As a serious writer, you probably have a writing plan…but do you have a technology plan? You should. For those who aren’t sure where to start, I’ll share my own set-up with comments that might help you make decisions regarding what’s right for you.
SECURITY/ANTIVIRUS
• Microsoft Security Essentials stands up in comparison with the popular Norton and McAfee. The biggest difference is that it’s free! Keep in mind that if you install two different antivirus programs, it’s NOT double the protection. They will conflict and compete with each other and slow your computer down significantly. No matter what program you use, remember they aren’t full proof. You still need to be smart and take care where you click. This is why you need a backup plan in case you need to wipe and restore your system and files.
BACKUP PLAN: External hard drive and Reputable off-site storage
• Windows 7 allows a system image onto an external drive with one click. An external drive has limitations as a back-up of course. It could get lost, stolen, wiped, destroyed, etc.
• For $55/yr, you can store your system image on a backup site. I use Carbonite but there are plenty of great products out there. You want a program that will backup both your applications (like Word, Liquid Story Binder) and files (your documents/pictures/videos).
CLOUD COMPUTING
• This is great if you want to share documents with others. I have several collaboration projects and give folder access to specific people. The most recent document (as well as previous versions) will always be available in the “cloud.”
• Microsoft Skydrive – Get 25 GB for free
• Dropbox is good too, but only offers 2 GB for free. If you refer enough friends you can get up to 8 GB free. The only reason I have Dropbox, is because it’s used by several friends.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
• Windows Live Writer (free) is a huge timesaver for blogging. You can use it offline, organize partially written blogs, schedule them to post, etc. When you’re done, one click will post them to any site you designate – your website, Facebook, MySpace, etc.
• For Twitter and smaller posts, I just changed to HootSuite (free) and love it. First it’s web-based so you don’t need to download anything. That also allows you to access it from anywhere. Additionally, HootSuite lets you post to multiple accounts and schedule tweets.
VoIP – Voice Over IP (phone over the internet)
• Skype & Skype Recorder (free) – for chatting to anyone around the world (with voice only or with video), making audio podcasts and to record research interviews. You may want to grab a $10 headset with built in microphone to keep your hands free to type.
TRAILERS
• I’ve only tried it once, but in two hours I used Windows Movie Maker to make my first trailer for Write at Sea.
PASSWORD MANAGEMENT
• After a backup plan, if you only decide to do one other thing from this list, I recommend a password management tool. It’s ridiculous how much time it will save you from looking up user names/passwords. There are many out there, but I love using LastPass. Oh, Oh…I know I need to wrap this up but LastPass just bought a Xmarks, which saves your bookmarks for when you write/research on different computers. It’s such a great concept.
Oprah has her favorite things, and I guess these are mine! Did you notice almost all of them are free? Please don’t think that free means less quality. For the one thing that isn’t free, an off-site backup, that’s one item you can’t afford not to buy.
Please comment to share your favorite gadget or if you use/try any of these tools, I’d love to hear what you think.
All the best,
Julia Hunterwww.julia-hunter.com
Twitter: FollowJulia & CrazyCrimes
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Writing as a Refuge
I take refuge in my writing. During difficult times writing has offered me a place to lose myself, a place where I lock in and focus to the point of losing track of time. Other things effect me this way; time in the dark room developing photographs, a bike ride on a beautiful Summer day, spending time with those I love in mirthful fits of giggling, watching an amazing film. However, those things are not always available to me. Writing is accessible. It's in my house, on my computer, and in my brain.
I must admit corporate writing doesn't give me the same escape as fictional writing. Business writing has its own reward of a job well done. Knowing that your little spin on something might be the selling point that people will remember and take with them. fiction writing offers an escape to another world far away from everyday life. Of course most of the fiction I write is historic, although I do have one set in the future, I have a time travel and a Super Hero story set in contemporary times.
Of late, my current escape is revising an Amazon war story set in ancient times. Does that ever take me out of the real world, to a culture where women were expert in their horsemanship, fierce warriors able to take down Kings. There will be no moment when one of my Amazon characters has to balance a checkbook, fill out a timesheet, call to make an appointment, or have a run in their hose. No, my amazons are occupied in a battle that will offer protection to their future generations. They are dashingly confident, intelligent, cunning, resourceful, and wise. Their culture is rich in stories and rites. They own themselves and belong to their ancestors and their destinies.
