The word count of a novel/ette/ella is what determines what it is defined as in the literary world.

A novella is shorter than a novel but longer than a novelette. To understand what that really means, we should look at what constitutes a novel and what constitutes a novelette.

In the way of definitions, they are all stories; they all have themes, plots, characters, etc. Mostly, it has to do with length.

A Novella is between 10,000 and 70,000 words.

A Novelette is between 7,500 and 17,500 words.

This means that a short story of 16,000 words could be called both a novella and a novelette, and would stand correct when compared to definitions.

Roughly, the smallest length is a Novelette, which is usually very short ‘Prose’ and a novella is a short story, followed by a full length novel.

There is much debate over what constitutes a full length novel. A novel has been argued to have aspects beyond word count that make it qualify as a novel. In other words, there can be such a thing as a novel of 750 words, but it is all speculative. Typically, when it comes to the literary world of awards and recognition, the word count is higher than a novella by a few thousand words.

My personal opinion puts it at somewhere over 80,000 words but some assume it should be much higher. It really comes down to the story, saying what needs to be said and worrying about the word count definition later. If you are going to sacrifice the authenticity and flow of your story for the sake of it being defined as a ‘Novel’ versus being called a ‘novella’ then you are playing with fire by adding fluff. But hey, who am I to say what to do with your literary masterpiece. By all means, if you feel the need to fluff, fluff away!

Citing Sources: Wikipedia (Gotta Lov’em!)

According to Wikipedia, “The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fictiondefine the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000.^[1] Other definitions start as low as 10,000 words and run as high as 70,000 words.”

So, a Novella constitutes between 10,000 and 70,000 words.

Well, that is a great difference. Let’s take a look at what makes a Novelette a Novelette.

According, again, to Wikipedia, “The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula awards for science fiction define the novelette as having a word count of between 7,500 and 17,499. “

Genre means ‘kind’ and it is the equivalent to the word ‘category’. So, to interchange the word, ‘What Genre is your book?’ would sound like ‘What Category is your book?’ and of course the word Category is much easier to think of when asked about something as monumental as your book.

What kinds of Genres or Categories are there?

• Science Fiction
• Fantasy
• Horror
• Romance
• Thriller
• Mystery
• Murder Mystery

And the list goes on.

One of the more popular genres at the moment is the Steampunk genre. So, instead of getting overwhelmed by the word genre, just think of it as ‘Steampunk Category’ which doesn’t sound fancy or difficult at all.

It is possible to write a novel or story that fits into more than one category or ‘genre’ but it is very important to try and decide your overall genre or category. If your story is more science fiction than it is romance, you will want to choose the ‘Science Fiction Genre’ for any questions you may get. If, however, you have a story mostly about Romance with a slight mystery in it, it would be a Romance.

The only time I don’t see this being the case is if your genre or category, as you would have it, were Steampunk, which is a very trendy genre right now. Not only would it ‘pay’ to point out that you are writing a Steampunk themed novel, it would be important to have Steampunk as a primary since it is in such high popular demand and just about every publishing house in the world is snatching up Steampunk fiction faster than you can say ‘Moby Dick’.

Is Steampunk a fad? I could say yes, and I could be right, but I could say yes and I could be wrong. That is the humor with Pop fiction, there is no telling if a fad will stick long term but regardless, it is here for the moment. That is why it is called ‘Popular fiction’ followed closely with titles like ‘On Hit Wonder’ etc.

Just write what you love and pick a ‘category’ that best fits the category of your book.

A Happy Genre to you!

And Thanks for Reading!

A plot is an overall conflict of a story, or a ‘general theme’. Beyond the mood and characters of a story, a novel’s plot is the main conflict and setting; such as searching for murderers.

A plot ‘structure’ is usually complex and makes a story ‘cohesive’. The basic elements include conflict, action and climax as well as an overall resolution, success or failure.

The most important part of a plot is that it gives your novel structure and don’t  you forget it. By defining your plot early on, you are deciding who your main characters conflict is with, what the main characters dilemma and goals are and where you are leading your readers.

It is easy to see if your writing is getting off track if you know where the end is. Without knowing where the end of the story lay, you could write for the rest of your life and be walking your main character almost literally in circles.

There are many great resources available to the new and rising author. Here is a collection of some of the more definitive resources on the subject of plots:

Wikipedia: A Plot or Narrative

Web Definitions of Plot

Then the more conversationally bound bloggers discussing plots

Plots and Stories

Has great in-depth information on structure and building a solid, strong plot for your novel.

