Tag: Tools

  • Wiley Wednesday: A Useful Tool

    After taking a creative writing class last quarter, I was introduced to an interesting website that I think many people will find helpful.

    It’s called Duotrope’s Digest.

    It’s free to sign up and you can essentially shop around your story for mainly online publications, I think. It allows you to shop by genre (really specific genres, too). You can also track your submissions, when you submit, where and when you get a reply (you, of course, have to input that all yourself). It also gives you details on the publication, such as when/how often they publish, their acceptance to rejection ratio, what type of stories they accept and average length of stories they publish.

    I think it’s very useful for the aspiring writer. And someone could probably just use it to find stories within a specific genre they enjoy using the search tools, as well.

  • Wiley Wednesday: Music and Editing

    Getting Back In the Mood

    I’ve been working on editing my first book, which comes out later this year from Samhain Publishing. I wrote it with my coauthor, Rachel Wilder. While we work together extensively, when I’m at my keyboard working on edits it’s usually by myself. Since we wrote Burning Bright last year, we’ve developed two new series in very different universes, as well as wrote more material in the Burning Bright universe but with other characters. So how do I recapture the mood I was in when first writing Burning Bright?

    One of the ways, obviously, is to re-read the manuscript. But since the first draft was 87,000 words, that’s not the fastest method. Add to that the fact that we’re required to do multiple content edits (three in this case, since it was our first time with this editor), re-reading the manuscript doesn’t help me capture the mood I need so that I know what to cut from the manuscript.

    To solve that problem, I use music. I develop specific playlists for novels and series, targeted to the specific characters and the world we’ve created. While I sometimes use the music my husband and I own in our library, I find Pandora online radio to be exceedingly valuable because it will develop “stations” based on artists or songs, and then give back songs that are related to it – but that I may not (and quite probably don’t) have in my library.

    Which makes it like a stranger’s library.

    In other words, it is like my character is a separate person from me, and I’m listening to their music choices. I don’t have to make them up, because Pandora does it for me.

    How do you do this? Visit the Pandora website. You can either set up a free account (which is all I have at the moment), or you can subscribe to Pandora One for $36 USD a year. If you decide to use the free version, you can listen, with ads, for 40 hours a month. When you hit about 35 hours, it will tell you that you’re approaching the limit and offer to upgrade you, or tell you that your free time is over until the next month begins.

    Unfortunately, I don’t believe the service works outside the U.S. (a fellow writer in Canada said she’s not able to access it), because of the record company’s strict licensing requirements. (Too strict, in my opinion.) But if you are in the states, you can sign up and develop stations based on particular artists or songs – and their mix is VERY eclectic. It’s not just mainstream music.

    If you don’t have access to Pandora, then iTunes Genius does the same thing, using similar technology. It will use music you already own, or suggest stuff to buy, which is why I don’t use it (I don’t have extra music money in my budget for this, which is why I like the free Pandora service).

    Are there other music services out there that you like? Other ways you use music in your writing? Tell me in the comments, I’d love to hear!

  • Wiley Wednesday: A Tool to Tame Entropy

    Someone reminded me recently, entropy is the natural state of things. It’s the state toward which things are inclined, so it is, in fact, inevitable. Thus, taking from the old standby, the Serenity Prayer, we know that we need the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

    Assuming we can apply that wisdom, and have figured out which things we can’t change, what about those things that entropy affects but that we CAN change? What do we do then?

    It’s a factor of modern life that things have sped up beyond all reasonableness. Sometimes I think this is due, in part, to the ubiquitousness of computers and the internet – in fact, it’s hard to remember that it’s not even half the population of the world who has regular access to broadband! So, I guess I should say that in the small corner of my world, which is so all-encompassing to me and seems to reach to the horizon in every direction, what tools can help further productivity when the task list stretches off the desk and the clock points to fifteen-minutes-to-zero?

    First, focus during entropy is critical. Our own ability to laser-think is underrated, but powerful. Like the force contained in two atoms that is released during fusion, when they are brought together, our laser thinking can bring us in alignment with our goals and actually bring those goals to actuality. Unlike fission, which provides energy by ripping things apart, laser thinking can bring order to the chaos that entropy creates.

    While all of that is easy to write, it’s sometimes nearly impossible to put into practice. I’ve ruminated in these pages during prior Wileys about productivity tools, so the calmer, more focused tools have been discussed. But what do we do when the… well, it hits the fan? We can’t stop and breathe, we can’t take thirty minutes to do pages, we can’t run around the block? We all have those moments when we must sink or swim and we really don’t feel like breathing underwater, thank you.

    What then?

