Write Or Die: The App

Write Or Die!

An article I just read reminded me that the famous, or should I say, infamous, writing app Write Or Die has transformed into an app for the iPad.

For writers, procrastination is an eternal enemy. It has classically waited in the pauses between words, in that argument outside the window, in being thirsty and needing a glass of water, in having to run to the bathroom. Now, with the Internet, it's also lurking there on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram and Path, and wait, did the London Review of Books just post a new issue online?

In other words, procrastination is everywhere.

Avoiding the procrastination temptation can be too much to ask. But hey, there's an app for that.
Write or Die is made specifically to keep writers on task. It comes with the tag line, "Putting the 'prod' in productivity."

How the app works: Writers begin typing in the app's window. When the typing slows to a stop, there are consequences. The writer can set how severe those consequences will be. In "gentle" mode, a notice pops up with a kind reminder that it's time to start writing. In "normal" mode, the app begins to emit an unpleasant sound, which only stops once the typing begins again. In "kamikaze" mode, the app is set to destroy: when the writing has stopped for too long, the words begin to erase themselves. There is also a "nyan cat" mode, turning an Internet meme into a destructive force.

The message is clear: Keep writing, or else.

Write or Die started out in a desktop version, created by a "Dr. Wicked," and became available as an app for the iPad last fall. Why pay attention now? Turns out, its system of possibly disastrous punishments actually works.

That's according to Helen Oyeyemi, a British writer whose novel "Mr. Fox" just came out in paperback in the U.K. When asked for writing advice this week by The Guardian, Oyeyemi recommended Write or Die, saying, "Because, sometimes, fear is the only motivator."

Read the rest here: Not writing? There's an app for that: Write or Die.

Here is a link to Write Or Die in the app store.

I've been experiencing a bit of writers blog so thought, "This is just the thing! I'll download it." Then I got sticker shock: $9.99! I know many writers swear by the (free) internet version of this app, and I was going to pay anywhere up to $5, but I've never paid $10 for an app.

Hmmm ... I think I need a glass of water ...

Short Story: A Night In The Country, 6th and Final

This post has been removed.

Fright Night Director/Writer Tom Holland To Make Stephen King Movie

The Ten O'clock People

I loved the original Fright Night movie. It had thrills, it had chills and it had things you had to believe in if you didn't want to get eaten alive. I'm reading over what I just typed. It's amazing (to me) the layers of meaning there, layers I didn't detect when I first watched the movie all those many years ago.

Horror Buff and writer/director of Fright Night (1985), Tom Holland has enthusiastically agreed to make Stephen King's Ten O'Clock People into a feature film.

Here is more from the press release:

Tom Holland has signed on to adapt and direct The Ten O’clock People, a feature adaptation of a short story by Stephen King. Holland and King previously collaborated on The Langoliers and Thinner. Holland took an extended hiatus, then returned to directing in 2007 in the Masters Of Horror series for Showtime. He’s writing and directing Twisted Tales, a series of shorts for FearNet, and plans for The Ten O’clock People to be his first theatrical  since Thinner, which King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.

The Ten O’clock People comes from a short story published in King’s 1993 Nightmares And Dreamscapes collection. Set in Boston, the story follows Brandon Pearson, who in trying to kick his smoking habit uncovers a frightening aspect of reality that he plans to extinguish through extreme measures.


Holland said the tale was inspired by King’s own struggles with a smoking habit. “This was Stephen trying to deal with his cigarette jones and the fairly new no-smoking laws back in the ’90s,” Holland said. “This film will be a modernization of the original short story, a paranoid suspense piece.”

The film goes into production this summer, produced by Making Ten O’clock Productions and Holland’s Dead Rabbit Films with Nathaniel Kramer and E.J. Meyers producing.
- Stephen King’s ‘The Ten O’Clock’ People Gets Feature Treatment From Tom Holland

The last adaptation of King's work that I watched was Bag of Bones with Pierce Brosnan. I had big hopes for that mini series but--although I love King's stories and Pierce Brosnan's acting--was a bit disappointed. I think sometimes I underestimate the challenges involved in bringing one of King's stories to the screen.

From what I've read of this movie, though, my hopes for a great spine-chilling take of horror and redemption are very high.

