About This Issue #80

 

Vision Issue # 80

 

Final Issue

 

2015

 

 

 

 

The road can still lead anywhere.

After fifteen years and 80 Issues, I will no longer be adding new issues to Vision: A Resource for Writers.  The Categories and Back Issues will still be available, however, so there will always be plenty of information at your fingertips.  I am still moving articles to the current location and that might take as much as another year to get done, so watch for things to pop up here.

The authors who have contributed to the ezine have been wonderful, and have passed on information for the rest of you so that you can benefit from what they've already learned.  Not everything will work for you, but there is plenty to check out and try.  That's the joy of having a resource like this one. 

Good luck with your writing.  The road you take as an author is still filled with wonder and excitement, but only if you dare to push ahead. Don't quit! 

 

Thank you.

 

In this issue:

 

The Final Issue of Vision

By Lazette Gifford

It is difficult to say goodbye to something that has been so much a part of my life.

Vision: A Resource for Writers is stopping active production with this issue.


 

From the Editor: Good-Bye and Good Luck

Those who write are the true people of vision. They see fantastic, exotic places in their minds, and they hear the voices of people who do not speak to anyone else.


 

Workshop: CreateSpace Print Layout

Createspace puts out a PDF that will help you set up your book.  However, some people find it easier to have a shorter version.  Read the PDF because it may show you something I don't cover here.  This may help you work through the steps, and there is a simple list at the bottom of the article.


 

Indie Corner: The New World of Publishing

By J.A. Marlow

 Traditional.

Small press.

E-First.

Indie.

Hybrid.

So many ways to publish and to get published. At first glance they appear so different. But, on second glance? Do all of the above have anything in common?


 

How to Fight First Draft Blues

By S.E. Batt

With National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) coming around the corner, many a writer will be looking forwards to the thirty days of novel-making madness. Among them with be a few new faces who want to try out the wild world of writing a novel-length piece of work in the space of a month.


 

Cutting Before It's Done

By Ashe Elton Parker

I have something important to say:

It's okay to cut an incomplete project and rewrite.

Yes, I know the going wisdom is to complete the story first, then rewrite.


 

Using Amnesia as a Plot Device

By Cheryl Peugh

So I’m strolling along by the books for sale in a local grocery store, and I see one with a title and cover art that interests me.  I pick it up and read the blurb on the back.  What I read is this:  Girl wakes up after an accident and can’t remember anything, doesn’t know who to trust, and must figure out who she is before the killer strikes again.  (I’ve condensed it so that you don’t gouge out your eyes before you get to the end.)


 

Book Review: Wrede on Writing

Reviewed by Lazette Gifford

A very nice friend gave me an ebook copy of Wrede on Writing believing I might enjoy this wonderful, overlooked gem.  I fell in love with the book.  This is one of the best books on writing I have ever read and I find it a shame that more people are not mentioning it. 


 

Website Review: thesaurus.com

Reviewed by Connie Cockrell

As writers we get bombarded with writing advice. As a new author it seemed to me that writing was all about what I wasn't supposed to do as opposed to what I could do.


 

Special NaNo Section (from Back Issues)

 

NaNoWrimo: The Next Round

by Lazette Gifford

I first did NaNo in November of 2001. I was not prepared, and I didn't even consider the idea of writing more than one novel that year. I finished about ten days early with a bit over 70,000 words and I'd had a lot of fun.


 

NaNoWriMo: The Challenge

by Connie Cockrell

It started as a challenge. I asked, "How hard is it to write 1666 words per day?" She answered, "Well, if you think it's so easy, why don't you do it?" That gave me two weeks to figure out how to write a novel, get an idea for a novel and plan out what the heck I was going to write!


 

Workshop: Enjoying NaNo

This workshop has been partially adapted from the NaNo for the New and Insane book which I wrote many years ago. The book, which is free, has many suggestions and tricks for making it through the month of November and having something written at the end.


 

Fast Drafting: Crazy but doable!

By Lisa Lawler

Obviously feeling the need for some insanity in my life, I decided to try fast drafting for NaNo 2013. There were several reasons why (sensible ones, I think) but the main one was that I wanted to finally get my first draft finished and keep the disruption to my family to a minimum. Taking two weeks to work on my first draft instead of the four weeks of NaNo seemed like a win-win.