Write or Die...and other cool writer things

I've been trying to figure out some ways to keep myself more motivated to write lately, as I tend to get distracted, which leads to procrastination and not getting anything done. The outlining and worldbuilding parts of writing are way too much fun for me, so I usually do those if I don't want to write. I found a couple things that help with that, and also a cute little progress widget for my blog (look to the right hand column and you'll see it...what was I saying about getting distracted?).

Write or Die

This is an online service provided by "Dr Wicked". It does not save your work, so you need to be sure to copy/paste it into a word document before exiting the page. You can set it to several different modes: gentle, normal, kamikaze and electric shock. You can also set the grace period to forgiving, strict and evil. There's a place to put your word goal and how long you'd like to work on your writing. 

On the site, it says the point of the different "modes" are to "instill the fear of not-writing in the writer". If you're using the "gentle" mode, a pop-up will remind you to keep writing if you stop. In normal mode, an annoying sound will play if you stop writing for a specific period of time. It only stops when you start writing again. Kamikaze mode is described as this: keep writing or your work will unwrite itself. I'm too scared to figure out what the electric shock mode does. 

The nice thing about this is that it's free--you don't have to buy it to use these features. I used it today for the first time and will definitely be using it again in the future. 

Zen Writer

Also free, this application blocks out all distractions when you write. It's full-screen and doesn't have the numerous formatting features Word or other word processors do. You can set the background to different images you find inspiring, turn on your music and write. The time is shown on the bottom in a color that almost blends in. This application does save your work, but I always save it in Word as well. 

I used this for NaNoWriMo last year and it helped me tremendously. 

Novel Progress Widget: The Little Bean Guy

My (short) list wouldn't be complete without a cute widget to add to your blog. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find this one. You can set his mood (very frustrated, ready to shoot the computer, shocked, sleeping, watching TV, calm, writing novel and happy) and also set your word count. The number of pages in his stack rises as you update your word count. This has the word goal automatically set at 50,000. 

What are some things you like to use for writing? What do you do to keep yourself from getting distracted? Post in the comments and let me know. :) 

SW 2013: Day 2

Lindsay ended up getting on campus around 3:15. She accidentally set off some sort of alarm by keeping the outside door open too long, so quite a few people woke up. She’s in the room with my Grandma and I, so I think that will be fun.

I got up way too early this morning: 5:30. I got ready for the day a lot quicker than I had planned and sat in the gazebo for over an hour with some other OYANers. Most everyone was too tired to really talk much. 

Around 7:10, we all prayed and I read a passage from Matthew 5. We talked about mourning and hard times and how you can learn a lot from that. It was a good discussion, but like I said, most people were much too tired to actually talk.

Backtracking to this morning. I have been designated Kristin and Abbie’s alarm clock. Kristin thought I somehow managed to walk through doors or use a sonic screwdriver to get into her room this morning, because she’d locked the door.

Breakfast wasn’t all that exciting. I had fruit and pancakes, but they were way too sugary. I’m hopefully I’ll find something not quite so sweet tomorrow.

The first sessions were great. Mr. S talked about ordinary heroes and how they can really be extraordinary. I really enjoyed his talk. Someone named Mark Wilson talked about Rivendell for writers.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lord of the Rings, I’ll explain what Rivendell is. BUT. Only if you promise to read the books and see the movies. Yes, in that order. They’re amazing.

Anyways. I digress.

Rivendell is this peaceful place where the elves live. It’s always quite there. Beautiful streams and waterfalls run all throughout this city. Everywhere you go, there is light and the sound of nature. It looks so peaceful.

Mark Wilson was talking about the importance of a Rivendell like place for writers. Back in the late 17^th century, many poets would dedicate a poem to someone like a nobleman. In return for that, the nobleman would sometimes let the writer come to his house and write. It was really peaceful and a Rivendell like place.

After hearing that session, it’s kind of my goal to find a Rivendell now.

