Hey you! Read This (please!)

I’m thrilled to welcome several new followers since the Déjà vu Blogfest sign-ups began. Blogging brings people together and I’ve found some wonderful friendships here on Blogger. That’s why I’m so sad when I can’t follow someone back.
Now, I have a personal follow-back policy. If someone finds my humble site interesting enough to follow, I want to extend the same kindness to him or her. The problem arises for me when I click a new follower’s picture on my Google Friend Connect mosaic and, alas! The person hasn’t linked his or her blog to their profile.
Am I describing you? Not sure?? Here’s how you verify:
Find your picture on my Friend Connect mosaic right now. (Or you can go to your own blog and under your About Me, click “View My Complete Profile.” Either action will bring up your Blogger Profile, as others see it. Is your blog linked under “My Blogs?”
If it isn’t, click “Edit Profile” (on left margin, under your profile picture). On the edit page, the third option under “Privacy” is “Show My Blogs.” Click “Select Blogs to Display.” (If you have several blogs that include family blogs, special interest blogs, etc. that you don’t want others to see, only choose your writing blog to display.) Be sure to save your changes.
It’s important to realize that Blogger doesn’t always default to linking your blog on your profile. It’s a great idea to verify that your blog is linked, so people like me can follow you back.
And don’t forget to enter the Déjà vu Blogfest! Click the link below the badge on my right sidebar to add your name to Mr. Linky’s list!

Have a fabulous day!

NaNoWri(Lessons)Mo

(Article first appeared today in Writing.com’s Drama Newsletter, of which I am a contributing editor.)

NaNoWriMo will come to a close tonight for another year. Though I won't have a badge to display, saying I "won" by reaching the contest benchmark of 50,000 words in the month of November, I DO have a 25,000-word start to a brand-new novel that I'm very excited about. What's more important, I learned a lot about penning a first draft by taking part during the NaNo insanity.

NaNo is good for a writer like me. Typically, I brood over and revise each sentence before moving on to the next. My over-enthusiastic inner editor would argue that that approach is fine. And I tend to agree, when we're talking about writing short fiction. But when staring down the dark tunnel of novel writing, when only a pinprick of light is visible at its end, I'm the first to recognize that my painstaking approach to writing won't work. NaNo promotes writing fast drafts that force your focus forward. To win NaNo, you have to embrace the absolute separation between writing and revising.

 
There are a couple strategies I learned during NaNo to help a writer silence her inner editor and just write -- fast and furious -- with the intention of getting the first draft, in all its messy and creative glory, down on paper. And these ideas are not necessary for barfing out a first draft in one month. I will use these strategies throughout the year, no matter how long it takes me to write a draft.

Get outside your regular writing routine. If you write at a desk, try sitting on the floor. If you have a laptop, go outdoors to a park or a coffee house - someplace where you've never written before. I usually need quiet to write, but I tried playing Christmas music softly in the background one day. It made me feel instantly happy and relaxed, and I eked out an extra 700 words during that writing session.

Have your writing totem with you for every writing session. A writing toten is an object which inspires you or imbues you with inspired energy. It can be a figurine, a stuffed animal, a hat you wear, a picture or photo - anything! My writing totem is a small, solid brass figurine that looks a lot like Pumba from The Lion King. I bought him at a copper and brass artisan shop in France about ten years ago. It just looks happy and reminds me of good times. "Pumba" is small enough to sit on my laptop keyboard near where the top and bottom hinges together. When I feel stumped and want to stop writing, I look at him and remember my goals for the writing session. And his jolly belly and goofy stance remind me to have fun while I'm at it!

 
Challenge yourself to writing sprints. A writing sprint is a set short amount of time during which you refuse to let your fingers stop tapping those keys or your pen to lift from the paper. My favorite sprints are fifteen minutes long. (I find these are great practice for Leger~ 's "15 for 15 Contest " ) I am also a big fan of 1K-in-1Hr sprints (1000 words in an hour).

