I ended up with a massive headache by the end of the day, just about the time I started feeling well enough to actually do something. :) The good news is that after a good night’s sleep I feel 95 percent better today. So bring on the rest of that ending of that novella! Strangely enough my phone keeps auto spelling novela with one L. See? I fixed the first one. I’m going to have to look that up and see why and then fix it! It’s the voice recognition program in the phone that I’m taking about. But still, why 1 L in novela?
Year: 2014
Oh do I hate being sick
I think I was poisoned by that meal I had out with my father yesterday. :o I’m still going to try to write today, but I don’t hold out a lot of hope for big word counts. I expect to be too busy napping.
157 Words Today
Probably won’t get any more than that. I was gone a lot of the day, and now I have the worst stomach ache I’ve had in months. I wondered why I felt so tired earlier—now I know. Unfortunately.
Yesterday I posted a release schedule on my pen name’s author site, to motivate me to finish my books sooner rather than later. Looks like I was just asking for trouble! I swore the last time I wasn’t ever doing that again, but I had to do something. I’m never gonna finish these books otherwise!
StayFocusd Chrome Extension
UPDATE: I don’t like it so much after all. For reasons that probably have more to do with me than with it.
The StayFocusd extension for Chrome is fantastic. I’ve thought about installing it several times and talked myself out of it every time. This time I didn’t. I really like it.
I set my ACTIVE hours between 7:30 am and 4 pm, 7 days a week, and blocked all the sites I visit when I should be concentrating on writing. I also turned on STEALTH MODE. I gave myself 15 minutes of time each day to browse my BLOCKED sites, after which the extension blocks all the sites until 4 pm.
I totally used up all my time before lunch today and had to cheat by using my phone when I was taking a break. I don’t want that to become a habit, but today was a different kind of day, so I forgive myself for that. Tomorrow I won’t be so lenient. The phone will stay upstairs, I think, until I’ve done my writing for the day—as will my Kindle.
I set up the NUCLEAR option for .45 hours (about 25 minutes) for use outside of those active hours, for days when I still need to write after 4 pm…
What I most like about this extension is that I don’t have to turn anything on, on a daily basis. It remembers those ACTIVE times and just works when it’s supposed to. I don’t have to think about whether or not I need it, or if I want to use it. It’s there, and I have 15 minutes I can use for breaks during the day.
My hope is that it will keep me from wasting away all my time online, on sites I really shouldn’t spend too much time on, and give me time to just let my mind rest. A week or so ago, I made a decision to stop reading so much junk online. I also want to read more fiction. It’s been hard to do that. I’m trying to make it easier. :)
*Had to block www.amazon.com, but allow kdp.amazon.com so that I can still publish my books during the daytime hours. :) Got that wrong the first day.
Feeling a lot of feelings today
It’s been a strange day. I had plans to write a lot more than I’ve actually written today.
I got 400+ words, then deleted a few notes I’d left myself and dropped back down to 304, which is where I sit now. I was there at 5 p.m. and at 6, then at 7 and at 8. Now it’s 8:38 p.m. and I still haven’t made any additional progress. I wanted to, but obviously not bad enough.
I got up excited, then got some bad news about a family member, and although I’ve tried not to dwell on the issue, I don’t think I’ve let it go either. Suicide is one of those things I just don’t understand. I’ve battled depression before, but the one thing I’ve never battled is the urge to hurt myself. But maybe because I don’t understand it, I’ve found myself thinking of it off and on today, and feeling a lot of feelings about it, and a great deal of empathy for my dead relative.
I guess you could say I’ve spent the day in a more contemplative than creative mood and my numbers show it.
Someone Else’s Good Advice
I was randomly flitting around the internet a few nights ago and came across a post on a blog that said a lot to me. I can’t even remember how I ended up on that site, but I saved a quote from it with the “Press This” shortcut for WordPress. In the meantime, I forgot to get back to it and actually turn it into a blog post.
Well, I saw it today and remembered, so here it is.