Cheers.

Related Links:
- The Ten O'clock People is included in  Nightmares and Dreamscapes.
- Stephen King: 15 tips on how to become a better writer
- Quotes From The Master of Horror, Stephen King
- Stephen King's Doctor Sleep: Release delayed

Publishing With Amazon: The Hidden Cost Of Delivery

Andrew Hyde's book, This Book Is About Travel, is selling well at 9.99 per download, but after delivery costs are factored in Hyde found, to his amazement, that Amazon pays the worst of all the platforms.

Kindle: $5.10
iBooks: $7.00
.PDF: $9.25
Nook: $6.50

He writes:

Wait, Amazon pays out the worst?  What? This can’t be right! They are the best right? Everyone loves them.  I love them.  I dig a bit deeper and find this little gem:

Avg. Delivery Cost ($) 2.58. 

So for every $9.99 book I sell I, the author, pay 30% to Amazon for the right to sell on Amazon AND $2.58 for them to deliver the DIGITAL GOOD to your device.  It is free for the reader, but the author, not amazon, pays for delivery.

The file itself is under their suggested 50MB cap Amazon says to keep it under at 18.1MB. The book contains upwards of 50 pictures and the one file for Kindle needs to be able to be read on their smallest displays in black and white and their full color large screen Mac app).  I’m confused.  Amazon stores a ton of the Internet on S3/EC2, they should have the storage and delivery down.  If I stored that file on S3/EC2 it would cost me $.01 PER FIVE DOWNLOADS. Hat tip to Robby for that one. Use Amazon to run your website: .01 to download a file.  Use amazon to sell your book: $2.58 per download + 30% of whatever you sell.
- Amazon’s markup of digital delivery to indie authors is ~129,000%

Read more here: Amazon’s markup of digital delivery to indie authors is ~129,000%

The delivery cost of your book is something to keep in mind. In general, if your book is only text the cost for delivery won't exceed a few cents. Also, keep in mind that only those offering their book for between $2.99 and $9.99 have to play delivery costs.

John Cleese Talks About Creativity

John Cleese begins his talk by saying that "creativity simply cannot be explained" but goes on to give it a pretty clear outline. It is, he says, not a talent, it is a way of operating.

Creative people, he says, can get themselves into a particular mood, a playful mood, in which their creativity can function.

John Cleese advises us to stick with whatever problem we are facing and refuse to settle for the obvious answer or the easy way out. He admonishes us to be prepared to tolerate the slight anxiety caused by not solving the problem. It is tempting to take the easy decision because that would make us feel better, the anxiety of not having decided would be gone, but we need to give our minds as long as possible to come up with something original.

Confidence is important. Don't be afraid, he says, of making a mistake. Don't fret over what will happen if you do this, or if you do that. You can't be playful if you're frightened of experimenting. You have to risk saying things that are silly or illogical or wrong.

This reminds me of the advice Bill Murray gave in his Esquire interview: "You've gotta go out there and improvise and you've gotta be completely unafraid to die. You've got to be able to take a chance to die."

John Cleese's talk is about 30 minutes long but it goes quickly, he is a marvelous speaker. I highly recommend it.

Pixar: 22 Ways To Tell A Great Story

Who doesn't like a Pixar movie? Pixar's films have made almost 8 billion dollars worldwide and have won 26 Academy Awards.

Want to know how Pixar creates riveting stories? Here are 22 pearls of writing wisdom from Emma Coats and the creative minds at Pixar:

1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.

3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.

4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.

11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.

12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.

14: Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.

15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.

17: No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on - it’ll come back around to be useful later.

18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?

21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?

22: What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there. (Pixar story rules (one version))

Emma Coats (@lawnrocket), a storyboard artist at Pixar Studios, originally published each of the above as a tweet.

Thanks to the Passive Voice Blog for posting a link to Emma's tweets.

Other articles you might like:

- How To Write Short Stories
- Write A Novel In A Year, Chuck Wendig's Plan: The Big 350
- 7 Tips On How To Get Your Guest Post Accepted

5 Points To Ponder Before You Self Publish

From Mashable Business:

[S]elf-publishing means you won’t get all of the resources that a publishing company might provide, and you’ll have to pull a lot of the weight yourself. Here are some things you should consider before embarking on your journey to publication.
- 5 things to consider before publishing your book

I agree! This is the kind of article I wish I'd read before I published my first book.

