Quiz: What Flavor Jelly Bean Are You?

"You Are a Root Beer Jelly Bean"

What Flavor Jelly Bean Are You?

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Agree somewhat.

Quiz: The Easter Egg Personality Test

As always, I agree somewhat with the results.

"Your Easter Egg Says You Are Philosophical"

The Easter Egg Personality Test

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The Best Questions to Ask Your Characters

From Writerslife.org:

One of the most important things to get right in any novel is your characters. Without interesting, layered characters that intrigue and excite your reader it doesn’t matter how fantastic your story is, they simply won’t be able to care about what happens - and if your readers don’t care, they will probably give up on your book altogether.

When it comes to creating great characters, there is nothing more important than feeling like you know them inside out. Without intimate knowledge of your characters, it will be difficult to keep them consistent and believable.

No detail is too insignificant when it comes to finding out about your characters, so spend time making sure that you truly know them. It’s the little things you discover, the quirks and idiosyncracies that come to you as you do this that will bring your characters to life and make your readers fall in love with them.

Getting to know your characters is a fun part of the writing process, and the best way of doing this is to talk to them! Asking your characters questions will help you to try to understand them, and you may find their answers even surprise you!

So what are some of the best questions to ask your characters? Let’s take a look:

What makes you most happy?
What frightens you?
What do you love and hate about yourself?
What trait can’t you stand in another person?
Who do you admire more than anyone?
When do you feel it’s OK to lie?
How quickly do you fall in love?
What is your most treasured possession?
When were you happiest?
What is your greatest talent?
What are you most passionate about?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
How important is friendship to you?
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
How important is money to you?
Do you care what other people think?
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Where would you most like to live?
Do you have any regrets?
What do you love to do?
What is your motto?
How would you like to be remembered?

So there you have it, some interesting and thought-provoking questions to help you honestly get to know your characters.

When it comes to finding the best questions to ask your chapters, try to get as deep and as interesting and personal as you can. Don’t go for the obvious questions (you already know the answers to these after all)! Remember, no question is too weird or personal, your characters can’t get offended and the more strange, in-depth and intimate knowledge you have of them the more interesting and complex they will become in your story.

As a child I was often trying to write a fictional story, but was never aware then of this process. Even today, it is still new to me. Now after seeing this, I feel  too nervous to ask questions to someone who isn't real. I'd feel like a was a little kid talking to an imaginary friend. LOL!! But it might not be a bad idea to try, maybe just once. 

I've already established a few things about the main character in my diary novel I have started. He's good at art, and is more of a loner. A great deal of the plot revolves around his anxiety about having to get braces, and how he feels once he's "behind bars," as he describes it. He hates the great-niece of the old man across the street.

How many of you have done this process with characters in your novels? If not would you do it now?

Taste Test Your Writing

From Thinkerbuilder.com

One thing that sticks out to me when watching the chefs on those shows is that they always taste their food before sending it out to whoever is going to eat and judge it. They might adjust the seasoning, add a bit more sauce, or even wipe the edges of the plate clean!

Isn't that what we want from our young writers when it comes to the editing step of the writing process?

I've started using this chef analogy with my students when we are working on our editing. First I talk to students about how important it is for a chef to know exactly what she is serving to her customer. To do this she must taste test her food. The last thing a chef would want is to send a plate of food to a customer with no idea if it tastes good or not. She may think it's delicious, but by taste-testing it, she can make sure it is just right.

 Then I tell students just how similar this is to editing our writing. We might think our story makes perfect sense and is correct in every way, but how do we know for sure unless we taste test our writing--we need to reread it and edit! Does every single word and sentence make sense? How about our capital letters, endmarks, and spelling?  

Now here's an analogy I would not have thought of, especially since I don't sit around watching Top Chef or other cooking shows, though I do enjoy participating in the cooking class at work (and leading the class at least once a month). But I like the analogy to cooking, because looking for misspelled, missing or repeated words always necessary when editing your work. Also looking for necessary words you may have left out, and making sure sentences are capitalized and punctuated properly at the end. 

