Z.A. Maxfield

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Useful information…

October 23, 2015 by Z.A. Maxfield

the-writer2You know what? I’ve been using Scrivener for a really long time. I’m an early adopter of cool technology, and I’m an optimist that I’ll be able to figure stuff out, so I’ll get interested in something like Scrivener and hop on it right away. Anything that will help me write, right? So I’ve had it for years. I watched the videos. I read the supporting documentation, and I’ve used about 10% of its capabilities 90% of the time.

Which is great. Because HONESTLY, if you only want to have a program that backs up automatically every few seconds so you don’t lose your data in the event of a crash, one you can’t close without it saving, Scrivener is for you. All you need is one good hard drive crash to reap that whirlwind. (Apple’s Pages will do that too, BTW.)

But there are other things I never noticed. Stop me if you’ve heard this before!  There is a drop down box that says “Project” in Scrivener’s tool bar. If you click on this, and then you click on “Show Project Targets”, there is an editor that will allow you to set a deadline for yourself AND–here’s the awesome–it will let you choose the days you write, and then it will calculate exactly how much you need to write each day to meet your deadline. Huzzah, NaNoWriMo-ers!

It will ask you if you want to be notified when you have reached your goal. It will then “Ding” and put up a message that says you’ve achieved your goal for the day when you’ve written the required number of words.

Did you know that there are also several ways to keep information at hand on Scrivener? One is the always useful resource folder. You can drag and drop links from your web browser, and those links, when clicked, will automatically open in your browser when you click on them in the research folder. We probably all knew that.

But did you know that there is a floating post-it type note (Again, you can find this under “Project” by clicking “Project Notes”). You can use Project Notes to create file folders and individual notes, exactly as you would under your research materials, but the window will stay as a pop-up, even if you sideline scrivener and open your browser. Want to take down a statistic? Write it on your project notes. Want to remember the eye color of the love interest? Put it on your project notes. You can add and delete notes. It’s exactly like Apple’s Notes and it floats, so it’s always there as long as you have Scrivener open, no matter what else you have open on your desktop.

Project Notes is the perfect way to create a “Series Bible”. Everyone knows I have nine different books with characters who have some variant of the name Edward in them. Scrivener would have helped me with that. Alas, I did not have Scrivener back in the day.

Also, on the right hand side of the screen under the synopsis card, there is an area that talks about meta data that I ignore, and below that, there are document notes. You can put anything there, character names, vital statistics, foreign language translations, whatever, and that information stays no matter what chapter you’re working on. If you’ve said so-and-so has blue eyes in chapter one, you put that information there in the document notes, when you get to chapter nine, you don’t have to go back to chapter one to find out what color those eyes are. That’s GREAT for names, too. You can use that to make sure none of your character’s names are too similar or to write down anything you need to remember as you write. **Whoops, quick edit. Document notes refer to the chapter. Project notes refer to the whole project and they show up on your pop-up “general” project note pad too. You need to toggle the switch to project notes if you want the notes you’re taking on the side, below the meta data, to be available no matter what chapter you’re on… **

And speaking of the synopsis card, I’m sure all of you have used the index cards at the top right hand. I love the corkboard feature, and I used to use it to outline in a rather generic way. But you can also put the synopsis of each chapter there and then use the compile function to generate an ACTUAL synopsis later. So if you hate writing synopses as much as I do, then write good chapter synopses, “Michael finds out Devon ate all the green M&Ms from the bag. Seeing that food coloring is where Devon’s green lips came from, Michael is no longer afraid Devon is an alien. They kiss.”

You can task Scrivener with compiling and exporting all the data from those index cards out in order in a word document, creating an actual synopsis you can use (with a little tweaking) when it comes time to submit your book. Synopsis haters, rejoice. It’s not so bad when you do it this way.