What a Plot IS by Bill Johnson (An Essay)

A well written essay to persuade the everyday writer the importance of a plot, what it does for a writer as well as what its purpose is for the reader.

Plot structure: a Literary Elements Mini-Lesson

While targeted for primary school, Plot Structure is a basic of writing that no one wants to ignore.

Well, I hope this quick overview into what a Plot is and how important it is to the everyday writer, like you and I. Keep an eye out for more concerning character creation, plot structure, planning and organization as we delve deeper into the workings of writing a novel for the first or the tenth time.

Thanks for reading!

I am doing a ‘run-down’ on all types of writing software and assistance tools, so check out the article soon to be >here<. But over all I am looking at the tools we writers need. One of the tools I hear a lot about is Speech to Text. (Not to be confused with Text to Speech; which is a completely different program) It is also known as ‘Dictation software’.

Today I am talking about the built in Speech-to-Text functionality that comes installed with the general Microsoft Office products and Dragon Naturally Speaking by a company named Nuance.

Just to clarify, Speech-to-text is voice recognition software is where you talk into a computer microphone of some kind and your words are transcribed into a word document. The software boasts many functions, but this one is primary for the writers of the world. Can you imagine the day when you TELL the computer what to write, at 120 words per minute, and you finish a novel in under a week? That time is near…

Now, I have been contemplating getting a copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking by Nuance. Nuance is said to be the leader in voice recognition software and from all the hype, I would have to say I am fairly hyped about it as well.

To get my dictation feet wet, so to speak, I have been toying around with the Speech-to-Text functionality of the Microsoft Office programs. The voice commands seem to be the same between the software but I find them completely different when it comes to actual performance.

Honestly, I don’t know how anyone gets voice recognition software to work using speech to text of it is not Dragon Naturally Speaking. I have tried for some time to get the program in Microsoft Word to work and now I am just typing it by hand. Some things are just better the old fashioned way, I guess.

Will I give Dragon Naturally Speaking a chance? Yes. Why? Because I get a student discount on it so it doesn’t feel like I would be so ripped off if it turns out to work just as badly as Microsoft’s version.

Would I recommend trying to utilize the Speech-to-Text function built into Word? No, not particularly. I spent 6 hours trying to train the program and it has about a 60% success rate with general words. That is a whole lot of time to spend frustrated.

Could this make your life easier? I think it will be a different pony show utilizing Dragon Naturally Speaking now that I have exposed myself to the horror of the included Microsoft functionality that comes with my regular Microsoft programs.

(If you want to utilize the Speech-to-Text function in Microsoft word, go to: Tool>Speech> and when you get a pop up that you don’t have the file/installation downloaded, you just click the ‘Yes’ button to state you want to download it.)

I think it will be a pain to go through the training with Dragon Naturally Speaking all over again after spending so much time with the Microsoft Training and getting no where, but I have a feeling that since Nuance specializes in Voice Recognition, it is probably very good at it. I only say that because Microsoft has a lot of programs to maintain where Nuance really just has the voice recognition. It makes since that Nuance would make sure their program was outstanding.

So, I have given the built in functionality of the Microsoft Word Speech-to-Text program a chance and it has failed me. Next, we will be looking into how the Dragon Naturally Speaking program does in comparison and if speech recognition software is software to go with now, or a thing of the future.

Either way, that elusive one-week-novel-without-typing-a-single-word is a heck of a fantasy. If only…

Thanks for reading!

Sometimes you just have to let your procrastination flag fly. If you read me often, you know how I feel about procrastination. If not, basically procrastination is the best tool in a writers arsenal. Procrastination is the minds form of idea-seeking, thought-forming, preparation tool. So, as I was saying, let your procrastination/randomness flag fly.

And I’m going to help you out.

Quality Free Desktop Wallpapers are hard to come by when it pertains to writing. It can take some time, scouring the internet, to find something that relates, something that really makes you go ‘Ah Ha!’ and lets your mind stop wandering.

I’ve put together a quick list of free wallpapers I have found that are interesting and pertain to the fiction writing world. So if you are an author and you are on the prowl for a desktop, look no further.

1. The Desktop Wallpaper I myself am Using Now

I made this one number one on my Free Desktop Wallpaper list for Writers because…well, it’s my desktop so obviously I think it is the best. That is not to say there are not other, far more interesting, desktop wallpapers out there.

