Blogging Toolbox: Mojo Actions

You may have noticed that my blog has been changing.  Chances are, the fact that you’re even reading this post at all is evidence that something has changed.  In my Reinventing the Blog post I referred to how I was challenged to rebloginate by hearing Bryan Allain’s testimony.

So here’s my little secret.  I actually bought his book and I’m doing what it says.

But I’m not just doing that.  I’m making my own notes from “31 Days to your Blogging Mojo” available for you to read and follow along if you so care.

Click here and read my Blogging Mojo Notes

I don’t want to give away too much, so I’m keeping some of the items intentionally vague.  You can read my responses the daily challenges, but you’ll have to buy the book to see what the challenge really is. Head on over and take a look – add a comment if you’re so inclined.  You may end up helping me shape this blog more to your liking.

Truthnugget Moment:  It’s a little humbling to actually follow the instructions from a book.  If a book asks me to write down something, I would normally think about it for a moment, and then move on to the next page.  In this case because I’ve seen the author in person (apparently I look like his cousin) I felt like I needed to do this right.

Who knows, maybe the act of being humble enough to let someone who is smarter and better at something tell me how to do something will help me to do it better.  Go figure.

Writing Toolbox: Mindjet

I’ve already hinted at some of the tools I’m using for my novel (Writing Excuses, Google Drive). Well here’s another one: Mindjet for Android.

Mindjet allows you to easily brainstorm and put it on paper…er, I mean, on the screen.  Best of all, the Android app is free, even though the desktop version costs quite a bit of money.  For the desktop, I use an open source program called Freemind.  And even bester of all, Mindjet lets you save to a dropbox folder, so you can very easily open  the latest version on the desktop and sync with your phone.

I’ve been using a mind mapping program like this for a while now.  But the real question I’ve had to ask myself is…

What in the world am i going to map?

1.  Option 1: Map everything.

I’ve tried this.  I have half-finished maps about cities and nations.  I have half-finished maps about storylines.  I don’t necessarily recommend it though.  Map too much and you run the risk of not writing enough.  Trust me I’ve been there.

2. Option 2: Map the Story in excessive detail.

Another thing I tried – again, it proved to be too much.  As mentioned in another post I’m a discovery writer.  When I try to outline too much, its like filling the street with orange cones.  Too many and you can’t drive.  And besides, they then lose their effectiveness and the characters steer the car intentionally to hit them.  Not that I’ve done that…ever.

3. Option 3: Find the balance that works for you.

Yeah, its kind of a cop-out title, but I’m the one writing this so I can put whatever I want in the title.  For me, I have to map out just enough but not too much.  Think of it as Goldilocksing the orange cones in the road.  And here’s what I’ve found:

As a discovery writer, the right amount of outlining for me is to simply outline the major scenes.

 I don’t outline every scene, just those that I know need to drive the major aspects of the story.  i don’t outline the chapters.  Think major, not minor.  The highways, not the sideroads.

And thinking in terms of scenes is a fairly new concept for me.  For whatever reason, it took me a while to think in terms of scenes.  Maybe it’s the discovery writing approach.  Maybe it’s that I’m still learning.  But I’m learning to view scenes – those pesky little things that have beginning, middle and end all to their themselves – as the second major component to the story after the characters.

In conclusion, to properly ideasmith, think in terms of the scenes for your characters.  And to keep track of all of those ideas, consider using a tool like Mindjet or Freemind.

Drive Vs. Word

I’ve tried using many different tools to write my stories.  Perhaps that’s part of the reason I haven’t finished my novel yet.  Maybe that problem goes a little deeper…but I’m not about to get into that again.  Two years ago I even wrote a 50,000 word novel in one month using Evernote on my phone.  It was a great experience, and if you’re interested in why I did this, check out NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for more information.

But I’ve since found that Evernote is no longer my weapon of choice when it comes to writing, both on the computer and on my phone.  So Evernote takes the bronze in this battle.

The remaining contenders are Google Drive and Microsoft Word

Distractions vs. Features

I’m a bit of a whiz when it comes to Word.  I’ve got my work computer all set up with the toolbar and keyboard shortcuts so that I can accomplish exactly what I need to very quickly and easily.  But I find that the screen is too busy – there’s just too much that it’s capable of and I get too easily distracted by this to write effectively.

