Why does my autocorrect think I'm typing that?

Good job on guessing I meant "before"
instead of "veggie" this time, Swype. For once.

I have Swype on my phone, and I've purposely turned off the thing where it autocorrects what you're typing, because — I don't need that stress, or that level of hilarity.

But, it still misinterprets what I Swype so, so much.

And I don't get it.

Wouldn't it learn that there are certain words you use more than others?

For instance, how often do I write "ashtray" over "already," Swype? How often? Huh? Here's the answer, Swype: I never mean "ashtray." Never.

As a parenting blogger, I write about my children a lot. But apparently Swype thinks I'm gaga about my "cistern." This is literally never the case.

I guess it could be worse
and people could think I'm obsessed with collagen?

Need writing motivation? Put your money where your goals are with a challenge group!

Do you have trouble sticking with your writing goals — or even starting at all? Try throwing some money at the problem by starting a writing challenge accountability group.

Set writing goals together, and pay in money that you'll forfeit if you don't hit your target — or win off each other if you do!¹

How to start your own writing challenge group:

1. Get a group of friends together who are writers — Facebook groups work well for this.
    
   
2. Decide on a challenge length. It could be one week or one month or some other length.
    
   
3. Choose the amount of money you'll ante up. About $20 US seems right to motivate but not impoverish.
    
   
4. Someone is in charge of holding the kitty and being the challenge cheerleader. Everyone pays in, usually through PayPal.
    
   
5. You each publicly set a challenge goal and then check in and cheer each other on every day.
    
   
6. By the end of the challenge, you each declare whether you met or missed your goal. The honor system prevails.
    
   
7. Losers forfeit their money. Winners get their money back plus a share of the losers' money.
    
   

For instance, assuming a $20 buy-in from 6 participants, if two fail, the other four collect back $30 each. A nice little prize for completing your writing goal!

And even if you fail, you got to work on your writing and you're several steps closer to your goal than you were before, so despite the loss of funds, it's still not really losing!

Some tips on starting your own writing challenge group:

Why blogging is dead (and why it is not)

I began blogging eight and a half years ago, and I feel like I no longer even recognize the landscape. Having spoken with many fellow bloggers, I know I'm not alone in feeling disconnected and like maybe blogging as we knew it has played out.

Here are the reasons why we (and perhaps you) feel that way, and at the end, the ways blogging is continuing on into the future — altered but still alive.

WHY OLD-SCHOOL BLOGGING IS DEAD

We used to blog for community — now we blog for search engines.

I remember when I got my first commenters on my blog and how thrilling it was. I joined blogging carnivals, posted others' blog buttons, and chatted with authors and readers on Twitter.

I came to know my audience from their commenting and sharing, and they were real people to me. I could put names to many of them.

The change isn't just the audience growing larger, it's that it's grown quieter. The community (mine, at least) has dissipated. Comments and shares have moved to social media and, often, behind my back (not in a bad way, just in a private way).

I check my analytics and see: People are still reading. But they're not necessarily interested in ME. No, I don't blame them (I'm not that narcissistic), but it's a sign that they're not dedicated followers of my blog but rather searchers who've stumbled on a single post of interest to them and then backed away once the information was secured. These readers aren't watching my children grow up or asking my opinion on things. My folksy, homey posts go virtually unseen. Instead, most visitors come to read a few evergreen fact posts: DIYs mostly. I'm not bitter, and I welcome any readers, but it's a sign of the change.

Commenting has moved to social media.

And specifically to Facebook, where it is now incredibly hard for a blogger to get posts seen without paying advertising money, and sometimes even with. I don't bother much anymore with posting links on Facebook, because the views are abysmal (1-10% of my followers, if I'm lucky). If it's something very important to me, I'll occasionally pay to promote it. I've mostly stopped sharing other people's fine links on Facebook, even though I used to love doing so, because no one will see them, and it just hurts my overall page metrics, making it even less likely within the Facebook algorithm that my posts will be seen in the future.

People definitely do a lot of their link reading on Facebook, so this seems counterintuitive. If so many people are reading shared links on Facebook, then surely sharing links on Facebook still works? But it doesn't for most links, only for a (relatively) few viral ones, usually from big-name news sources or very lucky bloggers. (I've had a post or two go viral on Facebook, and it's always been a surprise.) Unless a link gets a lot of traction immediately, Facebook buries it in the feed, so bloggers can no longer rely on their business pages to drum up traffic.