2. Oceanic Fiction

This Free Desktop Wallpaper by Wallcoo.net is straight out of a fiction novel. Well, not literally but it sure gets the imagination going. It definitely captures the concept of my working series so I’m adding it to the list.

3. City in a Bird Cage

This theme is close to the #1 spot, with the fishbowl. I relate it to fiction. Each and every writer is nurturing their own world in their own way. ‘There can be many like it but this one is mine” and so, in a way, each novel is our little world in a birdcage/fishbowl/snow globe.  I think this is a nice, clean depiction of that.

4. Anthem of the Writers World – Coffee Please!

Coffee Wallpaper by SED Art

This is a good one. Simple, I love simple, and to the point. It’s a coffee cup. GREAT! Because if you are writing a novel, you know…coffee is your only friend.

5. Platinum Conception

Another wallpaper by WallCoo.com and a very literal one if you are looking at writing your novel as a race. I would say it reminds me of the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ theme that is sweeping the nation. But really, it is just a race track through some wonderful terrain.

6. Simply Inspirational : Writer’s Digest Sinclair Lewis Quote

“It is impossible to discourage the real writers — They don’t give a damn awhat you say, they’re going to write. – Sinclair Lewis” This is a great inspirational quote for all aspiring and current writers. This will get you fired up and keep the nagging voices out of the back of your mind, or at least beat them back. Writers Digest has many inspirational quotes as desktop backgrounds, different colors and with different flourishes or plain. If this color and quote are not your style, give Writers Digest a look. I’m sure they have a background to suit just about anyones tastes.

7. The Rise of a Planet

The Rise of a Planet by BaseSciences.com

This wallpaper by BaseSciences.com is a great wallpaper. It is the ‘rise of a planet’ as it is titled, and really that is what a writer does. Out of thin air comes a new world, a new perspective, a new story. It is busy but still clean and it makes plenty of room to put you desktop icons and shortcuts to be easily viewed. I love it!

8. Canticle for Leibowitz – A Steampunk Blogger

Canticle for Leibowitz

Now, this is new and it is relevant to the blogging/writing community. If anyone has been following the ‘Steampunk’ revolution for the past year now, you will know that almost anything ’steampunk’ has been getting published. It is not really new, it was a genre that started in the 80’s and never really took hold until now. Now it is a freakin’ epidemic.

Am I going to change my writing style right this minute for a fad that may or may not be around for a while? I honestly thought about it, but I think it is a safer bet for the new writer that isn’t set in a genre yet. This has sparked revolution in everything from books, to fashion and I’m guessing many other things. Regardless of where Steampunk is going, this wallpaper is definitely unique and speaks to the Steampunk crowd.

9. InkBlot Butterfly – All things Inkblots

Inkblot Butterfly

The caption reads ‘What do you see here’ and whether you like butterfly’s or skulls, inkblots are a great way to rip into that skull of yours and take a peak at the patterns your mind chooses to see. There is a nice collection of inkblot wallpapers on the internet. If you ever get stumped for some ideas to go into your novel, just give your mind a little self-examination. I don’t recommend dumping your pen on your desk and smearing it around…that could be messy. But you could look into inkblots online. Some seriously artsy stuff going on.

10. Something to Make you Laugh

Better Writer by ScumIcons

This is a funny, albeit rude, wallpaper by ScumIcons on DeviantArt. I had to put it on the list because I’m not a fan of Stephanie Meyer. If you ask, yes I have ‘read’ her and I did like one ‘phrase’ of her twilight series very much.

But can you really call it literature if only one phrase was memorable and the story itself was an emo-success? I’m sure hundreds of misunderstood teenage girls are going to throw themselves off of cliffs when they find out that their precious 15 year old exboyfriend either a) doesn’t sparkle or b) moves away.

I’m just saying…good for you Stephanie Meyer, you made reading ‘cool’ again and that’s a huge accomplishment. But consider this your ‘one hit wonder’.

WELL Folks! That’s it for the ten wallpapers I found that were great picks for writers. If you found some or designed a free desktop wallpaper for writers, feel free to leave a link back to your page!

As always, thanks for reading! Hope this helped you procrastinate into the next scene of your novel. If you are still at a loss, go ahead and poke around. I’m sure I have some more useless ramblings that could spark your brain into a tizzy…eventually…

Photo Credit: Allen Hsu

Content is King – that is the mantra online and for good reason. Content keeps your traffic up, the interest going and keeps people looking at your ads. But today we are comparing the ‘content farms’ of the online world to the average Joe blogger.