    I use a tool I came across from Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics. She suggested using what she called a “Spatter Pad” to ‘bucket’ all the tasks that you need, want, or think you should do. I use it at work as a sort of chronological running journal of stuff that comes at me. Some days, it’s one page and very neatly-written (i.e., legible to someone other than a specialist in dead languages and cuneiform). Other days, it would make a surgeon laugh and squint.

    But the point is not pretty, the point is productivity.

    The spatter pad is literally all the day’s thoughts, spattered on the page like a Jackson Pollack painting. Can you do that lunch order? Did you get the car for my trip tomorrow? I need the figures for the Jackson Pollack family estate. Where’s the performance for Tim’s book? Did I do the passport renewal forms? Do we have eggs? What do I get my grandmother for her birthday in – gasp – a week – AND she’s out of state, so I need to send it by tomorrow or pay through the nose for Fedex…

    All of that goes on the pad. That way, when the calmer times do come (and let’s face it, if you have time to surf the ‘net for news of the weird, you have time to sort out your spatters), you haven’t lost anything.
    And THEN, you can impress your friends and confound your enemies, because you’ll gain a reputation as someone who forgets nothing. “How do you get all that done?”

    Thank you, Spatter Pad. You make me look good.

    Now, do we have eggs at home? And when is Mom-Mom’s birthday? o.O…

  • Wiley Wednesday for the Technically Impaired

    Never having taken a computer course in my life, I am picking up oddball tips and tricks every day. Many are thanks to kindly folks I’ve come to know online.

    Others, like the one I found yesterday, have simply been dumb luck. Regardless of the learning process, these lessons are invaluable as I gradually switch from scribbling in notebooks to taking raw ideas straight to the keyboard.

    I’ll warn you computer savvy folks that this procedure is probably nothing special. You might laugh and shake your head. I’ve decided that whether my simplicity gives you a chuckle or this message saves you bundles of frustration, it’s worth taking time to share.

    My new discovery occurred when I plugged in my thumb drive to retrieve the latest version of a story. Instead of just thoughtlessly overwriting the file, I used “Save as” and selected the file from that morning. What a surprise to find additional options in the MS Word dialog box! I’m sure they’ve always been there and I never noticed. It happens with me.

    This time, I noticed. I chose “Merge changes into existing file” out of curiosity and was delighted to find all the changed text in blue. Things I had deleted were crossed out while added words showed up with underlining. Simple, yet magic to my wondering eyes.

    Right click on the blue text to either accept or decline the proscribed change! Why did it take me so long to find this? It’s easy!

    Now go write, and be sure to save your documents as you go!

  • Wiley Wednesday: Mind Mapping

    It’s my week to write a Wiley essay, and as I was planning it, it hit me: I can write a Wiley about how I write a Wiley!

    All kidding aside, there’s a very useful tool called a Mind Map that can help with anything from what topic to pick for an essay to where to go on vacation to what are the critical issues the Board of Directors needs to solve in the coming year. Let’s walk through one together!

    This is a Mind Map that I drew up this morning as an example of how to do one; it focuses on “Wiley Wednesday.” See picture, below:

    The first thing to notice is that the focus is at the center of the drawing, which starts out as a blank page. In this case, it’s “Wiley Wednesday.” When I’m writing these for actual use, I do not switch colors because it causes too much distraction from the process; I used different colors here to illustrate different trains of thought.

    The key thing, and in my opinion the most important thing, to remember about Mind Mapping is that it’s Brainstorming (I capitalize that since I’m using it in this context as a topic). Brainstorming is about idea generation, it is not about idea selection. As such, ALL ideas go into the hopper, not matter how applicable. You never know. You might throw the idea “Zombie Movie Monster Mash” into the hopper and it sparks four new, solid ideas right on its heels.

    Once you have your focus, just relax a moment and breathe.

    No, I’m not kidding. Try it before you argue with me!

    Seriously, this is a right-brain task, not a left-brain sequential one. The right-brain doesn’t think in the same way as our cognitive brain, and we need to work accordingly. By this time, you may have an idea or a glimmer of an idea. Great! Draw a line and write it down.

    The lines radiating from the focus are the main topics. The lines radiating from the topics are related to that topic. When you’re working on a topic, like “Writing” or “Productivity,” and you get an idea that fits neither one of those two subjects, draw another main line from the focus and start a new sub tree.