Find friends with which to stage write-ins. I did my first write-in a week and a half ago, and it was fabulous! Summer Frey lives a half hour from my house, and we get together every few weeks to hang out and talk writing-and-blogging shop. Since we were both doing NaNo this year, we decided to meet in a funky local coffee house for a five-hour write-in. We'd wish each other luck and hit the keys, for a while. At some point, one of us would need another cup of coffee or a bathroom break, and we'd stop for ten or fifteen minutes. We tweeted from our couches and updated our Facebook statuses, and laughed a lot. And I wrote 5000 words that day. 5000!

My inner editor feels like she's back from the spa, relaxed and muscle-knot-free. I may not have won NaNoWriMo, but the benefits I reaped from playing along this November made every minute of the crazy chaos worth it. I'll use these and other strategies while I finish my WiP, and for future drafts too.

What's your favorite strategy for powering through the first draft? Maybe you wear a certain shirt or pair of socks? Do you dangle reward-carrots in front of yourself for motivation? Something else?

Deja Vu Blogfest Sign-ups!

Announcement, everyone!  *clears throat*   DL Hammons, Lydia Kang, Katie Mills and I are hosting the upcoming Deja Vu Blogfest!  The fest is DL's creation, so below are the deets as presented today on Cruising Altitude 2.0.  Mr. Linky sign-ups right below:

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The Déjà vu Blogfest

You know one of the things that bugs me the most about the way our blogosphere operates?  It’s the way you can miss some really awesome posts if you have to be away for a while and are unable to keep up with your favorite blogs.  Face it, if you take just a week’s vacation from the blogosphere, you could have missed (depending on the number of blogs you’re following and their frequency of posting) hundreds of quality posts.  It’s really hard to catch up when things get like that, so what I do is read a blogger’s latest post.  You know what that could mean?  The signing of an agent…missed….a book contract finalized…missed…a cry for help...missed...a birth announcement…missed…some other special event in a blogger’s life…gone.  I just shake my head when I think of all of the special posts I’ve missed over time.  And then there are the informative posts about the topics I’m dying to know more about, yep I probably missed some of those as well.

What got me thinking about this (again) was a post I made a couple weeks ago.  It was actually a repost from very early in my blogging career when my followers totaled maybe a dozen.  I felt the post deserved a second chance in front of what is now a broader follower base, and I was right.  It garnered plenty of praise and many commenters thanked me for pushing it back into the light.

Some of my longtime followers (any of you still out there) know that I’ve broached this before.  I even came up with the BLOG RECYCLE STATION where I encouraged fellow bloggers to leave a link to one of their favorite blog posts in the comments of that post.  Innovative, maybe, but now I’m ready to do one better.  Thus I've teamed up with Nicole Ducleroir, Lydia Kang, and Katie Mills to bring you….

THE DEJA VU BLOGFEST

DECEMBER 16

THE DAY TO DO OVER

How will this work?  First, sign-up to participate with Mr. Linky below (or at any of the ladies blogs above), then shout out to all of your blogging friends and encourage them to sign up as well.  Take the badge above and plaster it everywhere, blogging graffiti gone wild.  Then on December 16^th all of those taking part will re-post their favorite blog offering, or one that never received the exposure it should have.  Then as the day unfolds and everyone hops from one blog to another, what they will be reading is the best of the best (as determined by you).  That day the blogosphere will be chock full of past writing brilliance!  Encouragement, enlightenment, knowledge, bared souls, stimulation, hilarity, insecurities, success stories!  All on display…the very same day…like no other time before.  Some of them will no doubt be familiar, well-deserving a second read, but a good many will be the first time you’ve seen them.  And it couldn't be any easier to take part...no writing necessary!

Want to make a little blogging history?  Sign up below and start looking through those old posts!  J

                           

         

How to Create a Custom Twitter Background

I needed a different creative outlet yesterday, after writing 10,000 words on my NaNoWriMo novel between Wednesday and Saturday. So I decided to create my own custom Twitter background.  It was easy and a lot of fun, so I thought I’d share with you how I achieved it.

I created my background using Paint Shop Pro X2, but you can use Adobe Photoshop or any other similar software, as long as it supports both vector and raster layers.