Outsourcing is a great way to give your readers a constant flow of content. But for this example, talking about content farming, let’s pit the average Joe professional blogger to the corporate ‘The Man’ monster company in it for the numbers. We are looking at traffic, we are looking at quality and we are looking at content. Normally, you can expect your quality of content to reflect your traffic and vice versa. This is a very simple reward system.

In the online world, should you write quality content you are rewarded with traffic to your site. To explain simply without getting into the nuts and bolts of SEO, Google decides you are more relevant by throwing you in the search  and seeing how many people click on your site from there. No one nominates you besides your readers. You get ‘Dug’ and ‘Tweeted’ about and thus you start your own viral marketing for having quality on your site.

A quick overview of what a Content Farm is: a ‘catch all’ website that covers every topic possible, with low quality to medium quality writing and low amounts of actual information written to turn a quick post and a quick profit.

With some websites out there, called ‘Content Farms’, you will see a breakdown of this ‘reward’ system. The breakdown happens when places like EZine.com produce mass amounts of low quality product and floods the search engines. It makes it hard for quality to surface because the ‘surfer’ has to wade through pages of search engine results of, well, crap.

What happens? The person that ‘queried’ (searches a term) finds crap but instead of looking on page 20 of the search results, gives up and tries a different query. This is a serious problem. And there is good a good rumor on the horizon. I have heard: Though I can’t remember where: That Google, who prides itself on its secret algorithms, is taking a serious look at battling the flood of low quality articles coming from content farms.

(I delayed publishing this post for almost a week trying to figure out where I heard this rumor online and I can’t validate it. Please take it at face value. I have no actual proof that Google is working on this algorithm other than ‘I think they are, I heard they are…I think’ and I’m sorry for that.)

This presents a problem but I don’t know how serious. If you are running a medium or small sized content farm, chances are that you outsource a large portion of your post writing. If you are a small enough company/operation, then you probably make sure to pay for quality. (I hope.) And if that is the case you don’t have a lot to worry about. If, however, you are posting zero-information-high-external-link content, you may want to watch out for this rumor I’ve been hearing.

Does this mean abandon your little content farm immediately? I couldn’t, in good conscious, tell you to do that if it is making you money. It’s up to you and even I wouldn’t abandon something turning a profit until the last minute. You may as well just ride out the content farming wave as long as you can if you have a substantial amount invested and are seeing good returns.

Do I think this is a good time for the average Joe to get into content farming or to start outsourcing articles and posts to compete with the big boys? No. I don’t. Simply, You may be building slowly, but you have a few advantages over the ‘big boys’ that will have you rising to the top.

• You have a personality and it is embedded in your posts (We call this Branding)
• Your posts, while slow to write and accumulate, are ( I assume) of the highest quality because you care about pride and respect, etc.
• You are building a person-to-person loyalty slowly out of your readers. I’m sorry but have you ever heard someone say, ‘I can’t wait until So-and-So who writes for eHow.com puts another interesting link ridden article out about randomness!’ It just doesn’t happen.

So if you are thinking about getting into content farming, STOP! Stop thinking that outsourcing articles for fifty cents a pop will save your blog and increase your readership. If anything, you are going to drive away the fan base you have because the quality will plummet.  If you are going to outsource, be sure to paying for the quality, well constructed articles that will have your site/blog rising to the top of the internet ‘slush piles’ of these content farms. That’s right, I’m not knocking outsourcing. I’m saying :

• Take your time in finding writers that match your style and interests
• Don’t Encourage Sweatshops in India and around the world by paying .50 per post
• Keep your quality at the same level or higher
• Don’t rely on outsourcing – Your readers will begin to tell or worse: will forget your ‘writing style’ in the flood of ghost writers posing as you.

Will Google attempt and/or succeed at weeding out and penalizing content farms? Only time will tell but with the research and funding that Google throws at its main money maker, Search Engine Results and the adjacent ads, I am sure they will fix this monkey-wrench-in-the-machine.

After all, the real threat to Google are Subscription Services offering high quality content in return for filtering out the slush piles. They are coming…content by subscription because…people are tired of spam, landing websites that are 100% ads and articles dancing around an idea but not offering any information or solutions.

Our Lesson? Quality is going to be winning out over Quantity very soon. Stop counting your pages and start counting your loyal traffic numbers because the numbers will lay in loyalty and that will get you skyrocketed to that exlusive Top 10 spot in Google Results soon enough.

