Tag: laptop

Distractions!

On By Victoria LK WilliamsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

 

My blog post been few and far between us last month, but I have a good excuse, really!

We’ve had a recent addition to our home; two sweet little kittens and, boy, are they distracting. It’s amazing just what they find to get into. That new play toy  they just discovered, and are having such fun with; it is such an everyday item to me, something I don’t give a second thought to. But to these two inquisitive little beings; it’s new, it’s exciting and it’s something that needs to be tested out.

 

When I’m sitting at my desk writing, I find that tapping away at my keyboard also means tapping away at little paws. They want to walk across the keyboard, or they find something interesting on the screen that they think they can touch, regardless of what I am working on. But, of course, that’s not possible, and, after trying to get to the object on the screen a few times, they lose interest. Soon they’ll find something else to play with for a while; like chasing pens and paperclips or fighting with each other over a rubber band. Then all of a sudden they’re tired and, just like that, they just plop down wherever they want too for a quick nap. It might be across the top of my keyboard, it might be my lap or lately my shoulder (one has a particular fondness for this area).

fletch & Speckles

To create some order, peace and quiet in my office, I’ve had to go get a second-cat bed for my desk. Our old 18-year-old is tolerant, but she is also set in her ways, and the introduction of these two new kittens is been a little bit stressful for her. She doesn’t want to give up her spot on the desk (who can blame her) but she’s willing to share; as long as they keep to their own space. So there are now two cat-beds on my desk, each at separate ends. That’s not much room for work, but there’s plenty of room for two kittens and one old cat.

all three on desk

So, I apologize for being lax in my promised blogs, but clearly I have a good excuse. As the kittens settle down and life becomes more routine for all of us, I’m sure I’ll be less distracted and will get back to writing mode.

And I’ll be catching up soon, at least until they do something else that is cute and entertaining!

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The Next Block-Buster?

On By Victoria LK WilliamsIn Uncategorized1 Comment

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A question was recently raised on one of the writing forums that I read and it caught my attention. The question was; if your book were to be made into a movie, what would it be rated? This is a legitimate question; with today’s technology, there so many other things we do in our daily life that could apply to this question, so why not books too. We lounge around, interacting with technology rather than just reading. And let’s be honest; every writer would love to see their book made into a movie!  Can you picture the name of your book up there on the theater marquee?
So, I was thinking let’s go one step further and ask: who would you have star in a movie based on your book? Who would be that perfect actor/actress to play your lead? Would it be somebody known well-known, somebody from recent movie hits? Or would you pick an old favorite like Audrey Hepburn or Betty Davis? And (sometimes even more importantly) who would play your villain?  Will it be a dark and evil  type like Vincent Price?  Or maybe your villain will take everyone by surprise and be someone clean-cut and unexpected like Neal Patrick Harris?

 

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And then there’s all the minor roles; do you get well-known stars or do you look for new talent? Whatever you do the supporting roles can be just as important as your lead and as a writer you know how you’ve developed those rules down to the minute detail. You’ve taken the time to bring your reader into your mind and create details that will stick with them, from the very first page to the end. These details will describe the story, characters, settings and the emotions of your book. How will that portray on the big screen are; are you now setting yourself up to become screenwriters stead of a novelist? These are all things that you need to think about if you ever really want to fulfill that dream of seeing your book being made into a movie.

 

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Me? I think I’m going to stick to my laptop and creating a mental escape for my readers with written words. I’ll let somebody else worry about writing a screenplay for my books!

I’ve made the investment!

On By Victoria LK WilliamsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The last few days have been interesting & exciting, exasperating & time-consuming, fun and rewarding…
You see I decided to comment to this thing called writing. I took what money I have earned from the sales of my first book (Murder for Neptune’s Trident) and the little rainy day stash I had put aside and invested into a much-needed and updated laptop. So with my cats by my side (or on my lap or across the keyboard) I have spent hours getting my files uploaded and getting myself acquainted with windows 8.1. I have to admit there were a couple of times that I was ready to put the whole thing back in the box and go back to my desktop! But now that I am a little more familiar with getting around the new program, I really like it.
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So now that I feel properly equipped to tackle this new adventure I decided on, I need to set some goals and work towards meeting them.  It is so easy to just sit at the computer and get lost on the many social networks, vast amounts of interesting articles out there on the web, music to discover, crazy & silly videos to watch on YouTube; the list goes on and so do the distractions.  With goals, I hope to see results as I work on the next book in my series.

Some writers set goals of working so many hours per day, other set goals of writing some many words per day.  Some prefer to work a few days on just research for their book, other write and research at the same time.  I know of writers that work on more than one project at a time, keeping to a written outline that will take them step by step through their book.  I am not sure what direction I will settle on, but I think that I will be working on a combination of styles until I find what works the best for me.

My adventure continues, and I hope you will follow along with me as I learn more about myself, my writing and my laptop.  You’ve heard the expression “boys and their toys”-for me it will be “writer’s and their tools”!