In general, I think the taste analogy to writing is an apt one in that writing can be like cooking. Cooking sometimes means gathering up ingredients you have on hand to create a dish. Similarly, with writing you can gather up a bunch of different words (from say a dictionary, or written down on paper then picked at random) to create a story, or create a story based on images or phrases you find in books, online, etc. These are some ways to begin writing when you are stuck for other ideas. 

However you begin writing or cooking, eventually you will be seeing how it tastes to you and decide how to "season to taste" your work. Removing or adding words to your work is the "seasoning."

Quiz: What Color Peep Are You?

This is about the only color of Peeps I have never eaten!

"You Are an Orange Peep"

What Color Peep Are You?

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Quiz: What is Your Spring Color?

As is quite often the case, I only somewhat agree with the results.

"You Are Bright Green"

What Is Your Spring Color?

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Why You Must Be Patient

From Writerslife.org:

It’s easy to fall victim of looking at other people’s success and wishing you were them. When this happens, you won’t get far. You will spend your time looking at other people’s success and by fault, you will neglect your own.

When you ponder on other people’s success, you forget that it didn’t happen overnight. The person you’re looking at took years and years to become successful, you’re only looking at the finished product. 

It’s easy to look at the finished product but it’s shining. We all aspire to become the finished product but we forget what it takes to get there. All the trial and error that goes into becoming a finished product ceases to exist in our minds. 

You will not become the finished product overnight. When you’re starting on the journey of success, learn the art of being patient.

When you become patient, you will not give up at the first sight of failure. You understand that failure is part of the process. When others desire success right away and when they can’t achieve it, they give up. You won’t be one of those people. You understand that if you’re patient, eventually you'll achieve your desired success. 

Patience will play a virtue on your journey. When you’re patient, not a lot will affect you. You’re able to withstand more than the average person. 

When others complain, you keep taking massive action. You don’t let excuses stand in the way of where you want to go. You know excuses are just another obstacle you need to overcome. 

Patience leads you to a more fulfilling life. You don’t put this unnecessary pressure on yourself to succeed right away. Instead, you take your time. You put in the daily grind knowing that with each step, you’ll get to where you want to go. When you're patient, you will become successful, maybe not right now, but over time.

I know writing a book takes time, but I just want to see it published while I'm still alive. I ask myself if two years is not enough to finish it, but I guess the number of years needed to complete a book varies with each person. A long-time acquaintance of mine has been working on a psychology-related book for several years now (I'm not sure just how many) and expects to see it published sometime next year. I was not even aware that she had been working on a book until her mother (one of my mom's old friends) told me about it by email while I was beginning my memoir two years ago. 

I knew all along it would take time, but I wasn't sure how much time. Still not sure about that, but I'm trying to be patient, however long it takes . 

I am now trying to be patient even more, with the hope of success occurring over time.

BTW, I did more chapter fine-tuning yesterday while stuck at home by the rain, and now have two more to go.

How to Develop Your Initial Book Idea

From Writerslife.org:

There is nothing quite like the feeling of coming up with a brilliant idea for a new book. It might come to you in a flash when you are relaxing or thinking about other things, you might see or hear something that inspires you, or you might have had the idea at the back of your mind for a long time and feel now is the time to explore it further.

However you happened upon your initial book idea, it can be an exciting time when you get that first spark.

Knowing what to do with it next, however, can be a little more tricky. Writing a novel is no mean feat after all, and while it can be tempting just to jump right in and start, without researching and taking the time to understand your story idea and whether it can work, you can end up in trouble.

Some writers like to simply write and see where it takes them. While this can be freeing and productive, most writers find that they end up backing themselves into a corner. Suddenly their story runs out of steam, or the plot has gotten so complicated there is no keeping track of what is going on, or they have backed themselves into a corner, and there is nowhere left to go.

Finding out that your story isn’t going to work when you’ve already invested time and energy into it can be very disheartening. That's why it is a good idea to take some steps to ensure you can get from chapter one, right through until the end.

