Jen's Writing Journey

The Once and Future E-book
One man’s e-book-induced rant.

I’m Better Than You
JA Konrath is quite a character. His posts always amuse me to no end. This one reminds us that no matter how many times we get rejected, we must keep our spirits up and keep writing if we want to be successful. We may not start out with perfect skill and talent, but hard work will help us continually improve.

Honest Editing
How do you handle it when you look back on your writing Are you happy with what you find? Do you want to tear it up and start from scratch?

How to Find Your Pack
Writing can be lonely. When you work in an office, you are contstantly surrounded by others. They can be distractions, but they can also be great sources of inspiration and fellowship. To help alleviate the loneliness and reap the benefits of camaraderie, find ways to connect with your peers.

Special Focus on Facebook

Facebook changed its terms of service earlier this month, removing the caveat that their license to content you post there expires when the content is removed. The blog world is a-twitter (no pun intended) about the ramifications.

Facebook’s Terms of Use Go from Bad to Worse

What Facebook’s Revised Terms of Use Mean for Your Content

Misguided Intent + Lawyers = Social Media Disaster

Do You Belong to Facebook Forever?

Facebook Terms of Use

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Last year, I lost the entire manuscript of my non-fiction book. Why? Because I was too focused on writing it to create a solid back-up procedure. So I rewrote the entire thing in a ridiculously short amount of time. Since then, I began backing my work up on a cool website: drop.io.

Drop.io allows you to store 100 MB per drop for free, and you can have more than one drop. You can increase the size of your drop(s) for a few dollars, but with the ability to set up multiple drops, it is not completely necessary unless you have files that are larger than 100 MB. You can password-protect your drops. And, you can use drops to share files with your critique partner(s) or kind friends who agree to read your stories.

You can and should also back up on a second hard drive or partition, but having an online backup will provide an extra layer of protection, in case your computer and second hard drive are both destroyed.

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And so we begin another week of reading and writing.

Your Novel Blueprint
Writer’s Digest provided this story planning article in their newsletter. If you don’t already get their newsletter, sign up on the story page, or on any page of the Writer’s Digest site. Or subscribe to the print mag here.

Self-Promotion
No whining allowed, declares The Swivet. Authors must promote themselves and their works, just as they have always done.

The Future of Publishing
Tiffany Schmidt, an aspiring writer, puts the speculation about the future methods of book delivery in their place: Keep abreast of them, she offers, but keep writing no matter what you think will happen in the field.

Blogging into Different Contexts
Zoe Westhoff brings John Berger’s Ways of Seeing into our current context. She applies his lessons to the world of blogging, but they could apply in the same way to all the writing we do. Who are our readers? When, where, and why do they read?

Writing Despite Myself
Camy Tang shares her struggles with writing when she just dag nabbit, gosh dangit don’t want to. The main lesson: write something every day, no matter what it is. My “write every day” things are my blogs. I have made commitments to post here three times a week and and Pop Culture Curmudgeon five times a week. I schedule some posts, but I add others here and there that include current events (specially important at PCC). I work on this roundup post all week long, noting posts that catch my eye as the week progresses. And my book reviews? Always written Thursday night because I spend time during the week actually reading the book to be reviewed and making notes for the review.

The Words Used by Good Writers
Words are like a drug to many of us. James Chapman explores their power over the reader.

The Greatest Mystery: Making a Best Seller
What makes one book a best seller while another languishes in the remainder bin, something people won’t even pick up for $2.99? Your guess is as good as mine. Here’s a look at the business side of the publishing industry.

A Long Winter
Another oldie (from way back last month), but I just found it this week. It provides an interesting and reasoned look at publishing, its past, and its future.

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I can’t wait to read the March 6 issue of USA Weekend.

It turns out that Stephen King is not a fan of Twilight. He tells the mag that she is just “not very good.” I can’t wait to see how the fan girl world erupts in shock and anger, horrified that some old writer dude who, like, my parents read, would dare to criticize their beloved Stephenie Meyer.

Read all about it: http://blogs.usaweekend.com/whos_news/2009/02/exclusive-steph.html

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In Get Known Before the Book Deal, Christina Katz suggests that writers get comfortable with public speaking. She provides a few ideas, such as getting up at an open mic. I have another for you: karaoke.

I have toyed with the idea of doing karaoke for a while, as a personal growth exercise. So, when I was on my cruise in December, I put my name on the list. I picked a song in an appropriate register that I know quite well. The only thought I had when I first got up on the stage was “Oh my God. What have I done?” But I ignored my strong desire to drop the mic and bolt, leaving a Jen-shaped hole in the door to the lounge. I held the mic and sang the words. My voice wasn’t embarrassing, but I didn’t give an exciting performance, especially compared to a lot of the characters on stage before and after me.

But I felt awesome after I was done. I wanted to sing song after song after song–if only they had a larger selection of songs I like and feel I could sing reasonably well. I could barely get to sleep that night because I was so excited and proud of myself for getting up in front of an audience, even a mostly drunk one that I would likely never see again. It gave me the feeling that I can do anything I put my mind to, and when I doubt myself, I dredge up those feelings again.

What could you do to get yourself out of your comfort zone? What have you tried already?

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The past week was full of more bad news in the media. But I had one bright point: the Writer’s Market website appears to be back up and running. My suggestion is to use Internet Explorer or Safari instead of Firefox.

Anyway, here’s your roundup to get the week started.

Media Angst: Searcing for Profitable Business Models
At Davos, the doom and gloom was rampant, but people still focused on the future. What changes do we need to make to media models to continue to be relevant and profitable in the future. Pay particular attention to the comment posted by Mauricio. He is right on the money.

Could the Media Take a Bailout?
An interesting look at the role of money in media management. A government bailout would be a bad idea–we can’t afford our news outlets to look even more like government shills.

Washington Post’s Book World Goes Out of Print as a Separate Section
The Washington Post book reviews are being integrated into the main newspaper. It will still be available online. Will this change have an effect on book readers? Will they move online to find the reviews? Have they already?

Writing Careers: What Do You Want from a Writer’s Group
Your goals for participation in a group will dictate whether you want a group that critiques or a group that provides support.

Before Their Eyes, Writers Profane and Very Much Alive
A recounting of a dinner that mixed writers and teens as a means of increasing teens’ interest in literature and writing. I wish I was there–or that I had been able to attend a similar event when I was a kid.

Freelance Writing Is Not a “WORK AT HOME!!!” Job
Deb Ng lays out why freelancing is hard work that requires a serious commitment, no matter what the other people in your life might think about what you are doing.

Craft
Tiffany Colter shares the story of her first major manuscript. It is instructive, to say the least.

Self-Editing, Part 4
In the final installment of the series on self-editing, the Blood Red Pencil gals offer some bad passages and good edits of them. Making those types of edits will make it easy to do as Stephen King suggests and cut 10% on your revision.

Let’s all have a great writing week!

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