The most insidious part of The Waiting Game is that there isn’t just one waiting game. There are at least THREE!  For example, the first one comes when you send off your initial query and then wait for a response.  The second when the agent responds to you requesting the first 3 chapters of your work and/or a synopsis.  The third is when the agent requests your entire manuscript for review.

And the particularly joyous thought is that your manuscript can be rejected at ANY of those previously mentioned stages!  It almost wants to make you start drinking, doesn’t?

I think I’ll go have a coffee now.

Post from: Renegade Sanctuary

And the first query’s off!

• Stereo Microphone: Make sure the recorder has a stereo mic.  This will give you a higher quality recording so you can better understand what you said at that time.
• Two or More Hours Recording Time: Most people looking at the specifications will see high recording times, but watch out.  Make sure you get a recorder that will record at least two hours at its highest quality settings.  Then if you need more time you can switch the recorder to a lower quality setting and get close to double the time.
• PC or Mac Interface: Your digital recorder should have the ability to interface with your computer so you can off-load all of your recorded notes for archival and transcription purposes.  Now for my Mac friends, you may have to use a more expensive recorder in order to get Mac support, but it will be worth it since whatever software that comes with the recorder will be able to convert the compressed format the recorder uses into Mac-friendly audio formats.
• Uncompressed Audio: This isn’t a big deal, but for maximum flexibility, you want to get a voice recorder that can record in uncompressed audio.  This makes it easier to use your notes on systems that don’t support Windows-only audio formats which are popular on most recorders (WMA is a prime example).
• Expandable Storage: Some new recorders now have the ability to accept SD cards.  This is a great capability to have because then you can record on the highest quality settings you can and then simplly switch out the SD card for a new one. If you go this route, make sure you get a couple of SD cards also.

You might be wondering how much will this cost you?  The good news is a good digital voice recorder can be purchased in the range of $45-$100.  For example, I use an Olympus DS-2 Digital Voice Recorder, which has most of the features above except for SD-based storage.  I also selected this recorder because it came with Mac-compatible software. Olympus has several models which will work with the Mac.  You can also look at Sony’s recorders but I tend to prefer Olympus since they do not force you into using a proprietary recording and external memory format (ATRAC and Memory Stick respectively).

If you still don’t want to put down that much cash and you have an iPod then you can purchase an accessory like Griffin’s iTalk Pro which turns your iPod into a stereo digital voice recorder for about $29.  The only caveat is that the quality sometimes can be spotty unless you hold it close to your mouth.

Whatever you end up using  just make sure it doesn’t distract you from the road.  If you find yourself wrapped up in a scene, then you may want to pull over and finish it off.  But, if you’re like myself and can talk while driving, then you’ll be able to use this wasted bit of time to churn out even more writing.  You could even use it as your scheduled writing time since it’s a lot easier to transcribe what you said that creating it.

Time to take a drive!

[Originally appeared at Writer’s Roundabout]

Post from: Renegade Sanctuary

Writing while you drive - Part 2

When your driving you’re paying attention to the road, but what about those times you’re sitting bumper to bumper and you can feel the minutes ticking away into oblivion.  Why not use this time to write? Now even when you’re bumper to bumper you don’t want to necessarily take out a notebook or laptop and start banging away at whatever project you have going on.  You need to keep your eyes on the road, so you’ll need to equip yourself with the one tool that will open up this time to you: A digital voice recorder.

We’ll go more into what is a good digital voice recorder, but for now let’s talk about what kind of writing you can do on the road.  Here are some things you can do to put this normally wasted time to work for you:

• Brainstorming: Why not use this time to come up with article or story ideas?  Listen to your radio and let the ideas flow. Although this time, instead of trying to remember it, you’ll have it recorded and ready to go when you reach your destination and hit your computer.
• Research Notes: You can use this time to think about what you need to complete in order to write your article.  Leave yourself a note that you need to finish research on the world’s largest Kiwi.  Ramble on about possible names you want to find out the meaning of for your serial killer nun.
• Write Dialogue: Do you have a scene that’s bothering you?  Or did something in a song you just heard inspire a new one?  With your handy voice recorder you can act out the scene from the comfort of your own car.  Try an make your voice sound like your characters.  Don’t worry if you sound ridiculous, you’re alone.  Although I wouldn’t recommend doing this while you have your children/friends/significant other with you. They might think you’ve finally lost it.
• Write an entire scene or article: If you want to do more than dialogue, go ahead and write the entire scene.  Know what you want to say for an article? Go ahead and talk it through! You can then transcribe it the next time you get in front of a computer.