So how do you do this?

Shape your idea

Once you have your brilliant initial idea, don’t stop there. Spend lots of time bending and shaping it, experimenting with it and allowing it to grow. Think about your characters motivations, work out how to add unique twists to your plot, push the limits of your imagination by breaking from the mould. One great idea does not make a novel so make sure you spend time adding to it and then chipping away at it and then adding to it again until your idea is something much more sculpted and much more powerful as a result.

Pay attention to everyone and everything.

It’s easy to get too focused on your main characters and too bogged down in the main plot. However, a good book has minor characters and subplots as well, and these should be just as fierce and imaginative and intriguing and fantastic as the rest of your novel. Make sure it has depth and layers and make sure you can tie everything together at the end. When writing your first draft write about everything, include it all, pack your story full of interesting characters and places and things to make it burst from the page.

Give it pace

To write a book, you need enough material to keep it going. If you find that you are struggling to find enough to say or are trying too hard to fill out your chapters, so they are long enough, you’ll soon find your book will feel slow and lethargic. Keep up the energy, pick up the pace and if parts of your plot feel slow, work out how to add drama, to amp them up and drive them forward, so you write a real page-turner.

Get rid of the excess

Once you’ve written your first draft, you can now start to strip it back. Get rid of everything that isn’t necessary, even if it’s brilliantly written. You’ll know when something has no place being in your book, and even though it may hurt to take it out, it’s the only way to make your story truly great.

By implementing these techniques, you’ll take your story from its initial idea to something far more exciting, something tangible, well-developed and ultimately something that you can be truly proud of. Developing your book ideas takes focus, but doing so, and allowing oneself the time to truly explore the creative process will mean that your book will be all the better, and no doubt your readers will think so too!

Another thing I have not been told until now. Most of my initial ideas begin in my mind. But I do know to eventually get rid of the excess--something I still seem to be working on now! But I guess we all approach this sort of thing differently, with the hopes of getting done the way we want it.  I believe that is what I have been doing. 

How do most of you go abut this process?

Past or Present Tense – The Pros and Cons

From Writerslife.org:

When creating any new piece of writing, selecting the tense in which to write is often something an author struggles with. Not long ago writing in the past tense was strongly favoured, and particularly with works of fiction it was very rare to find a novel written in the present tense.

In recent years however this has changed, and we have seen a shift to the present tense, with some writers believing that writing using the past tense makes the work itself seem old fashioned. 

What has made the past tense increasingly unpopular, and the present tense now the tense of choice?

It seems for most seasoned writers it is an instinctive and natural decision. However for many novice writers, this is just another choice to fret over. So it is important to understand what the advantages and disadvantages of each might be. Here we have broken these down so authors can make an informed choice when deciding which tense to write in.

THE PRESENT TENSE - the pros

Present tense creates immediacy in a way that the past tense cannot, it allows the reader to experience changes in the story and changes to its characters as they happen. This creates a bond between the reader and characters as they experience things together, simultaneously, therefore tension, suspense and drama can be more easily conveyed. Characters become more lifelike, tangible and real, and selecting the present tense when describing a character truly reflects their nature, drawing the reader closer to them.

The use of the present tense also reflects the overall theme of the book. If your book tells a story of events that happened to your main character in the past, but he or she tells them in the present tense, the effect can be very powerful. Simply by telling the events in this way, the author is hinting at a past that is very much part of the narrators present, and perhaps will always be so.

Using the present tense in your work also simplifies how we use the other tenses in the story. When writing in the past tense, it is likely that a writer will dip in and out of the other 12 tenses that we use in the English language. However using the present tense restricts our use of the others, with the majority of stories written in the present tense only using the simple present, the present progressive, and occasionally the simple past and simple future. Even then the majority of the writing is likely to be kept in the simple present. This simplicity can be used cleverly to the writers advantage, conveying clear ideas and allowing the reader to fully immerse themselves in the story, with no confusion about when the events took place.

