Writers in the Storm

by Eldred Bird

One of the most effective tools we have at our disposal for getting the word out about our books is social media. There’s also no denying that images get more hits than text alone, and videos garner even more attention. Videos and live streams served us well during the events of the last couple of years. They’ve allowed us to keep our faces in front of the reading audience while locked up in our private spaces.

Now that the world is opening back up and we’re starting to attend live in-person events again things are changing. It’s time to prepare ourselves to leave the house and take the show on the road. But how do we do that without breaking the bank? Let me introduce you to my mobile media kit.

Building a Mobile Media Kit

My mobile media kit is a small pouch stocked with a few basic items that make recording or streaming video easier and give things a more professional feel. Let’s take a look at what I keep in my little black bag of tricks.

The Camera

To record quality video on the go all you need are a few basic tools, one of which you may already have in your pocket or purse. I’m talking about your smartphone.  The quality of video we get off modern phones has reached the point where it rivals, and sometimes surpasses, dedicated camera devices.

While phone cameras do have some limitations, they’re perfect for our purposes. They have the advantage of allowing us to stream to social media anywhere you can get a signal. Experiment with your phone and get to know what it can and can’t do. Study your camera app to get familiar with all the settings and filters you have at your disposal. Some phones even have apps to edit your footage and add text and effects. The more you know your phone’s features and limits, the better your videos will look.

Camera Mounts

For the best results you need a way to keep your camera stable. Most of the time that means a tripod. I have two different styles in my media kit. Both are equipped with universal cellphone mounts. The first is a small tripod with segmented legs (Gorilla Pod) that can either free-stand or be wrapped around things like handrails or posts. The legs can also be bent to work on uneven surfaces.

My second pod is a little more flexible in its use. It can be extended and used as a selfie-stick or have the legs folded out to stand on its own. This unit came with a Bluetooth remote that pairs with the phone so I can stop and start recording without touching and shaking the camera.

A variety of other mounts are available as well. Depending on where and how you plan to shoot video, you may want to investigate suction mounts for smooth surfaces like windows, or clamp-on mounts. It never hurts to have options.

Whether you’re shooting video inside or outside, proper lighting is going to make a big difference. Brightly lit backgrounds and low light situations cause faces to disappear into the shadows. Harsh lights create hard shadows and washed out images. Both will give an unprofessional look to your videos.

Lighting

There are a lot of inexpensive portable lights on the market that can help you get better video. A quick search of Amazon will yield hundreds of USB powered choices including LED panels and diffused floods. My personal favorite is a USB powered ring light. They’re lightweight and usually come with adjustable brightness and color temperature. These types of lights deliver a soft, defused illumination that fill in harsh shadows on faces, even in bright sunlight. Mine also has a built-in phone mount in the center that swivels for both vertical and horizontal layouts.

Audio

When it comes to audio capture on the go, most of us rely on our cellphone’s built-in microphone. With the improvements in phone technology this will suffice in a lot of cases. The problem comes in public settings where background noise and echoes become an issue. Not being able to clearly hear and understand your voice can kill engagement and cause your audience to click away in a heartbeat.

One solution is a good set of mic-equipped earbuds (either wired or wireless), but they come with their own set of limitations. What happens when you want to interview someone like a fellow author? You may want to look into an external microphone. There are plenty available that will plug into your phone’s audio port. Many even come with a windscreen to reduce noise from fans, AC vents, and breezes.

Another good choice for quality audio is a lavalier mic. They are available in both wired and wireless models. The nice thing about this type of microphone is that it’s located on the person speaking. This not only ensures good voice clarity, but also cuts out most of the background noise as well. I carry two different wired setups, a single mic model and one with two mics. I also carry an extension cable in case I need to move the phone back for a wider shot.

Mobile Power

Using phones and lights on the go requires one more thing—power. This is an easy problem to solve. Portable charger packs for USB devices are available everywhere these days. Look for packs that have more than one USB port, as you may need to have both your phone and a light plugged in at the same time.

When it comes to power packs, size matters. The small 2500mAh packs are fine for giving your phone a quick boost, but when you’re running lights as well bigger is better. I carry a 10,000mAh pack in my kit. It can give my phone a full charge and still have enough left to run my ring light for several hours. I can also recharge it using the USB outlet in my car, if needed.

Putting it All Together

The whole point of the mobile media kit is right in the name—mobile. The idea is to have everything together in one easy to grab package when you’re on the go. Once you’ve made your choices and pulled your gear together, you’ll need something to carry it in. Find a vessel that fits your hardware and your esthetic and keep it handy. All of my gear, except the ring light, fits neatly into a 9”x5”x2” zippered pouch and is easily slipped into a backpack, suitcase, or under the seat of the car.

Some Final Thoughts

In this article I’ve only touched on a few of the tools available to help make better videos on the go. These are the pieces I’ve found that work for me. Before you invest in building a kit like mine, do your research and figure out what tools will help to enhance the kinds of videos you want to produce.

