Signs of Spring: The Wall Rainbow

There are still patches of snow on the ground where I live. When I brushed my teeth this morning, I noticed the sun shining in our east-facing bathroom window, which made me wonder if I should go out and jog before work. Then I saw the temperature was still only 32 degrees. The greater desire to stay warm lured me to my computer instead. (I know: excuses, excuses.)

Later, as I was running out the door to work, I saw another delightful sign of spring: The wall rainbow. Where we live, the sun officially shines only 3 days in 10 in the winter. That number is beginning to increase.

A crystal hangs in a window in my husband's office, capturing morning sunlight, hence the wall rainbow. The crystal is actually 35'  from the place where it makes a rainbow on the wall in the hallway. His office is dazzling with rainbows made by the crystal. His office is also too messy to be photographed!

It's always delightful to glimpse the rainbow. And to know that longer days, sunshine and warmer weather really are on their way. Another month, two for sure, and we'll be into sweater-wearing weather.

And choosing jogging instead of hanging out in front of my computer before work.

Milestone!

I saw when I uploaded my last post a minute ago that I have reached a very cool milestone ... Blogger informed me that this blog has now had ...

39,999 pageviews! Or, within the next hour or so, I am sure the number will roll over to a nice, round 40,000.

Very cool! Thank you, everyone, who finds useful information in this humble little blog.

Novel Content-Management Software: yWriter5

A writer friend recently told me about yWriter5, which is software that helps you organize your novel.

I was dubious at first. The "Cadillac" for this type of software is Scrivener, made for Mac users, which left me out. Then Liquid Story Binder was created for windows users, which I bought.

I was never happy with Liquid Story Binder. You can do untold numbers of things with it, including storyboarding and mind mapping and so on, but the software is not intuitive. Even when you've learned how to use it, the resulting products (storyboards, mindmaps) are terribly klunky looking, and moving information around is not easy.

I stopped using it and fell back on my own rather frustrating methods. I've always created my own storyboards in Microsoft Publisher, but that is time-consuming. You can move things around, but in a less-than-ideal way.

So when my friend got excited about yWriter5, I was not at all sure I wanted to spend time learning yet another piece of software that might have a steep learning curve and, in the end, be unsatisfying.

It took me three weeks to finally download yWriter5. I was learning four other pieces of software during those three weeks, one of which is mind-blowingly incredible and has a steep but totally worthwhile learning curve, and is for another post. Once I had finished playing with the other new pieces of software, I downloaded yWriter5 and discovered ...


It is totally intuitive, with almost no learning curve, and is everything I could hope for in content-management software. It was developed by Simon Haynes who has twenty-five years computer programming experience, and is also a multi-published author. His website is full of useful information about the craft of writing, and worth taking a look at. (I've included a link to his website at the bottom of this post.) 


Some of the things I love about yWriter5:

• It keeps track of word count of individual scenes, chapters and overall project. 
• There is a place for scene notes and notes about locations and the characters. If you're in chapter 10 and you can't remember the color of a particular character's eyes--just pull up that character's notes. 
• It will save all versions of your scenes in a neat little package that you can grab whenever you want to look at it. One of my big problems is that I may have re-written a scene 10 times, adding and removing information each time. Then I get to the 11th revision and I realize I need some information that was in one of the earlier versions. It still exists; I never destroy my drafts, but which draft was it? It would take me countless hours to sift back through hundreds of files to find the information. 
• There is a screen where you can keep track of the scene conflict in a few words. Or if what you wrote was a scene-sequel, it allows you to note the character's decision that will create the next scene's goal.
• You can set it up to keep track of a daily word quota and project deadline. It will show you how  well you are keeping up with your daily output in order to finish on time. 
• The notes field can be used, if you wish, to summarize the scene in a sentence or two. If used in this way, yWriter5 will then generate a synopsis based on the scene summaries. (How cool is that.)
• The storyboard works very well. It looks nice and the scene cards are easily movable. 
• You can also, very easily, re-order scenes within chapters and chapters within the entire project. 

Even more good news? It's free, however once you've tried it, you will probably like it so much that you will want to give Simon Haynes a donation for creating such a lovely piece of content-management software.

Cheryl Klein Revision Workshop

Four of us from the Moscow, Idaho area drove to Spokane yesterday for a day-long workshop on revision with Scholastic editor Cheryl Klein, sponsored by SCBWI.

The workshop did not disappoint. If Cheryl ever comes to your area, don't hesitate to attend this workshop.

