Writers in the Storm

A blog about writing

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5 Things Working With Kids Taught Me About Writing

by Ellen Buikema

Working with young children provided me with a different way of viewing and understanding the world. Life lessons from children can serve as invaluable resources for writing and life.

1. Have Patience

When dictating stories for me to transcribe, children either spoke at lightning speed or slowly with great deliberation. The fast talkers needed to be patient with me. And they were. Each and every one of them. Patient to a fault.

Children at the writing table

A pair of fraternal twins, sister and brother, were prolific, creative storytellers. Both spoke at breakneck pace. Sometimes the duo’s words spilled forth with such speed that they tripped over syllables, making them difficult to understand. After hearing me ask several times, “Can you please say that again?” they chose a different method to get their stories across—one word at a time with a few “one Mississippi, two Mississippi” beats between words. I found this maddening, but eventually we developed a flow that worked for all of us. Plus, mutual respect allowed for greater student-teacher patience.

Rushing your book out to the public is tempting but unwise. Have patience. Art cannot be rushed.

Writing and “building a book” requires a lot of patience.

When composing, whether you are a plotter, pantser, or plantser, lack of patience leads to frustration that can hurl you smack into writer’s block. Having patience with oneself is not easy. Remember that a plethora of great writers took many drafts to get their stories just right. After all, first drafts are awful by definition.

2. Be Disciplined

Someone once told me that working with young students was like herding cats. I totally agree!

The attention span of a four-year-old is very short. We’re talking eight to twelve minutes on average if they’re interested in the project being presented. Unless you’re well organized with backup plans in case of emergencies, you are toast—burned extra crispy.

It takes discipline to have all the pieces-parts prepared for the day—as well as a bag of tricks.

Circle Time Disaster

I’d planned a fantastic lesson. It flopped big time. I could tell by observing the wiggling bodies sitting on the floor with me. Time to punt. Beside me, sat a bag containing several items of different shapes and sizes. I decide to call it The Mystery Bag. This went over very well. All forty eyes focused on the teacher holding a large, bumpy brown paper bag on her lap.

I asked the wiggliest student to come over and, without peeking, reach into the bag. “Describe the item for us, just from touching it,” I said. The student holding the hidden item chose each of her classmates in turn, following the customs of our classroom (preventative discipline). The students guessed what they thought the mystery item might be. After every classmate participated, the student pulled the item from the bag. The Mystery Bag activity continued until Circle Time ended.

What preparations do you make to be sure you're organized for your writing day? Some writers have specific goals, like word count or chapters to write per week. Others keep items in their writing area to use to trigger ideas. Maybe a Mystery Bag would help. Pulling items one-by-one to use as part of a suspense story. As for me, I like to start with coffee and quiet time to think about what happens next. Just like I'd ask the kids while dictating their stories, to move the plot forward.

Self-discipline or lack thereof, can make you or break you. It can:

  • Help form positive habits. Successful writers discipline themselves to write, making it habitual.
  • Assist you to be productive. Commit to a timeline for your writing projects. Be an achiever.
  • Help with focus. Focusing on the writing will get your work completed.
  • Increase your self-esteem. Achieving your writing goals boosts confidence.

3. Notice the Little Stuff

Children notice everything. When sitting on your lap to listen to a story, they may look up your nose and comment upon what they see. There is no such thing as a filter with young children. The social filter doesn’t start until around age seven, thanks to children’s increased capacity for empathy.

Everything a child sees and hears eventually makes its way to school, either with friends or trusted adults. Students write in pictorial form or dictate stories about things they’ve seen or heard that evoke emotion—both the good and the bad.

Observation is key to great scenes.

My favorite grade schoolteacher gave us a simple assignment, never graded nor asked about. Find one item on your walk home from school and really look at it in detail. Take time to observe the little things. I have never forgotten this assignment and have often used it over the years. There is beauty everywhere. Sometimes you need to look a bit closer.

Observation is much more than seeing. When writing scenes, the more senses used, the easier it is for your reader to become part of the story.

  • Choose what you want to observe.
  • Record your observations.

Use a cellphone camera, still or video camera, make a note on paper or an App like ColorNote, or audio recording App like Voice Recorder for future reference. Sensory memories are strong, but life is busy and it’s easy to forget.

