Writing for Challanges - RFW - and Win a Kindle!

A great way to keep your writing skills sharp is to challenge your writing. Romantic Friday Writers provide great prompts each month. This month the challenge was to tell a story in letters. I've had a go with a 'love' story (okay, I'm yet to successfully write a romantic story) using blog posts:

Smash the Rules! Darren's Blog

Posted Jan 21, 2012

Wassup dudes!!!

It’s official. Dead Lizards have disbanded!!! Josh reckons he’ll be this big star on his own now just 'cause he made the cut for 'Teens got Talent'. That show sucks big-time, I’m glad I didn’t get it—the judges were so full of themselves.

Anyway, I’m still jamming, banging away my beats. Need a new kit, but the olds reckon I can make do with these old drums. They keep naggin’ me to get a job. As if. It’s bad enough Jenny has to work so many extra shifts lately—we hardly see each other! Need that dosh though for when we move in together. So it’s all good.

Keep Rockin’ dudes!

Posted July 12, 2012

Haven’t posted for a while. Yeah, a bit of a hiatus. Last time I blogged was January. Wow. You guys still out there? No? Dust-bunnies? Reading my last post blows my mind. Everything was so much better then. 

Now it’s dark times my friends, dark times.

Jenny bailed. Kept saying she was too busy to come around. Her Mum told me what was going on 'cause I kept ringing and, get this, Jen wasn’t even living there anymore! She’s shacked up with Scott! Now he’s a freakin' finalist for that crap show. I swear it’s rigged. No way are people voting for him.

If you’re reading this Jen, I’m all changed. Not touching the weed and I’m looking for a job—just like you wanted. Inbox me. We need to talk girl. Shit’s no good without you.

Posted August 20, 2012

Still no job. Interviews suck anyway. One dude actually told me I have a 'bad attitude'. They can get stuffed.

No Jen. I called her mobile a million times. Eventually freakin’ Scott answers and threatens to bash my head in if I don’t 'leave her alone'. Left her a few ripe messages letting her know I hate her anyway and what I’d do if I saw her. She’s such a bitch, she got the cops on me and now there’s a 'restraining order'. My olds went ballistic.

Posted November 24, 2012

The olds threw me out!

They found my stash and said it was 'the last straw', whatever that freakin' means. They reckon they’re sick of me sleeping in every day and lying about the drugs. Well, derrr! Of course I take drugs, I’m bloody depressed ain’t I?!!!

Anyway, my phone’s out of credit, so I’m posting from the library. Who ever thought I’d step inside one of these?

Got no digs for tonight, but it’s all cool. Got a plan.

Going out in a blaze of glory! Blaze of freakin’ glory.

Look out Jen, might stop by your new place on my way out. Show you what I think of your f*%#ing restraining order!

Gotta go, the stuck up bitch librarian keeps giving me the evil eye.

If there’s anyone left in the blogasphere reading this, how about taking part in my new poll? Most votes decide.

You think Darren should:

A. Tell them all to get f*%#ed

B. Smash Scott in the nose

C. Blaze of Glory

Thanks for popping by today. Don't forget to enter the competition to win a KINDLE FIRE just by blogging or downloading my new book, Dognapped? A Dog Show Detective Mystery. To find out more, check out the post: Win a Kindle Fire!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Google+ -- the new format for comments?

To Google+ or not?

Google seem to be ignoring my desire to never change anything... ever. If you use Google as your RSS feeder, it will close down soon. After three years, I still haven't figured out how to use or encourage others to use RSS. Now all that lack of knowledge will be wasted. But wait, there's more. Now Google asks me if I want to change my Blogger comments to Google+ comments. What? I don't know!

Many Blogger bloggers will have been offered the chance to switch their post comments to Google+. Sure it all looks cool, your post comments will appear not just on your blog but in the Google+ stream. Here's the link if you want to know more:

http://support.google.com/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2981015

The thing is, only people with a Google+ account will be able to comment. Is this good or bad? You tell me. I figure comments belong to the commenters (which is why I'll never make you suffer through word verification), so it's your choice. Is everyone using Google+ now?

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Why I won't do A-Z, but you probably should.

I'm not actually a participant this year, but I couldn't find an A-Z silent-supporter badge.

