It's All About Writing » Writing Tips

Your Online Persona – Writers, Stay Consistent

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:50:06 +0000

I’ve been on the Internet since the dawn of the dinosaurs. Well alright, not that long. But I have been using the Internet since 1993 when it was sorely lacking of good information, and quite honestly, good communication. Obviously in the past almost 20 years, the Internet has absolutely boomed, and not only is there an overwhelming amount of information (both accurate and inaccurate), but there is broad arena communication methods via millions of users.

One thing I did late in the 90′s, as the Internet was “catching on” was to choose an online persona and try and stick with it, regardless of where I registered/logged on.

I chose ‘simplywriting’ as my online persona, because it is defines who I am, and has always stayed consistent. No matter what I am doing on the Internet, what topic I am interested in, or what website I am joining – I am always, simply writing. Of course, I also use my name in all of my writing, which helps.

When you are choosing a handle or name to use online, you should try to come up with something that defines you, that isn’t already used by a half million other people. For instance, DogLover is probably not the best handle, since a quick Google search for it, yields 212,000 results and just glancing through page 1, it is clear that they are not all the same person. Another example, that fits more into the writing field, might be Writergirl. This one yields 170,000 results. But if I took a spin on that, and try Writergirl828 (my birthday), there are NO results.

With all of that said, using my handle that I have had since around 1996 or so, “SimplyWriting” and plugging it into Google Search comes up with 21,100 results. On page 1 alone, only two are not me. And the two that aren’t me, have not been using the handle as long as I have. Moving past page 1, to page 2 – only 1 is not me.

I realized quite some time ago, that it is important to stay consistent in not only your handle, but your name as well. I just got married, and as a writer, it is a difficult choice on whether to change your name or not. I have made a name for myself in the writing world, I have written thousands of articles under my name, and changing my last name was not something I was prepared for.

What did I do? I changed my entire name around. Kept my first name, took my former last name and made it my middle name which I use now in the writing community and then took my husbands last name. Be sure you keep to the same names, same handles/nicknames and it is a lot easier for people to find you that way.

Have you had a problem with people using a unique handle or nickname you came up with? Do you have a super common name that yields dozens of search results when you plug it in? Please, tell me about it in the comments field.

How To Get Ahead When You Are Behind On Your Word Count

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:11:59 +0000

This has always been one of my top blog articles, so I thought I’d do a repost and slight update of the article. Here it is again, with a few minor changes.

Everyone gets stuck, gets busy or for other reasons, falls behind on their word count from time to time. Whether it is a self-made goal, a deadline, a contest or something like nanowrimo, it is frustrating to say the very least. So what do you do?

Do you call your editor?
Do you throw in the towel?
Do you give up and say, I just can’t be a writer?
Absolutely not.

Here are a few ideas that might help.

Word Wars. Try participating in a word war with someone. Set a specific amount of time and write your heart out. Try not to stop and keep it focused on what you need to happen in your story. I’ve come out of many writer’s blocks by participating in word wars, and then I’ve also wound up with whole sections I needed to delete at the end, but for right now – they are still part of the story.
Chapter Hop. Try writing ahead. Try writing a particular scene or situation that you know you want in your story. Even if you aren’t there yet, sometimes it will help you go back and fill in the gaps down the road. Last year I did this, and in one writing session I wound up with over 5000 words on one chapter that I was dying to write. I was able to then go back and it was much easier to fill in the gaps leading to that scene.
Try a creative writing exercise. Find a word prompt or just write something creative from the viewpoint of your character. Who knows, perhaps at the end you can use it in your novel, and if not, you might feel more prepared to begin writing again.
Take a break. Try watching a half hour of TV or reading a book. Don’t just sit and mindlessly stare at the TV. Think about the plot of whatever you are watching. Think about the characters. Think about what you would have changed or written differently, if you had been the writer of the show or author of the book.
Try using Write or Die. If you’ve never used it before, many NaNo’ers swear by it. It keeps you writing non-stop and sometimes you can even come up with new material and your characters can take you in directions you didn’t see happening. And now there is a desktop version. You don’t even have to be connected to use it, keeping the distractions at a minimum.
Plan a vacation for your characters. Take them somewhere new. In your story, have them go on a short vacation. Even if it doesn’t fit in the theme of the book, you can have them win a weekend getaway or something similar from a local radio station or library or something. Taking your characters on vacation could be just what the doctor ordered – for them AND for you.
Take a walk. Consider going for a walk. The park is usually pretty interesting or inspiring with the nature all around you. Pay attention to your surroundings and just let your mind be. Or if you feel like you need to stay busy, do some people observing and create new characters in your head. Or use the setting for a scene in your book.

