Posts tagged ‘writing’

April 4th, 2012

Writers: Can You Pass The Silly Putty Test?

by Johanna Harness

I recently bought my kids some Silly Putty.  It was a nostalgic whim that turned out to be pure magic for them.  They’ve played with Play Doh for years, but they’d never seen anything like this wonder ball of goodness.  The more they played with it, the more impressed they were.

So you know me and you know where this is going. Yes. I started comparing the semi-plastic goop to the writing life and I developed this Silly Putty test.

Let’s start with hours and hours of fun.  Are you having fun when you write?  Okay, maybe not all the time—but overall—do you enjoy the work?  If so, give yourself 1000 points.  If you have hours and hours of fun at one time, without interruption, we’re all jealous.  Deduct 100 points.

Moving on to craft:  can you press your mind against the words of a writer you admire and come away with something inspired, but not derivative?  If you said yes, deduct 100 points for hubris.  If you said no, deduct 200 points.  You’re gonna need some hubris.

So let’s assume you’ve written this amazing book. You’ve sent it off to your agent or editor and you hear back that they love it, but would you mind scrapping the B plot, changing the buddy character into a unicorn and adding a love triangle?  Can you stretch those characters into something totally different (and yet oddly the same)?  Yeah?  Add 500 points.  If you can stretch one of the characters into a lovable, supernatural being, add another 100 points.  If all your stretched images turn into talking animals, deduct 100 points.  Unless you can actually make that work.  Then add 300 (see comments on hubris).

Still with me?  Okay then. Only two more tests.   Next: the stretch-break factor.  Can you pace yourself for the slow stretch—the element needed to move your writing from where it is now all the way across the years to where it can be?  Add 1000 points.  Are you prone to sudden breaks instead? At the first sign of adversity, do you drop out of critique groups, dump your agent, or snap at reviewers?  Lose all your points, including the ones for hubris.  You may have over-internalized that factor.

Now your last test: when you’re curled tightly into a ball, sure that you cannot be reduced into anything smaller or more insignificant, is this when you bounce?  If so, add 5000 points.  You have what it takes.  You’ve passed the Silly Putty test for writers.

Categoryfun, writers | Comment2 Comments »

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March 21st, 2012

Beta reading using a kindle (or kindle reader)

by Johanna Harness

So you want to beta read that manuscript on your Kindle, do you? 

Yeah, I can’t blame you.  Writers spend enough time sitting at computers.  Why not read in comfort?

First off, you don’t have to own a Kindle.  You can download Kindle reading aps for other portable devices too. My top choice for reading Kindle books is my iPad.  For reading on the run, I like my phone.  I have an old, clunky 1st-generation Kindle (the kind with the back cover that keeps falling off), but I can’t stand the scroll bar after getting used to a touch screen.  I upgraded to the Kindle Touch, but returned it because the screen responded so slowly.  Plus?  I thought reading .pdf files on the new Kindle would be cool. Nope.  It wasn’t.  The pdf transferred to a print too small to read.  Making the text bigger meant it shifted off the screen.  Maybe I missed a setting or two and there was a way around this, but I try not to pay money for gadgets that make me want to throw them across the room.

So this isn’t a wild endorsement of Kindles. Rather, it’s a record of what my beta readers and I did with the readers we already owned.

First of all, you with the manuscript—you need to change it into a Kindle file.

You have options and I’ll list them here from most complicated to least:

  • Use Calibre or a similar program.  Writers use these to work on final ebooks they release to the public.  If you already have experience on this level, go with what you know.  Your results will be beautiful.
  • If you already use Scrivener, compile your manuscript as a Kindle eBook.  Is it worth it to buy the program just for Kindle formatting?  Probably not, but use it if you have it.
  • Convert your doc by emailing it to your super-secret email address for converting files.

Now let’s make sure you don’t get charged for converting or receiving documents.

  1. Log in to Amazon.
  2. There should be a menu on the left side.  One of the menu options is “Kindle.”  Hover over that and you get a submenu option: “Manage Your Kindle.”  Click that.
  3. I always have to log in again at that point.
  4. On the next screen, in the left menu, under the header “Your Kindle Account,” there’s an option:  “Personal Document Settings.”  Click that.
  5. Look at your settings for “whispernet delivery options.” You can limit the charge through whispernet 3G or you can do like I do and keep whispernet disabled.  This means you’ll have to use an existing wireless connection (or USB) to get your personal documents.  This works for me.  I don’t need to use their 3G service and I don’t want to accidentally use it if my kindle can’t find my home network for some reason.

Find your super-secret Kindle email address.

  1. From the “Personal Document Settings,” page, find your “Send-to-Kindle Email Settings.”
  2. You will see at least one email address–more if you have more than one device registered.
  3. If you don’t have an address here, make sure your device (or reading software) is linked to your account.
  4. Make note of the Kindle address you want to use.