A-Z is a popular blogfest held every year in April. It started out as writers joining together to support and follow each other in 2010, but has now expanded to include bloggers of many topics. The idea: You are challenged to blog 26 times in one month, starting with an A theme for your post and moving though until you hit Z. Here's some good reasons to sign up:

• This gives a sense of deadline, you be amazed at how productive you can be with your blogposts when you know you have to get one up almost every day.
• For new bloggers, you'll gain a LOT of new followers. Back in 2010 I gained at least 100 new followers in the month of April. This was a big deal for me, I think I only had about 60 followers at the time.
• You'll discover new blogs that you'll want to come back and visit again and again.
• You'll improve your writing skills from all that practice.
• It's a great sense of community.

Now you're probably thinking, if it's so good, why don't I join up this year? Fair question. I thought it over and here are my reasons for not participating in the A-Z for 2013:

• Rules and me don't mix. I'm a bit of a hippie and want to feel free to post on Sunday and miss Tuesday, I might also mix up the letters. This seems to irritate others.
• I don't sign up for bloghops that stick to one time zone. I live in Australia and post my Monday post when it's Monday here. I can't be bothered checking the time difference and adjusting. And I don't like to schedule posts. I like to write them and click send.
• While I LOVE getting new followers, I don't want people to feel obligated to follow because I stopped by their blog. Also, last year I found myself following a lot of blogs that were not on topics I'm interested just because it seemed the right thing to do.
• But mostly - I have a lot of writing to do. I'm rewriting two novels, working on short stories for submission, and participating in an anthology. I'm also putting together all my activities for the children's writing workshops I run. In the past I've found I get no writing done while I try to keep up with all the posts. It's not just writing the posts, but visiting the hundreds and hundreds of blogs.

So there's my wrap-up. I'll just blog once a week as normal during April, but I will cheer you all on from the sidelines and get to as many blogs as I can. Good luck! To sign up for A-Z, click the link below:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html

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Writers for Writers

Yet more proof of what a supportive bunch we writers are.

Stephen Tremp from Breakthrough Blogs is hosting a Writers for Writers blog hop. This group aims to help promote members' books via twitter. It's quite simple, each month (the third Monday) a few writers will be highlighted. By visiting their blog you can pick up the promotional tweet to be retweeted. The tweet will promote the book, include a link to Amazon and ask others to retweet for you. This should help create a buzz about the book, increase sales/downloads and lift the book in Amazon's ratings. Then, when it's your turn, you'll write a tweet about your book and members will retweet it for you.

It's worth noting that this at times will require tweeting about a book you haven't read. I will in no way mislead followers to believe I'm endorsing the book, but am happy to simply send out a link and description. If a tweet sounds like a review, I'd probably reword it. For example, I wouldn't send out a tweet that read: Best mystery fiction ever! You must read DETECTIVE ZOMBIE GETS HIS MAN link.com if I hadn't read the book. I will still send out a link with a description of genre. I might add 'sounds like a fun read', or 'I'm keen to check this out'.

So if you're keen, sign up here:

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6 Ways to hook up with other writers -- even if you're insecure

Writing can be a solitary task, but it doesn't need to be. There's lots of support for writers if they know where to find it. Get to know other writers, form alliances, give each other feedback, encouragement and advice. The writing community is one of the most generous with sharing of information. So where can you hook up with other writers?

1. Join a Writers Group -- Best thing I've ever done. We meet once a week and take part in writing exercises, share our work and discuss the industry. This is an intimate, safe environment to share your writing with people you trust for an honest critique.
2. Blog -- I never realised there were so many writing communities until I started blogging. Start your blog on whatever you like. I enjoy blogging about the craft of writing, but also love reading marketing, education and reading blogs. It's a way to interact. Turn off 'captcha' or 'word verification' in your settings. These are horrible torturous tests visitors must endure just so they can leave you an encouraging comment. It's not polite. If you are worried about spam (yes, I'm rolling my eyes), then use comment moderation instead.
3. Sign up to Blog Groups and Challenges -- Such as Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group. You put your link on a list and everyone posts on an agreed topic or event. You'll meet lots of blog friends very quickly.
4. Pick your Favourite Social Media Platform -- You don't have to do them all, so don't be overwhelmed. Best to pick the one that suites your style and use it effectively, than to flounder on half a dozen different sites. The top ones seem to be Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn, but there's also Instagram if you're more of a photo person, and Pinterest if you like sharing websites and online photos. Browse through and read posts to see which platform suites your lifestyle. 
5. Visit your Writer's Centre -- There may be one not too far from you. Writer's centres have plenty of advice and contacts to get you on your way and most charge a reasonable yearly membership fee.
6. Attend Writing Festivals/Seminars -- You'll be educated, entertained and get to network with other professionals in the writing industry.