Promote the Novel You Haven’t Written

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:18:04 +0000

Thanks to the wonderful world of Twitter, I came across this article via @FionaRobyn written by Gina Holmes (@Ginawrites), suggesting it is a good idea to promote your novel (which is really just to say – get your name out there) as early as possible. After reading the article in full, I thought it was well written, insightful and why wouldn’t you want to get your name out there from day one?

After reading the article, I was planning a blog post about it, but before I did, I hopped back on twitter.

In case you’re not on twitter, let me explain what I did. On twitter you get 140 character messages. You can RT (re-tweet) something that someone else has shared to pass along to all of your followers (chances are you have some that are not following the original poster).

I did this with the article and then returned to my blog to begin the post I wanted to write. I hopped back over on twitter a short bit later to get Fiona’s twitter URL and I found the following response waiting for me.

LucidGlow: @FionaRobyn @simplywriting that’s so useless as expected, just more kissing up to the industry.

At first I was startled by the response, because it was obvious that she didn’t agree with the article at all. Being that I thought it was a good article, I was confused as to why, so I asked her. This was the response:

LucidGlow:@simplywriting It’s the entire general attitude/approach. @HoodedMan is right on the money with his article(s): My Fifty Cents.

So of course I went to read the article. I found myself agreeing with much of what amos (@hoodedman) said (based mostly on my conversations with other writers/authors and knowing what a few of the real life authors I know went through. However, with that said, I am having trouble understanding how the two posts actually relate to one another.

Am I missing the bigger point? It seems to be that they are clearly speaking about two totally different things. And why would a little early publicity for yourself, and the ability to get your name out there, actually be a bad thing?

So I decided to post this on my blog and open up the comments so we can talk about it (mostly because 140 characters on twitter does not allow me to ask questions or say what I need to say). So please, take the time to read both articles and then come back here and tell me what you are thinking, if you agree with one or both, if you disagree with one or both and just generally tell me your thoughts. I promise to respond

Writing Tips To Keep You Focused

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:51:37 +0000

The new plot idea is finally down on paper… or rather, typed into yWriter. I wrote nearly 12K just with the new idea, so I feel satisfied that I have what I need down, to be able to come back to it.

My NaNo Novel took a small turn last night and I wound up deleting a few paragraphs and lost almost 800 words in the process. But even that I fixed before I fell asleep. All that and I even managed to help two of the five kids with homework, deal with 1 teen and her crisis, watch an hour of TV and listen to a 2 hour radio show. My night was a success.

Which brings me to today. I have a lot of work to do on my current novel if I hope to finish it by the end of the month. (I am aiming to finish it, not just reach 50K) I keep getting sidetracked by things I have been researching for other projects and situations. I need to focus. Here are some tips for keeping focused. (yes, I plan to heed my own advice).

What happens when my idea seems stale and I want to change directions or plots entirely?

Nothing happens. You just keep writing in whatever direction your heart takes you. That was actually why I wound up deleting those paragraphs. I had a better direction to go. I don’t recommend deleting anything until the end though. You know, do what I say, not what I do. haha.