By contrast, Google Drive offers a much cleaner environment.  Maybe it also has to do with the fact that I don’t know all the features that it is capable of.  I don’t really need to know.  It allows me to set headings the same way and in a few clicks I can have easily have my table of contents.  Just as I do in Word.  That’s all I really need.

I’m still somewhat new to Google Drive, but I’ll admit I like what I’m seeing.  It’s much improved over what it once was back when used to be called Google Documents.

Mobility Factor

With the recent updates to Drive, it is much easier to write on my phone, which I will often do.  Sure there are many other options to use word documents, but I haven’t been happy with their mobile interfaces.

My main beef with Drive is that they took this long to make it this good.  They should have had this years ago.  (Maybe if they did, I’d have a finished story by now)

Where’s the Save?

I was a bit taken aback with Drive when  I tried to save my file.  Then I saw the note that told me my changes were saved already.  That feature alone means that I can rest assured that my file is saved.  Even more, since Drive is on the cloud, I’m not going to run into multiple copies of the document the way I would if I were working on Word.

Sharing and Commenting

While both have the ability to track comments, Drive’s native sharing ability allows me to share the story with others and very easily control their access.  There is an even an author using Drive and sharing her novel with the world.  Read more about that here.

The Verdict:

Clearly, Drive is my favored option at this point.  I’m in the process of porting my story over to Drive now so that my latest iteration of the story will be on it.  In fact, I was so excited to tell you how easy it is to use, and how distraction-free it was that I got completely distracted and decided to write this blog.

So what’s your favored option?  Are you something I didn’t mention?  At the very least, think about what you’re using and decide if it’s  the “write” tool for you.  (Sorry for the pun.  Not really.)

And if you’re interested in taking a peek at my story while I’m writing it, drop me a line.  I’d be happy to share it with you.

Edit: I found out that drive keeps track of revisions, both major and minor. Bully!

Discovery Writering

Over at Writing Excuses the authors introduced me to a term that very accurately describes my style of writing – Discovery Writing. This type of writer is contrary to the Outliner, who as the name describes, creates a clear outline for their characters to follow.

I tried outlining in the past and got quite ticked off when my characters refused to go where I wanted them to. It’s actually quite a weird feeling to know that you have complete control over this character and yet he still refuses to listen to you. And then I had an “aha!” moment when I realized that having characters who want something on their own is actually really cool. And probably a good thing. If I can learn how to capitalize on it.

As a writer its incredibly fun to be writing and be surprised by what your character decides to do next. If you don’t write or haven’t written this way, I assure you I have no mental illnesses (although my wife may think differently). But if you have written and fancy yourself a discovery writer then you are probably nodding your head or smiling right about now.

So back to discovery writing…

My problem is that I write for a while, letting the characters surprise me with one, then two surprising things in a scene. Then there’s another scene and characters make a few more surprising choices. Then I introduce new characters with their own set of surprises.  Then they all suddenly don’t want to get along even though I want them to form a party and embark upon the quest. Take this, multiply it by half-infinity and you’ll begin to have an idea of what I’m talking about.

By the time I’m a quarter of the way through the book I’ve got too many loose threads to clean up simply because these characters won’t cooperate!

And that’s when I start to rewrite. It’s a bad habit, I know.  I really should finish the draft, complete the story and then work on the rewrite. I don’t know what compels me to start the revise rewrite process, but it has become my biggest hindrance.

Some of authors at Writing Excuses talked about how their outlines were simple  descriptions.  So now I’m trying something new. I’m putting together a very basic, and I mean one sentence per chapter, outline. I hope this allows me to craft the overall story and set the boundaries for my characters to play in.

So here’s my outline.
You didn’t expect me to post the entire outline, did you?

I’ll keep you posted.

Crepesmithing

Crepesmithing dual-wield: the act of making 2 sets of crepes in the least amount of time possible. Because once you start making them, you want to eat them.

