Category: Internet

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#amreading #amwriting Internet

End of the week; extra notes.

Well, it’s been one of “those” weeks, but surprisingly I have managed to stay upbeat about things. Tonight I finally got around to purchasing my domain via DreamHost, so I am hoping by tomorrow I will be able to start playing around with creating my homepage. I’ll need to get back into creating graphics of some sort.

The movable outline stage of the editing process is moving along well (no pun intended, perhaps). Since I have a long weekend ahead of me, I aim to finish my outline by tomorrow or Saturday and start shuffling the cards. Originally, I was going to seek out plot advice from a larger group of people, but I think now I will only share it with a few people whom I trust.

In terms of the writing realm, my confidence in my story weaving has dropped a little during this week, perhaps from my general moodiness of the week. Also, I began reading Howard Mittelmark’s and Sandra Newman’s book, How NOT To Write A Novel, and I realize a lot of the elements they list in the book are in fact in my first draft. But, I keep reminding myself, that I still am working off of my first draft, not my final. I know I have a long way to go to polish the novel off, so I know I cannot get myself down over my first draft. Besides, I already see a lot of characters in the novel that need to be “killed off” for the re-write.

I wrote a piece of flash fiction last night and found myself rolling into confusion over the different types of work I can produce. For the longest time, I just kept referring to my shorter pieces as “short stories”, when in fact, they are supposed to be labeled “flash fiction”. I’ve been perusing WikiHow lately with their writing articles, and have refreshed my memory on the different writing techniques and so forth. Of course, this weekend I am going to reserve one day to go to the public library and do more research on writing/how to get published/etc. It will indeed be a scholarly weekend for me.

Well, here’s to the end of this week, and knowing that I survived.

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#amwriting change Internet Twitter

Get the word out: New URL, Twitter URL, etc.

It’s already Sunday, but I feel like a lot happened over the course of the past couple of days: a lot of brainstorming, planning, etc. I have decided that I will not use a pen name, since I realized I was having trouble signing the pen name I had decided on (silly reason, but it’s important, isn’t it?). I have also decided that, instead of starting a whole new writing blog, I will simply use this current blog as my writing one.

You may notice that there have been some changes with this blog and my Twitter account–both have been “rechristened” with my name. No longer hiding behind my Internet moniker; I think I’ve grown out of that phase as well.

So please, update your bookmarks for this blog; the new url is http://helenekwong.blogspot.com/

I’m hoping by the end of today I will also have purchased my domain so I can begin building my website and getting the word out there. Oh yes, and I have also decided that I will self-publish my first book instead of going through an agent. Thank you to everyone for the additional insight, and I hope that you will join me along this journey of getting the word out on my works.

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#foodie editing Internet Novel 1 plug Twitter Work in Progress

More blogs, more progress, other updates…

I think I’m getting sucked into the blogosphere this year; within a week or so, I’ve started two additional blogs and there is another one coming soon (my writing blog/”blog book tour”). Let’s see if I will be able to keep up with all of these blogs in due time….

Anyway, yes, this morning I felt inspired to start a food blog: Cinnamon Juice. You’re probably wondering where the name came from, so that explanation will come soon enough. This blog will feature various food topics, including recipes, photos, additional insight on my Yelp! reviews, and so forth. Check it out if you can!

In other news, I have finished the initial step in the editing/revising of Novel 1, which was to figure out my story arc. Now, I’m working on a “movable outline” via Powerpoint, and hopefully will have a book synopsis ready for some of my confidantes to look at in the next week or so to help me figure out any plot holes and such. Progress is coming along well….

And, my Twitter has gone public again, after a month or so of being friends-only. Please feel free to follow me on Twitter now!

