Organizing Your Research Books

Writers often hear, “Write what you know.”  That sounds plausible.   I’ve lived in the Chicago area my entire life.  I know the seasons, the slang, the popular foods and the stops on the elevated train.  I know my characters can order a deep dish pizza with a locally brewed beer.  I know they wouldn’t be walking on the beach (yes, there is a large body of water along Chicago’s east side) in February unless they were dressed in snow boots and parkas instead of shorts and sandals. 

And yet, when I started writing, I chose London as my setting.  Not modern London, but rather, Victorian London.  What did I know about Victorian London?   Absolutely nothing!  Except what I’d read in history books and other historical romance novels. 

That didn’t deter me, though.  As it wouldn’t any writer who felt passionate about a character or setting.  It just meant that I would have to do some research.  Well, not some.  A lot of research.  That didn’t deter me, either.  And I’m not alone.  Many authors write about places they’ve never visited.  And like me, many authors love the research aspect to writing a novel. 

Research wasn’t as easy when I began writing as it is now.  The internet was in its infancy.  I did most of my research at the library – fingering through catalog card files, thumbing through books, and dropping dimes into the copy machine when I wanted a photo or large amount of text.   I also bought whatever books I could find on the topic, especially on sale through libraries or catalogs. 

With all this research came another problem – how to keep track of this information when I needed to access it again.  Back then, technology meant a spreadsheet.  I didn’t even know how to use one, so I kept track of my books and resources on plain sheets of paper, numbering the sources, and writing notes to myself on what the source was and where I’d found it.  It wasn’t the easiest to use, especially when I was looking for something specific.  It meant scanning all those pages until I came across the entry I wanted. 

Technology has made life so much easier.  I know how to use spreadsheets now.  And the internet and bookmarks have made tracking a breeze.  But I still have my extensive library of research books, as do other authors.  It’s the nature of the business.   If we aren’t collecting research books, we’re collecting novels or inspirational works. 

So what happens when you need one of those books?  Could you find it on your shelf?  Would you remember what you owned if you were at the store and saw it on the shelf?  That’s where today’s software comes in. 

With programs like Collectorz and All My Books, it’s all automated now.  Just scan or type in the bar code, and the book’s information automatically populates the fields.  You’ll even get a photo of the book’s cover.  You can then search files by genre, plot, publisher, etc. 

Some of these programs are free downloads, others have a nominal cost.  And you have to take the time to enter all your books.  But when you consider the convenience, it’s well worth it.  Start by scanning anything new that you bring home, then slowly add the rest of your titles.  Do a shelf a day, or maybe one a week, depending on your available time.  Eventually, your entire library will be catalogued. 

What is your favorite book cataloguing system?    

Six Ways Meditation Can Boost Creativity

Meditation can be beneficial for anyone.  It gives us an opportunity to become more present with ourselves just as we are.  When we are mindful, we show up for our lives.  We don’t miss them in being distracted or in wishing for things to be different. 

Drawing on this sense of mindfulness can boost creativity.  By finding happiness in every moment of your waking life, your mind opens to wonders and possibilities.  Conversely, when you are living in fear, anger, regret and worry, that is all you know.

Taking away the negatives boosts creativity.  Here’s how:

1. De-stressing – Being mindful of your life forces you to concentrate on something other than your worries.  As writers, we put ourselves out there, risking rejection and criticism on a daily basis.  Meditation soothes these rough edges and creates a safe, stress-free place. 
2. Clarity/Focus – Focusing on your breathing teaches you to focus on your projects.  Once you get rid of the mind clutter, you’ll see everything else more clearly.  This will take time, though.  As time goes on, the more clarity you will realize.
3. Perspective – When you spend time being aware of nothing but your breathing, thoughts and feelings, you’ll begin to see how trivial your daily worries really are.  Life will be put into perspective.  So let go of the small stuff. 
4. Patience – We are bombarded with messages every waking moment of our lives, whether it’s driving to work or watching television in the evening.  Thinking about nothing is difficult.  It takes patience to bbe successful in training your brain to resist thoughts. 
5. Eases Anxiety – With meditation comes a calmness of the mind.  Internal chatter will eventually ease.  And when internal chatter eases, so does anxiety.
6. Improves Concentration -  Meditation strengthens cognitive control.  By quieting other brain functions, your ability to concentrate is enhanced.   

There are many benefits to derive from meditation,  But like anything else, it takes practice.  Be patient.  Be consistent.  Set aside a time every day to meditate.  Don’t break from this time and don’t let anything distract you.

Do you meditate?  What is your favorite time of day?  Where do you meditate? 

 

Book Review - Victorian Fashions for Women and Children: Society's Impact on Dress

I recently had the opportunity to review Victorian Costume for Ladies 1860-1900 by Linda Setnik, a fascinating look at fashion through photographs from the era.  I am pleased to say that the author has followed up with another wonderful resource - Victorian Fashions for Women and Children: Society’s Impact on Dress.  This new book covers the same years, 1860-1900, but looks more closely at children’s fashions, and how society influenced styles for both women and children. 

