31st Jan2008

Thursday Thirteen #130

by Aaron

Happy Thursday everyone! I hope you all liked last weeks debut of my Thursday Thirteen. If you ever want a theme or any other items for me to list, feel free to suggest it and I’ll see what I can do.

For this week, my T.T. will focus on editing, as that’s what I’m knee-deep in. I’m even enjoying it a little, which is a shocker! Enjoy.

Thursday 13
Thirteen Things about writing by Aaron Crocco

1. Completing any portion of writing generates an amazing feeling.

2. Never rely on spell check or grammar check. There are too many words you’ll mis-type that are real and you’ll never catch.

3. Sometimes you need to see what you’ve done to continue what you’re doing. I constantly look at my page & word counts to keep myself working on ‘the beast’.

4. A great tip I’ve heard is as you complete each chapter of editing, print it out. The sight of a growing stack of papers is another source of great inspiration.

5. You’re allowed to suck. We’re not all Hemmingway or Poe, but you’re not allowed to tell yourself you suck. Only outside, impartial critiques are allowed. Every author automatically thinks they suck.

6. Keep a side-file of notes as you edit so you can go back and implement the suggestions & ideas you come with as you edit.

7. Bounce your ideas and current hurdles off of another writer. If you don’t know one, ask someone who reads a lot.

8. Join a writing group. They are the best place to hone your skills and you can find a ton at meetup.com.

9. A quick way to find odd facts is to use Wikipedia. I keep it open at all times.

10. If you’re on a mac running Tiger or Leopard, keep the Dictionary widget open for quick definitions. Don’t forget it’s a thesaurus too!

11. Use your search function on a chapter to ensure you’re not using a particular word too often.

12. It’s okay to walk away from your book to do something else. A clear mind works wonders.

13. Take Nike’s advice: Just do it!

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Category : Just me, Tips
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30th Jan2008

Round Two

by Aaron

Round 2

So I took a couple of days off from my editing to enjoy some other things in life like watching 24 on DVD with my wife and losing myself in the geekiest hobby ever, World of Warcraft. Tonight though is my time to begin my second round of editing on my Robert story. I’m also going to work on a title for it and my goal is to at least have a working title by Friday. We’ll see how that goes.

My goals tonight are to create more insertables and fatten up the story just a bit with some of the sub-plot. I think I need to focus on one item at a time when going through this stage, so that I’m not all over the place. Hopefully when it’s complete, I’ll have another five to ten pages and a nice, higher wordcount.

Category : Tips, Untitled Story
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28th Jan2008

Writing on the Go

by Aaron

iPhone

Talk about interesting! I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Buzz Out Loud and they spoke of this fad in Japan where people are actually writing full novels on their cell phones! I started digging more into this and found the original article from the Sydney Morning Herald.

Here is an excerpt but I suggest reading the entire article to really get a good feel of it.

Remarkably, half of Japan’s top-10 selling works of fiction in the first six months of the year were composed the same way – on the tiny handset of a mobile phone. They sold an average of 400,000 copies. By August, the president of Goma Books, Masayoshi Yoshino, was declaring in a manifesto that he was determined “to establish this not simply as a fad, but as a new kind of culture”.

“I typed it all on my mobile phone,” Rin explains matter-of-factly over the same device. “I started writing novels on my mobile when I was in junior high school and I got really quick with my thumbs, so after a while it didn’t take so long. I never planned to be a novelist, if that’s what you’d call me, so I’m still quite shocked at how successful it’s turned out.”

So successful that one volume of her book, which began its life in a series of instalments uploaded to an internet site and sent out to the phones of thousands of young subscribers, has sold more than 420,000 copies since it was converted into hardcopy format in January.

Category : Ideas
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27th Jan2008

Lyrically Speaking

by Aaron

iTunes 7 LogoI think that my post last sunday talking about music lyrics was a really inspiring thing for me and hopefully it helped you guys out there too. I’ve decided that this would be a good weekly post and I’d love to hear from you guys as far as suggestions go for songs that inspire you. So Sunday’s will feature music lyrics. Without further adieu, here is this weeks’ Lyrically Speaking:

While I’m not a huge R&B fan, there are times where a song will sound great but also have good lyrics that help me get in the mood. The smooth rhythm of this song along with John Legend’s voice make Save Room a great song to listen to. I hope you find it as inspiring as I do.

