Jacqui Murray's Blog, page 135
June 3, 2015
#IWSG–The Importance of Comments
This post is for Alex Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writers Support Group (click the link for details on what that means and how to join. You will also find a list of bloggers signed up to the challenge that are worth checking out). The first Wednesday of every month, we all post our thoughts, fears or words of encouragement for fellow writers.
This month’s insecurity: If I don’t get comments on my blog, does that mean it’s irrelevant?
I have two main blogs–I have four in all, but that’s a different topic. One of them (this one–WordDreams) gets lots of comments. I love the community. I learn from my readers. It’s what I dreamt of when I started blogging: a cerebral sharing of ideas. The other blog (my teacher blog, Ask a Tech Teacher) gets almost no comments. That always makes me sad because I spend a lot of time on those posts. I’ve tried the typical suggestions–ask for reader input, close with a question, include a scintillating headline–but nothing works.
But then I look at the metric of hits. That blog that no one comments on gets 2-3 times as much traffic and is shared much more often.
What do you think about that? Is there something I can do to motivate more comments or should I be OK with the traffic?
More IWSG articles:
When do you use first or last names in novels?
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman
, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: writers, writing Tagged: iwsg, writers
June 1, 2015
Writers Tip #98: 18 Tips on Grammar from William Safire
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can’t quite put your finger on it, but you know you’ve done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer’s tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
William Safire, speechwriter for President Nixon, Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times (and one of their few conservative columnists), died in 2009, but lives on through both his writing and his wisdom about writing. The highly-acclaimed column he started in 1973 for the NYTimes called “On Language” (now written by Ben Zimmer) established him as one of the most significant voices on how to write well. His wildly-popular approach to the who-whom problem is now called Safire’s Law of Who/Whom:
“When whom is correct, recast the sentence.”
Despite the assumed dullness of his topic, Safire had a wonderful sense of humor. Read these quotes:
The wonderful thing about being a New York Times columnist is that it’s like a Supreme Court appointment – they’re stuck with you for a long time.
Only in grammar can you be more than perfect.
Cast aside any column about two subjects. It means the pundit chickened out on the hard decision about what to write about that day.
..
Here are eighteen grammar tips that include his wry humor I found useful:
Remember to never split an infinitive.
The passive voice should never be used.
Do not put statements in the negative form.
Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
A writer must not shift your point of view.
And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
Don’t overuse exclamation marks!!
Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
Always pick on the correct idiom.
The adverb always follows the verb.
Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.
For the complete list of fifty, visit Dave McAwesome’s post.
If you love investigating and perfecting grammar, check out The Grammar Guru and the Grammar Girl. Both provide quick, useful grammar advice you can consume quickly and use immediately.
To have these tips delivered to your email, click here.
More on grammar:
Writer’s Tip #29: No Exclamation Points! Please!
Grammar and Spelling Aren’t Just for Computers
Despite Spell-check, Check Your Spelling (and Grammar)
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: writers tips Tagged: grammar
May 29, 2015
Lessons learned in a writing journey
Author Michael Smart (see my chat with Michael here) has a pet peeve about using too many words when fewer would do. If you haven’t read his riveting Bequia Mysteries, set in the unusual locale of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, you’re missing out. All three are tightly-woven, action-packed, and sprinkled with the authentic island culture of their Caribbean setting.
Michael published “Kill These Words! 10 Easy Rules to Enliven Your Writing” about a month ago on his blog and has given me permission to republish it here:
Lessons learned in a writing journey…
The use of weak verbs, plentiful adverbs, and unimaginative words, is a malady I encounter with increasing frequency among many indie-published authors. This weakness contributes to tepid sentences, dull narratives, and tedious unable-to-get-past-chapter 1 reading.
In our everyday lives, we all use a functional vocabulary, words we employ regularly and frequently in conversation and correspondence. In creative writing however, authors need to reach beyond the mundane language of our functional vocabulary, choosing words and phrases to provide color, texture, and flavor to the narrative. Words which engage the reader by creating vibrant images, suspenseful drama, and emotional responses.
Here is a small sample of weak words I’ve learned to aggressively seek out and destroy in my writing:
10 simple rules of thumb to help enliven your writing:
Choose strong action verbs to enliven sentences, eliminate the need for adverbs, and avoid the passive voice.
Reconstruct sentences in which the main verb ends in ‘ing’. This is a passive rather than active use of the verb.