So, that is my latest escape at the end of a difficult day. I can roost on the shoulders of these characters and watch the life I create for them, unfurl.
Carmen
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Editing: Does it REALLY matter??
Spell checkers and other editing things.
Love them or hate them, they are helpful and useful tools. In fact, I recommend every writer have Spell Check turned on at all times. In MSWord, that little red line will help you catch misspellings immediately. Then there's the blue line to alert you to the wrong spelling, or possibly the wrong word—also a useful tool. The green grammar lines? Those I tend to ignore since fiction writing takes some liberties with proper English.
However.
Yeah, you knew that was coming. However. These built-in tools in super-smart word processing programs do not take the place of the human eye and, I hope, human intelligence.
Love them or hate them, they are helpful and useful tools. In fact, I recommend every writer have Spell Check turned on at all times. In MSWord, that little red line will help you catch misspellings immediately. Then there's the blue line to alert you to the wrong spelling, or possibly the wrong word—also a useful tool. The green grammar lines? Those I tend to ignore since fiction writing takes some liberties with proper English.
However.
Yeah, you knew that was coming. However. These built-in tools in super-smart word processing programs do not take the place of the human eye and, I hope, human intelligence.
After the program has done its best to help is when a really sharp-eyed editor or beta reader comes in. Someone who can catch the things your MSWord program and tired eyes won’t. There, their, and they’re all sound the same with very different meanings. She’s and she’d are very easy to mix up with the “s” and “d” keys being side by side. I see loose and lose mixed up more times than I care to mention. Your program won’t flag any of the above as misspelled.
Same with roll and role. “He acted out his roll with finesse and skill.” Does this mean he knew how to play a bit of bread? (Ha! Word just tried to correct the word for me. I set it straight.) I suppose it could mean he did a perfect job of rolling down the hill, across the floor, into bed… but in the context of the story, this was not the meaning.
I recently found this sentence in a published book: “He drew in a shaky breath, tried to recall if this was how he felt about her first kiss as a green lad of fourteen.” One word. Just one word is out of place here and makes the sentence ludicrous. Yet to a spell checker program everything is just hunky dory. Had that been the only instance of an error, I probably would have blown it off. Sadly, it was one of at least half a dozen errors that leaped off the page and threw me out of an otherwise entertaining story.
Of course, I’ve seen the spell checker do harm by trying to correct a word here and there. A badly spelled word can be switched in the blink of an eye. Back in the day when I edited technical reports for scientists, I caught one trying to marinate a laser. He’d tried to type “maintain” but mangled it so badly MSWord changed the word to “marinate.” I learned to read his reports very closely.
The key here is editing. Careful, thoughtful, intelligent human editing. A good edit will catch these little goofs that can cause an author’s intelligence and education to be called into question. Yes, typos will at some point escape everyone. It happens. I’ve seen it in NYT bestseller books. If there are no more than two per novel, those are easily shrugged off. More than that? Well, that’s where credibility begins to be called into question.
Years ago, two or three at least, I was reading a book released by my then publisher (the book was not mine, thankfully) and was horrified to see that consistently throughout the book, barely (Merriam Webster Definition of BARELY 1: in a meager manner : plainly 2: scarcely, hardly) was consistently replaced with barley. (BARLEY: a cereal grass.)
Read the work out loud. Read it backwards. Read it very slowly, out loud, and backwards. Know your weaknesses and do searches for them. Surround yourself with excellent critique partners who will actually give you the bad news that your grammar stinks. Better them than a reader or reviewer. Find a beta reader who excelled in English. (Mine beat me bloody about improper and over-usage of the word “that.” Still does to this very day. And no, you may not have her name or email address. She’s all MINE.)
Monday, December 13, 2010
The Joys… and Sorrows of Being a Writer!
Last week a friend gave me a copy of Nicholas Sparks’ Three Weeks With My Brother (http://www.nicholas sparks.com/LearnMore.asp?BookID=9).She promised an insightful and entertaining novel. Now, being familiar with many of his books (The Guardian, Nights in Rodanthe, Message in a Bottle, Dear John, The Lucky One, The Notebook, etc.) and in the wake of such praise I was eager to jump right into the book. Though I must admit my tastes for pure entertainment reading run more toward the Sci-Fi/Fantasy and action romances, I needed some R&R. Considering the fact that I had not read a book since January when I purposefully limited my reading in order to finish and edit my latest book, I was more than ready for some relaxing hours on the couch submerging my mind in someone else’s world.
