Friday Links -- Volume 25

Another good week of writing.  Don't know how long it's going to last, but I'm going to milk it for all it's worth.

I saw Captain America this week.  AWESOME!  Don't ever accuse Marvel of not wanting to take risks. How many of you saw Captain America before watching this week's Agents of Shield TV show?  If you didn't, were you shocked by what happened during the episode?  Were you confused?  Changes are coming in the Marvel universe.

Advice on writing queries and synopses was the big thing this last week, so I have three of them for you in today's links.  Have a great weekend!

ChemistKen
----------------------------

How to Write the Dreaded Query Letter

A Synopsis Checklist

The Complete Guide to Query Letters That Get Manuscript Requests

An Editor's List of Novel Shortcomings

Sorry, Your Services are no Longer Required: Eliminating Characters

Looking for an editor? Check them out very carefully!

The Key to Creating Suspense Is...

Writing Blogs and the CAPTCHA Dilemma

Last week I helped co-host the Insecure Writers Support Group bloghop. I met lots of new people and reconnected with others, but I was surprised at the number of blogs that required me to pass a CAPTCHA test (or something similar) before I could leave a comment. For those of you who don’t know, CAPTCHA is that irritating little test you need to pass to prove you’re a human – usually by having you stare at a blurry picture until you figure out the hidden word. They’re usually not too difficult to solve, especially since it often seems as though CAPTCHA accepts anything I type. Sometimes, though, it takes three or four tries to get it right. Go figure.

But if you’re a blogger, do you really want to make your readers jump through hoops to respond to your posts?

I know the purpose of these filters is to keep spam from filling up the comments section, but I have to say I’ve never had a problem with spam on this website. Perhaps I don’t attract enough readers to make my site worthy of spammers’ attention. Or maybe I’m just not attracting a high enough class of spammers. Either way, the anti-spam filters built into Blogger do a great job of removing spammy comments before anyone sees them. I haven’t used Wordpress, but I assume their filters are just as reliable.

The whole point of blogging is to engage with your readers, and the comments section is where that engagement occurs. So anything you do to hinder that engagement is not a good thing. Using CAPTCHA is like putting up a sign that says “I really don’t care if you comment or not.” To be honest, every time I hit a CAPTCHA window, I pause for a moment to decide if I should continue or just click “Cancel.” Many times, the only thing keeping me from clicking “Cancel” is the time I spent composing the message. But next time I come to your site, I’ll know better.

Case in point. When I stopped by MPax's blog last week, I couldn’t get past her CAPTCHA filter, even when I was positive my answer was correct. I must have tried ten different pictures before I gave up and emailed her directly. (Turns out her website must have glitched somehow. She didn’t have CAPTCHA turned on.) But I only jumped through these hurdles because she has an interesting blog. I’m not going to do that for everyone.

Ultimately, it’s your decision. Is the small amount of time you spend deleting the few bits of spam that make it past the default spam filters really worth the loss in comments? If you have a successful website with huge comment sections that draw spammers like flies, then by all means, use CAPTCHA. But if not, I’d suggest turning off your CAPTCHA filter (or making sure yours isn’t turned on by default). You may find a lot more comments waiting for you the next time you check in.

Edit: If you're not sure if you have word verification enabled on your blog and you use Blogger, go on down to Melissa's comment for a link to instructions on how to deactivate it.

BTW, I tried commenting on MPax's blog this morning and hit the unsolvable CAPTCHA roadblock again.  I'll have to wait until tonight to see if I have the same problem commenting from home. Very weird.

Also, I saw Captain America last night.  AWESOME!

Friday Links -- Volume 24

Woohoo! Another weekend approaches.  Actually it's not as big a deal for me, since I seem to get more writing accomplished during the week than I do during the weekend.  Go figure.  I will be meeting with my local SCWBI group on Saturday, so I'm pretty sure there I will do some writing.  The meeting calls for a massive critting session, which should be great fun.  My only concern is that the chapter I plan to share has a college-age MC, which might be pushing the MG/YA boundaries of SCWBI.

I'm still recovering from co-hosting April's Insecure Writers Support Group bloghop. I met more great writers and my inspiration levels shot up into the stratosphere.    I'd like to extend a special thank you to all the other co-hosts: Hart Johnson, Candilynn Fite, Terri Rochenski, Clare Dugmore, and Lilica Blake!  Thanks again, Alex.

Have fun with the links and enjoy your weekend.

ChemistKen

What’s Love Got to Do with It-Part Three

The Ins and Outs of ISBNs

Five Ways to Grow Your Novel

What Killed It For Me #4: Clichéd Characters

How to Get Your Book into More Categories on Amazon with Keywords

Creating Believable High Stakes for Your Characters

The Insecure Writer and Never Finishing

Today is April's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.

Today, I'm co-hosting the IWSG, along with Hart Johnson, Candilynn Fite, Terri Rochenski, Clare Dugmore, and Lilica Blake!



Why am I an Insecure Writer this month? 

Because I worry I may never actually finish a story.

