Over the years I have shared that I am writing a novel. What I have written is sprinkled throughout numerous files and notebooks. Last week, I created a strategy to finish my manuscript.
1. Evernote: Evernote is an amazing organizing app. Unlike Pinterest, which feels like traveling down the rabbit hole, Evernote helps me focus. The application is available for computers, smartphones, and tablets, and it syncs between all three. If you don't use Evernote yet, try it. You'll thank me.
2. An hour a day: This goal is flexible. Honestly, I will be happy if I spend 15 minutes a day writing. And if I spend 2 hours writing, I exceed my goal!
3. Feedback: I find it difficult to reach out for feedback. I am going step outside of my comfort zone and bug my writer friends who have told me to send them my writing.
I'm going to use the same principles into a Shimmering Star.
It only takes an hour a day!
Showing posts with label writer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writer. Show all posts
10 June 2013
25 May 2013
Stories Come Alive in the Telling
"Stories were different, though: they came alive in the telling. Without a human voice to read them aloud, or a pair of wide eyes following them by flashlight beneath a blanket, they had no real existence in our world. They were like seeds in the beak of a bird, waiting to fall to earth, or the notes of a song laid out on a sheet, yearning for an instrument to bring their music into being. They lay dormant, hoping for the chance to emerge. Once someone started to read them, they could begin to change. They could take root in the imagination, and transform the reader."
John Connolly, The Book of Lost Things
08 February 2013
Book Challenge Update
My 2013 book challenge is going well. I have already read 23 books this year. If I keep the same pace I will pass my 100 book goal around August. While I am glad that my challenge is going well, being able immerse myself in the pages of novels is the greater reward.
Reading opens our eyes to the world around us. What have you been reading lately?
24 January 2013
Connected
"We all want to connect with other human beings in such a way that they'll remember us and perhaps share our legacy with others."
Lee Gutkind, You Can't Make This Stuff Up: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction--from Memoir to Literary Journalism and Everything in Between
14 January 2013
My New Favorite Pen
When you are a writer you must choose your materials carefully. Your notebook has to be the right dimensions, and your pen has to all for the quick transfer of your ideas to the page.
As a left-handed writer, I need a pen that writes smoothly yet dries quickly. Gel pens tend to smear, and do not let me write small enough. Most ball point pens tend to have cheap construction, the ink fades in and out, and they do not seem to last as long as they should.
I have finally found my perfect pen: the Zebra F-301.
Meijer carries the 2-pack of Zebra F-301 pens for around $3.50. The Zebra F-301 fine point (.07) is perfect for my small handwriting, and the ink does not smear. The pen is made out of steel, so it is practically indestructible. And best of all it is refillable!
Now I need to find the perfect notebook.
As a left-handed writer, I need a pen that writes smoothly yet dries quickly. Gel pens tend to smear, and do not let me write small enough. Most ball point pens tend to have cheap construction, the ink fades in and out, and they do not seem to last as long as they should.
I have finally found my perfect pen: the Zebra F-301.
image via Zebra
Meijer carries the 2-pack of Zebra F-301 pens for around $3.50. The Zebra F-301 fine point (.07) is perfect for my small handwriting, and the ink does not smear. The pen is made out of steel, so it is practically indestructible. And best of all it is refillable!
Now I need to find the perfect notebook.
04 January 2013
Everyday Creativity
"Everyday creativity refers to a process which brings together at least one active human mind, and the material or digital world, in the activity of making something which is novel in the context, and is a process which evokes a feeling of joy."
David Gauntlett, Making is Connecting: The social meaning of creativity, from DIY and knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0
17 December 2012
Internal Activity
"Are my words ever actually audible, or do they just echo in my head while people stare at me, waiting? I want to change my punctuation. I long for exclamation marks, but I'm drowning in ellipses."
Isaac Marion, Warm Bodies
14 November 2012
The Power of Names
"If we do not have a word for something, we cannot imagine it, cannot discuss it, cannot think about it, and some people would even argue that if you can't name something, you can't experience it at all."
Heather Leach, Everything You need to Know About Creative Writing
05 November 2012
The Great Gatsby and Catch-22 Sweepstakes
I love F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing style. One of my all time book covers is The Great Gatsby (I am excited for the 2013 film simply for the visuals). And now Simon and Schuster and Out of Print have teamed together to offer The Great Gatsby and Catch-22 Sweepstakes!
Enter by November 6th for a chance to win!
Enter by November 6th for a chance to win!
29 October 2012
Rebel Writer
"Writing is rebellion, a defiance of the order of the universe."
John Rember, MFA in a Box: A Why to Write Book
11 October 2012
Unexpected Connections
"That means writers need to be generalists. The more you know about a wide range of subjects, the more material you have to make connections with. The more material you have to work with, the more likely you are to produce fresh, unexpected connections, the kind of connections that make good metaphors."
Carol Bly, Beyond the Writers' Workshop
05 October 2012
Read
Keeping with the Banned Books Week theme, I love this wooden sign by Scott Snyder of banished.
The maple sign can be stained in a variety of finishes. It would be perfect in a professor's office or next to a bookshelf filled with lots of books!
The maple sign can be stained in a variety of finishes. It would be perfect in a professor's office or next to a bookshelf filled with lots of books!
01 October 2012
Book Challenge Completed
I mentioned that I had a dilemma to my book reading challenge. It's appropriate that I reached my book reading goal during Banned Books Week.
Here are the books that count towards my goal.
Here are the books that count towards my goal.
6: Phantastes
10: Northanger Abbey
11: Classic Novels
12: Crazy Love
14: Fish!
15: The Swan Thieves
16: Gateway
17: Keep It Real
19: Clockwork Angel
20: Pretty Dead
21: The Frenzy
22: I Am Number Four
25: The Power of Six
26: Messenger
27: Lost Voices
28: Misguided Angel
30: Lost in Time
35: The Night Watch
36: Pegasus
37: Quiet
38: Divergent
39: Delirium
40: The Thin Man
42: Clockwork Prince
43: American Gods
44: Beastly
48: Writing Magic
25 September 2012
Mythic Realms
"The shared realm of mythic fantasy is a realm in which we learn that which is most important to the human experience. We learn it through finely crafted metaphors--translating truth and accuracy into fantastic possession, just as we learn it through retellings--translating mythic tales into contemporary expressions."
Evelyn M. Perry, Robin McKinley: Girl Reader, Woman Writer
23 July 2012
Memo Mug
This Memo Mug from Fish's Eddy is perfect for starting the day with coffee and a notebook.
It appeals to my inner geek.
16 July 2012
The Power to Change Us
Will grinned. "Some of these books are dangerous," he said. "It's wise to be careful."
"One must always be careful of books," said Tessa, "and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us."
Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel
09 July 2012
Keep It Real
"What is most important and enjoyable about creative nonfiction is that it not only allows but also encourages the writer to become a part of the story or essay being written."
Lee Gutkind, Private and Public: The Range and Scope of Creative Nonfiction; Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know About Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction, pg. 14
31 May 2012
So Little Time
I have been preoccupied with my training. It has been a long time since I have been encouraged to learn. The beauty of my job is I will never stop learning. Libraries offer so much free data and information to the public; they're such a valuable resource. As Frank Zappa said, "So many books, so little time".
It is nice to be challenged.
It is nice to be challenged.
05 February 2012
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