Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 122
March 5, 2015
Writing Tricks
I thought I'd share a few of the things I do to make life easier for me when I write.
First are the pictures I talked about on Tuesday. I have pictures of houses, pictures of rooms inside the homes, pictures of vehicles, and floor plans for the houses. Floor plans are awesome! It keeps me from accidentally moving rooms around the house when I write. There are a lot of sites out there that have them and I have a Pinterest board called House Plans.
Second are character pictures. Technically, this could really go with item one, but this is important enough to give it its own subject. This helps me keep appearance details straight like eye color and hair styles. This is very handy when you can't remember details and it also helps when it comes time to send the publisher cover facts information. I send the pictures of my heroine and hero. Not that I necessarily get characters that look right, but I try.
Third is my calendar. Keeping track of story time is hard for me. Over and over again I would have to print out a hard copy of my work, read through it, and mark at the top of the page what day it was for each scene. It finally occurred to me to print out a calendar and write down the chapter and scene number for the appropriate day. This has saved me incredible amounts of time.
I also save things like PDFs of restaurant menus, seating charts if my characters go out to a public event, and other stuff like this. Maybe what I'm looking at never gets even a remote mention in the actual book, but I like knowing in my own mind what's what.
Keep in mind that I'm a big believer in do whatever works for you and that this might change from book to book.
First are the pictures I talked about on Tuesday. I have pictures of houses, pictures of rooms inside the homes, pictures of vehicles, and floor plans for the houses. Floor plans are awesome! It keeps me from accidentally moving rooms around the house when I write. There are a lot of sites out there that have them and I have a Pinterest board called House Plans.
Second are character pictures. Technically, this could really go with item one, but this is important enough to give it its own subject. This helps me keep appearance details straight like eye color and hair styles. This is very handy when you can't remember details and it also helps when it comes time to send the publisher cover facts information. I send the pictures of my heroine and hero. Not that I necessarily get characters that look right, but I try.
Third is my calendar. Keeping track of story time is hard for me. Over and over again I would have to print out a hard copy of my work, read through it, and mark at the top of the page what day it was for each scene. It finally occurred to me to print out a calendar and write down the chapter and scene number for the appropriate day. This has saved me incredible amounts of time.
I also save things like PDFs of restaurant menus, seating charts if my characters go out to a public event, and other stuff like this. Maybe what I'm looking at never gets even a remote mention in the actual book, but I like knowing in my own mind what's what.
Keep in mind that I'm a big believer in do whatever works for you and that this might change from book to book.
March 3, 2015
Picky, Picky, Picky
When I write, I like to have pictures--houses, cars, clothes, and most importantly, the characters. I go looking for some of these things when I'm in pre-book. That's what I call the time I spend preparing to write a story. Other images I let go until I absolutely need them.
Normally, I look for pictures of my hero and heroine before I write a word, but with the Work In Progress (WIP), I didn't do that. My guess is it's because the h/h weren't clear to me until I started writing. That's strange, too. I usually get a sense of what they look like when they come in and begin talking to me, but that didn't happen this time. It's weird, but I've learned to go with the flow on things like this.
I finally reached a point, though, where I needed more than pictures of the heroine's home and the floor plan.
To say searching for pictures of my h/h is a pain would be understating it. I have this dream of some day just stumbling across the right images for everyone while I'm looking for something else. I've never come close to this, but I refuse to give up hope. Unfortunately, the process is excruciating slow as my characters reject image after image as not being them. Some of the nopes are for tiny ridiculous things.
With this WIP, it was moderately horrible. I only had to spend two days looking for my heroine. I had no idea what she looked like--not even hair color--until I (excuse me, until WE) started looking. It narrowed down pretty fast, so it became a case of finding the right woman with dark blonde hair.
If only her hero had been even half that cooperative. I probably spent triple the time on searching for him. I knew he had dark hair, but not how dark. I knew he wore his hair two different lengths and that became a problem. If the guy looked good with long hair, he wouldn't look good with short or vice versa. I finally found him on Saturday morning.
I half expected my hero to change is mind by Sunday, but so far, the images I've found appear to be the right ones because he hasn't squawked and neither has my heroine.
