After spending all weekend obsessing over creating the perfect outline for my NaNovel, I finally got around to clearing out Google Reader (I had quite the backlog. It’s just been one of those weeks.)
Interestingly enough, it was all about starts and finishes. It occurs to me that in the end, National Novel Writing Month is really about starts and finishes, too. It seemed a great way to kick off the week that contains the start of NaNoWriMo. (It’s not too late to sign up!)
Later on this week, I’ll try to compose a list of links I think are useful for any would-be novelist (especially since I can’t find the link to my favorite word count meter), but for now, enjoy these thoughts on getting started and wrapping up anything, be it a piece of writing, a presentation, anything!
Start
Finish
While I’m at it, I ought to make sure my overly loved Eric Stuart Band/Edwin McCain playlist is ready to go. (It would be nice if Mr. Stuart would actually get his new CD released, too, but that’s just my impatience talking.)
Posted by Ceara as Uncategorized at 7:48 AM EST
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I’ve been blogging for what is rapidly approaching three years now. (It might actually be four. I need to drag out the timeline to be sure…) In an interview I gave earlier this year, I was asked if I felt I’d changed as a blogger. To be honest, I’m not sure.
It’s hard to say what demonstrates growth as a blogger. I’ve definitely noticed trends in my blogging, and when I haven’t liked where a trend was leading me, I’ve changed my blogging behavior. Even now, my blogging behavior is morphing to accomodate using Performancing.
In a way, I guess that’s why this post on being a better blogger really spoke to me. The analogy is perfect, because blogging really is something of a way of life, just like practicing a sport or a musical instrument.
To become better, you have to practice, to submerse yourself in the surrounding culture and make it a part of who you are. I’m still working on that second part, but I think it’s a part of defeating my hermit behavior.
Posted by Rebecca as Resources at 8:27 AM EDT
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I’ve wondered a bit about how self-publishing differs from vanity publishing. Admittedly, I’m still trying to figure this out, but I think I like Angela Booth’s definition: The publisher should pay you, not the other way around.
I don’t know if I’m brave enough to take one of my NaNovels and clean it up enough to send off to agents to start gathering rejections (despite the fact I’ve been encouraged to do just that). I sort of think of self-publishing (with a million editing rounds) as the safer route, because then I only have to let friends and family know what I’ve done, and then it really doesn’t matter if it sells one or fewer copies because I only told people close to me about it.
I don’t think I could ever bring myself to go the vanity press route. Most of the vanity press companies I’ve seen just feel too slimy (not that all self-publishers have left me feeling confident about adding them to my list of companies to consider).
Research your options. Decide what you want to accomplish. Pick the route that permits you to get what you want.
Posted by Ceara as Uncategorized at 8:17 AM EDT
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I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the craft of writing in preparation for this big life-changing step where I try to move myself into the world of freelancing (If you’re looking for a Course Developer who specializes in k-12 and is a quick study, feel free to contact me.)
I think I’ve spent most of my life writing. I go through phases where I read my writing, realize it’s actually good and that it can’t posibly be my own work. Then, there are the days where I can’t believe how much my writing skills have gone downhill since I moved to Seattle. I still practice nearly every single day, though. You can’t have the good writing without practicing and improving the bad.
Somehow, despite how long I’ve been engaged in creative writing, I’ve managed to never learn anything about the opening page of a story until last week. It makes sense. It makes complete, rational sense. It makes me wonder how I went so long without actually knowing how to build a good first page for a story.
Without tension, creating questions for the reader, the reader has no real reason to stick around and read the rest of the story. Without some sort of engaging character, the reader won’t be drawn into the story. If the writing is at a level that is too different from the reading level of the reader, they’ll throw the book down in disgust and say any number of mean things about you as a writer (some of which may or may not be true).
It’s worth it to give a little extra love to creating your story’s opening. It’s what sets up the reader to get sucked into your piece and see it through to the very end.
Posted by Rebecca as Resources at 7:41 AM EDT
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I’m working on plotting out my NaNoWriMo project for next month, as some of my friends are. One of them has been at it for months now, and it’s been interesting to watch. One of the characters, a woman a little younger and a lot cooler than I am (who was somewhat named after one of my nicknames), even has her own online journal.
I had to laugh the other day when she started responding to my own journal. At first, we all thought her writer had simply forgotten to switch back to his own account, but it turns out that he’s working on finding her voice by taking her out for a spin in the real world.
It’s not the worst idea. Characters should be people who could exist in the real world; this is what makes them endearing.