4. Use Forgiveness

It’s okay to be angry. It’s not okay to hurt other people or yourself.

When my students hurt each other’s feelings in the classroom or playground, they were responsible to find a way to make the hurt person feel better. It’s easy to say, “I’m sorry.” Finding a way to make it better takes thought. Forgiveness was implicit in accepting that gift, whatever it may have been. This didn’t happen overnight, but over time made a huge difference in the way students treated each other.

No one has the same writing path.

Mentors can steer you toward new possibilities, challenge you, and expand your imagination, but no one can tell you exactly what your writing process should be. Forgive those that suggest the “right” way. You will develop a system that may borrow from many but become your own.

There will be fantastic days when your writing flows like a bubbly brook. Others are drought days with a blank screen or page. If you lose patience, forgive yourself.

5. Laugh Often

Once our school nurse fell ill and needed to spend time in the hospital. The students made a book for Nurse Rita to help her feel better. Each child received one page to draw a picture, write their names to the best of their ability, and dictate a sentence or two to cheer her.

Rita smiled throughout the book until she found the last page. Then she laughed hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. On the last page was a drawing of an Angry Bird with the caption, Angry Birds will make Nurse Rita feel better.

Laughter is good medicine. Nurse Rita agrees.

There is a healing quality to humor. Laughter releases feel-good hormones, and a jolly belly laugh is a good workout.

Find more tidbits about humor in writing on the blog. Writing Humor to Heal Mind and Body

And remember that a day without laughter is wasted.

Happy writing!

What life lessons have you incorporated into your writing? Do you have a favorite recording device?

* * * * * *

About Ellen

Author, speaker, and former teacher, Ellen L. Buikema has written non-fiction for parents, and The Adventures of Charlie Chameleon chapter book series with stories encouraging the development of empathy—sprinkling humor wherever possible. Her Works in Progress are The Hobo Code, YA historical fiction and The Crystal Key, MG Magical Realism/ Sci-Fi, a glaze of time travel.

Find her at https://ellenbuikema.com or on Amazon.

Top Image by Михаил Мингазов from Pixabay

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The Name Game: Tips for Naming Your Characters

by Eldred “Bob” Bird

I’ve always been fascinated by character names. I often wonder why the author chose a specific name for that individual. Is it a family name, or a reflection of their culture? Does it carry some deeper meaning, or was it just the first thing to pop into their head? Maybe it started as a placeholder and over time the name just stuck.

There are countless ways you can name your characters. Some authors keep a baby name book handy, or comb through old phone books (yeah, I’m that old). Here are a few ways I like to approach naming my characters.

Three Ways to get Started

I generally derive my character names in one of three ways:

  1. Build the character first and name them based on their backstory, family history, or something specific about their personality.
  2. Choose a name and build the character around it.
  3. Slap whatever name pops into my head on the character and worry about it later.

Let’s take a deeper look at each of these and see what influences them.

Building the Character First

When I create a character, I want the name to tell you something about the individual. I usually build the character first before putting on a label. I often say that by the time I fully develop a character they’ve told me what their name is, but it’s not quite that simple.

Creating my main characters is something I put a lot of thought into. I know if the character doesn’t hold my interest, it’s not going to grab the reader either. They need to feel real to me before I can write their story. How do I get to know them? Backstory…

The first thing I do is open a new document and start dumping everything I think I want this character to be. I dig into their past and their dreams for the future. I explore their successes and expose their deepest fears. By the time I’ve free written a page or two, I start to see the character take shape in front of me.

This is when the character’s name starts to take shape. Geography can influence name choices. Different countries, states, and regions (like cities or rural areas) influence naming conventions. There are also things like ethnicity and religion that play a part. If you’re writing historical fiction, time period needs to be taken into account.

For more details on how to get to know your characters, checkout my posts on Digging Up Bones and 10 Questions to ask Your Characters.

Building a Character Around a Name

On occasion, a name will catch my attention and set my brain into motion. The sound and rhythm of it might paint a picture in my mind. When that happens, I feel inspired to create a character around the image. A perfect example is from my pulp inspired short story The Smell of Fear.

I was playing around with names one day and ended up with one inspired by my father. He was a junior and went by Jack all his life. When I put that in front of his middle name, I ended up with Jack Holloway. To me, the name had the ring of an old pulp detective. It didn’t take long for the character of Sgt. Jack Holloway to come to life.