Before I began, I thought about what kind of look I wanted to go for.  Personally, I like color; I like my web sites to exude a cheerful, playful vibe.  But I didn’t want to overwhelm with bright hues and busy prints, because I didn’t want the background to compete with the profile.  I prefer light backgrounds with black print, as I find those the easiest to read.


I looked for a picture of me that was similar to my profile picture.  (It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek that all my profile avatars are me, in profile.


Here is the finished product, and below are the steps I followed to create it:







Step 1:  Layer One – The first layer in your PSP (or Photoshop, etc.) should measure 1440x800 pixels, which will be big enough to fill the screen of viewers with any size computer screen.  (Note: I didn’t need to fill the entire 800 pixels in length, because on my computer screen the bottom section was lost off the bottom.  Also as you design, keep in mind that about 760 pixels in the center of your plane will be covered up with your twitter profile columns.  This means you will only be designing about 225 pixels wide on the left margin and about 300 pixels on the right margin.  I realize that my math doesn’t add up – math sucks!  But the original 1440x800 are just the dimensions you need to ensure you’ll fill the space on twitter.  Based on your own computer screen, you’ll have to play around with spacing until it looks right, on your screen.)
I used a resolution of only 72 pixels/inch because it will be sharp but won’t slow down page uploads for people visiting your page who have slower processors or Internet connections.  This first layer should be set as transparent.


Step 2: Layer Two --  I pulled up the photo I’d chosen and resized it to 215x230 pixels.  I added a slim black border and then copied it.  I pasted the photo as a new layer, atop Layer 1.  I positioned the photo against the left margin, about an inch down from the top left corner. I double clicked the layer to pull up the Properties menu and clicked Layers, then added a drop shadow to the picture. 


Step 3: Layer Three -- I added a new vector layer and opened a text box.  I added my name in fancy font and beveled it with a blue overlay I pulled from the shirt in the photo.  I added a drop shadow.


Step 4: Layer Four – I added another vector layer and opened a second text box.  In it I added my original quote: “I write stories so I can live more lives than my reality would otherwise allow.”  (Love that!)


Step 5: Layers Five thru Eleven – I used raster layers to add individual colored marbles over my photo and down the right margin.  The marbles are simply picture tubes I sized the way I wanted.  Placing each marble so that they appear in a straight vertical line was not easy on my laptop, since I don’t have a mouse yet and was working on the integrated mouse pad thing.  Not easy!


Step 6: Based on the color scheme that had emerged in Steps 1-5, I clicked down to Layer 1 and used Flood Fill to wash the background with a soft, barely-there, dusty blue.


Step 7:  (It’s a great idea to “Save Copy As…” at this point.  This will save your image with all your layers maintained.  DO NOT save the image and merge the layers!  You won’t be able to edit individual layers once you’ve merged down and saved.)  I exported a copy of the image and uploaded it to twitter.
(Never changed your twitter background?  Here’s how:  Go to your twitter feed. Click your name on the far right of the menu at the top.  Click Settings.  Click Design.  Scroll down, and below the twitter themes, click Change Background Image.  Click Choose File, and select your exported custom background image.  Do not check Tile Background.  Click Save Changes.)


Step 8:  This step took me the longest.  Adjusting your background to get the spacing of all the elements right takes a while.  I had to move around elements from each layer, re-exporting and re-uploading to twitter over and over until I had the look I was aiming for. 


Step 9:  I used the Change Design Colors option on twitter’s design page to choose the colors for the profile background (where your tweets appear), text, links, sidebar, and sidebar border.  Save Changes.

And that’s it!  Now I have a twitter page that truly reflects me (at this moment in time…I’ll probably change it in the future!) better than any of the preinstalled themes available.



If we don’t follow each other on twitter, please friend me! I’m NicoleDwrites


See you over there!!

Testing, testing

So, I’m trying out the Windows Live Writer software on my new laptop. Apparently I can create blog post here and upload them to Blogger.  Pretty cool, if I can get it to work.

If it works, I can use all kinds of funky fonts while writing my posts.

This would be a good thing, since I’m one of those crazy creatives who hates a constricted list of choices why she’s feeling, well, creative.    <—What?? Emoticons, too?  Yay!

