Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers

[robkelk]

Then there is this site:
https://www.writersdigest.com/

I think I might have seen them mentioned once or twice over the decades...

Yeah, Writers' Digest should be on the list if they aren't already.

[Norgarth]

Something that might fit here:

[SilverFang01]

If I may, I would like to recommend Overly Sarcastic Productions Trope Talks playlist, where Red discusses a trope every week

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...DXGyeZjZ5e

[Labster]

This one popped up on Hacker News, thought I'd share:

Nine Truths for Roleplayers Who Start Writing

[batzulger]

How not to write a fic, coupled with some good advice on how to...

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13654665/1/...collection

[robkelk]

A bit of SF writing advice from a surprising source:

How much science fiction terminology do you want?

The less you use, the better. we limit complex terminology as much as possible, use it only where necessary to maintain the flavor of the show and encourage believeability.
IMPORTANT: The writer must know what he means when he uses science of projected science terminology. A scattergun confusion of meaningless phrases only detracts from believability.

The Star Trek Guide (April 17, 1967), page 30

(Yes, the original series actually said in the writers' bible to avoid techno babble.)

[robkelk]

A quiz aimed at children: Do you know your punctuation and symbols?

Sometimes, you want a sentence to just trail off... What do you call those three dots you put at the end of one of these sentences?

Ellipsis
Dotty McDotters
Exclamation points

[Black Aeronaut]

Urgh. And here I was hoping it'd ask some really hard questions, like the various ways semicolons are used

[robkelk]

Well, it is for children...

[nocarename]

Urgh.  And here I was hoping it'd ask some really hard questions, like the various ways semicolons are used

The quick rules are, of course, quick.

If you want to use a comma but that would be wrong, then you should probably use a semicolon.
If you want to use a semicolon for readability, you probably want to have two sentences.
If you have two sets of places where you want to commas but can only use a comma in one or the other (nested lists for example), the semicolon is for the outer set.

[hazard]

Funnily enough, the semi colon question would actually be answered with 'dot comma' in Dutch. It made me double check for a moment. For reasons.

[classicdrogn]

Don't worry Dotty, we can always use our special names for each other! Even if the world says it's wrong, our love can overcome...

[Inquisitive Raven]

If Rob's going to link to a kid's punctuation guide, I can link to a basic grammar website:
Daily Grammar.

If you sign up for the mailing list, you will get a daily email containing a short grammar lesson. Note: everyone gets the same email and today's lesson introduces adjectives. You can also work through the lessons on the website for free or purchase the lessons in dead tree or ebook form. There is also a workbook available.

[Bob Schroeck]

Huh. Maybe we should sign Kuma (a prolific and grammatically problematic contributor at All The Tropes) up for that...

[classicdrogn]

If you use Calibre for your ebooks but haven't gotten the 5.2 update from a few days ago, I'll note that while I can't give specific data (not having kept a record of exactly how long it takes) but updating my list of nearly 1500 fanfics hosted on various sites just now took about 20% less time than in v4 - a difference of literal hours in this case. My internet speed hasn't changed and is hardly the deciding factor in retrieving sub-megabyte text files anyway, but the little blips in the status bars as it asks for something and gets a reply were coming much closer together than I remember, so I'd guess there must have been some serious revisions in code efficiency for the processing and turnaround of jobs.

[Black Aeronaut]

Thanks for the heads up, CD.

On my end, I've been looking at a distraction free writing app called iA Writer.

What's really interesting about it is that it is fully cross-platform, with versions for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.

What this means is that, using it's agnostic approach to cloud-based file sharing, you can use whatever service you like, be it Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Files, or Apple Cloud, and pick up right where you left off as you jump from one machine to another.

Downside: you have to pay for a separate license with each version you use - buying the PC license won't net you the Android license as well. But at $35 per license, they aren't exactly asking for your first-born here.

Downside for me: They have two-week demos for all versions... except the iOS version. And my tablet and phone are both iOS, so I haven't been able to evaluate just how well everything translates over from the PC to the iOS. Dammit.

[drakensis]

In the run up to Nanowrimo I wrote up my planning process to share with other writers in the local community that are struggling or just looking for advice.

How I Planned A Story

[batzulger]

Yeah...my writing strategy tends to make people scream in rage.

[Star Ranger4]

You have a strategy? I thought you just kind of opened a new chapter page and started typing....

[batzulger]

Well yeah...I never said it was a good strategy.

[itsune9tl]

Actually it's a very good strategy as long as your not focused on a particular story line. It allows you to write scenes and descriptions and decide where they fit later. Or if you are like Batzulger, it lets you write in different stories as suits your mood at the time.

[batzulger]

I still do not recommend 'The batzulger Lack of System' to anybody that wants to keep their sanity.

[Norgarth]

What about for those who are willing to lose their sanity or have already lost it?

[Bob Schroeck]

That's a topic to be discussed in another thread. Let's save this one for resources, tools and tips.

[itsune9tl]

Ok, I would suggest disabling your computer Auto-correct for this exercise.

One of the easiest tools for breaking writers block is to get in to the habit of writing stream of conscience for one hour, every day. By that I mean you sit down, and write whatever comes into your head even if you start by writing "I don't want to write today." Save these session in a separate folder, and at the end of the day go review what ever you have written from three days ago.