Of course, the majority of this post was opinion. I heard a rumor, can’t remember where I heard it but want to know what people think. Do you think Google is working on an algorithm to combat content farms that are clogging up the search results? Do you think it helps or hurts Google that so many content farms are pumping out as much as 4,000 articles/posts a day? Will this affect you in any way? Are subscription services for quality content the wave of the future?

Thanks for reading and as always, please comment, subscribe or just send me an email to tell me what you think!

Day 48 - No Idea by Christophe Verdier

Good Options for things to Write about:

Mermaid! by Aoru

Photo Credit: Aoru

This is an easy word to get mixed up for some. They both mean to take oxygen into your lungs but they are very different in how they sound and read.

Here is an quick and easy tip that will have you on-track with usage and spelling.

When you see the word ‘Breathe’ just remember that the ‘E’ at the end makes it and ‘E’ sound in the middle like:  ‘Just Breathe in and out,’ with the stress on the ‘E’.

Breath, on the other hand is Br-(eh)-th.  to ‘Stop and catch your breath.’

It is very easy to get these mixed up. It’s okay. It happens to everyone! The art of language is not something you were born with, you had to learn it. So don’t think that you were born behind the learning curve. We all have to learn breath from breathe along with a number of other words.

I hope this tip helped you in some way. Have a great day!

By the way, a Quick Witty Fact: ‘BooKKeeping’ is the only word in the English dictionary that has three ‘double’ letters next to each other. OO-KK-EE. Pretty neat, eh?

2008-1-26 (Editing a paper) - 31 by Nick's Events

Photo Credit: Nick’s Events

Do you know how spell check works?

“Of course” you say.

Do you have 50,000 words or more (possibly from NaNoWriMo)?

“Of Course!” you say.

Are you making progress editing your novel?

“Of COURSE…not,” you say.

Don’t feel bad and don’t feel alone. In the wake of NaNoWriMo you should just be glad you have gotten this far! Now, to be perfectly honest, 50,000 words is not a complete novel. But you don’t want to hear that and we are not here to talk about that. We are talking about editing.

I am sure it has been done, created, marketed and promoted somewhere else, but you should be working on your ‘Edit Your NaNoWriMo in 30 Days!’ or something catchy.

“How?” you ask.

Well, even if you spend at least three days on each chapter…that is ten chapters edited in a month.

“But it looks like such a HUGE file!” you say.

It is a huge file. But stop psyching yourself out. Look at it like this.

• If you break it into small enough steps, editing, than it is easy.
• If it doesn’t seem easy, you haven’t broken it into small enough steps.
• Think ‘baby steps’, in other words ‘One Chapter at a Time’
• Use FastPencil.com

Okay, this last part is only a suggestion but it helps. It’s what I have been using. They set you up with a ten chapter model ‘project’ for your book and as you edit each chapter, you just lay it out.

I am not saying print and publish with them. That is a completely different issue and one you should research fully as to what best benefits and suits you. What I am saying is the interface is easy to use, it is free, and you can even connect with other authors. And if you only want one copy of your book you are all ready with them. They run about the same cost as other services and it’s already laid out in their program.

If you don’t want to use FastPencil to publish, then you can utilize their layout and easy breakdown of chapters. Lay it out, organize your story, name your chapters and then you will have a better overall view. You don’t see a never ending cascade of text in a word document. Instead you see a couple thousand words in each ‘chapter’ and you can just work on ‘One Chapter at a Time’.

Baby steps. No one every wrote a book in a day (unless they were insane) so don’t think you have to sit down and edit it in one day. But you do have to start. Just like writing, in order to have a finished product you have to edit.

Try Baby Steps Like this:

* Work on One Chapter

* Start with just what the SpellCheck Program picks up

* Go through just ONE chapter and see how it reads.

* Go back through the chapter and look for plot-holes thus far.

See how easy this is? Breaking it down like this? I find it easier than saying ‘I’m going to read the whole thing and look for plot holes. Then I am going to read the whole thing and look for punctuation. I am going to read the whole thing and only look for…getting burned out. Especially your first pass of editing through your book, you are going to have pages dripping red and you are going to feel overwhelmed again.

Just. Start. Small.