Do you do live streams and videos from remote locations? What tools and tricks have you found that work for you? Let us know in the comments.

About Eldred 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 Karma, Catching 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 Room, Treble 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.

Image Credits

Top photo by Ivan Samkov, all others by Eldred Bird

by Ellen Buikema

A character flaw is an undesirable trait that negatively affects the writer's character. The degree of this effect will depend on the type and magnitude of the defect. Fortunately, the struggles caused by these imperfections often forge great strength of character.

Life is messy.

A perfect character has nothing to learn. The reader will find this person boring and unrelatable.

Weakness + Struggle = Growth.

Flaws—minor, major, and fatal— make memorable and captivating characters.

Three Character Flaw Categories

1. Physical

Cultural ideals determine beauty in a society, so let’s say, that in this case, flaws are deviations from the culture’s norm.

Beauty itself can be considered a flaw. In this study, beautiful women who wear makeup are deemed aggressive.

Any character can be assigned “flaws.”

2. Emotional or Personality

Shyness may seem like sensitivity. In reality this trait may be due to a lack of self-love.

Neediness may appear as emotional openness and end up causing co-dependence.

Need for control might look like discipline but can be punishing.

3. Ideological

A character’s ideology is the set of beliefs and values important to the character. These principles can be a flaw as well as a source of attraction.

Characters might find each other’s ideologies fodder for jokes, at least initially. But the reality of these views can easily create conflict.

Character Flaw Types

Minor Character Flaws

A minor character flaw has minimal impact on a character’s life. Some may be lovable, others maddening. Minor imperfections can move the plot along.

These flaws distinguish your characters, making them memorable. They don’t impact the story but can affect dialogue or reactions to scenes. Examples are as follows:

1. Being perpetually late.
2. Poor decision-making skills
3. Gossiping.
4. Lazy and unwilling to do things.
5. Spoiled.
6. Spacey.
7. Preoccupation with one's physical features.
8. Poor hygiene.
9. Naive.
10. Clumsy.

Examples in novels

• Clumsy – uncoordinated and fumbling; often accident-prone. Example: Bella Swan in Twilight.
• Naive – easily fooled or persuaded to believe something. Example: Valentine Michael Smith in Stranger in a Strange Land.
• Spacey – having one’s head in the clouds; absent-minded. Example: Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter.
• Spoiled – bratty and self-centered as a result of overindulgence. Example: Mary Lennox (at first) in The Secret Garden.

Sometimes flaws aren’t negative as they serve to cause a roadblock for the character, leading to character growth.

Major Character Flaws

A significant character flaw can damage the character and the people within their reach in a physical, mental, or moral manner. These character flaws can drastically impact a character’s life and the lives of those around them. Here are some examples:

1. Addiction – drugs, gambling, smoking, sex, serial killer.
2. Recklessness.
3. Possessive.
4. Deceptive.
5. Short-tempered.
6. Greedy.
7. Narcissistic.
8. Revengeful.
9. Weak-willed.
10. Inconsiderate.

Examples in novels

Short-tempered – quick to anger. Example: Jack Torrance in The Shining.

Possessive – overprotective and controlling. Example: Edward Cullen in Twilight.

Weak-willed – timid and spineless. Example: Peter Pettigrew in Harry Potter.

Inconsiderate – caring little for the feelings of others. Example: Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes.

Fatal Flaws

In a fatal flaw, the character possesses some trait that brings a person to their downfall and eventual death. Here are some examples:

1. Addiction – drugs, gambling, smoking, sex, serial killer.
2. Recklessness.
3. Cruelty.
4. Deceptive.
5. Resentful.
6. Narcissism.
7. Revengeful.
8. Lust for power.
9. Paranoia.
10. Obsession.

Examples in novels

In Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab is fanatical obsession with killing the whale causes him to be reckless.

The protagonist suffers from excessive pride, in Macbeth, and murders the king. He then becomes paranoid, which causes him to order the killing of more characters.

Captain Hook is obsessed with Peter, in Peter Pan.

Ned Stark, in A Song of Ice and Fire, has a fatal flaw that is a positive character trait: he assumes that others share his sense of honor. This mistaken belief leads to his demise.

A Few Suggestions

If you’re pondering a character, here’s a fun character generator you might enjoy playing with for a bit of inspiration.

Using this list can help you find flaws to build your character.

Make the flaw seem reasonable to your character. Bad guys often don’t see themselves as bad guys. Antagonists’ flaws (greed, dishonesty) may seem like strengths (ambition, cunning) to them.

Think about flaws that make sense for characters’ goals and create the personality traits that are aligned with those goals.

Do you find that you gravitate toward particular flaws in your characters? Do you have a preference for lovable flaws or maddening ones? What are your favorite character flaws?

* * * * * *

About Ellen

Author, speaker, and former teacher, Ellen L. Buikema has written non-fiction for parents and a series of chapter books for children with stories encouraging the development of empathy—sprinkling humor wherever possible. Her Works In Progress are The Hobo Code, YA historical fiction and Crystal Memories, YA paranormal fantasy.

