Please give a big shout out to my very special guest blogger, all the way from beautiful NC, Kristin Molnar!
The words flow very quickly out of my mind, through the ends of my rapidly typing fingers, and end up on the page. They let me weave wildly entertaining stories, create brand new worlds, and describe the lives of completely compelling characters. When I sit down, I never know what the day will bring. The best laid plans go wildly astray, and I end up in a wonderland I never really expected. Those are, undoubtedly, the best days.
Admiral Adverb took over in that paragraph. He took my passionate dissertation on why I love to write and made it weak. Adverbs can modify our verbs, adjectives, clauses, sentences and even other adverbs. They can also dilute and distract, or be a crutch for lazy writing.
Suddenly is a lazy of way of transitioning. There is always a stronger way to word a sentence that includes this word. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Okay, knocks on the door are sudden if we don’t expect them, but wouldn’t it sound better like this: The knock on the door startled her out of her revery. It conveys more detail and shows the reader how sudden the event was. There was a strange man suddenly standing in front of Joan. Can become: Joan jumped. The man standing before her had been nowhere in sight just a second ago. Where did he come from?
Dialogue tags are another lazy habit. “I hate you,” John said angrily. That is telling. Show them. “I hate you,” John said, throwing a book at Kate’s head. Not only do we know John’s angry, we know how angry. He is angry enough to throw a book at Kate’s head.
Then there is the redundancy that crops up with adverbs. We waste our words on trite things, like whispered softly. Do you whisper loudly? If you did, would that then, still be a whisper? Here is a list of redundant adverb use: blossomed slowly, softly caressed, whispered softly, blarred loudly, clenched teeth tightly, carefully examines, successfully obtained, berate harshly. Redundancy waters down the writing and can come off lazy or unprofessional to a critical reader. As writers, we want to give our readers the best, so don’t use adverbs as filler just be beef up your word count.
I’ve also made a list of some common offenders that weaken our work and included a stronger word to take their place.
ran swiftly - sprinted, dash, hurry, scamper, charged
frowned angrily - scowled, frown, glare, grimace
quickly - hurried, raced, ran, bolted
spoke softly - whispered, mutter, mumble
Use the right noun and verb and you don’t need to water down your work with adverbs. I used http://www.users.qwest.net/~yarnspnr/writing/adverbs/adverbs.htm to get some of this information. It was an interesting site. A google search of adverb overuse will yield an abundance of resources with suggestions on how to avoid weakening your work by abusing the adverbs.
All of that being said, a well placed adverb can be a wonderful thing. If purple prose gets your point across, or is a character trait in dialogue, then by all means, use it. Use those adverbs only when they strengthen your work and your readers will appreciate them all the more.
Check out Kristin's website or follow her on Twitter:
Twitter: @KLMolnar
http://officialkristinmolnar.com/posts/blog
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Hiccupping over the NaNoWriMo line!
What's the number one rule they teach you in Writing School? 'I before E except after C'? Or is it, 'backup your work like a paranoid maniac'? That's the one.
Pity I didn't go to Writing School. Still, I learn my lessons in life. Or on the train on Monday when I managed to delete my entire NaNoWriMo manuscript. Considering the deadline for NaNo's 50,000 words was yesterday, Monday was a personal catastrophe.
I back up my work once a week - measly when you consider I knocked out 15,000 words in the last 7 days. So with a heavy heart, I retrieved my last backed-up version of the manuscript, and entered the last day of NaNo with only 30k-odd words. The kind people at NaNo said they trusted that I had indeed written my 45k words, and that if I pushed out the last 5,000 words on November 30th, they would consider the 50,000 words to be written and would consider me a 2010 'Winner'. The 5k I finished at 7.50 last night, and therefore, Winner I am.
Am only delira with reaching this milestone, now have to figure out how to put the NaNoWriMo 'badge' on this blog. Ugh, technology you are not my friend.
It doesn't stop at that. I've my missing 15k to redraft, but looming over me is the temptation to enter a Harlequin 'So You Think You Can Write' contest - guaranteed to get an editor's eye and response by January 31st. Oh, far too tempting. Can I do both? Sure I can... Wish me luck!
Pity I didn't go to Writing School. Still, I learn my lessons in life. Or on the train on Monday when I managed to delete my entire NaNoWriMo manuscript. Considering the deadline for NaNo's 50,000 words was yesterday, Monday was a personal catastrophe.