When you hear an interesting name or one that brings a picture into your mind, make a note somewhere. You never know when it might come in handy. It may not fit into your current story but could inspire a memorable character (or even a whole story) in the future.

Placeholder Names

Let’s face it, there are times when we’re just not inspired to put a lot of effort into some of the secondary characters. We just want to get into the story and worry about those details later. We stuff any old name in and then move on. There’s no shame in doing this. It’s totally normal.

Placeholder names are a useful tool. They help us keep track of the players. Sometimes the name ends up sticking, sometimes not. The problem comes when we finally settle on a name and go back to change all instances of the placeholder. It’s very easy to miss a few. There’s an easy fix for this.

When you pick a placeholder name, don’t use common names. Pick something unique that you know will never be used anywhere else in the manuscript. That way you can simply use the search and replace tool to make your changes. This also helps if you get halfway through your book and decide to change a character’s name as they develop.

Final Thoughts

A lot of different factors go into naming your character and we’ve only scratched the surface here. If you’re writing fantasy or science fiction it can get even more complicated. Coming up with a consistent naming convention for these genres is a key part of world building.

The character’s name should say something about who they are, or who they want to be. In the end, the goal is to build a memorable character that your readers will relate to. The right name will go a long way toward reaching that goal.

What are some of your favorite ways to generate character names? Let us know in the comments!

* * * * * *

About Bob

Eldred "Bob" Bird

Eldred Bird writes contemporary fiction, short stories, and personal essays. He has spent a great deal of time exploring the deserts, forests, and deep canyons inside his home state of Arizona. His James McCarthy adventures, Killing KarmaCatching Karma, and Cold Karma, reflect this love of the Grand Canyon State even as his character solves mysteries amidst danger. Eldred explores the boundaries of short fiction in his stories, The Waking RoomTreble in Paradise: A Tale of Sax and Violins, and The Smell of Fear.

When he’s not writing, Eldred spends time cycling, hiking, and juggling (yes, juggling…bowling balls and 21-inch knives).

His passion for photography allows him to record his travels. He can be found on Twitter or Facebook, or at his website.

Bob Juggling Knives

Top Image by Ryan McGuire via Pixabay

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AutoCrit Author Tool Inventory – What’s New in 2024

by Kris Maze

As a writer, I understand that tools can make a difference in my productivity. This month, I found an opportunity to access a life account for AutoCrit and, seeing that it included a 60-day trial period, I decided to try it.  Read on to see an overview of the components of this software, other writing products that have similar functionality, and the new features for 2024.

What is AutoCrit and what does it do for writers?

As I write this post, I am completely new to this software. When I heard about the new version of AutoCrit, I was skeptical. It seemed like another add-on that would distract me from writing, causing me to learn the intricacies of the platform only to abandon it after realizing it didn’t improve my writing process. But I was curious, too.

There are many claims that this set of tools can improve an author’s writing and save them time and money on editing. They say it can also help writers facing the crisis of writer’s block if they are stuck.  Another benefit of AutoCrit seems to be the working space where writers can access all these tools and resources in one place. With these promises, I had to see if it was worth the time to learn how to use it and whether it was a good value for the money.

AutoCrit is a workplace that incorporates a place to either upload or write and organize your novel. It includes various editing reports and learning forums and now offers classes for writers. This provides writers with the community, learning, and editing tools you need to take your book from concept to polished product.

It has had a big overhaul from previous versions, and we will look at a few of these in this post. There are many software products that you may have already that seem to duplicate what AutoCrit offers. But what makes AutoCrit shine is how these tools are all in one place and can be used seamlessly with the book you are working on.

Writing Software with Similar Functionality

In my experience, I have found a variety of software tools that can help in all areas of writing and developing a book.   Here are some of my personal favorites. I rely on them to make my book projects the best I can before sending them to readers. To support my 60-day trial, I wanted to explore how they overlap with functions found in AutoCrit.

Scrivener

This software program organizes your writing. It can export your work into various formats good for publishing. Scrivener is loved by many writers, but it has a steep learning curve. It is challenging to learn — so many features and a clunky interface. When they upgraded, I thought it would improve my experience, but it turned out I lost all my previous manuscripts. 