Familiar as I am with Sparks’ writing and a fan of several of the movies made from his books, I looked forward to not just a good read, but a great read! The anticipation was almost as good as the moment I sat down to crack the cover and discover the secrets of brotherhood. To my surprise and complete disgust, I found myself evaluating each paragraph as I read, looking for similes and metaphors, checking for spelling errors and POV changes. I hunted through the text for dangling modifiers, passive and active voices, over use of conjunctive adverbs, weak plot points, nominalization, and a host of other no-nos of the professional writing world. Half way through the book I realized I was not enjoying myself at all but intensely studying the manuscript. My mind wound around Sparks’ witty dialog and found doublemeaning in every comparative passage. I carefully examined the style and timing of his past and present recitations. I questioned the placement of memories, drawing parallels between the current day trip of the two brothers and Nicholas’ trip through childhood with Mica. In short, I spent three days passionately immersed in a novel written by one of the most successful writers of the contemporary market. By the time I finished Three Weeks With My Brother I was exhausted, depressed and disgusted with myself. It seemed my reading for pure pleasure was ruined! Possibly…
I think at some point, all authors reach the same stage in their own personal struggle to write as I have; the point where you can no longer pick up a book for simple enjoyment but where everything you read becomes an elemental study of the craft of writing at some conscious level. A problem, to be sure, but only bothersome if over done.
Then, true to my overly obsessive form, I saw the problem grow to encompass my entire life! What did I say about over done? Now when I travel every encounter, every new tidbit of information is fodder for a new story. When I go out to dinner with friends, their personal anecdotes burrow into my work manifesting some new plot or character. Political intrigue of the day colors my plots and lends imaginative scenarios to my manuscripts. I have even taken to keeping a journal of story starters close at hand. Had anyone told me a few years back I would be carting around a journal and taking notes on life I would have laughed at them. What is that famous saying; he who laughs last?
For example, one evening last fall my husband, Tim and I attended a dinner party with old family friends. Being new to the area, our “old friends” invited us to their home in Baltimore to catch up and for some “family talk”. Little did we know our friends had also invited their uncle and aunt who are, in the distinct eastern manner of speaking, old Baltimore. Fascinating people, Uncle Joe and Aunt Bev lived exciting lives and in their nineties, still worked at their antiquities business. The history of their connections and social networks were captivating. We sat for hours around the dinner table listening to tales of Uncle Joe, Aunt Bev and the rich and famous of America and Europe. At one point Uncle Joe mentioned his brother, an infamous antiquities dealer who currently lived in France with his family. In his nineties as well, he was still awaiting a trial in Italy on charges of illegal dealing in antiquities. Any writer out there just get the chills? Hang on because it gets better!
During our conversation it came to light that Uncle Joe and his brother were children in France during WWII and their mother worked as a secretary tabulating the possessions of Jews as the Nazis pillaged the wealthy Jewish families of Europe. My mind spun out of control and all the way home I crafted a wild tale of a secret cache of stolen antiquities pilfered during WWII that one family was responsible for returning to their owners as a kind of generational atonement.
I could hardly sit still in my seat. Ever supportive, my husband drove quietly with a willy smile pasted on his face. He had learned from experience there was no stopping the mind of a writer once it had locked and loaded on a story! By the time we got home I was in a rush to find my computer and outline the next best seller. Tim just went to bed. Such is life with a writer's spouse. Hours later when I dragged myself up to bed my wonderful husband didn't even gasp at the cold feet and frigid hands. He rolled me up in his warmth and murmured in my sleepy ear, "When you get a contract don't forget my cut!"
I believe the most telling moment came when I was watching an action movie on opening day with Tim and a guy from my office. All three of us are dyed-in-the-wool hard core action fans so it's become a tradition to attend opening days of true shoot-'em-ups. As we sat glued to the screen delighting in one special effect after another amid crashes, gunfire and explosions I calmly stated, “for an action flick the hero’s dialog is way too passive.” My husband, bless his heart, just shook his head, smiled and handed me the popcorn bag! He had already figured out what took me a little more time to realize. You can take the writer out of the office but a writer is a writer and always will be.
Pursuing writing as a professional has truly changed the tenor of my life. That epiphany could have been discouraging, but it wasn’t. I soon realized I had not destroyed my reading and viewing pleasure but simply taken it to new heights! In my case the realization was not only encouraging but optimistically validating. When I told Tim about my intuitive leap of self-understanding, he got that look that said "I've known for a while even if you are just figuring it out." Did I mention his patience?
