February Favorite: Scrivener

Hi guys! I just wanted to share with you a cool little writing tool I found via the interwebz this past week. It's called Scrivener.

When it comes to writing, I'm a very organized person [Unfortunately, my organizational skills don't extend into the real world, much to my mother's chagrin]. I love to have little folders on my laptop for each book, then subfolders for each character, then sub-sub-folders for every quirk my character has. In short, I love to organize my ideas, my characters, their personalities, their favorite foods, places they've been... I'm a veritable maniac when it comes to character analysis.

That said, I use Microsoft Word for my books. It's great--it has all the tools I need to get a story down on paper. The problem comes when I'm trying to file away characters, scenes, information about my worlds, etc. I can never find the folder I need, the character I'm seeking, the specific picture of a tree I've stashed away. And just as a note: NEVER put all your characters into one Word document. The results aren't pretty.

I've often wanted a better way to keep my characters filed, but I didn't know that way actually existed until I found Scrivener.

Scrivener is a computer program specifically for writers; it's geared towards better organizing your stories, your characters, even your scenes, places and creatures. The opportunities are endless... once you get the hang of the program. But that doesn't take long. After you've explored, it's time to stash. Scrivener has a unique corkboard background, on which you can place an infinite number of virtual 3 x 5 cards. Each card serves as a snippet of the massive document it represents--you can make long character pages without taking up pages and pages of space in a Word Document, and when you're done, all you see on the main page is a little card with your character's name. Same for cards representing scenes, places, interesting facts, etc. It's COOL. I'm having so much fun.

Now, you might be wondering why I'm telling you this. You guessed right if you thought Scrivener is expensive--it costs $40. I'm still debating on whether or not to buy it.

I'll let you wonder how I can have it without buying it for a moment :3

Okay, ready? This program is availible for a free, non-consecutive 30 day trial. It's super easy to download, and if you decide you don't want to make the investment when the 30 days are up, you can export all your information so you don't lose anything. I'm having a blast with those little 3 x 5 cards. I think you will, too.

So go check it out! You can find more information about the program and the opportunity to start your own 30 day trial at:
 http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php

I highly recommend this program. Now does anyone have an extra forty bucks I can borrow to have it forever? 8D

Praise Him.

{via}

I had my last devotions of 2011 today. Providentially, the final Psalm the One Year Bible had me read was [no surprise] Psalm 150. It's short, but as 2011 draws to its close, I think it says a lot.
"Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD."


There are a lot of things about 2011 I wish I could change; there are some things I wouldn't change even if I had the chance. It was a good year; a hard year; a year of testing and of refinement and joy. Not as bad as some years I can remember; maybe not as good as others.

At the end of this year, there's a lot of memories knocking on my door. Sometimes I'd like to question God; to ask Him why He thought that moment was right to bring a difficult providence into my life, or if He couldn't have let the sun shine just a little longer before dousing all my hopes in a sudden storm. Other times, I'm overcome with gratefulness at how good He has been this year.

I can't change the bad things that happened; I wouldn't change the good things. So, in the end, there is only one thing to do: praise Him.

I must praise God for every gift He's given me this year; praise Him for the trials He's brought me through.

I must praise Him for the sunshine and the rain.

I must praise Him for the times of happiness, for all the times I did something I thought I'd never do and did it well. Those things I'll remember for the rest of my life. And, in the end, I can do nothing but praise Him for the times I failed because I relied on my own strength to get me through, or simply because He had a lesson to teach me.

I'm so thankful for this year. I've learned a lot; grown a lot; written a lot; talked a lot [that's not unusual]; prayed a lot--though not as often as I should. I've made new friends, discovered new gifts, found new passions. I've read a heap of books and loved almost every single one. I've worked for about seven months now and am really encouraged by how kind everyone at the office has been to me. I got accepted into a college that I really like, and there's a chance that I might recieve a good sum of money to make it easier to attend there [that's something I'll have to wait 'til 2012 to find out]. For all these things and more I can only praise God.


Sometimes the providences I encounter leave me gasping for breath, but I can only praise God that He led me safely through. Other times, they leave me breathless with joy, and what better way to show my thankfulness than to praise the Lord?


Well, that's my formal farewell to 2011. I hope and pray that 2012 will be just as good a year, for me and for you.

As far as any New Year's resolutions go, well--pfft. Aren't mine always the same?


God Bless ~

Ps. One of the things I praise God for is my blog! I'm so glad to have the chance to write down my thoughts, post my stories, and read your blogs. In honor of that blessing, I picked my top ten favorite posts from this year. Here they are:

1. I Know I'll Understand Someday [10/16/11]
2. Another Short Story =] (6/18/11)
3. The Happiness [8/13/11]
4. An Apology [5/18/11]
5. Where Do I Start? [9/17/11]
6. Day{s} After [12/28/11]
7. Braking for Turkey [11/20/11]
8. Second to the Right, and Straight On Till Morning [8/28/11]
9. Is It November Yet? [10/13/11]
10. Ideas, Ideas [4/9/11]


What about you? What were your favorite posts from Something Solid Out of Air?

Books on Books!

So, I figured since I'd like to use some of the books on writing that I own to help us develop our skills, I should probably name them and tell you exactly why I like them! Most of these books I found at writer's conferences, but I recently stumbled upon the breathtaking array of books on writing at my local bookstore! That's a good place to check for some of these titles =D

Seize the Story~ Victoria Hanley: This was a really great book, and a quick read, too. I haven't had much time to do the exercises (summer goal) but I liked her approach and appreciated the examples she used.

Wild Ink~ Victoria Hanley: The sequel to Seize the Story! This book focused less on exercises and more on how to choose your genre and where to look for publishing opportunities.

The Write-Brain Workbook ~ Bonnie Neubauer: One of the most fun books I've ever had--EVER. It's composed of 366 exercises and meant to be done in a year's time. Some of the prompts are short and don't give much wiggle room, but some can be expanded on and may even end up in a new book! I'm absolutely loving this book and would love to post a couple of the prompts on here in days to come.

Writing the Breakout Novel ~ Donald Maass: This is a helpful book with a lot of questions to ask yourself about developing your character, villian, secondaries, and storyline. I haven't worked in it in a LONG time, and am just starting to read through it again. Some of the examples used have profanity and other issues, as a heads-up; aside from that, it's a really great resource.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers ~ Renni Browne and Dave King: A helpful little workbook dealing more with mistakes writers often make than with developing character, etc. Again, it has issues with language, which is actually sad considering that it's a good book otherwise.


These are just a few of the books [on writing] which I own and enjoyed working through.
My question for YOU is: which books (if any) do you find helpful in developing writing skills?

~Elisabeth