Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 120
April 21, 2015
Story Spreadsheets
Since I took my spreadsheet class, I've really gotten into making spreadsheets work for me. I have one for my budget, for my checkbook register, for keeping track of where I am on paying off my car loan. It can do some cool stuff, but I haven't found any templates for stories.
Oh, sure, there are a bunch of free spreadsheets out there for tracking word count or royalty payments, but I want one that's directly related to story. I've found spreadsheets that keep track of what happened in each scene, but I do that on the calendar I use to keep track of time in my story. I was hoping someone would have template that did more than that.
So what am I looking for? I'm not quite sure, to be honest. If I had a handle on this, I could probably create my own instead of searching the web for what other authors do.
I guess I want something that's going to help me be organized and help me keep track of details and maybe do something magical that will instantly solve my issues with keeping details in some kind of order. I'm notoriously bad about having details scattered everywhere and then not being able to find it when I need it. Even Scrivener hasn't answered all my problems.
Right now, I'll have book details in Scrivener, in my browser's bookmarks, in notebooks, in Word documents, and yes, I do have spreadsheets of my own. It's not very chaotic and I don't like that.
Oh, sure, there are a bunch of free spreadsheets out there for tracking word count or royalty payments, but I want one that's directly related to story. I've found spreadsheets that keep track of what happened in each scene, but I do that on the calendar I use to keep track of time in my story. I was hoping someone would have template that did more than that.
So what am I looking for? I'm not quite sure, to be honest. If I had a handle on this, I could probably create my own instead of searching the web for what other authors do.
I guess I want something that's going to help me be organized and help me keep track of details and maybe do something magical that will instantly solve my issues with keeping details in some kind of order. I'm notoriously bad about having details scattered everywhere and then not being able to find it when I need it. Even Scrivener hasn't answered all my problems.
Right now, I'll have book details in Scrivener, in my browser's bookmarks, in notebooks, in Word documents, and yes, I do have spreadsheets of my own. It's not very chaotic and I don't like that.
April 19, 2015
25 Awesome Body Hacks Life Is Trying to Hide From You
I heard the hiccup thing a long time ago and it works.
April 16, 2015
How I Research a Story
Every book requires research of some kind or another and that includes paranormal. I'm going to talk a little bit about how I like to do research for my stories.
I'll start by saying that I've always had this eclectic interest in all kinds of things. As a teenager, I would get interested in a topic and check out every book the library had on it. I'd read them all and then go back to reading fiction until the next interest arose. A few topics I distinctly remember reading about as a kid: Mars, sharks, and the pyramids among other things.
My weirdness continued in college where there was a smorgasbord of classes to take and graduation required a distribution across a number of different areas. Plus, I was in journalism school (as an advertising copy major) and we only could take 45 credits inside the school. The rest were in other areas like political science, economics, etc. With this encouragement and my own innate curiosity, I graduated with 60 more credits than I needed and I did not have a second major or a minor. Um, yeah. Good thing I'm not going to college today.
After college, I continued my teenage habit of reading a ton on any topic that interested me, so I have this jack of all trades, master of none thing going pretty strongly. :-)
This all comes into play because before I'd even put down one word of Ravyn's Flight, I'd already done a lot of reading about Special Forces. Years before I wrote a word of The Power of Two, I'd read like a bazillion articles on nanotechnology because it interested me. The same with just about any paranormal phenomena you can mention.
In fact, I credit my idea for Power of Two to all the reading I did on nanotech. This is how the idea happened: I read the series bible and saw the four stories there were to choose from. I had no clue which one I wanted or what to write about, but my mind was turning things over. I was in the bathroom at work, looking out the window as I tried my hands and I heard this word in my head. Nanotechnology. I'm like, okay what about it? Nanoprobe in the brain. Hmm. The rest came tumbling in about how the hero has a nanoprobe in his brain too and so on.
My heroine came in as I was walking back to my desk and gave me her name, but it was the reading I'd done probably eight years earlier that set the stage for this book.
Sometimes, though, I have ideas that bring up topics I've never read about. Like in Edge of Dawn. I knew nothing about restoring classic cars. Not only that, I had no interest in them. Unfortunately, my hero, Logan, was into it big time. When this happens, I do some research in the phase I call Pre-Book. I want to get the heavy lifting done before I'm putting down words.