As we’re all gearing up for NaNoWriMo, I thought I’d share a few of the Scrivener features I’ve learned through trial and error. Maybe they’ll help you out as much as they’ve helped me!  Go NaNo-ers! Gear up, clear the decks of distractions (like writing blog posts, I know, I know…) and get ready.

Plotters, This is the time to get those outlines done.

Pantsters? Er…Make sure you’re wearing pants, I guess…Honestly. Nobody’s looking. You do you!

 

Filed Under: Blog, NaNoWriMo Tagged With: scrivener

NaNoWriMo Days 4 and 5

November 6, 2014 by Z.A. Maxfield

Wherein it gets harder to keep all our balls in the air.

Business womanIt happens. You wake up, gab your coffee. Slice your hard boiled egg in half and give it a perfect, artistic drizzle of Sriracha sauce. You line up your Greek yogurt for a an hour or so later, when you know you’ll need another high protein snack.

You log in, crack your knuckles, and start typing. Everything is perfect. Words flow.

Aaannd the phone rings.

It could be a telemarketer. It could be the high school, informing you one of your kids is languishing in the office, covered in a frightening case of hives. It could be a broken car, an accident, an illness. It could be a death in the family. All of these things can and do happen in the life of a professional writer. In anyone’s life this much is true:

Shit happens. Absolute Shit, happens absolutely.

And while we like to think of the professional writer as someone who lives on the coast of Maine in a huge house with a housekeeper and all the time in the world to stare out into the mystical sea so she can hear the muses when they call, in real life she’s more likely to be a mother, a daughter, a girlfriend, a computer analyst by day, a member of the church choir, a mentor to other writers, a spinner of plates, a juggler of those balls of life that cannot, must not fall despite the fact that she’s writing her first book.

Or her third book. Or her tenth.

Writing is a business, and it’s a lot like sales. You’re driving the creativity bus like Sandra Bullock in the movie Speed, and you have to keep it going at a certain rate, NO MATTER WHAT.

That’s what it takes to be a professional writer. That’s why NaNoWriMo is such a magnificent endeavor!

What you’re doing now? What you’ve  geared up to do by laying in supplies and partnering up with buddies? What you’re talking about, dreaming about, planning for, clearing your schedules for? Is the life that every writer who earns a living wage is doing, every day of his life. Sundays? Check. During the World Series? Check. Holidays, vacation days, check, check (probably).

You want the job of professional writer? Do NaNoWriMo–Hashtag get it done, hashtag no excuses, hashtag make it happen in spite of your daily life. That’s how we do.

What happens during the ordinary course of the day might not have a lot to do with putting words on paper, (which is the biggest bait and switch in the writer’s world, and is a great topic for another post.) Interruptions happen constantly. Emotions fluctuate. A writer with health issues, depression, anxiety, grief, and loss must still write, just as all of us must do our jobs despite the things that challenge us. There’s no magic; it takes hefty dose of hard work, a peck of perseverance, and a modicum of masochism.

My kid was the hives kid. We spent Monday afternoon at the doctor’s office. When it happened again on Tuesday we spent the afternoon in the ER. (He’s doing fine, but we really need to find out what he’s allergic to.)  Two different editors sent me massive, absolutely “MUST HAVE RIGHT NOW” edits on two different full-length manuscripts. All those things took a huge bite out of my time, yet it didn’t mean I got to sit out NaNoWriMo day four and five. I worked on my NaNo project late at night, skidding into my word count like a smoking meteor just as I got so sleepy the words swam on the page.

And I’ll tell you a secret. I did that work poorly. I’ll have to edit those chapters later. I might even have to cut them. That’s why God invented the delete button, and they’re only words.

But because I’m a professional writer I completed my task, and the chances are pretty good I’ll find something useful within the words that I’ll be able to build on later.

The time spent writing is never wasted, it’s only when you stop the flow of words that they get stuck and elusive and stubborn.

Write like the wind, NaNoWriMers. Keep those plates spinning. Keep those balls in the air!

The weather continues fine.