Most of all, it's important to get out there with a positive attitude. Be thoughtful and reciprocate. If you want followers for your blog, then go follow other blogs. Don't hide in a corner and expect all the introverts to come to you.

By offering a place where followers can comment without obstacles,
you'll increase the number of people who stay long enough to say hello.

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A Writer's Best (Imaginary) Friend

Kyra Lennon and Annalisa Crawford have co-hosted a blog hop on imaginary friends (find out more here).

I was a late bloomer and by time I picked an imaginary friend, all the good ones were gone. While other girls had giggling buddies to share stories with, I had Ray. Dr Ray, to be exact.

I'd like to think news programs were to blame (and not my own freakishness), when I developed a fascination with murderers. Don't worry, Dr Ray wasn't a psychopath--he was a psychiatrist. Together we would sit and Mull over the puzzle of the mind of a murderer. What makes a person act that way? Back then, I figured I would become a psychiatrist one day, but I also had artist, author, vet and an array of other vocations in my to-do list. Dr Ray never completely disappeared, although he remained wisely silent during my teen years. 

Later though, my kids would catch me musing observations to the air and ask 'who are you talking to?'

'Nobody.' I would answer, but quickly look about the crowded shopping centre to make sure no one else caught me mid-conversation with Dr Ray. 

Sometimes we'd argue--he's so darn opinionated and quite frankly, a little narrow-minded. I'd like to say he's lingered this long because of his hunky looks, but Dr Ray was created in the mid-seventies and has remained unchanged since. I'm sure he'd love to become a character in one of my stories, but I just don't want to give him that much exposure, it'd go right to his head.

So, tell the truth, did you have an imaginary friend? Dorky, or cool like Dr Ray?

Dr Ray never smiled this much for me, he must like you!

*if you never return to my blog after reading this post... I understand.

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Zombie Picking & FREE Kindle Book!

My Zombie Picks
Zombies are actually the only monsters I am really afraid of. They give me the total heebies! I originally wrote My Zombie Dog, after writing a long, long list of all my phobias for story prompts and shuffling, staggering, festering, brain-sucking creatures were on top! I'm most scared of them just touching me with their rotting flesh.
But, to challenge myself, I did write a zombie story which has now turned into a series. Undead Kev (sequel to My Zombie Dog) will be released to Kindle in February and in paperback in March. I also try to challenge myself reading zombie literature (I tried to play The Walking Dead game on the iPad, but the intro was too scary for me).
Here's my top zombie picks:

The Forest of Hands and Teeth. This novel is so lyrical you'll forget you're reading about undead creatures wanting to tear at your flesh. Not a fast-paced story, but beautifully written. My only gripe with this one is the Kindle book is way overpriced, so go for the paperback!

Chasers from the Alone series. Not your typical zombie story, because technically, they're not zombies. But they are very zombie-like and they're everywhere! Follow a group of teenagers as they try to not only survive, but find out what's happening to everyone around them. Your jaw will drop when you get to the twist at the end. VERY CLEVER!Undead. Hilarious. During a high school trip, everyone except a couple of students (who were left on the bus and of course would never in a million years get along) turn into zombies. 

Don't forget for the younger zombie lover (9-13) you can't go pastMy Zombie Dog ;). The book launch was a blast and the kids loved having the face-painter turn them into zombies. As a special promotion for the holiday season, you can download the Kindle version of My Zombie Dog for free, just for December 7th and 8th.

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Curing the NaNoWriMo Hangover

K.M. Weiland's new book launched today: Dreamlander

It's a great read for fantasy lovers, I've reviewed the book on Goodreads and Amazon. 

Just 99c, check it out!:

December's here and NaNoWriMo is over. Long live NaNoWriMo.

In my pre-NaNo post I listed 8 things to give up to get those 50k words. I didn't go completely without. I did stay away from television for the first few weeks and haven't watched very much since then. My fav' shows at the moment are Castle, Bones, Justified and The Walking Dead (okay the last one is a love/hate relationship). I did give up a lot of social media time. I was almost non-existent on Twitter and Google+ and I only wrote one blog post. 

My days revolved around the word counts. All I could focus on was the 50k prize. And I did it. I finished the first draft of Undead Kev and have almost finished Warracknabeal Kids. Now it's over, I've taken a couple of days to shake the daze from my tired mind and it's time to get on with things. Here's a list of my plans for December. Did you take part in NaNoWriMo? How do you plan on recovering from the crazy?

