Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Kit Reed

Kit Reed

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Writing Apps

This is a very serious face. Or a disturbed one. Or annoyed. I'll vote for annoyed. This feline does not like to be dressed up.


I found two fun, writing apps! Seriously, they could be addicting. I also am adding my favorite editing tool. I use it ALL the time. It helps me see my manuscript differently and I feel, helps me write better.


Do you have any favorite apps or websites? Add them in the comments!




Hemingway Editor

Plug in your chapter and find something similar to this:

Readability

|

Grade 5

Good

---

Paragraphs: 2
Sentences: 313
Words: 3600
Characters: 16017

---

14 of 313sentences are hard to read.

0 of 313 sentences are very hard to read.

15 adverbs. Aim for 1 or fewer.

3 words or phrases can be simpler.

12 uses of passive voice. Aim for 63 or fewer.

The Writer's Diet Test

"Is your work flabby or fit?"

When I plugged in my first chapter, this is what the test told me:


LEAN


My writing is LEAN! Which means CLEAN! The scale goes from LEAN to HEART ATTACK, depending on how many adverbs, prepositions, etc are in the chapter.


AutoCrit

"Manuscript software for fiction writers"

You can use this for free but can only have a hundred words or so. You can buy different packages, too. I like the unlimited usage, especially when I'm in the final edits of the story. I use this one a ton! I love it.


What is your favorite writing app or website?

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines

N.K. Jemisin

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Advice on ending your story

Sometimes this is what I want to do all day. haha Doesn't she look comfortable and relaxed and happy? 

But I'm determined to get this book done and query soon.

This post came through my email and it resonated with me. I'm at the end of my story, trying to finish it.  I try and write Monday through Friday from 9 am to 2 pm. Having a couple of writing buddies helps keep me on schedule and writing. 

Do you have daily writing goals? What are they?


Linda Goodnight on How to Finish That Novel


Here are the points:

1. Set daily goals and keep them. Start small. Writing one page per day will give you a nice fat novel at the end of the year. Each day, five days a week, I tell myself I have to write five pages. If I surpass that goal, and I often do, I’m super pumped. If not, no guilt involved. Either way, I’m moving forward on the manuscript.
2. Discipline. Allow yourself no excuses. If you truly desire to be a writer, you will sit down and write. People find time for what really matters to them. I’m amazed at the number of people who tell me “someday” they’ll write a book. Someday is now.
3. Spend a few minutes visualizing the scene and feeling the character’s emotionabout the scene before you begin. You’ll be amazed at how fast and how much you can write when you allow your subconscious those few moments to warm up.
4. Let the story out without censor or editing. Yes, this is hard. Shut off the part of your brain that says the writing stinks and allow yourself to write badly. Vomit the story onto the page and clean up the mess later. First drafts are never the finished product anyway.
5. Each day, begin 10-15 pages back, lightly editing as you move up to the blank page. By the time you get there, you should be back in the flow of the story.
6. Stop writing in the middle of the action. Tomorrow, it will be easy to pick up there and keep going.
7. Have a set time and place to write. As with any habit, the subconscious mind responds to triggers. Once you establish a routine of sitting down at the computer at a certain time and in a certain place, the writing machine in your head will know to turn on.
8. Limit distractions. This may mean turning off the television, the internet, your phone, and even arranging with your family to give you this quiet time. Protect the work from life’s interruptions.
9. Know the end of the book and write toward it.Better yet, use an outline. Even if you don’t plot, you need to know at least two or three big turning points in your novel. Write in to and out of those major events. This gives your writing direction and will keep you moving when the way grows weary.
10. Plan to reward yourself when the book is finished. Promise yourself anything you can afford that you would really enjoy. A new pair of shoes, a day off, dinner and movie, a weekend away. A friend of mine buys herself a piece of jewelry, her passion, after every book is sent to her editor. Find a computer photo of whatever it is and hang it over your work space. Look at it when the going gets tough. Use whatever dangling carrot will keep you motivated.

And there you have them, ten tips to keep you moving and motivated toward that final page. You have a marvelous story inside you, so stay the course, be strong and fight through to the end. The reward of a finished manuscript is a powerful feeling that many aspire to and few accomplish. Be the exception.

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Jody Lynne Nye

Jody Lynn Nye

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Ray Bradbury

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Editing

I'm watching you, always watching. Get back to work!

Ugh.
I hate editing. Self editing. My story baby should be perfect the first time I type it out! Agents will clamor for it, it will soar to the #1 spot on any best seller list and the money should be rolling in.

That's what happened to no writer anywhere.

This writing and editing is journey I should try and enjoy and some days I do more than others. Some days I'm stuck and some days I sail. But when I'm stuck, I try a little editing and most times that helps me see the flaws and weaknesses to can fix.
At the ANWA conference, Lisa Mangum touched on how she edits. What to learn from the best? Here's a few tidbits:


1. Change your document to a different font, like Verdana. This will get help your brain turn from the creative writer to the analytical editor.

2. Use Chicago manual of Style to make a list of the small things you need to add, like title page, copy right, dedication page etc.

3. Run spell check

4. Look at the small details like:
     one space between sentences
     double space lines
     Use an asterisk for scene break
     Make sure chapters are numbered
     page break before each chapter opening

5. Read it! Print it out and read it out loud.

6. Test it. Send your manuscript to a critique group and/or beta readers

7. Read it again.


Good advice and ideas!
Do you anything you would add to this list?

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Garth Nix

Garth Nix "Keys to the Kingdom"

I need to get me a magic ring!!

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Joss Whedon

Kill your darlings!

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Just keep going

How's your writing coming along? Are you meeting your writing and editing goals? 

Don't give up!

Even though you think your writing sucks and your characters are flat, you are the only human who can write the story that is in your head. You are the only person who can get those characters onto paper in the story they are suppose to be in.

Don't let their stories die in the trash or on a dusty jump drive. Write the story. And if no one is suppose to read it, at least it will be there, waiting for your children or their children. Someone will read your story and love it as much as you.

Just remember...

You

Are 

Awesome

Type in this link for proof:

http://iamawesome.com/

And if that doesn't help, here's a picture of a furry cat to give you a smile and help you forget your woes for a few moments.

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ quote

Neil Gaiman "Stardust"

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines

I need to remember this advice!

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines

The bigger the issue, the smaller you write. Remember that. You don't write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid's burnt socks lying on the road. You pick the smallest manageable part of the big thing, and you work off the resonance. —Richard Price