    You might find, like I do, that a normal letter-size piece of paper isn’t large enough. I like to use large placemats from restaurants, ledger size paper (11 inches by 17 inches), and I even have a roll of butcher paper at home that is fun to use (that’s about 36 inches wide and, well, a roll of paper. How much is there? Well, I’ve had this roll of paper since I was five, if that’s any indication, and I’ve still not used it all…)

    Once you have as many ideas as you and, if you’re playing with friends, your group can come up with in a reasonable amount of time (don’t go for more than a half hour at one sitting), you’ve got your idea hopper. And I’ll wager you have a LOT more ideas than you’ve got time, which is always a better problem to have than an expanse of blank paper and no ideas at all.

    Now go forth and Map your Mind!

  • Tired of Wiping Out Words as You Type?

    A while back I became completely frustrated with the insert key on my keyboard, particularly when editing an existing story. There is little more counterproductive than typing merrily away only to discover that it took out a bunch of other material.

    So I looked it up and finally found this magical tidbit of information. Somehow I have misplaced my file, so I owe Tech-Reciipes.com for supplying the information this go round. Anyway, here is what you do, as listed on the website:

    1. Start Microsoft Office Word (opening a document is fine)
    2. Click on the Tools menu
    3. Click Customize
    4. Click the Options tab
    5. Click Keyboard
    6. Under the Categories dropdown box, select All Commands
    7. Under the Commands dropdown box, select Overtype
    8. Under the Current keys downdown box, select Insert
    9. Click Remove
    10. Click Close until the dialog windows close.

    Voila! I hope this saves someone else some time and heartache.

    Now that I shared this trick, can anyone tell me how to shut off the grammatical symbols created by the apostrophe key? I seem to turn this function on and off at random. Today I have been ending up with things like Ïwent to the store,” she said, änd picked up those apples you like.” When what I meant to type was, “I went to the store,” she said, “and picked up those apples you like.”

    It gets annoying having to hit the space bar an extra time to avoid the Ï, ä, and the like every time. Anyone else have this problem or know the fix? Well, in the meantime I’m going to go back to my current WIP and see if I hit the right key strokes to turn this annoying “shortcut” off again. Happy writing!

  • The Power of Plurality: The Many In Support of the One

    People frequently ask me, “How do you do all that?” when they find out the irons I have in the fire. While it is true that when I was younger, I would frequently bite off more than I could chew. But it is also true that I’ve learned a lot since then and, while some might disagree with me, no longer am as subject to that foible as I once was. So, how do I do all that?

    There are two simple answers, that end up becoming complex in the telling. One is organizational and time management skills, which I was emphatically NOT born with (in case you feel, like I do, that busy people must be part magician). I went to lots of classes and read a lot of books, have tried a lot of things, and worked out what works for me. While I could write an entire essay on that subject (and, truthfully, probably a whole book or five), because I have many ideas and opinions on it, the subject I wish to discuss today concerns the second answer: I have help.

    We will now pause for those of you who wish to twit me on the fact that yes, I do need professional help.

    Moving on now. What I mean by help is, simply put, playmates. I don’t mean professional or paid help (which I do also, in select areas, utilize – but I am not wealthy, so cannot use as much outside paid assistance as I might, in my more grandiose moments, wish). I mean I find people with similar interests, and we schedule time together to do things.

    Yes, it really is that simple.

    So, what kinds of things do I work with others on?

    Pretty much anything, including housecleaning and bill paying. You know the Apple ad, “there’s an app for that?” Same thing here. If you have an interest, chances are high that there are others out there with the same interest. Now, I’m very fortunate to live in the third largest city in the United States, so that gives me about nine million potential buddies. But we also have this thing called the internet (or, for you LOL users out there, the interwebs). Don’t overlook the power of groups on the internet. I’m here to tell you that it can be a very comforting thing that another human being out there knows your trials and tribulations, even if they’re four thousand miles away.

    We have a candle making party every year, for example. It’s always the first weekend in February, and is either one or both days. This year, we’ll do two days. Paraffin candles the first, beeswax the second. We make pretty much all the candles we’ll use in the coming year during that weekend.

    What’s fascinating is this: we (the friend of mine who hosts these with me) always hope to do more than one candle weekend. But when you add in the time for prep (putting down cardboard on the floor to catch drips, wrapping the stove and counters with foil, melting the pots…) it’s a huge job. We’ve only done it one year out of the last ten. But we have done candle parties TEN years out of the past ten. Because we know people are coming, and now people know we do these and about when we do them so they ask for it, it adds power to the calendar, and ensures that we get at least one candle day a year. And now, at a remove of doing them for a decade, I actually have learned quite a lot about the process – without even taking a class!

    Now, don’t underestimate the power of classes, either – because they have the same function. The only reason I’m focusing on groups here, as in “groups of friends or acquaintances with similar interests” is that frequently, the latter do not charge whereas the former do. On the other hand, classes for which one pays might induce one to be more serious about going. It’s up to the individual.

