Twitter Scares Me

Since we've got an immerse-yourself-in-this-writing-community theme going, see this cute little bird? He's so darn approachable! Just by looking at him, he makes you want to pat his cute little head and chat with him in 140 characters or less. Doesn't he? I mean, isn't he just beyond adorable?

Yeah. He scares me.

I joined twitter a couple of weeks ago, tweeted my first tweet before I had a single follower, and since then I've done almost nothing. Since I'll have a cool new social icon over there in my sidebar later today where anyone can click to follow me on twitter, the pressure is on to finally figure it out.

Facebook wasn't scary to me! Blogging wasn't scary to me! What does twitter have that strikes the fear of posting in me every time I look at it?

It might be three things. (If you're scared of twitter for other reasons, say so! Maybe there is help for us. Fingers crossed.)

1. It isn't totally obvious how things work, including what is socially normal. (If you're here with me on this one, we need not be at a total loss for what to do-- Nathan Bransford is totally looking out for us. He's covered a lot of it in these two posts: How to use twitter, and How to use the twitter @reply.)
2. I don't think in tweets. I'm convinced that even if it isn't a natural thing, it can still be a learned thing if you're willing to spend the time and effort. And I want to, I swear. It's just so many of you are so clever with your 140 characters! How do you get to be so darn clever? (That wasn't rhetorical. ;))
3. I'm afraid of another time suck! There are so many responsibilities that you have to creatively work writing time around, as well as so many distractions that you have to keep yourself away from. I worry that twitter is one of those things you have to either keep at a distance or get completely sucked in.

Where do you stand with twitter? Are you as afraid of it as I am, or is it old hat to you? If you know what you're doing, I want to hear your best twitter advice! I promise I'll make good use of it, and so will anyone else who reads your comment. Then you can go to bed tonight, warm with the knowledge that you did some great community service today.
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I've Got a Theory: You're Only GREAT at One Type of Social Media

As writers, we're supposed to have a strong online presence, and we've got so many choices. (I'm pretty sure there are about a million more types of social media than there are types of word processors!) Although online presence can mean a lot of things, for most of us it probably includes some combination of a blog, twitter, facebook, and possibly google plus. (It feels weird to type their names lowercase. About as weird as it feels to write them uppercase. Since their logos are lowercase, we're SUPPOSED to write it lowercase, right?)

Let's get one thing out of the way. We can't be good at everything. Your talents might lie in the areas of social media, so everything you do is fabulous. Your talents might lie in other areas, and every bit of social media is hard work for you.

Regardless of that, though, I stick with my theory-- You are only great at one type of social media.

Why? Because blogging uses an entirely different way of thinking than things like facebook and twitter use. Orson Scott Card said, "Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any." I think you could very easily change this to read, "Everybody walks past a thousand blog ideas every day." Or "Everybody walks past a thousand tweet / status update ideas every day." And we, the social media savants that we are, :) have trained ourselves to notice those ideas.

So I guess it all comes down to this: When you walk past those thousand ideas, do they come to you in the form of a tweet or status update, or do they come to you in the form of an idea for a blog post?

It's likely the form it comes to you in is the type of social media you gravitate toward. The one you are quicker to update. The one you are more religious about checking. The one you work harder at to get followers.The one that comes to mind first when you think "Social Media" or "Online Platform."

Is this a bad thing? Certainly not!  And I'm not saying to only go with the one you're best at. I am saying it's a good thing to put the most effort into the one that works best for you. IT'S ALL ABOUT WORKING YOUR STRENGTHS.

For me? I can't even pretend that facebook and twitter are where my strengths lie. How about you? Which is you favorite? Where do your strengths lie?

Blogiversary and a huge THANK YOU Party

This is Jessie Humphries. Maybe you know her. She's a fabulous writer, incredibly fun blogger, and every bit as beautiful in real life as she is in her picture. I'm not even kidding. She also happens to be my blogging bff.

