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Saturday 29 January 2011

Overview of my week

The weekend is here again.Where does the time disappear to . I have had a semi productive week but got distracted with my search for a writing programme to help me get more organised.


I really like the look of Scrivener but at the minute it is only for MAC and i need windows. A windows version will be coming out this year (no date announced as yet) but me being Little Miss Impatient i wanted something to use now!
Although you are able to download a public Beta trial version to test. But be warned it still has development problems


http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivenerforwindows/


Yesterday was for the first time in months a kids free day.Was i writing?No.
I was a bit naughty and just spent the whole day playing with two writing software programmes you can download for free off the Internet called


yWriter5


http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter5.html


and


Storybox


http://www.storyboxsoftware.com/


Storybox is free to use but you will get pop ups requesting you to help pay for the running costs.


So far i prefer storybox.I have got the hang of most things on there but there are still a couple of things i am not sure about.  Give all these systems a look.


Change of subject but it is funny how you get inspiration in the strangest places. Yesterday morning i was sitting in the doctors office waiting to go in but had forgotten to bring a book, or a note pad and did not fancy reading one of the magazines on offer about the latest diet or who is sleeping with who.
So there i sat bored looking around the room when i noticed a large framed photo on the wall of a deep bottomless black hole in a glacier.It had a caption that said "Who lives here?"
A light bulb popped on in my head. What if a mythical evil creature was frozen in a glacier that then started to melt? Damn, there i sat with no note pad or pen.Broke the writers rule No.1. But now i have great ideas for my next book :)

Thursday 27 January 2011

Scrivener

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Jen Lazaris for recommending Scrivener to me. I have not heard of it before but it is just what i need to get organised.Get rid of all the paper littering my desk. Please check it out its a must for all writers
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php

(sorry i can`t seem to get a direct link to work)

p.s windows version is due out this year

Sunday 23 January 2011

New Start

I started my novel Awaken towards the end of last year.But have only now picked it up again after having a month off over the christmas period. Now reading the fourteen thousand words i have written so far with fresh eyes i can see it is not coming across as i had wanted. The characters are just sounding too flat. Even the angel hero is sounding like a feeble wimp.Not what i was aiming at. Before starting the story i had taken notes and planned it but i can now see i have not planned it enough.All week i have been trying to decided whether to scrap this story completely and come up with something new or to keep going.But i like this story.If i can put more strength and layers into the main charcters i will even like them ;)
I want to keep going. But i can see i need a better planning and plot. After reading articles of the internet i have decided to go back to square one and give the Index Card System a try. This method involves using a selection of muti coloured index cards.Write down your random ideas for plot and scenes on a card each.Fill the cards with wild action scenes that would keep the story moving. Not all ideas may make the final cut but you would have a box full of inspiration.The best part is that once you start writing, the scenes that just won't work can be pulled out of the pile and you're not stuck starting over.
With this sort of plotting tool, you can easily drop in notes about your characters and character development, add images that spark an idea for a scene, and add little bits of research that work particularly well for a turning point. It creates a way of visually seeing what you're creating, and it's one that you can change and alter over and over again without hurting your original idea.
Finding this method has renewed my enthusiasm for the story.

Monday 17 January 2011

All now finally recovered.Fun week we all had here.! My husband and i enoyed the lovely winter flu all week; while my two children had a vomiting bug. Miserable week and no sleep had by all. But now all recovered except daugter looks like she now has the start of an ear infection. I need a holiday.
I started the year with purpose and great plans for my writing. So far i am still sitting in the waiting room looking into space (sigh).
But I will write! I will complete my novel! I will succeed!
Giving up is the surest way to fail!
More coffee, flex fingers,and begin.......

Thursday 13 January 2011

We are all ill here so are having a miserable week. I am sorry that I have been unable to start my blog properly like I wanted to. Please hang in there, it is coming.Not going to meet my target word count for the month either.Hoping for fresh (healthy) start monday!!

Monday 10 January 2011

Don`t be that old lady on her death bed wishing for what could have been.Live your dreams today!!