Even if certain elements of your story have changed, you can keep writing. Editing comes later and that is when you can go back and change what you need to change. Make notes nearby the paragraphs that need changes so it is easier to find them again.

Don’t allow yourself to get bored with what you are writing and think that a change is what you need. It isn’t always. Sometimes we just need a fresh idea or a new character to be introduced.

Can I skip a day of writing and catch up the next day?

There are no rules on how you write, when you write or how you reach 50K. So yes, you can skip a day. But the question would be better asked, “SHOULD I skip a day of writing? The answer to that question, is really, No. You should make every attempt you can to make sure you are writing every single day, even if you aren’t meeting your word count goal for the day. Every little bit helps and keeps the flow going. If you take a day off, it makes it very easy to take the following day off, and continue on with that pattern until you find yourself so behind that you can’t possibly catch up, without getting no sleep for two days straight.

I didn’t quite make my word count goal for the day, is that bad?

No, it is not bad. It’s not a great thing, but it happens to all of us. (especially us idiots who delete 800+ words and then have to write them all again). If you are just a few hundred words off, you can probably make those up fairly quickly. However, if you only get a few hundred words out a day, you have little change of successfully completing your 50K goal. Do everything in your power to meet or exceed your writing goals, daily. If you get ahead, try not to take the next day off. Write something.

This chapter is going nowhere, even though I know what’s going to happen next, what do I do?

You keep writing. I hear this same complaint, year after year and many want to give up when a chapter seems hopeless. Don’t do that. There is no rule that says you cannot skip around from chapter to chapter or scene to scene. So skip ahead. Write a scene that is playing on your mind heavily, or one that you are just really excited to write. You will probably get a lot of words down if you are in the mood to write, and are writing something you are passionate or excited about.

I’ve told this story before, but for the new readers of the blog: Several years ago, the first year I actually won NaNo – I tried something I hadn’t done before. I wrote the beginning and the end first. I even wrote about three different scenes in the middle of the book. THEN I went through and filled in the gaps. It was actually a really cool way to do it. I wound up with subplots I never saw coming and situations I probably wouldn’t have come up with originally.

So, I’m all hyped up on coffee, I have a hot steaming cup sitting next to me, and hours before any kids get off the bus. I am going to go get lost in novel-land and avoid Twitter like the plague.

How’s your novel coming? Are you where you want to be?

(oh, and no James – that’s not me either lol)

How to Format a Novel

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:55:47 +0000

I finally have what I consider a complete manuscript. But I wanted to play around with it a little and see what it would look like as a completed novel. There is a difference between formatting a novel, and formatting a manuscript, and it is important to know those differences. This is how to format a novel, something that more than likely would be happening in the publishing phase, and not something you would necessarily be doing – with the exception of self-publishing.

So if you are interested in formatting a novel – read on. If you are interested in formatting a manuscript, I have an article for that too – located under Writing Tips.

So onto formatting your novel.

The beginning of the book, typically looks like this:

Page One: Your Title page

Page Two: Your Copyright page (this is only necessary if you are going to get this work published)

Page Three: Your Dedication page (Completely optional, however a nice touch. Adds a little ‘personal’ to the book. If you do decide against including a dedication page, then page three should be designated as an additional title page or you can leave the page blank. Your choice.)

Page Four: Blank (if you have already left page three blank, move on to ‘page 5′ here, don’t leave two blank pages.)

Page Five: Table of Contents (Most fictional pieces do not include a table of contents, however, again this is a choice – or a mandatory if you have a non-fiction novel)

Page Six and Seven: Map(s) or Picture (This is also optional. Fantasy novels especially include maps with their novels, however this is a great page for a drawing or picture from the novel if you choose.)

When you get ready to actually format where the first page begins, it should always start on an odd page.

In addition, the title page, dedication page, table of contents page, and chapter one page should always be odd pages. So if you skip anything, be sure to insert a blank page where needed.