For everyone who blogs: I highly recommend having an awesome blogging bff. I think that every blogger runs into a really frustrating time when it feels like no one reads your blog. That all the work is for nothing. Jessie and I started blogging at the same time, so we ran into the same struggles and frustrations and successes at the same time. We talk about goals, give each other advice on handling unexpected things, comment on each other's blogs and cheer each other on. We both reached 100 followers on the exact same day. She had a big celebration thanking everyone on her blog. I had.... Quotes and Cookies. And well, okay, I'll admit: every day you have cookies is a celebration. But it definitely wasn't enough to thank you guys! Since I didn't on that day, I decided to wait for my blogiversary.

I entered the blogging world really late in the game. For a very long time I knew I needed a writing blog, but I kept procrastinating. I'd been blogging on a personal blog for years, so I had no misconceptions on how much time, effort, and stress it would take, or on how much writing time it would eat. Committing to it for me meant committing to do it full out-- five posts a week, along with putting every bit of effort into it that it required. I did not come into this blind. I knew exactly what to expect.

What I didn't expect was how much I would love it! What I didn't expect was YOU GUYS. I'd been lurking and commenting on writing blogs for years, so I already knew that the writing community was a great one. I mean, you guys are my people! We have so many of the same hopes, desires, dreams, struggles, frustrations, and successes. It wasn't until I plopped myself right down in the middle of the writing blog world, though, that I realized exactly HOW GREAT it is. How great my people are. How much I love getting to know you through reading your blogs and reading your comments on my blog. It doesn't matter that we live all over the world-- it feels like you all live right here.

So, to everyone who reads, comments, follows, links to, and / or lurks on my blog, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.You guys have made this worth every single second.

Okay, I think I've been up here, babbling and holding my fancy stemmed cup of sparkling cider, waiting to clink glasses long enough. Cheers! Now let's get to the party! Last time, we had a traditional block party, so I figured we'd go Chinese this time.

First, check out the parade with the awesome dragons!

Then we'll set off fancy lanterns into the night sky, because it is the greatest idea EVER.

Then we'll watch some Chinese fireworks!

And because a party just isn't a party without cookies and because I LOVE fortune cookies in the hugest way possible, for refreshments we are definitely having this classic.

Have a great day, everyone! And may all your fortunes say that fantastic things are about to happen to you.
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Quotes and Cookies: Gift of Fantasy

 "When I examine myself and my methods of thought I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing knowledge."

~Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein said that. ALBERT EINSTEIN, people! He was one of the most knowledgeable people ever. So why did he value the gift of fantasy over his talent for absorbing knowledge? [Not fantasy as a genre, of course-- fantasy as the ability to picture things that don't currently exist.] I suppose he said it because having all the practical knowledge in the world gets you nowhere if you don't have the imagination to create something with it. How to imagine it being put to use in different ways.

Just like having all the book knowledge on how to write means very little if you don't use it to create something new. Something you haven't thought of before. Imagine things in different ways.

So grab a cookie! Then let your imagination go and dream fabulous things.

Don't they look tasty? Fellow writer / blogger / frequent commenter, Scrivener-lover and cookie baker Leigh Ann Kopans made these! Don't you just want to pick one up and eat it? Because you could. In the Word Processor Wars comments, she said that she would ship cookies to the first person who was willing to give Scrivener an earnest try. What better incentive could you have than cookies?
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The Circus Tent

First off, make sure you check out the current standings for Word Processor Wars (the post below this one). And if you haven't thrown in your vote yet for which word processor you use, get on down there! (Especially if your vote is for WordPerfect. I'm just sayin'.) Everyone's comments were killing me. You guys are hilarious!

Secondly, sometime today, my blog will get a new look! And an ACTUAL NAME. No, really. (Up until the time it goes live, I'll take guesses on the name. :)) I've been waiting in line for my turn for a few months, and I'm so excited I'll get to show you soon!

Okay, now on to the actual post.