Some days I day dream about hiring someone to edit all 130,000 words…and then I worry about losing my writing style and voice in the edits. But hiring someone is an option. It’s whatever you feel comfortable with. But that Next Great American (Insert Country/Nation Here) is not going to edit itself sitting on your desktop. Don’t let it collect virtual dust. Get to it! The world is waiting for you!

http://www.KarishaPrescott.com/

www.KarishaPrescott.com/

KarishaPrescott.com

Every writer has tools that they need, wish they had, and wished they needed so they would have an excuse to immediately go get them in a justified manner. Are all my items something I NEED for writing? Nope. Give me a pen and paper and I am set. But these are things that would put me in writer heaven…and probably keep me procrastinating until the end of the world. I think you would agree.

Multi Touch Screen-Wall

Dr. Xunlei Wu using the Duke Multi-Touch Wall. (Photo credit: Josh Coyle)

That’s right. I want a whole wall. And I want a wireless keyboard that is compatable. Because I want to be able to put out my story line on the actual wall with virtual sticky notes and an awesome timeline, to be able to create a 3D map of SciFi worlds and be able to navigate it using NASA’s awesome 3D interface (Because that is a responsible application of an amazing technology.

And then I want to be able to write my story on my wall, using a wireless keyboard that I can sit on my sofa and stare at my wall and listen to music and have a video of pride and prejudice…though the sounds could conflict. I have to research facts to make sure I’m not making my characters idiots and make sure I am providing ‘life like’ and ‘real life’ scenarios.

And I would love to put it as a screensaver of fish bouncing around…wouldn’t that be awesome wallpaper?

Okay – So a Multi-Touch Wall for a computer is a big BIG wish, but it would be cool.

Now I am going to have to find some other things to put in the room, I suppose to make the space ideal.

Anti-gravity chair

The Varier Gravity Reclining Chair by Stokkes

No, this wouldn’t make you float or anything, but close. These chairs distribute your weight to make it FEEL like you are floating though, with a relief of pressure on even distribution. I only toss this in because the idea sounds nice.

I have never sat in one, but I might as well put it on the ‘neat, tech-y things I would fill my office with if I had no budget’.

Microsoft Courier

Microsoft Courier

If you haven’t seen the promo for this, and it better be coming out soon, then watch the video. This is every writer/designer/planner’s dream. This goes beyond an ereader – It looks like ‘Command Central’ for writers.

Not to mention, this would be ideal for going to school, meetings or anywhere because you can write on it, as in, as if it were a real notebook. I can’t even describe all the cool features. Except, I will say that the little virtual journal covers you can doodle and customize are a replica of the ‘moleskin’ notebooks of which I have about twenty. Any writer that is a writer has one of these around. So there is a nostalgic connection there, thinking of being able to have nice and neat little notebooks that I can customize.

This would be a great arsenal in the profession of creating and recreating worlds for readers to explore. Not to mention, it is AWESOME and I love tech.

Now, As far as work goes…because most of these have been really cool distractions and well-meant ‘tools’ that would be toys more than anything, here are two things I can’t live without in my workspace.

My NetBook:

HP Netbook

That is right. I have an 8in HP Netbook and I love it. I can’t do much on it. I can make emergency reservations on the go, I can research directions on the go and most importantly, I can write and upload blog posts on the go.

I hadn’t tried the actual full process of writing, finding photographs and posting a blog post while traveling until Thanksgiving. It was one of those ‘I know it is 2 am but I really want to write about and share this!’
It was fun to know I could post from anywhere.

FYI – If you have done any research on NetBooks you will know that the keyboards are 95% full size. But it is hard to know what all the shortcuts are! I have accidently turned on the overwrite feature on several occasions. And believe you me, that is frustrating! So, just so you know, you know?

My iPod Shuffle

iPod Shuffle 3rd Gen

I had an ipod nano, which I bedazzled (Don’t roll your eyes, I am a girl and yes: They were pink crystals) but it died a tragic death and I replaced it with that itty-bitty shuffle thing. I love it. I haven’t broken the rocker on the headphones either, yet. (Just give me time). I need the shuffle, as much as I hate admitting that, because music keeps me ‘in the zone’ when I write. It’s a mood enhancer. Ask any writer, when you are writing a scene that has romance you listen to romantic music, a sad scene with sad music, a fight scene with angry or high tempo music. You get the idea.

Okay. So three things I would LOVE in an idea work space is a FULL size Multi Touch wall (computer) or even a smaller wall…lol, a Microsoft Courier that isn’t really out yet and one of those space chair things. (I don’t need the space chair, but it would be neat I think). Two things I have that I can’t live without are my Netbook and my iPod Shuffle.