And the good news is that I found the heroine for another book while I was searching for this one. It's a good thing since the other heroine plays a role in book 1. If I'd stumbled across her hero, I would have thought my dreams had come true. They didn't. He remains at large and at some point, I'll have to go looking for him, too.
Normally, I look for pictures of my hero and heroine before I write a word, but with the Work In Progress (WIP), I didn't do that. My guess is it's because the h/h weren't clear to me until I started writing. That's strange, too. I usually get a sense of what they look like when they come in and begin talking to me, but that didn't happen this time. It's weird, but I've learned to go with the flow on things like this.
I finally reached a point, though, where I needed more than pictures of the heroine's home and the floor plan.
To say searching for pictures of my h/h is a pain would be understating it. I have this dream of some day just stumbling across the right images for everyone while I'm looking for something else. I've never come close to this, but I refuse to give up hope. Unfortunately, the process is excruciating slow as my characters reject image after image as not being them. Some of the nopes are for tiny ridiculous things.
With this WIP, it was moderately horrible. I only had to spend two days looking for my heroine. I had no idea what she looked like--not even hair color--until I (excuse me, until WE) started looking. It narrowed down pretty fast, so it became a case of finding the right woman with dark blonde hair.
If only her hero had been even half that cooperative. I probably spent triple the time on searching for him. I knew he had dark hair, but not how dark. I knew he wore his hair two different lengths and that became a problem. If the guy looked good with long hair, he wouldn't look good with short or vice versa. I finally found him on Saturday morning.
I half expected my hero to change is mind by Sunday, but so far, the images I've found appear to be the right ones because he hasn't squawked and neither has my heroine.
And the good news is that I found the heroine for another book while I was searching for this one. It's a good thing since the other heroine plays a role in book 1. If I'd stumbled across her hero, I would have thought my dreams had come true. They didn't. He remains at large and at some point, I'll have to go looking for him, too.
March 1, 2015
February 26, 2015
Coming Very Soon
I wanted to give everyone an update. The Power of Two is out on a final review for typos and other issues from its being scanned. Once that's finished, things will be just about ready to go on releasing the book in e-format.
Again, I'll apologize for the length of time this has taken. I never expected it to get bogged down the way it has. Thanks to everyone who's been patiently waiting! It won't be long now; I promise.
Again, I'll apologize for the length of time this has taken. I never expected it to get bogged down the way it has. Thanks to everyone who's been patiently waiting! It won't be long now; I promise.
February 24, 2015
In the Beginning
I've been fighting with a new story for about a month now. I keep tossing the opening and starting over because I can't find anything I'm happy with. I probably should just keep writing and hope that getting the words out will lead to writing something that's actually worth keeping, but I haven't been able to make myself do that.
I know when the story starts--Everything gets put into motion when my heroine arrives in town. The problem is that I don't know where--exactly--it begins.
Do I open with her seeing the hero for the first time? They don't actually meet then, but she sees him and drools a little. ;-) I've trashed about 4 variations on this opening. The one that has the tone right was riddled with issues that made it unkeepable.
Do I start with her shock at how much the town has changed? I've tried this twice, but I quickly find myself bogged down in description of the differences between now and then. Who wants to read that? Not me. I always skim description in books or outright skip it depending on how much of it there is. I don't want to have readers everywhere closing the book on page one.
I contemplated backing up and starting earlier, but that's worse, I think. Although I'm still debating this one on occasion.
Coming into the story a little later than I'm thinking? That's not giving me anything to use.
This is so frustrating. Oh, well, off to trash another opening and start over. Again.
I know when the story starts--Everything gets put into motion when my heroine arrives in town. The problem is that I don't know where--exactly--it begins.
Do I open with her seeing the hero for the first time? They don't actually meet then, but she sees him and drools a little. ;-) I've trashed about 4 variations on this opening. The one that has the tone right was riddled with issues that made it unkeepable.
Do I start with her shock at how much the town has changed? I've tried this twice, but I quickly find myself bogged down in description of the differences between now and then. Who wants to read that? Not me. I always skim description in books or outright skip it depending on how much of it there is. I don't want to have readers everywhere closing the book on page one.
I contemplated backing up and starting earlier, but that's worse, I think. Although I'm still debating this one on occasion.
Coming into the story a little later than I'm thinking? That's not giving me anything to use.
This is so frustrating. Oh, well, off to trash another opening and start over. Again.
