Follow the career and exploits of literary and romance author Tamora Rose as she pursues her goals of publishing fiction and poetry. Here you can find excerpts from her writing journal along with updates on her works in progress and the occasional poem that she writes when her brain needs a rest. Enjoy!
I get a lot of questions about writing software, questions I usually find funny. I write with paper and pen. I have pencils scattered across the desk and right now there are index cards covering the floor. A little messy? Maybe. But it works for me, so I don't use writing software.
But when I first decided to be a writer, I did fiddle with the various writing programs available. I was hoping to find something more efficient, but the old fashioned pen is what draws my creativity. Still, if i was going to use a program designed for writers, I might go with Scrivener. It's efficient, organized, and you can get it for under $50. You want specifics? Here are a few of the things I enjoyed when using Scrivener.
You can divide the story based on keywords. This is handy if you have a complex plot involving more than one story line. You can search using a character's name (or a place or an object) and have everything involving that character pop up for you. Any scene with that character's name is going to pop up for you. This is helpful, especially if you need to focus on a specific thing, place, or character.
It has note cards. I love note cards. Of course, these are electronic note cards, but since they display much of the information you'd write on a note card anyway, they're almost as satisfying. This is probably my favorite feature of Scrivener.
You can make notes. If you've ever written a book, you'll know that you make constant notes as you go along. Scrivener allows you to keep these notes within the program. The bonus? No more lost notes. The drawback? You can't use lost notes as a reason to procrastinate.
It has chapter files. Have you ever been typing and wished it were easier to move between chapters? Scrolling can get a little irritating. The chapters are actually individual files and show up in the handy sidebar. You can simply click on the chapter you want instead of scrolling.
Chapters can be divided into scenes. Moving scenes within a chapter is handy, and Scrivener makes this possible. Because the scenes are also stored as individual files, they can be accessed as easily as chapters. Even better is the ability to move them around, helping to revolve continuity errors or simply streamlining the story.
You can put your scenes up on the cork board. Want to rearrange scenes and chapters quickly and easily? Put them all up on the cork board and move them as you please. This is fun and almost as satisfying as the note card feature.
It's organized. This program has places for character biographies, research, notes, and all the other little things a writer needs to keep track of. It's nice to keep all these things in one place instead of having to open multiple files.
You can export your file to multiple formats. If you don't think this is important, you've never had to submit anything to an agent, editor, or publisher who happens to be picky about file formats. But this is also handy for the self-published author since you can export to paperback and even .mobi (for Kindle). Handy.
If you haven't used Scrivener, give it a go. You might find it useful. If you're like me, you'll be impressed with its versatility but not care so much because you still like pen and paper. But if you work almost exclusively on the computer, you might find yourself using this program frequently. I'll look at other programs in later posts, but Scrivener should be enough to get you started.
For those of you who don't know, I teach at the local university on occasion. I work, not surprisingly, in the English department. Specifically, I teach creative writing. While I'm not actually teaching a class this semester, I was asked to come in for a few days and talk to students at various phases in their education. One thing that always strikes me is how often students (and even seasoned writers) complain of the infamous writer's block.
Let me make one thing clear: I don't believe in writer's block. I simply cannot believe that anyone who calls themselves a writer (or who claims to want to be a writer) might sit down all ready to write and find themselves with nothing to say. How can that possibly be? Surely there are thoughts kicking around in your mind somewhere. Even if they have nothing to do with your current project. I've come to believe that writer's block has become the excuse a writer gives for pure laziness. This is not said with the intent of being malicious. We're all entitled to be lazy once in a while. I know I like having a lazy day here and there. But you'll never catch me trying to tell you that I'm doing anything other than being lazy.
But some people do really believe in writer's block. I know this because I argue with students about it all the time. And if you truly believe in writer's block, and believe that you're suffering from it, you might be having a tough time putting words on paper (or on the computer screen). If this describes you, there are some tried and true methods that can help you get in the habit of writing, which is the only thing that can really overcome writer's block.
Place butt in chair. No, I'm not kidding. Glue yourself to your chair and get something done. Reading is not writing. Researching is not writing. Thinking is not writing. Getting a snack is certainly not writing. Sit down and do it.