• 3 pages - before NaNo my routine included writing three pages longhand first thing in the morning. These pages can be garble or clear story ideas. It doesn't matter. You can use the words to plot or just to dump all thoughts crowding your mind and blocking your creativity. I gave up my 3 pages during November, but I find it a refreshing way to start my writerly day.
• Meditation - visualisation techniques and guided audio recordings help me to clear my mind and plan my words. It's just 5-10 minutes out of my day but really sparks the creativity.
• Short Stories - novel writing has exhausted me over November. I'm taking a little break and concentrating on short stories for a while. 
• Blog - I can't wait to get around and visit blogs again. I'm gonna be a blog-reading machine!
• Reading - I decided to try some books off the high school reading list. Finally got around to reading Catcher in the Rye and now I'm working my way through some Steinbeck classics.
• Educating - Learning grammar rules via Grammar Girl, workbooks and my good friend Denise Covey (a grammar guru).

I know many NaNoers are jumping right in with their editing. I'm going to take a little break and look at  editing in the new year.

I've also got my Christmas tree up - what do you think?

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8 Things to Give Up for NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month.

50,000 words in one month. Sounds crazy. Ready to give up? Great! Me too. I'll give up lots, just so long as I don't have to give up writing my novel. It's all about the words and we know getting words on  the page can often be all about finding the time to write. What are you prepared to sacrifice?

Here's a list of the things you could give up for November to win NaNoWriMo:

1. Plot - 'But I'm not a pantser!' I hear you shout. That's okay. Maybe you spent all of October planning every scene for your novel. Fine, try that. But if you don't have your story plotted out already - now is not the time to do it. Just go with it. And if you do? Add some random things on the days you feel stuck. Sometimes knowing what you have to write can slow you down. Have your character pop into a cafe for a bowl of jelly and find a fly in it. The thing is you'll get your word count, it's great writing practice and you can always delete it in the edits.
2. Perfection - Repeat after me - 'This will be a crap draft, but at least I'll have a draft.'
3. Cleanliness - Now I'm not suggesting you stop showering, that's a great place for inspiration. But forget the vacuuming, washing clothes, mowing lawns etc. Kids can wash their own clothes and wear their uniforms crinkled. The family will figure out how to make baked beans on toast, and maybe they wouldn't mind whipping up something for you while they're at it. It is a universal rule that NOBODY EVER visits an author's home in November. Make sure you don't visit a writer friends house and comment on the cobwebs either. That's like killing puppies, you don't want to kill puppies... do you?
4. Television - Ooh this is going to be a hard one for some people (me). I can't remember the last time I turned on tv to see what was on, but we watch a lot of DVDs and download tv series from iTunes (I love Castle, The Walking Dead, Justified & Bones). But for November I've pledged to watch NOTHING. My family are sadly not supporting this challenge, so I'll be spending a lot of time alone in my room typing.
5. Company - Those people called family and friends will only weigh you down dude! Ditch 'em now. You may however, hang with other writers and encourage each other with word races and accountability for word counts. If you can't trust yourself not to wander off for coffee with mates, hide all your shoes for the month.
6. Stress - Nothing slows action more than worrying about it.
7. Blogs - Don't panic, I'm not suggesting you HAVE to close down for the entire month (although many bloggers are), but you shouldn't let yourself on until you've met your word count for the day (at least). I'm not planning to do much blogging over November and I doubt I'll be visiting blogs, unless I get ahead of schedule. There's a zillion blogs to visit, no one will mind if a few of them slow down. Plus, I don't like to blog unless I'm reciprocating by visiting blogs, otherwise I think it's a bit selfish and rude. And I don't want to be rude. I want you to like me :)
8. Internet time - Schedule a reduced time, maybe thirty minutes a day, to check emails, Facebook, Twitter etc, or again, let yourself online AFTER you reach your daily word count.

That's my list. I'll be giving up all these things for November. How about you? Another one for the guys is shaving, let your stubble go wild this month!

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Setting Rules Story

Snoopy's world was limited in space, but imagination meant anything could happen!
Click on the picture if you want to get this as a wallpaper

Setting is often a key element in our story. Sometimes it can even be a character in the story like the big old house in Tim Winton's Cloudstreet. But often new writers overlook this and just have the setting as somewhere for stuff to take place.

I have an exercise I do with students when I run creative writing workshops for kids, it helps them to understand how setting can affect our story. I thought I'd share it with you now. Try this exercise with the setting to your WIP, but first use a few of the random ones suggested here as a warm up. We did this exercise in my writing group today and there were some interesting writing prompts from it.

