Muse News #11: Audio Beta Recording Resumes, OneNote Migration and Beta Reader Questionnaire

It's been a funny old week full of lots of positives despite the feeling of not actually achieving very much.

It's strange how sometimes, there can be weeks like that, where you may feel like you're running to keep-up, but afterwards, when you look back and reflect on what you've actually accomplished, you find it's actually a surprising amount.

But look!  Muse News is being posted early...or at the very least earlier than normal.  Surprised? No? Flipping-heck! I am!

Audio Beta Recording Resumes

[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

I've all but shifted the annoying summer cold that afflicted me for most of last two weeks and I no longer sound like Barry White, or Darth Vader.  My voice got really deep.  That's great news for the recording audio beta schedule, which suffered as a result, but it's a shame that I can no longer go around saying things like "Simba, I am your father..." with silky-smooth resonance like James Earl Jones.

You'll only get that joke if you've watched both The Lion King and The Empire Strikes Back. Sorry.

I have, however, had a couple of comments from friends expressing their disappointment that I didn't record at least a snippet, or two, of the audio beta while I had the deeper than normal voice.

If I succumb to the lurgy again, I'll see what I can do.  The characters voices will be all messed-up, but the general narration might sound rather cool.

Anyway, with the head-cold gone, I've resumed recording of the audio beta and I'm managing to get half a dozen scenes recorded each night.  There are still over two hundred to record, so there is still a long way to go.  But, like writing, it's a matter of getting into the routine and maintaining it.

I'm good at doing that, so I will get there eventually!

OneNote Migration

Following my decision to move my digital notes from Evernote to OneNote (or "succumb to the Dark Side" as one friend put it), I've now moved the bulk of my notes to OneNote.  Microsoft provide a handy Windows application for former Evernote users to import all their notebooks, notes and tags into OneNote.

The app looks appears to faithfully transfer all the required notes into OneNote, but having said that, I haven't actually used it, so I can't vouch that it is 100% accurate.

I wanted to review my "back catalogue" of notes as I went, so I'm migrating my notes manually.  I've discovered some corkers in among the tidal wave of words and ideas and I've also discovered quite a few half-thoughts, or duplicates, so some pruning and reorganisation has ensued.

It can be quite cathartic having a clear-out every now-and-then, digital or otherwise.

I should be fully migrated by the time the two device limit comes into effect in a week, or so.

Beta Reader Questionnaire

Most of my trusty and loyal army of beta readers are now engaged in reading the fourth draft of 360 (no pressure, beta readers...I've only told the rest of the world) and I've thrown myself into the new challenge of compiling a questionnaire for them to fill-in so I can analyse their feedback.

I've not designed a questionnaire before, so I've been doing lots of reading around on the Internet to see what other writers, editors and professional questionnaire designers do.  I hope that my efforts will be clear and helpful, but I may find myself in the ridiculous position of requiring feedback on my feedback form.  I won't go beyond that (a feedback form for the feedback-form feedback-form) because I'm sure that could break reality and irreversibly warp the fabric of the universe!

Or maybe it'll just really confuse everyone.

Perhaps that's a good place to finish for this post.  I think space and time will be warped enough if I post this on time!

Muse News #10: I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue (and not much else is happening...)

I'm sorry that this Muse News didn't get posted yesterday.

I haven't settled fully into the routine of writing my posts in the days before they're due and scheduling them to post rather than manually posting them.

Consequently, when I spent the whole of yesterday evening out there wasn't any time, or anyone to write this post, or indeed post it had there been anyone to write it.

What kind of rash frippery could possibly have attracted me away from such an important matter, you ask?  Well, I was attending a recording of a radio show.  Before you get excited, the radio show didn't actually feature me.  Well, it did, but only in the distance and as part of a large audience.

The radio show in question was the BBC Radio 4 show, I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue.  For those of you who don't live in the UK, or are unfamiliar with it, it's a long-running show that is described as the "antidote to panel games".  It's clever, funny, sometimes downright silly, never to be taken too seriously and one of my favourite radio shows.  It features such legendary rounds as The Uxbridge English Dictionary, One Song to the Tune of Another and Mornington Crescent.