As I write, I'll look up the finer details that I inevitably need to know.
My research strategy:
1. Read and learn. If not every day than at least every week (just for fun)
And then the idea comes in
2. Research at a high level before sitting down to write without getting bogged down in minutia.
3. As I write, research the small details that the story needs
Not getting bogged down in minutia is a big one. I never know what kind of small details I'm going to need to know until I'm writing. This leaves only two choices for Pre-Book--either research down to a fine level on every subtopic within the topic or guess which subtopics you'll need and only research those.
The first wastes incredible time and is why there are some writers who've spent years studying without getting anything written. The second one is a waste of time, too, because inevitably the things I thought I'd need to know aren't what the book needed me to know and I ended up stopping to research anyway.
That said I subscribe to the iceberg theory of writing. Only 10% is visible in the book and the other 90% stays hidden beneath the surface. Just because I know something doesn't mean it has to go in the book. Same for what I know about my characters. But again, that's another post.
I'll start by saying that I've always had this eclectic interest in all kinds of things. As a teenager, I would get interested in a topic and check out every book the library had on it. I'd read them all and then go back to reading fiction until the next interest arose. A few topics I distinctly remember reading about as a kid: Mars, sharks, and the pyramids among other things.
My weirdness continued in college where there was a smorgasbord of classes to take and graduation required a distribution across a number of different areas. Plus, I was in journalism school (as an advertising copy major) and we only could take 45 credits inside the school. The rest were in other areas like political science, economics, etc. With this encouragement and my own innate curiosity, I graduated with 60 more credits than I needed and I did not have a second major or a minor. Um, yeah. Good thing I'm not going to college today.
After college, I continued my teenage habit of reading a ton on any topic that interested me, so I have this jack of all trades, master of none thing going pretty strongly. :-)
This all comes into play because before I'd even put down one word of Ravyn's Flight, I'd already done a lot of reading about Special Forces. Years before I wrote a word of The Power of Two, I'd read like a bazillion articles on nanotechnology because it interested me. The same with just about any paranormal phenomena you can mention.
In fact, I credit my idea for Power of Two to all the reading I did on nanotech. This is how the idea happened: I read the series bible and saw the four stories there were to choose from. I had no clue which one I wanted or what to write about, but my mind was turning things over. I was in the bathroom at work, looking out the window as I tried my hands and I heard this word in my head. Nanotechnology. I'm like, okay what about it? Nanoprobe in the brain. Hmm. The rest came tumbling in about how the hero has a nanoprobe in his brain too and so on.
My heroine came in as I was walking back to my desk and gave me her name, but it was the reading I'd done probably eight years earlier that set the stage for this book.
Sometimes, though, I have ideas that bring up topics I've never read about. Like in Edge of Dawn. I knew nothing about restoring classic cars. Not only that, I had no interest in them. Unfortunately, my hero, Logan, was into it big time. When this happens, I do some research in the phase I call Pre-Book. I want to get the heavy lifting done before I'm putting down words.
As I write, I'll look up the finer details that I inevitably need to know.
My research strategy:
1. Read and learn. If not every day than at least every week (just for fun)
And then the idea comes in
2. Research at a high level before sitting down to write without getting bogged down in minutia.
3. As I write, research the small details that the story needs
Not getting bogged down in minutia is a big one. I never know what kind of small details I'm going to need to know until I'm writing. This leaves only two choices for Pre-Book--either research down to a fine level on every subtopic within the topic or guess which subtopics you'll need and only research those.
The first wastes incredible time and is why there are some writers who've spent years studying without getting anything written. The second one is a waste of time, too, because inevitably the things I thought I'd need to know aren't what the book needed me to know and I ended up stopping to research anyway.
That said I subscribe to the iceberg theory of writing. Only 10% is visible in the book and the other 90% stays hidden beneath the surface. Just because I know something doesn't mean it has to go in the book. Same for what I know about my characters. But again, that's another post.
April 14, 2015
How Being an Author Helped Me At My Day Job
I'm not going to mention the obvious: Good writing and spelling skills. Besides business writing is totally different from fiction writing and it takes different writing muscles. I'm not real good at business-type writing at all.