After some research, I learned that most novels are printed in standard 6×9 trade size. The gutters, which are the inside seam of the book, are .75″ and the margins are .5″. I am assuming this is all fairly standard.

In the header of each page, typically the author’s name is on the left page (even) and the book title is on the opposite page (right – or odd page).

In the footer of each page, the page number should be placed in the center on every page with the exception of the first page or on the opposite side of the author name/book title in the header. It is more common in the footer, and I firmly believe that despite what the experts say, it really does depend on the book, etc. I have seen books with a page number all the way from page 1 and then one that didn’t start until page 3 or 4.

Once you have everything set up that way, you will need to go into the page setup mode of whatever program you are using, and select the mirror function (or similar command). This will put the gutters on opposite pages and place the text where it belongs.

Now would be a great time to save the document if you have not done so already, though I strongly urge you to do it before you do any new command. This way you can undo the command, or revert to the saved copy, should anything go wrong.

Now it is important to go back and double check everything to be sure it all has ‘landed’ in the right place. Check your headers, footers, the margins of each page, the gutters and the page numbers.

Now it’s time to ‘create your novel’. This just might be the simplest part of the whole process. You now need to convert the finished piece into a pdf format. Most word processing programs have a way to do this, but if you need a program, google ‘creating a .pdf’ and download a program for that purpose.

For the record, Open Office, a free word processing program with all the bells and whistles of Microsoft Office, has an actual button in the program for clicking to create a .pdf through Adobe.

Congratulations, if you are interested in self-publishing, you are ready to go. If not, be sure to check out formatting a manuscript, because editors want something entirely different.

Great Tips to Help Create Specifics in Your Novel

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:45:33 +0000

Another repost from last year, but many readers found it especially helpful.

Try any of these spots for a little help on writing your novel or getting inspired. I plan to keep this fairly updated and eventually turn it into a link up at the top.

Looking for a first name?

First Names and What They Mean

Looking for a last name?

Last Names and What They Mean

Looking for a pet name?

Pet Names

More Pet Names

Looking for a location?

Street Name Generator

Small Towns

A Few Writing Tips

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:32:14 +0000

While these tips mostly go towards NaNo, they are good for ANY writer at any time.

What happens when I change my mind halfway through my word count for any given day?

Nothing. You just keep writing. Even if certain elements of your story have changed, you can keep writing. Don’t allow yourself to get bored with what you are writing and think that a change would be the right way to go. If you do change your mind about your plot, don’t panic, just be sure to find more time to write until you get caught back up.

Can I skip a day of writing and catch up the next day?

Well, you can – but the better question is – SHOULD? No. You should make every attempt you can to make sure you are writing every single day. You want it to form a habit. If you take a day off, it makes it very easy to take the following day off, and continue on with that pattern until you find yourself so behind that you can’t possibly catch up without sleeping for two days.

I didn’t quite make my word count goal for the day, is that bad?

It’s not good, but it’s also not necessarily bad. If you are just a few hundred words off, you can probably make those up pretty quickly, but if you only wrote a few hundred words, that isn’t fairing well or setting a good standard for the rest of the month. Do everything in your power to meet or exceed your writing goals, daily.

This chapter is going nowhere, even though I know what’s going to happen next, what do I do?

You write. There is absolutely nothing that says you can’t skip around from chapter to chapter or scene to scene. Write a scene that is playing on your mind heavily. You will probably get a lot of words down if you are in the mode to write, and if there is a certain place in the story that your characters seem committed to, go ahead and write them. You can always come back. A few years ago, the first year I won NaNo – I tried something I hadn’t done before. I wrote the beginning and the end first. I even wrote about three different scenes in the middle of the book. THEN I went through and filled in the gaps. It made writing so much easier.

Do you have any questions about anything? I’ll do more like this tomorrow.

My word count at this point is just over 3K – I’m a bit behind where I want to be, but I’m not going to bed yet. Just brewed a fresh cup of coffee, I am hoping to do some maneuvering with a few scenes before bed.

