Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday - Public Integrity

Are you a writer, a researcher, a student, or just someone who's curious? Then check out The Center For Public Integrity   

 Their claim:

"Founded in 1989, this organization aims to reveal abuses of power, corruption, and betrayals of trust by politicians and private entities. Their website is a great place to keep up with some of the best investigative journalism."

Could be a source of information, inspiration, or story ideas. Let's

hope they do their best to be unbiased.

Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday - The Internet Library

This is the Internet Public Library. The site may not look like much when you first connect, but click on one of the subjects and start mining. There's lots of great info here on most any subject you're interested in. 

Doesn't matter if you're a student, a writer, a reader, just dive in. There's even a 'librarian' you can ask questions of.  

Go ahead, explore!  Then be sure to comment here on what you discover.

Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday - iphone Wiki ap

 For readers, writers or anyone who wants to do a bit of research on the run on their iPhone.

Today's a quickie - have an iPhone? Need an app to make accessing Wikipedia faster and easier so you can research on the run?

Here's the Wikipanion link and it's free to download.

Here's their Description:

Accessing Wikipedia has never been faster and easier than with Wikipanion, designed for easy, search, navigation and display of Wikipedia entries. Streamline your browsing with history grouped by visit date, and bookmarking that not only bookmarks individual entries, but individual sections within an entry. Featuring intelligent features such as:
- Table of contents browser that knows where you are in the page
- Multiple search methods including Smart completion with entry preview, Google searching and a full text Wikipedia search
- Dual language searching and language switching (hiding languages you don't care about)
- Bookmark, including bookmarking individual sections of pages
- History, grouped by last visit date
- Full in-page searching
- Wiktionary dictionary term looking without leaving the current page
- Table based category browsing
- iCloud syncing
- Image saving to the Photo library
- Ogg vorbis audio playback for dictionary pronunciations and other audio content available on Wikipedia
- Contextual knowledge for sending links to specific sections in a Wikipedia entry
- Easily turn on automatic focusing of the search field on launch

Tip: To scroll to the top of a Wikipedia entry, hit the title bar at the top of the iPhone's screen (this works in Safari too).
Second tip: Click into the search bar to cancel a page load request.

See the Wikipanion web site for more details about all of the available features.

Wikipanion is advertisement free.

Readers And Writers Websites Wednesday - Libraries!

All right you readers and writers out there - check this out: 24 of the world's most spectacular libraries - and they're darn spectacular. Don't just sit/stand there - go take a look!

Writers and Readers Websites Wednesday - Looking for Answers

Writer? Reader? Student? Just curious? 

Here's a great site for research and answers. Answers.com

Animals, cars, taxes, sports, history and politics, hobbies, science, technology and much more. Sail on over and rummage about for answers to fill in your research gaps, for personal info, or just for the heck of it.

Writers & Readers Websites Wednesday

I don't really know what to say about Squidoo, but it is a site worth looking at for most everyone. You can research information about topics - discover information on all sorts of miscellanea, set up lenses to promote your writing; use your imagination. 

Yes, there're a lot of promotions here, some are fun, some, well...

Still, it's worth a visit and a thought about how it might be of help to you in whatever fashion you deem appropriate for you - write/promote, read/research. 

Take a few minutes to look around. If nothing else, it can be a lot of fun.

Writers & Readers Websites Wednesday - Acronyms

Yep, it's that day again and I have a good one for all you readers and writers out there. 

Have you read all those initials, abbreviations and acronyms out there?  Get confused and wonder what the heck some of them mean?  

With over 1,000,000 definitions sure you can find the info you need here. 

Whether you're a writer or a reader searching for answers to that burning question - what the heck does that mean?  the Abbreviations and Acronym dictionary is for you.

Have fun!

Three Helpful (I Hope) Writer's Decrees Readers May Find Interesting

- Your Space, Research and Revision

There are a whole lot more than three of them, but well, I don't have the time to go into all of them right now, or the space on my blog, or the typing finger (I just sliced it open while prepping food for Thanksgiving and the finger really  hurts when I hit a key). So, at great sacrifice I'm typing this up for your reading pleasure, edification, education, whatever you choose to consider it

Decree number one. You, as a writer, must find your space to write, daydream and create and you must shut the door. It doesn't have to be a large space, perhaps even a closet with a good light and space for a small desk (hope you're not claustrophobic).

