You Put Your Ideas Where?

As a  creative writer, you get ideas you want to pursue. They may be ideas for a basic plot, a character quirk, some perspective which makes the surrounding unique. Now you have this unique lightning bolt of creative energy,  what do you do with it? Where do you put it?

If you’re in front of your computer or laptop, you write and develop the idea. But what if you are at your favorite club or restaurant?  You could jot it on a napkin.  For a long time, writers carried small notepads or pieces of paper in their pockets just to keep tabs on the ideas which came to them when they could not be writing. 

Creative exercise for the day. Write a short story about a writer who jots an idea for a great novel on a napkin. By the end of the evening, he wipes his mouth on the napkin and discards it. 

Now we understand the value of keeping a writer’s notebook.  Do we carry scraps of paper and ball-point pens wherever we go?  If that is your preference, by all means, continue that tradition.  There are many creative people today who go nowhere without their pocket notebook.

Early on I learned the value of not saying “All” or “Always”.  If I say “All creative people carry a pen.”,  my argument falls apart by finding one creative person who does not carry a pen. I can say with some certainty that most writers carry an iPhone, an Android, or some electronic device that 1) acts as a telephone, and 2) has available software for working with information.

I am an Apple fanatic so my software of choice is always Mac based. I know there are almost always equivalent applications for other hardware and operating systems.  The one requirement I must have is the ability to pass recorded information from the phone to both iPad or tablet and to MacBook or PC. If that can’t happen, the application is not worth its cost. 

As an important point of information, I have no monetary based relationship with Apple or any of the other products I mention in this article. I get nothing, not even a thank you, for my words of praise. 

The most basic note taking application I have and use is Notes on my iPhone. It is quick to activate, easy to get an idea into, and once done, it is available to all my other Mac devices. In a restaurant, or just walking around it is invaluable when recording a quick idea or thought.  Its greatest value is the automatic syncing. I can review and enhance my ideas on any device and know it is available anytime on my other devices.  I do not use my thumbs well on the iPhone, so my primary use of Notes is to get the minimal idea out of my head and on the Cloud.

I have also used Evernote but their developers seem to force a move from the free account to the pay for service model. Not enough bang for the buck.

While Notes meets the need for a Writers Notebook, I wish to introduce an application which you can use as a Notebook and also allows you to build on your ideas. If you wish you could use it to write your entire story. It is not a cheap application and I have a version for OSX (my MacBook) and for IOS (iPad and iPhone). Again,  I like and use it. Your mileage may vary.

The application is Devonthink Pro. I used it to build a database called IDEAS. Within that Database, I have three groups; Short Story Ideas, Blog post Ideas, and Novel Ideas. Again, you can use it on the iPhone, to the iPad, to the MacBook and syncing is immediate and painless. What I like most about this application is I can develop and enhance my ideas to whatever level I wish.  It allows me to write the entire story if I wish. For example, this is an entry I made Thanksgiving before the meal hit the table. As you can see, I set the mood in the first sentence. I could have continued and written the entire story if I was a good thumb typist and it was not a festive meal. 

=======

Title: The house with four steps.

Location:  A suburb of Houston near the Gulf.

My most recent experiences in Texas happened in the house with four steps and a vindictive ghost.

=====

I thumbed this into my iPhone and then corrected my thumb failures using my iPad later in the evening. Whether you use a simple text editor, or a Databae system to record and develop your ideas, the goal is the quick and easy recall of your thoughts. It should not matter if they are yesterday's ideas or those of last year. Your notebook is a friend you need to hold close.

NANOWRIMO? DO IT, FINISH IT, IGNORE IT, SCRAP IT

 

 

If you are listening very carefully, you will feel rather than hear the subtle pressure of thousands of fingers gently tapping against the membrane slightly below plastic keys. The sound of NaNoWriMo is incessant, and a dedicated group of writers and writer wannabes are gently bringing their dreams to life. It is a day past the midway point, and they have been writing one thousand six hundred and sixty-seven words a day. 

My personal feelings about this challenge are at the end of this article.  Those of you participating are not reading this today. You are writing your novel, and you don’t have the time to read this. I write this for those who do not, have not, or just wonder about the value of NaNoWriMo.

 

The Pros of NaNoWriMo

 

NaNoWriMo is a powerful incentive to write.  

 

If you take the effort to sign up and publicly commit to writing the first draft of your novel in thirty days you have more than 400,000 other writers making the same promise. The critical point is you share a universal promise as well as a commitment to a goal. When you get tired and frustrated, there are forums and groups to support and to cheer you on. The encouragement available to you and from you is a powerful force that can drive you and others to successfully reach the goal of finishing.