The show's recorded in theatres around the country before a live audience and a very good friend of mine managed to get tickets to last night's recording in Southend.  They recorded two shows (due for airing in a couple of weeks) and I actually left the theatre with a pulled stomach muscle through laughing too much.

The current series (series 65) is well under way, but if you live in the UK you'll be able to catch-up with past episodes via BBC iPlayer, or listen live on BBC Radio 4 on Monday nights at 6:30pm (BST).

If you like a healthy dose of insanity, I can't recommend it highly enough!

Other News

Not much else has happened this week, I'm afraid to say.  I've been a bit bunged-up (not sure if that's down to hayfever, or other summer-spread lurgy), so I've had to take a break from recording the audio beta of 360 until I sound less infected.  You'll be surprised how much it comes across on a microphone!  Hopefully it won't be too long before I can restart recording again.

However, I've not wasted the time and instead spent it migrating my notes from Evernote to OneNote.  There is a handy app that will transfer everything automatically, but I'm taking the opportunity to sort through my notes and revise my filing and tagging systems in the process.  I've discovered a few notes I'd forgotten I'd made, so it is proving to be a useful exercise!

Well, it's very nearly Wednesday here, so I'd best sign-off and post this before it's two days late!

Notes in the Margin #9: Never Forget (Your Loyal Customers)

I hoped I'd never write a ranty blog post, but I'm afraid I'm straying into that unfortunate territory today,

I'm upset.  Upset and disappointed.  In the overall scheme of things it's really an utterly insignificant matter and there are far worse things in the world over which I should get all worked-up about, but I'm going to share it with you because you might have experienced the same thing and feel the same as I do.

In which case we can feel upset and disappointed together.

There's a cloud hanging over me today.
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Evernote, the note-taking are changing their charging model. (I did say that in the overall scheme of things it wasn't that major a matter).  I've been a eager user and a evangelical fan of it for several years.  I've even mentioned that it was my note-taking app of choice in a previous NITM post.

But I received an email from them yesterday (as well as reading the news in the tech press) telling me that in 30 days Evernote will limit the number of devices on which I can install and access the app to two.  If I wish to use their apps on more than two devices after that I will have to upgrade to either their Plus Plan ($3.99 a month, or £34.99 a year), or the Premium Plan ($7.99 a month, or $69.99 a year).

This may sound like a small price to pay for what is generally regarded as possibly the best note-taking app on the market, but it's not when you consider that they're reducing the access that those on the (currently) free Basic Plan previously had.

I'm not a power user.  I don't get anywhere the 60MB monthly upload limit of the existing Basic Plan (I think my record is 8MB), but I do have Evernote on a small number of devices.  I have it on my mobile phone, two tablets (a 7" and a 10") and my laptop.  That's four devices for different kinds of use ranging from information gathering on the mobile when I'm on-the-go through review on the tablets, to organizing and referencing my notes when I'm in "office mode" when I'm back home.  I don't think that's an extortionate number of devices in the current digital climate.

Being able to access my notes across different platforms was one of the reasons I liked Evernote in the first place.  Their Cross-platform access is front-and-centre on the Basic Plan's page on Evernote's  own website. "Stay Organized across platforms" they say.  Just so long as that's only two platforms if you want to install the app (they don't mention that bit).  Users will still be able to use the web version as well as that won't count towards your two devices, but the apps are more convenient to use.

So, I'm upset and disappointed that they've decided to make something that was really easy, accessible and useful unusable (for my needs) and start charging for basic and existing features.

I understand that they're a business and they have to make money, but hamstringing existing users with device limits rather than data limits, railroading them into paying for features that have previously been free and also introducing 40% price increases on the existing plans of those who do already pay isn't the way to behave to users who helped make them the widely-known brand name and company they are now.  The numerous negative comments left by users in the tech press, on Android Play and iTunes stores, as well as Evernote's own forum is testament that they've seriously hacked-off a large number of the users they purport to value.

The Evernote logo is an elephant, because - of-course - elephants never forget.  I don't think many of their users will forget this either, or go back even if things change.  Which is a shame because it really is the best of the bunch in terms of features and usability.

The apps are great and many people will continue to use them around the world for years to come despite the limitations and price hikes.  However, I'm migrating my notes to Microsoft OneNote.  It's free and I can use it freely on all four of my devices, or more if needs be.

