Friday Quotes #4 – E.M. Forster (…Except it’s Tuesday)

“I am an unspeakable of the Oscar Wilde sort.”
― E.M. Forster, Maurice

I know I’m late on this! I know! I’ll spare you my excuses. But it’s kind of okay because in the meantime, I stumbled upon this quote by E.M. Forster, who’s one of my favorites. It mentions Oscar Wilde who is basically in my top 3, too. Anyway, there was this totally fantastic and amazing post by @LeahRaeder which you can read HERE. That post made me feel so many ways. It kind of hurt, strangely? If that makes sense. As a Queer myself, I didn’t know how to feel about it. I still don’t. I don’t know how I feel about ME and isn’t that strange? It’s not a bad feeling—I’ve ruled that one out. But it’s just that there’s a lot of questioning going on. The point of this quote is that it’s cavalier about the issue. And I’ve decided that’s how I want to be. Cavalier.

YES, I’m Queer. And excuse my French (because I try not to swear on this blog) but—so fucking what.

xo, from this girl under the trench coat.

I Resolve To….

Hey, Trenchers! Happy New Years Eve! Any fun plans tonight to ring in the new year? I plan on staying home and falling asleep this year and not waking up until next year. Let’s hope my little monsters agree with me on that. With the new year comes great…resolutions! On top of the ones I’m sure you already have, I’m throwing two more at you.

1. Read more.

2. Write more.

Whoa, Thor! No need to go all crazy on me. Just send your brother down and I’ll gladly do whatever he wants. WHATEVER he wants. Is it a little hot in here? Back to our resolutions.
(Does it bother anyone else that the pic is totally the wrong one for the quote?)

1. Read more books outside of your normal genre or category. You’ll never know what hidden gems are out there until you’ve looked.

2. Write more without that little devil on your shoulder telling you that you’re not good enough. We all have that pesky little bugger that makes us doubt ourselves. Lock him up with a cheesecake so you can write in peace once in a while.

3. Geek out more. Don’t be afraid to show your love for the things you love. Stop trying to fit into a mold that you think you need to be in. Be you and love yourself for it.

4. Give out more compliments. Have you ever had a crappy day then out of nowhere someone tells you that they like your shoes? Or purse? Or your glasses? Anything? Didn’t it make you feel 10x better? Be that person! Go out of your way to give someone a compliment. They’ll either think you’re crazy (in that case just ignore them, you’ll still get good karma points for the effort) or you’ll totally make their day.

5. Love yourself more. Stop obsessing over that extra few pounds that won’t go away. Stop comparing yourself to the neighbor a few houses down. Give yourself permission to be you and be proud of it!
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” -Dr. Seuss

And a quote from another doctor for my inner geek….

“Do you know, in nine hundred years of time and space I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important before.” -The Doctor

Good enough for you, Thor? What resolutions have you made or are you planning on making? Whatever they are, make sure that they’re for you and that they’re going to make you happy.

Friday Quotes #3 – Erada

If it’s both terrifying and amazing then you should definitely pursue it. -Erada

Isn’t this what dreams are made of? Equal parts terror and awe? What if I fail? But if I don’t it’s going to be freaking awesome!! I’ve learned that if you can push past the fear of all that can go wrong, the amazingness wins out. Marriage, kids, writing, blogging. What things have you found equally terrifying and amazing that you’ve pursued?

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

We hope you guys are all having a great holiday full of loved ones, magical moments, and figgy pudding. Actually, scratch the figgy pudding. I heard that stuff is pretty gross. Has anyone actually had it? I’m going off topic, but who cares? It’s CHRISTMAS! Candice and I were so excited for the holiday that we put together a video of our sick dance moves.

*While Candice could totally do this, I would fall on my face. No elves were harmed in the making of this video.

**Unfortunately, the video will not post directly to our page, so in order to see these elves work it, you’ll need to click here. Like, right here.

10 Writerly Hashtags

#

Yeah, but that’s not all. Do you know what a hashtag is? That’s the important part. Most commonly found on Twitter, a hashtag comes with a few rules (do not separate the words in your tag, do not hashtag symbols, you don’t need to have your #hashtag#running#together#like#this, etc). They make your content not only searchable, but findable as well.

I’ve used hashtags for everything. I managed to find discounted tickets to my favorite band’s sold out concert by lurking the #XAmbassadorsAtTheTroubador tag earlier this year. It’s effective and for sure puts your name out there.