Lunch wasn’t interesting either. Just plain old lunch food. I had a really good salad.

Critique groups were next. I’m in the ‘Elephant Trunks’ group and I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun in a group before. I didn’t know anyone, but we all get along really well. They LOVED my first excerpt and I got much unexpected cheering and applause. That was a little intimidating, but I think it may be why I like my group so much. We went about 30 minutes over, but no one really minded. The best quote from today (and of course, it made more sense in context) was someone in the group saying, “Girls have horns!” All the girls laughed and the guys look at him like he was crazy. Ah, I love this group.

Free time started after we finished with our critique group. I wandered around for a bit before gathering with some people in the auditorium of the Bell Center. We’re going to be performing ‘Do You Hear The People Sing’ from Les Miserables on Thursday night, so we all got together to practice. It went really well and, if I do say so myself, we sound pretty good.

The last two sessions of the evening were by Jill Williamson and Jeff Gerke. Both sessions were wonderful. Mrs. Williamson was very humorous and talked about world building and all the things that go into that.

Mr. Gerke talked about how to make a believeable hero and give them “knots”, or sins. He said, “We’re playing God, except for one thing. We GIVE the character the sin and then punish them for having it!” I got some really good story ideas for my current novel from that session, so I’m looking forward to being able to write again.

After sessions ended, I just hung out with some people until I decided to be mature go to bed. I did manage to get some pictures today too, so those will follow this post.

Keep Shmiling!

~Katie

Pictures Below:

I ate breakfast with these lovely ladies this morning. From left to right: Kristin, Abbie and Savanna.

This girl is awesome. We're the stinkers. I'm Stinker 1 and she's Stinker 2. It's a rather long inside joke with another OYANer who couldn't make it this year. 

Our lovely ice cream and my coffee. We sent this picture to the Queen of Stinkers. We're her minions. 

I'm in this dorm. The last window on the left on the first floor is my room. 

Volleyball nets. 

The beautiful gazebo where we have Bible studies in the mornings. 

And last, but certainly not least, the Bell Center. This is where most of the epicness takes place.

SW 2013: Day 1

We left the house at 6:00 AM sharp and arrived around 6:30 (CST) to the MidAmerica Nazarene University campus. I managed to drive and not freak out from excitement. Still not quite sure how I did that.

The registration line was really quick to get through, so after saying hi to a few people, I got my things and went to set up my dorm. I'm rooming with my Grandma and another OYANer this year, so that will be fun.

For most of the evening, I hung out with some people in the Tipping Lounge/Gym. I don't know as many people as last year, but the few people I do know are pretty close friends. So, that's a benefit.

I also talked to Mr. AND Mrs. S tonight, so that was pretty cool. If you're reading my blog and you're not an OYANer, then you should know that Mr. and Mrs. S are somewhat of celebrities around OYAN.

The only reason I'm up this late right now is because I'm actually waiting for my roomate--Lindsay--to arrive. Her flight got delayed for 3 hours and someone just went to pick her up. Hopefully she'll be arriving before too long.

A more interesting post will be coming tomorrow after I actually have a full day here. And...I'll take pictures. I forgot to do that.

Keep shmiling!
~Katie

Meaning and Balloons

It is happening in everything: school work, literature and even writing. Meaning is being systematically removed and instead, we’re told that “it’s all relative”. There’s no real meaning in anything. This is called deconstructionism.

I heard an analogy that meaning—what deconstructionism does to meaning—is like a red balloon. One person can come up and say it’s a blue balloon. Another can say it’s a green and pink balloon. Yet another person could say that it isn’t a balloon at all; in reality, it’s a pen. I could go on with examples forever, but you get the picture.

Now, according to what the American education system teaches, (because it’s really them who are furthering this kind of thinking), everyone would be right. Meaning is considered to be relative. Because of this, the balloon can be anything or any color people want it to be, based on their thoughts and their desires. This probably sounds crazy, but it is what people think these days.

