Apps for Writers

Story Tracker

This is a submission tool for writers, that allows you to keep track of what you submitted and where. If you’re a freelancer, this is a great tool when you’re juggling several stories and articles. It also stores details and guidelines for markets accepting submissions, including magazines, journals, book publishers, and websites. With Story Tracker, you can also view the total income earned for each story, add details for each submission, and even highlight upcoming deadlines. There is a FREE version that allows you to store up to five stories, and the full version is $7.99.

Evernote

Evernote is an easy, free app that helps you organize and remember your ideas across all your devices. You can take notes, create to-do lists, and record voice reminders. As a TechCrunch award winner, Evernote also allows you to save, sync, and share files and keep your finances in order by saving receipts, bills, and contracts.

Chapters—Notebooks for Writing

Chapters lets you create and manage multiple notebooks such as personal journals, travel logs, and brainstorming chapters. It also has a password-protection option, and lets you create PDFs. It’s pretty much a note-taking program that keeps several documents organized…and it only costs $3.99.

iA Writer

Designed for both iPhones and iPads, iA Writer allows you to put your thoughts into text without distractions…no spelling checkers, no auto-correction, no toolbars. These features are only revealed when you need them. This app also has iCloud and Dropbox integration…all for $0.99.

If you come across any helpful apps for writing and organizing, please share your findings!

Art and Story

I first met Jo Swartz, who writes and illustrates as littlejo, at a writers’ meet-up in Toronto. I was instantly drawn to her vibrant personality and imagination and child-like wonder of the world around her. And then I saw her art and was even more impressed. For a while, I’ve been thinking about how illustrators create stories through images, and more specifically, what the process is like for a writer/illustrator. So, I decided to connect with littlejo and learn more about her process!

Hi, Jo and thanks for taking the time to chat today! Let’s get started!

Thank you for asking, Lorna! I am excited about this.

As an illustrator, where do you get inspiration to let your imagination run wild and create your art?

Everywhere!  I would say I have a passion for learning. Everything I learn seems to lead me someplace interesting and inspiring. I also just let myself wander…I trust that I will be well guided to things that will be useful in a number of ways for my life and work. I am amazed at how God leads me to the most amazing things. I am very spiritual and trust completely in the process.

Describe your illustrating process.

I sometimes just doodle ideas. No fixed plan to them. These sometimes quickly inspire me to something more. A story develops. The characters seem to want to tell me their story….more pictures, a story, and characters come from that.

If the story comes first, then it can take me longer to find the ‘key’ to illustrating it. My work tends to have strong high-concept formats to the illustration. This is when wandering can help. Eventually, I am led to the ideal format for the illustration, usually creating a few tryouts I am not happy with in the process but each one having a bit of what ends up in the final.

For the work itself, I start with rough sketches, and if I like the concept that comes from that, I will create finer line art. I then colour in and add shading. I do it all digitally now. I used to use a lot of tracing paper and a light table to create the final art, which I then coloured in with watercolour or inks (Pebeo inks are my favourite). It was messy, time-consuming, and costly. I can draw directly on the screen of my new computer – which is just like using paper and very natural feeling. It saves me a lot of time and I am no longer wearing pencil smudge on my nose and arms.

You are currently writing the script for your graphic novel, Paris Ballad. How did you approach illustrating the graphics? Was there a storyboard involved?

This story started off as a few random illustrations that quickly wanted to be more. I tried to make it just a picture book of 32 images, but it would not allow itself to be so confined. It seemed to desperately want to be a graphic novel, which I was terrified to do – having never done one, and frankly, I haven’t read many either as most were geared to men.

It took me two years to finally begin what I wanted to do very much – I could tell something was there— I just didn’t know what. It began as a silent graphic novel. So originally, no script was planned.

I created the first chapter of 32 pages completely wordless…I wanted it to be about pure emotion.  The actual final art was more or less the storyboard cleaned up. I drew the story, much the same way one would write. Instead of word by word, it was frame by frame.

Going forward, I will be planning it a bit more. Now that I have decided to add words and am writing the script to it, I have a much clearer idea of what is happening in each frame in advance.

While working on Paris Ballad, how do you ensure cohesion between story and graphics? Did you make notes within your storyboard? Was there an outline of the script before even drawing anything?