Without further adieu, here are 10 important hashtags to boost your writing connections:

1. – 3. #amwriting, #amreading, #amrevising (#amANYTHING actually)

That’s cheating, I know, whatever. But this is my game and I make the rules, so. (Can you tell what kind of kid I was?) Some say, debatably that the “am” part of that tag stands for A.M. as in MORNING. I disagree. I think it’s essentially saying AM CURRENTLY DOING A THING THAT MAY BE WRITING, READING, REVISING, ETC. Try searching that tag on Twitter. I promise it will be fruitful.

4. #1LineWed

One-Line-Wednesday is pretty  much what it sounds like—you share one line from your writing on Wednesday. This is actually a good way to get people talking about their work. If you search the tag, you might even find some fun people to talk about it with.

5. #MondayBlogs

Blog posts, according to the crowd consensus, are typically shared on Mondays, so that they can be promoted, generally, all at once. The vast majority of bloggers promote on Mondays. Publish your blog on Monday and then when you share the link on Twitter, tag it with #MondayBlogs. TC&Q blogs get posted on—

6. #WriterWednesdays

We share our blogs on Wednesdays, primarily to give you a little kick in the pants during your mid-week hump slump. (I just grossed myself out with that one). #WriterWednesdays also function as a sort of #FollowFriday type deal. Only in this version—yeah, you guessed it, it’s writers being promo’d, not just random instal-follow-back Justin Bieber fans).

7. #WriteClub

This is a tag started by the beauties behind @FriNightWrites. Typically, when writers are sprinting, they’ll share a line and their word counts and tag it with #WriteClub. This helps the account’s stats guy keep track of how many words you’ve written and how many the writer hive has written altogether as well.

8. #NaNoWriMo

Often abbreviated as “NaNo,” #NaNoWriMo is the official hashtag of the national event. Check out their website if you’re unfamiliar. National Novel Writing Month is a great way to meet friends (this was actually the gateway for me—I fell into the TWC by hashtagging NaNoWriMo. Someone found me there, followed me, and the rest was history).

9. #TWC

Unfamiliar with that tag I used above? #TWC stands for Twitter. Writing. Community. Welcome to the hive, kid.

10.#1K1Hour

This is a writing sprint term. Typically writing sprints go for :30 minutes. Sometimes writers push that goal and attempt to write a thousand words (1k) in one hour’s time (1hour).

Now, GO FORTH AND BE MERRY AND JUNK! HAPPY HOLIDAYS from these girls under the trenches!

xoxoox,

Want to interview with us? TC&Q wants to talk to you. If you’d be willing to let us feature you, you can fill out the form HERE!

Follow TC&Q on Twitter.

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Friday Quotes #2 – J.D. Salinger, baby!

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

I’ve said it time and time again: I FEEL UNBELIEVABLY COOL (with soooo many exclamation points !!!!!!) for knowing the authors that I know. For getting to talk to them when I want to, getting to read their work before the rest of the public, getting to call them friends of mine. It’s weird and almost a little bit selfish, but I’m pretty okay with that. Writing well is a big talent and it’s just cool as hell to say I have the raddest bunch of talented peeps! You all know who you are.

xo

 

*AND HEY HEY REMEMBER! TC&Q wants to interview you authors, editors, cover artists, publishers, and graphic designers. If you know someone you’d like us to feature, or you yourself would like to volunteer (because you’re so boss), fill out the form here.

10 Sites for Writers

Last week Candice discussed some common terms used in the writing world. (You can check out that post here. I’ll wait.) Now that you’re armed with the knowledge of CP, query, and other common terms, let’s check out some sites you’ll be seeing those on, as well as some sites to help you out with other writerly things. And they’re all free!

1. NaNoWriMo.org

One of the first sites geared towards writers that I visited. A site many authors return to in November. NaNoWriMo stands for “National Novel Writing Month”. Here, many authors gather together and work towards one goal: finishing a rough draft of a new novel, approximately 50,000 words. You sign up and have your own profile to keep track of your word count. You can earn badges for participating and hitting milestones. You can find plenty of inspiring words to keep you going as well as other crazies in your area who are working towards the same goal as you. Many regions will even set times and dates to get together and do writing sprints.

