TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Current Work: Non-fiction article writing, editing

Listening to: Italian Radio but English music

Reading: Cast in Order of Appearance (Simon Brett)

First Thought for the Day:

I believe I have no prejudices whatsoever. All I need to know is that a man is a member of the human race. That's bad enough for me. -Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910)

Website Goes Live

Well, I am happy to report on the positive progress of my alter ego, Louise Charles. Following a few little hiccoughs, and I admit some of them mine the site is now live. I have published a few pages and hope to develop and add to these as I become more familiar with the web design tool. It can, I believe do lots of wizzy, techy-type things, but I’m not a wizzy, techy-type person. I like simple so I do simple. Any comments would be gratefully received.

Novel Writing Help

As you know, I have completed the first draft of my first novel. However, as I’m a bit of a luddite, the majority of this is hand-written in origin. I am now in the process of writing it all up on the PC and editing as I go along. I don’t find it tiresome at all, in fact, I’m really enjoying revisiting the characters and blending and shaping them further. But working with such a huge number of words and scenes can sometimes be a bit scary. I’ve started to use the outlining tool in Word to create a master document but I am still finding it a bit ‘lumpy’. I came across a tool the other day which claims to help organise and sort your writing and is written by a techy who also happens to write novels. So I’m going give it a go and will let you know. I’m not usually one for fads and widgets, but it had some fairly positive reviews. But this could just be a procrastination technique on my part. A very clever one nevertheless.

Writing and Writing

I’m really enjoying writing this blog, if only because I am writing. I find it difficult to write about myself thought (you may think differently on this matter) but it is getting me into a habit of some kind at least three times a week.

Oh and I’ve published my latest Suite 101 article on Opera Venues in Italy.

Ciao for now…

And Finally, the Last Word of the Day:

roustabout

PRONUNCIATION:

(ROUST-uh-bout)

MEANING:

noun: A casual or unskilled labourer, especially on an oil rig.

ETYMOLOGY:

From roust, perhaps an alteration of rouse (to shake feathers, as of a hawk).

USAGE:

"But Smith has made it, for 18 years, starting as a roustabout in Long Beach and working his way up to lead operator overseeing the daily workings of Platform B off Santa Barbara's coast."

Zeke Barlow; Platform Workers At Peace With Long Hours, Workweek; Ventura County Star (California); Feb 1, 2009.