Add emails to your list of approved senders:

  • From the “Personal Document Settings” page, look at your approved email list.
  • You can only receive documents from addresses on that list.
  • At a minimum, make sure your return email address is there.
  • If writers are going to send files directly to your kindle, make sure to add their addresses here.

If you still need to convert your document:

  • Send it to your own [Kindle name in the above super-secret kindle adresss]@free.kindle.com  (Subject line: “Convert”)
  • I usually just send this as a .doc file.  It might work with other files.
  • Amazon will send you an email when the file is converted, along with a link to the file.
  • Go to that link.  Deliver the file to your own Kindle reading device.  Make sure you like the way it looks.

Email the file to your beta reader.

You can either send your kindle book to your reader’s Kindle directly (easiest) or email the file and let the reader send it on to the super-secret Kindle address.  When you send to the kindle, there’s no need for subject or message.

After you send, refresh your Kindle and the file should show up.  (It took a few minutes longer than I thought it should, so don’t despair if it’s not immediate.)  If it doesn’t show up after a few minutes, check the archives from your reader.  It sometimes ends up there.

Please note: If you are sending files from a PC, you may need this free program to send files: http://www.amazon.com/sendtokindle

Delete the file when you’re done reading.

From the “Personal Documents” page, you’ll see a list of files.  The book you’re reading will appear here.  When you’re done with it, delete it.

This is the method I’ve used with beta readers and it’s worked for us.  It’s really not as difficult as it sounds once we’ve set things up. Please do share your experience in the comments.  Any tips and tricks I haven’t covered? Know of any similar tutorials for Nook?  Do you use iPads in creative ways?  Do you use dropbox or cloud for this?  I’d love to hear what works for you.

Categoryreading, writing | Comment1 Comment »

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February 6th, 2012

Freewriting

by Johanna Harness

I’ve been starting my day with freewriting and this morning Zehra Cranmer asked if I’d do a blog post about it.  So here it is, Zehra!

Freewriting is simply writing without pausing.  You can type.  You can write longhand.  Not pausing is the only rule.

So how do you know when to stop?  That’s up to you.

Some people set a timer.  This is a good strategy if you have a difficult time settling in, stilling the outside mind-chatter, and writing.  Figure out what amount of time you need to spend before you stop jumping up or feeling the need to click over to another screen.  Sometimes it only takes five minutes of constant writing to find your zone.

I also use the timer if I’m worried about something and that thing keeps intruding on my writing time.  I’ll say to myself, “Self. . . you have ten minutes to obsess on this.  Go.”  Then I dump it all.  After ten minutes, I’m done.  It’s time to move on to something else.

Setting a timer also works if I’m trying to answer a plotting question.  In this situation it becomes more like brainstorming.  Instead of letting my mind wander where it will, I tell myself to answer something specific.  I might freewrite for ten minutes, trying to find a name for my character, running through all that name’s associations to different names or settings or circumstances.  This is a great strategy if I’m avoiding a problem in my manuscript.  Or if there’s something that’s bugging me about a scene, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.  Instead of looking sideways at the issue, I make myself focus for ten minutes and I’m done.

So that’s one way to know when to stop:  set a timer.  Another option is to write until you’re done.  This is great for times when you have a million things you need to purge before you can relax into your writing.  Your to-do list is rattling around in your mind, making too much noise.  Or you’re worked up about something in the news or something in your family.  There’s a point when you have to dump all the brain clutter so you can focus.  Freewriting is a great way to do it.  When your fingers quit racing and your mind settles, you’re done.

Another option—and the one I’ve been doing lately—is to write until you reach a certain number of words.  I’ve been doing this because the first thousand words of the day are always the most difficult for me to write.  After 1000 words, solid bricks of words become liquid.  One thought flows into the next.  Usually I write those words into a novel or a story and then I have to go back and revise like crazy.  I don’t know why it took me so long to realize I need to warm up with disposable words.

Well, yes.  Maybe I do know.  It’s the idea of it.  The idea of throwing away 1000 words every day makes my heart race a little.

The idea became a lot more palatable when I timed myself.  I can easily freewrite 1000 words in 15-20 minutes.  At the end of that time, my thoughts flow.

When I attempt to dive straight into a novel or story, it usually takes me an hour to write 350 words.  In the second hour I write 500 words.  In the third hour I take off.  Why?  Because I don’t cross 1000 words until that third hour of novel writing.  That’s how many words it takes before I find fluidity.  To make matters worse, those first thousand words need more revising than the rest.

If I do my freewriting warm-up, I’m in the flow of the novel or story from the first words I put down.

If I spend 20 minutes burning off first words, I write better and more in the time remaining.

 

 

Thanks for the question, Zehra! Do remember that none of this is set in stone. Adjust and modify the process into something that works for you.

 

Categoryfocus, freewriting, writing, writing craft | Comment16 Comments »

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