Jessica Russell's Blog - Posts Tagged "software"
It's NOT Ok
In this day and age of "everything is ok," it's time to mention something that's NOT. It's not ok, as an author, to let apps take over your life! Years ago, a writer sat down with a typewriter or word processor and wrote a book. Authors didn’t rely on software to carry them every step of the way. Although some software is helpful and it’s convenient, you still need to perfect your craft.
You CANNOT rely on software for everything. Look what happened to music when they decided to let computer programs write the songs instead of hiring people to do it: one measure repeated for 3 minutes; there's your song.
There are even individuals who offer “editing” services on platforms such as Fiverr and UpWork and all they are doing is spinning it through Microsoft spellcheck and grammar check. Believe me…Microsoft, Grammarly, and all kinds of other apps and programs CANNOT take the place of true editing. There are also some great programs that will help you with passive, versus active voice if you do AP style writing, but AGAIN, they are not foolproof.
YOU HAVE TO LEARN YOUR CRAFT!
If you don’t know how to do all that already, WITHOUT the software, you’re not ready yet. That may be hard medicine to take, but it’s the truth.
It’s also important to avoid “plot generators.” Honestly! If you don’t have a story in your head, or at least the beginnings of a story cooking, you’re not there yet. You’re just plain not ready. I’ve actually seen people on writing groups/pages say, “I want to write a novel, what should be about?”
Ridiculous.
I’m not trying to be condescending but come on! If you have no idea what you want to write a novel about, then you’re simply not ready to write a novel!
It’s very important to follow all the steps: you need command of the English language–or command of whatever language you’re writing in–you need to learn good grammar, you need to learn how to create a book through scene, sequel, scene, sequel in a straightforward or patchwork pattern, and you need to understand how to wrap it up at the end so that it’s satisfying, whether in a good way or bad way. Just those basics alone are vitally important, not to mention everything else.
Don’t jump the gun and try to get there in one big step with software, advice from other people, and plots spun from apps. The results will NEVER be as good as organic results. Go the long way. It will be WELL WORTH IT!
You CANNOT rely on software for everything. Look what happened to music when they decided to let computer programs write the songs instead of hiring people to do it: one measure repeated for 3 minutes; there's your song.
There are even individuals who offer “editing” services on platforms such as Fiverr and UpWork and all they are doing is spinning it through Microsoft spellcheck and grammar check. Believe me…Microsoft, Grammarly, and all kinds of other apps and programs CANNOT take the place of true editing. There are also some great programs that will help you with passive, versus active voice if you do AP style writing, but AGAIN, they are not foolproof.
YOU HAVE TO LEARN YOUR CRAFT!
If you don’t know how to do all that already, WITHOUT the software, you’re not ready yet. That may be hard medicine to take, but it’s the truth.
It’s also important to avoid “plot generators.” Honestly! If you don’t have a story in your head, or at least the beginnings of a story cooking, you’re not there yet. You’re just plain not ready. I’ve actually seen people on writing groups/pages say, “I want to write a novel, what should be about?”
Ridiculous.
I’m not trying to be condescending but come on! If you have no idea what you want to write a novel about, then you’re simply not ready to write a novel!
It’s very important to follow all the steps: you need command of the English language–or command of whatever language you’re writing in–you need to learn good grammar, you need to learn how to create a book through scene, sequel, scene, sequel in a straightforward or patchwork pattern, and you need to understand how to wrap it up at the end so that it’s satisfying, whether in a good way or bad way. Just those basics alone are vitally important, not to mention everything else.
Don’t jump the gun and try to get there in one big step with software, advice from other people, and plots spun from apps. The results will NEVER be as good as organic results. Go the long way. It will be WELL WORTH IT!
The Author Didn't Do It–Honest
Just a quick word about reviews: some people are under the impression that it is AUTHORS who delete reviews from Amazon. Let me be very clear about something. Authors cannot access reviews with regard to deleting them or approving them. Amazon’s software does that. All we, as the authors can do, is read them. Even if a review is nothing more than a spiteful person saying something nasty because they don’t like us, we still can’t do anything about it.
So, rest assured if you left a nice review for an author who is not well known yet and it disappeared, it was NOT the author deleting it. Similar to what many other companies have done, Amazon has fallen into the trap of allowing software and apps to decide what a “real” review is and what a “fake” review is. Naturally they get it wrong most of the time. That’s because a robot can’t do a human’s job, but because companies make more money using software than paying people, that kind of stupidity is here to stay.
The funny thing is, I have almost 50 reviews and all except five of them are from perfect strangers. I lost 19 to Amazon’s ridiculous software and review purges, but the five that were from people I knew are still there. I kind of wish the software HAD worked because it would have left me 14 to the good. Who knows what the big deal is anyway? Do they think it’s impossible for someone you know to read your book and like it? I guess so because it’s automatically assumed that those reviews are “fake.” Anyway, I digress. Bottom line is, if you have ever left a nice review for an author you like, rest assured that author did not delete it… faulty software did.
So, rest assured if you left a nice review for an author who is not well known yet and it disappeared, it was NOT the author deleting it. Similar to what many other companies have done, Amazon has fallen into the trap of allowing software and apps to decide what a “real” review is and what a “fake” review is. Naturally they get it wrong most of the time. That’s because a robot can’t do a human’s job, but because companies make more money using software than paying people, that kind of stupidity is here to stay.
The funny thing is, I have almost 50 reviews and all except five of them are from perfect strangers. I lost 19 to Amazon’s ridiculous software and review purges, but the five that were from people I knew are still there. I kind of wish the software HAD worked because it would have left me 14 to the good. Who knows what the big deal is anyway? Do they think it’s impossible for someone you know to read your book and like it? I guess so because it’s automatically assumed that those reviews are “fake.” Anyway, I digress. Bottom line is, if you have ever left a nice review for an author you like, rest assured that author did not delete it… faulty software did.