With your handy voice recorder by your side you can do most anything you could do in front of a computer.  It’s a great way to use this time which could otherwise go wasted cursing at other drivers.  And think of how it would reduce road rage.  You’d be too busy to get mad!

So now you’re ready to get in your car and write, but have you thought about your voice recorder?  Just what do you need to make sure your brilliant article on penguin conspiracies makes it to your publisher?  Because while there are plenty of inexpensive recorders, the last thing you need is to find yourself scratching your head trying to figure out what you said when that semi was idling beside you.  In the next post of this series, we’ll go into what sort of digital voice recorder you should look for.

[Originally appeared at Writer’s Roundabout]

Post from: Renegade Sanctuary

Writing while you drive - Part 1

It’s been sent off to the readers and now I have to move on to the next part of my graduation task list: The Genre Essay.

Now, those of you who know me can attest to how much I loath essays. Most of the time I view them as busy work set upon my by a professor who has nothing better to do than make me waste my time. This time though I think it’ll be different. After all, it’s an essay on something academic in genre I love so much: science-fiction. Maybe it will be interesting instead of mind-numbingly boring I don’t know. But, it’ll be interesting to find out.

Also on the plate is looking for a literary agent. I’ve polished off my synopsis and now I need to craft the dreaded query letter. That damned letter is like writer’s kryptonite. I find it hilarious that most of us have no problems putting out a multi-book opus which has the potential to sell millions of copies, but then we’re afraid of writing a little letter that might top out at two hundred words. That will be what I’ll be focusing my efforts on after having scoured the Writer’s Market Agent’s guide earlier in the week.

If any other science-fiction writers out there have an agent they love and is looking for authors, please contact me because I’m definitely looking for that right agent to grow with.

Post from: Renegade Sanctuary

The Manuscript’s Complete!

I’ve never had the opportunity before to speak in front of a large group of people at a conference so it was like I mentioned in my last entry, both exciting and nerve-wracking.  Exciting in I could talk about what I’ve done with Calling Home and nerve-wracking in preparing myself to speak in front of what could be a large group of people.

After getting some advice from family, friends, and other bloggers (especially a friend who came from out of town to see me speak, hi BrilliantJeni! ), I came to the conference armed with my whopping two slides and a sheaf of paper with my listed topics.  The presentation room was a classroom at Rollins College and it could fit about thirty or forty people.  For most of the day I sat in the room and listened to some other great presentations and watched as people who knew what they were doing a lot more than I lead their sessions.  I got some great pointers on how to run a session ala unconference style.

What’s an unconference style session you ask?  Put simply, it’s a session where you, as the session leader, are merely there as a facilitator in a discussion.  You’re to actively involve the session participants in this discussion.  As you can guess this is a very different form of presentation, but one I ultimately enjoyed more.

When my session started, there were about 20 people left.  I was happy to see that many had stayed to listen to me since I honestly expected about five to ten people.  I was furthermore surprised when I asked how many had written creatively to raise their hand about fifteen of them did so.  Definitely the audience I was looking for.

The discussion went well, with questions being asked and answers given.  All in all, the forty minutes I had went by quickly and then it was time for the final keynote of the day.

I had a great time at BlogOrlando and encourage any to come on by and hear some great people speak when it comes around in September of next year.

Post from: Renegade Sanctuary

Thoughts on BlogOrlando

I guess this will be the first of many public presentations I’ll be doing in my career as a writer. I just hadn’t thought it would be before the publication of my first novel.

I’ ve been asked to present at Blog Orlando 2008. I’ll be speaking about my social media novel, Calling Home, and will also be leading a discussion about Writing Social Fiction. I’m looking forward to it next Saturday and if any of you are in Orlando on Saturday September 26th, then please come on by and stop in on my presentation.

I’ll spend some of the time telling people about Calling Home and ideas behind it but then going into how to apply some of those techniques into writing your own social novel.

It’s gonna be a blast and I’m looking forward to seeing you there!

Post from: Renegade Sanctuary

Presenting at BlogOrlando 2008

I love getting free things.  Free samples, free software, and most of all free beverages and food.  One of the best places to get free beverages and food is at a conference.

The opening reception at IZEAFest was a prime example of a great spread.  Hors D’oeuvres, various finger foods and an open bar were the order of the day and they were exquisite.  I know it must have been expensive, but the impression it gave was one of great class.  Other conferences should aspire to the yumalicious food and copious drink which were there.