Say that you stay a little
Don’t say bye bye tonight
Say you’ll be mine
just a little of bit of love Is worth a moment of your time

knocking on your door just a little
so cold outside tonight
let’s get a fire burning
I know, I’ll keep it burining bright

If you stay, won’t you stay – stay

save room for my love
save room for a moment to be with me
save room for my love save a little
save a little for me
won’t you save a little
save a little for me – ohh

This just might hurt a little
love hurts sometimes when you do it right
Don’t be affraid of a little bit of pain
pleasure is on the other side

Let down your guard just a little
I`ll keep you safe in these arms of mine
Hold on to me – pretty baby
You will see I can be all you need

If you stay, won’t you stay – stay

save room for my love
save room for a moment to be with me
save room for my love save a little
save a little for me
won’t you save a little
save a little for me – ohh

[pa-ya-pa-pa] – [pa-ya-pa-pa] – [pa-ya-pa-pa] – [da-da-da]

Ohhh come on

Make time to live a little
don’t let this moment slip by tonight
you`ll never know what you are missing till you try
I’ll keep you satisfied
if you stay, won’t you stay – stay

save room for my love
save room for a moment to be with me
save room for my love save a little
save a little for me
won’t you save a little
save a little for me – ohh

save room for love
save room for a moment to be with me
save a little, save a little for me
won’t you save a little
save a little for me

Category : Tips
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26th Jan2008

Editing Round 1: Complete!

by Aaron

100%

Well it’s been six months in the making but yesterday in a marathon session I completed the first round of editing of my Robert story! At times I found it hard to focus but I got through the final ten pages and it was great to save my progress on the last word of the document. Talk about exciting!

This round of editing has opened up my eyes to show me the piece is not ready for prime time. My initial thoughts were to write the book, edit once and then self-publish via print on demand. My writers group has opened my eyes to show me that not only do I need to do more to polish it but I also could have a great story on my hands. I really don’t want to screw this up and so I came up with a better editing system to give this book the best chance possible:

1. Read entire book and line edit. Make changes and insert items as needed.
2. Refine the structure. Move things around, add needed items, etc. Make it flow and work better.
3. Beta readers. Have a few people read it and go to town with suggestions, thoughts, etc.
4. Final edit. Take everything from beta readers and incorporate as needed.

I think once I completed these four items, I will have a piece I can feel good about and I can begin sending it out for submission & also query agents.

For now, though I’m going to celebrate with some ice cream and TiVo! W00t!

Category : Untitled Story
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26th Jan2008

LOLCats

by Aaron

I couldn’t resist! Perhaps he’ll read my books in the future. :-)

funny pictures
moar funny pictures

Category : Just me
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25th Jan2008

Just Write BlogCarnival (edition nine)

by Aaron

Carnival

Welcome to the January 25, 2008 edition of Just Write!

Steve Osborne presents E-Mail Etiquette posted at TheWritersBag.com, saying, “Steve Osborne, author of “Writing Tips for the Real World,” is a professional freelance writer and writing instructor with over 20 years of experience.”

Blogging/Journaling

Stephen Dean presents Deciphering Cosmopolitan Magazines posted at Stephen Dean’s Copywriting And Internet Advertising Blog – Copywriter.

Joshua Wagner presents Love and Fear posted at Total Possibility.

Copyrighting/Freelance

Thursday Bram presents Location Can Matter For Freelance Writers posted at thursdaybram.com.

GWN Lifestyle presents 6 Tips to Copywriting Success posted at GWN Lifestyle.

Encouragement for Writers

Nikita presents The Power, Challenge, and Talent to Write: And Developing it posted at Musings of a Mad Macedonian, saying, “I am just a regular guy with an interest in writing, and maybe doing something worth publishing someday. Part of my efforts on my blog involves encouraging people to write, in addition to hoping to get feedback on my own efforts.”

Nikita presents Prompting Yourself to Write 2: Writing is an act of Hope posted at Musings of a Mad Macedonian, saying, “Something I read in a book on writing that should give any writer food for thought.”

Aaron Crocco presents Lyrically Speaking posted at Aaron Crocco: Copious Notes, saying, “This post talks about music lyrics that can inspire.”

Humor

Brent Diggs presents Writing Prompts for the Not-So-Prompt posted at The Ominous Comma.

Writing Projects/Prompts

Nikita presents Prompting Yourself to Write 3: Describe Your Ideal Writing Space posted at Musings of a Mad Macedonian, saying, “One of a series of Writing Prompts found on my Blog. This one allows the writer to maybe indulge in a little wishful thinking, hee, hee. ;-D”

Writing Tips

Maria Fernandez presents It’s or its, how do I know which one is right? posted at A blog about the books you love, saying, “Do you ever hesitate whether to write “it’s” or “its”? Here are some tips that’ll help you get them right every time.”

Richard Lee presents How To Write Magnetic Headlines posted at Richard Lee.

Jessse Hines presents Want to Write Better? Read Some Road Signs posted at Vigorous Writing.

Jessse Hines presents Got Writer’s Block? Just Eat that Frog. posted at Vigorous Writing.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Just Write using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Category : Tips
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24th Jan2008

Amazing Writing Tips

by Aaron

Tip Jar

While browsing around some writing blogs out there, I came across one by published author JA Konrath that talks about Escaping the Vacuum. The post talks about ways to improve your writing during the solitary process of writing a book. There is also posted information about networking, feedback and just tons more that is great. He has some amazing tips and I encourage you all to read the entire post.

Here is just some of JA’s great advice:

- Join a writer’s group. Most colleges, libraries, and bookstores have some sort of weekly or monthly gathering of writers. If they don’t, offer to start one.

- Next time you’re among writers (convention, conference, writing class, literary talk) introduce yourself to them. If you find someone with similar interests, offer to trade manuscripts.

Enjoy!

Category : Tips
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