I back up my work once a week - measly when you consider I knocked out 15,000 words in the last 7 days. So with a heavy heart, I retrieved my last backed-up version of the manuscript, and entered the last day of NaNo with only 30k-odd words. The kind people at NaNo said they trusted that I had indeed written my 45k words, and that if I pushed out the last 5,000 words on November 30th, they would consider the 50,000 words to be written and would consider me a 2010 'Winner'. The 5k I finished at 7.50 last night, and therefore, Winner I am.
Am only delira with reaching this milestone, now have to figure out how to put the NaNoWriMo 'badge' on this blog. Ugh, technology you are not my friend.
It doesn't stop at that. I've my missing 15k to redraft, but looming over me is the temptation to enter a Harlequin 'So You Think You Can Write' contest - guaranteed to get an editor's eye and response by January 31st. Oh, far too tempting. Can I do both? Sure I can... Wish me luck!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
NaNoWriMo - 40k words and the home straight
Wow, what a climax! No friends, I don't refer to a steamy scene from one of my stories. Rather I've reached a personal milestone on my National Novel Writing Month challenge. Just passed the 40,000 word mark a few minutes ago, leaving me with a meagre (!) 10,000 words to tap out before Tuesday 30th.
So how do I mark this bruiser of a milestone? Alone I fear. Husband is working late, no NaNo friends are online, so there is literally 'no one to hug'.
Fair enough. Getting used to the solitary life of a writer. Every time I reach a work milestone like this, I mark it in three ways: shout an ickle baby cheer of triumph (always), have a cry on the landing (frequently), or if I'm feeling wild, a cup of instant coffee with a few squares of Lindt (rare).
Now need to eat, sleep, get up tomorrow, and do it all over again.
So how do I mark this bruiser of a milestone? Alone I fear. Husband is working late, no NaNo friends are online, so there is literally 'no one to hug'.
Fair enough. Getting used to the solitary life of a writer. Every time I reach a work milestone like this, I mark it in three ways: shout an ickle baby cheer of triumph (always), have a cry on the landing (frequently), or if I'm feeling wild, a cup of instant coffee with a few squares of Lindt (rare).
Now need to eat, sleep, get up tomorrow, and do it all over again.
Monday, November 22, 2010
NaNoWriMo - 9 days left but who's counting?
Me, that's who.
9 days left til D-day. November 30th. A Tuesday. I've nothing spectacular planned except the completion of my 50,000 word first draft of a contemporary novel.
At the moment, I've written 28,268 words. Quality words may I add, with a plot that is gelling surprisingly well (yes, I too am amazed). This leaves me with a rather scary 21,732 words to write in the next 9 days. Throw into the foray extra-curricular activities, like a Thanksgiving to celebrate, a NaNo meetup to attend, and a sister's second draft to edit, and the maths starts to scare the bejaysus out of me. In reality, I have just 6.2 days to finish!
Like all McKennas, I plan most of my goals with scout-like diligence. So this morning, I hovered over the whiteboard planning what's what, breaking the task down into hours. If I average 600 (quality) words per hour, I'll need 37 point something hours to make it to 50K.
Next began the painful task of working out a timetable to achieve said 37 hours without losing my sanity or husband. It's short term pain for long term gain after all, so pathetic as it sounds, I've allotted specific hours per day to achieving my desired word count. And if I get to Monday 29th and have surpassed 50k? Then we plan the next phase - the beloved second draft.
How I love the second draft stage: playing with words, experimenting with surprise plot twists and generally indulging in my own little world of fiction. That's when the craic really starts.
But for now, I will kill off one more day's work, striking off each day and wordcount as we go. In the words of Susan McCann, "One day at a time, sweet Jesus."
Bring it on back home there Missus.
9 days left til D-day. November 30th. A Tuesday. I've nothing spectacular planned except the completion of my 50,000 word first draft of a contemporary novel.
At the moment, I've written 28,268 words. Quality words may I add, with a plot that is gelling surprisingly well (yes, I too am amazed). This leaves me with a rather scary 21,732 words to write in the next 9 days. Throw into the foray extra-curricular activities, like a Thanksgiving to celebrate, a NaNo meetup to attend, and a sister's second draft to edit, and the maths starts to scare the bejaysus out of me. In reality, I have just 6.2 days to finish!
