Author: Nicole Bross Page 8 of 19

I’m Intrigued…

By

On February 18, 2013

In Beyond Writing

Have you heard about Editorially yet? It’s a coming-soon tool for writers that looks like it’s going to take the best of several tools for writers and combine them into one. Or, in their words,

[W]e came together to make Editorially, a new collaborative writing and editing platform. We believe that the web is not merely another distribution pipeline, but a unique and deserving space for both reading and writing. Our goal is to support and encourage that writing process — from the first flash of inspiration all the way through to publication, and at every point in between.

Editorially achieves this goal in many ways: a Markdown-based writing environment lets you focus on the words and create clean markup easily; collaboration tools let you invite friends and trusted colleagues to review or edit your work; a document version system lets you mark points in a document’s history and compare versions to see what changed; notes and activity feeds encourage you to reflect on your work, for yourself and for others; and discussion threads recognize that the conversation around a text is just as important as the text itself.

And we’re only getting started. This is not just another text editor: it’s an ecosystem for the writing process. We’ve designed a space that brings you closer to both the words and the people — the only things that matter. (from the Editorially Blog)

Looks like it’s right up my alley. I’ve tried several different text editors and programs like OmmWriter, Scrivener and Google Docs, and none give me quite all I need, so I end up skipping back and forth between them all. Right now I write in OpenOffice and sync with Google Drive, and share either through Drive or email. I’m looking forward to giving Editorially a try once it’s released. I devoutly hope it’s free. I also hope there’s the option to work offline, which I often need to do for one reason or another.

What do you think? What do you use to write and share with?

Six Sentence Sunday

By

On February 17, 2013

In Words I Made

“They’re coming!” I yelled as I reached him, not breaking stride.

“I know, they’re following you on the rooftops, three or four of them,” Dane said. Pushing me in front of him, protecting me with his body, he threw open the door and shoved me inside. “Give me your daggers,” he said, holding out his hand, and I passed them to him before collapsing against the counter, winded. He stood out in the middle of the street for a minute, scanning upward in all directions, both knives ready to throw, before coming back inside, and I realized he was soaked, his white dress shirt nearly transparent from the rain, every muscle of his chest and stomach clearly visible. To my surprise, he grabbed me and held me tightly against him for a moment, his hand gripping the back of my hair.

***

From Chapter 6 of The Unseeing, first draft.

Full Steam Ahead

By

On February 15, 2013

In By the Numbers, Just Keep Writing

After taking a week and a half off writing to fight the worst cold I’ve had in ages, I jumped back in the game last night with a vengeance. I spent a couple hours at the window table of my favourite cafe and banged out over 3,000 words. Nearly an entire chapter!

(It JUST occurred to me that I spent Valentine’s Day alone in a coffee shop, writing, instead of doing something with my husband. The thought never even crossed my mind last night, but then, we don’t normally recognize V-Day. I wonder what the other people there thought about the poor girl sitting alone on Valentine’s Day, typing away and eating all the salted toffee squares!)

As I’ve mentioned before I’m using an outline for this novel, unlike the last one, but I’m enjoying how much freedom I still have and how many little scenes just pop up out of nowhere on a whim. The reason I’d resisted outlining for so long was because I thought it would be too rigid and there would be no room for spontaneity, but that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. Part of this often stems from dialogue, but from time to time it’s an entire scene that seems to just flow naturally from something in the outline.

I stayed at the cafe almost to the last minute before closing so I could hit this milestone:

I started writing just under a month ago and I’m a fifth of the way there. For me, that’s excellent progress.

The kids and I leave for a spring break vacation tomorrow, and I’m not sure how much writing or blogging I’m going to be able to do. Hopefully a decent amount of the former, because there are a couple scenes coming up that I’ve been really looking forward to writing!

Six Sentence Sunday

By

On February 10, 2013

In Words I Made

“I do have a heart!” I said as Dane slid into the driver’s seat. Blood was pounding in my ears, and how could that be possible without a heart to pump it, I told myself. “I do, I do have a heart, that stupid bitch, I have a heart,” I pounded my chest as I spoke. What the woman said had shaken me badly. Where one should be, there’s only ice and darkness. Was that the reason why I was so cold all the time?

***

From chapter 4 of The Unseeing.

Dream A Little Dream

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On February 7, 2013

In Planning for the Future

I’ve been hideously sick all week with some sort of mutant cold so I haven’t written anything in days. My head is too slow and achey and all my thoughts are dull so I figure there’s just no point.

Today a librarian friend of mine posted a link to the Library Hotel in Manhattan, which uses the Dewey Decimal System to give each of its floors and rooms a theme. I love the concept, and I’m still pondering which room I’d choose, if I could have any. Paranormal to honour my own subject matter? Ancient Languages? Mythology? If I had my kids with me, it would have to be Dinosaurs since they’re both mad for them, and I’ve no doubt my husband would pick Advertising.

Then through a series of clicks I found myself reading about the Sylvia Beach Hotel, and this, this my friends, is going to be the home of my next writing retreat. I think I’d like Jane’s room, since I feel a strong kinship with her. A week alone on the Oregon coast with my laptop would be heaven. I’m aiming for late spring, 2014. Something to look forward to, especially in these dark days when I can barely get out of bed!