If you're in a group, write these settings down on scraps of paper (add some of your own if you like) and disperse randomly. Otherwise, pick out two or three to work with.

Possible Settings:

• Pirate ship
• Prison
• Australian bush
• Homeless gathering
• Skyscraper
• High school
• Space
• Fantasy land
• Ski lodge
• Police station

Now you simply write two lists. 

One list is for plot ideas or motivations that can be generated from this setting, e.g. in a Prison, escape, trying to stay good for parole, guard might on their last day because they're quitting for a safer security job, governor or head of the prison might be trying to meet budget cuts or there could be an alien invasion on earth and the prison is the safest place from land attacks. 

The second list is all the threats that setting presents. In the Prison it could be knifing, drugs, vicious guards, attack dogs, lockdown and left without food in your cell (as all the guards have been killed off by the aliens), riots, lack of empathy from outside community, or losing your sanity.

Once you have a few lists, pick a plot idea and at least one threat then write for 10-15 minutes and see what you come up with, you might find yourself with a decent piece of flash fiction or the start of something bigger!

Now you've warmed up properly, pull out your own setting and see if you can find more threats or possibilities that could strengthen your WIP.

I'm currently working on a story where the little sister of Isis is resurrected in New York City 5,000 years later. So my setting is split between Ancient Egypt and New York City. Here's my list for Ancient Egypt:

Plot ideas

• Mummification
• Prophecies
• Secrets and plots
• Gods
• Superstitions and religion
• Afterlife
• Amulets and protection magic
• Came race

Dangers

• Mummified alive
• Cobras
• Assassins
• Rabid Camel
• Crocodiles
• Heat, sun exposure
• Dehydration
• Floods (The area by the Nile was not a desert but quite lush back then)
• Evil Gods
• Sacrifice
• Sentenced to death

If you try it out I'd love to see some of your suggestions for plot ideas or dangers for setting.

This post is part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, challenges are posted once a month, you can sign up to join in here (or click on the picture). Now there's a few hundred participants, so it'll take me a while to get around to everyone, but I'll certainly try before the next challenge!

Realised, I should mention my writing insecurity! Mine is when I've finished that first draft and got all the plot details down, I won't be able to figure out that magic ingredient that adds life and pop to the book, it'll end up a bit bleh. What I do about it is exercises like this one to strengthen different elements of the story.

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Are you blogging too much?

Is blogging and visiting blogs taking up all your time?

When I started blogging I was hooked straight away. There are so many awesome blogs on writing, I'm sure I gained more information and help from the online world than I did from my studies at school. I was starting at scratch learning the art of writing and I wanted to share that with other peeps. I guess the focus of my blog is - if I can fumble through this, think how easy it will be for you.

I blogged my butt off. Some weeks I'd blog up to four times. My opinion now is that's just not necessary. I know you can reach out to other writers and build a platform for your writing. That's the marketing side, you'll also make great blogging friends, I know I have. BUT. Now I blog about once a week, twice if something special comes up. This gives me more time to visit other blogs, improve my writing skills and work on my books. Less blogging means each post is live longer and has more chance to actually be viewed by readers.

So rather than update you every time my dog does something cute or I have a weird dream, I think about what will be helpful to my reader. The tip I'm suggesting today? Social media is a tool, a great tool, but if your goal is to publish a novel or write flash fiction or poetry, then make your craft your priority. Spend time on your art and balance that time wisely with your platform building. Let social media feed and propel your productivity, not steal from it.

Are you making time for your writing?

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How to recycle posts and build worlds

You may get a feeling of deja vu reading my post today. No you're not imagining it, this is part of a great blogfest run by Denise Covey (L'Aussie to most of us online) over at Romantic Friday Writers. The idea is to repost one of your favourite posts from the April A-Z Challenge. I love to recycle, so here is my W post from April. Click on the pic to go sign up for the blogfest!

World Building Workshop

Build an amazing world for your story

Today I'm sharing a creative writing workshop I run for kids. It's on World Building and this is an important part of science fiction and fantasy stories. You can follow along and write up your own responses, or you can use the worksheet we use in class. It can be downloaded and printed from here:

World Building PDF

I've broken this workshop into two parts, the lists and the drawing. You can do either first, I love the lists, my kids will probably want to draw theirs first. 

 Step 1: The Written World Description

• Binaries and Parallels - What's the same as our world and what's different?

• Temperature - Is it below freezing or really humid? The temperature of your world will affect the type of vegetation you have, and even the action that can take place (imagine The Wizard of Oz without a tornado). Is your weather seasonal or is it always like this?