There is something that will make your stories unique—if you let it. Perhaps your upbringing or beliefs, the way you tackle stories, or some aspect of characterization or storytelling. As you keep learning, you will find it. But if you try to write like you think you should, or like “everyone else writes,” you could lose the things that make your stories unique. You might very well end up writing stories just like some other author. But they won’t be as good, and you’ll never reach that point that you’d really like the reach, the spot where someone says, “I would quite like to read a story by [your name.] That’s what I’m in the mood for.” (Think about how you feel when you want to read one of your favorite authors. No one else’s work will quite do, because they’re unique!) Having stories that are a bit different will make some people dislike them. But you’re not writing to keep your head down and hope that you’ll blend into the crowd.
Take the things that hurt you, and turn them into stories. Take your deepest pain and tears and the things you’ve learned the hard way in life, and put them into your stories. It’s the hardest and best thing you can do for your writing—to make it deeply personal. Nobody will actually recognize the parts that are about you, but you will always know—and that can make it terrifying to put your work out there. But it can also make your stories matter more and mean more.
via Love Stories About Men: some writer advice, Hollis Shiloh.
It’s good advice. I mean, really good advice.
I love how fast CreateSpace is
Files were approved. I received the email at 8:54 a.m. I placed my order for a proof copy and received the confirmation email for that at 10:20 a.m. I received the email telling me the order had shipped at 1:50 p.m.
This was for standard shipping. :)
Expanding the New Rule
I’m expanding my new rule to encompass my smartphone and my Kindle. Has to be done. ;) As I suspected would happen, I’ve started turning to these devices to check my email and read websites, the two things I most need to stop doing when I’m supposed to be writing.
My rule is simple. I’m not supposed to do anything on the computer that’s not directly publishing related until I’ve done a minimum of writing for the day, probably about 2,000 words. (So I can reach my weekly goal.)
Now that rule also applies to my phone and my Kindle. :D
I haven’t done my writing for the day, and I’m not supposed to be here posting. So—
I gotta go before I feel worse about that than I already do!
Blog posts need context: where are the dates?
I’ve decided that writers who don’t include dates on their blog pages, or at least in the permalink structure, are following one of the worst blogging trends ever to grace the wide open spaces of the blogosphere.
Here’s why: Context matters.
I found an interesting post today that started out, “Last night, I finished my first book…” but there wasn’t a date in the url, on the page, or anywhere else that I could find. It mattered, because I’m pretty sure the blogger in question has since finished several books and I just really wanted to know when it was that the post was written, or when that first book was finished.
I didn’t find out.
It hit me then that although there are contexts where we don’t want to include dates because someone might pass by an article when the article is still very relevant, in situations like this, where the post is very much part of a history of something, missing dates are significant.
Blog entries need context—they’re incomplete without it. Dates matter.
In a fit of pique, I abandoned the site. It probably had something interesting to say, but it was just a jumble of posts without context.
One more thing done that needed done…
Finally getting some stuff done that’s been needing done for a while. I mean, like five months late stuff.
I finished the paperback formatting of my last novel this morning when I put the finishing touches on the wrap around book cover. Yay!
Unfortunately, I discovered an issue last night after I’d submitted them, so as soon as they’d gone through review, I had to upload the tweaked cover file and submit them for review all over again. But that’s okay. Better now than after I get the proof copy of the paperback!
I put the price on the back cover and I had the price wrong. I didn’t know that until I’d hit the pricing section and realized that because of length, this one was going to need to be $2 higher than my usual. I’m not thrilled with that, but it was $2 or change my formatting, and I like the formatting as is.
So … I tweaked the cover file and resubmitted.
This cover was probably the easiest wrap around cover I’ve done to date. Maybe I really just need more practice. It’s getting easier to do the stuff that’s more technical and less about art (like the front cover—that still gets me every time).
Storms and a Ten Hour Power Outage
I didn’t get a lot done yesterday. There was a storm. And a ten hour power outage. Yep.
Microsoft Word and Embedded Fonts; Open Type Is a Problem
These things matter because I need embedded fonts to generate the right kind of PDF file for CreateSpace. I never noticed a problem with this before, but apparently the font I’m using is an Open Type font and Word won’t embed that font.
Now, this really surprised me when I researched the issue today, because the book I’ve been preparing is the third book in a series and is the third book to use that same font. Why I didn’t notice, or why it didn’t seem to matter, the last two times is beyond me, but this time, it came up as a problem in CreateSpace’s Interior Reviewer.
What I discovered is that Microsoft Word won’t or can’t embed Open Type fonts even if you have license permissions for those fonts to be embedded. I checked, and sure enough, I have the right permissions. Word just won’t embed Open Type fonts.