Not long after Deb started commenting, I came across an article on dealing with difficult people. It was interesting, because I realized that a writer could easily apply this technique when working on their manuscripts. Get inside the head of a character. Address the situation from inside the character’s head. If you’ve done your job well, your character has a different worldview than you.
Posted by Ceara as Uncategorized at 8:29 AM EDT
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We all have our favorite ways to write. For me, I work best streched out over a spiral notebook, a mechanical pencil in my hand. I’ve done some rather accidental research on this and come to the inescapable conclusion that this really is the best way for me to work!
Most of the time, though, I do all my writing and editing on my laptop (ironically named Shigure). How I do it is even funnier.
- I use EverNote as a dumping ground for ideas, notes, lines, quotes, character sketches, worldbuilding notes, etc.
- I use RoughDraft to create my drafts (It’s all about the Pad!)
- I use OpenOffice for all of my editing.
Before I had OpenOffice, I used to try to edit in RoughDraft, but my mind was too focused on trying to write and rewrite. No real editing was going on in my work.
It was when I started editing for others that I discovered I was more open to doing serious editing in OpenOffice. For some reason, my brain just needs that break, that division.
But I’m still happy with my army of spiral notebooks!
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized at 7:39 AM EDT
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I’ve been exploring the concept of feminism over the past mopnth or so after running into a modern, non-militant feminist who saw me as a fellow modern, non-militant feminist and was surprised to see that I don’t see myself that way. In fact, she was upset that I very clearly practiced the values of modern feminism while simultaneously distancing myself from any form of feminism.
IN my studies, I came across such great reads as Girls Read Comics and information on heroines in fantasy novels. My reading interests have mostly been science fiction and fantasy for most of my life. I’ve been compared to Honor Harrington more times than I can count. I can think of some wonderfully strong female characters.
I never really stopped to think about what that meant until I started looking through a deliberately feminist lens.
Now I’m planning for National Novel Writing Month next month, and I was seriously thinking about doing some sort of character study on the modern woman in the hero’s journey. I’ve sketched out a few ideas on this, all of which would fall flat in light of many of the feminist arguments.
The simple fact of the matter is: it’s hard to conceive a strong, spirited woman without dulling some of her compassion. Trying to picture the death section of her journey is challenging. I’ve tried framing it as “well, how do guys do it” and then by framing it within my life, because most people would argue that I’m not motivated by what “typical girls” are. (I often feel like I’m Catherine Watson from Mona Lisa Smile when people say that to me with a sugary or apologetic smile on their face.)
It’s an interesting idea, a deluge of potentially great ideas. But I’m almost thinking I want to spend the next year engaging literature from the feminist frmae of mind and doing some research, and thern attempt this novel idea next year.
Posted by Ceara as Uncategorized at 8:27 AM EDT
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You may have noticed that Ceara and I are both wrestling with web writing issues recently. We’re both trying to improve the quality of writing around here (perhaps a bit unsuccessfully).
The most important thing to remember when writing for the web is to keep everything simple. It’s thought that the reading level of the average citizen in this country is right around the sixth grade. That’s roughly eleven years old. Think about the type of things you read when you were eleven, and write around that level.
This isn’t to say you can’t write for a higher reading level; just be prepared to lose part of your audience as they’re digging out their dictionaries, or just not bothering.
The next important thing to remember when writing for the web is to write useful content. What do you want the visitor to take away with them? Are you offering advice? Are you entertaining? Think about your purpose and audience, and then write for them!
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized at 8:17 AM EDT
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I’m trying to learn more about writing- writing for the web, technical writing.
I guess it’s fair to say I’m trying to improve on skills I already have. So far, the most repeated piece of information, which makes it probably the most important, is: Use small, non-technical words.
It’s been shared with me most often as, “Don’t use SAT words.” I can’t help myself, though. My normal vocabulary consists of these “SAT Words”, and I’m having to fight to bring it down to a level most would consider normal. I’ll admit it, it’s painful. Tossing out beautiful words that can impart so much more than a phrase, all for readbility’s sake.
Of course, when I need those SAT words, I’m finding myself at a loss. Somehow, there needs to be a middle ground, a slider of sorts where I can just mentally adjust my vocabulary to the level I need.
I’ve also been told to keep it simple in terms of phrasing. This isn’t something I normally wrestle with, but when you hear it and read it several times, you add it to the mental checklist. You want to keep your writing accessible to your audience. A sincere desire to educate, to raise the bar and challenge your audience, can actually do more harm than good, especially in this age where everyone feels pressed for time with information bombarding them from every direction.
Posted by Ceara as Resources at 8:10 AM EDT
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