Six Sentence Sunday

By

On February 3, 2013

In Words I Made

“They speak Catalan on Majorca, and we’re not going to figure anything out from a distance,” Dane said. “Besides, I think that part of the Mediterranean is being inundated with monsoons at the moment.”

“Of course it is,” I muttered as I entered the room. “Is there anyplace in the world where I can sit in the sun in a bikini for a week and try and bake away this chill?” I was beyond broke now that I wasn’t working anymore, but I’d max out my credit card for a reprieve from the rain. Anyway, with the way things were going in the world, civilization as we knew it might not survive to the end of my next billing cycle.

***

I’m keeping with the habit of posting six sentences from my WIP each Sunday from whatever I’ve written in the previous week. Stay tuned for weekly snippets from The Unseeing.

Statistics FTW

By

On February 2, 2013

In By the Numbers, Learning, Musical Interlude

Now that I’ve started my next novel I’ve been logging a bit more information about my writing than I did the last time. Whereas before I only kept track of word count by chapter (and only to see how much I was cutting during editing) now I have a spreadsheet made up where I’m recording all kinds of useful information on my daily writing habits. Word count, time of day, location, which scene I was working on, it’s all getting documented. And I’m starting to notice some patterns.

While I try to write whenever I have a bit of time, I’m far, far more productive in the evening than I am in the morning. Literally twice as much. And trying to write in the afternoon, when my kids are home, is pretty much pointless. I also get a lot done – A LOT – if I go and sit in a coffee shop alone for awhile. (I did this last night and wrote more than 2,500 words in about two hours, which while not impressive for some, is a lot better than my average, especially when there are people to watch and eavesdrop on). That doesn’t mean I’m going to give up writing in the mornings or when I also have to entertain the littles, but I am going to go easier on myself from now on when I feel like I should have gotten more done.

I also notice that my chapters (all three of them so far) are shorter in this book than they were with the last. They averaged just about 5,000 words in The Unravelling, but in the Unseeing they’re just over 3,000. I’ll have to write a little further before I can see how this affects the pacing, but so far, I like it.

And, some early numbers are in:

Not too shabby for seven (non-consecutive) days of work! I wish I’d kept track of all this info before so I could see if I’m keeping pace with last time. I would guess I’m going faster. Having an outline is helping to keep me organized a lot.

If you’re at all interested, this is what I was listening to at the cafe last night while I was writing:

Poor Callie and Matthieu. Most of the time I think she’d be the one singing it to him, but then I’ll listen to it again and change my mind.

I’ve got six sentences scheduled to post tomorrow. Enjoy and happy weekend!

Am I Crazy?

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On January 27, 2013

In Revision, Things That Are Hard, Things That Make You Weep For Your Sanity

I just decided to re-write the first four chapters of The Unravelling AGAIN. For those of you keeping track, this will be the fourth time.

My biggest issue with the way the first third of the book unfolds is that it takes too long to get to the pivotal event, the scene which sets the whole rest of the series in motion. Right now it happens at the end of chapter SIX, a whole quarter of the way into a 100,000-word book. Yes there are events leading up to it that are important for the story as a whole, and there’s definitely some suspense building up to that point, but the more I think about it, the more I feel like a lot of it could go without any loss to the story arc.

My first three revisions I chopped about 8,000 words from those six chapters, and I’m going to aim for at least 5,000 more. It will mean sacrificing two characters that I really like a lot, which makes me a bit sad. They will cease to exist entirely, other than the briefest of mentions. Which leads me to the question, how many characters is too few?

I could also just be second-guessing myself, wondering if I’m really ready to move forward. So far the only person who’s read it and thought it was slow to get to that life-changing event is… me. But then none of my friends or family are editors, more’s the pity.

I’m going to play around with it a bit and see if I like the new revision idea. It can’t hurt, right? Even now I’m thinking of compromises that will allow me to keep my two secondary characters but still shorten that first act. Bring out the pruning shears.

Six Sentence Sunday

By

On January 27, 2013

In Words I Made

I heard Dane step into the bathroom and a moment later felt his hands on my shoulders. I was surprised when he turned me around and pulled me gently into his chest. For a moment I froze, mentally assessing where all my uncovered skin was and whether it might come into contact with his own, but when a few seconds passed and nothing happened, I sagged into him.

“It’s not fair,” I said, my voice muffled by his shirt. It was rapidly soaking through with my tears. “I didn’t do anything to provoke this, people shouldn’t be dying because of me.”

***

Check out Six Sentence Sunday for more entries! This is the last list being run by the website. It’s been a pleasure to participate!

Relationship Outlines: The Download

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On January 24, 2013

In Organizing, Outline

Last month I wrote this post containing some questions to build a relationship outline between two characters. I’ve now inputted all that information into a spreadsheet that you can download to make it easier to fill out yourself!

View and download the Fiction Writing: Relationship Outline spreadsheet here. (link will take you to a public Google spreadsheet you can copy into Google Drive or download into Excel or Open Office) You can even add your characters’ names and have them self-populate into the questions!

I hope people will use it and find it helpful. Please share it with your writer friends! 🙂

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