B+)  -- The highest ranking portion of the four parts of the Trilogy Of Fear. 

58. "Virtuality" (B+)

57. "Dog Years" (B+)
56. "Cold Fire" (B+)

 

Part 3 of "The List"                                                 Part 1 of "The List"

To Be Concluded...

Rush Song List Countdown (Part 3)

Recently on twitter, I was challenged to list my top 10 songs by the band Rush. Rush is, of course, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart- three musical geniuses who have kept the same line-up intact for over 40 years. If you're a fan of this band, even a casual one, you know this was not an easy list to compile. This got me to thinking - where would I rank all of their original studio songs?

So, I sat down and listed all of their original studio recordings (no live albums, no cover songs), and proceeded to rank them all. All 19 original albums worth. First, I took the list and graded each from "A+" to "D-". This broke a stellar body of work into more manageable chunks- sort of. C and D-list Rush songs are still better than most others bands A-game, but that's just my opinion. Then I could start my list with "A+" grades - rank those, then move down to "A", "A-", etc.

After much gnashing of teeth, pulling out of hair, and re-listening to much of the catalog in question (I've really suffered to put this post together, heh), here is my list, with selected commentary. As always, your mileage may vary.

The Top 165 Rush Songs Of All Time

(Part 3 of "The List")

165. "Mystic Rhythms" (D-) -- Nearly 30 years of listening and I just don't dig this song. Sorry, I've tried. 

164. "Witch Hunt" (D) -- This is an auto skip for me.

163. "Tears" (D)

162. "Jacob's Ladder" (D)

161. "Peaceable Kingdom" (C-)

160. "Here Again" (C-)

159. "Rivendell" (C-)

158. "Good News First" (C-)

157. "BU2B2" (C)

156. "Madrigal" (C)

155. "Take A Friend" (C)

154. "Nocturne" (C)

153. "Spindrift" (C)

152. "What You're Doing" (C)

151. "The Weapon" (C)

150. "Sweet Miracle" (C)

149. "Vapor Trail" (C)

148. "Out Of The Cradle" (C)

147. "Armor And Sword" (C)

146. "Bravest Face" (C)

145. "Ceiling Unlimited" (C)

144. "The Stars Look Down" (C) -- As you may have guessed by now, "Vapor Trails" and "Snakes & Arrows" aren't doing too well on this list. Neither of these albums really grabbed me.

143. "The Main Monkey Business" (C)

142. "The Way The Wind Blows" (C)

141. "Tai Shan" (C)

140. "Speed Of Love" (C)

139. "Working Man" (C)

138. "In The End" (C)

137. "Freeze" (C+)

136. "Time And Motion" (C+)

135. "The Necromancer" (B-)

134. "Halo Effect" (B-)

133. "The Garden" (B-)

132. "Malignant Narcissism" (B-)

131. "The Color Of Right" (B-)

130. "Earthshine" (B-)

129. "Half The World" (B-)

128. "Anagram (For Mongo)" (B-) -- Can anyone tell me what this anagram ACTUALLY is?

127. "Chain Lightning" (B-)
126. "Lock And Key" (B-)

125. "Xanadu" (B-) -- Controversial opinion time!! This may upset some of twitter's #Rushfamily, but I think I would like this song more and it would work better (to me) as an instrumental.

124. "Chemistry" (B-)

123. "Before And After" (B-)

122. "A Passage To Bangkok" (B-) 

121. "Bu2B" (B)

120. "We Hold On" (B)

119. "The Larger Bowl" (B)

118. "Carnies" (B)

117. "Hope" (B)

116. "How It Is" (B)

115. "Workin' Them Angels" (B)

114. "Carve Away The Stone" (B)

113. "Neurotica" (B)

112. "Between Sun And Moon" (B)

111. "The Big Wheel" (B)

Part 2 of "The List" 

To Be Continued...

Get It Together Blog Hop

Welcome to my little stop on the Get It Together Blog Hop!  