    What else have we done in a group?

    Spiritual exploration, political discussion, parties (I’m a pot luck expert by now), hiking, walking, weight loss, sales training, lead generation for sales, house cleaning and organization, knitting and sewing (any of the handicrafts), paper arts, Pysanky (Ukranian decorated eggs), bread making, soup making, car maintenance (no kidding – changed my oil with a buddy back in the days before complex catalytic converters and computer tune-ups)…

    Even if you’re an introvert, don’t underestimate the power of people. We all have interests and skills, and others do too. It makes sense to leverage those skills. Maybe I’m great at organization and you’re great at web design. So, I’ll organize your office and files, and you design my website. Or, better yet, we teach each other our skills – synergy at its truest distillation.

    Now, what the heck does this have to do with writing?

    Well, think about it. This is a group blog.

    (The light bulb should be going off right about now.)

    ~grin~

    See? Even writing can be done in group – either an in-person one, or a “virtual” one. Schedule write-ins, prompt groups, contests, anything your little heart desires.

    There’s a group for that.

  • Flex Your Muse’s Muscles

    This is a fun exercise to do, if your muse has been slobing around and not giving you the inspiration or drive you need. It makes you keep your mind focused as you write, and still allows you to deviate as much as you desire.

    Your task is;
    Write 200 words, and
    Avoid the letter E
    Share!

    The letter E is the most used letter in the English alphabet, but there are plenty of words that don’t use it. Don’t cheat by using abbreviations, like Mr or Mrs, but you can use a thesaurus to see if you can get the word with an e-less spelling. I suggest you use the ‘search’ tool on your word processor before you share – you might be surprised at how many of the buggers slip in!

    This is my example of a lipogram;

    A dog wags its tail and you know that it’s happy. It’s not difficult to twig, a fact most of us know from birth. It is much thorny-a-thing to distinguish joy, or lack of it, in a human. What gain might follow, if our coccyx could again flag our glad moods or lash our irritations? A swift look down would grant us a hint of our companion’s thoughts: a lazy flick for dismissal; a swish of satisfaction; a low immobility of gloom –all told in a winding standard at our backs. With a tail, confusion and falling-outs would diminish though not vanish wholly. How could it, as our traits as a group is so pugnacious? A trick of a god or an additional trial for us to fail, its crisis too ambiguous and abnormal for our logic to fathom. Though without tails, humans still boast windows to our inmost thoughts – our brows may drop in angst or lift in shock; our lips may twitch and grin with laughing; our hands may play and twist with worry, and additional aids also. I am thankful for that, don’t think I’m not, but still I fancy a lissom proclamation to flourish out at my back.

    Now, if you think that was hard, Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a whole novel (over 50,000 words!) without touching the E key in February, 1939. It is approaching its 70th birthday, so I thought it should be honoured with our toasting it. If you fancy taking a look at the novel in question, it can be found here.

  • ‘On Writing—A Memoir of the Craft’

    Review of Stephen King’s ‘On Writing—A Memoir of the Craft’

    I found a copy of Stephen King’s writing guide, ‘On Writing–A Memoir of the Craft’ on my Artist’s Date to Barnes and Noble last week. After reading the foreword I was hooked. His style of writing is disarming, an every man’s voice. He states that he worked to keep this volume short because he figured that “the shorter the book, the less the bullshit” and he has kept his word. Each section of this book deals specifically with the craft of writing; the language, the storytelling and the process involved in creating with words. No extras, no fluff, no ‘bullshit’ are found here.

    The section that is most memorable to me deals with plot, or rather, the lack thereof. Many authors plot their stories out methodically on cards or in a notebook. Mr. King states that he doesn’t follow this method and gives two reasons to explain his break with literary conventions. One, the act of living is ‘plot less’, therefore; writing about life should be as well if there is any truth to be found in it. And two, plot takes away any spontaneity involved in the creation of your story. The end result seems artificial and labored.

    He believes that stories make themselves and authors just transcribe them. “Plot is, I think, the good writer’s last resort and the dullard’s first choice.” Mr. King also states, “Story is honorable and trustworthy; plot is shifty and best kept under house arrest.”

    Mr. King prefers to begin with a situation, next he adds characters, drawing them as accurately as possible. Then he narrates, letting the story tell itself and the characters do things in their own way. The outcome is sometimes close to what he imagined, but often he admits it becomes a surprise to even him. Knowing the ending isn’t necessary to begin writing, it will come naturally as part of the process of storytelling. And no story will ever be finished if it isn’t begun. He recommends you stop plotting and just write.

