FILL: The nine deadly sins of cell phones?

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aka cardinal sins, rather than venial, although I suppose those terms aren't familiar for Computerworld. Anyway, over at
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9025358&source=NLT_AM&nlid=1
they have an article talking about what they consider the new deadly sins.

Take a minute and try to guess what they are. Then read through this list and decide whether they missed any, and whether you consider these to be really deadly or not.

Are you ready? Beep-chirp-chirp? Here they are!

1. Butt dialing. Sitting on phones, stuffing them in bags, etc. can trigger a redial or fast dial, and that's known as butt dailing.
2. Aisle clogging. Standing in the airplane aisle while making that call, checking for voice messages, or even texting? Or whatever place you can block everyone else while you take care of your urgent biz? That's aisle clogging.
3. Untoward braggadocio. My phones smaller/slicker/cooler than your phone.
4. Bad Phone Hygiene. A phone full of face grease, or a minor comment about "I hope you don't catch my cold" can turn anyone into Monk. Wipe, please?
5. Bad headset denial. It isn't always the other phone's fault. When your headset rubs against your jaw or dangles over your shoulder, the person at the other end cannot hear you and can't adjust their set. Admit that you might need to adjust your phone, and check whether people can hear you or not.
6. Inappropriate Headset Use. Do you talk louder because the headset is small? Or wear your bluetooth headset in the shower? Give it a break!
7. phone camera abuse. Let's remember that not every image needs to be captured. If it isn't a public figure or a public event, ask before you click. Avoid having to eat your cell phone.
8. Crunchy calls? eating and talking means that the person at the other end gets to hear you chew, swallow, and if they are really lucky, burp. Is this really the right time to talk?
9. Public speakerphone? Well, no, it should be private. Having you and your friends scream into the cell phone while it overloads on speakerphone is just silly in public. Find a private place for your yelling.

Incidentally, the end of the article is a recommendation that we all need to say "NO" politely but firmly when faced with bad cellphone habits. Just waiting for cell phone manners to improve isn't enough, someone needs to point out that there's a problem. And we are all elected.

Oh, feel free to write a story about someone breaking and bending these rules. Just don't call it in using a cellphone on speakerphone while you eat lunch :-)

TECH: A Novel Table?

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Writers Digest, October 2004, pages 45 to 47 had an article by Martha Alderson describing how she organizes her historical novels. The same idea really applies to any kind of novel. Here's how Martha describes it. "Trying to keep track of plots, subplots, characters and themes in a novel you're writing can be difficult. . . . How do you track and interweave all the threads of a successful historical novel -- the dates, history and research; the action plot line; the character development and the thematic significance -- without the whole becoming a tangled mess? The approach I take is to create a visual representation of my story: a historical timeline."

Martha describes using a 6 foot piece of butcher paper with post-it notes, but the same basic approach seems to work with a spreadsheet or even a Word table. One of the nice things about a spreadsheet is that it is designed to allow you to insert new rows or even new columns. However you keep track of it, you might want to start with Martha's columns.

Column 1: Dates/Historical Plot. This is the frame of the story. It needs to start with the date that your story begins. Add events and issues that occur during that time period. Martha points out that even if you aren't basing your story on history, having a background of at least one major and one minor event and maybe a trivial event gives your story a little more richness or depth. What's going on around your story?

Column 2: Summaries. This is where Martha keeps summaries of longer periods that may not even show up in the scenes of the story. That way when a scene starts "seven years later . . ." this column shows what's happened during those seven years.

Column 3: Scene/Action Plot. This is the column for the scenes that actually make up the story. The conflicts, confrontations and turning points show up here. Martha suggests that the notes you put here should focus on the conflict, tension or suspense -- the pivot in the scene.

Column 4: Character Development. Even short stories usually have some growth or change in the characters. You may need to divide this column into several parts, but at the very least you need to record the main character's achievements. You can also keep important character background information in this column.

Column 5: Thematic Details. The theme is why -- what you want readers to realize or take away story. You can use this column to collect plot details that contribute to the theme and meaning , the sights and sounds, smells and tastes, slang  and vocabulary choice, all the little stuff that gives your story texture. This

The trick of course is to fill in the timeline or table working down and across, going back and revising where necessary, and making it a real working document that makes writing the scenes easier.

An exercise you might try is to take a story or working on or story you like and try making up a table like this. Or ask yourself what other column you might like to see to describe your own writing?

In any case, feel free to use the tool to help yourself get organized, but don't forget to write.

TECH: Meandering Our Way through Plot and Structure (6)

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Meandering Our Way through Plot and Structure (6)

And here we are again! Slowly working our way through Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. We're about to start on chapter 3, which is about how to explode with plot ideas. Sound interesting? Let's dive in.

Bell starts by pointing out that ideas don't come full-blown. You have notions, little sparks, some of which ignite and some of which don't. So this chapter is going to talk about coming up with lots of ideas and choosing the right ones to develop. Also, he tells a little story about William Saroyan who was asked about the name of his next book. William replied, "I don't have a name and I don't have a plot. I have the typewriter and I have white paper and I have me and that should add up to a novel." Instead of write what you know, Bell suggest that originality comes from writing who you are. Deep in your own heart and soul, there is a wellspring of ideas to write about. This isn't autobiography, but rather gripping fiction without clichés, standard characters, or tired plots.

 Bell suggests thinking through these questions:

• What do you care most about in the world?
• If you were to write your own obituary, how would you want to read?
• What is your physical appearance? How do you feel about it? How does it affect you?
• What do you fear most?
• What are your major strengths of character?
• What are your major flaws?
• What are you good at? What do you wish you were good at?
• If you could do one thing and know that you would be successful, what would you do?
• What are three events from your childhood that helped shape you into the person you are today?
• What are some of your annoying habits?
• What secret in your life do you hope is never revealed?
• What is your philosophy of life?

The point is focusing on your own beliefs, values, what's going on in your depths. Then make sure that the stories hit a nerve inside you, are rooted in who you are. When you care about your writing, there's a passion and intensity that makes it reach other people. And that's what you want.

That's probably enough for this session, even though it's only about 1/10 of chapter 3. Still, spend some time working through that list of questions and thinking about what's important for you. Especially if you're writing a novel, you're talking about spending significant time working on it. Why would you bother doing something that was boring? Make it something that's important for you.