For my post, I thought I'd revisit something I wrote a few years back about self-referencing guides and had originally titled "Your Organization Is Touching My Chaos!" 

Getting It Together (So You Don't Have To Remember It All)

Continuity is a bug-a-boo of mine in a novel series. Be consistent with your history & descriptions of a particular character or place or event. This is something I strive for in my writing, especially in the large series I am working on. If an author chooses to change a character's description, change hair color or the like, I can accept that.- provided there is an explanation for the change in the books. Don't make him sandy blond in one book, and have him dark haired two books later, without giving a reason why.

TV shows and lesser movies often give no thought to continuity. This bothers me, but not nearly as it does in print. I've seen good and bad examples of continuity in published print.

The Bad: I once read a book (which suffered severely from bad editing, or none at all. Really, it was a train wreck) where the dog's name changed completely from one paragraph to the next. Not two dogs. One dog. Two names in two successive paragraphs. I keep this book as an example of what NOT to have printed with my name on the cover.

The Good: The various Star Wars novels that have come out over the last twenty+ years (well over a hundred, closer to two hundred) have shared an amazing consistency, given the fact that they are written by dozens of authors. Added to that are the 6+ movies, the tv series, and the video games the individual units of LucasFilms has released, it becomes an even more impressive feat.

I've seen problems in my own writing. When you've got parts of a dozen different novels (or more, I lost count), plus several short stories floating around that are all in the same shared universe (and across a large span of time) it gets to be too cumbersome to keep everything in your head AND keep it straight. I have one alien species that I kept flip-flopping the ending of the species name from -in to -inian. Planet names that were written -ax in one piece, -axia in another.

I don't have George Lucas' money to hire my own continuity editing staff. Yet. Until then, I have to do it the hard way- myself! To combat this, I started a document to track all the references, characters, ship names, locations, ect that were going into my series. This isn't an entirely new idea, other writers no doubt do the same, with character bibles, three-ring binders, and whatnot. I call mine a compendium, and I went a little more thorough with mine.

I included things like a list of sector names (important because I give a header block for each new chapter giving the location, ship name the characters may be on, ect), a time-line of the major events so I can keep the history straight, and a reference guide for me to remind myself which projects use a given character, or reference. I broke all my references down into alphabetical order for easier searching. Here's an example page from the X-Corps Compendium:

Rhinocerosi

A genetically engineered species. Rhinocerosi were two meters tall, bipedal and weighed approximately one ton each. Jailen Devorax took a rhinoceros DNA sample from ancient Terra, and had the DNA manipulated to grow himself a private body guard force. (RP)

Rowantree, Captain Rosina

Captain of the Starcorp vessel Starcorp Merchant. Barely 1.5 meters tall, with mousy brown hair tied up in an efficient if not exactly inventive bun, Rowantree had been moved over from the Starcorp Accountant fleet to command of the Starcorp Merchant shortly before the ship was raided by the Chorros de Corazón. (TAH)

RP Freight Line­

Render Paxon’s independent freight company. (RP)

- S -

Sánchez, Captain Ramón Juan Álvarez de la Vega

Captain of the privateer ship Chorros de Corazón. He was of Portuguese descent, with a darkly tanned skin that was a genetic gift from his ancient ancestors. He wore a goatee beard and a short pony tail of jet black hair that gave him a rakish, almost piratical air. A practical man, Sánchez operated on the principal that you never ruin that which you can raid again in the future. A stern but fair authority figure, Sánchez played no favorites and accepted no shirkers among his crew. (TAH)

Sanchez, House

Sanchez was the second smallest of the surviving houses to form from DrummondCo. Sanchez was named for Juan Raul Julio Sanchez, the head of the marketing division. House colors were white and orange. During Operation Telegraph the house was one of the major alliance members, pushing their spin-ward border well into former House Merker space, adding several systems to house control. (HSPP1,6,7)

Schwecshheimmer, Fregattenkapitän Fritz “Quicksilver”

Commanding officer of the Merker Navy aerospace fighter squadron Hell Hounds on board the carrier Cerberus during the first two years of the Fourth Border War between Merker and Donov. Fritz was killed in an ambush during a Merker attack on an unmanned border observation post in an uninhabited system. (HSPP1)

I broke it down this way: Entries are alphabetical (by last names for characters). Ship names are alphabetical by the name of the ship, omitting 'The' from a title. The (parenthetical) bit at the end of the entry is my project reference code, so I can track and update references. Some entries appear in more than one project. For example, House Sanchez is mentioned in books 1, 6, and 7 of the Hunt Starfire series.