PRESENT TENSE - the cons

If employing the present tense in our writing we become restricted with how we can describe time. Trying to manipulate a sequence of events or change the chronological order will be difficult and potentially confusing to the reader. The point of the present tense is to tell a series of events as they unfold. If you don’t want to evoke the feeling that what you are writing is happening 'now', then the present tense is not a good choice. 

Building multi-layered characters is more of a challenge if you use the present tense. Because you can no longer influence the order of events or the duration, it is difficult to put across the characters own personal experience of time, how they understand the past, and how it has influenced them. The more context we have for a character, the more we are able to understand them, and their motivations for why they are a certain way now. Without the kind of context flashbacks into the past give the reader, there is a risk of the characters coming across as tediously uncomplicated.

Suspense is harder to convey with a story written in the present tense. The protagonists of a present tense story don’t have any idea what is going to happen to them from one moment to the next, and subsequently, neither does the reader. Tension and suspense come from having that knowledge, knowing that something is about to happen, whether the protagonist is aware of it or not.

Finally, if we are not careful, use of the present tense can cause us to be sloppy. While the past tense allows us to write selectively, and only include, necessary, plot advancing details in the work. Using the present tense more naturally encourages inclusion of mundane, irrelevant details, because such events would happen in a natural sequence of time.

Before beginning any work it is worth thinking about which tense will best suit your story. Each have their own advantages which, if used cleverly, could enhance your work. Whatever you do, make sure you pick wisely as it is certainly not an easy job to go back and change when you are half way through!

I've always been compelled to write in the past tense, since many books I have read have been written as such. Nearly every book I read as a child is in the past tense and when I felt like writing a story myself then, it just seemed natural to write in the past tense. Writing in past tense just seems to come naturally to me and likely to many writers.

Since I'm writing a memoir, it only seemed natural to write in past tense since much of which is being written about was in fact in the past 🙂  One has to be careful though when including information something that is or might still be true today--that portion must be written in the present. From my story:

This was my earliest memory of learning generic and trade names of medications that contain the letters X, Y or Z somewhere in their name. Generic names with more syllables in their names than their trade name counterparts have in theirs. ...

All the facts mentioned are still true. When editing this part for who knows how many times, I noticed that I had written "contained"  instead of "contain." Things like this need to be watched out for.

I still have not been compelled to write in the present tense, as writing in the past still seems to come naturally. Things get to be habits, and this has become one for me. 

When I began writing a diary novel, I wasn't sure whether to write past or present, though writing in past just happened out of habit. It's still in the preliminary stages, so deciding whether to use present or past tense is still in the air.

Perhaps attempting to write in present tense at last once will be one way to get me out of my writing comfort zone. Everyone will always feel compelled to write in the tense that they prefer or that they do out of habit. It's all a matter of preference.

How to Work Through Pain

From Writerslife.org:

I’m not talking about physical pain because with enough time, you can overcome physical pain. I’m talking about the mental pain of going out there in the world and trying to accomplish your dreams. 

The normal path isn’t to go after your dreams, it’s working for the man and being grateful you get a few weeks off for vacation. There are a select few of people in the world who want more than that and if you’re reading this article, you’re one of those people. 

Pain comes in many forms, the most notable being the pain of failure. No one wants to fail, but it’s a must on your journey. There will be more than one instance in which you’ll encounter failure. 

When you face the pain of failure, you have two options. You can let the pain deter you from going forward or you can work on taking massive action.

It’s not so much that taking massive action heals your pain, it’s that it takes your mind off the pain you’re dealing with. The worst thing you can do to yourself is to give yourself idle time because when you give yourself idle time that’s when you really think about all the pain you’re in. 

No matter how many failures you’ve experienced or how much pain you’re dealing with, never give up on your dreams. When you make the conscious decision to give up, you’re going to face more pain than you could’ve ever imagined, the pain of regret. 

When you wake up in the morning, don’t think about everything that’s gone wrong in your life.  Start the process of taking action. It’s not going to be easy, but if it was easy, it wouldn’t be worthwhile. 