 

Filed Under: Blog, NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo – Wherein our day is cut short by plague…

November 4, 2014 by Z.A. Maxfield

images Day Four – Late yesterday, just as the sun set, one of our party grew ill and we were forced to halt and physick him. I was much worried as he seemed to be suffering a response to medication given by a doctor before our party set out, so despite the hour and despite the work left undone, we rode hell for leather to the physician’s office where it was learned that indeed, he cannot take whatever quackery they’d pressed on him. It was our good fortune we did so, because further use of this substance could have compromised him entirely. He is in good condition and good spirits now, stretching the truth to squeeze his lady’s heart. Our small company is subdued, but grateful nothing worse happened. These are such singular times. We found a goodly number of words at the midnight hour, as many as we required to satisfy demand for the day. I gathered them gratefully, but even if none had been forthcoming, I was grateful. I am still on task, having gathered in three days more than six thousand words. Some I fear will need to be thrown back; they are too small, or too blasphemous. Some  reek odiously, as though I’ve pulled them from the very backside of hell, but all will be well.

The morning’s post brought a tide of previously gathered words, which gushed forth in stripes of red and bright green over the black ink, all in need of repair. How this will inhibit the day’s gathering of new words I do not know. Alas, none of the bearers  can be given the work, even though they can most admirably be trusted with more menial tasks.

Coffee is plentiful here. The curse candy of All Hallow’s Eve appears to be entirely gone. It’s interesting to note that the poisoned treats seem to have left dissatisfaction behind among the party. There are those whose clothes fit differently, and those who, now accustomed to its vile effects, crave more. This is a provocative topic for discussion, but after yesterday’s brush with illness, one I choose not to enter into lightly.

For now I tread warily. In gathering food, I remain determined to skirt the edges of the marketplace, shopping only from those stalls with whole, naturally occurring fruits and vegetables, meats whose origins I can be assured of, and whole grains and legumes I can prepare myself. I’m leaving the dark interior stalls with their seductive cans and bottles and prepared and frozen boxes of god-only-knows-what to those with the desire for more adventure than I feel up to right now. Members of the party still bring in contraband daily.

The weather continues fine.

 

Filed Under: NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo – The journey of a thousand spaces…

November 3, 2014 by Z.A. Maxfield

Juggling VenusWherein I move my NaNoWriMo journal here, from the book of faces where I began it:

Day One – We’ve only begun, and some of our large and varied party are already complaining, however potential enemies of our little expedition remain in the far distance. Had an uncomfortable encounter with a certain Doctor, but vanquished him easily with a device my children call the DVR–some aetheric contrivance I believe works as an imaginary bucket into which we can place distractions until such time as our expedition is over.

Food sources still plentiful. Remains of the Feast of All Hallows, some of which I found in the ghoulishly decorated bowl of offerings, have provided extra stimulation but no real nutritional value. Fortunately, groups of stragglers still litter our encampment, and seem to be finishing them off.

In the darkness when I find sleep difficult, I imagine I hear the sound of sleigh bells. As it is still autumn here, I can only speculate that it’s some nefarious plan from the enemies of creativity to lure me into the belief that Winter Is Coming. But that’s someone else’s work. Not mine.
The weather continues fine…

Day Two – Due to the Expedient Temporal Shift, our day began before the sun cracked the eastern horizon. The youngest member of our expedition has been sick for weeks, on and off with the grippe. He is also in love, and spends hours gazing into his aetheric communicator, waiting for messages. Fortunately, she enjoys using her communicator and the messages are never long in coming.

Words were elusive today, possibly they were frightened by the noise of our party. Possibly they were able to hide while we made some necessary repairs to our gathering devices. We sojourned for hours, sending beaters into thickets of cell phone trees at the edge of civilization and to peer into the boarded-up and broken windows of once proudly, independently owned businesses. At one point, we believed we’d truly found a treasure trove, only to discover the words had nested in a used bookstore, and therefore they’d already been tagged by others.

shutterstock_225534889At dusk, we came upon this magnificent sight: A  thick-legged creature, with bulging muscles and a head shaped like a bell. We were able to get close enough to catch his scent: tobacco and leather and clean male sweat. As you can see, he carried a magical talisman made of tough animal hide,  molded, sewn, and tooled with admirable expertise.