I started this document for my own self-reference. It's grown into a document over12,000(!) words long at the moment. I'm sure that by the time I get all of these projects written, and hopefully published, the Compendium will be the size of a novel itself!

If you're deep into world building, or are writing a long series, organizing your references is a tremendous help.

Be sure to check out all of today's other Blog Hop authors as well!

Shari Slade --- "Hold On Loosely"

Julia Kelly --- "Getting It Together with Workflowy."

Karen Booth

Rebecca Grace Allen

Jodie Griffin --- "When You’re More Organ-ISH-ed Than Organized"

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How To Successfully Gaine Me As A Follower 3.0

I originally posted this blog back on July 22, 2011, updated on Sept 22, 2011 and it's time to update my list of Do's and Don'ts again.

 

How To Successfully Gain Me As A Follower

I'm noticing an annoying trend on twitter. Maybe it's new, or maybe I've just now noticed it.

New followers who are spectacularly failing to receive my follow back.

Maybe it's you. Sometimes, it's me. I might not see a connection between us that you do. Or the way you tweet is incompatible with my way of doing things. It happens. I'm not saying my way is better than yours (I think it is, otherwise...) What follows is a primer into my "Follow Back " thought process.

This isn't going to be a rant. Think of it as a handy set of guidelines to tweet by. :)

I use Hootsuite to tweet with. On the profile page for a tweeter it gives me the option to look back through the last several tweets you've sent. After your initial profile in 200 characters or less, this is one of the major decision criteria I use for follow/no follow decisions.

It's not hard people. Seriously.

Do:

• Be interesting - If all you tweet about is the ducks you fed at the pond, I'm probably not the follower you want. Ducks can be interesting (And sometimes even tasty!), but if you're just ducks 24/7/365, I'm going to go load my blocking gun. As I'm writing this, @JStevenYork just shared a fascinating youtube video with his followers about the design of the lunar rover, and how it fit into an empty 5ft tall x 5ft wide x 5ft deep wedge-shaped storage space on the lunar lander. THAT is being interesting, folks.

• Be relevant to me - Okay, this one you CAN'T control, but it's really not too hard. I have lots of interests, you'll probably fit in one of them if you try. Just look at my log line for the blog for inspiration.

• Interact with your followers - Put the SOCIAL in Social media. If you aren't talking to people, you're not being interesting to me, and probably less relevant.

Don't:

• Be a spammer - You're just asking to get blocked and reported.

• Be a link whore - You links might be interesting, maybe even useful, but I'm not going to follow you. Obsessive re-tweeters fall into this category too. If all you do is RT, you aren't being "You".

• Fill your tweets with quotes of famous people - If all your tweets consist of these, you're not going to have me following you. 

• Don't have more than half your profile  filled with pictogram symbols. Seriously, I'm not going to spend the time to decipher what you are trying to mean by No.7 or a music note. If I wanted to spend my time deciphering symbols, I'd take up the study of hieroglyphics. Sure, it might mean you like music, but that tells me nothing about what KINDS of music.

• Don't spend over a month on twitter and have only 3 re-tweets to show for it. You aren't being social, which is the point of "Social Media". That's a #TwitterFail to me.

Updated Updates:

• Do share a common language with me. I'm one of those lazy/dumb/ignorant Americans who only speaks/reads one language, English.  If you only tweet in Cyrillic, or Turkish, or Swahili, we have no way to interact and I'm 99.999978% not going to follow you back.