Not because I plan on giving up writing anytime soon. I’m stubborn enough to keep plugging away at this writing stuff until I get it right. But I’ve just started my third story and I haven’t finished the first two yet. My first story was fan fiction (I bet you can guess which one) and I worked on it for over five years before deciding I should also work on something I could eventually sell. So a year ago, I started work on a MG fantasy, but after spinning my wheels for almost a year with the plot, I decided to shove the MG story to the back burner and begin yet another story. Fantasy, of course.

So here I am, working on or thinking about three different stories and hoping that at least one of them gets finished before the decade ends. Did I also mention I’m a slow writer? 

Sounds utterly disorganized, right? Yep, but that’s my style. I've never been happy working on just one project at a time. I read five or six books simultaneously, choosing to read whichever one I feel like at the moment. Even when I make myself stick to writing one story, I jump around, working on whichever chapter appeals to me on that particular day.

The point is, I hope I don’t end up becoming one of those writers who has a dozen partially finished stories stored on their hard drive and no completed ones to show the world.

*************************************************

In keeping with this topic, I know someone who no longer has to worry about finishing her book -- because she's already done it! This week, fellow ISWG member Melissa Maygrove revealed the cover to her debut book, Come Back. If you want to support one of your fellow Insecure Writers, hop on over to her blog and show your support.

And one day, maybe you’ll be able to do the same thing for me....

ChemistKen

-----------
About Melissa's book

Sometimes a single choice alters the course of a person's life forever.

Rebecca Garvey had the promise of a California future dreams are made of, until the wagon train her family was traveling with left her behind. Now she’s slowly dying in the wilderness, abandoned and stripped of her self-worth. Once the shock of her desertion turns to embittered despair, she doesn’t want to be found. Then a handsome stranger challenges her convictions and changes her mind.

Seth Emerson knows exactly what he wants. Working to save for a cattle ranch of his own keeps him busy and keeps his pain buried. Rescuing a stubborn woman from the hills of New Mexico Territory isn’t part of his plan—but she’s exactly what he needs.

Seth and Rebecca set off on a risky journey and a quest for truth, each healing the other’s love-starved soul along the way. Will they give in to their growing attraction?  Or will they honor their commitments when Seth returns Rebecca to civilization... and her betrothed?

Friday Links -- Volume 23

It's been a busy week.  Melissa Maygrove has been holding a contest all week to celebrate her upcoming cover release in three days.

If you haven't been participating, you've still got time to get on over there and enter.  What are you waiting for?

Also I have a review up today for Wish You Weren't by Sherrie Petersen over at the Sher A Hart blog.  It's a MG fantasy about a 13-year-old boy who makes a wish on a star that his little brother would disappear--and then gets his wish.  Follow his adventures as he tries to get his brother back.  Touching.

And it's going to be even more hectic next week when I help co-host Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group. Who knows?  I might even get around to doing some writing. :)



You'll find that three of today's links are supplied by Janice Hardy.  If you ever have any questions about writing, I suggest searching her website.  It's a treasure trove of information and I always look forward to her posts. Have a great weekend!


Will They or Won’t They? Plotting With Yes or No Questions

What Changes in Your Scenes?

What Killed It For Me #3: Too Much Going On

Fix Showing vs. Telling with Macros & Word Lists

Motives

How to Turn That Shiny New Idea Into a Novel

The Secret to Crafting High Stakes

Too Much Time To Write?

I don’t have a lot of time for writing. Work and family take the lion’s share of my time, so I have to make a conscious effort to squeeze in my writing. Ten minutes here, twenty minutes there. Whatever I can find. Whenever I can find it.  Unfortunately, since it usually requires several minutes for me to get into the necessary creative state of mind, these short snippets of time don’t always result in productive writing. So you can imagine how excited I get when I manage to snag a large block of guilt-free writing time. Woohoo!

The funny thing is, when that block of time arrives, I’ll immediately begin procrastinating. I may have spent the last hour fantasizing about all the pages I plan to write, but the moment I sit down in front of the computer, I’ll feel the need to get a drink of water, or  to check my emails, or I’ll decide that maybe I should work on a blog post instead of my manuscript. What’s my problem?

It’s as if the idea of spending several hours on my manuscript frightens me. Perhaps I’m afraid I won’t get anything accomplished. Maybe I’m so excited by the prospect of having all this time available, I can’t force myself to focus. I don't know.  It’s like I enjoy the idea of having time to write more than doing the writing itself. Weird.

Of course, once I force myself to type those first couple of words, then all is well. You can’t drag me away from the computer. But that initial reluctance to get down to business still leaves me scratching my head.

I don’t suppose any of you suffer from the same malady, do you?

Melissa Maygrove's Cover Release Contest!

It's Spring is here in Michigan.  Supposedly.  It may actually hit 32 degrees today, but I'm not holding my breath.

Anyway, here's the REAL news.

Melissa Maygrove will be revealing the cover for her new book on March 31st, and to celebrate the event she'll be hosting a contest over the course of the next week.  So hop on over to Melissa's blog and enter.