Filed Under (writing, writing tools) by J. Mark Miller on 14-07-2010
PWxyz linked to a fun little bobble today at GalleyCat, a little program called I Write Like.
Plug in a sample of your writing, and it spits out the name of a famous author whose style you emulate. When I plugged in the first chapter of my latest novel, Rise of the Sun King, I got this result:
When I entered the first draft in progress of my children’s story, Ethan’s Magic Leaf, I got this:
How about a sample of my sci-fi short story, The Last Silent Place?
How about the first two chapters of my first novel, The Swords of Xigara?
Best of all, the utility was consistent in its selection of authors. No matter how many times I plugged in the same writing sample, it always spit back the same result.
Who do you write like? Go find out.
 With a name like Chaotic Shiny a website’s gotta be good right?
I have to thank Lynn Viehl at Paperback Writer for posting a bunch of links to Chaotic Shiny’s generators. I’ve already put one of them to good use.
I’m sure many of you have used name generators before—and this site has those—but the real beauty here is the sheer number of generators I’ve never seen anywhere else.
The Civilization Generator helped me flesh out an idea for the central culture of a novel I hope to write in the next year or so. You’ll find generators for superstitions, mottos, laws, languages, and much more.
I highly recommend you bookmark Chaotic Shiny.
 I just got The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell in the mail yesterday. I haven’t had a chance to get very far into it, but I know it’s going to be good.
How do I know? Well, here’s a simple paragraph from the introduction. Tell me this doesn’t sell the book.
“Because I am, like you, a writer. We understand each other. We are not like other people. We are, in fact, pitiable wretches.”
If those lines don’t resonate with you, you’re probably not a writer.
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 The weekend is here, and it’s time for me to buckle down and get some writing done—in between yard work, family in town, and special events. Oh, and I must not forget the Sunday ritual of watching Stargate Universe and Doctor Who.
On to this week’s links.
Slush Metrics at Gabrielle Edits
Writing Wisdom from Dave Cullen at Rants & Ramblings (Rachelle Gardner)
The Worst of Contracts by Chip MacGregor
FAQ: Fanfic by Charles Stross
Feeling Like A Loser? Go Outside for Five Minutes at Consumerist (great advice for writers)
The Series Bible by Nathan Bransford (Scrivener is a killer app for helping you accomplish this easily)
7 steps to creativity – how to have ideas at Write to Done
Are You Getting These 5 Daily Writing Vitamins? at Write it Sideways
Agent Barbara Poelle On: Three Things Debut Authors Should Know When Signing With an Agent by Chuck Sambuchino
Happy writing and enjoy the weekend!
Filed Under (writing, writing tools) by J. Mark Miller on 29-04-2010
 I meant to post about this before, but better late than never in this case. I ran across a fantastic blog every writer should bookmark as a resource for their own endeavors.
The Bookshelf Muse is a great resource because of the the regular features the author has put together over there. These resources will help you with that thorny issue of “show, don’t tell.”
First up is the Emotion Thesaurus, a series of blog posts highlighting a particular emotion and how you can show your characters exhibiting that emotion. Not only are the blog posts themselves great, but the many comments readers leave as suggestions are also very helpful.
Next is the Setting Description Thesaurus. If you’ve ever tried to write about a setting that you’ve never visited yourself, or if your memory is foggy, this is the thesaurus for you. Combine this with a judicious search of Google Images or Flickr, and you’re setting yourself up to write beautifully complete setting descriptions.
Then there’s the Colors, Textures, and Shapes Thesaurus. Again, what if you have a hard time remembering what something feels like, or how it was shaped? Perhaps you have a hard time putting into words the colors of things beyond the basic eight-color Crayola box you played with as a child. Maybe you need help finding the right color to set the mood or emotion of a scene. This is the thesaurus for you.
Last is the Symbolism Thesaurus. Some authors don’t think about lacing their works with symbolism, particularly recurring symbols. Symbolism gives depth and breadth to otherwise flat, everyday happenings. Imagine watching LOST without the layers of symbolism.
File this entire blog under, “Wow, I wish I had thought of that first.”
The Bookshelf Muse is a great writer’s resource you should have bookmarked. Better yet, subscribe to its feed.
Happy writing!
 If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a big fan of NaNoWriMo. It’s a great way to get people who are on the fence about writing to buckle down and participate. Many who give it try fizzle out quickly, but there are those who stick with the stuff and pound out the minimum 50,000 words. Sure, the vast majority of what is written during the month of November is drivel, but the cream will rise to the top. Some of those who have participated have gone on to become published authors.