Every single year, my sixth grade teacher hung hundreds and hundreds of really long strips of crepe paper from the ceiling in the exact center of our classroom. He then took each strip and attached it to the wall, only a couple inches from the previous, letting it hang down a bit in the middle. The end result made it look like we were inside a circus tent.

I can't even imagine the time it took. And he re-did it every year, choosing different colors.


So, what did it accomplish? Well, school had to happen. We had to go learn about integers and symbiosis and homonyms and lost civilizations. Those things were inevitable. You couldn't progress to the seventh grade without them. Even with a fabulous teacher, learning all that stuff could very well have been mind-numbingly boring. But let me tell you-- those things are SO much funner to learn when you feel like you are learning them in a circus tent! When you can just imagine that you are in the center of fun things going on, it truly made a difference.

When we write, there are dialogue scenes that have to happen. They're inevitable. Things couldn't progress in the plot if these scenes didn't happen when they need to happen. But they have the potential to be boring. Even with really great dialogue!

And that's where the circus tent comes in. When your dialogue scenes happen in interesting locations with interesting things going on, it truly makes a difference. If the dialogue happens while racing through back alleys, or crouched hiding in a dank cave, or in the middle of a blinding snowstorm, or backstage in a play as the characters wait their turn to go on, or floating in the middle of the ocean with fish nibbling at your characters' toes, it makes it more fun.

Not only does it add excitement, but it adds another layer to the conversation. Extra stressors. Extra distractions. Extra difficulties. And that can turn a boring scene into one of your favorites in the entire manuscript!

So what kind of cool locations have you used in dialogue? Or what locations have you WANTED to use?
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Word Processor Wars

I went to a writing experiment a week ago (involving a bunch of writers, a bunch of laptops, random word pairings, a really hot house, and 60 minutes). When we sat down to write, my writing friend / critique partner leaned over and said, “How do you set it to double space?”

Okay, she is a WRITER, mind you. I looked at her, baffled, and said, “Um... Don’t you use Word like all the time?”

Nope. She uses Scrivener.

At the risk of being called narrow minded, I’ll admit: I figured everyone in the writing world used Word or Open Office. (I mean, I don't. But I figured everyone else did.) Seriously? People use other programs? This is news to me.

It got me wondering if there are OTHER programs people use. Are there some better than others? Some more conducive to writing? Do you have one you absolutely love and couldn’t live without? We need to know!

So without further ado, I officially welcome you to [drum roll, please]:

Here’s the deal. Leave in the comments what program you use to write. I’ll check in several times throughout the next couple of days to update which is winning. You can either leave a single word (or two or three) comment, such as “Word” or “Open Office,” or you can use the comments as your soap box. Convince us all why the word processor you use is the best! Keep it friendly, of course.

I’ll start us off.

I’m a true-blue WordPerfect lover. I realize not many people in the world use WordPerfect, but I swear that everything is easier in it. Years and years ago, I worked for WordPerfect as technical support. I talked people through how to use every feature of the program, so I KNOW how awesome it is. I couldn’t live without it. Since WordPerfect is THE BEST PROGRAM EVER, it used to be the king of word processors. Then, of course, Microsoft took over the world and booted WP off its well-deserved throne. (Grr, Microsoft. Because of that, I’m totally okay that it's now Google taking over the world. Why? Because they aren’t you. Plus, they put cool pictures that spell Google at Google.com. Impress me visually, and I’ll love you forever. (I just won’t use a word processor from you, because I already have the best one ever.)) Even without the throne, in my mind WordPerfect will always remain King.

Now it’s your turn! Toss your favorite program in the ring, I'll add a little red person next to your word processor for each person's vote, and we’ll see which one comes out on top!

*Of course, in my narrow-minded approach to word processing, I'm sure I don’t have all of the possibilities listed here. Rest assured, though, that if you mention one in the comments that I didn’t list, I will put it with the rest as soon as humanly possible.

Let the battle commence!
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I've Got a Theory: Music and Pictures

I've read a LOT of blog posts about music and how it affects writing. How songs can inspire plot lines. How music from a certain band can inspire the whole mood of a book.