Lauren's link love: YA vs. middle grade, commercial vs. literary, writing camp, & Twitter tips

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

The Key Differences Between Middle Grade vs Young Adult | @marielamba at @brianklems https://t.co/mtIRPG99GA #writing #childrensbooks

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 29, 2016

Like I need an excuse.

Put Down the Broom: Tidying Up Can Hamper #Creativity | @PassiveVoiceBlg https://t.co/JE5gHZMvan #writing #amwriting

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) March 1, 2016

A question many of us have:

Where Do You Draw the Line Between Commercial and Literary Fiction? https://t.co/MTPaXxNUYP #writing #amwriting pic.twitter.com/QChnpQVNMl

— Angela Ackerman (@AngelaAckerman) March 1, 2016

Lauren's link love: Making a living as a writer, editing Hemingway-style, & the good of Amazon

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

<3 this: How I Make a Living as a Writer (and You Can, Too) by @jaltucher https://t.co/8agyxAXaio (Hint: It involves a LOT of #writing.)

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 27, 2016

Need an editing app? So did Hemingway, apparently.

Hemingway Takes the Hemingway Test - will he pass? https://t.co/k5O9LyFtc5 #editing #writing

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 26, 2016

How to Edit Your Book in 4 Steps by Mike Nappa at @WritersDigest https://t.co/HgL9egfIG3 #editing #writing

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 28, 2016

Lauren's link love: Query letter formula, captivating characters, celebrating diversity, & breaking through blocks

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

How to Write a Query Letter | @NathanBransford https://t.co/lnRwW9u7XI #writing #amquerying

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 23, 2016

Making a Dark Character Likable through Vulnerabilities https://t.co/bSjjORvlsX #writing #amwriting pic.twitter.com/7uGHjDwS2J

— Angela Ackerman (@AngelaAckerman) February 19, 2016

Fiction Writing: What Makes Readers Care About Your Characters? https://t.co/TlbqcTPLgO #amwriting

— Alan Felyk (@AlanFelyk) February 25, 2016

Call it a Toni Morrison celebration: #BannedBooksWeek 2016 will honor diverse writers https://t.co/zra8MSA2No

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 25, 2016

All cats are girls, and all other animals are boys

I'm reprinting this from Hobo Mama in the hopes that children's authors take note: We need more variety in our characters, on so many levels. One is in animal-gender form.

All cats are girls, and all other animals are boys.

You'd think this was biologically improbable, but it's true.

Witness the admirably entertaining Pet's Tails touch-and-feel book by Jellycat, written by Anne Wilkinson. Every single pet on every page is a boy:

"I love my budgie — his tail is a beautiful blue."

"I love my stick insect — his tail is like a twig."

"I love my fish — his tail goes swish-swish."

I commend Wilkinson on her extensive research that correctly identified the masculinity of nearly all pets.

Lauren's link love: How to query, writing inspiration, blogs to follow, & micropoetry

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

What Agents, Editors & Publishers Look for in a Query Letter | @brooke_warner at @BlogHer https://t.co/eRE1VtK6qw #querying #writing

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 19, 2016

When inspiration strikes, don't wait. Just write...but pull over first. #amwriting #poetry

— Christine Marie (@AWritersWay) February 18, 2016

In thinking of how to use YouTube as an author:

How to Create Blockbuster YouTube Channel Success in Any Niche via @marketingprofs https://t.co/NdmQ8enVlM pic.twitter.com/EPmR4Icydk

— CoPromote (@copromote) February 16, 2016

Secrets to querying literary agents:

"3 most crucial elements to a novel selling: the writing, the writing, the writing," from @thewritelife: https://t.co/AzDZIR8sra #writing

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 23, 2016

Lauren's link love: Query spreadsheet, picture book info, analyze your Twitter persona, & e-publishing at your local library

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

You had me at spreadsheet: How To Keep Track of Query Letters #writing #amquerying #amwriting https://t.co/eBJ9TbpH8Q

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 16, 2016

Jennifer Represents...: A whole lot of info about Picture Books https://t.co/6eBeTiphCr @literaticat #writing

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 16, 2016

Reality check from Barbara Kanninen - Can I Make a Career out of #Writing Picture Books? https://t.co/espboodckQ

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 17, 2016

Lauren's link love: How to get your children's book published, editing checklist, bump your follower count, & the proper use of cheese

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

6 Guaranteed Ways to Get More Followers on #Facebook, #Twitter, and Google+ | @kevanlee https://t.co/0d7jw6m0su #blogging

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 8, 2016

Kazuo Ishiguro Has a Brilliant Response to People Who Think Genre Fiction Doesn’t Matter by @CharlieJane https://t.co/qaPfY6OEZa #writing

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 10, 2016

When stuck, eat a piece of cheese. It won’t get you unstuck, but it will make you feel better.

