Learning Every Day - Speak Command on Word

First, a little information that has nothing to do with writing.

Happy Anniversary to me!
On July 15, 1978 my husband and I were married.
Thirty Five years have flown by.

I am learning every day - in my married life and in my writing life.

Now on to writing!

I just found out from reading a post on Facebook that Word has a speech command! (I have Word 2010) I didn't know that. Of course,  it is a computer voice and sounds a little different  at  times, but I am  so glad I found it.


For those of you who don't know how to use it, here are my instructions.

At the very top left hand section of your Word document there is a little row of icons - save, undo, repeat, print/ print preview and spelling and grammar check (that is what mine are, yours may be a little different) and then there is a small line and a down arrow. Press on that and it says Customize Quick Access Tool Bar. Go down to More Commands and click. In the box that comes up, where it says Choose Commands from - pick All Commands and click on it. Scroll down until you find 'speak' and click on it and then click on OK.

That is all there is to it.

The speak  icon is now at the top of your Word document. When you have your Word document up,  highlight the text you want it to 'speak,' then click  on the speak icon at the top of your Word document. Voila - it speaks your highlighted section to you.

I was having fun with this program. I highlighted different sections of my manuscript and listened to it. I even found a few mistakes I had made by listening to her speak. Great!

Now here is the really neat part of this post.

The female voice kept saying January when it came to the girl's name of Jan in my manuscript. I guess the program thought Jan was the abbreviation for January. I laughed and thought it was funny. But, the more I listened to it, the more I liked the idea of her name being January.

Guess what. I changed the name of my character to January, and I really like it.

Do you use this option of Word when editing or writing your manuscripts?

If not, give it a try. You never know what might happen.

Posted by Janet Smart  on Creative Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

Creating an Author Brand

I have been reading on the internet lately about creating an author brand and growing readership.

You need to create a distinctive theme-tagline that draws your writings together under a single identity. You want one to capture your reader's imagination. Something different or noticeable so people will remember it.
You can put your tagline on your book covers, title pages of your works, in your Amazon descriptions, etc.
You get the point, eventually your name will be recognizable with your tagline.

Also you need to create an author biography to put inside all your books, even your eBooks. Always keep the bio the same.

You can read more about this over at this site.  It is really interesting and something I think we as writers need to do.

Here is another site where it talks about this.

I have created a theme-tagline for me. Here it is: (I notice this doesn't come out right. My name, the words and my picture are supposed to be all on the same line.

Janet Smart   Shhhh! A child is reading

Here is the bio I have created.

Janet remains a child at heart. Writing articles, poems, picture books and middle grade novels to touch the lives of children. She brings her thoughts, dreams and imagination to life – refusing to grow up.  Her inner child flows onto the paper.

A mother of three grown boys, she and her husband live in picturesque West Virginia. They have a yard filled with apple trees, flowers, blackberry patches, blueberries, grapevines, birdhouses and bird feeders.  When not outside enjoying nature, she sits at her desk and writes for children.

Any suggestions to make mine better?

What do you think about this idea?

Do you have one you put with all your writings?

Posted byJanet Smart  on Creating Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

  

Writing Wednesday - I'm Back

I decided to bring my writing posts back over to Creative Writing in the Blackberry Patch!

In addition to being a  follower, you can follow me here by getting email updates each time I post. There is a place on my side bar to do that, for some reason I can't get that gadget to work on my other blog.

For those of you who don't follow my other blog, I haven't stopped writing. If I wasn't stubborn and persistent I would have stopped a long time ago, though.

But like these little birds, I feel  like there is always room for one more. So I keep sending my manuscripts out into the world to join all the other writers and their manuscripts.

If you don't send your work out there, there will always be that nagging thought in the back of your mind.

"Did I let one get away?"

So be persistent and stubborn and keep trying just like The Little Engine Who Could.

We don't want any "What ifs" or any "If I only had of . . ." thoughts floating around in our minds this year.

So join writing groups-get other people's help and opinion on your stories, edit, edit, edit and join the crowd around the feeder and reap your rewards. The opportunities are out there if we just look for them and grab a hold.

I have sent in four submissions so far this month and have started rewriting a picture book that got me into writing five years ago. I haven't given up on that story yet. If I keep at it, I am determined I will get it right one of these days.

We need, as writer friends, to stick together and build up each others confidence.

If you know of any writing opportunities, helpful writing sites or contests out there let us know about it and I will do the same.

What have we got to lose?

If you have a writing blog and I don't already follow it, let me know and I will be glad to follow. 

I have a list of writing links on my side bar. I have went through them and they all work, so if you get the chance, click on a few that sound interesting to you.

It's good to be back over here. Hope you hop on over and join me.

Between The Pages

If your life was a book, what would be between the pages?

Most of the readers of my blog are writers, but what else makes up your life? What would be between the pages of your book?

I am a writer, but I started on this journey just recently. I have been writing for only a few years.

Because of my mother, I was interested in crafts and sewing from an early age. I remember her getting craft kits in the mail and I helped her make Christmas decorations with them. . . a Styrofoam Noel sign, tubular plastic Christmas ornaments with scenes inside them. We also made Santas from Readers Digest magazines. We made necklaces from the pages of magazines. We cut the long strips into a triangle shape and rolled them up. We shellacked them and put them on a string for a long necklace.

I remember Mom's treadle Singer sewing machine. She was a very talented seamstress. I started sewing when in Home Economics class in junior high school. I made dresses, swim suits, pant suits, ponchos and eventually my wedding dress. After getting married and having kids, I spent many hours behind the sewing machine making Halloween outfits. My boys enjoyed being Popeye, dinosaurs, clowns, pumpkins and Frankenstein. I have also tried my hand at quilting. I am not that good at it, but that is okay. If I don't hand quilt it, I tie the finished product. I am an impatient person and like to see quick results.

So that is a small peek at what I like to do.

In looking at my list of interests, I find that they are not all that different than writing.

My interests all require an imagination.
They require patience.
They require persistence.
They require a little bit of God given talent.

Put that all together, though, and you can succeed at what you like to do, and that includes writing!

What are your other interests?