Where are you at?

Need Help With Your Novel? Great Tips!

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:46:05 +0000

Try any of these spots for a little help on writing your novel or getting inspired. I plan to keep this fairly updated and eventually turn it into a link up at the top.

Looking for a first name?

First Names and What They Mean

Looking for a last name?

Last Names and What They Mean

Looking for a pet name?

Pet Names

More Pet Names

Looking for a location?

Street Name Generator

Small Towns

How Fast Are You?

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:32:09 +0000

I’m not competitive by nature. In fact, I usually don’t enjoy playing any game with other people because well, I tend to suck at lots of games. LOL I’m actually okay with that.

But when I found TypeRacer, everything changed. I found it fun to play with other people, because it challenged me to get better. So – what is TypeRacer? It’s a typing speed game where in a race-like situation, you type a quote they give you while little cars move across the screen and whoever types fastest – wins. After you have raced, they provide you with your stats - how fast you typed, your accuracy, etc.

Here is a screen shot of my first three attempts at playing:

This was my first attempt – I typed 68 wpm and it was the first time I played (and I won – no I swear I am not gloating – I knew I could type faster than 68wpm!)

The second time I was less than thrilled that I lost. I was happy because I definitely typed faster, I took second place with 78wpm. But then Ethel must have lightening fingers because she finished with 107wpm! Holy bionic!

This was the last time I did a screen capture but was not my fastest. (my computer was starting to go nutty with all the cutting and pasting) I took first place here with 85wpm. I have since scored 92wpm but only once. And guess what – I wasn’t in first place. I took second with that one. The other person typed like 98wpm or something!

The game is fun but it also helps to increase you typing speed. You cannot beat that. Let me know if you play it, and if you like it too.

ETA: I finally got 92wpm and won! LOL

What Genre Are You Writing?

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:17:30 +0000

I’ve spent a great deal of time lately thinking about the different genre options out there. There are so many and even within a genre, there might be sub-genre’s that continue on and one possibly with even more sub-genre’s. Confused yet? Yeah.

So, what genre do you find yourself writing a lot of? What genre’s do you potentially avoid? Have you ever stepped outside the box and tried one that you hadn’t before.

Last year when working on a new novel idea I had, I decided I wanted to take a crack at Chick Lit which was a genre I never really thought I’d be any good at. Guess what I found out? I wasn’t.
That isn’t what you thought I was going to say is it?

The whole book started out as a Chick Lit tone and before I got to chapter 5, my MC’s were practically screaming at me to stop the insanity.

I learned a valuable tip several years ago. When you want to write a genre, you need to read at least 100 books in that genre before you attempt to write it. Why? For several reasons.

1. It gives you a good sense of the writing style and point of view and character traits that you must use in your book. Nobody says you have to stick to them, but it certainly gives you a good beginning.

2. It allows you to see what is out there already. I can also tell you it is a wonderful Writer’s Block tool when you are simply stuck and not sure what to write. Sometimes reading a book in a specific genre might give you an idea you might not have thought of before. It will also give you an idea of what stories might have run their course and what works and doesn’t work.

3. Consider it research. Reading so many books in a particular genre puts you in the mood, gets you thinking outside the box hopefully, and accomplishes the research needed to see what styles certain authors seem to go with.

4. It just makes sense. It might not make sense to you, but here’s the scoop. A good writer usually enjoys reading. If you aren’t willing to put in the time to read what’s out there, what makes you think that what you have to say is interesting enough or even special enough that anyone else should take the time to read it?

5. One hundred books seems like a lot, but if you really think about it, you’ve probably already read some, and if you can estimate a number it just looks smaller. Can you read fast? If you can read fast you might be able to read a book or two a week (or more for some speed readers).

So don’t put it off anymore. Just figure out the genre you want to write, and go with it. Best of luck!