• Don't squat on the soapbox. If all you do is harp on your position on a topic (for or against) all the time, me following you? Yeah, not happening. (See above, related to the Ducks)

See? Simple dos and don'ts. Follow them, and I'm more than likely going to follow you back.

Any tips for separating the wheat from the chaff? Feel free to share them!

Survive & Thrive During NaNoWriMo

Last time out I gave you tips on prepping for NaNoWriMo. This time, I thought I'd share a few things to help survive and thrive during NaNo.

Instant Gratification

Take a chocolate bar (doesn't have to be a chocolate bar,  can be any snack/treat/whatever you want- raisins, grapes, beer-nuts, whatever. I'm using choc bars in this example, and it's transferable to groups of other items) and break the bar up into it's individual pieces. A Hershey's breaks up to 12 pieces. Set a words written goal for each piece, and when you reach that goal, eat one piece. 200 words/piece x 12 pieces = 2400 words written, 1 chocolate bar enjoyed, and almost a day and a half worth of NaNo words done! If you can maintain the discipline, it's amazing how fast your word count will jump up.

Go To War

Don't be scared to go to war with someone. Word war, that is. Word wars are a set time period of concentrated writing, and another great way to increase your production. Word wars might last for 5 or 10 mins, or an hour. These are a staple of write-ins. If you can't get to a write-in, look at the forums. Someone is always looking for a friendly fight. Check out twitter too. There are lots of word war hast tags floating around. #1k1h is a popular one year round.

Note Pads - Your New AMEX Card

In other words - "Don't leave home without it". Plot bunnies can strike at ANY TIME. A sticky note doesn't seem like much, but, according to Twitter's own @RebeccaEnzor you can plot out whole scenes on them.

Blocking Out

Another benefit of word wars is they let your gauge your writing speed. This is a handy piece of information to have when you're trying to schedule writing time. Myself, I'm an 800-1000 word/hr typist, so I know I need to block out about 2 hours to get my 1667 in for a day.
And if you can't sit and write your entire daily word count in one sitting? Don't. Break it up into blocks of time and/or words. @LianaBrooks suggests 800 word sprints. Two of these (and a few sentences more) and you have your 1667 for the day. A third sprint gets you ahead. (remember, hoard words like Smaug does gold!) Liana also suggested plotting out a scene or two, then go write them! Rinse and repeat as needed.

Rock Out

Music helps lots of writers to block out the noisy distractions of daily life. Some use it as mood music for a particular scene/chapter on which they happen to be working. Some writers swear by music, others disdain it as a distraction in and of itself. Experiment. Maybe something will work for you and help you slip into the writing zone. Just don't get caught writing your biker bar fight scene while singing out loud in public along with "Call Me Maybe". #Embarrassing

Quick Characters

The plot bunny ninjas have struck and left you a bleeding mess with a new character to shoehorn into your novel. "But wait!" you cry. "I don't have time to create a new character!" Don't despair. @jroseallister offers up this tip: Do an online birth natal chart and poof! detailed personality traits.

Myself, when writing in a genre with a strong RPG community, I like to use character generation techniques from an appropriate set of game books, and just strip out any game-specific items. If I'm writing up a sci-fi space pilot, I might use Star Wars RPG books to generate a character, and leave out anything to do with The Force, or Alderaan or X-wing fighters, substituting in anything appropriate and specific to my novel's setting.

Miscellaneous Tips

(These may complement/contradict other pieces of advice)
-- Turning off WiFi. (@zombieirishgirl)
-- Lots of tea/coffee/caffeine. (@zombieirishgirl)
-- Writing alone. (@zombieirishgirl)
-- Team up with a writing buddy and cheer/challenge each other onward. (@kitcampbell)
-- Buy a chocolate advent calender and for every day you make goal, you get to have a chocolate. (@clraven)
-- Sit there and gut it out. Don't get up until you finish word count. (@jroseallister)

If you're doing NaNo this year, leave your WriMo id in the comments and add me as a buddy (wrytersblock) and we can push/pull/poke/prod/drag/cajole each other along!