Like all McKennas, I plan most of my goals with scout-like diligence. So this morning, I hovered over the whiteboard planning what's what, breaking the task down into hours. If I average 600 (quality) words per hour, I'll need 37 point something hours to make it to 50K.
Next began the painful task of working out a timetable to achieve said 37 hours without losing my sanity or husband. It's short term pain for long term gain after all, so pathetic as it sounds, I've allotted specific hours per day to achieving my desired word count. And if I get to Monday 29th and have surpassed 50k? Then we plan the next phase - the beloved second draft.
How I love the second draft stage: playing with words, experimenting with surprise plot twists and generally indulging in my own little world of fiction. That's when the craic really starts.
But for now, I will kill off one more day's work, striking off each day and wordcount as we go. In the words of Susan McCann, "One day at a time, sweet Jesus."
Bring it on back home there Missus.
Friday, November 12, 2010
NaNoWriMo - is your plot taking shape?
A common thread with myself and my fellow NaNoWriMo writers is that most of us start off not knowing much about our plot. But one of the joys of this month-long challenge is that you don't HAVE to know exactly where you're going - instead, why not let pen/keyboard take you on an unexpected journey?
I've fallen into a happy schedule of daydreaming about the plot for an hour or so in bed, recording those ideas into the iPhone's 'Voice Memo' app, and then getting up to type. Having these two or three items to write about keeps the procrastination at bay and gives me reassurance that at least for today, I've a bit of a plot. It'll come together, right?
I am playing catchup on the wordcount stakes, but managing on average 3k words a day. 3k is small potatoes if you're a full-time writer, but my caution is justified. I want a usable first draft at the end of this, which means no messing, getting the words as right as they can be first time without letting my inner editor near the keyboard. Wordcount is important and all, but if your 50k words is complete tripe, is the challenge as satisfying? Is the first draft usable? Not so much.
This means my pace is much slower than some writers'. The ones who hammer out 1,200 words an hour scare the bejaysus out of me, but I'm smug in the knowledge that I am very happy with my work so far. As far as one can be with a first draft.
Must hammer on and quicken the pace a bit if I'm going to make 50k by the end of the month. I just know there'll be days where I can't stomach facing my characters, their conflicts, loves, and losses.
Once I've more of a plot fleshed out, I'll post for your entertainment. Bye for now, Nicola.
I've fallen into a happy schedule of daydreaming about the plot for an hour or so in bed, recording those ideas into the iPhone's 'Voice Memo' app, and then getting up to type. Having these two or three items to write about keeps the procrastination at bay and gives me reassurance that at least for today, I've a bit of a plot. It'll come together, right?
I am playing catchup on the wordcount stakes, but managing on average 3k words a day. 3k is small potatoes if you're a full-time writer, but my caution is justified. I want a usable first draft at the end of this, which means no messing, getting the words as right as they can be first time without letting my inner editor near the keyboard. Wordcount is important and all, but if your 50k words is complete tripe, is the challenge as satisfying? Is the first draft usable? Not so much.
This means my pace is much slower than some writers'. The ones who hammer out 1,200 words an hour scare the bejaysus out of me, but I'm smug in the knowledge that I am very happy with my work so far. As far as one can be with a first draft.
Must hammer on and quicken the pace a bit if I'm going to make 50k by the end of the month. I just know there'll be days where I can't stomach facing my characters, their conflicts, loves, and losses.
Once I've more of a plot fleshed out, I'll post for your entertainment. Bye for now, Nicola.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
NaNoWriMo Take Two
Have you ever felt like the old grey cells were veiled in a mass of cobwebs?
That your thoughts took ages to meld together, creaking in pain like an old door?
Well, this is how my pregnant brain feels right now. While welcome, the first trimester has been 'challenging', so now that symptoms are finally letting up and allowing me get on with the rest of my life, what do I plan to do with this revived 'never leave me again' energy? Why not hurl myself headlong into another 'challenge'? When it's November, and you're a writer, it means one thing: National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo to the seasoned among you.