Put your head down and keep working. One day you’ll look back on the pain you went through and you’ll be thankful. You’ll be thankful because it will have made you into the person you are today!

I agree, in that writing about depression is a form of pain I have had to work through to get to where I have gotten so far. Some people might find it hard to write about such a subject, though there have been many who have done so. Depression memoirs have proliferated over the last two or three decades. I almost didn't think it was a good idea for me to do one, since so many existed already, and because I was heavily inspired by the one that pout the emphasis on Prozac, something I seemed to want to do. It was for that reason that I felt there already was a definitive book on the subject. I had to work through some pain to get put of that frame of mind and do what I had set out to do. And I did just that. 

Though I haven't ben there yet, I know that I can expect some rejection of my work, especially the first time I try to submit it to anyone. Nearly everyone has faced this with their initial writing, so I know to expect it myself.  I feel I'm already prepared for this.

What Skills Does a Good Writer Need?

From Writerslife.org:

When it comes to being a successful writer, it’s about so much more than merely putting pen to paper. There are so many skills that a writer needs to employ, not only to write well, but also to cope with the stresses and pressures of the job.

Working on all your skills will keep you being the very best you can be, so let’s take a look at the strengths and skills every writer needs, and how we can work on them to become better, more productive and proficient at what we do.

Communication skills

Being able to openly express your ideas is what being a writer is all about. Of course, it is important to be able to do so on paper. However, having the ability to speak about your ideas, to summarise them succinctly and also listen to feedback from others, and ask the right questions is also so useful when it comes to realising your writing vision.

Observation and detail

Writers need to be super observant. They need to have their eyes wide open at all times and pay attention to the little details of things. Being observant is not just about looking around you, however, it’s also noticing the way people behave, interact and react to one another and the ability to understand and tune into their motivations for doing so. Being a great observer of the world will help you develop your characters and create your own fictional worlds in an authentic and exciting way.

Problem Solving

All writers come up against various problems as they work, and being a good problem solver is so important. You need to be able to analyse your ideas, as well as be impartial and notice the strengths and weaknesses in your text and come up with workable solutions to help your characters overcome obstacles and improve your writing as a whole.

Patience and calm

Writing is all about playing the long game. Not only can it take a long time to pull together a great piece of work, but waiting to hear back from publishers takes ages too. Being calm and positive about your writing, even in the face of rejection will also keep you on the right track and minimize time spent wallowing!

Fearlessness

Writers need to be brave; they need to take risks, to step outside their comfort zone and be okay with launching themselves into the unknown. Playing it safe just doesn’t work for writers so make sure you always write with courage!

Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation skills

On a more practical note, writers should always work to improve their spelling, grammar and punctuation. Doing so will enable them to craft better prose from the outset and reduce time spent editing too.

Research skills

An excellent piece of writing usually requires a lot of research. Being a good researcher takes practice. You need to know where to find information, the right questions to ask and which bits of what you have learnt to include in your story to make it more believable. Researching is a skill that doesn’t come naturally to all writers, but the more you do, the better you will become.

When it comes to being a good writer, it’s all about dedication and practice. If you want to be a professional and productive writer, it is essential that you understand what skills you need, and keep working on them to continually improve.

What skills do you think makes a good writer? Let us know!

I agree on the length of time taken to write a great piece of work, as it has been more than two years now since beginning. And I still don't know how much further I can go, but time will tell.

Spelling, grammar and punctuation are one thing I have been careful about. Too often I see people failing to insert commas where they are needed.When seeing this, I always get reminded of a meme I have seen online that says "Punctuation saves lives," illustrating the difference between saying "Let's eat Bob," and "Let's eat, Bob." I'd said in another post that I wasn't sure whether to use dashes or commas to offset info in cases such as this:

...They acted as if I’d missed the event of the year, when all I missed was one of those movies that—like The Wizard of Oz, It’s a Wonderful Life and The Ten Commandments—comes on TV every single year. ...

But I still manage to find punctuation mistakes each time I look over what I have written. Everyone still does it, but it's good to know that you have made such a mistake the looking over what you have written.

