‘Excel for Writers’ & ‘Excel for Self-Publishers’ by M.L. Humphrey

Humphrey provides clear and thorough instructions on using Excel to support a writing career without descending into tedious detail. With the first book aimed at authors looking to put their writing on a more structured footing and those seeking to be published by others, and the second aimed at authors seeking to publish their own …

Reviewing The 2017 NaNoWriMo Writing Tools Bundle

I've been sent a free copy of Kevin J Anderson's 2017 NaNoWriMo Writing Tools Bundle with a request that I share my honest opinion of a few of the titles. Apart from the guide to Vellum (I already have a good eformating program and don't have a Mac) they all seem worth a read. However, …

A NaNo Distracting

Last year I successfully completed NaNoWriMo. Although the experience was positive, and made a lasting improvement in my writing technique, I decided not to take part this year because I wanted to focus on completing existing projects. What I did not expect was that not participating would produce a noticeable reduction in my productivity. Most …

High Days and Holidays

With the rain hammering down into my garden for the third day running, my mind has naturally turned to holidays. One of the steps I took when I started to write seriously again was to create an escalating schedule of writing, moving from the hobby-like "when I feel in the mood", towards the job-like "whether …

Is the Change as Good as the Rest?

I have thought recently that word-counts - while very satisfying to meet - can cause more issues than benefits. With Camp NaNoWriMo half way through I have encountered several people who are struggling to keep up with a self-imposed word count. They have written more than casually for a while, possibly even daily, and have …

The Sound of One Hand Helping

It will come as little surprise to regular readers that I try not to judge a person by a single facet of their interactions. In the case of celebrities, my attempt to separate the person from the product has been particularly long running. However, I have recently discovered that fame influences me more than I …

Bathing In The After-Glower

Everyone who has submitted an essay, written a presentation, or undertaken any creative act is familiar with the feeling of failure that can come after it has left our control: a feeling of having missed out a key point, used graceless language, or forged dross. With many people having just attempted the project of writing …

NaNoEvolution

As my wife posted, we both won NaNoWriMo last month. As many of you already know I did not enter to merely write 50,000 words; I wished to pressure myself into not editing as I wrote. I am letting the draft mature before I edit so I do not know how much extra time it …

Chasing the Cheetah

With NaNoWriMo starting tomorrow I felt like sharing some suggestions for prioritising on a task when you do not have weeks to build up to it. To fit with the continuing animal theme I have called upon Cheetah for his ability to sprint. As fits the need to quickly meet a goal, each suggestion is …