Scrapbooking Software Practice

Last night, my mother and I bought a digital scrapbooking software program, Scrabook Factory.

This is just a practice run with it. We wanted to see how it would look loaded on the ‘Net.

Filed under: not writing, photography, writing , freelance, Jen Nipps, jennipps, picture, scrapbooking software, writer

On Writing Tight & Social Media

I’ve heard it more times than I can count. “Write tight.”

I never could figure out exactly how to do that. It’s one thing to say “write tight,” but quite another to do it.

I would write it however it took to get it done. Then I would go back and revise and cut until it was tight. Then I discovered Twitter and Plurk. These are social media platforms that limit you to 140 characters, not words, characters, including spaces and punctuation, per post.

Since then, I have discovered an impact on my writing. I no longer have to revise to cut words. I have to revise to add them.

I joined both of those sites at the urging of friends. I have found them to be useful tools for both networking and building friendships. If someone had told me at the time that it would have such an impact on my writing, I’m not sure I would have beleived them.

For what it’s worth, though, I see Twitter and Plurk as having two separate functions. To me, Twitter is more for networking and building professional contacts. It’s possible to build friendships there, but it’s not as interactive as Plurk, which, in my opinion, is more of a fun site meant for contacting friends and developing new friendships. I have encountered several people on both sites. They both have their advantages.

——

By the way, if you want to find me on Twitter or Plurk, here I am:

Twitter: jennipps and creativetips
Plurk: jennipps

Filed under: not writing, writing , friendships, Jen Nipps, jennipps, networking, Plurk, social media, Twitter

Pictures in Posts or No?

Filed under: not writing , pictures, poll, posts

Here Comes the Judge

A few months ago when I was asked to judge the nonfiction articles category for a writing contest, I cautiously agreed. I honestly did not think I was qualified to do it.

However, I found a judging score sheet from a contest I had previously entered and modified it to use for my own purposes. I wrote a short note that I included with the judged entries and scoresheets.

Still, I hesitated.

Then I started to read. The first entry was more of an essay than an article and, while good, it lacked some detail. There was another essay in the group, but the rest were feature articles of varying lengths. One of those was a travel article.

If I could offer a piece of advice to would-be travel writers, it would be this: Don’t try to take your readers to every single place you go to on your trip. Pick out a few highlights and focus on those.

Once I started reading and judging, I became confident that it was something I could do. There were only six entries, so it didn’t take as long as I thought it would. They have all been judged, scored, and mailed. The next time I am asked to judge, I doubt I will be so hesitant.

Filed under: not writing, writing , contest, edit, Jen Nipps, jennipps, judge, judging, scoresheet, write, writing

Photography Course – Lesson 1

I’ve been meaning to do this, but I lost the link for the course. Now that I have it again, here we go. If you’re interested, check out the first lesson. If you decide to do it, leave a link to your blog & I’ll link you in the blogroll and in a separate post.

The first assignment is for an abstract picture.

I like it because of the pattern and colors that show up in it. Those aren’t apparent in the original item. It doesn’t quite follow the composition of the rule of thirds, though.

The second assignment was to take pictures of an object from various angles. We have what I can best describe as a rubber-tree plant, though I’m sure that’s probably not what it really is. The vein runs from one 1/3 point diagonally to another in the first picture. In the second, the edge of the leaf is noticeable against the dark background. The third is a side-view that shows an interesting shadow.

abstract photo for lesson 1

Leaf close-up

Another leaf close-up

———

Edited 10/4/2008: I forgot to include camera information last night. My camera is a 6 megapixel Canon PowerShot A540.

Filed under: not writing , abstract, Canon PowerShot, Jen Nipps, jennipps, leaf, photography course

Please Visit

If any of you are familiar with Simon Gabriel, you already know about this.

For those of you who are not, Simon was born at 24 weeks’ gestation. He is in one of the best NICUs in the country in Denver, Colorado.

A group of freelance writers, work-at-home-moms, and friends have gotten together and are holding auctions to benefit Simon and his family. Please visit Auctions for Simon to see what is being offered.

For more information about Simon, you can visit One Woman’s Heart and SimonGabriel.net.