1. Publishing Platform

The number of publishing platforms is increasing. Just last week, Kobo announced the creation of a self publishing portal called Writing Life. Here are a few more:

Ebooks:
- Amazon KDP
- Barnes & Noble PubIt
- Smashwords
- Kobo Writing Life (in beta at the moment)

Print On Demand:
- CreateSpace
- Lulu
- Lightning Source

The choices may seem bewildering. If you've never published a book before then I'd suggest you get your feet wet by publishing an ebook, forget about putting out a paper version for now. Perhaps you have a short story that you would like to offer for sale?

Now that we've established the format, what about the platform? It's up to you, of course, but if this is your first time I would suggest publishing on Smashwords. In my opinion the only reason not to publish on Smashwords is Amazon's KDP Select program and that is a topic for another time (see the Related Links section, at the end).

It's easy to publish your book on Smashwords IF you follow the advice Mark Coker gives in his Smashwords Style Guide. I have found the Smashwords Style Guide to be the single most helpful book for formatting (or un-formatting as the case may be) a .doc file so that the finished ebook is error free.

If you do decide to publish through Smashwords remember to download all the different formats (mobi, epub, etc.) your book has been converted into and check each one for formatting errors. For instance, a table of contents that looks wonderful in Amazon's mobi format might look terrible in the epub format.

It may take you a few tries, but it gets easier each time you publish. Also, the hints Mark Coker offers in Publishing on Smashwords apply whether you are publishing on Smashwords or Amazon. And the book is free! I know this reads like a commercial for Coker's book, but it's not just me, many self-published authors have found his book invaluable.

2. Cost

While anyone can publish an ebook at no cost--other than your time which, arguably, is the most valuable thing of all--many people chose to contract various professionals to help them with tasks like editing, formatting, cover art, and so on. The money spent can add up, and quickly, so it's a good idea to sit down at the very beginning and decide how much of the work you're comfortable doing yourself.

The Cover
First impressions count--sometimes a glance is all anyone will give your book--so you don't want your book discounted because of a cover that screams "self-published".

You could hire someone to do the cover, and if you choose this option keep in mind you can expect covers can run anywhere from $100 to $350. Of course you could get a cover for less or more, but you should be able to get a decent cover in this price range.

If you decide to do it yourself, and I'm an advocate of at least trying this before you hire someone, there are some excellent image manipulation programs available for little to no cost. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), for instance. Of course if you already have Photoshop on your computer, use that!

When I do my covers my goal is this: Don't make it ugly. I'm not a graphic designer so, for me, simple is better and I let the principle of "the absence of ugliness" be my guide. Good luck whichever way you decide to go.

Editing
Get someone else to edit your work before you publish it. Period. There is no way you will be able to catch the errors in your manuscript the way another, more objective, person can.

If you can't afford to pay an editor then get together with other self-publishers and help edit their work in exchange for someone else editing yours.

Goofy tip: Lately I've been running my blog posts and stories through a text-to-speech program, NaturalReader. It's amazing how many errors it catches! I still need a human editor to go over my work, but the cleaner the copy your human editor gets, the better!

ISBN Numbers
While doubtless a worthy investment, if you're planning on publishing your book exclusively in electronic form and only through Amazon or Smashwords, you probably don't need to buy an ISBN number. Smashwords will provide one for free, if you ask, and Amazon will give you an ASIN number. (See 'Related Articles' for more on publishing through Amazon).

3. Marketing

For the self-published author nothing can replace building a platform. "Platform" is one of those abstract words which can mean almost anything. In my opinion, you'll need to set up a website, or at least a blog, and you'll need to blog regularly. This need not be onerous, even if you blog once a month you'll start to build an audience.

Google Analytics
Google Analytics is an invaluable tool, especially in the beginning when it looks as though no one is reading your blog. And it's free!

I'd been blogging for a few months before I set up my account with Google Analytics and it was a revelation. I remember jumping around the living room because a whole 5 people had come by my blog that day.