One benefit of Scrivener was the ability to create ebooks from your files.  I was never able to master that, especially since once I lost all my work. I didn’t feel like spending any more energy on it.  The software, classes, and support that I took to learn how to use it were an investment, but I think I keep going back to Word because I can get a good work flow there.

AutoCrit has clean organization and easy ways to organize plots and files. It is simple and doesn’t require a depth of learning that detracts from your writing time. This is a benefit since there is less of a learning curve in AutoCrit than is necessary to understand all the features of Scrivener. 

ProWriteAid

This is the editor I have used and enjoyed for years. Its reports give prompt feedback on chunks of my writing, helping me improve more than my grammar and spelling. It allows you to see style suggestions, finds sticky sentences, and helps you avoid redundancies. 

Many of these reports are also included in the Grammarly editing software in AutoCrit. AutoCrit has more reports that can identify beta reader–type information, looking for flaws in the story and plotline. It will read your manuscript for places where the book doesn’t make sense, like when a child picks up an action figure from the ground, but they have already put away all the toys. Or when a character shades their eyes from the lights after they were dimmed on a previous page. 

This type of feedback is a very valuable asset of the AutoCrit product, since it can help you identify simple mistakes and fix them before sending your work to human readers and editors. Having a cleaner copy can free up readers to give feedback on trickier issues.

Plottr

Plottr has more options and more variety in story structures. It also has options for keeping notes on a series. AutoCrit offers a few general beat sheets and moveable cards to plan and store information on the basic plotline of your book.

One Stop for Writers

This resource, created by Angela Ackerman and Rebeca Puglisi of the Emotional Thesaurus and other writer resource books, helps you plan and create story elements, from character flaws to plot actions that enhance the dynamics of the characters you’ve created.

AutoCrit has space to do this, but it doesn’t have the depth of character and story elements that the Thesaurus series has. It also doesn’t have the detailed structure of One Stop for Writers that can guide you through all the key pieces and details to flesh out a well-written story.

Hemingway

This online service allows you to upload a section of your writing to analyze the reading level. Hemingway is not capable of analyzing a whole book, but you can identify the reading level of a section.

AutoCrit can analyze a whole book once the chapters have been individually uploaded and checked using the dashboard reports.

Types of Reports on the AutoCrit Desktop

Analysis

This tab offers reports for fiction and nonfiction. There is a summary report that includes easy-to-read graphics with a clean interface. There is an option for a combination report as well.

Pacing & Momentum 

This report can give you critical feedback on the length and variety within your sentences.  This helps to keep a good flow in your story. Topics covered include sentence variation, pacing, paragraph variation, and chapter variation.

Dialogue

This report shares with you how much of your text is comprised of dialogue. It can compare your work to other bestsellers within your genre to give you an idea of whether you have used too much or too little conversation. It will analyze your dialogue tags and suggest stronger ones, ones using fewer adverbs, and give you a heads-up on simple tags like “he said,” to help you improve your writing.

Strong Writing  

In Strong Writing, you can see the commonly used aspects of solid prose writing and how you can improve it. The navigation through your chapters is easy to use and allows you to change or keep a suggested correction. Content under this report includes adverbs, passive indicators, tense consistency, showing vs. telling, clichés, redundancies, and unnecessary filler words. These aspects of strong writing are compared to genre bestsellers, adding interesting information for you to interpret as you see how your writing is similar to popular styles of writing.

Word Choice

This report helps you to make decisions about wording and how it could impact your reader. Add variety or watch for consistency by looking through these reports. Aspects of word choice include initial pronoun and names, sentence starters, POV consistency, generic descriptions, personal worlds and phrases (helpful for fantasy and sci-fi writers, for sure!) and power words.

Repetition

You can see how many times you have repeated words and phrases. It offers suggestions as to how many would be acceptable according to popular writers within the genre you select.

Readability

This report helps you monitor your book’s reading level. You want to make it appropriate for the audience you are trying to reach, and you want to keep a consistent reading level throughout the book.

Inspiration Studio

Stuck? This area of the Writer’s Desk can help you generate ideas. This section is AI generative and will create suggested turns and plot ideas for your book. It will not form them into your story though, so note: the writing is still all you.

Can it improve my writing skills?

When you upload a document to the desktop, you get feedback quickly. There are lots of data points and simple graphics to explain how well your chapter is written. The different types of reports give you feedback that can help you become a better writer.