Since I've been published, I've actually been asked to speak in front of groups of people. As an introvert, this is a horrible thing, but I made myself do it. It's true that I'll never really enjoy this. In fact, I still get sick when I know I'll be doing any kind of presentation, but I've become better at speaking and not sounding like an idiot.
Cut to the day job. My boss is trying to get everyone in the department to look and sound professional when they talk in front of a group. My guys have to do it a lot to get projects approved and all that. I slid by for a year without having to do it. And then it happened.
I'm sure everyone thought I'd be a stuttering wreck. Not because they don't like and respect me, but because they know I'm quiet. I think I surprised them all by being calm and actually able to present coherently. This is a skill set I never would have chosen to develop on my own without being asked to speak in front of groups about my writing and books.
Okay, so it's still something I'd rather not do and I'm sure I wasn't smooth like a TV spokesman or a politician, but the important thing is I could do it without being a nervous wreck.
I'm not sure about how many verbal ticks I used. You know: um, er, like, so, etc. The filler words that are so hard to cull from speech. I tried not to use them, but they're so ingrained that they come out unconsciously. But I did okay. That's what counts.
Since I've been published, I've actually been asked to speak in front of groups of people. As an introvert, this is a horrible thing, but I made myself do it. It's true that I'll never really enjoy this. In fact, I still get sick when I know I'll be doing any kind of presentation, but I've become better at speaking and not sounding like an idiot.
Cut to the day job. My boss is trying to get everyone in the department to look and sound professional when they talk in front of a group. My guys have to do it a lot to get projects approved and all that. I slid by for a year without having to do it. And then it happened.
I'm sure everyone thought I'd be a stuttering wreck. Not because they don't like and respect me, but because they know I'm quiet. I think I surprised them all by being calm and actually able to present coherently. This is a skill set I never would have chosen to develop on my own without being asked to speak in front of groups about my writing and books.
Okay, so it's still something I'd rather not do and I'm sure I wasn't smooth like a TV spokesman or a politician, but the important thing is I could do it without being a nervous wreck.
I'm not sure about how many verbal ticks I used. You know: um, er, like, so, etc. The filler words that are so hard to cull from speech. I tried not to use them, but they're so ingrained that they come out unconsciously. But I did okay. That's what counts.
April 12, 2015
Best 90s Action Movie
They lost me when they didn't move Speed on to the next round. Language warning.
April 9, 2015
Muted
One of my pet peeves is the fact that my microwave nags me. I don't want any reminder beeps ever. I want it to beep once when it's done and then shut up. If it sits there for a while and I have to reheat it, I'll deal with it. But the thing nags incessantly.
And then I discovered it. There's a mute function! I didn't want it entirely muted, but hey, it's better than the nagging, so I selected that option and gleefully engaged it. My days of being nagged are finished!
It didn't take more than a few hours before I realized there's one small problem with the mute feature. It also mutes the timer and I use that timer constantly. :-/ Well, hell. I have a hard enough time cooking edible food with a timer. Without? I'm sunk. I also open myself up to the possibility of burning my house down. I tend to wander away from the kitchen and get involved in projects.
No mute for me. I did, however, discover I could manage the volume. The microwave might be nagging me again, but it's going to do it much softer.
And then I discovered it. There's a mute function! I didn't want it entirely muted, but hey, it's better than the nagging, so I selected that option and gleefully engaged it. My days of being nagged are finished!
It didn't take more than a few hours before I realized there's one small problem with the mute feature. It also mutes the timer and I use that timer constantly. :-/ Well, hell. I have a hard enough time cooking edible food with a timer. Without? I'm sunk. I also open myself up to the possibility of burning my house down. I tend to wander away from the kitchen and get involved in projects.
No mute for me. I did, however, discover I could manage the volume. The microwave might be nagging me again, but it's going to do it much softer.
April 7, 2015
Character Engimas
Ideas come in so many different ways that it's impossible to count them or even (sometimes) keep track of what triggered one. For my Work In Progress (WIP), though, I was inspired by a place. Maybe this is why I've had so much trouble hearing my characters' voices. I'm used to starting with my hero/heroine--if not as the spark for the idea, then at least having them in my head early, talking until I know enough to start writing.
Not this time, though. Oh, I knew who my hero and heroine are. Heck, I knew who the heroes and heroines are for all three books in the series I plan to do. It wasn't as if they were hiding from me, but my heroine in book 1? I let her life circumstances get in the way of her personality.