— Ksenia Anske (@kseniaanske) February 11, 2016

Things I am doing instead of querying

I am supposed to be querying my cozy mystery novel, Poisoned, by God. I have sent a query out to one agent. One.

Here are the other very important things I have been doing instead:

1. I have gone through old blogposts on this blog and made Pinterest-worthy images for them with Pablo by Buffer, my new favorite thing. (See the image on this post as an example. It's free!)
2. I have gone through super-old posts on Hobo Mama to clean up code and add in affiliate-link warnings when needed for FTC compliance. (I'm still working on this.)
3. I have written six blogposts.
4. I have come up with two ideas for middle grade fiction series, and one for a literary novel.

Lauren's link love: YA preview, Twitter tools & tips, Scrivener tute, and animated cats

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

The Most Anticipated Children’s and YA Books of Spring 2016 https://t.co/Prw4EKzo60

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 2, 2016

How to Write Better Using Humor https://t.co/5iD9f05Q7Z

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 2, 2016

#Scrivener Tips from Joseph Michael | @thecreativepenn https://t.co/tQHqQGZuwi #writing

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 2, 2016

Ready to submit? Use Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript to help!

Here's a glowing review for a seemingly dull book: Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, by Chuck Sambuchino and published by Writer's Digest Books. It goes into the nitty-gritty, boring old details of exactly how you present your precious writing to a potential agent or editor.

It's all in the details

It covers all major forms of writing, from article writing to nonfiction to short stories to novels to children's books, scripts, and poetry, and it details not just how to present your manuscript itself but also all the essential elements that go along with it: a query letter, a book proposal, an author bio, a synopsis, and more.

You might think the book would gloss over details, like that you'd have to infer from a generalized description of fiction submissions how to cater for a particular genre, but this book is all about details. I love books that are all about details! Are you writing a mystery novel? Covered. A graphic novel? Covered. An author-illustrated (or not) picture book? Covered. Need to know how to submit the acknowledgements page for your nonfiction book? Covered. An endorsements page for your novel? Covered. How about your radio commentary? Dude, it's covered.

Lauren's link love: Editing tools, author publicity, & crafting a book

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

5 Ways to Use #Instagram as an Author | Jane Friedman #writing https://t.co/W3OsTNpeHH

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) January 25, 2016

#Writing is as hard as breaking rocks. Sparks and splinters fly like shattered steel. Clarice Lispector #amwriting pic.twitter.com/pX2yIvxqx5

— The UnNovelist (@TheUnNovelist) January 27, 2016

7 Web tools that check for empathy, inclusivity and more https://t.co/HMUnAIf6hV

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) January 28, 2016

Lean into your writing challenges

Sometimes when you're writing fiction, you'll get to a place where a character does something unexpected, and you'll want to fix it.

Or you'll realize your plot would be stronger if some terrible thing befell your protagonist, but you have a protective urge pulling you back.

Or you'll introduce a detail that messes with the tidy outline you had in your mind, and you try to figure out a painless way to erase it.

Don't. Move forward. Push through the hard way, never minding the thorns. Laugh about how much harder and messier you're making it for yourself.

Nine times out of ten, your novel will be better for it.

Creating character & setting sheets for your novel

I mentioned in my post on winning NaNoWriMo this past year that one thing I noticed in writing the second book in my mystery series is how hard it is for me to keep track of minor characters' names and settings. I realized I needed a system in place to handle all these details.

Why make character sheets?

You're chugging along on your work in progress when suddenly your mind blanks. Were your protagonist's mom's eyes blue or brown? Rack your brain no more! Simply consult your handy-dandy character sheets, scroll to the appropriate box, and there it is in print: Oh, right! They were hazel!

If you're writing a series, it's even more imperative to keep track of these pesky details from one book to the next. Remember how long your characters have lived in a certain place, or what jobs they had in the past. Note down when they first met a new friend.

You can make the same type of notations for settings and other details in your stories. Then you'll know where their favorite diner is located, what its name is, and who the surly server is they love to hassle.

The other benefit of having character sheets (also known as character profiles, character questionnaires, character charts, etc.) is that it inspires you to include more description. If you're like me and description is locked into your head but rarely makes its lethargic way onto the paper, having character sheets staring you in the face with slots for eye color and height and so forth makes you want to make decisions about those things and figure out interesting ways to include them. Clever descriptions will bring your novel alive, so it's a boon to have an avenue for mindfully considering what to add to your writing.