Scrub sentences containing auxiliary verbs (would, could, should).
Rewrite any sentence beginning with there.
Kill words ending in ‘ly’. Adverbs exemplify lazy writing. In almost all cases adverbs are unnecessary, often used to qualify a verb, signaling the verb is weak in the first place and needs to be replaced. Enliven sentences by choosing creative, ‘active’ verbs.
“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very'; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” (Mark Twain).
Kill on sight any adverb in a dialogue tag.
Pronouns are as unnecessary as adverbs. Pronouns are vague, sucking the imagery from a sentence. A specific subject provides greater strength and imagery in a sentence. “I hate and mistrust pronouns, every one as slippery as a fly-by-night personal injury lawyer.” (Stephen King).
Excise unnecessary and ineffective words. Choose words possessing strong associations and imagery.
Reconstruct any sentence using that as a relative pronoun or conjunction. While grammatically correct, that is an unnecessary word too often overused in lazy writing, contributing to overweight, clumsy sentences. Another often overused word to kill where it is unnecessary is the.
Final thought. Every rule has exceptions. Style, story, structure, may all require bending or breaking rules of grammar, passive versus active voice, and adverbs do have a place in prose when used judiciously, and for a specific purpose. None of which negates the need for authors to practice diligence and imagination when choosing words. Arguably, breaking rules may require even greater attention to word choice. Enter any author’s best friend, a thesaurus. “Writing without a thesaurus is like writing with a pen without ink.” (Me)The use of weak verbs, plentiful adverbs, and unimaginative words, is a malady I encounter with increasing frequency among many indie-published authors. This weakness contributes to tepid sentences, dull narratives, and tedious unable-to-get-past-chapter 1 reading.
More on words:
Writers Tip #65: Thing? Really?
10 Tips Plus One More About Beautiful Words
10 Beautiful Words That Have Enriched Me
Filed under: Guest bloggers, words, writers tips Tagged: interview
May 27, 2015
7 Reasons For and Three Against Critique Groups
I tend to be a solitary person. I have no problem spending the day with myself–me and my computer (and a good book), exploring the world from the safety of my home-based office. I live through my characters, test my boundaries through them. I prevail over great adversaries and unbeatable bad guys. I out-think both friend and foe as I write, rewrite, and refine my story until it comes out exactly as I’d like it to. Nowhere in my real world can I be as popular, smart, strong, and energetic as I can be in my fictional life.
There is one compelling reason, though, I venture into the physical world: Monday evenings, twice a month, for my critique group. I joined this wonderful group of fellow writers so I could bond with kindred souls, be around others who could talk non-stop and forever (literally) about authors, books, POVs and story arcs. I found not only that, but more as I wandered down the yellow brick road in search of authorial fame and fortune. What I found instead were some glorious victories and a few hard truths (mostly about myself).
Here are seven reasons I’ll never give up my writer’s group:
They catch my factual errors. In fact, they announce them, challenge me, and dispute my research if they’re sure I’m wrong. I better know what I’m talking about before I’m on the hot seat.
They let me know if a scene sounds authentic. That’s a gem. It’s easy to think the image is perfect the 2,159th time I stare bleary-eyed at the same page. They read with fresh eyes.
They tell me when a scene sounds right and delivers what I’d hoped. I love that.
They force me to show my work to others. They saw my first and second novel before my husband did.
I get as much out of listening to the review of other author’s WIP as I do my own. My fellow writers take their job seriously and do their best to accurately and intelligently decode the mistakes found in the selection being reviewed. I learn a lot from their words that I can apply to my story.
They are fascinating people. I could listen to their life experiences all day and when one of them misses a few meetings, I worry about them. I see these people more than most of my family. Well, that’s a good thing.
Agents want your work to be critiqued before you arrive in their mailbox. They want to know they’re not the first besides your mother and dog who have read your story. A critique group qualifies.
That’s pretty convincing, isn’t it? These next three are all on me. They are personal quirks even as I intellectually understand the pluses of having my work critiqued:
I am too shy. It’s difficult to put myself out there, bare my soul, share secrets I don’t tell anyone. Yet, here I am trying to explain to this circle of patient, caring writers the motivation for one of my scenes. I don’t like talking about myself and that will never change.