I'm late signing up, but 50,000 words in a month is doable right? Is 50,000 in 21 days doable? It feels nigh on impossible right now. In 2008's NaNoWriMo, I managed a painful 7k-odd words, but a lot has happened since then. Online class after online class led me to completing my first novella and circulating it to publishers this September. No contract just yet, but already this writer feels a lot tougher than she did in 2008. For one thing, she's learned that everyone (yes, everyone) writes a rubbish 'first draft'.
Ever the planner, I whipped out a calculator first thing this morning and did the maths: my goal means writing 2,500 words every day for the next 21 days. That's roughly equal to one high school English essay a day.
No probs, you say? Try it and see. Sign up to the NaNoWriMo challenge (yeah, you'll be late, but so am I). Look me up under 'Schmicola' and bully me towards my own golden goal of 50,000 words. Good luck!
That your thoughts took ages to meld together, creaking in pain like an old door?
Well, this is how my pregnant brain feels right now. While welcome, the first trimester has been 'challenging', so now that symptoms are finally letting up and allowing me get on with the rest of my life, what do I plan to do with this revived 'never leave me again' energy? Why not hurl myself headlong into another 'challenge'? When it's November, and you're a writer, it means one thing: National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo to the seasoned among you.
I'm late signing up, but 50,000 words in a month is doable right? Is 50,000 in 21 days doable? It feels nigh on impossible right now. In 2008's NaNoWriMo, I managed a painful 7k-odd words, but a lot has happened since then. Online class after online class led me to completing my first novella and circulating it to publishers this September. No contract just yet, but already this writer feels a lot tougher than she did in 2008. For one thing, she's learned that everyone (yes, everyone) writes a rubbish 'first draft'.
Ever the planner, I whipped out a calculator first thing this morning and did the maths: my goal means writing 2,500 words every day for the next 21 days. That's roughly equal to one high school English essay a day.
No probs, you say? Try it and see. Sign up to the NaNoWriMo challenge (yeah, you'll be late, but so am I). Look me up under 'Schmicola' and bully me towards my own golden goal of 50,000 words. Good luck!
Monday, June 28, 2010
A marriage take-off
Tell me, how do you celebrate an anniversary? A romantic dinner? A special long-saved-for gift? Sweet huh? It’s ‘paper’ for a first wedding anniversary, isn’t it?
Not if your husband’s an aviation nut. So it didn’t surprise me when mine suggested we each take an introductory flying lesson on our first year wedding anniversary. But it floored me that I agreed to it. (The bottle of prosecco we’d polished off might have had something to do with it.)
My instructor Brian is a good-humored man with (thankfully) many years’ experience. His easy-going, friendly style of instruction is no doubt an attempt to try and soothe my inner turmoil. That is, if he can tell I’m terrified, he’s great at hiding it.
After we get strapped in (the Cessna 152 gives a whole new meaning to ‘intimate’), Brian takes me through the basic workings of the plane, my head nodding maniacally throughout (trying to shake out old episodes of ‘Air Crash Investigation’ you see). Brian called into the tower in confident captain-esque tones, then mentioned the "decent cross-wind" that might make for a bumpy ride. "Oh", I chuckled, "I can handle it."
How wrong I was.
Our little aircraft is assaulted the moment we leave the ground. Mild turbulence it isn’t, as the Cessna yoyoes up and down like a giant pogo stick. Then somewhere during the climb, Brian, in a moment of suicidal madness, hands me the controls - OMG.
He does a great job of ignoring my complete freakout, as I jerk the controls every which way. All I can think is 'whose bloody idea was this?' Damn that prosecco! Somehow we make it to 1,000 feet, and I breathe again - the longest minute of my life is over.
But then, once you’re up, you’re up! And yes, I admit the view is incredible. Against every instinct, I force myself to do most of the flying – its what I signed up to, isn't it? Not that different to those heady vows I took a year earlier: to go the distance with my husband through good and bad, in sickness and in health, all the days of our lives.
Like I say, heady.
Learning to fly is not unlike marriage. No matter how grounded you are, how long you’ve known each other, or how deeply in love you think you are, taking that plunge can shake even the toughest of people. As I so quickly found out, it certainly doesn’t stop at ‘I do’.
In flight, you need to keep one eye on your surroundings and the other on your instruments. Tricky huh? Once in position, the plane will naturally fly itself but like life, those darned external factors meant that she can veer off-course easily.
Love though can be even more awkward – I mean, how can you be sure you’re heading in the right direction? At least in the Cessna I have a compass...
