Writing Mediums

I realized that the last three posts I've done have been more on the serious side, so I thought I'd do a more fun one before I disappear into the cave that is called college finals (2 out of 4 done!)

I can't remember if I've ever mentioned it on the blog before, but I do the majority of my drafting (around 98% of it) on Scrivener. If you're unfamiliar with the app, then I'll let you search up the details on the internet because there are a ton of informative posts floating around and reasons as to why you should use it. The quick and dirty as why I prefer it to other apps such as MS Word when it comes to drafting is:

• It's super easy for organizing chapters and scenes while keeping them all in one place (you don't have to have a mammoth of a Word doc that takes forever to scroll through, and you also don't have to have a bunch of Word docs for each chapter). 
• It has a cool cork board function that allows you to outline in a more visual way (I actually don't use this function enough).
• It just makes me more excited about drafting.

The last point is something that sounds sort of silly, but I like the LOOK of Scrivener and that alone makes me more excited about putting words down on the screen. 

So Scrivener is one medium I like to write on. The other? Old fashioned paper.

Behold my two notebooks:

 The black one is actually a sketchbook. I've had it the longest--it's 3/4 of the way filled--and I love writing in it. I think it might be because the paper is unlined...there's something less restricting about it. I'll write it in whenever I'm stuck on a scene, sometimes writing the scene all out by hand. And sometimes I'll simply use to it figure out plot things and character motivations.

I picked up the tan notebook this year because I'm going to be traveling this summer, and I wanted something lighter than the black one (which is nice and weighty) to carry with me. I have a random scene from a New Adult novel written on the first page, but I'm not sure if I'll continue it yet.

As for my preferred writing instrument? I love gel pens (or any pen with water-based ink) with super fine tips. I am actually very picky when it comes to pens. It's weird, I know, but I can't help it. But usually, I turn to my notebooks when I'm at a super stuck state in a novel, and so I need all the help I can get. For once, instead of just having a party in my head, I need the writing to feel good. I need to be excited by something tactile, such as the flow of ink as I form letters and words and the way the words cling to the comb of the paper. 

Did I just slip the fact that I'm picky about paper comb too? Well then, I think that's enough for this post.

Let me know of your favorite writing mediums and whether or not you ever draft by hand!

More Tools! Story Analyzer

Geez, she's on a tool-spazz, you might be thinking. And I kind of am. But I need all the help I can get when I need a boost from revisions, so here you are--tool #2, a pot of gold that I can't believe I just discovered:

The Story Analyzer

My MS is cowering in fear in some dark cranny as I drag it out onto my blog, because that's the only way I can show how the analyzer works. Sorry, MS. Bear with me. You're starting to look prettier.

 You start by going to this lovely website. Then you copy and paste 60k or less of your text into the text box, between the fancy computer jargon that makes no sense to me (should look like a bunch of weird symbols like this-ish: </br...>). I tried to select the do not read quotes button, but that screwed up my analysis, so the program did analyze all of my dialogue, but if you can get the button to work then do select it because the beautifulest of dialogue is not always diction and syntax perfect. Since my story is in first person, I also checked the account for "I" button.

I find it kind of hilarious that I'm just under the ratio for acceptable frequency of starting sentences of conjunctions. I feel like I use them quite often, so this merits a happy dance! Let's just hope that my ratio stays at .49 :D

 All I can say is...where the heck did the ?? come from?!!! Must go through MS. That is horrible. Really.

And not sure how I feel over that 13% -ly thing. Seems kind of high...

 Once again, I can escaping by the skin of my teeth for acceptable frequency of passive voice. I guess it's a good thing. It's not quite as bad as .49 out of .5 for beginning sentences with conjunctions.

 Wade in=weighed in? I did not know that--learning something new everyday. Hehe, I'll probably change the wade in to wade through.

The wordiness is no surprise. Completely guilty. I'll go back and comb out those redundancies.

 Viable is a fad word? I'll look up on that. In the heat of the moment definitely is. Oh goodness me.

I think that age level is just in the right range. That's a relief. And no sentences over 20 words. Does that call for celebration?

I strongly advise those who are in the process of revision to check out this amazing tool! Here's the website again if you missed it :)

(All stats are from my MS INGENICIDE. First person, 64k.)

TV Tropes

A great writing tool that doesn't get half as much credit as it deserves is the website TV Tropes. Don't let the name fool you--TV Tropes contains tropes from all different sorts of medium, from plays to fanfiction to literature to anime, etc.

Sometimes, when I'm stressed and don't feel like being productive, I turn to anime (guilty pleasure, besides chocolate). Those days. I can blow out 10, 15 episodes, no sweat. Anime was actually the vehicle for my discovery of TV Tropes. The site does an amazing analysis of ALL the tropes in many animes. And I confess, I read them! Now, you may be asking why I'm such a dork, to which I'll answer 1. I am and 2. 50% of animes are actually very worthwhile if you have a taste for it, but the other 50% is hilariously bad, and reading up on tropes for the bad ones always result in great laughs. Reading up tropes on the good ones is also helpful for inspiration--tropes get a bad name sometimes (people call them cliches or stereotypes) but you have to realize that many things in writing are tropes. In fact, there are 7 basic kinds of plots (or 9, check me on that) and you might be like no way, but read them on TV tropes and you'll find that is it, in fact, true. There are 7 kinds of plots. Gasp! Does that mean we are unoriginal as writers? No! What matters is your execution of a trope, your own personal twist.

Like I said, tropes can be helpful. You can see which tropes were done well in which works (the database in HUGE. Most books with a respectable readership have a trope page), and which tropes were done not so well. I'm writing this post because I've come across a trope in my MS called ESCAPE BY AIR VENT. And now I'm sort of in a pickle. I can't seem to remember if I was being lazy when I had my main character escape by air vent, of if it served a purpose. Because if I was being lazy, that is a big no-no. Tropes are not crutches to use when you can't think of your own original twist.

*sigh* Now I must think of how to revise the air vent scene.

What tools do you like to use to help you write?