So this morning I came in and found a nice arrangement of coffee, sodas and tea available.  I had thought “Neat, now I can have another cup of coffee this morning.”  After pouring the coffee and putting in whatever accouterments into the cup, I then tasted it.

Ugh.

Why is it every time there’s “free” coffee I end up paying for it when I drink it?  It’s as if the hotel had intentionally filtered said coffee through a jock strap while making this vile stuff.  They even laughably served it in Starbucks cups.

Before you get on my case and say I’m raggin’ on IZEAFest, let me tell you that there are very few conferences I’ve been to where free coffee ever tasted good.  The ones which have good coffee usually have some sort of single serve coffee system like a Keurig, or Flavia.  So with that in mind I want to know why does free coffee have to taste so bad?  Wouldn’t you as a conference organizer want to give your attendees the best impression you can?

I think sometimes it’s just a matter of what’s only available from the conference center or hotel.  But maybe, just maybe I’d like to see a conference take the initiative and organize something really special for free coffee.  How about a Java bar or a couple of single serve coffee machines?

Com’on people. Let’s make free coffee something people want to drink instead of just tolerate.

Post from: Renegade Sanctuary

Coffee Break Friday - Free Coffee?

IZEAFest is a blogging, social and new media conference.  Now I bet you’re wondering what in the world would a conference like this be for a traditional media genre science-fiction and fantasy writer like me?

Well, there is a lot a traditional writer can learn from new media.  At first I dabbled by blogging a little, maybe posting a message on Twitter.  Very little involvement to be honest.  That all changed a couple of months ago.

I decided to dive in head first into new media by publishing a novel using social networks Plurk and Twitter.  Doing this opened my eyes to the possibilities of living in a world where a writer can have multiple paths to releasing their work to the world.  It helped me to realize I’m not limited in how I want to reach my readers.

Once I had the “new media epiphany” I then realized I needed to get out and meet more people involved in new media: bloggers, content creators, and social marketers.  I’ve learned quite a bit from these people and I believe all traditional media writers can learn quite a bit from new/social media.

To traditional media writers I would say find a blogging conference and go to it.  Don’t know too much about blogging?  Buy yourself Blogging for Dummies by Susannah Gardner to learn about it and then go to a conference.  The operative thing is to get out there and meet other bloggers and learn.

Doing some of the things above will put you on to a great start to putting a new spin on your traditional media.

Post from: Renegade Sanctuary

IZEAFest 2008

The good news is you don’t have to quit.  But you do need to curb your micro-blogging appetite.  Here are a some things you can do to hold back the monster:

• Use social media to keep track of your output: There is no better way to keep you from spending all your time on social networking sites than to sending out status messages indicating what little writing you’ve done.  Guilt can be an excellent tool if used correctly.
• Reward yourself with social breaks: If you work at home, the temptation to spend your entire day on social networking sites is incredible.  To mitigate this, give yourself 15 minute social breaks to go online and gab with your friends.  Keep an egg timer or watch with a chronograph handy to track your break time between pages.
• Set a writing schedule: 15 minutes not enough?  Then set a schedule that you will do nothing but write during.  Once you’re finished, you’re free to do what you want.
• Set a daily writing goal: Worried if you set a scheduled writing time you’ll end up doing nothing anyhow just so you can get back to social networking?  Set yourself a daily goal, whether it is words, pages or chapters.  If you don’t meet your goal, you don’t get to play.

The above tricks and tips will help you keep on target, but sometimes the best thing you can do is have an interesting project to write so you have a stronger desire to write it rather than whittle your life away 140 characters at a time.

Post from: Renegade Sanctuary

Keeping Social Media from taking over your writing life

Well, then you’ll love what the folks at Coffeewiz have cooked up for you.  For all of you coffee lovers who own the miracle of modern coffee known as a Keurig machine, you now have the choice of not only having your morning cup o’ Joe, but also telling everyone waiting in line at the coffee machine exactly who you support in this race:

Yes, candidate Kcups, folks.  Pick your favorite candidate without worries since both have the excellent Coffee People Doughnut Shop Kcups nestled within.  Now, of course there’s no hiding who I’d like to win this particular poll, but don’t let that discourage you. Show your support today and vote with your coffee mug!

Post from: Renegade Sanctuary

Coffee Break Friday - Coffee Candidates