I did some research on depression and antidepressants to to include in my memoir, especially on dysthymia, which many people still aren't aware of. Even many of the people who attend the mental health center with me are among  those not in the know, as most of them have either bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, both of which are much more well-known. Few also seem to know about cyclothymia, considered a milder variant of bipolar disorder.  I have yet to meet anyone with that form of depression. Before my dysthymia diagnosis, I'd had little to no knowledge of that form of depression. I was certain I might have bipolar  disorder or possibly even cyclothymia, from what I'd read about that one. I knew it would be important to explain each of these for the reader who may have little to no knowledge of these terms. 

When I began the memoir, it seemed too short for a book, so I began doing more details to each subject I had chosen as the topic of each chapter. The more I thought about it, the more I was able to remember and include. Some I might not have wanted to include at first, but eventually decided t do so. I see this as being brave about doing so, and about good communication written  on the page.

Trying to get others to read my stuff is another thing I have trying to get braver about. It's been hard finding people who want to read my work. 

How do these work for you?

  

Writer’s Anxiety Bingo

Found this on this site:

I still haven't faced or even found an editor or an agent, but I know that either of them saying noir always a possibility. I've only faced a handful of the things listed, but just reading what is on the board is enough to make me feel "Writer's Anxiety." 

Finding a title for the diary I have been working on has been hard, though I have come up with titles for each individual entry. It took me a while before I came up with a title for the memoir, but before then, I had already come up with titles for each chapter. 

I had wondered if writing a memoir was still a good idea when I first came up with the idea more than two years ago, and for a while I wondered if the genre was in fact still viable. Also, I felt I what I wanted to say was too similar to what had already been written. Now I'm waiting to see if any new books come out on the same topic. But does that mean I can't eventually publish mine? I now know that that is not true.

Deciding when to come to "the end" on my other work in progress has been a hard one. 

And this is just scratching the surface of how I get writer's anxiety. How many of these do you have?

Quiz: What is Your Irish Name?

"Your Irish Name Is: Fiona O'Leary"

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Back to Editing

Unable to get to sleep last night, I picked up my most recent print-out of my memoir and began looking over it in bed. I had promised myself I'd get back to it soon and that was when I did it. I only got through the prologue and the first two chapters until I got too tired to do any more, but will pick up sometime today, again down as much as I can. And type what I have written in the margins of the current print--out.

It's amazing how much you can miss each time you look over what you have written. I found several errors that I had missed previously. And how much you want to add. It has been some time since I last looked it over. but many have said that waiting a while and then looking at something with fresh eyes is good to do. This is exactly what I have done. 

I still ask myself how much longer can the story go on? I've seen books of this sort in various lengths. 

And as for what else i have been working on--I'm still questioning how much longer I can make that one, or possibly write a second book for that one. I'm also still deciding if I want to put that story on Wattpad. Who knows who might see it there. Several Wattpad authors have had their on the site books published.

Why You Should Surround Yourself With More Books Than You'll Ever Have Time to Read

Just the other day I came across this link, via this blog.   From the link:

Why you need an "antilibrary"

That's the argument author and statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb makes in his bestseller The Black Swan. Perpetually fascinating blog Brain Pickings dug up and highlighted the section in a particularly lovely post. Taleb kicks off his musings with an anecdote about the legendary library of Italian writer Umberto Eco, which contained a jaw-dropping 30,000 volumes.

Did Eco actually read all those books? Of course not, but that wasn't the point of surrounding himself with so much potential but as-yet-unrealized knowledge. By providing a constant reminder of all the things he didn't know, Eco's library kept him intellectually hungry and perpetually curious. An ever growing collection of books you haven't yet read can do the same for you, Taleb writes:

A private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortgage rates, and the currently tight real-estate market allows you to put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older, and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menacingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection of unread books an antilibrary.

An antilibrary is a powerful reminder of your limitations - the vast quantity of things you don't know, half know, or will one day realize you're wrong about. By living with that reminder daily you can nudge yourself towards the kind of intellectual humility that improves decision-making and drives learning.