How having a playlist for the book and songs for specific scenes can instantly transport you to the mind frame you need to be in to write. How some people map out their entire book through songs.

There's even a cool website called Stereomood where you can select an emotion, and it will play music to help you feel that emotion.

Logically, I GET IT. It makes perfect sense. It sounds like a fabulous way of writing! I read those posts, and want to map out my book in song. I wonder why I haven't ever done it before.

Then I finally realized why I never do that. It just plain doesn't work for me. I don't listen to music when I write. For every scene I write, there is not a song tied to it. I don't have a band that inspires my MS. Music does not play a huge part in writing for me.

Assuming I'm not the only one, I came up with a theory.

Strong audio people are crazy inspired by music; 
strong visual people are crazy inspired by images.

I have read a LOT of blog posts about images, too. Some of us search through picture after picture of actors to find one that represents our MC before we even start writing.

Some of us find pictures of our setting, and other times the setting pictures reside only in our heads, because there doesn't exist a picture that could do it justice, and we lack the drawing/painting skills to put the image to paper.

Some of us draw their characters. (Not me, but I am totally jealous of those who have the skill.)

Some of us draw out a scene, placing everyone where they should be, no matter how unprofessional the scratches on paper are.

Some of us map out our book with images-- either drawn or by finding images through Google, making a storyboard of sorts.

Sometimes an image of scenery can spawn an idea for an entire book.

When I work through my story, I think it would go so much better if I could just get a really long piece of paper and visually plot out the book! I haven't quite figured out the perfect way to do it, but when I do, it will be epic. And when I find my epic method, I'll be sure to share with all my fellow visually-inspired writers. (If you've already figured this out, you'll share your secret with me, right?)

So there's my theory. Either we're strongly inspired by what we hear, or we're strongly inspired by what we see. Or possibly we're somewhere near the middle and use a combination of the two. Where do you stand?
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Home from Vacation to do some Claiming!

This past weekend, I headed out into some fairly majestic mountains for camping and an awesome family reunion, where the fact that everyone smelled like campfire, river water and bug spray meant that it was okay I did, too. We got to hang out in surroundings like this:

And play and laugh and reminisce. And I came home to some fabulous blog awards from some fabulous bloggers!

First off, Cherie at Ready. Write. Go. gave me this award. --> (Sorry I didn't get this posted sooner, Cherie!) And really, what could be cuter than that puppy? Thanks, Cherie!

Then I got the Liebster award, which spotlights up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers. I found out from CherylAnne Ham that it means "friend" in German. How appropriate!

I would like to thank Jessie at B-Word for first giving me the award. (And apologize for it taking me a full week to post about it!) I'd also like to thank CherylAnne Ham at CherylAnne Ham, TaraNator at More Than Fiction, Leah at Leah Writes Pretty Fierce, and Carrie Butler at So, You're a Writer...

Thanks you guys! You're the best!

The rules of the award are:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have bloggity-blog fun!

I love that in the writing community, everyone supports everyone so well! Here's my picks to receive the Liebster Award. Go check 'em out!

1. Lani Wendt Young at Sleepless in Samoa. Ohmygosh. This lady is HILARIOUS. I actually laugh out loud at some point in every single one of her posts. I absolutely love every second spent on her blog. (And while you're there, check out her Rejected. By a Sandwich. post on her sidebar.)

2. Kelley Gerschke at Between the Bookends. Kelley recently made the transition between writing for fun and writing because she wants to be published. Her posts are always interesting and fun, and her excitement toward writing is infectious!

3. David Powers King at The Cosmic Laire of Science Fiction and Fantasy. David has a great writing voice that makes his blog fun to read. His posts are helpful and enjoyable. And psst! If you become a follower on his blog, he'll do a shout-out to you and link to your blog!

4. Barbara Kloss at The Adventures of a Writer. Whenever I go to Barbara's blog, I just stare at it for a while before I get to reading. Her blog is so pretty! (And not just because we have an affinity for the same fonts.) Her writing voice is AWESOME. She has fabulous writing posts and great book reviews.