It hurts. I don’t take criticism well. I get upset. Sure, I should have a thick skin, but I don’t. I never have and–here’s the surprise–I don’t believe that should preclude me from being a writer. The fact that I die inside when people don’t like something I’ve slaved over for months doesn’t mean I’ll never make it.
They contradict each other sometimes. That’s not a bad thing. It means that in the end, it’s my decision to follow well-intentioned advice or toss it to the curb.
That’s it. The pros of my writing group vastly outweigh the cons so I’m sticking with them.
Are you struggling with a decision about joining a writer’s group–really committing the time and effort it requires to make it work? Here’s Holly Lisle’s take on that subject and Writing-World’s overview on the subject.
More on writing:
Writers Tip #52: Join a Writers Groups
Writers Tip #72: Don’t Worry About What Others Think
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: writers resources, writing Tagged: critique groups
May 25, 2015
5 Must-have tools for Writers Conferences
It’s summer, time for writers to recharge our cerebral batteries. That could mean reading, going on field trips, spending time with online PLNs, or taking calls from family members who usually end up at voice mail. For many, it means attending conferences like Writers Digest “Conference July 31-August 2 and the Writers’ Police Academy August 20-23 (this one sounds amazing) to learn how the heck to write for fun and profit.
If you aren’t a veteran conference attendee, you may wonder what you should bring. That’s a fair questions considering learning is no longer done sitting in auditoriums nodding off to the wisdom of a guest speaker behind a podium. Now, you might be asked to scan a QR code and visit a website, access meeting documents online, interact digitally, or use a backchannel device to share your real-time thoughts with the presenter. Besides a toothbrush and aspirin, what should you take to your upcoming conference? Here are five tools that will make you look and act like the Diva of Digital:
Google Maps
Some conferences take multiple buildings spread out over several blocks, and depending upon the number of attendees, your hotel may not be around the corner from the Hall. Bring the latest version of the Google Maps app on your smartphone or iPad, complete with audio directions. All you do is tell it where you’re going, ask for directions, and Siri (the voice behind the iPhone) will lock into your GPS and hold your hand the entire way. If friends are looking for a Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts near the conference, Google Maps will find one. If you want Chinese, use an app like Yelp to find one patrons like.
Don’t like Google Maps? Try the Israeli-inspired Waze, now owned by Google. It’s simple, intuitive, and fast. Here’s my review of Waze.
Conference App
Most conferences have one. I find these more useful than the conference website. They are geared for people who are manipulating digital device one-handed, half their attention on the phone and the rest on traffic, meaning: they’re simple and straight-forward. Test drive it so you know where the buttons are, then use it to find meeting rooms, changes in schedules, updates.
Digital note-takerDon’t struggle with pencils, notebooks, or erasers. Take notes digitally. Most tools include text, images, video, and drawing–and erasing–making them as functional as a pencil. You can organize your note-taking with tags, group them into folders, and share them with others. Here’s a list of options for digital note-taking. The most popular choices are Evernote or Onenote, but each is a bit different so review them before making your choice.
iPad, Chromebook, Netbook, Laptop
They’ll do everything you need–access websites, take notes, email friends, text colleagues, update your blog, check social networks, send materials to colleagues not attending, handle emergencies that won’t wait until you return to your home base, and generally keep up to date on your ‘other’ life while you conference. You’ll find plenty of plugs if your device must be recharged every two hours. Make new friends around the outlet.
Apps you’ll want installed are:
Skype (for face-to-face conversations)
a scanner (for paperwork, business cards)
a voice recorder
a book Reader (Kindle, iBooks, other)
some sort of drawing program
social media apps for Twitter/FB/G+/LI
an expense tracker like Easy Expense Tracker
Yelp
Many of these apps can be used on an iPhone, smartphone, or iPad. Check before downloading to be sure it serves your needs.
Note: Early after your arrival, make sure you know how to access the conference Wifi. This should be free to attendees. And, always ask presenters where you can find their digital notes or copies of their presentations online. Many/most make that available either through the conference or their own professional websites.
Business Card app
Have some method of digitally transferring your business card to new friends and colleagues. There are many options:
OneTouch Business Cards app–FREE–Create your own professional mobile-business card in just a few seconds
ScanBizCards app–FREE–this one scans paper business cards into a directory–very cool. If you choose NewCard or OneTouch, you still need this one
Look around when you’re there. See what people are using that makes their experience better, easier, more efficient. Share it in the comments below.