What I found particularly interesting is the way fashion magazines criticized the contemporary woman of the day for sticking to impractical styles, yet continued to feature them in their pages.  Saying we are slaves to fashion was never more prevalent than in the Victorian Era.  Women wore layers and layers (sometimes as many as ten) no matter what the weather.  Tight lacing and corsets forced organs into places they shouldn’t be.  There are amazing examples of abnormally small waistlines in the photos accompanying the text.

Sadly, women not only followed these fashions, but inflicted the same upon their daughters at a young age.  Children dressed like small adults except for shorter skirts and less ornamentation.  I was surprised to learn that boys dressed identical to girls for longer than I thought.  They normally wore dresses until the age of five or six, and sometimes even until their teenage years.  Their hair, while usually short, was parted on the side, while girls parted their hair in the center, which is sometime the only distinguishable feature in a photo.  The wealthier classes kept boys in dresses longer.  There were no gender distinctions, as a result.  All were simply children whose mothers didn’t want them to grow up. 

In addition to fashion trends, Ms. Setnik covers leisure wear, which would hardly be considered ‘leisurely’ by our standards, since it allowed for little movement.  Also covered are hairstyles and accessories like jewelry, stocking and sashes. 

Each chapter covers several years, explaining the sometimes subtle changes from season to season.  Waistlines dropped or rose, went from straight to pointed, hemlines of overskirts rose and fell, skirt and bustle sizes changed shape and size, sleeves puffed, and silhouettes slimmed.  The photographs can be dated by identifying these changes.

Some additional features are an extensive bibliography to continue your research, and a price guide for valuing the clothing. 

This book shows that Ms. Setnik thoroughly researched the topic, and is an expert in the field.  I enjoyed seeing the photographs of contemporary women, rather than perfect models, and learned many new facts and details from this fascinating era.

Blythe Gifford - Before the Word doc? An Excel spreadsheet!

In my past (pre-writer!) life, I was considered an organized person, but the process of writing a book taps deeply into the right (illogical) brain and that seems to have oozed throughout my whole life.  Still, I cling to some vestiges of organization that help me through the writing process.  My master spreadsheet is one of them.

For every book, I open an Excel workbook and give it some fanciful name.  This inevitably has nothing to do with the actual title of the book, which is generally one of the last things that’s decided.  For the Brunson Clan trilogy, I called it “Reiver Record.”  I’ll also select an interesting typeface and color for headers.  It’s all part of putting myself into the mindset of the story.  This document is opened every single day and offers me a central location to do the following:

Track hours and word count.  I track my hours, word count goal and progress, every day.  (Some people set it up by chapters, but this is what works for me.) I also make little notes on how I feel or what I did.  (Quick notes like “love scene – needs work” or “beginning to catch fire.”)  This is VERY helpful when I’m in the middle of the next book and everything is awful.  I can look back to where I was at the same point in the previous book and remember all looked dark then, too and it had a happy ending!  Here’s a sample of how it looked at the very beginning of a new project.  You can see the manic-depressive fluctuations I go through.

Create and remember the backstory.  On another tab, I list the years since my characters were born, with a column for their ages (hero/heroine), a column for real, historical events that occurred that year, and a column where I can record key life events for my characters.  It was particularly helpful when I had to juggle childhood recollections for three Brunson siblings!  That made it easy to check when Johnnie Brunson went to court or when Bessie Brunson was first kissed.  

This also is invaluable for creating character backstory when I need it.  I simply glance at the chart and I can see that the country was at war/peace/famine or whatever when my character was a certain age.  

Create the remember the timeline.  I do a similar chart for the chronology of the story itself so I have a record of when the various events happened, easy to forget halfway through the story.

Remember character names/appearance.  Another tab keeps track of my character names and titles, along with eye and hair color.  This can be sorted, to make it easy to catch if you have too many characters with names beginning with “J.”

Save tidbits of information.  Whenever I have something I want to capture, for example, the distance between two points and how long it would take the characters to travel there, I just add a tab and make a note.  

Some may prefer to do this in OneNote or another program.  For me, Excel is simple and flexible.  I back up every day by sending this spreadsheet, along with the work-in-progress, to my Yahoo email and stick it in a folder so I will never risk losing it.  I would mourn the loss of this master almost as much as if I lost my manuscript!

Blythe Gifford has been known for medieval romances featuring characters born on the wrong side of the royal blanket. Now, she’s written a trilogy set on the turbulent Scottish Borders of the early Tudor era, starting with RETURN OF THE BORDER WARRIOR, November 2012, Harlequin Historical.  CAPTIVE OF THE BORDER LORD will follow in January 2013, and TAKEN BY THE BORDER REBEL in March 2013.  The Chicago Tribune has called her work "the perfect balance between history and romance."  Visit her at www.blythegifford.com, www.facebook.com/BlytheGifford, or on Twitter @BlytheGifford. 

