I found out why they call it a Kindle

I've got to say, I am very much impressed with the Kindle DX I received today! Though it is much bigger than I had anticipated to be, after reading on it today, I don't mind how big it is. After learning how to use it, and downloading my first few books onto it, I am sure that I will be reading a good portion of my books on it. Though it will never be able to replace a real book.

I will simply gush over this mysterious thing. I don't know how they make the screen, as the screensaver mode gives a lovely picture of a well known art or author and it remains up there with ease. The font is adjustable and I like setting mine at the second smallest level, though I could read from the smallest as well. The fonts get just huge though, where not even a sentence can fit on it sometimes.

The orientation is nice as well, though I do find the placing of the usb port and the headphones to be silly. I definitely think they should be reverse with the headphones at the bottom and the usb port at the top. When my kindle is charging, I will be using it upside down, as it will change to fit that format as well with the text. The page buttons are both on the right, and it seems that inevitably, someone will complain about it. As most people are right handed (which I am not) it make the most sense to put it on that side. As well as because most items will be read with the page turning right. But the backpage button is also on the right, albeit smaller and above the right page button. It works for people who use only one hand to hold the kindle, but I will always say that the backpage button is on the wrong side. Seeing as how the button is used much less, it really isn't much of a problem. Only if the page is inverted, as in my situation with charging, does the reader have to remember to pres the now pointing left button to turn to the right page.

I tried out the voice option, but will rarely, if never use it. The voice is good for automated, yet it is still automated. I have to set it onto the slowest setting in order to understand what it is saying, and it still may pronounce words wrong. It also will flip the pages for you when you get to the end of the page, which is truly nice. The choice between male and female voices is a nice touch, and for print-to-voice, it is a good program, but not for me. I like to read my books, rather than hear them.

An aspect I do not like is the fact that when I have to type in my password, the letter I type in is shown and any others before it are the standard bullet. If my password is cats, I type 'c' '*a' '**t' '***s' which still allows anyone looking over my shoulder to read what I type, even if I am going fast, and log in. It is essential that they fix that. My password does not happen to be cats in actuality.

Though it touts it as 'being able to read without straining your eyes' I like the idea of a backlit screen, as a computer or laptop screen has never given me trouble over long periods of time. I am also one who likes to do things with only just enough light, though again I hear that hurts my eyes as well. In all, I do really like the screen.

My only fears are for it breaking or snapping, though I am sure it is a durable little thing. It is just simply so thin and I am afraid for it. I have gotten a case for it, and shall be happy when I get it. It is a deep burgundy red, which just happens to be my favorite color. We'll see if it is as true a burgundy as they say.

Other than that, I shall be reading plenty of books, especially the out-of-copyright books that I've been wanting to read for so long. Come classes with many older books, I will be in luck, particularly a Shakespeare class.

Expect more updates about the kindle as I test it out even more as school starts up again soon. I also completed reading The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin just these past couple of days and will be writing up on them soon.

Why is it called a Kindle anyway?

Yesterday, I went and ordered a kindle. While the initial expense is up there, I figure that I will be able to save in the long run, especially on out-of-copyright books. A class I must take for my English major that will use the Kindle particularly is a Shakespeare class. I am sure that in the class we will be reading plenty of them, and having a kindle will definitely help, as opposed to finding either physical book copies, or reading them on the web. It will also save my poor back from having to carry around all of my books, which may be even better than anything else.

Will be updating soon on my first impressions of the Kindle DX Graphite.

time management and excuses

These past few weeks have been so busy as I rehearse for a musical. Usually the times are 10am or 12pm to 10pm almost every day with an hour and a half break for dinner. So, have I written during this time? No, unfortunately I haven't. I obviously have time before or after rehearsal, but I have been tired constantly, especially after rehearsal.

Some priorities need to come first before writing, unfortunately, like eating and sleeping, and especially keeping up my health. Keeping my sanity and stress down is also something that should be placed above other things. Of course, these are simply excuses. I can say that I will begin writing as soon as the musical is over, but does that mean I will? Most likely not... if I know myself well enough.