For more on attending writers conferences, check out Dell’s tips over at The Review Review and the Tin House’s suggestions (like ear plugs and a framed picture of your cat).
More on writers resources:
Grammarly–online or resident grammar checker
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Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: Journalism, writers resources Tagged: WRITERS CONFERENCES
May 22, 2015
The Wit and Wisdom of Peter Wells
I can’t tell you how I discovered Peter Wells, but once I started reading his flash fiction, I was hooked. They deal with the common man–common not necessarily in status, but their foibles, worries, and failures. Peter reminds us that even failing at our goals includes humor and humanity. His maxim:
“If you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same…”
He has worked in the corporate, financial and self-employed worlds, and enjoyed adventures on a number of continents and sailing over several seas. His writing is inspired by his working and traveling life, and the people he has met through them. He now lives just south of London and is the proud father of three daughters.
He has two books out now–Living Life Backwards
and The Man Who Missed the Boat
. I wanted to know about that authorial journey so Peter agreed to answer a few specific questions about his writing:
How hard was it to write your second book compared to the first? Easier? Faster?
I’d say, if anything, it was a bit easier. I had some thoughts about the second book, based on what people had said about the first, so I tried to make it a bit pacier, and with more viewpoints on the same unfolding situation.
For me, it’s all about the pace of writing. For the first book I committed myself to a target of 1600 and I pretty much kept to that. For the second book I was gentler on myself and only demanded 1000 words a day. Regardless of the number of words, I find, for me at least, once you have started writing a book you must continue and then finish it without mercy to yourself. If I dare to let a Blog post or a book rest it goes cold on me, the characters cease to be distinct and active in my imagination and the plot runs out of momentum.
So you see, carrying on with discipline is essential to me: a “Rest” is the same as giving up, and we can never do that can we!?
On the topic of marketing: What have you tried and what has/hasn’t worked?
Let’s face it, you could write what I know about Marketing on a pinhead. I stick the cover, alias links to my books on the side of my Blog and hope that after someone has read my post and enjoyed it, they might wander over to Amazon via said links and take a closer look at the novel and other people’s comments. In fact that seldom happens. I do scrabble around on Face Book a certain amount and my Twitter account is linked to my Blog in accordance with the advice of many marketing books, but the number of my followers on Twitter seems to fall and rise within a fairly predictable band without any input or understanding from me. My only advice to anyone with regard to marketing as with anything else is to be genuine and to reach out to other people as you would in your personal daily life.
I do not write in an easily identifiable genre, which I think makes my books harder to place and thus to market. I am hoping that my reputation as a story teller and lover of language will gradually make my novels better known: it is a slow process I am not without determination.
Who helps you with editing? Is it beta readers, friends, a writing group, or a professional?
Ah, well I have an editor who has worked with me on both books. She is a lovely lady by the name of Stacey Brewer who, as well as working for my publishing company, has just established her own editing and beta reading service. She is very easy to work with and all her excellent suggestions are very politely made.
I’m always curious about what surroundings pique creativity for writers. Would you tell me about your writing space (share a picture with us maybe)? 
That’s an interesting question. For quite a long time I sat writing at a window which afforded me a quite beautiful view of the Thames at a point at which, in my opinion, it was attempting to imitate it’s rather larger cousin, the Mississippi, so everything you could wish hope for a writer, but then I developed a repetitive strain injury in my wrist, and part of the problem seemed to be the height of the table in relation to the chair, so I have now had to move to a more ordinary position which affords no real view at all. Let us hope that is not reflected in the writing!
What’s the thinking behind your blog title, Counting Ducks? It makes me think of nature, math, and having time to smell the flowers. Am I way off base?
As you can see our apartment is right on the river, and so I often walk up and down the banks of the Thames admiring the plants and wildlife and especially the ducks and geese who live in plentiful numbers on the banks near our home. There is something about their approach to life which seems to involve a bewildered and busy wisdom which I always find enchanting and so I came up with the name.
One of my favorite quotes about writing is from Ben Franklin: “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about.” Do you have a favorite writing quote
I don’t have a special quote about writing that I love, but I do enjoy the quote you have used in the question. In many ways, I feel, to write well, it is important to have lived well and enjoyed, or not enjoyed, a wealth of adventures and experiences which you can draw on in your writing.
