I felt like trying my hand at the “6 Word Story”…
- Sighted griffin inspires new army creation.
- “Never again!” she said, then shot.
- Broken heart, cured at gun point.
- Playing minecraft. Can’t stop. So HUNGRY!
6 word stories
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Around the Web
A lot has been happening this month. Penguin is pushing Authors Solution. Amazon is discouraging free book sites. And interviews all over the place! Here is a look at what’s been going on around the web.
Amazon HEAVILY discouraging websites that focus on free books. (The guys over at SPP are probably going to be talking about this on the next episode, so keep an eye out for that.
Tips on recovering from Writers Burnout
Penguins Solution for Writers: One Racket to Rule Them All (I liked that title too much to paraphrase.)
60 Years of interviews with authors from The Paris Review
We had the review scam a few weeks ago, now authors are paying for their spot on the best seller list.
Breaking Dawn, Part 2 wins 7 Razzie Awards
Barns and Noble may cut back on Nooks and some more about that from NY Times.
The internet is kickstarting a teen poetry revolution.
Shut the *** up and Create, an article by one of my favorite new authors. (Language)
Taking a Stand
One of the problems with writing is the wear and tear on your body. Of course the idea that sitting down at a keyboard and typing is bad for your health is actually counter intuitive.
Now we know about repetitive motion disorder, carpel tunnel, and similar issues. We know that slouching can hurt your back, and there are even articles that people who sit down a lot at work die sooner. Diet and exercise? Sure, in between the 30,000 words I’m trying to crank out just this month.
They have standing desks available, but they cost a $2-300, more if you want something nice. Even worse, you already have a desk that you then have to get rid of. And if you want to stand for some things and sit for others… You can get cheap ones for $30, but the good ones cost more. The best option, a tred-desk that keeps you walking while you type, can be $3000.
Today my legs were killing me just from sitting down too much over the last few weeks. I’ve been writing a lot (a lot for me, of course) and I don’t have the luxury of a standing desk. I decided to find a solution to it today. Something, anything, free so that I could just stand up while I was editing.
My solution:
I bought an old secretary from the thrift store when I moved into my apartment. The cord on the monitor was the perfect length to put it on top of the desk. Then two boxes to set keyboard and mouse on… simple solution. Free.
My legs don’t hurt as much today. I keep moving, walking back and forth, getting water, or dancing to my favorite song, and it feels so much better after just a day.
And my writing is going so much better because I’m not stopping every few minutes just to get up and stretch. I can just keep going. And I’m not distracted by games, because it wouldn’t be very easy to play them this way. Much easier just to write and edit.
Best of all, when I want to sit down and play a game I just move the boxes and the monitor back in place and get to the games.
So I have a convertible standing desk that makes me feel better, and more productive, which I paid nothing. Ya, Good day.
Stats
I happen to love numbers. And anyone who has watched some videos from vihart might understand why numbers are so fascinating. They can draw pictures, tell you stories, and draw a world on a flat surface. Music is math! Art is geometry. Words are symphonies played out with the written language.
One thing I learned from NaNoWriMo is that I love to watch the numbers going up. I love to see how much I wrote each day, and try to beat the number from the day before… or at least writing more each day.
I started keeping my own set of numbers to help me write without the help of NaNo forums, graphs and news letters.
I have a database that tracks how much I wrote on what projects (including this blog, though the blog is not added into the graph below) and I am trying to track how many hours I spend on each project each day. Reminding myself to punch in and out of the little app on my phone that charts the time isn’t always easy though since I write in 20 min spurts several times a day.
The graph shows my daily word count, with red dots for every day I skipped. Since I hate putting in those red marks I’ve actually been writing more. I even added in the blue line which is my guess (hope) of future progress upward.
Speaking of progress. “Osiren’s Tears”, which I did for NaNo, is half way through the final edit. Then I will start looking for an editor to clean up my spelling and grammar before I publish it. I still have to polish the cover, but hopefully that won’t take long.
As for “Small Bites”, I’ve decided to break it into four mini books, each with three short stories. They will be put out as 99 cent volumes, then I will put up the entire “Small Bites” book with all twelve stories for $3.99 once they are all finished.
Once I have all of these up I will feel comfortable trying KDP select and start offering a few titles for free.
Writing is a long process, but I still believe it is worth it.
Have you hugged your favorite author today?
I don’t mean literally, of course. But have you sent them a note? A tweet? A virtual high five?
One of the best things about this day and age is how easy it is to contact people and let them know how amazing you think their work is.
When I was little I read “Dragon on a Pedestal” by Piers Anthony. I absolutely fell in love with Xanth, the magic, the creatures and the puns. But when I got to the end of the book and found the authors note where he acknowledged his fans, their contributed puns, and said he answered every single fan letter that he could… As a little girl I couldn’t write to him. I didn’t have access to stamps and delivery boxes, and I had no idea where to send it.
Last year I finally wrote to him. It was an email, and I had a reply in less then a week. Something that could never be done when I was a little girl.