Filed under: not writing , auctions, Simon Gabriel

UnArt Pics

In order of how I did them:

Filed under: not writing , art, believe, create, dream, imagine, Jen Nipps, jennipps, pictures, unart

Intentions

I am on vacation this week. Well, since Wednesday, so it hasn’t been all week. Still, it counts.

I brought some writing-related things, intending to work on them and to work on Navajo Rose. So far, I haven’t.

I remind other people they need to refill their creative well, but lately, I haven’t been doing that myself. I’ve been working on day job stuff, sending out queries, and writing. The writing has been getting harder than necessary. I should have recognized that clue immediately that I needed to take some time to refill my well.

I’m at Robbers Cave State Park in Wilburton, Oklahoma. It’s beautiful. My own intentions of writing aside, I’ve been swimming, hiking, taking pictures, and just observing.

It’s what I needed in so many ways.

I have a new 3-subject notebook. With as much writing as I have been doing lately, actually since last October, I think I’m going to try morning pages again. Previously I didn’t do them because if I wasn’t writing — and I wasn’t much — I felt like the three pages in the morning got my writing in for the day. I’ll see if it works better for me this time around.

(If you don’t know, “morning pages” is an exercise used and recommended by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way to get the garbage out first thing in the morning so you’ll be open to creativity and inspiration throughout the day.)

At the very least, I understand better how I work now than I did then, so I won’t let myself use the “I already wrote today when I did morning pages” as an excuse.

So…

Excuse me while my subconscious asserts itself into the conscious world and takes me back out on its intentions to refill my creative well.

Filed under: not writing, photography, writing , creative, creativity, intentions, Jen Nipps, jennipps, Julia Cameron, morning pages, Navajo Rose, Oklahoma, refill the well, Robbers Cave, Robbers Cave State Park, subconscious, The Artist's Way, writing

A Change in the Blog

For some reason, the spam filter has not been catching all of the spam comments.  In the past few days, I’ve honestly been flooded with spam comments from various posts on this blog.

For that reason, I have decided to moderate comments temporarily.  If I see that the flood of spam has tapered off in a couple weeks, I’ll go back to unmoderated comments. 

I just wanted you all to be aware that this is nothing personal against anyone who reads or comments here, unless you’re a spammer. 

Thanks for understanding.

Filed under: not writing , comment, Jen Nipps, jennipps, moderate, read, spam

That Meme Thing

Laura at Greetings from the Pole Barn tagged me with this meme.  As part of it pertains to writing/books, I’m passing it along.  I’m also “borrowing” her definition of a meme, which is, in my opinion, a good one.

A meme is kind of like a chain letter in the blogosphere, where someone starts with a list of questions and passes it on to a list of people who have blogs and they answer them in their posts(on their own blogs, of course) and pass them on to other people. It’s fun, it’s informative, and it helps everyone market themselves by giving them exposure.

A mutual friend and writer, Sandy Lender, came up with this meme and I am passing it along. It’s all about getting away, like on spring break or on vacation, which all of us are sick to death of winter.

In honor of spring break and all things travel-oriented, here we go!

Getting Away With It

1) If you could live for a month in one world or time period from a novel you’ve read, which would you choose?

Can I say Ireland during the time period of Kiernan’s story, which I wrote and am marketing?  No?  OK, then I would have to say Marion Zimmer Bradley’s version of Avalon from The Mists of Avalon.

2) If you could be one character from a comic book or fiction series, who would it be? 

Maybe Stephanie Plum from Janet Evanovich’s numbers series.  She has more fun than I do.   

3) Where (in the real world) is your dream vacation spot?

Who would be surprised if I say Eureka Springs?    If I have to choose something else, Paris, France.

4) Name a celebrity or TV personality whom you would like to have lunch with.

Jennifer Weiner

Apparently now I have to tag five others.  This is always harder than the original meme.

Nita
Carys Weldon
Plaid Earthworm
Jenn Hollowell
Stella

Filed under: not writing , celebreity, Eureka Springs, Greetings from the Pole Barn, Janet Evanovich, Jen Nipps, Jennifer Weiner, jennipps, meme, Paris, Sandy Lender, Stephanie Plum, writing