2. AbsoluteWrite.com

Absolute Write offers writing classes, resources for finding agents, conferences, and other things. What really makes AW rock though, is the forum, a.k.a. “the Water Cooler”. You can meet writers from around the world. It’s broken down into different sections so if you’re looking for fellow YA writers, you can find them. Have a question about publishing? There’s an area for that too. There’s even a whole area dedicated to pop culture if you need a quick break from writing. Need to find an ah-may-zing CP? You guessed it, AW has you covered. Hey, if I did it, you can!

3. WordHippo.com

Ever realize you’re using the same word over and over and you want something else, but similar? Thesaurus. Want to say something in another language? Google translator. Not sure how to pronounce a word? Dictionary. Hate having to change sites for every little thing word related? WordHippo.com. It’s a dictionary, thesaurus, translator, rhymer, sentence giver, and more, all in one. Plus, they have the cutest pink hippo! This is one site to have up while you’re writing.

4. YAMisfits.com

This young adult geared blog is reminiscent of a yearbook. Learn about these misfits as they travel through the world of publishing and drop their tips and tricks along the way, as well as interviews, book reviews, and other fun additions.

5. NAAlley.com

This informative blog was started by 6 new adult-writing ladies back when NA wasn’t even really NA yet. It became the go-to place for all things NA related. Books, agents, publishers. You could find who was supporting NA there. Fast forward a few years, the blog has now grown to 40-ish members (including yours truly!) to bring you the best of the NA world. *If you email NA Alley, chances are you’ll be dealing with me. 😉

6. DailyDahlia.wordpress.com

Aside from being a fun follow on Twitter, Dahlia also runs quite a fun blog. She has author spotlights, a large recommendation of books (all of which she has actually read), and a fantastic list of resources for querying. Did I mention she’s also a published YA and NA author? She was also sweet enough to help Candice and I with some sites to include for this post. Thanks, Dahlia! 🙂

7. Publishing-Hub.com

A.k.a. The Pub Hub consists of 10 authors, agents, and editors. They talk about books, publishing, and encourage writers to ask questions. An especially cool feature is their beta community. If you’ve written a book, you know how finding betas can be a bit of a pain. The betas list the genres they prefer reading so you can pick who would be your best fit.

8. Pinterest.com

I’m sure you’ve heard of this one, if not, where have you been? While Pinterest is a great site for DIY projects, it’s also invaluable as a place for writers to store all their inspiration. Cute LIs, quirky outfits, a picture of the place in Brazil where your MCs met, you can find it all here and keep it all under one board to stay organized. Looking for inspiration of what to write next? Ring-ding-ding! Pinterest again! You can follow TC&Q here.

9. BabyNames.com

This is one of my favorite sites to go to for naming my characters. You can find boy names, girl names, celebrity names, pet names, names by orgin, and a random renamer.

10. TrenchCoatsQuotes.wordpress.com

Of course I had to include us! I know we don’t have a whole lot on here right now, but we’ve got some fun things coming up that we’re super excited about! Such as video interviews, more top lists, a detailed glossary of writing terms, and more!

*Don’t forget, TC&Q is looking for authors, editors, cover artists, publishers, and graphic designers to interview. If you know someone you’d like us to feature, or you yourself would like to volunteer, fill out the form here.

Friday Quotes #1 – Joss Whedon

“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I’m afraid of. ” – Joss Whedon

Is there a better explanation of why we write? When I’m having a crap day and I force myself to plant my butt and write a bit, I feel sooo much better! It reminds me that life doesn’t suck, that we can create good and shove it up the bad’s nose. I love knowing that if I get bored with my life (because, let’s face it, we all do at some point), I can become someone else. Someone in a different world, different problems, different ideas. I don’t have to rely on someone else driving the story, it’s all on me. It’s liberating and it’s terrifying. It’s why we write.

10 Important Terms for New Writers to Know!

When I first joined the writing world, it was scary. When I embarked upon the ONLINE writing world, things just got infinitely worse. There’s a lot you have to know, the least of which being this weirdo writers’ language that all the kids seem to be speaking. And the thing is, there aren’t a lot of ways to learn what these words, phrases and acronyms mean.

If you’re feeling like you’re unsure about writing terms, turns of phrase, new-aged slang or popular hashtags, look no further—Trench Coats & Quotes has your back!

1. CP

This is an acronym, if you were wondering. You were, I’m sure. Example, “Trench Coats & Quotes is run by rag-tag writing CP duo, Diana and Candice.”