After creating the first chapter in images, which I liked very much and felt confident in, I began to create a full outline for the story to ensure I did indeed have a novel here, and so that I could begin to submit it to agents. The outline further encouraged me. It flowed well, and I knew I had an exciting and original story there.

There were some details in there, but I like to leave room for inspiration in the moment. So that, as I am working on it, whether the script or the art, the magic is still there for me and things are still being revealed. I am using the outline, which was originally created for a silent graphic novel, to create the script.

The outline has proven to be valuable for me in ensuring the story stays on course, but magic is still happening to keep me excited about the journey.  I still have the art to do for the other 21 chapters. I expect it to be a little over 300 pages when done.  I make some notes, though I mostly clip images that inspire me, and file them in categories – people, places, etc.  I will be creating the art based on a full-written script, which of course I can still edit as I create the art to ensure that it conveys the feeling I want.

Do you often work solo? What are your thoughts on collaborating with a writer while you do the illustrations?

I have only worked solo for my books. I love the collaborative process though. I have taken classic tales and done my own spin on them, so I am sure I would enjoy doing that with a modern work as well.

I think that even better ideas can be developed when you work with another person, brainstorming etc. When it works well, it isn’t about compromise – but unity – which only comes from connecting with another. Sometimes two heads are better than one. It needs to be the right person with the same kind of trust in the process and no ego!

Do you have any advice for budding illustrators?

Be observant. Practice and perfect your art as much as possible. Be free, try new styles, new subjects, new formats. Remember to play. Stay a child – always amazed at the universe, and always discovering something incredible.  Allow inspiration to take you on the journey as opposed to directing the muse towards what you think will be easy or commercial. (It rarely is the apparently easy road, that actually is, and riches found there are more like fool’s gold than the good stuff.) Take risks. Go where you are afraid to creatively. 

Now, none of that advice will make you money necessarily, but it will make you happy with yourself and your work. You will never feel boxed in. You will always be challenged and growing. Beyond that, get the tools that work best for you. There is nothing like having the right tools.

Wednesday Writing Prompts

Need a little push to fill a blank page? Try some of these writing prompts and see where you end up.

1.     He had it coming…and that’s what I’ll tell anyone who asks.

2.     I woke up with the worst hangover of my life and next to me, was a hand-drawn map with no street names, but symbols, leading to a square with the word “body” written inside.

3.     In a quiet ski village, Marcus sat in his chalet, staring at the flames in his fireplace, and wondering if Rita really did just run out to buy cigarettes.

4.     I remember Bonnie as a troubled middle-aged woman who almost single-handedly jeopardized my family’s company. So when I saw her almost a decade later, sitting at a sidewalk café, frowning at her novel, I wanted to turn away and keep pushing her away from my memory. But she looked up and saw me.

5.     “You should just follow him one night,” Barb said. Barb always sounded like a relationship column. It didn’t occur to her that she had been married five times and no one wanted to take her advice.

On The Male Voice: An Interview With Adrienne Kress

Toronto-based writer and actress, Adrienne Kress, has a passion for words, performance, and children. In this interview, Adrienne discusses the young male voice in her novel, Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate and connecting with kids.

In your book, Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate, you employed a male protagonist. As a female author, what challenges did you face when creating a believable male character? How did you overcome them?

I actually didn't face a challenge in writing a believable male character. There were many other challenges, probably the greatest was writing a main character in an adventure story who had no interest in going on an adventure. But the fact that Timothy was a boy never struck me as something I ought to be concerned about. After all, I'm not a pirate, nor an Extremely Ginormous Octopus, nor a dragon trapped in human form, but I managed to write about each of those. I have always felt that there are more differences between individuals than there are between the genders. My focus was to create a believable character with believable motivations.

As an adult female author, how did you ensure you created and sustained a believable young male voice throughout your books?

It's about getting into the head of your characters. I recommend a chainsaw. For some reason, I've always been able to relate to kids. I think maybe because I very clearly remember what it was like to be one, and I remember the thought processes I had as one. When I go back to ten-year-old Adrienne and the thoughts she had, I find it remarkable how in that mindset, I feel no different than grown-up Adrienne. I feel just as reasonable and just as competent. What I lack is knowledge that comes from living on the planet for a while, but my core values are the same. As is my drive and passion. So I don't really write kids as something that is "other" than adults. They are people too. They reason through things and have strong opinions. I create personalities that I can relate to, and then I add that desire to figure out the world and couple it with a need to be taken seriously.