However, in the event that that is not a possibility for you, you can glean 80% of what she had to say from her book, Second Sight: An Editor's Talks on Writing and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults. This is mostly a compilation of blog posts she had written over several years when she was known in the blogosphere as Brooklyn Arden. She drew heavily from it in her presentation.

I would have to say that if you've been studying the craft and techniques of writing for a while, not much of what she had to say will be new to you, however, a refresher is always good.

If you are new to studying the craft of writing, you will probably come away with your head spinning from information overload.

I especially liked her explanations for the numerous uses of BOOKMAPS. She is extremely left-brained, extremely analytical, as you might expect an editor to be.

There was one new piece of information, one missing piece from my "Understanding the Craft of Writing Puzzle" that she did answer for me. I have always wondered where, exactly, a manuscript should begin. She gave the example (which is typical of my own book) of a young adult who is in the process of moving to a new town. Where should the story open? When the young person gets the news that the family will be moving? As the family is on the road, moving to their new home? Driving into the driveway of the new home? The first day of school? A week later?

Her response was a simple, slap yourself upside your cheek and wonder why you never had that figured out before: You begin it where the protagonist comes in contact with whatever your overarching story is about.

If your overarching story involves conflict between two people, your first scene is where those two people meet and conflict. If it's about a mystery, it's where the person who is to solve the mystery comes on scene and gets the first clue or bit of necessary information. If it's a love story, it's when the hero and heroine meet.

The first scene ends where the protagonist is faced with a choice that determines the next action step in the story.

Cheryl Klein Workshop

As preparation for Cheryl Klein's workshop in Saturday, she has asked all participants, who must have a completed manuscript, to create a bookmap for our WIPs. Additionally, she's asked us to read Francisco Stork's Marcelo in the Real World.

I'll be reading Marcelo over the next few evenings.

The bookmap assignment was quite interesting. I didn't finish it, but I did enough of it that I can see the potential value of doing it and I might end up finishing it after the workshop.

My friend Kim has a great post on her blog about bookmaps. She has also made a wonderful video on How to Create a Bookmap. Check out both links; it's worth your time!

I've been sick

Apologies for being out of the loop for so long, but I have been sick for the past two weeks. I even "had to" miss a day of work. I would love to have "had to" miss more, but it's easier to go to work sick than to try to find people to do my programs for me.

Mostly, I was sick on the weekends, which meant I couldn't use sick leave anyway. Now that is a bummer! The only good thing about it was that I wasn't sick during our vacation in Hawaii.

Being someone who doesn't usually get sick, I was struck by how much lower my energy level was (and still is), even to needing to take naps on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. That, and in addition to the fact that we are still in the throes of winter here, did nothing for my mental state. There is snow on the ground. Last night the thermometer dropped to 7 degrees.

My husband, whose normal, knee-jerk reaction is to disagree with almost everything I say, actually agreed with me on something yesterday. I told him I hated this weather and I couldn't wait for it to be over. Expecting him to say something to the contrary, my mouth dropped open when he said, "You think?"

I had no energy to battle with him, and was readying my mouth to simply say, "You have got to be kidding" to his reply. But he agreed for once, and so the battle was averted.

And that tells you a lot about my present, low energy level. No fight in me.

I hope I will feel like myself again soon, and that the weather will warm up, snow melt and go away for good.

Meanwhile, I am privileged to attend a SCBWI workshop in Spokane, WA this coming Saturday with esteemed editor, Cheryl Klein, of Scholastic.

In case the weather is still not cooperating, my friend is driving us up in her 4-wheel drive Subaru.

Don't Break the Chain

I bought a piece of software this morning from The Writer's Store. While browsing, I ran across an article about Jerry Seinfield's method for success. In a nutshell, he makes a big red X on every calendar day that he writes. Seeing those X's lining up strongly motivates him NOT to break the chain.

The Writer's Store has a free download of a 365-day calendar. You can begin on any day of the year. It sounds like a great idea. I intend to try it.


You might be wondering what software I bought. It was strictly an impulse purchase, and I am almost embarrassed to say that I didn't even read any reviews before purchasing it. Generally, I read reviews and then dream about something I want for a few days before buying it. I build my enthusiasm, my yearning for it, until I reach a point where I just gotta have it.

But this one looked like something I would want, absolutely, no matter what, and have great fun with, no matter what. It's called Character-Writer 3.1. What made it an instant purchase was that it helps you create characters based on the Enneagram, of which I have been a serious student for a decade or more.