Okay, going to see what this looks like on my blog.  No need to comment, should you happen across this.  Unless you use Windows Live Writer for your blog posts.  In which case I’d love to hear what you think of it.

 

String Bridge Chart Rush!

Today's the big day! Huge congrats to my friend Jessica Bell, whose debut novel String Bridge is available for sale as of today at Amazon.com. Way to go, Jess!

I have read String Bridge and I highly recommend it. The writing is lush and poetically descriptive in this powerful, character-driven book.  It will stir your emotions and, if you're like me, have you at different times in tears of sorrow and tears of joy.  I say, it's a must-read for all.

Today, we're flooding the blogosphere with requests for your help.  Let's see how high we can get Jessica's debut on the Amazon chart.  If you're looking for your next great read, look no further. Pick up your copy of String Bridge today.

And remember that the holidays are right around the corner.  Maybe you have a sister, mother, or friend who would appreciate String Bridge.  I'm crossing names off my Christmas shopping list today!






Here are the links to get you on your ordering way :D

eBook:Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/String-Bridge-ebook/dp/B005Y48DF6
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/String-Bridge-ebook/dp/B005Y48DF6

Paperback:
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/String-Bridge-Jessica-Bell/dp/0984631747

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/String-Bridge-Jessica-Bell/dp/0984631747/

And, don't forget that there is a companion CD to String Bridge.  The music and lyrics are by Jessica, and she performs the songs as well.  How cool is that??  And it gets better:   If you purchase String Bridge on Amazon today and email Jessica the receipt, she will send the soundtrack for free!  [jessica(dot)carmen(dot)bell(at)gmail(dot)com]

If you're interested in ordering "Melody Hill, The Other Side," after today, here are the ordering links:

Soundtrack:

iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=465313522

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Melody-Hill-Other-Side/dp/B005P7ARNS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317118328&sr=8-1

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Melody-Hill-Other-Side/dp/B005P7G02A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317118484&sr=8-1

Thanks so much for supporting debut authors, in particular the talented Jessica Bell!

Jessica's links:

String Bridge Website: http://www.stringbridge.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11502954-string-bridge

String Bridge Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv-hRMA0kqQ
String Bridge Merchandise: http://www.cafepress.com/janicephelps/8155170
website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/
blog: http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.jessica.bell
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MsBessieBell
retreat & workshop site: http://hwrw.blogspot.com/

                    

Jessica Bell is a literary women's fiction author, poet and singer/songwriter who grew up in Melbourne, Australia, to two gothic rock musicians who had successful independent careers during the '80s and early '90s. She spent much of her childhood travelling to and from Australia to Europe, experiencing two entirely different worlds, yet feeling equally at home in both environments. She currently lives in Athens, Greece and works as a freelance writer/editor for English Language Teaching publishers worldwide, such as HarperCollins, Pearson Education and Macmillan Education. In addition to String Bridge, Jessica has published a book of poetry called Twisted Velvet Chains. A full list of poems and short stories published in various anthologies and literary magazines can be found under Published Works & Awards, on her website. From September 2012 Jessica will be hosting the Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca, home of Odysseus.

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...a VLOG? Oh no, no, no, no!

Yesterday I interviewed the multi-talented Jessica Bell right here on the blog.  If you missed it, I urge you to skip the nonsense to follow, and click this link to go directly to it, instead.  

Seriously, if you read on from this point, you won't come away nearly as educated and enlightened as you would had you read about Jessica.

You still here?  Okay, but just remember, you've been warned.

The thing is, yesterday was a terrible writing day.  I blame it on my dentist.  Honestly, after a 9 a.m. teeth-cleaning, who can relax and settle into to a productive 3k+ writing session?  Yeah, you probably could.  But me?  I'm a big baby when it comes to sitting in that dentist's chair.  That's why I couldn't concentrate on my WiP, and why I ended up doing THIS, instead:

                              

Yep, hopefully today will go better than yesterday.  'Cause seriously, the last thing the world needs is more of this in it!

Thanks for indulging me, lol!