February 22, 2015
February 19, 2015
Eagle Cam and Eaglets
For those of you who don't know, Berry College near Rome, Georgia has an Eagle Cam up where viewers can watch eaglets being reared. This year, the nest has two eaglets B4 and B5. One was born on Feb 13 and the other on Feb 14 or 15. I think I have the dates right. There's also a second camera setup with sound and a view from above the nest and an approach camera to watch parents fly in.
Right after the eaglets were born, the weather in Georgia, particularly north Georgia, went in the tank. Rain, freezing rain, and snow are all pelting down on the poor eagle family. But despite it all, the mama eagle has sat on the nest, shielding the babies from cold and wet.
This is a screen cap I took the night the storm rolled in (Feb 16th).
Mama looks miserable, but her babies are warm and dry and they need to be. They're so young that they have no protection yet against this kind of weather.
Watching the nest can become addictive. Last year, these same eagle parents had one eaglet, B3, who was a bit on the spoiled side (if you can say that about an eaglet). Her antics were so much fun to watch. They grow so fast, and before you know it, they fledge.
I just wanted to share this because it is so cool to watch. It is a little boring when the babies are still tucked underneath their parents except when being fed, but it doesn't take long before they grow past that stage and are visible most of the time.
Right after the eaglets were born, the weather in Georgia, particularly north Georgia, went in the tank. Rain, freezing rain, and snow are all pelting down on the poor eagle family. But despite it all, the mama eagle has sat on the nest, shielding the babies from cold and wet.
This is a screen cap I took the night the storm rolled in (Feb 16th).
Mama looks miserable, but her babies are warm and dry and they need to be. They're so young that they have no protection yet against this kind of weather.
Watching the nest can become addictive. Last year, these same eagle parents had one eaglet, B3, who was a bit on the spoiled side (if you can say that about an eaglet). Her antics were so much fun to watch. They grow so fast, and before you know it, they fledge.
I just wanted to share this because it is so cool to watch. It is a little boring when the babies are still tucked underneath their parents except when being fed, but it doesn't take long before they grow past that stage and are visible most of the time.
February 17, 2015
Friday the 13th
Normally, I have good days on Friday the 13th. Some people are like oh-no! and I'm like, yea! So I didn't expect anything different on this latest one.
I woke up early because I had to drive myself to work rather than taking my van pool. I love my van pool, but my department was having an offsite event and I wasn't sure we'd make it back in time. That decision was for the best because it turned out that all the drivers had things going on and there wouldn't be anyone there to drive the van anyway.
So I wake up early and I hear this weird crying noise. At first I wrote it off to the wind because it was breezy out there, but it didn't stop. Instead of crying, it began to sound like cats, plural. Is it an old wives' tale that cats shriek during mating? If so, I think they were doing it on my back patio.
They finally go away, I get ready for work, and leave the house. I'm maybe 15 minutes into my drive when the Tire Pressure Low warning comes on. Gah! I freak, right? Because driving with improperly inflated tires can lead to blowouts and stuff. I run through my options and decide I can't risk driving the rest of the way to work without getting my tires checked. I turn off at a service center, but of course, they're closed because it's not even 6am yet. I go back home and let my boss know I won't be in.
I'm thinking wow, what a lousy Friday the 13th and I usually have such fab days! But I started thinking about it. I didn't have a blowout or a flat tire. I had a warning. When the service center opened and I brought the car in, they filled my tires for free. That's another positive event.
I also got some errands run that I would have had to do over the weekend. Since I was over that direction and off from work, I did some quick grocery shopping and got gas for the car, all with very light numbers of people. Win! And it left me time to catch a nap. Naps are always a win. :-)
So as much as I hated wasting a vacation day and as much as I hated to miss the off-site event, things worked out okay. Tires are all intact. I'm safe. Friday the 13th was good.
I woke up early because I had to drive myself to work rather than taking my van pool. I love my van pool, but my department was having an offsite event and I wasn't sure we'd make it back in time. That decision was for the best because it turned out that all the drivers had things going on and there wouldn't be anyone there to drive the van anyway.
So I wake up early and I hear this weird crying noise. At first I wrote it off to the wind because it was breezy out there, but it didn't stop. Instead of crying, it began to sound like cats, plural. Is it an old wives' tale that cats shriek during mating? If so, I think they were doing it on my back patio.