As soon as I say that I will write, I will make up another excuse. Obviously, I won't make it very far in my career of deadlines. But looking back at my document, I am surprised to find 30K words. I don't know where that came from, honestly.

What am I going to do about this? I have a writing friend who constantly pesters me for more writing, and she has been an absolute savior to me and my writing. I still maintain that I will write after the musical is done with its run, because I do feel exhausted to start up my writing again and editing what I have written (due to plot changes).

And so, the first of February is my date of working hard again and keeping up a new year's resolution.

researching reality

One thing I am working on is learning about the publishing industry by reading quite a bit from authors, literary agencies, and other professionals in the business. It has given me a bit of insight as to what I should expect, how I should act, and what I should focus myself on. I have never wavered myself on writing fantasy novels. It is my interest in reading and gives me the ability to be as creative as I want. But my focus in editing was general. I did not know how many different types of editors there were. Of course I still have a lot of researching to do, so easily I could change my mind some time in the future.

My ideas are to find a job in a publishing house as an editor. I think that my interests (and hopefully strengths) are leaning towards the line editor type of career. I like critiquing the writing itself, the plot, characters, setting. Of course, that is if I am even describing the right type of editor. If I cannot find this sort of job in a publishing house, I can always be a freelance editor, possibly. However, I still need to research more.

Reading blogs by those already in the industry also helps me in my writing career. I shouldn't expect to have agents and publishers drop at my feet for my novels. I have to work extremely hard to get them to look at my work and think they could use it. I probably won't be able to survive on my writing career. But even though my reality check helps me to not expect quite so much, I will still try. To assume I am the best on earth will only hamper my career.

So I need to research, research, and research some more. It's the best thing to immerse myself into the industry.

naming your characters before worldbuilding

Naming your characters before establishing your world and cultures is a bad idea, in my opinion. I am struggling with the problem at this moment. I created my characters' names and they all sound like they could be from the same world. However, they are from more than one culture. Names are a reflection of a culture's language, and ideally, if your world is dealing with more than one culture, then names from different cultures should sound different, especially if they speak different languages.

Take a look at names in Europe. An English name will sound different from a French name or a German name, and these will sound very different from a South African name or a Chinese name because these languages are far removed from each other in the language tree.

So, your cultures should also reflect their language and differences. A simple way to separate two cultures is to make one have a lyrical sounding language (and names) compared to a harsher sounding language. Trippask sounds different than Alania, doesn't it? When random character says that they've come from Maelasa, you can assume that they're part of the same culture as Alania. If Maelasa is in the same country as Trippask, there should be an explained reason for this for such a different sounding name. Was Maelasa founded by people from Alania?

What does a person do when they've already made names for several cultures that don't sound like they're from several cultures? Some names and places might need to be changed to reflect their differences. As much as I would like to keep the names of some of my people, it may be best for credibility's sake and to create a more realistic world. It's hard to force a language to multiple names and somehow not make it complicated. In the next story, I will definitely create the language rules to a culture before naming the characters before I get too attached to the names.

the editor mouse pokes her nose out of the mousehole for the first time

If you've managed to find this small little corner of space that is inhabited by this little mouse, then I welcome you! I am an author in training, and editor in training, and what I mean by in training is that I am no where near to being any sort of published author or professional editor yet. I'm mostly just a hopeful that is working to one day have the title of author and editor behind my name. It might not happen but we're all hopeful for such a dream, right?

So if you happen to stick around for a while, you'll get to see me struggle through my attempts to become a REAL writer as I flounder through the wonderful days that are college in hopes that maybe, just maybe, I'll be picked up by a kind company to let me look at and destroy other people's books to make them (hopefully) better. Won't that be fun? But that's a long time in the future, I think. I first have to learn to write properly and what makes a book good.

Just maybe, maybe, I might actually succeed. But until then, I'm just a small little in training mouse with a small space to record my journey.