• Landscape - When your character stands still, what can they see and how far can they see? Can they see Mountains, ranges, hills or a horizon?

• Ground cover - Dirt, rocks, pebbles, sand, grass or snow? How does it feel to walk under your character's feet? What sound is made when they walk on it?

• Vegetation - Tree varieties, weeds, shrubs, edible fruits, mushrooms and flowers. This can create scents and colour to your story. Plants are used for more than shelter and food. Sometimes they can be medicines and sometimes they are just for enjoyment. Do your characters like to pick flowers? Or maybe there's a plant like tobbacco that they smoke? And maybe it's not good for them and they find out they could die from it. Maybe some yummy looking berries are poisonous.

Now beyond the ground.

• Laws of Physics - Will your land obey them? Is there gravity? How might this affect your characters?

• Sun/Moon/Stars - What is the natural light like or what alternatives are there for light? Does sun or moon or stars play a role in your character's religion?

• Civilisation - Is your world built up or entirely natural? Are there pathways, roads, houses, airports, industry?

Step 2 - Drawing

• Draw rough maps of the entire area and show how your different locations meet up.
• Draw up an outline of each town, where are the homes, the shops, the tavern, etc.
• Then go wild and paint or sketch lots of views of your world, be as artistic as you want!

Want to visuaslise your world but don't have crayon skills?

• Make a virtual world in a game like Sims3 or Second Life or perhaps you can suggest one?
• Search online, steal National Geographic magazines and travel brochures. Cut out all the elements that match your world and glue them onto a large sheet of cardboard. Layout the pictures to align with your map, showing where the rainforest is compared to the Castle and what you pass when you travel from one to the other. You can keep this by your desk while you write.

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Coincidence in Writing

I'm up in Brisbane this week, organising my move before I dash back down to Yass. One of the down sides of moving interstate is that I'll be leaving some good friends (and amazing students) behind. I've been kind of sad that we won't be catching up as much.

But this week there is a friend of mine from Yass visiting their relatives in Brisbane - so today we are catching up. This has me thinking about the luck of coincidence that we are both up here at the same time, and I thought I would share a post I did previously on the use of coincidence in fiction:

The Hand of Fate should not write stories.

Coincidence. It happens all the time, and never more than in stories. Many narratives depend on coincidence, but is it a good or bad device? Like most tools, if used well it can make a story move neatly towards the conclusion, but if abused it reeks of lazy writing.

A lot of mysteries and thrillers will include coincidence as a way of bringing a crime to light (but not usually to reveal the culprit). Steven King masterfully winds coincidence into his horror stories to give them a dark fateful theme. So how should you use coincidence?

Narratives are small worlds or micro-communities. We don't want a cast of thousands in our story, so we zoom into a portion of life. This makes coincidences more likely to take place. Here's some tips I picked up from my recent writing course with Sydney Writers Centre.

Bring it in early. Have your coincidence set things rolling. Your protagonist has a fight with her boss when she's fired, later that day, while walking her dog, she drops her mobile phone. Not a good day for her. She starts searching the bushes in the nearby park for said phone, and what does she find? The dead body of her ex-boss. Coincidence. Now your protagonist is a suspect and has good reason to try to solve the crime herself. See how coincidence has moved your plot along?

Coincidence shouldn't be used to solve crimes though, we want to think our amateur detective is using their wits, not luck. And please don't end your story with coincidence - most readers hate that! (including me) Okay, some like it, and some fateful endings have been successful.

Ending with a coincidence, or 'by the hand of God', has a name: Deux ex Machina. This is where a plot problem heads to such a point it seems unlikely to be solved, and then, by the hand of God, all is resolved by fate. 'The Postman Always Rings Twice', is an example where it seems the two lovers will get away with murder, until fate steps in. Although a successful film, this ending always makes me feel robbed of a proper resolution. Having said that, I did like the ending to the first 'Sherlock Holmes' movie, but at least Sherlock used his wits to solve the crime first.

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Writing 2012

2012 - it's arrived, but I won't have time for the end of the world, I'll be too busy with changes to my world.

I'm proud of my productivity in 2011, got quite a bit of writing done and learned a lot about the craft. This year my focus shifts to publication. I'll need to:

Edit - Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. I've a few manuscripts that need polishing. I need to prioritise my manuscripts and work through them one at a time.

Submit - Time to circulate finished manuscripts. I had a taste of this when I had a meeting with a representative from a popular children's publishing house for MY ZOMBIE DOG. The main thing I came to learn? Putting your work out there does not have to be scary, this is a very supportive industry.