I thought she'd be serious all the time because she does have a serious goal and a serious profession, and as I'd try to write her, I'd spin my wheels. I trashed everything I wrote in this story ever other day for two months. That's a lot of days and a lot of restarts. Then I got an opening where her tone was right. As soon as I wrote it, I knew I had her. She's not dour, but someone with a breezier personality. And I had to trash those pages, too, because they were filled with logic holes that were so bad, they undermined her intelligence. :-/ Yeah. Back to the drawing board.
More writing and more trashing of writing commenced and then one day, I had her personality and a setup that didn't look like Swiss cheese. Hurrah! My jubilation lasted right up until she was face to face with the hero and he just stood there, saying and doing nothing.
Yes, I was so focused on trying to get my heroine's personality that I didn't pay any attention to the hero. Sure, I had the gist of who he was, I even had his goal down pat, I just didn't know who he was and what drove him. But I don't want to do a character sketch, I whined to my writing buddies. I know they're effective when I have an uncommunicative character, but they're such a bore to work through. My writing friends all said what I knew--you're going to have to do it.
And a funny thing happened. I think I filled out like two questions before I started to get him. I don't know him as well as his heroine, not yet, but I know him enough to write him and let the details come through as we go. That's what I needed.
Not this time, though. Oh, I knew who my hero and heroine are. Heck, I knew who the heroes and heroines are for all three books in the series I plan to do. It wasn't as if they were hiding from me, but my heroine in book 1? I let her life circumstances get in the way of her personality.
I thought she'd be serious all the time because she does have a serious goal and a serious profession, and as I'd try to write her, I'd spin my wheels. I trashed everything I wrote in this story ever other day for two months. That's a lot of days and a lot of restarts. Then I got an opening where her tone was right. As soon as I wrote it, I knew I had her. She's not dour, but someone with a breezier personality. And I had to trash those pages, too, because they were filled with logic holes that were so bad, they undermined her intelligence. :-/ Yeah. Back to the drawing board.
More writing and more trashing of writing commenced and then one day, I had her personality and a setup that didn't look like Swiss cheese. Hurrah! My jubilation lasted right up until she was face to face with the hero and he just stood there, saying and doing nothing.
Yes, I was so focused on trying to get my heroine's personality that I didn't pay any attention to the hero. Sure, I had the gist of who he was, I even had his goal down pat, I just didn't know who he was and what drove him. But I don't want to do a character sketch, I whined to my writing buddies. I know they're effective when I have an uncommunicative character, but they're such a bore to work through. My writing friends all said what I knew--you're going to have to do it.
And a funny thing happened. I think I filled out like two questions before I started to get him. I don't know him as well as his heroine, not yet, but I know him enough to write him and let the details come through as we go. That's what I needed.
April 5, 2015
25 Natural Phenomena That Science Can't Explain
I think they have an explanation now for the rocks that move.
April 2, 2015
Coloring For Adults
A couple of weeks ago, I shared an article on Facebook about an artist who created some coloring books for adults. This sounded like such a cool idea and it immediately intrigued me. I've always wished I had the ability to draw, but unfortunately my work isn't good enough for me and I get discouraged.
Maybe it's because as much as I love it, art isn't my passion. Maybe if I was willing to put in the time it takes to refine my skill, I might be decent enough to enjoy doing it. But the truth of the matter is that I'm not willing to put in the hours it would take. With writing, I did. When I created something that didn't meet my level of expectation, I would revise it or keep writing until I became better at it, until I reached a level where I could do it professionally. With art, I just rip the page out of the sketchbook, throw it in the recycle bag, and go do something else.
So anyway, here's an artist who did the hard part for me, all I'd have to do is color between her lines. Then I'd think about it some more and wonder when I'd have time to do this. I'm stretched so thin right now, I'm exhausted most of the time, and if I need a creative outlet that is not writing, I have a ton of scrapbook supplies that I should do something with.