Twitter
I'd also advise setting up a twitter account. If you don't want to do Facebook that's fine, but I suspect you would be missing out on an opportunity. I know I should do more with Facebook, but I've found the interface to be mildly cantankerous--or perhaps that's just me.

Remember: Whatever you decide to do, keep writing!

Related Articles:
- More on Amazon Select: Is exclusivity worth it?
- Amazon's Ranking Algorithm Has Changed: what this means for indie authors
- Changes in Amazon's Algorithm: An Update

Books on Publishing (Free):
- Smashwords Style Guide, Mark Coker
- Smashwords Book Marketing Guide
- The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success

"5 Points To Ponder Before You Self Publish," copyright© 2012 by Karen Woodward.

What THE WONDER PETS Can Teach Writers

This is from 12most.com. (The following are excerpts.)

1. Formulas = built-in consistency

Doesn’t matter if I’ve seen an episode of Wonder Pets or Super Why for the first time or the millionth time: the formula is consistent. Beginning-middle-end. Simple. Straight forward. Built-in consistency.

I know that the opening sequence for Wonder Pets presents the lesson for the episode that is nailed home by the animal they save that day. I know that words make up the animals and objects in Word World and that, when they build a word, they sound it out, put the letters together and then celebrate the accomplishment. “We did it! We built a word!”

2. Simplicity

The Wonder Pets, Word World and Super Why! get simplicity. It comes across clearly in each story line. Call it breaking it down to bare bones, call it dumbing down, it is still simplicity. Even though I’m an adult, and have long since learned the lessons imparted (hopefully), I still get them  because of their simple presentation.

3. Teamwork matters

As much as I’m used to working on my own, by myself, little gets done without the help of others. While we may not all work for a company, or a department within a company, if we’re involved in the same project we’re a team. That project cannot be completed without input and support from all.

I think this point, especially, applies to independent authors. Sometimes we feel very alone but we have a great support network in the form of other indie authors. I'm amazed by the amount of encouragement and support I've received from my peers. It's awesome!

4. Excitement is infectious

I know. I know. It sounds ridiculous. Seriously though. My 3-year-old nephew will literally jump up and down, on the couch, too, and sing “Let’s build a word! We did it! We built a word!” It’s infectious. I can’t help but smile, and before I’m even aware, I’m singing along too! And it’s downright impossible to be in a bad mood with such excitement around. Which leads me to point #5.

I know it sounds cliche, but sometimes a positive attitude--I will finish this book--is everything.

5. Positive approach

The Wonder Pets, Word World and Super Why! all have this positive slant to them. I know they are kid shows, but there are kid shows that don’t have such a positive slant. Sponge Bob comes readily to mind. Doesn’t matter the obstacle presented, there’s a positive approach to the problem and a positive celebration when solved. No one is put down, backhanded or otherwise. No one is left out.

We would all do well to stop for a moment, and think of how we can approach obstacles in a more positive way. The doom-and-gloom and finger pointing, the negative approach we so forcefully demonstrate, clearly is not working.

6. Nicknames are cool… if they are meaningful

Alpha Pig! He builds the alphabet so you can find the letters to the spell the word. Rhyming Red! Sings a song of rhyming words. When you give nicknames, or code names to things, that’s cool, when the nicknames, or code names, are meaningful. There’s no wasted time and effort wondering what the name means, or why the person, or character, has that name.

This is especially true for character names. Sometimes I wonder if a large part of  J.K. Rowling's success was the clever naming of her characters.


Read the rest of the article here: 12 Most Words of Wisdom While Watching Wonder Pets, Word World, and Super Why!

I'm going to try and keep these points in mind as I sit down to write later today.

Keep writing!

Call For Authors: Write a DEAD MAN Novel

Want to write the next novel in Lee Goldberg's DEAD MAN series? This is from Lee's website:

How would you like to become a PUBLISHED AUTHOR...and win $1000 in cash and prizes?

Now's your chance to win a $500 advance, a $500 Amazon gift card, and a publishing contract to write your own tale in the hugely popular DEAD MAN saga...to be published in early 2013 by Amazon's 47North imprint. 