So, how does this apply to writing? I’m glad you asked.

As any writer knows, there’s something specific you’re trying to get across when telling a story. If you’re like me, the character may actually be an exaggerated reflection of one aspect of yourself, a person you admire or someone you’re close to. The scenes and situations you put in mean something, and it’s something very specific.

I’ll use an example from my own writing. Currently, I’m working on a story about a girl who escapes from a Nazi death camp like situation. She runs away and ends up, unknowingly, in the governor’s house. The butler agrees to let her spend the night (he isn’t aware she’s a prisoner) in exchange for her working an international dinner that his boss is putting on. Now, because of the fact that the governor has kept Kiah (my main character) and her family imprisoned for so many years, she has developed a deep and intense hatred for the man.

Her first errand at the party is to serve drinks, and she meets the governor. At first, she doesn’t know it’s him. He strikes up a conversation with her and, having no preconceived notions herself, starts to think that he’s a nice guy and all that. This is when it’s discovered he’s the governor. She gets super embarrassed and ends up dropping her tray, shattering and spilling everything she was carrying.

There is a certain thing I’m trying to get across in this scene. Kiah’s heart eventually changes in a good direction toward the governor (no, this is not a romance novel), but it doesn’t start out that way. Near the middle of the book, she realizes that she is sinning by hating this man so much and she asks the Lord to change her heart—and He does.

Hopefully after reading my summary, you know what I’m trying to get across: Don’t judge a book by its cover. The big theme in this book is the fact that we so often as humans stereotype people and that we really should try our best not to do that.

If you didn’t get the same thing I meant when writing that summary, I obviously need to work on my summarizing skills.

When you’re writing, make sure that there is no confusion as to your meaning. What you say should be clear. You don’t want someone reading your book to fall into the trap of relativism and draw something you never meant from the text.

The things in the reader’s minds should always match what’s in the author’s mind. I do realize it’s really hard, but it’s not impossible. I’ve gotten a lot better at getting those to match up, but I still have a long way to go. A good way to test if you’re getting across the right thing is to read your scene (or whatever you’ve written) to someone. Make sure you know what you want to get across before you do that. Read the writing and then ask for their thoughts. Ask them what they think you were trying to get them to feel. Hopefully, they’ll say exactly what you’re thinking. If not, tell them what you were thinking and ask them how you could have gotten that across better. It’s daunting to read your work to someone, but it does help.

There is absolutely no such thing as relative meaning, or relative truth. God makes this really clear in His word. He tells us what we should do and what we shouldn’t do, how we should act and how we shouldn’t act. The way in which He tells us leaves no room for confusion as to His meaning. Take a look at the Ten Commandments, or Old Testament rules or commands to believers in Ephesians to see what I mean.

God’s meaning is clear. That gives us no excuse to do anything less.

Previously published on Kingdom Pen.

How Much is Too Much?

Details are the most powerful tool a writer has at hand. By skillfully describing a location or the way a character is feeling, the author can make their reader experience a mental movie. They don’t even notice the words on the page anymore, because they are so immersed in your writing. However, there is a problem that many writers struggle with and that is how much detail to put into something. How much is too much?

Before I get into this, let me give an example of how details can create a mental image. If I were to say, “My Dad is weird,” any number of things could pop into the reader’s head. One might think that my Dad stands on top of a hay wagon and yodels for hours on end and another might imagine him as a one man band on stilts. The list of possible mental pictures is endless. On the other hand, if I were to tell you, “My Dad likes to dance a jig while drinking hot chocolate and practicing his archery,” then those details plant the exact image I’m thinking in the reader’s head. When you’re writing, it’s important to convey what you’re thinking through your words and to convey exactly. Otherwise, there will be confusion as to your meaning.