So, now that I've convinced you you need them…

How do you make character sheets?

Some writing software, such as Scrivener (a Mac program I used for one NaNo), has built-in capabilities for crafting character sheets. I wanted something more mobile, though, because I often work on my novels (and blogging) when I'm out and about. Most comprehensive writing software (including Scrivener) doesn't have a mobile component that works on my (Android) phone.

Enter: Google Drive. Bam.

I already am writing my current novel in Google Docs, and I transferred my earlier writing there as well. (FYI, I blog on the go using Chrome and the horrifying Blogger app, but I don't recommend either for publishing, just for drafting. They both truly suck for the job, and I will take any suggestions for improvement over them.)

For my character sheets, I also considered Evernote, since it's also readily available on both mobile and computers, but I have problems with the Evernote app being finicky, and I understand and like the functionality of Google Drive. Plus, I realized I could best organize the data in — nerd alert! — a spreadsheet!

Google Sheets to the rescue!

Hope you can kind of see that. You can click on it to embiggen a bit.

On winning NaNoWriMo 2015

First of all: Woot!

I hadn't been planning to do National Novel Writing Month this past year, but Tree of Write On, Mom! asked if I was going to, and so I did.

I am very suggestible.

The idea popped into my head that I could use the opportunity to do something I'd been meaning to, which was write the second book in my mystery series. And so I did! And now I feel so much better!

It's still a crappy first draft, because I'm working on finishing up editing the first one right now instead of fixing the second, but it's nice to have the story written and sitting there ready to edit. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

It makes me think I should write a novel every other month or so. Maybe every three months, with two off to edit? (This isn't going to happen, but apparently it could!)

I write like Raymond Chandler

Apparently.

I write like
Raymond Chandler

I Write Like. Analyze your writing!

Is it sad to admit I've never read a Raymond Chandler novel? Now I guess I have to!

If you want to see what author your WIP resembles, check out I Write Like. It's just for fun, and a nice distraction from actually writing. Heh heh.

If you need even more procrastination distraction, I recommend finding things like this and other tools and camaraderie at the National Novel Writing Month Participants Facebook group.

Thank you, Mr. Exposition

Sam and I are junkies for mysteries and appreciators of the jerk-cum-genius character as showcased popularly in House. So we decided to give Backstrom a watch.

For those who aren't as glued to their screens as we are, Backstrom is a new TV detective show on Fox starring Rainn Wilson. The titular character is presumably fabulous at closing cases but is otherwise a nearly unbearable boor. I found the pilot we viewed problematic for several reasons, one of which I'll talk about here.

Despite that, I'm curious now to try out the original source novels by Swedish author Leif G.W. Persson and have the first on hold at the library. I'm wondering how different the show is from the books. For instance, are the women as vapidly pretty? (/sarcasm)¹ Here's an affiliate link to the first in the series on Amazon (the English translation), where you can see the dubious tactic of putting Rainn Wilson's face and full-body silhouette on the cover, a choice that might backfire if the series is canceled.

Anyway, what I'm going to address today is the writing sin of telling readers the background facts in a plodding fashion. There's a scene in which Backstrom goes to his house and says something to the man there along these literal lines: "You're my roommate who's a gay man and who also fences stolen items, which I tolerate because you are my criminal informant. We are not romantically involved."

It's not quite that awkward, but close.

Sunday Surf: Where's the money in publishing?

Links to share, from Writing Tidbits:

The 7k Report – Author Earnings

What authors are really earning self-publishing vs. traditional publishing, and what’s right for you. Hint: Self-publishing’s earning more for everyone. Really interesting results!

1 WEEK AGO

Finances self-publishing traditional publishing

money (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)

An Open Letter to Journalists and Brands About Blogger Compensation | IFB

If you’re doing the work, you deserve to be paid. Tips for bloggers working with brands.

1 MONTH AGO -  2

blogging Finances monetizing 2 notes

Haters and Critics: How to Deal with People Judging You and Your Work - James Clear

How to focus on the positive and respond to the negativity.

1 MONTH AGO

writing criticism blogging reviews comments negative comments

On Professional Editing and Why I Charge My Friends For Advice

So I only work with highly successful highly motivated writers and I expect great things from them. You can’t hire me if you are only dabbling or if you want someone to tell you how great you are. You can only hire me if you are willing to succeed. And you can only hire me if you are going to be so successful that you make back my ridiculously high hourly fees and then some.

1 MONTH AGO

writing editing