CP = Critique Partner

These are invaluable writing partners you can bond with, not only on a creative level, but on a soul level. CPs are meant, on the most basic level, to critique your writing work (and to share pics of your dream cast of characters). Not sure how to find your own CP? Diana and I found one another on Absolute Write. Browse the forum there, be active within the community, and get to know someone. Megan Grimit (@megangrimit) also runs a great CP match every so often. Check out either site to find out more.

2. Beta Reader

Beta readers are separate from CPs for a few reasons. Betas don’t *have to be* writers. It’s not mandatory that a beta read and critique your work quid pro quo. There’s no writer deity twisting your arm to give as good as you’re getting. A beta reader will read your work and often critique it based on questions you’ve asked them to consider, or based on their own feelings and opinions about the work.

My own personal betas were found via Twitter. As were some of Diana’s. Twitter’s a great place to find beta readers, so give it a go if your manuscript is ready for fresh eyes that aren’t yours, a CP’s or an agent/editor/publisher’s.

3. Sprint

No, no. Noooo, chill. There’s no actual running involved. A *writing sprint* is, essentially, what it sounds like. They typically come in small blocks of time–the most common being 30 minute increments each round. Sometimes writers sprint with other writers, and each sprint ends with each of those sprinters checking in with word counts for that round and/or a line from their produced writing. Confused yet? Don’t be. Sprints can last hours and have a tendency to be run in marathons by @FriNightWrites on twitter, especially during November’s NaNoWriMo.

4. Scrivener

Scrivener is a writing program similar to that of Microsoft Word, however, it’s catered SPECIFICALLY to a writer’s needs. No matter what kind of writer you are (novelist, screenwriter, etc). You might call it the writer’s wet dream. While it can be slightly intimidating at first, after watching the program’s tutorial, you’ll be off in Scriv-land in no time. You can download Scrivener here.

5. TBR

This is an acronym–there are a lot those in the writing world. We’re writers, so naturally we think everything can be simplified if it can be acronymed. So, TBR? To. Be. Read. It refers to books you intend to read at some point. This is a term that originated somewhere around the Goodreads community. We think it’s an important one because in order to write well, you have to read well and you have to read often.

6. LI

OH LOOK ANOTHER ACRONYM. Stands for Love. Interest. This is big for the romance writers—*nudge nudge, both Diana and I do the romance.

We really reallyyyy like this acronym.

7. The Big 5

These are the top 5 publishing houses. The major contenders. The Titans. The Kimye’s of the publishing world (sorry to all the Kim and Kanye haters out there).

• Hachette
• Penguin/Random House (THEY MERGED!)
• Simon & Schuster
• HarperCollins
• Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group/Macmillan

8. Genre/Category

We’ve combined this one because the distinction is often confused. CATEGORY usually conveys very little about the book’s content. Examples of category are (brace yourself for lots of acronyms)–MG (Middle Grade), YA (Young Adult), NA (New Adult), and Adult.

GENRE will tell you more about what type of CATEGORY you’re reading. Examples of GENRE are sci-fi, fantasy, romance, memoir, biography, historical, etc. Because this is a basic post we won’t go (too deep [twss]) into sub-genres, like how you can have an NA category of romance that has a sub-genre of contemporary fiction. Yeah, sorry.

9. Query

A query or query letter is the thing that may or may not get agents and editors to request and read your manuscript. The ultimate result of a query is to get your book represented for publishing. You might also consider querying publishers. Some don’t require you to be agented before they’ll publish you. There are specific things that MUST be included in your query letter and a lot of people debate what those things are. We’ll leave that up to them. This is, after all, still a BASIC intro post.

10. BEA

Did you miss the acronym thing? Us, too. BEA is BookExpo America. It’s a writer’s conference held every year in New York and tends to draw crowds by the hundreds. It’s a great place to meet and make writing connections, learn a thing or 5, and meet up with writerly friends–*hintnudgecough* Candice will actually be at RWA (the Romance Writers of America conference) next year.

Well, there’s your top 10 superly important TERMS TO KNOW. Next time we’ll cop a nice feel on the important hashtags to know. #AmWriting, #NaNoWriMo, #AmReading, #MondayBlogs, and more! So for sure get your cute self back here for that.

xo, Cam

Ps: CALL TO ACTION! With the launch of Trench Coats & Quotes, Diana and I are looking for not only authors to interview, but also graphic designers, cover artists, photographers, agents, editors, and more!

Wanna be featured? Email us at trenchcoatsquotes@gmail.com or contact Diana (@DianaLong87) or myself (@CandiceAmanda) on twitter!

Ta-taaa until next time, from these two girls under the trenches!

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