Styles The beauty of using Styles in MSWord is that you can change an aspect of your style (font size, indents, alignment…) and every paragraph in your document will automatically change. The snag with using Styles is that you can change an aspect of your style and every paragraph in your document will automatically change. … Continue reading Formatting for Print 3: Word Styles
Novice Self-publishing 2: e-book or print?
Formatting for e-book or print: what's the difference?
Why I Removed the Like Button
A leap of faith.
If only you listened
Although this poem was written to a “…friend who got lost in the labyrinth of life” I’m sure there are many parents out there who will recognise Oladewalaura’s sadness.
If only you listened when I said you should go to school;education is the grassroot of success.
If only you listened when I told you that you shouldn’t steal; there’s no alternative to hard work
If only you listened when I said you should surround yourself with like minded people; they are the ones that dream bigger than you do.
If only you listened when I said you should go out of your comfort zone; life isn’t a fairytale
If only you listened when I said you should train your brain by reading books; reading keeps your brain alive
If only you listened when I said you should be kind; kindness is like a basket ball, it bounces back
If only you listened when I said you should always have respect; too much respect doesn’t have a side effect
If only you listened when I said you should not give…
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Another Poetry Challenge
practicing poetry with a regular writing challenge
Video Making for the Clueless
Once again I have to thank Nicholas Rossis at http://nicholasrossis.me/2019/04/27/flexclip-making-a-video-in-seconds/ for a Really Useful tip The link above introduced me to FlexClip: a free resource for putting together videos (for advertising, greeting cards, blog posts...). FlexClip is really easy to use. According to Nicholas's post, the free version only works on Chrome (which I use … Continue reading Video Making for the Clueless
Novice Self-publishing
Our writing group, the Whittlesey Wordsmiths, are in the process of gathering together a second anthology to self-publish. For last year's collection, I downloaded a template from Amazon and pasted everything into it, only finding as I went along that certain features of the template would need to be tweaked. As the volume progressed (or … Continue reading Novice Self-publishing
The Unwanted Gift
‘We love it, Mum – don’t we Mark?’ Hm. It’ll go with the gnome.’ He hadn’t yet managed to break the garden gnome his mother gave them for Christmas, although the lawnmower came perilously close to it at times. This was one of those twee little doors meant to look as if an elf or … Continue reading The Unwanted Gift
Naming your Characters the Easy Way
I have problems coming up with names for my characters, so I liked this solution – if only to fire up my own synapses. It’s an old blog post from a blogger I’ve come to trust, but I’ve checked the links and they’re all still live. Now I’m going to have some fun coming up with more descriptive names for my characters.
Let me know which of these sites you like best – or if you know a better one.
I was having this conversation with MMJaye, and she was observing how hard it can be to find the right name for your characters. First, I was reminded by this hilarious comic by Tom Gauld:
Comic by Tom Gauld, tomgauld.com
Then, I remembered all the research I went through when I was looking for character names for my epic fantasy series, Pearseus (in my sci-fi collection, The Power of Six, I cunningly avoided using names). The people on Pearseus are the descendants of Earth’s high society, so they’d be from all over the world. It’s an indecisive writer’s worst nightmare; the sort of situation that keeps you up all night: I’m looking at a character that’s half Persian, halfIndian. What is a common name for that, I wonder? Hmm…
So, when I came across the Character Name Generator for fun, I giggled like a schoolgirl. It’s a website that…
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Where the Wild Winds Blow by the Whittlesey Wordsmiths
I’d like to thank Eva Jordan for her review of our writing group’s anthology Where The Wild Winds Blow.
Eva’s most recent title, Time Will Tell, is her third and concluding story about the Lemalf family, following 183 Times a Year and All the Colours In Between.
Book Review – Where the Wild Winds Blow by the Whittlesey Wordsmiths
Independently Published
Recently, a member of a local writing group approached me and asked me if I’d be interested in reviewing a book they had put together and published. Honoured, I said I’d love to.
Where the Wild Winds Blow is an eclectic mix of fact and fiction, featuring short stories, poems and memoirs contributed by the various members of the Whittlesey Wordsmiths. I have to say; I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I will admit I was pleasantly surprised. Informative, thought provoking, and at times, enjoyably humorous, it was a real pleasure to read.
At just over 400 pages long it is quite a dense book, but for me it is not a book that should be devoured all at once, but rather savoured, slowly. Neither does it need to be read sequentially, but rather…
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