The Impact of Feedback on Your Writing

In many workplaces and in education, you may have noticed the Learning Loop Process in action.  A common method for learning new concepts and deepening understanding, the Learning Loop has four stages that mark the progress you make when working on a new set of knowledge or skill set. Do you recognize these stages in your growth as a writer?

The Learning Loop

The four key elements, or stages, of the learning loop are:

  • Learning – obtaining, understanding, and retaining new knowledge.
  • Application – putting the knowledge learned into a context and trying it out.
  • Feedback – information on how well you used the new knowledge.
  • Reflection – thinking about the progress, evaluating what was learned, and planning what to learn next in the next cycle to deepen your understanding.

Writers engage in a learning loop like this all the time. We read blogs, take classes, and attend conferences to gain skills and to become better writers. Then we write and write and write some more, applying what we have learned. We get feedback from critique groups, self-editing, and beta readers. We look at the feedback and apply it to our work in progress. Then we start the cycle all over again and continue this process until the book is finished.

The Importance of Immediate Feedback

The tools in AutoCrit do have the power to provide valuable feedback to writers. The idea of immediate feedback is important. The sooner we get feedback on our project, the quicker we can apply the new knowledge, and the learning loop becomes more efficient.  That means that the faster we see our mistakes or notice patterns in our writing that are not beneficial, the sooner we can fix these issues in our manuscripts, and the less likely we will be to make the same mistakes again. This is because we have closed the loop and completed the learning process.  

This can happen with our critique groups and other human readers, but the speed and efficiency of computer editing systems has a place for teaching us how to be better writers as well. When we use the feedback from editing software, like Grammarly (the editing software used within AutoCrit) or ProWriteAid, we see improvements we can make quickly, which helps us to improve our writing skills.

Want More Information About the 2024 Version of AutoCrit?

Here is an article by Kinderpreneur.

Here is a lengthy, but informative YouTube video by an editor who is also an employee of AutoCrit. (Video is of her personal experience and use and is not sponsored by the company.)

Is AutoCrit Right for You? My Pros and Cons

This software has a clutter-free workspace that is easy to navigate. It incorporates tools from various other software commonly used by writers to plan a plot, to craft characters, to edit and analyze your work. The ability to use multiple tools in one place without uploading a document multiple times is attractive.

An area where this software shines is how it can identify flaws in the plot and pacing for the whole book. It offers beta-reader type feedback that catches simple errors that need fresh eyes. This saves the tricky stuff for your editor and human beta readers, allowing them to focus on deeper-level feedback to improve your book.

The cost may have been prohibitive for me if I were using the subscription method, but there is a free option worth trying. I was fortunate to come across it in a short window of time when they had a special offer for a lifetime account. Historically, it’s not something they do often, but you might keep an eye open if you’re interested. 

The Not-So-Final Word

It is too early for me to tell whether AutoCrit will become a cornerstone part of my writing process. I’m still finding out if this will enhance my workflow or distract from it. Overall, there are many positives to using this software and I can see many applications to my writing. In particular it has potential to streamline my productivity and to focus my writing process. 

Your turn! Tell us what you think about AutoCrit in the comments below.

What software do you use? Do you use AutoCrit? What can you share with our readers about your experience that can help us determine whether this product is right for us?

About Kris

Kris Maze

Kris Maze, an education enthusiast with a knack for the written word, has dedicated several years to the world of academia. She writes for various publications including Practical Advice for Teachers of Heritage Learners of Spanish and award-winning blog Writers in the Storm where she is also a host.

You can find her YA fiction, writing resources, and keep up with her author events at KrisMaze.com. Find her darker, scarier fiction at her sister-site KrissyKnoxx.com.

A recovering grammarian and hopeless wanderer, Kris enjoys reading, learning languages, and spending time outdoors where she ponders the wisdom of Bob Ross.

And sometimes she tries new software.

Blue Foot, A Sci-fi Story

cover of sci-fi novel Blue Foot

Ernestina Après faces the destruction of her family and her bucolic life beneath the Dome. The Silver-Waters blessings are not in her favor, despite her warnings to the Counsel that the stream and its resources are running out. Caring for a stowaway, she must find a silver-lining in her dire circumstances.

Purchase the autographed paperback and get the ebook download the same day free!

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