"People don't walk around with anti-résumés telling you what they have not studied or experienced (it's the job of their competitors to do that), but it would be nice if they did," Taleb claims.

Why? Perhaps because it is a well known psychological fact that is the most incompetent who are the most confident of their abilities and the most intelligent who are full of doubt. (Really, it's called the Dunning-Kruger effect). It's equally well established that the more readily admit you don't know things, the faster you learn.

So stop beating yourself up for buying too many books or for having a to-read list that you could never get through in three lifetimes. All those books you haven't read are indeed a sign of your ignorance. But if you know how ignorant you are, you're way ahead of the vast majority of other people.

I just had to comment, being that this is very true of me. I have so many books on my shelves, yet I still keep borrowing ones from the library, no doubt since they are free and most of the book challenges I have joined require reading books I don't actually have at home. I rarely ever buy audiobooks, even used ones, as I rarely seem to find used ones for sale. Picture books and graphic novels are rare buys also. Actually, I don't think I have ever bought either one. For picture books, I mostly just read them either at the library or even at the store, since they are always so short anyway.

But even as I keep borrowing from the library, I keep telling myself I need to read some of the books I have at home, since they're already there. I know they won't go bad, and there is no time limit on these. But as they year began, I did get around to reading some of the ones I have at home. I hope to get some done his month as well, despite the stack of books I currently have out from the library.

But it isn't just the library where I borrow books from. The center where I work and attend has a selection of books that clients are allowed to borrow, with no time limits. I currently have two of these books out. Many of these books have been borrowed by clients who rarely show up and the books in question have been out for some time now. It's unlikely these books will ever come back. But I will make my best effort to read those I have out right now.  One good thing about being able to borrow them without a time limit.

Also, the county library has introduced Zip Books, allowing library patrons to request books not already t the library. I just tried this for the first time and received the book I requested yesterday. Books requested by Zip Books must be returned it the library within three weeks of receiving them by mail. There are several other books I now want to request this way.This is another good way to get books free. 

Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Finish Your Book

From Writerslife.org:

Writing a book is hard, no one can deny it. You’ve got to put the time and effort in. Even as a bare minimum writing enough words and putting together a story that’s long enough to make into a book is challenging, but if you want it to be any good - well, that’s a different story altogether!

One of the ways to make sure that you have got all the ingredients of a good novel in your book is to have a handy list of questions by your side. While lots of writing is up to the individual, their skill and creativity, there are also certain ingredients that every novel should include.

So while you are writing a book, and certainly before you submit it to publishers or self-publish, ask yourself the following checklist questions to ensure you have done everything you can to make it the best it can possibly be.

Have you done a spelling and grammar check?

Have you formatted it correctly?

Is the chronology correct?

Have you used clear language that is easy to understand?

Are your sentences short and to the point?

Is your text readable? Does it flow? Is it too complicated or too obscure?

Do you welcome your reader and invite them in as soon as they begin to read your story?

Have you made sure you never patronise your reader?

Are all your characters necessary?

Do your characters all feel different from one another?

Do your characters all sound the same?

Is it clear whose perspective we are following at all times?

Will your reader be able to identify with your protagonist?

Are you showing or telling?

Does your book have a theme?

What is the genre of your book?

Is the dialogue engaging and realistic?

Does your story build?

Does each chapter end on a cliffhanger?

Is your story easy to follow?

Does your reader care what happens?

Are all the plots and subplots relevant to your story?

Could you summarise your story in just a few sentences?

Does your story start at the right time?

Have you made every word count?

Have you made the reader engage emotionally with your story?

Does your ending leave your reader satisfied?

By asking yourself these questions, you can make sure you have thoroughly checked your book and can feel confident that your readers will be gripped from the very first page to the very last. So before you decide your book is complete, make sure you ask yourself these questions and that you have answers to all of them - if not there is still more work to be done!

Until I saw this, I would not have thought of most of these, though I have a feeling that if I let others read things I wrote, they amy ask things such as "Is this necessary?" which could refer to just about anything. 