Author photo by Jennifer Girard.  Cover Art Copyright © 2013 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited.  Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

The Essentials of a Writer’s Office

Writer Wednesday

In order to be productive, you need the correct tools to perform your job.  This is no different for writers.  An ideal office environment includes the tools authors need to research, write, submit and market their books.  Here are some items every writer should have on hand:

·         Notebooks and pens for writing down ideas, reminders and tasks.  Ideally, you should use a different notebook for each of these.

·         Laptop and/or desktop.  Laptops are convenient for taking with you when you travel or want to work elsewhere in the house.  Desktops are not portable, but the monitors can be much larger.

·         A printer.  Because most of what you print will be manuscript pages, look for a printer whose page output is high, rather than photo quality being good.

·         A desk.  Purchase one large enough for your electronics, but small enough to fit into your space.

·         An ergonomic desk chair to provide support during the hours that you are sitting in it.

·         A file cabinet or drawers for storing research, ideas, finances, organizations, etc.

·         A good internet connection.  While your writing is done offline, your email, research and newsletters all require an internet connection.  Make sure it is fast enough to handle loading graphics and pages to make the best use of your time.

·         Word processing software.  Most common is Microsoft Word, but any software that provides the same functions would be suitable.

·         A notebook or software for tracking submissions and royalties.

·         Bulletin board or whiteboard for posting notes and ideas.

·         A red pen for editing.

·         Notecards, stationery and envelopes for writing thank you notes, cover letters and mailing promo materials.

·         Writer’s Resource books.  Select a variety of books, including characterization, plotting, marketing, etc.  For a list of suggestions, click here.

Contact Management program.  This can be used for setting up business contacts and a fan newsletter

Web Design Tips for Writers

The internet is a primary source of advertising for authors.  Information about their books is available 24 hours a day.  Anyone anywhere can visit a web site and learn about your past, current and future releases.  But with so many web sites online, authors are competing for time.  Therefore, a web site must be designed to capture as many readers and visitors as possible.  Here are a few tips for authors when designing a web site.

1.       Keep the home page simple.  There should be just enough information to interest your visitors, but not so much they will get distracted and leave.  Don't make them scroll down the page.

2.       Make links visible.  Whether you use side tabs or a navigation bar, links to additional pages should be easily seen on every page.

3.       Keep your design simple—this includes fonts and graphics.  Don't use blinking graphics or fancy fonts that are difficult to read.  This is distracting and visitors will move on.

4.       Put your most important content on the left side of the page, where visitors spend most of their viewing time.

5.       Keep your design complementary to your genre.  For example, if you write contemporary thrillers, you wouldn't want Western graphics or images, as much as you love visiting dude ranches.

6.       Selling books is the main reason for your web site.  Make titles easy to find, and include links for purchasing.

7.       Give your readers a call to action.  This may be purchasing your books, attending a booksigning, or liking you on Facebook.  Have these buttons or links visible and up front.

8.       Have links to outside pages open in a new frame.  You don't want visitors to completely leave your page.

9.       Keep current!  Update your page as often as necessary.  Nothing is more frustrating to visitors than seeing booksignings that are a year old, or "Upcoming" releases that have been out for six months.

Giving your readers a reason to visit will keep them coming back. 

Book Review – Victorian Costume for Ladies 1860-1900 by Linda Setnik

One of the enjoyments of reading historical novels is losing oneself in the details of the setting.  The more detailed the description, the more a reader feels a part of the book.  It's easy to be whisked away to 19^th century America, imagining flounced dresses, ruffled parasols and impossibly tight corsets.

It is important, therefore, for the writer to weave these details into their writing.  In order to do that, they spend hours researching every aspect of the time, from social mores to fashion.  When they find a resource, they grab onto it, using the information in their work.

One of these valuable resources is Victorian Costume for Ladies 1860-1900 (VCL).  This revised and expanded 2^nd edition is full of details any Victorian enthusiast would benefit from.  This book isn't the usual fashion resource.  Rather than using drawings of petite models with perfect features, VCL uses real photographs of real women.  The ladies in these photos could very well be your great-grandmother or great-great aunt.  They are women like you and me, of all ages and from all walks of life. 

The author analyzes the styles through the years by studying these photographs.  Even something as subtle as the pose or the furniture can give insight into habits and mores of the day. 

VCL isn't just about the fashion, either.  The book explores the health issues associated with the restrictive corsets, and the poisonous chemicals used in cosmetics of the day to keep skin looking white and flawless.   

It is a fascinating look at the extraordinary detail of the times.  How did they produce these complicated dresses?  How did they keep them clean and make them last as long as possible?  Undergarments were an important part of this process.  VCL includes a chapter on the role chemises, petticoats and dress shields played in prolonging the life of the dress.  It is a wonder any women survived hot summers dressed with layers and layers of constrictive clothing. 

Victorian Costume for Ladies is a must for any library for writers of this era.  Lose yourself in the detail, so your readers can lose themselves in your book.

 By Michelle Prima

www.literary-liaisons.com