In between my instructor’s prompts, I remind myself to just relax, enjoy the ride. In so many parts of life, we veer between extremes of caution and abandon, and can forget to take in the view along the way.
They say a good pilot will scan all her instruments regularly, realigning where needed, a little at a time. And in marriage too, isn’t that a good principle to live by?
How do you and your partner celebrate the highs and lows of your relationship?
(And if you've any ideas as to how we can mark the next anniversary, please shout! A trip through the Amazon collecting venom samples? A class in redback-spider juggling?)
Not if your husband’s an aviation nut. So it didn’t surprise me when mine suggested we each take an introductory flying lesson on our first year wedding anniversary. But it floored me that I agreed to it. (The bottle of prosecco we’d polished off might have had something to do with it.)
My instructor Brian is a good-humored man with (thankfully) many years’ experience. His easy-going, friendly style of instruction is no doubt an attempt to try and soothe my inner turmoil. That is, if he can tell I’m terrified, he’s great at hiding it.
After we get strapped in (the Cessna 152 gives a whole new meaning to ‘intimate’), Brian takes me through the basic workings of the plane, my head nodding maniacally throughout (trying to shake out old episodes of ‘Air Crash Investigation’ you see). Brian called into the tower in confident captain-esque tones, then mentioned the "decent cross-wind" that might make for a bumpy ride. "Oh", I chuckled, "I can handle it."
How wrong I was.
Our little aircraft is assaulted the moment we leave the ground. Mild turbulence it isn’t, as the Cessna yoyoes up and down like a giant pogo stick. Then somewhere during the climb, Brian, in a moment of suicidal madness, hands me the controls - OMG.
He does a great job of ignoring my complete freakout, as I jerk the controls every which way. All I can think is 'whose bloody idea was this?' Damn that prosecco! Somehow we make it to 1,000 feet, and I breathe again - the longest minute of my life is over.
But then, once you’re up, you’re up! And yes, I admit the view is incredible. Against every instinct, I force myself to do most of the flying – its what I signed up to, isn't it? Not that different to those heady vows I took a year earlier: to go the distance with my husband through good and bad, in sickness and in health, all the days of our lives.
Like I say, heady.
Learning to fly is not unlike marriage. No matter how grounded you are, how long you’ve known each other, or how deeply in love you think you are, taking that plunge can shake even the toughest of people. As I so quickly found out, it certainly doesn’t stop at ‘I do’.
In flight, you need to keep one eye on your surroundings and the other on your instruments. Tricky huh? Once in position, the plane will naturally fly itself but like life, those darned external factors meant that she can veer off-course easily.
Love though can be even more awkward – I mean, how can you be sure you’re heading in the right direction? At least in the Cessna I have a compass...
In between my instructor’s prompts, I remind myself to just relax, enjoy the ride. In so many parts of life, we veer between extremes of caution and abandon, and can forget to take in the view along the way.
They say a good pilot will scan all her instruments regularly, realigning where needed, a little at a time. And in marriage too, isn’t that a good principle to live by?
How do you and your partner celebrate the highs and lows of your relationship?
(And if you've any ideas as to how we can mark the next anniversary, please shout! A trip through the Amazon collecting venom samples? A class in redback-spider juggling?)
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Let Storyist put manners on your manuscript
Thumbing through my June edition of RWA's 'Romance Writers Report', I spotted an article on software for writers. IT and writing? Might this mean a beautiful merging of my two careers? Sort of.
Weeks of struggling with a second draft of my contemporary novel have proven beyond doubt that my brain cannot hold on to any more scenes and clever quips. This spells disaster for my growing manuscript: she's sprouted arms, legs and, dammit, a mind of her own. Like all teenagers, she does what she wants, and while I don't begrudge her this, it is me who's struggling to manage it all.
But surely the creative process is more organic than technical? Won't my ideas, currently on scraps of paper and my 'can't throw it out' paper napkin, just come together harmoniously on Word? Alas no, this child has my heart near-broken. I forget where I'm going and where I've been. So I look to the all-knowing internet and find the answer to all my problems: Storyist.
Storyist is a creative writing management tool especially for Macs, and is the brainchild of part-time writer and IT veteran, Steve Shepard. His Eureka moment was when he realised there was no software to help him organise and manage his draft manuscript, and the extensive notes and research that accompany this. Shortly afterwards, he set about developing and marketing Storyist.