The solution was ditching the Word “save to PDF” option, and a search for a decent PDF printer that would embed those fonts for me. I installed several, including doPDF, CutePDF, and finally, PDF Creator (their website seems to be a bit broken, but this is the one that worked for me in the end). I couldn’t get any of them to print to the right sized paper for my book (5×8).
Turns out I had to create a new “form” for my printers.
That was tricky to find, since I’d never heard of this before. I found it under my control panel, printers, and when I clicked one of my printers, it was something I needed to do in the “Print server properties.” I created a new 5×8 form, with measurements of, you guessed it, 5×8 inches, and then when I “printed” my Word docx to the PDF Creator printer, it saved just fine!
A lot of work just to get some fonts embedded in a PDF file but it was worth it to know I’ve done it right.* I’m left wondering, though, how in the world did I get my last two books in this series through CreateSpace?
Also, although I ended up using PDF Creator to successfully create my PDF file, I have to wonder if the others would have worked just fine once I had created the new 5×8 form. I didn’t discover that I needed to do that until I found a FAQ on the PDFforge.org website, Word documents with custom page size are converted in default size:
By default, PDFCreator only knows the paper formats that are created when it is installed. If a custom format is defined in Word, PDFCreator does not recognize it and thus Word will use the default page size.
To create new paper formats, they have to be created under Print Management->Server settings. There you can create name and dimensions of the format. Aftwards, you can use it in Word.
And there was the tricky bit. I had no idea what “Print Management->Server settings” meant. But once I figured it all out and did it, my file came out great.
I uploaded it earlier this evening, and there weren’t any apparent issues according to CreateSpace. Yay!
*What I really need to do is learn Adobe InDesign, but for what I do, it’s just not worth it at the moment.
Still working on that ending
But hey at least I’m working. I’m still having trouble getting “enough” done that I feel I can use my computer for other stuff, so here I am on my Kindle again. I was sick yesterday so I have an excuse, but I actually did pretty good anyway.
The ending of the novella is making me crazy, though. I deleted so much yesterday, that who knows what my word count might have been. :) I ended up with about 1,200. I’ll post my actual on the accountability page when I can.
I still have so much to delete if the new ending goes the way I think it will. I had to go back one more chapter, and start over there, so now I’ve lost three chapters of about 2,500 words each. I’ve rewritten from scratch a couple of those chapters so many times over the last few months that I’ve lost count.
There’s good news though! If I don’t mostly finish this thing today, I’m scrapping it. I already expect it to be a low seller—I’m not wasting any more time on it. :D
Off to write! I’ve gotta get busy, because I have kids home again and I can’t be a shut-in any longer. They need food for the week. ;)
Bummed
So in a moment of inspired genius I finally—finally—had the real ending for the novella-that-won’t-end pop into my head tonight. It works. I mean, really, really works. It works as if that’s what I intended all along and just couldn’t recognize it.
But I’m bummed. Because I spent all day working to get the ending I have further along and it was good writing. I was enjoying myself and it felt good. I mean, the ending wasn’t working, but it felt good to be writing it.
For the “real” ending, I need to delete all that plus some. About 3,400+ words to dash against the cliff that is my delete key.
I can’t decide if I should try to salvage some of what I wrote or start completely fresh. Experience says that salvaging crap almost always takes longer than just starting over, even if it’s good crap. ;) But I really hate to lose some of those moments! They were good moments! But if I don’t get rid of them, I’m basically saying I have to write toward a certain goal, and that might not be right for this ending.
(Let me take a moment to say that when I say I got the ending, I don’t mean I actually have the moves worked out like a movie yet. I’ve discovered my ending, but it’s just this vague blob of impressions in my head at the moment. I actually have no idea what’s coming, other than that a character who wasn’t in this chapter is suddenly there, and that it changes everything, and I know it’s a good thing, and I can tell that it solves issues. I’m a discovery writer, through and through, and there’s still an awful lot of discovering to do. And this right here is probably why I average 500 words an hour. If I wrote any faster, I’d get lost in the fog that is my brain.)
And I can’t decide if I should just call it a night and deal with it tomorrow or keep going—maybe even try to finish it tonight. Because this new ending? I can tell it’s going to wrap up much quicker than the mess I have now, because it works, and I won’t have to use so much spackle to fill in all the damn holes.