 HOW TO ENTER

All you have to do is write a sample chapter and a brief outline of your story, complete the entry form and sign the release...and email the whole package to us at thedeadmanbookcontest@gmail.com by August 1, 2012...or before we receive 500 entries...whichever comes first. Each entry will be judged by a group of current writers of THE DEAD MAN, led by series co-creators Lee Goldberg & William Rabkin.  

WHAT ARE THE RULES?

The contest rules are below. Please read them carefully to make sure that your entry meets all of the eligibility requirements before you submit. 

 Good luck!

For the complete contest rules, click here: You Can Write a DEAD MAN Novel

Lee Goldberg has been writing for decades. I got to know his work through his excellent Mr. Monk books, but he is a prolific writer. This isn't my genre, or I'd be the first to apply.

Good luck!

5 Book Review Blogs

When my book, Until Death, first came out I went on a hunt for book blogs. I'd read about Amanda Hocking's incredible success and knew that she attributed much of the early popularity of her books to the many book bloggers who reviewed her work.

Funny thing, when I searched for book review blogs a few months ago I couldn't find more than a dozen and, of those, only two or three would accept self published work.

Ack!

As luck would have it, I recently came across a few book review blogs and thought I'd tell you folks about them. (This also gives me a nice convenient list for when I need it next!)

You'll notice that most of the book review sites I mention below don't have a stated policy on whether they accept self-published work. Since many book review sites do explicitly (and emphatically!) state they do not accept self-published work, I'd say that those without a policy are willing to treat a self-published book as a book like any other and you're free to query them like the author/publisher you are.

I've found each site has different policies regarding whether to send a query first, what form the query should be in, and so forth, so I've provided a link to the site's review policy in the title.

1. JJ Ireads: Book reviews and more from an e-book lover

Kind of books: Young Adult, Contemporary Fiction, Mysteries, Nonfiction memoirs (humor)

Book formats: Ebooks (mobi, epub, PDF). Electronic formats preferred but will also accept paperback or hardcover.


Self-published work: This reviewer did not state whether they accept self-published work.

Notes: May also do author interviews and giveaways. Contact the site fore details.

2. Reading Teen

Kind of books: Anything teen or young adult.

Book formats: Hardback or paperback please.

Self-published work: This reviewer did not state whether they accept self-published work.

3. Mundie Moms

Kind of books: Only young adult books, please.

Book formats: "At this time we only accept paperback or hardcopies of books, ARCs and manuscripts. We only accept books that follow our blog's genres."

Self-published work: I found no explicit mention of whether Mundie Moms accepts self-published work.

Notes: Mundie Moms also does author interviews and giveaways.

4. Novel Thoughts

Kind of books: "I usually am drawn to read Young Adult novels, but I read the occasional Adult or Middle Grade books. I do not accept ebook requests. If you think I would be interested in reviewing your books, please contact me at: contact [at] novelthoughtsblog [dot] com."

Book formats: No ebooks.

Self-published work: No stated policy.

Notes: "I would love to read and review your books, host giveaways, or hold interviews here on my blog, Novel Thoughts."

5. The Book Smugglers

ARCs: "Ana Grilo and Thea James, The Book Smugglers, are currently open to receiving solicited Advance Reading Copies and Review Copies of books."

Kind of books: "Our preferred genres are Speculative Fiction (Horror, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction), Young Adult (Speculative Fiction/Paranormal and Contemporary), with the occasional Romance novel (Paranormal, Historical, Contemporary). This does not, however, mean that we will not consider books from other genres! We love graphic novels, manga, mysteries, historical fiction, and will consider any book with a great synopsis."

Book formats: "Our review copy preference is for ebooks, followed by print copies. As such, digital ARCs/review copies will be given precedence over print copies. Our preferred format is EPUB."

 Self-published work: Yes! They write:

While the bulk of the books that we review are from large publishing houses in the United States and the United Kingdom, we also love to hear from small press and independently published authors (i.e. Joel A. Sutherland’s Frozen Blood or Michael Hicks’s In Her Name).

Notes: Contact The Book Smuggers here: http://thebooksmugglers.com/contact-us

I'm going to start keeping a list of book review blogs, especially those that accept self published work. This is something of an experiment, but if you review books, please use the contact page (see the top of this blog) or email me at karen [at] karenwoodward [dot] org and send me your site address as well as your review policy and I'll be sure to include you.

Keep writing!