Holy carp. This woman is absolutely, mind-bendingly fantastic. Every writer, fantasy or not, needs to read Limyaael's rants. They are glorious. They are perfect. They are quiite a many. But a lot of what she says is important for writers to understand- things like "how not to write a cliche even if your idea IS a cliche". Limyaael has, for all intents and purposes, put an entire creative writing class up on the internet, for free. (This link is to a mirror which houses all of her rants. This is convenient, because they were written on Livejournal, Insanejournal, and other similar sites and only later conglomerated into a giant list.)
Usefulness: 5 out of 5
These are so useful. Yes, technically they are geared towards fantasy writers. Yes, sometimes they are personal opinions of Limyaael. HOWEVER, this woman is so well-written, so well-versed in literature that you can't help but take her seriously. She quotes Swinburne.
Besides that, she often points out things that make writing flat, boring and uninteresting; these are points that any writer can value, whether scifi, YA or fantasy. Limyaael wants you to succeed and is simply explaining what parts of writing can be bolstered and what can be torn down.
It's actually hard to write with the amount of sincere admiration and awe for her that is currently spewing from my every pore.
Fun: 5 out of 5
This is a biased answer. It has to be. Because, honestly, site design wise, Limyaael is using Livejournal. It's boring. It's ugly. It's bugly. Buuut, I love reading everything she writes, be it her stories or poetry on Fictionpress (Limyaael) or her hilarious and well-written rants. I find them incredibly enjoyable and therefore 5 out of 5.
Hipster: 2 out of 5
Limyaael has a lot of sway on the internet. There are a bunch of mirrors of her work out there and, undoubtedly, someone on a forum will bring her up. She is, in my personal opinion, the Plato of the online writing community. Her works are probably the most well-known of any online writer. She may be the only person to have analyzed and written essays about the overall quality of online work.
Showing posts with label Dear to My Heart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dear to My Heart. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Review: 750words.com!
750words.com is a site that I love. It is set up as an online way to write your "morning pages"- 3 pages written every day, generally long hand, as a way to clear your mind and get ready for the day ahead. This site has a word processor that notifies you when you've written approximately 3 pages, or 750 words. Not only is that rather nice, but it gives you badges for each "streak" of days you get- a turkey, for example, is three days in a row. It also allows you to track "metadata". Structured as "WORD: answer", it can track how many drinks you have a night, how happy you are feeling, whatever you decide to score. (It generally works best on a numerical scale, as the metadata is graphed for you. I, however, also track what books I am reading. It doesn't graph well, but it's interesting to see what I write based on what I'm reading, or if they even correlate at all).
Usefulness: 4 out of 5
Because 750words has a specific premise (write 750 words a day), it may not be perfect for everyone. However, the word processor and the premise are not why I find this site so useful and so dear to me. Those badges are incredibly motivating. Seriously. They are a great idea. In a similar vein to fitocracy, the fitness site that "levels you up" based on how much you work out, 750words badges for day streaks is something that keeps you going. If you have, say a 100 day Pheonix badge, you are NOT going to want to break that streak and lose it all.
The metadata is also really cool, as it plays to my sciency side. I like the idea of being able to track certain values over the course of your writing.
The 750words site also breaks down each day's work into percentages. It tells you how happy what you wrote was, which words you used the most and whether you were feeling introverted or extroverted (or more accurately, whether your WRITING was so). The statistics make for a really interesting understanding of your creative work.
Fun: 3 out of 5
Seriously, it's the badges that make me happy. Nothing else is really fun. (Well, I mean, I find the data fun, but I feel that's not an overwhelming majority in the opinions of most writers.)
Hipster: 3 out of 5
It's pretty obscure. I mean, most online writing tools can be pretty obscure. A lot of 750words problem is that it ends up used more like a diary and less like a creative writing tool. Not that that's a problem, necessarily. It just changes the demographic and means that you hear fewer writers' voices in the discussion of the product.
Usefulness: 4 out of 5
Because 750words has a specific premise (write 750 words a day), it may not be perfect for everyone. However, the word processor and the premise are not why I find this site so useful and so dear to me. Those badges are incredibly motivating. Seriously. They are a great idea. In a similar vein to fitocracy, the fitness site that "levels you up" based on how much you work out, 750words badges for day streaks is something that keeps you going. If you have, say a 100 day Pheonix badge, you are NOT going to want to break that streak and lose it all.
The metadata is also really cool, as it plays to my sciency side. I like the idea of being able to track certain values over the course of your writing.