Let me think…
A few seconds later…
I need to get going on it. If I don’t, tomorrow will just turn into a morass of hesitation and despair and then I’ll never get myself started. Procrastination will set in and I’ll be right back where I started this week. Not to mention that I might actually forget what I need to write.
Gah. I’m tired. I was planning to get to bed early tonight—like fifteen minutes from now early.
Guess it’ll be a long night after all.
The New Rule; I Feel Calm
Well. There’s a nice side-effect for me. Thinking about my upcoming day, I feel calm. Days where I feel calm are rare enough that I definitely notice them. :) Makes me happy.
I’m posting from my Kindle again. I didn’t really get much more done last night. I’ll update the accountability numbers when I can update at the computer. It’s a lot easier than this.
Too many storms last night! I’m already tired and I haven’t even got out of bed yet.
The new rule is helping me with another bit of restructuring I’m trying to do—stop reading so much crap online! :D Overloading my brain every spare moment I have has been squashing my creativity. Just no room left to daydream and be creative!
Well, time to get this day started. :)
The New Rule Worked, But…
… Since I haven’t reached 2,000 words, I’m posting this little update from my Kindle. It was probably a terrible idea to start this new rule while I’m trying to finish a book. Ahem. During times like these, I’m known to delete as much as I write. I’m sitting at 1,036 words for the day right now.
I really wish I had the capability of sitting down and just staying with something until I got it done.
Anyway. I’m not quitting yet, but I don’t know how much longer I’ll hold out. It’s already my bedtime. :D
I’m switching stories to see if I can get some momentum going. See ya!
A New Rule
I made myself a new rule, something super simple.
I can’t do anything on the computer that’s not directly publishing related until I’ve done a minimum of writing for the day, probably about 2,000 words. (So I can reach my weekly goal.)
And that is why I’m writing and posting this from my smartphone before I’ve even gotten out of bed. :D
But truthfully speaking, I actually think that simple rule will help a lot.
Yesterday, I failed to write, because I got distracted by websites and reading things online. I did manage to knock something publishing related off my to do list that had been there since 2012, so it wasn’t an all bad day. :D
Time to wrap this up. Editing and writing on my phone is a pain in the ass!
Love the new twitter look on my computer
I just noticed the new twitter look today, and it makes twitter so much more interesting. Or maybe that’s just me, looking for reasons to procrastinate. LOL. Always a possibility!
Getting started today
Alrighty! Time to get busy today. I have some writing I want to do, and I’m racing to see how much I can get done before I break for dinner. :) I’d like that to be 2,000, but I’ll settle for whatever I get. I want to finish that pesky novella today.
Update: Considering how much messing around I did with other stuff today, I feel lucky I made it to a few words under 400.
I spent 6 hours on WHAT?
I finally finished that new ebook style set—6 hours after I started at 9 a.m. OMG. I must have been in flow, or the zone, or something, because I’m telling you, it felt like an hour, two tops.
But no. 6 hours. 6 whole hours. I finished at a few minutes before 3, and I know that because I responded to an email from my daughter and then started my exercise. Had lunch. Now I’m feeling all nap-ish, so I think I’ll rest for a few minutes before I start on the writing I want to do today.
It wasn’t all wasted time, despite the fact that obviously I let my inner perfectionist run rampant this morning. I now have a reformatted novella (first in the series) ready to be turned into a fabulous ebook by Jutoh.
I’ve recently started uploading a properly formatted mobi to KDP instead of my docx files, just because it seems to make a nicer ebook. The docx conversion always looks nice, but quite often, the NCX doesn’t work.
The NCX is what gives me the working Go To button on my Kindle Fire and in Aldiko* that will let me choose from any chapter or section of my book that’s linked in the table of contents. I use this for fiction more than I thought I did, something I discovered when I started trying to read more fiction books. I read the same book on different devices, and the Go To menu is the quickest way to get to the right spot in a book when I’m switching to my smartphone to read while I exercise. :D
Anyway, I’ve dragged this post out long enough! I need to either nap, or write, or nap and then write. Whichever. See ya!
*Aldiko has directions on how to install Aldiko on a Kindle Fire. No longer available. However, the Aldiko Book Reader Premium app is now compatible with most Kindle Fires and Fire tablets so you can just get it from the Amazon app store.