Gigi Amateau was our guest on December 9, when she gave a tutorial on using a wiki (a simple online database) for organizing research. In writing her first historical YA novel, she plunged in to more research than she had done with her first three YA novels. Notebooks weren’t quite cutting it for keeping track of all the dates, places, and details of the world she was recreating: Richmond at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries.

So she turned to a wiki. Often, wikis are used for large group projects, like Wikipedia, but Gigi found it helpful to compile her very own personal online encyclopedia. She was able to include links, documents, photographs, drawings, and almost anything else she wanted to use for reference. She has even kept a log of conversations and emails between her editor and herself. When her book is published in fall 2011, she’ll provide a public version of her wiki as a resource for readers and teachers.

How do you get started creating your own wiki? We’ve included links at the end of this article for sites offering wikis. Set up categories that make sense for your own project and start entering text. Link your text to websites that explain or elaborate. Link your wiki pages to each other. Think of it as a free-form database, all custom designed for you. It’s especially useful for collaborative projects, so allow access to your editors, writing group, or work colleagues.

Links to Wiki Providers:

We have not done exhaustive research on the list below. Think of it as a starting point. Thanks to WikiMatrix for listings and comparisons.

• Wikispaces - This is the provider Gigi uses. It’s free if your wiki is public (the content will be indexed by search engines). There is a charge if you want it to be private. Multiple pricing levels.
• PBWorks – Has Basic (free), Premium and Business levels.
• Intodit – Free, but has ads
• PicoWiki – Free, specially designed for PDA and SmartPhone use. Slogan: “All your notes, wherever you are.”
• Springnote – Free. An “online notebook.”
• Zoho – Free up to 3 users.

From The Morning News, one of my favorite news aggregators, I was directed to this Wired Magazine article (Clive Thompson on the New Literacy) which highlights some changes in how younger people view writing.

The article focuses on the work of Andrea Lunsford, a professor of writing and rhetoric at Stanford University, head of the Stanford Study of Writing. From Thompson’s article:

“I think we’re in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven’t seen since Greek civilization,” she says. For Lunsford, technology isn’t killing our ability to write. It’s reviving it—and pushing our literacy in bold new directions.

She makes a good argument about the increased importance of writing in our society and how students have learned to consider the audience for their writing as part of the thought process of composition–something, I think, we all could do better. Take a look at the article.

Holy $#Q#*$, I don’t know how I managed to miss this book (How Not to Write a Novel) when it was first published, but I picked it up at Anam Cara while I was there and couldn’t put it down. The main reason I picked it up is that the other people reading it were laughing their heads off. Then there was a fight over who was going to get to read it next. Don’t you wish you’d written a book everybody fights over?

It’s so entertaining, and did I mention funny, and yet, educational. I defy any aspiring novelist out there to read it without finding any of his or her own insidious habits described.

I liked this book so much, I bought several copies which will be on sale at WriterHouse. Or click on the link above and purchase it from our bookstore. Run, don’t walk, to buy this book.

Anam Cara front entrance

Day three of our stay at the Anam Cara Writers’ and Artists’ Retreat in southwest Ireland. Yesterday (Saturday) was our first full day, and there were torrential rains, so we didn’t get outside during the day. And you know how drowsy you get when it’s rainy and gloomy outside? Combine that with jet lag, and let’s just say it wasn’t our most productive writing day ever.

In the evening we went into the village of Eyeries to Causkey’s Pub to hear a traditional Irish band from…(wait for it…) Belgium. Interesting to hear familiar songs with a Flemish accent.

Christy on the Strand

This morning, Christy and I got in a solid couple of hours of writing and then took what we thought would be a short walk to the strand. We filled our pockets with rocks, but don’t worry, we didn’t jump in the river. Three hours later, we’re back and ready to get to work until dinner. Well, I’ll be working as soon as I finish this blog post.

I’ve finished rereading and marking up my NaNoWriMo novel and am about to begin editing. Christy’s been working on a new rewrite of her novel. There are four other guests here, but during the day it’s strictly quiet. There are lots of different rooms to work in, shelves of books, coffee and tea (does this sound like our little oasis at WriterHouse?) We all eat meals together and the rest of the time is for quiet contemplation and writing.

I have an idea for a short story which I hope to work on in the next few days. I also have the beginning of an idea for an essay. It’s supposed to rain again tomorrow, so we’ll be stuck indoors. Many hours to write.

We’re inspired to set up a WriterHouse retreat sometime soon. Post your ideas here in the comments section.

Have you gone on a writing retreat? Even in a tent in your backyard? Send your photos and accounts of your experiences.

The College Issue – Those Who Write, Teach – NYTimes.com

In the New York Times Sunday Magazine yesterday, David Gessner addresses the issue of writers who teach in order to make a living and asks:

What exactly does all this teaching do to our writing? And what, if anything, does it mean for a country to have a tenured literature?

He notes that some writers need their teaching jobs, not for the money, but for the structure it gives to too much free time:

Yet no matter how much support you have, how many schedules you make or how many books you’ve written before, there remains the basic irrationality of the task: you are sitting by yourself trying to make something out of nothing, and you rarely know where you’re going next.

One particular toll on the writer/teacher’s resources:

While the effect of teaching on writing may be a matter of debate, its effect on reading is undeniable. That is because there are only so many hours in the day, and those hours are used up reading our students’ work, which is, by definition, apprentice writing. Energy is finite while college students seemingly are not, and after teaching for a while you begin to feel as if you are in a “Star Trek” episode, lost on a strange planet made up of a thousand pods of need, all of them beaming out at you, sucking your energy, and all of them, invariably, asking you to read something. Since the reading life feeds the writing life, since we are what we eat, this can wear you down, to say the least.

Very interesting article. Do any writers/writing teachers out there care to comment?

From today’s Washington Post Sunday Magazine:

Illiterature: Can a computer judge fiction?
By Gene Weingarten
Sunday, September 21, 2008; Page W40

The ad on Craigslist was from an Oakton company called Zirdland.com. Zirdland claims it has developed a software system that can electronically analyze the quality and commercial viability of a work of fiction and prompt changes that will make it better.

Warning: reading the article out loud to one’s spouse may result in disruption of reading due to uncontrollable laughter on the part of the reader.

Weingarten submitted a short story to the software, including such gems as:

The two lovers writhed as one, entwined and moist, like a spool of twine that had been dropped in the toilet.

The software gave the story a positive evaluation.

Maybe WriterHouse should consider a lucrative consulting contract with this software company…