While I may not enjoy reading for the same kind of pleasure I used to, I have attained a new level of awareness of the craft of writing which is a joy in and of itself.
In simple terms it means I have finally become what I have bee
n striving to be. Finally, I am a professional writer, even dare I say, an author!
Miriam Matthews
For more information about Miriam's books go to: www.miriammatthews.com
Friday, December 3, 2010
The Alaska-Hawaii Connection
I’m about to let you in on a well-kept secret about Alaskans. I only discovered this when I moved up here. It came as a bit of a surprise…but then again, not really. Alaskans LOVE Hawaii. After all, it’s only a five-ish hour flight from Anchorage to Honolulu, from the Arctic to the Tropics, from ice fields to lava flows.
It’s much easier to get to Hawaii from here than to the East Coast. I know quite a few Alaskans who try to take a well-timed mid-winter trip to Hawaii each year.
Myself included.
I happen to be getting married in Hawaii at the end of this month. I keep meeting other Alaskans who tell me they got married in Hawaii, so I think my choice of location is perfect. And it got me thinking about the Alaska-Hawaii connection.
It goes way back. In 1778-9, during his final voyage, Captain Cook explored both Alaska and Hawaii—meeting his unfortunate end on the Big Island. More recently, Alaska and Hawaii were the last two states to join the Union. We’re also the only non-contiguous states, never feeling that we’re entirely part of the mainstream of American life.
Other common ground: Hawaii and Alaska are the only two states with indigenous populations who are not Native Americans. Both states rely on imported goods that have to travel long distances, which makes prices ridiculously high. Both states, with their spectacular scenery, are tourist destinations. Plenty of workers in the tourist industry spend summers in Denali and winters at Hawaiian resorts. Both states have active volcanoes and both have been struck by tsunamis. In both states, there’s a constant sense of living at the mercy of nature, whether it’s Pele the Volcano Goddess in Hawaii, or the bitter cold in Alaska.
Alaskans love for Hawaii isn’t a one-way street. I’ve found that Hawaiians have a fondness for Alaska too. I’ve been told it’s because they appreciate how difficult it is to survive here. I’ve seen many Hawaiians turn extra friendly when they find out I’m from Alaska. I’ve even gotten discounts on roofing materials and such. Maybe it’s because they feel sorry for us. Maybe it’s because we Alaskans appreciate Hawaii all the more when we stumble off the plane in our wintry, light-starved state.
Here’s what we do when we travel to Hawaii in the winter. We blast the heat in the car. We leave our winter boots, coat, long underwear, hat, gloves, and scarf in a tidy bundle, then run into the airport in our shorts and flip flops.
Of course, this time I’ll be bringing my wedding dress too.
Jenny Bernard
Friday, November 19, 2010
Metaphors and Rivers
For my current WIP I needed a metaphor. Preferably something to do with water. I’d already used one concerning sirens, and needed something deeper.
Deeper.
Still waters run deep.
Ever stop to think about that old saying?
The old adage immediately brought two images into my mind. The first, a cheerful, sparkling, babbling brook tripping down the stones of a garden. The other, a wide, flat-surfaced creek. The exact picture that came to mind was Sally Field and Rob Liebman in the movie Norma Rae, swimming in the crik. Other images of steady waterways in my mind include the Yukon and Mississippi Rivers. I’ve actually spent more time sitting and watching the Yukon than I have the Mississippi, which still isn’t saying much. Neither can be counted in hours or days.
Anyhow, to get on with my metaphor situation--ahem, I sidetrack easily--some people are like brooks and streams. Bright, pretty, active. They provide a pretty melody, and if there’s no other source of water around, they could, in a dire emergency, keep you alive. Provided there’s not a drought going on, as they’re amongst the first of water sources to diminish and dry up. And if you were a small fish, or a leaf, you could catch a ride on a stream and tumble your way down to the larger creek or river or lake it runs into. Useful in a limited capacity, sometimes all you need from a stream is a pretty song, a peaceful interlude, and time to luxuriate in its beauty. You can see right clear through to the bottom and might see your distorted reflection smiling back at you. When stormy weather comes, they bubble up fast and furious. A strong enough storm can change their course and rearrange the rocks along the way, perhaps forever drastically altering the nature of the stream.