So, how much is too much? God is the master storyteller, so let’s use the example of His Word, the Bible. During creation week, He explains everything He created. God wanted to make sure we knew exactly what He did and how He did it. Therefore, He used description! Also, look at the details God gave Noah in Genesis 6:14-16 when He told him to build the ark. “So make yourself an ark of cypress wood, make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.” See how many details are put into this? Even though we might not know exactly how long 450 feet is or how high 45 feet is, we still know that the ark was huge. This is called detail mode. Details create mental images in your reader’s mind.

I was at a writing workshop this summer in Kansas and the speakers talked about description (and the importance of it) a lot. You don’t want your reader to feel like they’re mentally walking into an empty room. 

Some things, it’s fine to leave to their imagination. However, there are cases when this isn’t good at all and can actually make the reader frustrated with you as the author. If you start writing about a character in Chapter 1 and give very vague details—gender, age, area they live in--, the reader will start to build an image in their mind of what they look like. It doesn’t take long for them to establish this and connect it with that character. Let’s say the next physical description you give them is at the end of Chapter 3. By this point, your reader has decided that the main character is a petite, dark curly hair, blue-eyed female. This isn’t what you were thinking, though. In your mind, the main character is taller, has straight, long blonde hair and green eyes. I know I’ve experienced this several times when reading and it’s really frustrating and difficult to go back and change that picture you’ve thought up. 

Just like God did when telling Noah exactly how to build the ark, we need to show our readers exactly what we’re thinking.

There are some cases where details should be avoided. Instead, something called “summary mode” should be used. Again, let’s see what’s in the Bible. When Cain murdered his brother, Abel, the only description we get is, “And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. (Genesis 4:8b)” We don’t need to know all the bloody gory details of how it happened. Abel was killed and that’s all we need to know. Or, look at the description we’re given of when Noah got drunk in Genesis 9:21, “Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.” Summary mode makes it so the reader gets the concept of what happened, but doesn’t plant any inappropriate images in their minds.

Used skillfully, details and description can be the best tool the writer has. There are certain things that are best left untouched, or very briefly mentioned. Some very ugly things happen in the Bible. Summary mode is used to avoid planting images of sin. A lot of literature these days does glorify sin and give lots of unneeded details about it. You can still write realistic literature without going into every detail. 

If in doubt, leave it out. You don’t want your words to be a stumbling block for a reader or yourself. If God didn’t—or wouldn’t—describe every detail that goes into an event, then you shouldn’t either. Follow the example of the Lord, because He is the Master Storyteller. 

My Dad, by the way, enjoys both archery and hot chocolate—however, rarely at the same time and never while doing a jig.

 

Update on writing.

I'm rather ashamed to say I've not been writing as much as I should lately. This is partially due to the fact that I've been pretty busy with school. The annoying thing about being busy is that I always seem to get tons of awesome ideas, or random bits of ideas...and of course, no time to write any of them.

I have a new novel started and it's called #754. A simple way to describe it would be to say it's a combination of Beauty and the Beast, The Holocaust, Esther and Moses. Yes, that's quite a combination. I'll hopefully do a post describing it more in detail shortly, but for now, here is a (working) synopsis:

Kiah is poisoned, or so says the government. She and all like her are forced to live in a prison camp and work until their death. No parole, no reprieve. It's for life. One day, Kiah decides she has to change her life and narrowly manages to escape from the prison. She ends up working in the house of the governor, the man she hates more than anyone else. For years, she's built up this image of him being a gnarly beast and biting off anyone's head who came near him. But that's not the case. Much to her dismay, she actually starts to like him. She starts out as a maid for just a weekend party, but he hires her on for longer. Word eventually reaches him that a poisoned has escaped. Will the governor discover Kiah's secret?

In case you're wondering about the title, #754, it's Kiah's prisoner number. She has it tattooed right below her elbow in black with an arrow above it. All prisoners have a similar tattoo. 

