Git R Done

Sometimes as a writer, you have to yell at yourself. Not out loud, because then you just look crazy, and lets face it, some of us already give off that vibe. :)

No by that I mean, we have to set schedules. Set boundaries. Make a list of goals for the day and stick to it. Turn of the twitter, turn off the Facebook. If you are a writer you have heard that before. For me many times I have to remind myself to post on here.  I generally have to list out, at least mentally, everything I need to finish in a day. And while I can write a blog with Facebook and twitter still open, I have to close them while writing.  One thing I discovered during the first draft of Mistaken was WriteOrDie. I  paid the 10 bucks and got the desktop version that goes full screen while I am in it. It makes it much easier for me to get in 1000-2000 words in one sitting. It also makes it harder to do anything else while it's full screen.

I like the fact that it forces you to just write. Plenty of my first draft has to get revised, but at least I am getting the story out. Fine-tuning is for revisions. Now that I have gotten half of my writing goal in for the day, I allowed myself sometime to blog and check facebook, but I already know I need to do one more WriteOrDie session before I can call it quits for the day.  On my list of to do's today is also:

• Finish print format of Mistaken (final edits aren't done, but taking care of this now so it isn't a headache later).
• Catch up on blogs I follow (getting back to being an active member of the online writing community)
• Work on fliers/posters for book release
• contact Cafe owner where book release party will be
• go to work (booooo)

In the meantime, here are some good blog about forming good writing habits you should check out. Both have some great ideas to keep you on track to your word count.

Zoe Winters: I'll JustCheck Email Real Quick

Yarn-A-Go-Go: How To Write A Novel

You Say I'm A Dreamer, But I'm Not

I loved Dinner for Schmucks. Hilarious movie. Steve Carell's character was loveable yet drove you nuts at the same time.  There was one scene in the movie that although it makes me laugh because he misinterprets a great John Lennon song, it also makes me think.

"You say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not."

Really the line from the song is "You say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." While I love this song. Maybe the schmuck got it right.

I've been trying to prep myself for this headlong dive into finally publishing. It seems surreal, exciting and at times somewhat terrifying. I remembered I had downloaded Smart Self-Publshing: Becoming an Indie Author by Zoe Winters a while back. And while I had read a good portion of it, I went back this past week and started re-reading it. She has some great advice and is definitely someone I find to be a decent role model in this indie world.

Among all the good advice Zoe has managed to pack into this book one thing stuck out in particular. Something that really can be applied to anyone, not just a writer.

Dreamers are those that think about all the what if's and wouldn't it be nice. They don't actually DO anything, but dream...

But those that set goals...well they work toward them. Not to talk about the all-mighty roller derby again but, I set a goal to be able to play in games. I passed my tests...and now I will probably be playing in a game soon!

For the longest time I always said I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to publish something and have people read my books. Dreaming about it didn't get me anywhere.

It wasn't until I got off my lazy ba-donk-a-donk, finished my drafts, finished all the initial edits and started actually working towards publishing it that anything got done.

I know this is sort of a well  DUH post, but I just thought sometimes we need a reminder to stop dreaming and start setting goals. Things feel so much harder to obtain when we are dreaming about them. But they become a reality when we start striding toward them.

So my goals right now are finish the final edit, get Mistaken to the publisher and formatted and uploaded for electronic sales.

As I finish reading her book I plan to set some more goals as well as figure out more my road map.

It is sometimes hard for us to actually grasp when one of our goals is within our grasp, and I feel like that is where I am now.

Just a few more steps...

Check out Zoe winter's blog here  .

eBook Vs. PaperBack: My Personal Observations

Last night was the start of a beautiful relationship. I was filled with glee and excitement as I drove home  after a 10 hour work day. I knew as I walked up the front walk to my door there in all its glory would sit a brown box with the familiar Amazon smile logo on the side of it. If you hadn't guessed already, or looked at my twitter, I received my Kindle 3 last night!

Despite the exhaustion I felt from the work day I hurried inside and ripped open the box with much gusto, squealing in delight (yes, I squealed...).  I've had a Kindle App on my Motorola Droid, but this was so much better. Definitely worth the $139 I paid for it. I spent a little extra for a cover, since I am admittedly horrible at protecting my electronics.

I didn't get the one with 3G. The city I live in offers free WiFi within city limits, so I just hopped onto theirs and downloaded several books.

I will be the first to admit that before I started getting interested in the indie author scene I was very hesitant to try out an eReader. Even yesterday I had still thought I wouldn't enjoy reading my Kindle nearly as much as I enjoyed reading from an actual book. I have to say my Kindle won me over very quickly.

Some of my favorite things to note are:

• No need for bookmarks! It saves your place for you , and you can bookmark favorite parts, highlight, and make notes on parts of a book to your heart's content. With a regular book, I tend to be especially great  at accidentally closing the book and losing my place.
• Easier on your wrists. The lighter weight is definitely a plus. I remember the nightmarish weight of trying to hold and read my book of the combined LOTR trilogy...I checked...its longer than the bible and way heavier.
• Environmentally...less paper used, no gas wasted to deliver books to a bookstore, for me to drive to one, etc.  
• Less clutter in the house. I already have shelves that are jam-packed with books. Saying that, some books I might still buy the paperback if I really wanted it.
• I didn't feel like I was reading off of a computer screen...though benefits like adjusting text size are a BIG bonus. I can't adjust the text size in my paperbacks, and this has proven to cause me to read less. Small text puts me to sleep regardless of if I wear my glasses or not. (I'm farsighted).
• I'm also able to load audio books that I own onto it and the speaker quality is great.

Overall, I have to say, boys and girls,  that I think I have switched over to the dark side...I am thoroughly impressed and happy with my Kindle. I still will always have a special place in my heart and my bookshelf for my beloved paperbacks that I currently own. I am sure I will still frequent my favorite indie book store in Historic Sanford  too. But I am quickly falling in love with my Kindle. It is a great way to show support for some of my favorite indie authors and discover even more of them. I can pay decent prices for their e books, happy in knowing that it is them, the authors, that receive the royalties and not some big NY publisher.

-Rayvenne

Real Connections

I have to say that twitter is such a big time stealer, especially when I should be writing...but I love it. In just the past few days alone, not only have I gained followers, but I have also connected with some real, genuine people that share a passion for writing as much as I do. I have been reading some great stories I might have otherwise never noticed amidst everything else that crowds the internet.

I think that is what excites me about the indie publishing scene growing more and more. There are real people behind it, real authors that may not have gotten their story out otherwise. Originally I had been steering clear of the self-publishing route because of the stigma often attached to it, but I think that times are changing with the publishing industry and these are not just people that are too lazy or too bad to get published the traditional way.There are many reasons, and many inspiring people that have led me to try out this route.

Zoe Winters posted a great blog post on this as well, that there is no reason to sling mud at any author that does self-publish, because self published or not, writing a novel and then having the guts to put it out there for everyone to read, review, and criticize is something to be commended on both sides of the fence. As I continue toward publishing my debut novel, I hope to make many more connections with authors and readers alike.

-Rayvenne