To purchase Living Life Backwards and/or The Man Who Missed the Boat, click the links below:
More on aspiring authors:
A Chat with Author, CW Spooner
A Chat with Rebecca Bradley About Her Exciting New Book
Filed under: authors Tagged: guest authors
May 20, 2015
Tech Tip for Writers #65: How to use Google Street View
Tech Tips for Writers is an (almost) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I’ll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I’ll cover it in a future Tip.
Q: I can’t find enough detail about a particular area of the world my character visits. Any suggestions?
A: Try Google Street View. It’s a wonderful way to explore settings for your writing Here’s how to use it:
First, you must have Google Earth. It’s a free download and I’ve never had problems with the install. Take a minute to do that. I’ll wait.
Done? That was fast. Here’s what you do next:
When I went to visit the house my character lives in, I found out I had to rework several important pieces of the story. I had her walking to work, not realizing how crowded both streets and sidewalks were with traffic. She’d have to be a bit more careful with the coffee, briefcase, and cup of oatmeal she was juggling as she traveled. And, where I had her passing generic-sorts of stores (Starbucks, local grocery), umm, the ones I mentioned weren’t there, and I’d failed to mention a few eclectic ethnic stores that could provide the essential detail that makes a setting come to life. Here’s a picture of the street in front of my main character’s apartment:
And here’s the neighborhood of my other main character:
I edited.
Additional items about Google Earth that might serve your story:
The Time slider (on the top toolbar) will take you back about twenty-five years, to see what the geography looked like back then. This is great if your story is from that era
It covers hiking trails, not just streets.
It will take you inside a wide collection of buildings, such as the White House, allowing you to see whast your character faces when they enter.
For more information, click here. And, check out Jerry Davis’ thoughts on Google Earth for Writers at Mojo Writer.
Question? Add it below in comments. I’ll answer!
More Tech Tips for writers:
Tech Tip for Writers #64: Reset Default Font
Don’t Like Double Space Between Paragraphs?
6 Tips That Solve Half Your Tech Writing Problems
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: characters, setting, tech tips for writers, writers resources Tagged: Google Earth
May 18, 2015
15 Tips for Young Adult Writers
I Read YA week is May 18-22. “YA” or “Young Adult” fiction is novels, stories, poetry, and various non-fiction written for adolescents, the group somewhere between ‘children’ and ‘adults’. It includes popular novels like Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and SE Hinton’s The Outsiders.
HarperCollins made this great infographic that suggests 365 YA books for you to read in 2015. To see all of the details, go here.
The YA market is exploding, not only in published novels but readers. Plus, as many adults read YA as the core audience, so if you’re writing in that genre, it becomes a difficult requirement to fulfill at times. Here are fifteen tips to help you succeed (some from my YA post last year):
include themes appropriate for teens
include language used by teens
don’t ‘dumb it down’. Intellect and depth of meaning has nothing to do with YA reading.
plot, setting, and character are more important than theme and motivation
most YA protagonists are teens that have teen sort of problems–first love, dysfunctional families, school.
‘coming of age’ stories are popular in YA, showing how a young adult deals with problems typical to that age group and ends up stronger and better for that struggle
Rachel Cohn estimates that 60 to 65 percent of YA fiction is written in the first person and present tense. Certainly not required
the pace is quicker than other genres. Why? Hard to say (because I don’t write it). I’d love to hear from you on this
include lots of dialogue. YA readers like hearing the characters talk.
teens in the story often sound like adults but act like kids. The idea is that teens are intelligent and capable, just not as experienced. I like that.
include what David Levithan calls an ’emotional truth’–the ah hah moment that makes the book resonate with its young readers.
don’t be afraid to use Pop Culture to ground the story, but be aware it could date it. Pick carefully when you include those references.
there’s almost always an underlying optimism in YA–that things will work out, the world with survive, life will be better. Not true in all genres.
Robert Heinlein’s advice: Write the best story you can and then take out all the sex (I couldn’t verify this as a Heinlein quote. It’s catchy though, isn’t it?)
Nora Raleigh Baskin at Gotham Writers say, “In writing for young adults, do not write as an adult looking back.” Why? “It requires truly putting yourself in the teenage mind and often not caring much at all about the grown-up world.”
YA writers: Please add your comments. I update this list yearly and would love to include your thoughts.