In terms of writing children’s literature, what is the best advice you have ever received?

I'm not sure I've ever really received writing advice directly related to Children's Lit. But the best advice I ever got, which wasn't even from a person but from a movie (GALAXY QUEST), was "Never give up, never surrender!"

Any tips for female authors planning novels that employ a male protagonist?

Don't approach the novel as a female author writing about a male protagonist. Approach your writing as an author writing about a character. Take gender out of the equation. Create a believable person with three dimensions. However, if you really feel stumped by gender and it is important to you, watch people of the gender you intend to write. Watch real people, watch characters on television, etc. But truly, the best way to avoid stereotyping and to stay true to your vision, is just to create three-dimensional characters. Give your characters, regardless of gender, strengths and weaknesses. Treat them, first and foremost, as people. You should be just fine.

Your debut YA novel, The Friday Society, is about three clever women who work as assistants to three powerful men in Edwardian London. While both the setting and characters are vastly different from Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate, were there any surprising similarities? What kinds of discoveries did you make when creating both male and female voices?

Well I suppose my fondness for all things British is definitely a similarity. While TIMOTHY takes place in a non-place, a combo of Canada, USA, and England, there is always that British flavour to whatever I write. Now, THE FRIDAY SOCIETY is my first novel actually set in England, not merely hinted at. It was kind of freeing actually, to set a book in a real place for the first time. Which is odd, as I imagine most would think it constraining compared with a world where you can pretty much do whatever you want.

What was interesting was writing men versus women within THE FRIDAY SOCIETY itself. You see, the whole point of the book is to give a voice to women in a time when they only had a few options for themselves. These are all very bright assistants to powerful men in London society, who have as much talent as their bosses. The male characters are free to just be themselves, but the three main girls always have to hold back in public, can't quite be who they would like to be. That was an interesting dynamic to play with.

"But I am, as may be plainly obvious to you, a Chinese dragon. . . Eastern dragons take human form all the time. It makes going to the movies a little less awkward."
- Mr. Shen, The Sixth Chapter, Timothy and the Dragon's Gate

For more about Adrienne and her novels, visit her website.

Creating Fantasy Worlds

Writing with her heart, soul, and imagination, fantasy writer Lorna Suzuki, shares her insight on creating magical worlds and relatable characters. Read on for more and for an exciting announcement about Lorna’s Imago Chronicles series!

Hello, Lorna, and thanks for taking the time to chat with me!

You are welcome and thank you so much for having me here!

In your Imago Chronicles series, you have built an intricate world full of magical characters and social hierarchies. How did you create such a fantasy world that carries such magic, while encompassing relatable characters?

That’s an interesting question! I think this is part of the reason many literary snobs do not consider this genre as ‘serious literature’. They feel with all the magic, elves, and dragons, etc. how can anyone take fantasy seriously? My way around this was to create characters that are relatable. They are far from perfect and often struggling with their own personal demons. Also, even though my characters live in an imaginary world, they are faced with real world issues like racism, religious intolerance, sexism, child abuse, rape and so on.

At one time or another, we’ve all dealt with one or all of these issues, so when the female protagonist is able to rise above adversity, there are readers who really do cheer for this underdog! Another thing they seem to relate to is that she doesn’t always succeed at what she does, often struggling to work around her moments of failure.

I do feel you must create characters the readers will care about. If you have great action, but they don’t care if the characters live or die, they probably won’t keep reading the book.

What kinds of pre-planning did you do to ensure continuity in your Imago world? (Storyboards, outlines, etc)

No story boards, but because the Imago Chronicles, including the prequels Imago Chronicles: Prophecy and its sequel, Legacy spans over two thousands years in the history of this fantasy world, I’ve had to design a timeline detailing births, deaths, and other milestones that can affect the stories and characters, especially if I mess up on these details.

As a fantasy writer, do you start with character or setting? How do you know when you have the story so you can begin writing?

It starts with deciding what kind of story I want to tell and then selecting the characters that will be telling this story. It helps that each character also has his (or her) own back-story that determines how they respond to any given circumstance or crisis. But for me, I do have to know what the story is about first, hence the need for plotting.