When you combine basic styles, their wings and instinctual variants, you come up with 70 types. Additionally, the write-up mentions that the software includes how the characters will behave at various levels of mental health.

I used the enneagram as the basis for characterization in my current manuscript, including the use of mental-health levels. A wealth of information, including about the levels, is available at The Enneagram Institute for purchase. It helped me so much to know how each personality would behave in a particular scene, depending on their stress level.

As to the software, I am excited to see what professionals have done with these concepts. I'm sure it will be very fun to play with.

Do you have favorite writing software that is useful and fun to use?

Na Pali coastline, Kauai, from a Waco

Hubbie and I are now home from our Hawaiian vacation. We spent a week in KAUAI, which must certainly be Paradise on Earth.
It rained only once while we were there, although the center of the island gets the most annual rainfall of anywhere on earth.

We were on-the-go nonstop, either by foot, car, catamaran, or in Kevin's open cockpit biplane. In one hours' time, we got an aerial view of the entire island. Part of the island, the Na Pali coastline, is so rugged that there are no roads and the only way to see it is either by air or by boat. We took advantage of both.

Our Catamaran left from Port Allen along the southern coast and then sailed on up to Na Pali. The ocean swells were so rugged that day that at least one of the other charter companies canceled their tours. For us, being drenched by waves just made it all the more fun. Until one particularly heavy-duty wave almost washed a three passengers overboard. I'm not kidding. At that point, the captain decided it was too dangerous for anyone to be standing at the front of the boat. She ordered everyone to come in toward the middle, where the center of gravity is such that a big wave will not pitch you over the edge. My hubbie was so disappointed about being ordered to sit down. ; ) He and another guy were taking turns being at the front and having the time of their lives.

And what was I doing? I was sitting farther in, toward the middle, and praying hubbie was holding on tight. We had been ordered to hold on to the railings at all times with both hands. Being that we were not wearing life vests, and being that the railing was drenched with water, and that our hands were slathered with sunscreen, it was still mighty slippery.

We saw whales up close and personal. They breached, tail flipped and otherwise hijacked our catamaran. Even our captain, who spent 15 years on Maui employed at something that had to do with humpback whales, said she had never seen so many whales in one five-hour outing. For a time, three of the 50-ton creatures were so close to our 14-ton boat that hubbie could've reached out and pet one of them.

On the way back from Na Pali, we were escorted by a pack of spinner dolphins who put on quite a show for us.

Kauai is only 30 miles wide west-to-east, and about 23 miles north-to-south, but we managed to put 600 miles on our red challenger rental.

We saw and did pretty much everything except for some of the more rugged hikes into the interior. We did take what turned out to be a three-hour hike to the top of Sleeping Giant. The views were exquisite.

We also spent a LOT of time on beaches, not sunbathing, but watching the endlessly fascinating waves and the brave souls who surf them. If my son and son-in-law had been with us, the men of our family would've tried surfing for sure. Heck, my daughters and daughter-in-law, I am sure, would've tried it too.

In all, hubbie and I took 637 pictures. Hubbie took a bunch of video. I have spent all day today sorting pictures in preparation for creating scrapbooks.

After I've assessed what I have, if I can match all the letters of the alphabet with pictures, I *might* sign up for the A-Z challenge using A-Z Kauai as a theme. Being that the Hawaiian language uses only eight consonants and the vowels, it might be difficult to pull off.

We truly loved Kauai. We have now been to Kauai, Maui and the big island, Hawaii. Each is incredibly different, and each has reasons that make us want to return.

We are already committed to going to Orlando, Florida next winter, as hubbie's been asked to serve at a religious convention. But we hope to get back to the islands the following year and for as many successive years as possible until we are too old to travel. We're even scheming about ways to get our children and grandchildren there at the same time with us. Hawaii is just that wonderful. Especially when you're leaving 32 degree winter weather to step into weather in the 80's.

Queen's Bath

Many aspects of Kauai are warm and soft and mellow. Others are beautiful but violent. This is Queen's Bath, up north on the island. Our guidebook shows a picture of two people floating in the "sheltered" pool formed by the rocks that "protect" the swimmer from being violently washed out to sea.

Perhaps Queen's Bath is okay at times in the summer, but definitely not in the winter. As you hike down to it, there is a rock plaque with the number of people who have drowned in Queen's Bath. The number is something like 28 persons. It was fascinating to watch the churning, turbulent ocean tide flow in and out of this small cove.