Why do you think I have a blog? Because I have nothing better to do? No. I have a blog (ten of them, actually), so I always have something to write. Nothing kills the desire to write like not writing, so I blog when I'm in the middle of research just to keep those creative juices flowing. So start a blog about anything you like and post no less than once a week. Even if no one reads it, you'll exercise those creative muscles. My blogs follow my passions, so use yours and have fun.
Write 500 words a day, no matter what. No excuses. Think 500 sounds like a lot? I write 5000+. You shouldn't compare yourself to me or anyone else, but you need to write if you ever want to be able to say you're a writer. I write my 5000 words even if they're horrible. That's the magic of editing.
Read. That's right. Pick up a book by an author you admire and read it. Let the flow of words inspire you. That doesn't mean taking their ideas, but inspiration can come from the way others use words, so read a good book.
Have more than one project on the go at any one time. I write adult fiction, children's fiction, and non-fiction, and I have at least one project in each category. Everyone once in a while, a project does need to sit, but if you just stop writing, it'll be harder to start again. So move your efforts over to something else for a few days.
Have a schedule. And now I hear the groans. But writers find time to write. If you can't find time to write, you're not a writer. You're just someone is playing around with the idea of being a writer, which is not at all the same thing. We all have distractions. I know I do. Kids, television, movies, kids, books I haven't read, kids, papers to mark, kids ... and did I mention the kids? But I've developed a very strict schedule for myself, and I follow it like clockwork. It's all well and good to say you're too creative for a schedule, but you'll never get anything done if you don't carve out the time. Make a writing date with yourself and stick to it.
Find a way to break the cycle and get writing. If you can do that, you are well on your way to writing a novel, or whatever your writing goal happens to be. Just don't fall into the trap of writing nothing, or nothing is all you'll ever write.
Well, I'm at the beginning of a new project, this one a rather lengthy novel that will likely be split into two or even three different books. Before I really delve into the books, I need to answer a few questions. The first is always what the story will be about. This one was easy. I already had the idea or I wouldn't have sat down to write the book
So I've got my story. After spending most of the week fleshing out the plot, I run into my next crucial question. Point of view (also called narrative perspective) is nearly as important as the plot. There are many choices, all of them with their pros and cons. Generally, when writing the types of novels I work on, there are three choices: first person, third person limited, and third person omniscient.
First person, which uses the pronoun I, is great for getting into a character's head. You can reveal all thoughts and feeling your lead character is having and you get to know everything that character knows. The main character is not a mystery. This is great, and would be great, except for the obvious drawbacks, the first of which is limiting the point of view. As a reader, you only get to know what the main character knows. There is no way of introducing any other information (unless I make use of the idea of the Interlude, but these always annoy me).
The other problem is one of suspense. If I'm using first person, then the reader can guess, probably accurately, that the main character is sitting by the fire telling the story after the fact. The main character survived everything that happens. I don't usually like to kill off my main characters, but I do it occasionally and I like to have the option.
Third person limited is not all that far removed from first person. Third person uses the pronoun he or she, but the point of view is still limited (for the most part) to the main character. This imposes some distance between the main character and the reader, and as an author, I don't have to reveal everything the main character knows. This allows for more mystery and some suspense. But I still have a hard time killing off the main character, since we've been mostly in his (or her) head the entire time. Also, this point of view can become boring for some readers, which is the kiss of death for any author.
Then we come to third person omniscient. A good point of view, as far as it goes. I can dip into anyone's thoughts at any time and I only reveal what I want, and only when I want to. I can kill any character and keep the integrity of the story. The problem? This point of view can seem cold and distant, which it is to a certain extent. It also leaves me open to being accused of head hopping, which is leaping from one point of view to another and confusing the reader while doing so. It can be done, but it takes a little more care and patience to do it well.
My choice, as always, must be dictated by the story itself. Looking carefully at my plot, it became clear to me that I only rarely drift away from my main character. With a little careful rewriting I can eliminate these scenes and drift closer to first person point of view. But I don't want to get that close. A little mystery is good for this particular story, since I don't want to reveal the end too quickly. Third person limited, then. But I like the intimacy of first person, so I think I'll do a prologue and an epilogue in first person. The best of both worlds.
When you are searching for a point of view, disregard what's popular and what you might be used to. This decision should be driven entirely by the story, and not by what is currently popular.
Want more information about narrative perspective? They this little video for starters.