Either way, simply sitting down and committing to the writing life is a good thing. Every word written down, whether on paper or in pixels, is a learning experience. This year’s horrible writer goes on to become next year’s mediocre writer who then goes on to be a good then great writer in the future.
If you’re thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo 2010, you might want to get a head start and begin planning your novel now. Worldbuilding, character creation, conflict and resolution, these are all things you can have worked out ahead of time. Start outlining your novel now, and you’ll find writing the minimum word count is really not all that hard because you’re not forcing yourself to make it all up as you go along.
Here are a couple of resources to help you plan things out.
 From Lazette Gifford comes a guide to surviving NaNoWriMo. Honestly, I haven’t read through the whole thing myself, but have seen numerous recommendations about the guide mostly because of the section on Phase Outlining. This ebook is full of tips and tricks from a long-time NaNo participant who is herself a published author and editor. Click here: NaNo for the New and the Insane, and download either the PDF version or the MOBI/Kindle version.
 From the Young Writer’s Program of NaNoWriMo comes three separate guides for young novelists. Though written for children, adults will find a wealth of wisdom about the basics of writing and composition, especially in the High School edition. Completing these workbooks during November while striving to write a novel may be too much, so download one and go through it ahead of time to be more prepared for the big event. Click Here: Young Novelist Workbooks, and choose your age-appropriate PDF for download.
If you’re a writer who’s been doing little more than plinking around and want to get serious about your art, consider giving NaNoWriMo a try. It might just be the kick in the pants you need.
 Perhaps the most beneficial practice I’ve undertaken lately is that of timed writing sprints with my kids. I think I’ve mentioned we recently purchased netbooks for my two older children, a decision made mainly because of their desire to write stories. As a way of encouraging them and being involved in their creativity, I started doing writing sprints with them on fairly regular basis.
This all started back during NaNoWriMo when I noticed their official Twitter stream was encouraging mass participation in writing sprints. I got involved in a few, and immediately discovered the benefits. My daughter was participating as well, and so I decided to challenge her to our own writing sprints in house, and found it to be our most productive days during the month.
What’s a writing sprint? Take a timer, set it to count down for a predetermined length of time—usually between 15 and 30 minutes—and write like mad until the buzzer goes off. That’s it! Nothing profound.
Why do writing sprints? Here are a few things I’ve learned.
- Brings Focus: There’s nothing like an arbitrary time constraint to make you put butt in chair and start typing. That email you were worried about checking? No time. Those pretty birds singing outside your window calling for your attention? No time. The clock is ticking, and you’re trying to get words on the screen before the timer goes off.
- Permission to Write Crap: For me, one of my worst habits is forgetting the first draft is not the final revision. Sometimes I get so bogged down on word choice and grammar that I lose my train of thought. The story gets lost because of over-thinking, but the story is the whole point of writing in the first place. When you’ve only got 20 minutes to put words on the page, the crap flows much more easily. It can always be cleaned up later.
- Mutes the Internal Editor: Related to crap writing, when there’s a severely limited timeframe, the dreaded internal editor seems easy to ignore. Perhaps he suddenly begins cheering for you rather than criticizing you because he knows his success is actually tied to yours. He’ll get back to you during the revision stage.
- Isolation and Community: Writing sprints can be done alone, but they’re a whole lot of fun when done with others. There’s something about a little friendly competition that sharpens focus. Word counts go up, and even the story itself seems more lively.
- Bursts through Writer’s Block: The timer’s counting down, who’s got time for writer’s block?
Try sprints for yourself, and see if they don’t breathe vitality into your writing routine.
Also, for you fellow Mac users out there, here’s a pair of utilities I use to help do sprints properly.
 Freedom, allows you to kill the wireless networking on your MacBook or other computer for a pre-determined amount of time. It keeps you from distracting yourself by checking email, or doing “online research.” EDIT: I just learned there is also a Windows edition of this utility, but it costs $10. There is a free version of the Mac edition.
 Timer Utility does exactly what you need it to do and no more. Set it for an amount of time, hit start, and watch it count down. You can choose from a variety of sounds for your buzzer, or choose a built-in system tone. I like to keep it floating above my fullscreen Scrivener. Seeing the thing counting down out of the corner of my eye motivates me to keep on typing.
Happy writing!
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