Storyist is a tool that helps you to work smarter, not harder. All stories, be they in book form or on the silver screen, have elements in common: characters, plots, as well as a time and a place. Throw in a few subplots and secondary characters, and you have yourself an informational nightmare. Writers need to research, take notes, flesh out ideas, and if you're a plotter like me, build a storyboard to arrange scenes and chapters in sequence. How to do that, and tap out a nifty 100,000 words at the same time? Its tricky...
So how can Storyist help? It allows you record your manuscript and its supplementary information all in one place. You can add notes, edit text, type up the manuscript and format it. Storyist even lets you add photos of your characters. A pleasing workspace awaits you: a sidebar on the left presents a tree-structure of your WIP, giving you a birds-eye view of all your notes, categorised neatly into useful headings like 'Character', 'Plot', 'Setting' and so on. On the right, there's an virtual 'pinboard', while your growing manuscript nestles cheekily in the centre.
The pinboard functionality is particularly great - you just type onto an index card (jot down a short scene for example), then add a comment (kinda like a post-it)- this sits alongside the index card, providing extra info or key elements you need to include later. Giving your index card a meaningful heading is smart, since this appears in the tree-structure view.
Like all things Mac, this software is more graphical than text-based. Its interface allows you to simply drag and drop items, handy when trying out different scene sequences. In addition, there are story sheets, character sheets, and template functionality for those who need to customise.
Your workspace too is configurable, but even the default settings I describe above suit this writer perfectly. The company's website claims that Storyist lends itself equally well to screenwriters as well as novelists. The application is clear, intuitive and well organised, with a useful project-wide search facility (no more deciphering of scrawl, or trying to read notes on a grubby napkin. Nice.)
My verdict after just an hour? Brilliant.
This all means that when it comes time for you to tap out 100k-odd words of a novel (or 2 hours' worth of screentime), you can concentrate more on the language and less on the logistics.
A note for any non-writers (and may you never doubt this): Storyist, like all the writing tools I know of, is not an auto-generator of storylines, characters or anything else - in short, it won't write your book for you. However, it makes the admin easier to handle, allowing that creative muse to flourish.
Now where'd she go again...?
(Get the free 15-day demo from the site below - you can use it right away, no fangling or setup required, just a straightforward download. And if like me you love it, you can purchase for a snip-like US$59)
http://www.storyist.com (see details of their sponsorship of NaNoWriMo)
http://www.rwanational.org (Romance Writers of America publishes the monthly 'Romance Writers Report')
http://www.nanowrimo.org
Weeks of struggling with a second draft of my contemporary novel have proven beyond doubt that my brain cannot hold on to any more scenes and clever quips. This spells disaster for my growing manuscript: she's sprouted arms, legs and, dammit, a mind of her own. Like all teenagers, she does what she wants, and while I don't begrudge her this, it is me who's struggling to manage it all.
But surely the creative process is more organic than technical? Won't my ideas, currently on scraps of paper and my 'can't throw it out' paper napkin, just come together harmoniously on Word? Alas no, this child has my heart near-broken. I forget where I'm going and where I've been. So I look to the all-knowing internet and find the answer to all my problems: Storyist.
Storyist is a creative writing management tool especially for Macs, and is the brainchild of part-time writer and IT veteran, Steve Shepard. His Eureka moment was when he realised there was no software to help him organise and manage his draft manuscript, and the extensive notes and research that accompany this. Shortly afterwards, he set about developing and marketing Storyist.
Storyist is a tool that helps you to work smarter, not harder. All stories, be they in book form or on the silver screen, have elements in common: characters, plots, as well as a time and a place. Throw in a few subplots and secondary characters, and you have yourself an informational nightmare. Writers need to research, take notes, flesh out ideas, and if you're a plotter like me, build a storyboard to arrange scenes and chapters in sequence. How to do that, and tap out a nifty 100,000 words at the same time? Its tricky...
So how can Storyist help? It allows you record your manuscript and its supplementary information all in one place. You can add notes, edit text, type up the manuscript and format it. Storyist even lets you add photos of your characters. A pleasing workspace awaits you: a sidebar on the left presents a tree-structure of your WIP, giving you a birds-eye view of all your notes, categorised neatly into useful headings like 'Character', 'Plot', 'Setting' and so on. On the right, there's an virtual 'pinboard', while your growing manuscript nestles cheekily in the centre.