Most fantasy novels employ male protagonists. What was it like to create a female protagonist embarking on an epic adventure? Were there certain clichés you consciously avoided? Were there certain clichés that seemed to pop out that you noticed during revisions?

Nayla Treeborn was created after teaching a martial arts seminar. I was the only female instructor there and when the session was done, a number of female participants approached me, telling me they never knew a woman could really fight until they saw me use only men in my training demos.

When I asked why they thought this, they said it was in their upbringing, their culture and in the books they read. A quick dash to the book store confirmed that women were either being rescued, or if they were able to hold their own against a larger opponent, then they were endowed with supernatural powers to do so, much like Xena Warrior Princess or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Well, I didn’t want my daughter reading about women being rescued, I wanted her to read about women who could do the rescuing.

At the same time, I wanted to create a petite female who was able to survive because of her wits, ability to strategize as well as using her many years of martial arts training, not developing super powers to overcome challenges.

What’s your exciting announcement regarding the Imago Chronicles series?

The series is complete with nine novels, but on the movie front, the first three novels in the Imago Chronicles have been optioned for a major motion picture trilogy. It’s a co-pro with indie film producer Michy Gustavia and her good friend, Ari Lantos, producer at Serendipity Point Films.

Ari and his father, Robert Lantos are best known for the Oscar-nominated Eastern Promises starring Viggo Mortensen and Golden Globe winners Barney’s Version and Being Julia. The award-winning screenwriter is Michael Bruce Adams and he did a wonderful job on the screenplay.

Imago Chronicles: Book One A Warrior’s Tale was pitched to the film industry as LoTR and 300 meets The Last Samurai! Serendipity Point Films is currently involved in two films, so full production on A Warrior’s Tale is slated to begin fall 2012.

On the writing front, I’ve switched gears and I’m currently working on the third novel in the YA fantasy series, The Dream Merchant Saga. It’s a trilogy I’ve been co-writing with my teenage daughter, Nia. It’s been well received and some have told me it’s like Ella Enchanted meets The Princess Bride!

Debut Author Shares Her Journey to Publication

Meet Shelly Sanders, Toronto-based writer whose first novel, published by Second Story Press, comes out this spring!

Your debut novel, Rachel’s Secret, is coming out this spring! What is this story about?

Rachel’s Secret is a historical fiction novel about a Russian pogrom in 1903 that led to the exodus of Jews to the United States and Canada. In fact, my grandmother escaped such a pogrom a few years later, and lived in Shanghai before coming to Canada. Rachel’s Secret looks at a fairly unknown place and period, yet many of us have ancestors who can be traced back to the hundreds of pogroms that took place in Russia.

What was your writing process like with your first full-length novel?

It took about a year to research the Russian culture, and this particular pogrom. Then I wrote it the first time in first person, which didn’t work at all. I began again, in third person, and ended up writing about eight drafts, getting valuable criticism in between, before sending it to an agent. The agent gave me more changes, which took me almost a year to do. Then, she read it again and accepted it.

What were your biggest challenges when writing this story, and how did you overcome them?

Getting the characters to be real and authentic was definitely the biggest challenge. I had to get inside their heads, and think like they’d think in 1903 Russia. I think the turning point was after I read books written during that time period for girls that age. The language, mannerisms, hopes, and challenges all became clear after this.

Writing is re-writing—we all know that. So, how did you revise your manuscript to ensure it was polished and ready to submit?

I sought input from all kids of people—my kids, my aunt, friends, and other writers, and had both a minister and a rabbi read it for accuracy. As a journalist, I know the importance of getting it right so that editors don’t have to spend time fixing mistakes. That was my goal and in the end, after it was picked up by my publisher, the revisions were not that extensive.

Can you describe what the journey was like from querying to eventually getting a publishing deal?

Querying is a test of patience, but again, I’m used to the process as a magazine and newspaper writer. As an unpublished author, it was like starting all over again. My years of published articles in major national publications meant nothing to book agents and publishers. However, I had mastered quite a good query letter which managed to capture the attention of a few agents and publishers. I approached publishers at the same time as agents, as most publishers will take on a few unrepresented writers from time to time. In fact, I actually sold my manuscript to the publisher. They contacted me the day after I was accepted by my agent, who handled the contractual details.

Any helpful tips you wish you knew before getting published?