Connect - I'll be attending writer's workshops and events in Brisbane and I'll focus on growing my blog and online groups.

Read - In 2011 I read 102 books. My plan is to lower that goal this year and pay more attention to what I'm reading. I'd like to read and implement 5 good guides on writing/publishing and learn from the fiction I read. It's also time to delve back into reading blogs, I gain so much from those and promise to share links to the best ones with you.

Write - But of course! My optimistic goal is to finish WARRACKNABEAL KIDS and THE PIRATE GIRL. I flunked NaNoWriMo in 2011, but will aim to write one new novel this year in November. My other favourite type of writing? Lists. I'll be making lists for each of these resolutions with ideas and steps to achieve them.

Those are my writing goals for this exciting year - the year of possibilities. My whole world is not just writing, I've started going to the gym and want to get super-fit, I'll be renovating my new home in Brisbane and plan to add a library. As a family we are aiming to reduce waste and excess. Packing up a house really brings to light how much stuff (i.e. crap) you accumulate. 

2012 - BRING IT ON!

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YouTube and Writers

YouTube - not just for dancing cats

Do you YouTube?

One of the social networking suggestions Aleesah Darlison made during her 'Promote Your Book' workshop recently was to set up a YouTube page.

Sure, I had a YouTube account, who doesn't, but a page? This had never occurred to me. If I have one talent above all others, it's following instructions. I set about creating a YouTube page under my username charmaineclancy. I know I need to add some more exciting clips, because the most recent recommendation from YouTube for me was a clip called 'Schnauzer napping'... can't wait to see that one.

On Aleesah's page she keeps book trailers, interviews, interesting clips about native animals that feature in her books and more. This is a great resource to use for writers workshops, school visits, book launches and building up your platform. If you don't have a YouTube account it's easy. Go to the site and create an account - I recommend using your author name and if that's taken, add the word author in front. For example, if charmaineclancy wasn't available I'd use authorcharmaineclancy.

Once you've joined and signed in, you'll see some arrows by your name in the top right hand corner. That releases a drop box menu. Click on Channel and set up your channel (this is the page for you to share your clips). In Settings you can change the colour, add your author pic and bio. Videos is where you upload your own clips. I'm yet to do that, hey, maybe one day soon I'll even vlog. In the meantime if you'd like to see a vlog about the craft of writing, visit The Creative Penn's YouTube page.

Want to share YouTube clips on Blogger?

1. Find a clip you want to share, underneath is a button titled 'Share' - click it.
2. This brings up a link for sharing, but now click on 'Embed'. Here is the code you need to embed the clip into your blog. Copy the code.
3. You can change the size if you need to (if you have a narrow blog column), I always just go with the smaller size listed (560x315).
4. Now Blogger does not like code when you are in 'Compose', so I usually choose to go to HTML and insert the code. But there is another way.

Alternative - Probably easier:

1. In Blogger, when composing your blog, click on the button for 'insert a video'.
2. Choose 'From YouTube'.
3. In the search box you need to type in the title of the clip - the one I've chosen was called "Interview with Aleesah Darlison".
4. Choose the correct clip from the list of possibilities. Ta-da!

If you have a YouTube Channel set up already, share your link in the comments :)

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Favicon Your Blog

Zombie Dog likes to blog

An author was raving recently in a podcast about the brilliance of Youtube. You can find anything there. Of course there is so much stuff online now that most people have stopped browsing and are more particular about searching for specifics. Anyway, this author was saying if you want to know how to do something you just search 'how to...' on Youtube. You can learn how to do anything, even make a favicon.

Like most of you I love words, some stick with me more than others (I especially love saying 'chihuahua' whenever I can fit it into a conversation). The original topic of the podcast became lost on me - what the heck was a favicon, and did I want to learn to make one? I rushed over to Youtube.

Well I'll be darned, I DID want a favicon! 

After only a little muddling about, I managed to put a personalise little icon in the address bar of my blog. So now, instead of seeing the orange B for blogger, you'll see a wee little pic of my head that matches my blog background. Want a favicon? Here's the Youtube clip I watched:

Anything over 2 minutes is hard for me to pay attention to, so here's the website where you can upload a picture to be turned into a tiny little favicon (favicons are an .ico file):

http://www.iconj.com/

Once you have your little favicon created and you've generated a shortcut url (the site that makes your favicon will give you a web address to use as the location for where your favicon is stored), you'll need to add it to your blogger site. 