For more on I Read YA week, check out This is Teen,
More genre how-to articles:
8 Tips for Historic Fiction Writers
Can You Mix Genres in Your Writing?
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: Genre tips, writers tips Tagged: ya, young adult
May 15, 2015
What I’ve Learned From My Characters
As I’ve mentioned (sometimes to convince myself), I am closing in on a publication of my thriller, To Hunt a Sub. My characters have changed considerably in the years I’ve been writing the book, sometimes through my pen, but often because they’ve opened up to me, much as a friend does when you get to know them. Here are a few of the lessons I’ve learned from them–about life, living it, and learning the lessons that make us better in the end:
Eat instant coffee for a faster infusion of energy into your system. One of my two main characters, Dr. Zeke Rowe, former intelligence officer-turned paleoanthropologist, does this when he’s in a hurry. Everyone knows we drink coffee for the energy rush. Zeke simplifies it by eliminating the heating, stirring, and sipping. When he introduced this idea somewhere around page 109 of the book, I decided to try it. I shouldn’t have. It is the most awful taste I’ve ever put into my mouth, akin to drinking sour milk.
Drink your first cup of coffee in the shower. Zeke does this because he’s a multitasker. He always looks for ways to double up on activities to save time. I like multitasking. I’ve been known to read email while I dry my hair and or brush my teeth, so this, too, I tried it. Too often, I dripped shampoo or soap into the cup, which doesn’t taste good.
Wear a sign to warn those around you about your shortcomings or moods. One of my characters threatened this, but didn’t do it. I haven’t tried it yet.
If you toss cornmeal across your front doorstep, you’ll know if anyone breaks in. There’s no way to replace that after it’s been smudged. I mean, who carries corn meal with them?
Aubrey Maturin is a wonderful character. I’d never heard of him. When I discovered that both of my main characters read all twenty books in the series by Patrick O’Brian, I bought one. This is the ongoing story of a friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Stephen Maturin, ship’s surgeon and intelligence agent during the Napoleonic Wars. It’s now at the top of my TBR list.
Lessons come from unusual people (in my story’s case, a 1.8 million year old pre-human). Kali, my female main character, learns about life, loyalty, tenacity, and values from one of man’s earliest forebears. It would take a while to explain, so you’ll have to read the book to find out how this happens. I have her picture below. Amazing eyes, aren’t they?
Lots of people use a verbal Mobius Strip in their decision making. Let me explain. You know what a Mobius Strip is–a strip of paper turn once and attached so that it only has one side. I’m sure you know people who use every argument they hear to support their own opinion until there’s no sense in talking to them anymore. My female main character, Kali, has one of those on her PhD committee.
This short list, of course, doesn’t include all the fascinating tidbits I’ve learned in the research process. Those keep me writing.
What traits have you adopted from your novel’s characters?
More about interesting character traits:
Characteristics That Make Your Character Memorable
It’s Not What Happens to Your Character Readers Care About. It’s Their Reaction That Matters
Give Your Characters Their Head
–reprinted from Today’s Author
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: characters Tagged: to hunt a sub
May 13, 2015
Tech Tip for Writers #64: Reset Default Font
Tech Tips for Writers is an (almost) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I’ll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I’ll cover it in a future Tip.
Q: If you’re like me, you don’t like MS Office’s default font of Calibri, size 11 with a double space between paragraphs. Here’s how you fix that:
Type a couple of paragraphs in any document
Highlight what you typed and right click
Select font
Change the font to what you prefer. In my case, it’s TNR 12
Click the Default button on the lower left and approve that this is, in fact, how you’d like a future documents to be formatted when opening a new document. If it asks whether you want this for future documents, say Yes.
Now right click again and select Paragraph
Make sure Line Spacing is single (or double if you’re following MLS)
Go to Spacing and make sure both Before and After show 0 pts.
Click Default
That’s it. The next time you open a document in MS Word, it will open with this revised formatting.
For more tech tips for writers, visit the Uncommon Rebel. For writing technical documents, check this publication from MIT.
More Tech Tips for writers:
Tech Tips for Writers: 13 Tips To Speed Up Your Computer
Tech Tips for Writers #92: Rollback Windows Updates
Tech Tip for Writers #60: How to Add Shortcuts to the Desktop
Questions you want answered? Leave a comment here and I’ll answer it within the next thirty days.
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: tech tips for writers Tagged: writers tips