I follow a lot of my favorite authors on Twitter, Tumbler, blogs and goodreads. I’ve sent them quick tweets, gotten replies, and sometimes conversations. I feel like I know many of them as individuals. And it just makes me want to read their books even more.
The best way to give your favorite author an internet hug is to give them a nice review on their book so others can find them as you did.
And if you are a writer, artist, photographer, filmographer, etc. Show your fans some love, too. It can only help your career.
Vacation from the Vacation
I took a very long weekend from my day job. It was very relaxing for the first three days. I got a lot of editing done (as I was using it for a working holiday.)
And then the kids came home for the beginning of there mid winter break. And my boyfriend and I had to deal with the little flare ups that happen when three teenagers living in a small apartment, and stuck inside for much of the winter, start getting on each others nerves.
Vacation from the vacation. Such a common phrase, and I’ve used it a few times.
I find it odd that we complain so much about wanting our time to ourselves, to retire, and not have to listen to bosses, and yet many of us end up craving that time at work. To get away from family? To be productive? To have something to do? Probably a little bit of all of it. I know I love my family, but I can’t spend five days stuck in a house with them anymore.
So what is the point of a vacation if you then need a vacation from it?
I think its a great time for perspective. It’s a breather to step away from your every day life and just take it all in. Kind of like sleep is a break from the day where your brain resets and organizes the thoughts for the day.
And it is a great time to reaffirm to yourself that yes, this thing is the thing I want to do with my life. Not corporate america. Not the 9-5. But this creative endeavor that absolutely makes me feel like I have accomplished something wonderful.
Back to my corporate american job tomorrow. But I think it will be a great escape from my house, and give me something to do while I contemplate the next move with my novel.
Homonyms
Spelling. It’s been a struggle for as long as I can remember. And homonyms just make it so much worse.
Then vs Than
Site vs Sight
Effect vs Affect
And, of course: Your vs You’re
That last one I rarely mess up on because every single time I write it I say to myself “you are” to see if it fits. It’s annoying, but useful habit and nets fewer instances of grammar nazi’s attacking me on forums.
I honestly wish they would drop “than” and “affect” from the written language. If you’re talking you can tell the difference just by context. If you are reading it is the same. Having the different spelling just makes it complicated, and makes my editing take another day just hunting down every single last instance of “then” so I can double check… is this related to time, or comparing something? Can I just remove that word all together?
English, with its many homonyms and unwieldy phrases, is a horrible spellers worst nightmare. And yet… I chose to write.
I must enjoy pain.
Around the Web
A lot of things going on since the last time I posted one of these. A few articles, and several videos.
Jessica Blair, Author of 22 romance novels, is actually 89 year old war vet, Bill (Proof that pen names to hide your sex works both ways.)
Why the US internet is so slow and expensive (Vimeo) (YouTube) This is important to anyone in the US. For writers and creative types who do a great volume of work online, it matters.
6 Publishing trends that will benefit readers and writers.
148 audio podcasts from Joanna Penn
4 ways to amplify your creativity.
Making your fantasy world more relate-able.
Google+ communities for writers (Youtube) from Books and Beer
Ira Glass on Storytelling (Vimeo) (YouTube) (I might have posted this before, but I love it.)
Meeting of the Pets
My boyfriend and I rescued a california king snake the other day and brought him home. My cat has been quite curious about him ever since.
We love Winchester. He loves to be held. Often you’ll find my boyfriend and I curled up on the couch with Winchester warming up on our necks.
Everyone talks about rescuing dogs and cats, but other pets get left behind, too. Snakes, rodents, turtles, birds and lizards among them.
These pets could be let lose, but more often then not they aren’t capable of surviving on their own. For my snake… he’s a warm weather snake, and we live in a very cold region. He’d die out there.
I’m a pretty strong believer in “spay and neuter your pets” to keep fewer of them in shelters. And not buying dogs and cats from puppy farms. There are enough lonely pets that need love in the world already, not to mention genetic problems due to over/in-breeding.
Anyway, I didn’t exactly mean to be preachy today, just wanted to share my wonderful new pet with everyone.
Maybe I can do this
A while ago I posted this image of my “writing list”. It was overwhelming, to say the least. But I think I tamed the beast. After going through the list, the ideas, and the half formed plots I whittled it down to those that I actually had a fair amount of progress on, a fully functional plot, and an interesting story idea. And this is what was left over:
The ones on the left in yellow and orange are novels. Everything else is a short story, and the ones in the middle, in faded grey, are in the “to write after everything else is finished” category. Best part? See all those orange spots? Those are FINISHED! They are mostly first drafts that are complete and waiting an edit from me before I send it to an actual editor for the final edit before publishing. But… they are finished. So what does this mean?
This is me saying: I can do this. It isn’t as overwhelming as I was telling myself. And, when I am done with these, there are more stories in the well to draw from. I’m actually a little excited!
Author Crissy Moss 