One thing I have encountered with writing a diary novel is how long to keep it going. I have been writing different incidents, but have been uncertain how long to make the the entire story our to break it into more than one book (a series). 

And how do I determine the answers to some of these questions? Such as if the reader cares what happens, and if I have made the reader engage emotionally with the story.

As far as my memoir goes, I'm not too certain how these questions pertain, though I have wondered how many extra characters have been necessary for some parts and if naming each of them is necessary. In some cases, I left them unnamed,mostly because of not remembering their real names.

How have you writers out there dealt with these questions? 

What Books Made You Become a Writer?

This isn't the first time I asked this on my blog.  Almost two years I ago, I posted this very question as the subject of a blog post, but to no avail.  It was inspired by this Goodreads list: The Books That Turned You Into a Writer.


Those who have regularly read my blog will know that Prozac Nation was what made me want to write my own memoir of depression and Prozac. I voted for that one on the Goodreads list linked above.

But even before that, I would find myself writing off and on as a child. One series of books I grew up with was the Little House series (I also loved the TV show). I think this may have been what made me want to write then. I seem to recall writing stories based on Little House--I may have been writing fan fiction before the term existed. I also read Charlotte's Web many times--that could also have been one book that made me want to write.

I noticed that the Hunger Games  and Twilight books are among those listed on the Goodreads list. I am now wondering how many people are trying to write dystopia or vampire novels. As much s I enjoyed reading the books, I have no idea how to even begin such a story. I know that the idea for Twilight came to author Stephenie Meyer in a dream. One dream I recently had seems like a premise for a story. I haven't begun one, but did write down what I could remember of the dream so I can possibly work on a story later. But I have never had a dream about a vampire that I can recall.

When I got first got the idea to write about my depression and experience with Prozac, I wasn't sure whether to write a memoir of a fictional account. But once I been writing notes, it began sounding like a memoir, so I decided it would be so. This despite my having read more fiction than nonfiction until recently when I got into reading true stories. I guess this was just writing what I knew.

Chapter Break Bingo – March 2018

Here is the new card for March.

Click on the card to download (or right click here and save-as).

Mark up the card however you wish to claim the squares.

We’ve added Read a Physical Book into the regular rotation. Maybe it will get us to read the books sitting on our book shelves!

Here’s a recap for clarity (with specific dates for example):

March 4 – new bingo card available

April 3 – Julie and I will post our March completed bingo cards. You can link up your bingo cards in this post

April 4 – new bingo card available

May 3 – Julie and I will post our April completed bingo cards. You can link up your bingo cards in this post. We will also be posting the March winner of the most squares in this post.

And so on and so forth.

Questions? Comments? Let’s do this!

My Books for this one:

1. Catherine, Called Birdy--Karen Cushman (6 squares): Library Book, Historical, Woman/Female on Cover, Young Adult, Wedding, Empowered Female
2. Who Was Dr. Seuss?--Janet B. Pascal (1 square): Audiobook
3. Metamorphoses--Ovid (2 squares): Magic, Physical Book
4. British Manor Murder--Leslie Meier (2 squares): In a Series, Secrets
5. The Castle in the Mist--Amy Ephron (4 squares): Urban Fantasy, Luck (Good or Bad), Pure Evil, Bad Weather
6. Turtles All the Way Down--John Green (1 square): Made You Cry
7. The Women on the Wall--Wallace Stegner (1 square): Free Book
8. Leprechaun in Late Winter--Mary Pope Osborne (1 square): Irish/Ireland
9. Fairest of All--Sarah Mlynowski (2 squares): Fairytale Retelling, Pastel Colors on the Cover
10. Brain on Fire--Susannah Cahalan (2 squares): Shelf Love, Free Space
11. Running With Scissors--Augusten Burroughs (1 square): LGBTQ
12. The Future of Us--Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler (1 square): Dual POV
13. Hardcore Twenty-Four--Janet Evanovich (1 square): Steamy

25 squares completed. Challenge completed on March 30.

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