I can only guess at its meaning and its use, but in the absence of further information, and taking into consideration the shape of the knob on the top, I have come to the conclusion it must be some sort of sexual pleasure device.

The sight was breathtaking! The most awe-inspiring moment of the journey so far.

In the end, we were forced to remain vigilant in the darkness, holding our breath for fear of driving off the few words we believed might still be lurking in the cave of our imagination. Eventually, we had some stingy success. It was nearly midnight and I was ready to give up in despair when a whole sparkling flock of words came out to hover in the crisp autumn air like fireflies. We gathered them with gratitude before falling exhausted into our pallets.

Food was again, plentiful. Our supply of curse candy, those individually wrapped offerings which are so tasty and yet so mysteriously unsatisfying, has dwindled enough that the members of our expedition are almost recognizable again–facial features, tempers, and relationships are returning to normal after our too-prolonged exposure to the poisonous treats.

The weather continues fine. We journey fourth again on this, the third day of NaNoWriMo, in hopes of finding words plentiful, friendships forged from steel, and pleasure from the act of creating.

Be well and wise and wordly.

 

Filed Under: NaNoWriMo

Welcome NaNoWriMo!

October 26, 2011 by Z.A. Maxfield

Hello, and welcome to November, the one month of the year when Sisyphus ceases to be a myth and becomes a way of life for thousands of people, all over the world.

As October (I am convinced it’s NO coincidence October is also Marie Callender’s any whole pie for 7.99 month) winds to a close and the goings on of early fall: soccer, back to school, and Halloween appear in the rearview, it’s time to dust off that determination, power up that imagination, and buy an extra large thermal coffee carafe because NaNoWriMo is once again upon us.

Like all great holidays, Nano comes with a time of reflection, the promise of redemption, and total chaos. The outcome is uncertain, the reward less than promising, and it requires a great deal of dedication and work. Last year I got about six days into it and pffft. Nothing. I wrote not even a greeting card’s worth of prose or poetry. I sailed into december late on deadlines and cranky as hell. Well for me.

This year, I plan to start out late on deadlines and cranky, and see if it goes any better. I’ve only got one contract left for the year, which I know I will have finished by the time that clock ticks midnight on October 31st. After that, who knows?

All I can say is, I’ve done it once, and I plan to do it again. Anyone who is doing Nano is more than welcome to email me, zamaxfield @ zamaxfield dot com, and play along. Come race me. Come cheer or jeer, whatever baby. Just don’t be full of regret on December first because if you never play, you never win!

A little Nano Music Maestro if you please… Cause who doesn’t like Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch. (And who doesn’t need to kick off NaNoWriMo with the knowledge that even bad career choices have a logical end and a sometimes brighter future.)

Filed Under: Blog, NaNoWriMo, writers, writing Tagged With: NaNoWriMo

New Digs

November 13, 2010 by Z.A. Maxfield

For your convenience I’ve established a brand new official Facebook Fan Page, which you will find here:

Facebook official author page.

This is one of those things that you stop by and “Like” by clicking that little like button. Every time someone “likes” that page, an angel gets his wings. I promise.

In other news, both Stirring Up Trouble and Vigil are now available at All Romance Ebooks.

Vigil

Last but not least, keep up with all things ZAM by checking out my LiveJournal, where I’ve been chronicling my NaNoWriMo experience (which hasn’t been easy peasy lemon squeezy because I’ve got two big edit deadlines in what seems like only minutes from now!) You can find me writing under my alter ego nom de blog, Abstractrx, HERE.

Filed Under: Blog, NaNoWriMo, Vigil

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