5. Leigh Ann Kopans at The Naptime Novelist. I love the title of her blog! Leigh Ann does fabulous posts on writing, and has a wonderful writing voice.  And she gives great comments.
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Quotes and Cookies: The Hardest Way

Before we get to the quotes or the cookies, I have to share something. I don't normally do links to contests, but I HAD to on this one. My friend K. Marie Criddle is moving to Japan. JAPAN, people! As a parting gift, she's giving away some really great stuff. But lemme tell you: the way to really win big is by following her blog! I read her blog for a year or two before we became friends, and I can tell you that not only is she one of the most awesome people in the entire writing world, but her blog seriously rocks beyond the telling of it. If I had to choose only one writing blog to read, it'd be hers. Yeah, it's that good. She is hilarious and she HAND DRAWS HER POSTS.

I'm serious about checking it out. Just click on this link. It'll open it in a new tab, so you can click on it now, and still finish reading this post. C'MERE: K. Marie Criddle's blog You'll thank me.

Now, on to the quotes and cookies!

I thought I'd end bravery week, such as it was, with a quote to validate all the bravery writers have to exhibit.

“Writing is the hardest way of earning a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators.”

~Olin Miller

So go forth! Be brave! Write! Eat a cookie! And do it with the knowledge that what you are doing is impressively hard.

Thus endeth bravery week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/09chip.html

Happy Friday, everyone!
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Just Jump

Have I mentioned before that my brothers were crazy daredevils?

So on Friday nights when my parents went on dates, we'd party down. Because that's what you're supposed to do when you're parents are gone, right? We lived in a split-level house. (If you're unfamiliar with a split-level, you walk in the front door and are immediately faced with a half-flight of stairs leading up, and a half-flight of stairs leading down.) One of our favorite things to do was to gather every couch cushion and pillow from the whole house (with eight of us, it amassed to a decent amount), and pile them at the bottom of the lower flight of stairs.

We didn't have a railing between the upper flight of stairs and the lower--- instead, we had a half-height wall. And lemme tell you, that wall was way easier to climb on top of than any railing would've been. (I think my parents might've planned on our eventual antics when they designed the house. That's as good as permission, isn't it?)

So, with an easy to climb half-wall, we had no choice. We had to climb on it. And we had to jump ten feet down to the huge pile of pillows.

Just because we grew up in a family of daredevils didn't make that first jump each week easy, though. Every single time it was scary. It was SO HIGH. And it was hard to tell if we had fluffed and stacked and prepared the pillows well enough. And there was the possibility of not landing on our feet and getting hurt. (And actually, there was the possibility that if we sat crouched on the wall long enough, contemplating the jump, someone would "help" us make the decision to jump.) And there was the heart-clenching fear when we free-fell to the bottom.

And yes, there was the exhilaration of it all.

Because do you know what? Our ordinary life was just ordinary. Sure, things happened all the time like they do to everyone, but our Friday night jumps were something WE controlled. A craziness to our life that we chose (except in instances where we were "helped" to choose).

Jumping off that wall is kind of like jumping into a huge story line. Jumping into that larger-than-life, huge conflict / consequences story is scary every single time. You prepare by practicing and reading all about plotting, but you never know if you prepared enough until you jump in. Sometimes you may not want the huge story line, but your characters themselves will "help" you make the decision to jump. After all, they like to be in control of the jump! There will be heart-clenching fear. And there's a possibility that you'll not land on your feet. You might get hurt.

But do you know what? Without that hugeness to your plot, your story is just ordinary.

And along with the huge story line comes the exhilaration of it all. For you and your readers.

And that's what it's really all about.

I'll admit. Of all the things that require bravery that I mentioned on Monday, this one might be my hardest. I have to amp up my conflict with each round of revisions, because it is never huge enough at the beginning. Do you ever have that problem? If you don't, how do you push beyond the limits to come up with a huge storyline from the beginning?
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