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

Top Image by prettysleepy1 from Pixabay

by Laurie Schnebly Campbell

How can you tell when it’s time to stop editing your work and start sending it out?

We’ve all been through that question. Sometimes every few days, sometimes every few books. But for just about any writer, there are times when it’s hard to know WHEN the work is ready to go.

It doesn’t matter whether this is your first manuscript or your fifty-first. It doesn’t matter whether the recipient is your first mentor or the agent of your dreams. It doesn’t matter whether you’re writing a contest entry, a novella, a full-length novel or a trilogy. At some point you have to decide:

Yep, this is ready to send.

And yet it’s so tempting to keep working. To keep tweaking that final scene. To keep revising the first-encounter dialogue. To keep switching the ellipses to dashes and back again. Revision can be downright addictive.

There are times, of course, when it’s absolutely necessary. After all, most addictive things DO start out fine. Nobody can argue that a celebratory brownie is a Bad Idea. But seven brownies for breakfast...not so good.

So how can you tell the difference between revisions that are making the work better and revisions that are a waste of time?

Let's face it, sometimes declaring "all done" is a really tough decision. How do you know another pass won't make it better? Even just a tiny bit better?

And what if that tiny bit makes all the difference?

It's funny that we don't usually go through that kind of angst when it comes to other "yep, I'm finished" decisions. Getting dressed in the morning, for instance -- might those other shoes be better? Or, wait, what about this pair? And now that I look at it, this shirt might not be the best choice. Or should I adjust the collar? No, wait, these shoes still aren't right...

We've all been through that, before some really important event where it's absolutely crucial to look our best. Say, for instance, the high school prom. :)

Even those of us who only went with the nerdy brother of our sister's date -- um, yes, in fact, that WOULD be me -- still remember the quest to look Totally Perfect.

But now, however-many years later, I look back on those weeks of getting ready for the prom and marvel at how much emotional energy I devoted to what was essentially a non-issue. I remember what I wore, sure, but not whether the selected shoes turned out to be the Very Best Choice or a Sad Second Best.

And you can tell where this is heading, right?

Someday you'll look back on the work you're reluctant to send, and marvel at what a big deal it seemed like at the time.

Because the thing is, fixing that one pesky phrase or one comma or one description or even one entire scene isn't going to make the difference as to whether or not the recipient is thrilled with your work.

The overall book will make a difference, sure.

But how many revision passes can you DO on a book?

Four?

Fourteen?

Forty-eight?

Four hundred?

At some point, revision becomes an excuse to avoid moving forward.

How do you know when you're there?

A couple possibilities are when you discover that you're:

• Shifting things back and forth rather than making a change
• Wondering why you ever liked this story in the first place
• Unable to envision when this will be ready to send

If that happens, how do you get around it?

Well, maybe you don't NEED to get around it. Maybe you're just flat-out not ready to send this material, but you haven't actually acknowledged that. If somebody's pressuring you to get that work out into the world, but you don't want to take such a step, it might seem easier to just keep revising than to declare "I don't want to send this yet."

But if you think it over and decide that yes, by golly, you DO want to send this -- and that decision is coming from YOU and nobody else -- then what do you do?

Tell yourself "this work is the best I'm capable of at this point in my life. Sure, a few years from now I'll probably be even more skilled, but at this time I've done the very best job I can do." And after that:

Give yourself a deadline.

Be specific: "This has to go out by September 16 [or whatever date seems reasonable], no matter what."

Then see what happens. If you make the deadline, even if it's a day or two late, you're all set. If not, figure you're just not ready -- whether or not you've officially acknowledged that -- and turn your attention to some other project. You can still keep writing without submitting, even if you've shoved this particular book under the bed.

But it's more likely that answering the questions above and giving yourself a deadline will do the trick in terms of deciding when you're finished with revisions.

Now, before you’re finished with revisions...

What do you need to address? There are 11 things to consider, some of which you’ve already handled beautifully because they’re your natural strong points and others of which might need some work.

Those are what we’ll talk about in “Revision Hel--No, Heaven” next month, and if at least 25 people answer the question below, one of ‘em will win the drawing for free registration to this class.

Which leads to our:

Prize-Drawing Question

What’s a revision item you always pay attention to? Something you know, right from the start, that will need to be addressed. Please share it down in the comments!

Note: It’s okay if your answer repeats what someone else has already said. It’s okay if your answer is something no one else has mentioned. We each need our own toolbox, and it’s always fascinating to see what various writers keep in theirs!

About Laurie

After winning Romantic Times' "Best Special Edition of the Year" over Nora Roberts, Laurie Schnebly Campbell discovered she loved teaching every bit as much as writing and revising...if not more. Since then she's taught online and live workshops on craft topics, like next month’s two-week email class, and keeps a special section of her bookshelves for people who've developed that particular book in her classes. With 52 titles there so far, she's always hoping for more.