 

NaNoWriMo is writing only.

 

By taking part in this challenge, you have promised to write almost 1,700 words a day. That’s a goodly amount of work to produce every day for thirty days. Given any day how much time will you have to edit what you have written today or to date?  Zero time. That’s good. Keep this thought in the forefront of your mind as you work. For thirty days you write, and for thirty days you will not edit. This is your first draft. You do not worry about grammar, tense, adverbs, and adjectives. What incredible freedom to have as you write.

 

You've Done It

 

    At the end of 30 days, assuming you have complied with your goal of 50,000 words, you have actually written the first draft of your novel. You have accomplished a tremendous, compelling goal. That which has been a romanticized dream is now an accomplished work.  You still have a ton of editing to do, but what an excellent reason to take on NaNoWriMo. In your possession is the real, physical body of your dream.

 

The Cons of NaNoWriMo

 

Does not build Good Habits

 

Many advocates of NaNoWriMo tout its power to put you in the habit of writing at least a thousand words a day. I don’t think so. Contrary to popular belief writing thousands of words each day may not be suitable for you or your manuscript. Binge writing is not an indicator of quality writing. If you can produce 500 words of good prose a day, you have decent output.  Remember that NaNoWriMo stresses editing free writing. If you plan your work, you should be editing to at least ensure your writing follows your plot structure.

 

The End Result may be flawed.

 

This situation often develops with new writers or writers who are first contemplating NaNoWriMo around November 1st.  Your dream book may be genuine in your mind, but in writing, there are glaring holes in the plot, so everything falls apart. It is a fair assessment of time to give yourself three months to write down the details of your plot. Remember every novel or poem or short story is populated with people and places. You need to spend time and effort detailing both before you begin writing.

 

My Personal Feelings about NaNoWriMo

 

I have always had mixed feelings when discussing NaNoWriMo.  When it first started, I thought how unique for beginners and in the early years there was nothing I could see to change my opinion until  I looked at the quality of some of the results. From such a month of frenzied, frenetic scribbling came both  Wool by Hugh Howey and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I can never trivialize the competition again and I will not. There you have my serious accolade.

NaNoWriMo is not my writing tool of choice. Writing for me is a solitary activity. Whether a blog post, short story, or notes for a novella, I do not want the encouragement or the companionship of a group of other writers. Recognition by other writers and readers is another thread altogether. That is why I have a blog and why I submit my stories and articles for publication. But the development of the plot and the agony of creation is, in my opinion, a solitary endeavor.

I believe in a structured environment for writing. You must take the time and expand the effort to build your plot line. You must make an effort to craft a strong cast of characters. This is not a requirement for NaNoWriMo. 

 

And finally, editing is an integral part of the writing process.  My two favorite writing tools are Scrivener and Ulysses. I divide my work into sections or sheets, and when I complete a section, I edit it in a simple manner. I correct errors of spelling and grammar. That’s enough for a first run. Final editing is much more extensive and done as the final writing step. Something I should have to give up during NanoWriMo. 

Rejection by Cover Letter

The cover letter is one of the least understood and least appreciated tools in the writer’s toolbox. It introduces your work to the editor. 

Think of your work as the introduction of humanity to a powerful alien race. If it is done well, humanity lives. Done poorly, bye bye your mother et all. Smile if you will, but understand both your ego and your wallet will thank you for doing this.

A Cover Letter should include (in this order):

1) Proper Genre

Devote a paragraph or two showing how your manuscript fits the genre of the publication. If you have written a romance gently elaborate on the love between the main characters. You need to show how your work is in every way a well-crafted love story. Do not get carried away with this step. You do not need a novel to introduce a novel nor a poem to preface a poem.

2) A Short Philosophy of Your Writing Style

This is a challenge to do well. It has nothing to do with the work you are trying to promote and everything to do with you as a writer. What is the theme you are promoting? For example, the theme I send as part of my cover letters is the theme I express on my blog page: “I enjoy writing stories that bend your mind. I think most people have a deviant bent and that personality quirk needs to be stimulated and encouraged.  I like dragons who devour both the knight and his horse.” It takes time and some effort to find your theme but it is an exercise every writer should do.

3) A Short (Really Short) Autobiography of you as a writer.

This is a short paragraph or two about what you have accomplished as a writer. What and where you have published. Why you started writing. You can also, with a degree of humor, state you have more than fifty rejection slips. Even the bumps you encounter in your career can be discussed in a positive and humorous style. This is the least important part of your letter and unless it is asked for don’t include it.

A Guarantee of Rejection

1) I am a great writer.