The whole process takes much longer than you could ever expect! I wish I’d known this as there were many low times when I felt like giving up. I think that perseverance is as important as talent when it comes to getting published.

What’s next for you, Shelly?

I’ve received a grant from the Ontario Arts Council for the sequel to Rachel’s Secret, which I’m working on now. It takes place during the Russo-Japanese War, and Bloody Sunday. I also have one adult fiction novel being considered by a few publishers in New York.

You can read the synopsis of Rachel’s Secret on Shelly’s website to get a better idea of the story, which looks at tolerance, the impact of media, and the consequences of discrimination.

Creating Believable Characters

Let’s face it. It’s been a while since we’ve been in middle school, so how can we ensure that we are creating authentic characters in our middle grade novels? In this interview, author Winnie Mack shares some insight!

Do you often start with the character or the story?

It depends on what I’m working on. I used to write “chick lit” for adults, as Wendy French, and most of those novels began with the story. I currently write Middle Grade fiction for boys as W.C. Mack (www.wcmack.com), and because both my Canadian and American publishers like books involving sports, I tend to start with story there as well. But when it comes to writing for Middle Grade girls, I always start with the character.

How do you “get to know” your main characters?

I kind of let them drift in and out of my head for a bit before I start writing. I think about who their family members are, what kind of friends they have and what they enjoy inside and outside of school. I think about what drives them crazy or makes them happy and I come up with plot points that could create some highs and lows for them within the story. Sometimes I’ll attach a certain actor or actress’s appearance to the character, so I have a mental picture when describing them.

In your novel, After All, You’re Callie Boone, how did you create a realistic and interesting character that tween readers could relate to? What kinds of social markers or language do you find to be prevalent in their lives?

I relied on personal experience, to a degree. I thought about some of the most hurtful things I’d witnessed or felt at that age and decided that the loss of a best friend was near the top of the list. That gave me an opportunity for Callie to feel confused, angry and alone so she could then work her way through all of those emotions. I also relied on my own experience in that Callie has a grandmother at home and my grandparents moved in with us when I was ten years old . Like Callie, I sometimes felt caught between enjoying the fact that they were there and wishing my family was more conventional or “normal”.

As far as language goes, I probably went over the top with Callie’s “Oh, fishsticks” tag line, but I do think kids tend to favour a small handful of phrases and words. I spent the afternoon with an eleven year old boy and couldn’t believe how often he said “awesome”. It had to be at least ten times per hour!

What should writers keep in mind when creating antagonists in their MG or YA novels?

I think it’s important that the character have good intentions. When I was writing about Callie, I knew she needed to have flaws and issues, or there wouldn’t be a story. But I also needed readers to identify with and root for her. She’s a kid who tries to do the right things, but doesn’t always succeed. I think we’re all a bit like that.

How do you know if you’re pushing the boundaries when it comes to drugs, sex, or violence in MG or YA novels?

I haven’t written any YA, but have a couple of novel ideas simmering at the moment. Part of what holds me back is that I’m leery of having to address any of those topics, as it feels like a lot of responsibility.

The appeal of Middle Grade is that there is a clearer line not to cross. The language is clean (I had to remove a “Crap!” from one of my books) and drugs/alcohol/sex/violence aren’t likely to be addressed. When I originally started writing for this age group, I asked my agent about the boundaries and she said an editor had once told her that mentioning a bra strap is too much. I’ve read Middle Grade that goes well beyond that, but I prefer to keep things as clean as possible. For example, Callie is only eleven and so in need of a true friend that it never crossed my mind that Hoot could be a romantic interest for her. I’ve had a number of parents and librarians write to thank me for making him “just a friend”, as they feel girls in that 9-12 age group are being sexualized too soon.

Any “quick tips” you’d like to share with MG writers in terms of creating characters?

Try to give characters something to feel passionate about, whether it’s a sport, a school subject or a dream they’re reaching for. That interest will naturally add dimension to the character and to the story.

An editor pointed out to me that a perk of writing about kids is that they don’t have control over a lot of things. They are limited by rules, schedules and by their age and physical size/abilities. Sometimes figuring out how a character works within or around these limitations helps to develop their personalities, strengths and weaknesses.

Most of all, have fun with the character and make sure it’s someone you care about. You’ll be spending a lot of time together!