That’s about all for now; my arms have been hurting a bit at work due to a new desk chair. I sure hope I won’t be getting Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

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#amwriting editing Facebook Internet list Twitter

Taking the Next Step–

Thanks for the feedback on my entry about what I should do to self-promote for my writings/novels. For those of you who follow my Twitter, you may have noticed my Tweet about what I plan to do within the next couple of weeks or so:

  • New email account – I would set up my official email through this new account, just so I won’t be receiving a huge amount of mail at my two existing (personal) email accounts. All writing related mail would go to this account.
  • Set up a Facebook Page – I have been researching ways I can get around creating a personal profile on Facebook again (as you can see, I am really trying hard to avoid that option); apparently, I can just create a “Business” account and I could create a Page for myself. However, I’m hesitant in doing this right away, since I’m not sure I would qualify for a Page; Facebook states that they do not usually check the Pages that are created (unless they infringe upon copyright or privacy issues).
  • Writing Blog – Along with the new email account, I would create another blog specifically for my writing and thoughts about writing. I will probably post short stories and maybe some excerpts from longer works. However, I have heard from a friend that if I intend on getting published through agencies, I cannot post any of my novels online since that would be considered “self-publishing”.
  • Domain? – I’m still questioning this option. For the longest time (well, ever since I began using the Internet as a tween/young teenager), I had wanted to buy my own domain. Of course, back-in-the-day, I didn’t really have real use for a domain, it just seemed cool. Now that I am actually presented with the opportunity to have my own domain to establish myself online as a writer….well, I am a little scared at the thought. Do I want my real name plastered around the Internet? I suppose I could go for a pen name, but I don’t really fancy that idea right now (plus, I was mildly traumatized in the past with having pen names and having family members embarrass me with how ridiculous the names were). Anyway, I am also a little stuck on which domain registration service to go with–GoDaddy or Dreamhost? Any other suggestions?
  • Twitter – I’m already on Twitter obviously, but I suppose it would be helpful to have a separate Twitter for my writing updates…right?

These are all tentative plans of course; even though I want to get started on everything right away, I also want to make sure I am making the right decisions as to where I would launch my presence.

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In other news, I have begun looking over Novel 1 and outlining the chapters. I notice that many of the scenes so far have moved too fast, and some of the chapters have been too short. However, I still feel amazed that I was able to write this whole novel last November; at that point in time, I hadn’t written anything creative in quite awhile. It had been so long since I actually wrote anything that even my closest friends were surprised to hear that I was writing a novel.

Anyway, I still feel surprised and impressed at the prose that I did manage to write during that point in my life; if I compare the two works I completed this year with Novel 1, I feel like they pale in comparison with that novel. Well, then again, all three novels are still first drafts, so…there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Plus, Novel 2 and 3 were written from guys’ standpoints, which is difficult for me right now since I am a woman.

Well, it just takes practice.

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change Facebook Internet Myspace NaNoWriMo Work in Progress

Clicking in; completed novels.

Yes, yes, I know, it has been awhile since I last posted. I had meant to post during the month of November to keep you all updated on my NaNoWriMo progress, but, due to the extreme amount of words I was typing every day, I guess I didn’t think to post blog entries in my spare time.

Well, it is hard to believe, but already the end of the year 2008 is upon us all. I had tried to keep with Blog365 the whole year, and I suppose I should pat myself on the back for keeping up with a post-a-day for more than half of the year (through July). That’s a big accomplishment, so..can’t be sad that I didn’t post so well during the rest of the year.

Besides, a lot of things ended up changing and causing some turmoil from August up until now. Even now, though, changes continue to happen, and I find myself lacking a lot of free time. But, I cannot complain really, since these days life is much more enjoyable than before.

Something exciting to share, by the way: I recently completed the novel that I had begun in January of this year, which means I am up to three completed novels. Granted, these novels are all still first drafts, but I would like to see them all published soon. Since I have completed these projects, the next step is to start the editing/revising phase of Novel 1.

Word has spread that I write novels, so it seems like I already have a small core of a fanbase going. I can’t quite decide how I should go about in establishing an “online presence” for my writer identity; I used to have Myspace and Facebook, but of course, we already know what happened with those accounts. I’m not sure if I should create new accounts at either sites (or at any social networking site for that matter) for my professional identity; I’m wondering if I will become tired of the scene again if I do so. I’ve heard some suggestions thrown about on the NaNoWriMo forums about creating blogs for my protagonists, to keep fans excited/at bay before the initial release of my completed work.

I definitely don’t want everyone to lose interest if too much time passes. So, I would like some feedback from others about what would be the best way to go about doing self-promotion for my books and my general identity as a writer.