Depending on circumstance it might not even have a door in the physical sense, but you have to create one for yourself anyway. A means to shut out the world and yourself into the world you're creating. Somehow you must arrange it so you're not constantly interrupted or distracted. You have to shut off your cell phone, the land line, the TV, any distracting video games (you might consider not having these on your work computer) and make sure your internet access is something you have to go to, not automatic running in the background.  You might need it for research, but your don't want it constantly clamoring for your attention. And if you're not actively engaged in research, shut it off. Email too.

Give yourself a break. If you seriously want to write, you need to commit to the environment that allows you to do so to avoid frustration, self-anger, and never getting anything accomplished.

Decree Number two: research. You know, that thing I just mentioned above, the reason you might have your internet access running. You've read lots of books (um, at least I hope you have). You know there are writers who do a heck of a lot of research and then create page after page in their story parceling that newly discovered information out. Some do it well. Some not so much.

Research is a tricky devil for writers. If you're writing about something you know little to nothing about then you're going to have to research. But, once you've done the research pick out the plums and spice your story with them. Research always must take a back-seat to the story. The story always comes first and should never be overwhelmed by all that great research you've done. All that stuff you found out is really cool. And you may have waded through a morass of text to extract exactly what you need, but don't let that become the star of your show.

Story always comes first.

Decree Number Three: Revision. Ah, yes, the biggie. The one writers really don't want to face at all and yet it it is at the heart of good story telling. It's part of the process.

And the process for me, is this: slap the story down on paper, writing unleashed, not editing! Put it away, let it rest. Later, come back with pen in hand and start reading and making notes. Look for character discrepancies, large logic holes or plot gaps, whatever jerks the reader out of the story. Then open the door to my writing room a crack and slip the manuscript out to First Reader. Get comments and reactions. Then revise some more.

Now this process can be different and take different amounts of time for every writer. The first part can be hardest for people who can't resist editing as they write. It's a matter of style. I highly recommend not editing as you go, but some must. If you MUST, then do so, but try to keep it minimal and in the background as the story goes up on your computer screen.

The waiting period can vary wildly as well.  Writer Stephen King says leave it marinate/fester/mold/whatever for a minimum of six weeks in that drawer or on that shelf. Really? Six weeks? I can't wait that long, but if you can perhaps while you get some new ideas down  on paper or crammed into your computer, then have at it. If you have to get to it sooner, then do it, but do give it a rest between finishing the first draft and thinking about revision.

Oh, and when you come across all those 'mistakes'; plot gaps, character gaffs, logic jumps, don't be too hard on yourself. You're a writer, you can fix it, and your readers will be all the more thrilled for the flotsam they never saw.

And that First Reader, that ideal reader you hand your manuscript to trustingly for opinions and input? By all means, listen to the suggestions and comments, digest them and make adjustments, this is your trusted reader, the one who'll give you the most honest input whether you want to hear it or not. But don't think you have to respond to every little thing the reader suggested. Work with it and you'll come up with a better manuscript or screen script.

Who's your Ideal, most Trusted Reader?

 Have you over-researched? 

Do you have an unusual or beloved writing space? 

I'd love to hear about it. Put it in the comments below.

 
 

Writers and Readers Websites Wednesday - Zeno's Site

Yep, it's that day again - I have a site for you all. This time it's Zeno's Forensic Site. For all you writers out there in need of resources on chemistry, arson, guns, traffic, explosives, fingerprints and much more, here you go. For you readers with great curiosity on how this stuff works, this is the place. It offers a lot of links to a lot of resources. 

Satisfy your curiosity or do the research your book or script needs. 

Writers Websites Wednesday - Search Engines for Writers

Here's a site for the writer wrapped up in research - of all kinds. It offers 60 great sites where you can find out almost anything.  Writers professional sites, research sites, reference sites, stuff for niche writers, books and more. Don't miss this one.  check it out.  I know there'll be more than one site you'll be glad you found. 

And as a side note, my book Cloud Dancer is available at 50% at Smashwords at http://bit.ly/mSefTW - use Coupon Code TX72S at check out for special price of $2.98 through March 28 along with half off my book, Stormrider, also at Smashwords at

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/15798 - use coupon code SL67D at check out.  Special for my friends reading this post here. Ebooks here are available in various formats including Kindle, PDF, Mobi, EPUB, RTF and more.