Reinventing the Blog II: The Rebloggening

Again I myself at a point where I am reinventing the blog. I’ve put this second reinvention off for quite a while now, though it’s been something that I’ve wanted to do for a while. I almost gave up on it completely, thinking that I was not good enough to blog consistently or perhaps not worthy of your attention. But circumstances have changed and I have been challenged in such a way that I feel it my duty… nay, my obligation to keep writing though I be beset on all sides by my own doubt and fears.

Much has happened since my last blogular reinvention (though there was only one new post in that time). I now have two children who demand and deserve much of my non-working time. I have a new career path – though I still work at the same company. I’m attending a new church and finding myself challenged in new ways. And I have a lot more gray hair. Even on my chin.  I’m okay with the gray hair.  The gray hair on my chin is pushing it a little bit.

It’s been about 2 years.  And in that time I’ve tried my best to keep writing, though I have failed miserably. I have a novel I’ve been working on for longer than I can remember.  I’ve started and stopped numerous projects.  Yet I believe that there is a story in me waiting to claw its way out. I hate to think of what may become of me if I were to ignore this call. While my real passion is to tell a story, there are “side quests” in me that the novel does not satiate.  I believe this blog is the perfect outlet for all those little side quests of creative soul.  And so I find myself joining the throng of blogulating writers, both successfulls and wannabes, and now I have resurrected and reinvented this blog. But this time I offer a promise.

I will continue to write. I don’t promise that I will write everyday, nor do I promise any set schedule. But I will continue to put words to those crazy ideas and observations that spin their way through my head. I will do this for your benefit and mine.  I will do this in an effort to improve my skills. And if my skills don’t improve, then you can laugh at me with a Nelson Munsian “hah-haw!”

So here’s what you can expect of this blogular reinvention, a.k.a “The Rebloggening”:

1. There will much sarcasting. I am a sarcaster at heart and there is little that passes my observation that doesn’t elicit some sort of sarcastic thought.  You may even like some of it.  At the very least, you get to see what it’s like to be in my head.  Please don’t be scared.
2. There will be much wordification, which is my own wordified word to describe my tendency to wordify. As a subset, there will much verbification. And if you don’t understand what I mean by these self-styled terms, then just move on to promise #3.
3. I may say something poignant.  I don’t promise to do so, I’m just not that good. But I will at least try to find a golden nugget of truth to help your soul.
4. There will be thinly veiled and blatant movie and TV references.
5. I may post pictures of my kids, or dogs.  But no cats.  Blogger and writer John Scalzi posts pictures of his cat because he can.  I have to draw the line somewhere.  No. Cats.  But my cute kids and lovely wife are fair game.  Oh look! Here’s one now.
   

Oh, and my reference to a recent challenge that encouraged me to blog again?  It came from church last week where Bryan Allain spoke about how God is answering a prayer of his.  Check out his blog and the video here.

Obessive Hobbying Disorder

A common disorder among males, particularly among those of less than stellar physical stature, though it can occasionally be found even among those with some athletic capabilities.  On the most rarest of occasions a female may be diagnosed with this disorder. 

The affected individual is characterized by the need to hobby to an excessive degree, often at the expense of his relationships with friends and family and work.  The hobbying can be varied in its forms, but most often involves the use of any number of die, game board, or a controller of some sort.  Words like “d20” and “roll for save” roll off the person’s tongue easier than the name of his mother (whom the affected individial most often lives with).

The earliest sign is the lack of sleep demanded by the hobby, reducing the person to a red-eyed, zombie-brained buffoon with no regard for personal hygiene and whose body odor rivals the most rancid of landfills.  The Obsessive Hobbyist is most often a nocturnal creature, for it is at night when the hobby demands the fullest attention.

From there, food itself becomes an afterthought and often the individual will need to be weaned off of Mountain Dew and Cheetos before he can be returned to foods with any sort of nutritional quality lest his vitamin-deprived body rejects it entirely.

In advanced cases the person becomes hyperfocused so that every thought surrounds the hobby.  He sees the world in d20.  He moves in combinations of X, Y, A, and B.  He travels on a hex grid.  He is surprised to not see his hit points floating above his head, and wonders where his HUD has gone. 

There is no treatment for OHD, just management of the disorder.  Let him win often, for OHD individuals have been known to tear the limbs off others when they lose.