The pinboard functionality is particularly great - you just type onto an index card (jot down a short scene for example), then add a comment (kinda like a post-it)- this sits alongside the index card, providing extra info or key elements you need to include later. Giving your index card a meaningful heading is smart, since this appears in the tree-structure view.
Like all things Mac, this software is more graphical than text-based. Its interface allows you to simply drag and drop items, handy when trying out different scene sequences. In addition, there are story sheets, character sheets, and template functionality for those who need to customise.
Your workspace too is configurable, but even the default settings I describe above suit this writer perfectly. The company's website claims that Storyist lends itself equally well to screenwriters as well as novelists. The application is clear, intuitive and well organised, with a useful project-wide search facility (no more deciphering of scrawl, or trying to read notes on a grubby napkin. Nice.)
My verdict after just an hour? Brilliant.
This all means that when it comes time for you to tap out 100k-odd words of a novel (or 2 hours' worth of screentime), you can concentrate more on the language and less on the logistics.
A note for any non-writers (and may you never doubt this): Storyist, like all the writing tools I know of, is not an auto-generator of storylines, characters or anything else - in short, it won't write your book for you. However, it makes the admin easier to handle, allowing that creative muse to flourish.
Now where'd she go again...?
(Get the free 15-day demo from the site below - you can use it right away, no fangling or setup required, just a straightforward download. And if like me you love it, you can purchase for a snip-like US$59)
http://www.storyist.com (see details of their sponsorship of NaNoWriMo)
http://www.rwanational.org (Romance Writers of America publishes the monthly 'Romance Writers Report')
http://www.nanowrimo.org
Saturday, August 1, 2009
It's like I've waited my whole life...
...for this one homevideo?
Jill and Kevin's wild sashay into marriage has given me the craziest high. I don't know them personally, but they were so kind as to put their wedding video up on YouTube, and man what an entrance!
So much so that two friends of mine have both joked about doing a similar ceremony entrance for their own weddings, one here in Ireland, and the other in the US. And as one of the luckies who'll be bridesmaiding in the former and guesting in the latter, I'd be well on for it (girls, you have no idea...).
Now like all good bridesmaids, I have some concerns. How will delicate dress material stand up to all that pre-ceremony dancing? and how won't I fall on my derriere?
Look at the practicalities - that high upward stretching could so easily tear a svelte silk dress, especially if you're an over-enthusiastic dancer like me. And the polished church aisle would be like an ice-rink to our dainty footwear. The solution? Bias cut dresses with miles of double stitching, and an afternoon's work with low-grade sandpaper.
Not to mention that swinging your fellow bridesmaid about the place could result in a nasty encounter with a pew, or worse, propel her into the ecstatic arms of an unattractive male guest. Still, you could always get away with lots of boxing the air, raising the roof, or the old reliable jazz hands.
For Jill and Kevin's do, thankfully there are no mishaps, only a riotous celebration of love and happiness. Bodies yo-yo about the place with spirit and exuberance - stomping, hopping and stepping in time with each other, and hell isn't that what love and friendship is all about?
Our bridal party slows right down to the lyrics 'Won't let you fall', echoing the sacred promise of commitment between a husband and wife. And on cue, we meet the beautiful bride, sashaying her way to her man, and I hope, years of love, togetherness, and the highs and lows that lie therein. So while happiness is more than a bunnyhop away, at least we know the dance steps to get there.
(haven't you watched it yet? Get over to YouTube immediately http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8DCt3Lmi28)
Monday, July 20, 2009
Birth of a blog
Finally after many months, it's arrived. No my friends, not a wee un but my very first blog, although it's been gestating right here in my head for the longest time.
I am a writer and aspiring novelist, my genre of choice being Romance.
I agonised for ages about starting a blog, and why? Even the most confident self-satisfied writers (mmm, who are they?) weigh up the pros and cons of putting their work out there. 'There' is the unforgiving but infinitely fascinating world wide web where I've met other authors, aspiring and published, and enjoyed manys an article and novel snippet from their keyboards.
To you Reader, I say welcome and failte. I hope to post some of my work here shortly, so have a goo, have a giggle, and please let me know what you think.
Bye for now,
Nic
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