We know we are good writers. Even though we get rejected that knowledge spurs us on to continue writing. It is difficult to understand why certain editors and publishers cannot see our greatness. As great authors, we have a moral obligation to show them the errors they are festering under. What better way to tell them than within the cover letter.  DON’T! If you are truly great, or even ready to be published, you will be noticed. It takes time, effort, and talent. Always remember the mantra of most successful writers: Self Praise Stinks. 

 2) Editors and editing, both are without value.

It is the bane of most writers to blame the editor when their manuscript is culled. You, as the writer, has every right, nay obligation, to bring the crassness and worthlessness of what they do to their attention. Like it or not, the value of the red pen is beyond dispute. The problem is you will attempt to pass off these errors as literary license.  Absolutely not true. It is
sloppy work on your part. Just because the editor doesn’t discuss your failings with you does not mean he is wrong. You should know enough to do your own editing. Some of you will hire another to do the onerous task for you. Sorry, you get what you pay for, and most “editors” who will soak you for a few hundred bucks probably have your skill level or less. They merely have tools you are too lazy to find yourself. Remember, your work is yours alone. It is not the spawn of some hack. So, do your own editing and do it well, including the cover letter.  

Why Was Your Manuscript Rejected -- Part II

The final significant reasons for rejected manuscripts are not readily discussed by writers since most writers don’t like talking about them or accepting responsibility for correcting them.

Ignoring rules of Craft

Writing has rules. If your partner, your muse, or even your pet turtle tell you differently, show them the hand; even the finger. The hardest set of rules in writing you must abide by are the rules of Grammar.

For some reason, grammar has fallen out of favor with teachers who claim your parents should have taught you and by parents who claim it is your teachers’ duty to teach you grammar. Let me remove all doubt as to who is responsible for how you write; you are. Not your parents and not your teachers. The rejection slip does not go to them. It goes to you. Luckily for us, Grammar, like Mathematics, is based on a set of rules. All you need do is work within the rules, and you have resolved the problem. But where are these rules and how do we use them?

Take a deep breath and try to relax. This post is not mutating into a ten thousand word essay on the use of the collective noun. I don’t even intend to tell you the rules. I am going to tell you where to find them and how to apply them. Think of your first visit to an attorney’s office. You probably were impressed with the volumes of law books on display. As a writer, you only need one (honestly just one) rule book. It isn’t even as thick as the St. James Bible. But, to keep this in perspective, you do want the physical book. You do not want the ebook version even though it is available. Since this book is for reference, it requires physical interaction. The book, preferably hardbound, is The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. You will use it only when whichever of the next two tools I offer you give you just a vague answer, and you need to hear from the expert. The expert and your faithful friend for questions of style is William Strunk.

Electronic tools for style and spelling

The problem and the greatness of tools found in books are they are tactile and time-dependent. I present you with a choice of two tools which help you comply with the rules of grammar, style, and some of the laws of spelling. Both tools offer a free trial period, and I strongly suggest you read all the available information on both before making your decision. The two tools packing the most bang are Grammarly and ProWritingAid.I have used them both and the one I think is the better product is Grammarly. It is leaner and sparser than ProWrtitingAid. Grammarly offers a desktop application into which you can copy or load your manuscript. You can specify information about the manuscript and its projected audience. Grammarly, with tremendous accuracy, will point to almost all the flaws in grammar, style, and spelling. Its advantage is that it tells you what it thinks is the correction which you can accept or reject. It also gives you an overall score of your writing and how you rank amongst other equivalent Grammarly users. Its most robust value, in my opinion, is its leanness. You don’t get flooded with information about the error. Nor does it give you all the possible corrections. It provides what it computes to be the best answer for your writing audience. To me that is invaluable. The cost of Grammarly after the trial period is $70.00/year. It can be paid by the year or by the month.

ProWritingAid is an excellent product. If you choose, it will provide you with almost too much information. It interacts with most browsers and most word processors. It even works well with Scrivener. I would have paid more attention to it if it had worked well with Ulysses. When I was using it, I could find no flaws in either its performance or the information provided. Again, for me, it was giving far more than I needed and much more than I wanted. For people beginning to write and for people who know they are not very good with style and structure, ProWritingAid is an excellent application. After the trial period, ProWritingAid will cost you $50.00 for the first year. For three year it is $100.00. For a permanent license, it is only $175.00. Either product is invaluable for the price. While deciding on my choice, I subscribed to them both for a year and used them both for everything I wrote. Grammarly gave slighter better results when confronted with more obtuse grammatical errors. My suggestion is to pick the product that best serves your needs.

The final reason why many editors reject a manuscript is by what is in, or what is not in the cover letter. That will be the discussion for part three of this series.