    He likens stories to fossils in the ground; they are found, and need to be unearthed as intact as possible. Maybe you have found a seashell of a short story, or a complete tyrannosaurus rex skeleton of a novel. Excavating each of them should include the same steps. Consider the situation, listen to what your characters are saying and doing when confronted with this predicament, then watch what happens. And, oh yes, write it down.

    Many of the writing skills I was taught in high school and college classes are not used by the successful authors of today. What a lot of time wasted in the pursuit of dated rules and style. I wish that I had read what Mr. King has to say about writing years ago. This book was well worth the price, full of information and told in an entertaining manner.

  • Planet Procrastination

    Most of us aren’t gifted with a lifestyle allowing us to pursue every whim. Most of us have jobs, families, school, and a host of other responsibilities. Most of us have . . . well, lives. But then, we also have this funny whim called writing. Or, for some, it’s a compulsion, maybe even an addiction. Or, if you prefer, rather than addiction, we could refer to it as a medicine – a balm we use to soothe, or shield, or heal ourselves. Unfortunately, as much as it feels like it, you don’t need writing like you need air. And there are often demands from those pesky real lives that take a higher priority. (Usually, heh.) It’s easy for this “hobby” to get shuffled to the back burner when real life demands our utmost attention. But when does handling your life become procrastinating at your passion?

    “There are 8,760 hours in a year. Surely you can allocate some of them to
    your writing.”
     – Dan Poynter

    For me, it’s easier and easier to make excuses not to write the longer I stay away from it. Do any of these sound familiar?

    “I don’t feel well.”
    “I’m too tired.”
    “I have ‘such and such’ to get done first.”
    “I’m not in the right headspace.”
    “My to-do list is too long.”
    “So-and-so is expecting XYZ of me.”
    “I don’t feel inspired.”
    “It’s not like I have any real deadlines.”
    “I’ll get to it later.”
    “My writing isn’t going anywhere.”

    If so, you are practicing the art of procrastination. And don’t think for a second that I’m not right there with you. I am a procrastinator of epic proportions. So, the question becomes: How do we get around this nasty habit of putting road blocks between us and our creative pursuits?

    Answer: By clearing away the excuses and MAKING them a priority.

    Not as easy as it sounds, I know. There are PLENTY of things to use to procrastinate. TV. Internet. Work. Books. Social gatherings. Chores. You name it. And ultimately, yes, you can legitimize everything you put before your creative pursuits. After all – they’re creative pursuits – they’re just gravy, right? It’s not like you have to write. No one is going to give you a bad grade, or charge you interest if you don’t. No one but . . . well, you, that is. In my observation, many of us writers have a tendency to punish ourselves for not letting our inner writer out to play, to varying degrees. And beating ourselves up just fuels the procrastination.

    So, some simple steps to kick that procrastinator in the rear and get up to the plate (or keyboard) again. Try one, try them all, or . . . well, do what you like. But please take this to heart – the most important person counting on you is you. If it makes you happy to write, if it brings you joy, a sense of wellness, peace, vitality – whatever the reason you love it – give yourself permission to make it a PRIORITY in your life. It’s important to YOU. That’s enough.

    1. Make the time. Write it on your calendar, put it in your Palm Pilot, notify your friends and family. You have an APPOINTMENT with your WIP. At a time when you’re not feeling frantic and over-worked, think about how much time you can realistically cut out of your life for writing. Then do it. If it’s an hour a day, four hours on the weekend, whatever. Just make sure you set that block of time aside and that you use it. No excuses. No interruptions. Life will be waiting for you when you’re done. I promise.

    2. Eliminate distractions. Set the book aside. Hand the kids over to parental unit #2. Turn the TV off. Unplug the internet. Leave your phone in the other room. Shut the office door. Simply don’t give yourself any excuse to dilly-dally, put-off, or avoid your appointment.

    3. Even if you don’t feel like it, do it. If you’ve set aside an hour to write and you spend that hour staring at a blank screen, so be it. You’re not procrastinating anymore. That’s a start. The words will come. In fact, they might not be what you expected at all. That’s okay too . . .

    4. Let go of your expectations and judgements. Don’t ever let yourself think your writing time is a waste of time, or that you could be getting XYZ done. Remember, this is important to you. The very first step to writing is ‘applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair’ (Mary Heaton Vorse). What you write doesn’t matter. That you are making writing a priority in your life and setting time aside to do it is the main focus here.

    So . . . there you go – a simple list of steps that I’ve put to use time and again, and often need to remind myself of. I hope you can take advantage of them too.