On the other hand, there's the broader, steadier, deeper river. The surface is mostly smooth, the water giving the appearance of slow movement, but sometimes when you climb in, you find the current is stronger than it looks. For the most part, you can depend on that river to be a solid predictable support. Water, fish, plants… it provides for an abundance of needs. It sustains life in many forms as well as means of travel.
Sure, there may be rapids along the way, but you generally know where they are and how to navigate through, or, around them. That’s not to say rivers are boring, but no means. Even they can change their nature, but usually it takes a pretty big event to rile them. A huge rainstorm or extra large chunks of ice breaking free in the spring can devastate for miles, wiping out homes and villages. The bigger they are, the more immense the havoc they wreak. All things in proportion. However, smaller storms often to unnoticed by them. They can absorb the tempest with hardly an extra bubble.
The power it takes to stir up a river is awesome, mighty and far reaching, but you know, in the end, eventually it’ll settle back down, possibly with a slightly altered course, maybe with a little more silt, or maybe with a whole lot less. But essentially, the changes won’t be great, and once more you’ll have your solid, dependable, nourishing river back.
So how does this metaphor work? Turn it around to the people in your life. Are you drawn to rivers or brooks? Of course it isn’t that simple. People are too complex to fit into a narrow description such as river or brook, but I think I can see signs here and there that make for amusing comparisons. Sort of like using astrology to figure out your friends and loved ones. Doesn’t always work because there are too many other factors at play. A Taurus with Irish ancestors. Now there’s a mix.
I find I’m drawn to both the brook and the river. I tend to be more river-like, slow and pondering and appreciative of a steady course. But every once in a while, I want to break out and let my bubbles go wild. I want to sing and dance and carry a pretty leaf along for a ride. I get to do this with my characters. Which woman is the hero most drawn to? He can have a most difficult choice. This is what makes my job interesting. I get to study both the brook and the river and the man choosing between them. Or the woman contemplating her options between attractive heroes. If she's really lucky, she lives in a world where she gets to keep one of each.
Maybe I should just stop with the dreaming and get the book written…
Morgan Q. O'Reilly
Come Play with Morgan and Get Some Tonight
Available now: Borealis II A Space Anthology, Bleu Lies by Shea McMaster
Coming 2011 from Lyrical Press: Til Death Undo Us and Rachel Dahlrumple
Friday, November 5, 2010
It's a Wrap.
Recently, I was bemoaning the fact that my flour tortillas has spoiled in the refridgerator. I was craving a turkey wrap.
"You mean burrito," my weekend helper said.
"No, a wrap," I explained, "one with cream cheese, turkey and lettuce."
"You mean a burrito," he repeated.
A little slow on the uptake, I replied, "No, it's a wrap."
He finally said, with a look, you know . . . the one meant to say, "Oh come on now, you know better than that," as the words he spoke finally hit home, "Anything you put in a flour tortilla is a burrito. We sometimes put scrambled eggs and wrap it in a flour tortilla to eat on the run."
The lightbulb finally went on. "A breakfast burrito, I get it.now."
The young man I was speaking with is of Mexican decent. He didn't take offense at my burrito ignorance, he was just trying to educate me.
The wrap up. So, now I know what a burrito is and a wrap is not. But, that leads me to my question, "What is a wrap?" If anything in a flour tortilla is a burrito, and you stuff a pita pocket, then is there really any such thing as a wrap? The ponderance of a wondering mind wants to know.
And that's a wrap folks.
Sandy Shacklett
"You mean burrito," my weekend helper said.
"No, a wrap," I explained, "one with cream cheese, turkey and lettuce."
"You mean a burrito," he repeated.
A little slow on the uptake, I replied, "No, it's a wrap."
He finally said, with a look, you know . . . the one meant to say, "Oh come on now, you know better than that," as the words he spoke finally hit home, "Anything you put in a flour tortilla is a burrito. We sometimes put scrambled eggs and wrap it in a flour tortilla to eat on the run."
The lightbulb finally went on. "A breakfast burrito, I get it.now."
The young man I was speaking with is of Mexican decent. He didn't take offense at my burrito ignorance, he was just trying to educate me.
The wrap up. So, now I know what a burrito is and a wrap is not. But, that leads me to my question, "What is a wrap?" If anything in a flour tortilla is a burrito, and you stuff a pita pocket, then is there really any such thing as a wrap? The ponderance of a wondering mind wants to know.
And that's a wrap folks.
Sandy Shacklett
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