Another idea I had has to do with WW2 and Auschwitz, one of the main places Nazis used for extermination of the Jews during the war. I was doing some reading for my World War 2 class and found out that the prisoners arranged a secret newspaper. They managed to smuggle information out to the Polish resistance, some of which helped capture Nazi perpetrators after the war had ended. Having a great Uncle who fought in the war, it's always been a big source of interest for me. I've wanted to write a book based in that time period for quite a while, but struggled with how to make it un-cliche in the mass market of WW2 historical fiction already out there. I think I've found the way to do it.

I have a couple other bits of ideas, but they don't really fit into anything I have yet. Seems like almost anything can spark a novel idea.

The plan is to have the rough draft of #754 finished by June, the final version by August 1st and to start the Auschwitz one in September. That one will need a lot of planning and I'll need to make sure everything is historically accurate. I'm thinking of changing my favorite genre to historical fiction now.

When I was at the library yesterday, I checked out 15 rather large books on various aspects of the war, so I'm looking forward to reading those. I hope to be writing again soon, but schoolwork has to come first right now. The good news is that classes end in three weeks, so I'll have more writing time once they're over. Believe me, that can't come soon enough.

I suppose I shall stop rambling about my writing now (except, the blog IS called Writer's Ramblings. Guess it's an accurate title.). Be looking for a few writing articles in the near future!

Auf Wiedersehen!
~Katie

Tools for Story Building (repost)

One of the most helpful things you can do to make your story better is to build to the story. Now, this does not mean going out in your backyard and building the whole story world. I think everyone would agree that’s a little extreme. Your friends would think you were crazy and your parents would lose their backyard. No, story building is something you do on paper and in your mind. “How do I do this?” you might ask. I’m about to give you a few tips that should help you out with building your story.

"How do I do this?"

First off, you want to let the Word of God fill your story. That doesn’t mean it has to be allegorical or you must have references to every Biblical truth. An example of this could be from the opening scene of Sherwood Pictures movie ‘Courageous’. The overarching theme in the movie is Biblical fatherhood and that’s shown right off in the opening scene. A father is at a gas station filling up his truck. He notices that there’s a smudge on the windshield so after checking in the back, goes to get something to clean it up. Unknown to the viewers at that point, his baby is in the backseat. Suddenly, a gangster runs up, jumps in the truck and starts to drive away. The father (Nathan Hayes) throws himself part-way through the window. It progresses until the bad guy finally can’t hold on to the wheel anymore and runs into a tree. Nathan was holding on to the wheel this whole time and jumped off the truck when it struck the tree. The gangster runs and gets into his accomplice’s car while Nathan painfully limps toward his truck. Two women had seen the last encounter and called 911. They tried to stop him from going towards the truck, but he refused. He reaches it an opens the door, at which point the viewers are shown his screaming baby. This scene right off shows the Biblical example of fatherhood without telling us Bible verses. It shows us that a father is supposed to be willing to lay down his life for his family, not tells us.

"Let the Word of God fill your story."

Another thing that I’ve found helpful is to start your story keeping the ending in mind. If you have no clue what your ending is, it’s going to be obvious to your readers. The characters need to be working towards something. It sometimes helps to write the ending first. “But I don’t have just one solid ending in mind!” you say. That’s fine! Sit down and think of all the possible endings your story could have, good and bad. Then, just write them all. They don’t have to be long or perfect, but it helps (believe me—I know!) to get the ending down. The story then sort of keeps you in line, because you already have things written. Writing things down helps so much.

Characters are obviously a very important part to your story. No one would want to read your story if it weren’t for the awesome, colorful characters you have, right? One of the things that makes characters interesting to the readers is the depth. Create backstories for your characters. It doesn’t necessarily have to be told in your story, but as you figure out their past you’ll be able to figure out their personality. It will make it easier for you to learn how they react to different things, what their passions are and what their dreams are. Characters also have to be different from each other. For example, the protagonist and the anatagonist obviously can’t act the same, talk the same and like the same things. There’s got to be an obvious difference (other than the fact that they’re fighting against each other) between your characters.