They finally go away, I get ready for work, and leave the house. I'm maybe 15 minutes into my drive when the Tire Pressure Low warning comes on. Gah! I freak, right? Because driving with improperly inflated tires can lead to blowouts and stuff. I run through my options and decide I can't risk driving the rest of the way to work without getting my tires checked. I turn off at a service center, but of course, they're closed because it's not even 6am yet. I go back home and let my boss know I won't be in.
I'm thinking wow, what a lousy Friday the 13th and I usually have such fab days! But I started thinking about it. I didn't have a blowout or a flat tire. I had a warning. When the service center opened and I brought the car in, they filled my tires for free. That's another positive event.
I also got some errands run that I would have had to do over the weekend. Since I was over that direction and off from work, I did some quick grocery shopping and got gas for the car, all with very light numbers of people. Win! And it left me time to catch a nap. Naps are always a win. :-)
So as much as I hated wasting a vacation day and as much as I hated to miss the off-site event, things worked out okay. Tires are all intact. I'm safe. Friday the 13th was good.
February 15, 2015
25 Incredible Predictions That Came True
I have some reservations on the accuracy in some of the predictions (Nostradamus for example was very vague and his quatrains only seem to predict in hindsight), but some of these cite sources that make them interesting.
February 12, 2015
Charm?
I'll admit right up front that I prefer modern/contemporary for everything to do with a house--the exterior, interior, furniture, art. Everything. Maybe this is why I have so much trouble when I watch House Hunters on HGTV and many of these women are looking for what they call charm. Inevitably charm is some old house that's a money pit. I don't get this.
(Occasionally, it's the man looking for character, but mostly it's been the women on the episodes I've seen. On a recent episode I saw, the wife gave up the house she was hugely excited about for a really super old house that she didn't really like because her husband wanted it. Gah!)
One of these couples even bought a house that was more than 100 years old. All I see is work and potential issues. Maybe I've seen too many episodes of Property Brothers, but who knows what lurks behind those walls? Bad electrical issues, plumbing problems, structural calamity.
No, give me a newer house, one with clean lines and an open floor plan. One with a maintenance-free exterior and all the wiring it takes to handle my computers, printers, and other electronic gadgets.
The other thing about old homes is the bugs. Especially in the south where it's a constant battle against those things. All the cracks in an old house that they can crawl in.... shudder. Instead of just dealing with the occasional scorpion, I'd probably have a house full of them if I had an older home. No thank you. Give me the nice, tight, new construction.
You probably guessed it, but I just saw another episode where the wife wanted charm. The couple passed up the only house that I thought was worth buying for an older one. Fortunately, not 100 years old, but still old. They had to gut the entire kitchen, it was so outdated. All I think about is the fuss and mess and noise and headaches of dealing with contractors.
If what I like isn't viewed as charming by the rest of the world, so be it. I think clean lines do have charm. That's what attracts me so much to modern/contemporary.
(Occasionally, it's the man looking for character, but mostly it's been the women on the episodes I've seen. On a recent episode I saw, the wife gave up the house she was hugely excited about for a really super old house that she didn't really like because her husband wanted it. Gah!)
One of these couples even bought a house that was more than 100 years old. All I see is work and potential issues. Maybe I've seen too many episodes of Property Brothers, but who knows what lurks behind those walls? Bad electrical issues, plumbing problems, structural calamity.
No, give me a newer house, one with clean lines and an open floor plan. One with a maintenance-free exterior and all the wiring it takes to handle my computers, printers, and other electronic gadgets.
The other thing about old homes is the bugs. Especially in the south where it's a constant battle against those things. All the cracks in an old house that they can crawl in.... shudder. Instead of just dealing with the occasional scorpion, I'd probably have a house full of them if I had an older home. No thank you. Give me the nice, tight, new construction.
You probably guessed it, but I just saw another episode where the wife wanted charm. The couple passed up the only house that I thought was worth buying for an older one. Fortunately, not 100 years old, but still old. They had to gut the entire kitchen, it was so outdated. All I think about is the fuss and mess and noise and headaches of dealing with contractors.
If what I like isn't viewed as charming by the rest of the world, so be it. I think clean lines do have charm. That's what attracts me so much to modern/contemporary.
