Challenge

I'm trying to get up to speed on the World Cup. I went to the internet to look up the rules and found an article on futbol rules for 'dummies'. It seems to me that soccer is called football, for obvious reasons. So maybe NFL game should maybe be called 'throw' ball. I mean, kicking the ball isn't the main focus. Possession times, changes in possession, penalties, coach/player squabbles - all that's familiar. Even bad calls. Please tell me the US should have won that last match. I couldn't see a foul.

Question: if you had the opportunity to play on a global venue for your country would you create a stink and refuse to play over what will not amount to anything more than egg on your own face and a disappointing look back in the future? Divas.

Before The U.S. and England ended up with two draws each I would have said I didn't like draws. But it's better than losing, ;) I guess if they tried to play until someone scored you could be there all night.

Speaking of challenges, I began a new one this week. It's called the 100x100. This means you put your butt in a chair and write a minimum of 100 words a day for 100 days, very effective for setting a daily habit. I hear you saying what about that planner I bought in January with a page for writing daily? No excuses. Life just happens, work and creativity go in cycles it seems.

I added an additional layer to my 100x1000x100, 100 words, 1000 seconds of treadmill, for 100 days IN A ROW - MINIMUM. So far so good. And my commitment to myself is if I miss a day of either one I start over. Want to join me? No guts, no gloreee.

What am I working on? The sequel to TR, my paranormal. I'm not trying to write the entire rough draft, just enough that I can answer some of the questions on book one that had me stumped, then on to revising. I decided today after writing it in Word the last few days that I'm going back to WriteItNow for its ability to organize ideas, character info and scenes. More PC problems, all of them Toshibas, coincidence? I miss my Mac!!!!!!

Other entertaining sporting events this week, the Lakers Celtics Final and Sunday's US OPEN in which Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell beat the field in a wild and crazy afternoon. Wimbledon is coming up and then FOOTBALL!!! Er, THROW BALL!!

I'm reaady.
(Just a reminder to pass the word. VACATION ON THE GULF COAST OR IN NEW ORLEANS TO HELP residents!)

Distractions be Gone - Writing software

While cruising the web in search of a program like Microsoft's One Note for PC (why they don't make it for Macs is a mystery), I found this marvelous little writing program called Ommwriter. PC users, eat your heart out - but not for long. They say they are going to develop a PC version. Take a look. It's sweet! This is strictly for writing, going with the flow, no elaborate formatting available as they theorize it shuts the muse down. Simply save and paste into your favorite word processor.

Ommwriter from herraizsoto&co on Vimeo.

Looks like it would make a beautiful space to write poetry as well.

My new process is taking me toward handwriting the first draft or using Ommwriter, to eliminate distractions and create a muse-friendly environment. For transferring recorded notes and inserting revisions into the text I'll use Dictate. Unfortunately that means I'm still stuck using two different operating systems as I'd like to make use of WriteItNow or One Note for the story bible/roster but my dictation and first draft will be done on the Macbook.

As long as it works.

Scrivener for Writers

I switched from WriteItNow3 to the ‘Mac only’ Scrivener program about two years ago. There are many features Scrivener offers that can enhance your writing experience.

From this sample taken from my first novel, you can see the scene files on the left in the 'binder'. I chose to title them with sequential days because the timeframe was important to the plot and it was easier to keep track but you can name them Scene 1, Scene 2, etc. Notice each scene gets a Synopsis/index card in the inspector on the top right. The top line is the name of the file. Under it are the key phrases for the scene.









Under the synopsis are the Labels and Status options. You decide what works for you. I used the colored labels for pov, turning points, etc. The Status is just as flexible and is shown in the tutorial tracking first draft, 1st revision, final draft.






Insert a note you need on hand for the project or the document in the notes and keywords section.





Daily project targets help you stay on track with your progress. Notice the coded chapter headings in the document and the continuity of the scene names at the top of the program, in the document and on the synopsis card.





I mentioned the ability to keep research within the project file. The Research section is below the draft on the tree in the Binder. You can drag html, links, images, maps, all into a file in the research section. Build characters there, track your settings, or create a whole separate Scrivener file to hold research for a bigger project like a series and drag and drop from one to the other.



When you get ready to take a broader look there are several ways to view you WIP.

As an outline where labels, synopsis card and scene names are viewable and draggable.



Select a group of files and view or format them as one with 'Edit Scrivenings'. Or view as a corkboard, which is like a storyboard where index cards can be dragged around. The labels you apply to your cards show up on your corkboard like this one and you can adjust how many cards per row.



Or select several scenes and view them, copy/paste them into Word processor.

A great way to get familiar with Scrivener is through the interactive Tutorial in the Help file of the program. Still have questions? Maybe you'd like to know how other writers use Scrivener. Visit the forum at Literature and Latte.



Though it’s not the most difficult program to use, a lot of the features are not for beginners either. Like exporting the file using the 'Compile draft' feature. It may take you several attempts to get your ‘compiled draft’ to work with the formatting of chapter headings, font, and layout. But if you're adept with Word you can probably fix it. Or you can simply choose the entire draft, copy it and paste to Word.

Again, this program is only available for Macs and you can try it before you buy it like all the programs I've mentioned this week.

If you need an easier to use program for Mac or PC with seemless Export to rtf feature, check out my previous blog on Write It Now 4.03.

Monday – Writer’s Café, for Macs and PCs.

Write It Now 4.0 - software for writers

As I mentioned in Part 1 on Tuesday, Ywriter served me well for a while but my PC latop was four years old and my new Mac was beckoning to me to use it more so I started looking for a software package that would work on the Mac OS, Tiger or better.

Write It Now by Ravenshead Services is another user friendly package with some pretty awesome writing tools.

Versions 3 and 4 both offer a tree hierarchy so you can organize your folders of scenes, characters, ideas, locations, and notes.





One excellent feature put it in a category all its own – the complete character creator. Create a character from scratch by clicking on Tools|Create Character from Add-on. This is simply awesome and motivation for purchasing this program just for this tool. On one screen (below) you can choose to create a name, personality (based on Archetype, Enneagram, or Myers-Briggs), description, and the characters timeline in relation to world events. Use all or part of the creator.


Create a name (or part of one) based on culture. Add personality traits, relationships.





In addition, there is a flexible relationship chart to document each character’s relationship with others then with a click - view it as a chart.























Need a custom personality trait or relationship? Add them as needed.
The program offers the expected word evaluators like count, frequency, readability, spell check, and thesaurus. And like Ywriter, there is a section for tracking submissions.

ADDENDUM: I neglected to show the storyboard feature in Write It Now. Like the rest of Write It Now, it's easy to use and wonderful for revising. Here's a sample storyboard.



Another extremely cool feature for revisions - the export tool,reliable and easy to use, creates a macro in the top line which will, when clicked on, create a Table of Contents. Then you can view it in Word with Document Map and click to your desired page making revisions easier. Very convenient.

The same file can be opened in both Mac and PC! So you can work on your Macbook and your Windows desktop PC with the same file. On top of that, outstanding tech support is available from the folks at Ravenshead Services in Lockerbie, Scotland. You can try a demo of Write It Now 4.0 and see more screenshots here.

Next, the program many writers use – the Mac program, Scrivener.