The 750words site also breaks down each day's work into percentages. It tells you how happy what you wrote was, which words you used the most and whether you were feeling introverted or extroverted (or more accurately, whether your WRITING was so). The statistics make for a really interesting understanding of your creative work.
Fun: 3 out of 5
Seriously, it's the badges that make me happy. Nothing else is really fun. (Well, I mean, I find the data fun, but I feel that's not an overwhelming majority in the opinions of most writers.)
Hipster: 3 out of 5
It's pretty obscure. I mean, most online writing tools can be pretty obscure. A lot of 750words problem is that it ends up used more like a diary and less like a creative writing tool. Not that that's a problem, necessarily. It just changes the demographic and means that you hear fewer writers' voices in the discussion of the product.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Review: Seventh Sanctum
Seventh Sanctum is a website that is dear to my heart. I have used it hundreds of times to flesh out details in a novel. It is a "generator" site- Hundreds of lines of code created to produce random outputs in certain categories. My favorite section of the site? The Naming Generators. It contains 23 different generators that can name characters in styles from "Dark Elf" to "Western". It also contains naming generators for places, taverns and pirate ships.
Usefulness: 5 out of 5
This website is so incredibly useful. Say you need to describe a slew of potions in a magician's den for your high fantasy epic? Potion Generator. Say you need some technologies from the far future or, more accurately, some crazy sounding devices for your Dr. Who fanfiction? SciFi Tool Generator. Best of all is the "Writing" section of the site, which contains over a dozen generators for plots and story ideas. Have no idea what you want to write for NaNoWriMo? No problem! Just pick your favorite plot generator and you'll have a novel idea in no time. The Sanctum also has extensive links to other generator sites, organized by what section you're looking in. Not only is the site itself super useful, but it is just as happy to send you somewhere else if you aren't getting what you need.
Fun: 5 out of 5
A lot of generators on this site are just hilarious. The Cat Being Name Generator, for those of us writing werepanthers or anime-style catgirls, can suggest names in the vein of Thundercats, with offerings like Felinni and Caracal-a. The Humor section, though small, contains generators for Questionable Spells, Questionable Anime Attacks, and Evil Animal Minions like the "berserk android squirrels!"
Hipster: 1 out of 5
This is a judge of how obscure this website it. The Sanctum is not obscure. You will hear mention of on almost any writing forum on the Web. A good portion of the site's following are artists from Deviant Art, a highly popular art-post and critique website. Deviant Art users participate in art contests based on the Sanctum's many generators. With such a widely known and popular website tied so closely to the Sanctum, it is one of the least obscure writing tools on the great wide Web.
Overall, the Sanctum is an incredibly convenient site for the NaNo months as it decreases the amount of time you need to spend on logistics and the time-consuming act of "being creative". Instead of agonizing over what would be the best name for the IT department working with the cops to try and catch your murderer, you can just click a button and bam, "Bureau of Programming Installation and Implementation".
Usefulness: 5 out of 5
This website is so incredibly useful. Say you need to describe a slew of potions in a magician's den for your high fantasy epic? Potion Generator. Say you need some technologies from the far future or, more accurately, some crazy sounding devices for your Dr. Who fanfiction? SciFi Tool Generator. Best of all is the "Writing" section of the site, which contains over a dozen generators for plots and story ideas. Have no idea what you want to write for NaNoWriMo? No problem! Just pick your favorite plot generator and you'll have a novel idea in no time. The Sanctum also has extensive links to other generator sites, organized by what section you're looking in. Not only is the site itself super useful, but it is just as happy to send you somewhere else if you aren't getting what you need.
Fun: 5 out of 5
A lot of generators on this site are just hilarious. The Cat Being Name Generator, for those of us writing werepanthers or anime-style catgirls, can suggest names in the vein of Thundercats, with offerings like Felinni and Caracal-a. The Humor section, though small, contains generators for Questionable Spells, Questionable Anime Attacks, and Evil Animal Minions like the "berserk android squirrels!"
Hipster: 1 out of 5
This is a judge of how obscure this website it. The Sanctum is not obscure. You will hear mention of on almost any writing forum on the Web. A good portion of the site's following are artists from Deviant Art, a highly popular art-post and critique website. Deviant Art users participate in art contests based on the Sanctum's many generators. With such a widely known and popular website tied so closely to the Sanctum, it is one of the least obscure writing tools on the great wide Web.
Overall, the Sanctum is an incredibly convenient site for the NaNo months as it decreases the amount of time you need to spend on logistics and the time-consuming act of "being creative". Instead of agonizing over what would be the best name for the IT department working with the cops to try and catch your murderer, you can just click a button and bam, "Bureau of Programming Installation and Implementation".
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