Claudius, a page in medieval times, walks up to his page friend Damian. After Damian acknowledges him he says, “Hey dude. How’s it going?” Confusion starts to muddle your brain. This is a medieval story…they aren’t supposed to talk that way! Yet another thing that helps your story is research. I can’t say this enough, so I’ll say it again—Research the time period you’re writing in! All of us are guilty of not researching enough sometimes, but even though we may not enjoy it, it’s a necessary part of writing. It will help you out in writing and make it easier, so that you’re not constantly worrying about breaking rules. You know the rules, so you won’t (hopefully) break them. Simple as that.

"They aren't supposed to talk that way!"

God gave you this wonderful talent for writing—use it to glorify Him. Pray that He’ll give you ideas to use in your novel that will glorify Him and show His truth and His glory to a dying world.

"Oh, I have to plan?"--The Importance of Planning

One of the few things that I’d rather not do when writing is plan. Seems silly, I know, but the initial “dirty work” isn’t my favorite part. Sure, I like figuring out some things like the plot, but I’d rather just plunge ahead with the story and write it. What’s the problem with that?

May seem like an obvious answer, but even though I’ve learned that I NEED to plan things, I still ask that question. As a writer, you may think that you know every piece of your story (and I’m not saying that you don’t), but sometimes that isn’t the case. You need to write down what’s going to happen and sort of “see” it, rather than have it just in your mind. I’ve found it’s very helpful to me to write things out. I don’t mean just typing them out, although I’ve been doing that more. The act of writing and forming the letters—the words, sentences, paragraphs—cements something in your mind in a way not possible with typing. This is where an outline or overview (post coming on that soon…) really helps.

Even if you don’t fully outline your novel, you always want to know where you’ll end up—your story goal. I heard something once that it’s the beginning and end of something that people remember. Think about some place that you drive to often, maybe church or the store. Now you may be able to picture the entire route, but the beginning point and end point are clearer, yes? It’s the same way with a story. People remember most what’s at the beginning, but especially the end. 

It’s so much easier to write towards a goal than just come up with it as you go along. By having a set goal, you as the author are more motivated to see it achieved. That in turn (hopefully) makes your characters more motivated to achieve the actual goal.

Several novels ago, I decided that I didn’t need to actually have a set story goal. I thought that I could figure it out as I went along. That novel ended up being a complete disaster. My characters weren’t motivated at all, weren’t very developed and the story bounced all over the place. Things happened for the sake of happening while I racked my brain to find a story goal. When I finally got to the end, it didn’t work. The goal didn’t feel real and that’s because I didn’t have it in mind (and my characters didn’t either).

Another thing I would suggest when you’re planning your novel is to get feedback from others. This helps me so much, probably the most of anything I try to do in the process. The author is so close to their story world and much of the time, we tend to “zoom in” on one aspect: a specific scene, a character—you name it. When we get feedback from others who aren’t so close to the story, it helps you to see the bigger picture. They can point out plot holes that you may have missed or inconsistencies. Getting at least a second opinion—generally more than that—is something I try to do before I start writing a story. Let the people willing to help you give some advice.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it seems important enough that I need to reiterate it again. Don’t let fear stop you. A lot of the time, that’s what holds me back from sending an overview or an excerpt to someone who would otherwise be able to give me a great critique. I’ll admit, I AM afraid to be laughed at sometimes. As hard as it is, (try to) forget about it. Attach the file and hit the send button. Now yes, I know that’s easier said than done. The feeling I get before I send part of my writing off sometimes is what I think I might feel if I were setting off a bunch of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons...I may have to use that in a story.

If you only take one thing away from this post, then remember this: always know where you’re going with a story. The characters may be underdeveloped, the plot lacking, but having an endpoint in mind will make it easier to go back and rewrite. Don’t do what I did and think it’ll just come on its own. In some cases it may. But play it safe and make sure you know where you’re going. It will help you in the long run.

Keep writing!

~Katie