Go to:  Blogging Tips on this page you'll see instruction on making your favicon, scroll down to:

Add the reference for your favicon to your Blogger template

Follow that section and post the favicon url in your template html. Done!

The favicon can make your blog or website appear a little more professional, and it really wasn't hard. The hardest part for me was finding the code in the template html - but only because I was being impatient, I assumed it would be near the top (like the 'head') but it was half way down. Do you use Youtube for how to videos?

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Blogger, the Lover Returns

Okay, sometimes it takes you leaving me before I understand how much I need and love you.

Blogger baby, I'm so glad you're back - now I can go and visit all those blogs and leave comments!

One thing though, and I don't mean to be picky, but where has my scheduled post gone? It didn't go up, but nor did it stay in my draft folder. You didn't hock it while you were on the run for fun money did  you?


How did you survive the apocalypse?

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Z is for Zany Bloggers

I really thought I'd be blogging Z is for Zip it this post, 'cause I get a bit lazy by letter 26, and the only book I've read on the craft of writing starting with Z is Zen in the Art of Writing, but I blogged about that in the last A-Z challenge in:

Z is for Zen

But then came the Zany. Alex J Cavanaugh is hosting another (yes, another) blogfest and this time it's all about fun and games. Don't start shaking, I know what you're thinking. You'll get a rest, this is not until June, click on the linked picture to go to Alex's site, or sign up below:

Now, I intend to cash in on a few owed Zzzzzzs. 

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V is for View - Blogger Tip

Looking for a new way to view blogs?

There's one app on the iPad that I love - Flipboard. What it does is display your blogs in a magazine fashion, so you see snippets of stories and such. Did you know that there are different ways to view people's blogs from your computer?

If you go to the url in the address bar right now (says http://www.clancytales.blogspot.com/) and add to it:

view

You'll probably get the sidebar view of this blog, down the sidebar of this blog is a list of all the previous blogs. Now at the top of the page towards the right side, there's a blue button that probably says Sidebar. You can click on that and choose the other layout designs as well. I quite like Snapshot for when you want to try to find a previous post.

Does this work on your blog? If you have blogger or blogspot blog, you need to go into the Settings menu (from your dashboard). Your blog must be public, not one that people need to sign into to see. In Settings, choose Site Feed, and make sure your 'Allow Blog Feeds' button is either 'Full' (that's what I have selected) or 'Jump Break'. Also in Setting, choose Formatting and where it says 'Enable Dynamic Views', choose Yes.

That's all you have to do (most are set this way by default anyway, so you might not have to tamper at all). Then view your blog and type the word 'view' at the end of the url. I just think it's cool.

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11 Ways to Improve Your Blog

As part of the 31 Days to Build Better Blog challenge (at The Secret Is In The Sauce), I've been analysing my blog and comparing it with successful bloggers from my niche (blogs on writing). I want to share some of my findings with you!

ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL BLOG FOR WRITERS

1. Design - Less is more. Simple layouts without the clutter (oh oh, I can see I need a clean-up!). Orange and hot pink are not as easy on the eye as white.
2. Size Matters - Those super wide blogs are hard to read, column width should be easy and quick, you should be able to read the post without scrolling your eyes left and right.
3. Content - Posts are always topic related and usually helpful to the reader.
4. Regularity - Posts are frequent and usually short. Some post daily but most update their blogs at least 3 times a week.
5. Followers - The blogs/websites that impressed me did not use Google Friends or Network Blogs, they used RSS Feeds. Check out ProBlogger's What is RSS? to know more. 
6. Free Content - Many successful bloggers have free downloads, e-books, widgets or other enticements on their sites.
7. Blogger vs Wordpress - I see debates about ease of use vs professional image, but the blogs that impressed me were hosted on their own sites (e.g. www.thecreativepenn.com).
8. Monetizing - I found the best sites free from advertising or at least kept it minimalistic (perhaps a group of sponsors' badges to the sides). I'm not sure about taking away the Amazon link - I keep it to share books that I like with my readers, but I assume most will purchase through their own links anyway.
9. Promotions - The high-traffic sites are promoted through Twitter and Facebook and receive many retweets (probably because they're helpful articles and worth sharing).
10. Imagery - The blogs I enjoyed used relevant images, this makes the page easier on the eye than a lot of text.
11. Multi-media - A lot of the best blogs I found also offered podcasts or videoclips on their site. This would, of course, mean more work.

As you can see, I need to review a few aspects of my blog. Is there anything here you think you'll try for your blog?

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