Despite this, I keep revisiting the page with the coloring books and thinking about clicking the buy button. We'll see what happens. :-)
Maybe it's because as much as I love it, art isn't my passion. Maybe if I was willing to put in the time it takes to refine my skill, I might be decent enough to enjoy doing it. But the truth of the matter is that I'm not willing to put in the hours it would take. With writing, I did. When I created something that didn't meet my level of expectation, I would revise it or keep writing until I became better at it, until I reached a level where I could do it professionally. With art, I just rip the page out of the sketchbook, throw it in the recycle bag, and go do something else.
So anyway, here's an artist who did the hard part for me, all I'd have to do is color between her lines. Then I'd think about it some more and wonder when I'd have time to do this. I'm stretched so thin right now, I'm exhausted most of the time, and if I need a creative outlet that is not writing, I have a ton of scrapbook supplies that I should do something with.
Despite this, I keep revisiting the page with the coloring books and thinking about clicking the buy button. We'll see what happens. :-)
March 31, 2015
Making a House a Home
One of my laments to my mom and dad is that my house in Georgia doesn't feel like a home. I like my house a lot, but my house in Minnesota, that was my home. I've decided, though, that it's not a matter of place so much as how I have the house put together--or not put together as the case might be.
When I moved in, the house had blinds on all the windows, but only two rooms have curtains--the dining room and the front room--and that's only because I asked for the drapes in the contract to buy the house. I remembered that my Minnesota house felt really sterile to me, too, until I put up curtains in my kitchen. I'm still debating whether or not to put curtains up in my breakfast area of the kitchen, but I decided to do the bedrooms for sure.
Because I had one big window in MN versus the three small ones I have here, it meant shopping. Here's a picture I took of the curtain rods I'm going to use.
That's glass at the end of the rod and it looks super cool in person. I'm going with sheer curtains with a pattern in them in fuchsia and yes, I did shop for my curtains in the teen girls section. :-) What can I say? I love bright colors and this bright pink happens to be my favorite.
I have curtains from my spare bedroom in MN that I'm going to use in my guest room here and another set of curtains that I'd had in my master bedroom that will work in the other spare room. I'm still debating whether or not to put curtains up in the office. I guess it will depend on what it looks like when I'm done organizing and cleaning it.
I also need to get some more artwork up on the walls. In my MN house, I had a lot of windows and that left me with little need for wall decorations.
Here, though, I have a lot more wall to deal with. This is something I'll be slow about doing, though, because I need time to consider what I want to live with. For example, I have a long, narrow foyer and I found some super cool prints that showed the planets in our solar system like they were travel destinations. I started to buy them and then I realized that I wasn't sure I wouldn't get bored with that before too long and is that really what I want in my entry? I don't know, so I'll wait.
I do have a few silk flower arrangements and I'm thinking about a runner for my dining room table. I need to brainstorm a little more because I want to feel like I'm home when I'm in my house.
When I moved in, the house had blinds on all the windows, but only two rooms have curtains--the dining room and the front room--and that's only because I asked for the drapes in the contract to buy the house. I remembered that my Minnesota house felt really sterile to me, too, until I put up curtains in my kitchen. I'm still debating whether or not to put curtains up in my breakfast area of the kitchen, but I decided to do the bedrooms for sure.
Because I had one big window in MN versus the three small ones I have here, it meant shopping. Here's a picture I took of the curtain rods I'm going to use.
That's glass at the end of the rod and it looks super cool in person. I'm going with sheer curtains with a pattern in them in fuchsia and yes, I did shop for my curtains in the teen girls section. :-) What can I say? I love bright colors and this bright pink happens to be my favorite.
I have curtains from my spare bedroom in MN that I'm going to use in my guest room here and another set of curtains that I'd had in my master bedroom that will work in the other spare room. I'm still debating whether or not to put curtains up in the office. I guess it will depend on what it looks like when I'm done organizing and cleaning it.
I also need to get some more artwork up on the walls. In my MN house, I had a lot of windows and that left me with little need for wall decorations.
Here, though, I have a lot more wall to deal with. This is something I'll be slow about doing, though, because I need time to consider what I want to live with. For example, I have a long, narrow foyer and I found some super cool prints that showed the planets in our solar system like they were travel destinations. I started to buy them and then I realized that I wasn't sure I wouldn't get bored with that before too long and is that really what I want in my entry? I don't know, so I'll wait.
I do have a few silk flower arrangements and I'm thinking about a runner for my dining room table. I need to brainstorm a little more because I want to feel like I'm home when I'm in my house.