It's a different beast to Evernote, but it just means getting my head around a different way of recording my thoughts, ideas and other random snippets of information that I gather.  Perhaps the change of digital scenery will do my creativity good!  I may even do a post about getting the best from OneNote once I've worked out how I do that.

The moral that I shall take away from all this is that you should never hack-off your customers/readers/audience.  I'm going to remember that.

OK, rant over.  I'm sorry you had to read that, but I had to share it.  I don't feel so upset now.

There...that's better!  The cloud has lifted!
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

Notes In The Margin #5: World Building With Wild Ideas

One of the advantages of writing a fantasy, or science fiction novel is that for the most part the writer gets to create the world in which their story is set from scratch.

On the one hand that can seem like an incredibly easy thing to do.  I mean, how hard can it be? They've got the freedom to do whatever they want in their world, unconstrained by the real world limitations, geography or rules.

On the other hand creating an entire new world can be a daunting and complicated task.  A whole world.  From Scratch.  That's no mean feat.  Think about it.  Designing a world.  That simple sentence covers a wide variety of aspects that have to be thought through in order for the resulting world to be credible and workable.  The writer has to set down how the society works, the hierarchy, the technology, the geography, the environment (and how that works) and place names to name but a few.  Add in to the mix magic for a fantasy novel and how that works, who can perform it and how to limit it so that every dilemma thrown at your characters can't be simply cured by casting a spell, and the writer suddenly has a huge job on their hands.

A new world! The Vale of Tremorn and the Lonely Road
from Harbith Hiln to Wickershore...or, is it? No, it's Glen Coe
on a wet Friday afternoon, but the Vale is based on it.
[Photo: Jack Gilbert]

You might sense from that last paragraph that the brittle voice of experience was speaking there.  I'm currently brainstorming ideas for my next project which will be a series of fantasy stories and I'm finding the creation of this new world a little more complicated than I first imagined.

It's not my first attempt at world building.  I had to do it for 360.  In that story, the main characters are immersed in a virtual reality system that has three different games each set in its own "world" (A war game, an alpine resort and an enchanted forest).

Each game has its own characteristics, goals and features, but all three run on the same basic principles that are universal across the virtual system.

That meant that I had to lay down common rules that would apply to the overall system as well as invent the locations and characters encountered by the protagonists in the three games.  And like the magic of my fantasy novels, I had to make sure that the rules governing how the players operated in the games didn't make overcoming dilemmas too easy or too hard.

I had to rewrite those rules several times, I can tell you!

And that was just for one story.  When it comes to writing the series, I'm going to have to be extra careful to ensure that I keep things consistent across all the stories, or at least work out credible reasons as to why things change mid-way through if they do.

That's where keeping a story "bible" or wiki can help.  Some TV shows have them so that their writers can refer to them to maintain continuity and get the facts right ('cos there's nothing like getting a fact wrong to wind-up the fans - including me!).  It might be in the form of a notebook, online wiki, or other note keeping program like OneNote, or Google Keep among others.

I use a mixture of a real A5 notebook and Evernote to keep all my notes and ideas, although I'm trying a new system of sticky notes and two large sheets of card to mind map my ideas for Kiranan's Crucible.  I'll let you know in a few weeks how that goes.

But facts and ideas are only half the equation.  Sometimes you have to cater to real world limitations even in a fantasy world.  If your story features a city that's got a population of 50,000, how big would that city have to be?  A square mile may be too small (unless it's a city inhabited by halflings), but twenty square miles could be very sparsely populated for humans.

Or if you have two cities a thousand miles apart, how long would it take to ride between the two? A week?  Only if your horses can cover around hundred and forty miles a day at twenty miles an hour for ten hours solid (Or perhaps your characters use magic...?)

Factors like that will affect your plot.

The approach I'm using for Kiranan's Crucible is to think big, imagine everything, note it down, then filter through my grand ideas and temper them with some real world limitations where necessary.

That way I hope to create fantastic worlds that work for my characters, my plots and for my readers.  We'll see how that goes too!

So world building can be a huge amount of hard work, but it's also be a lot of fun and when it's all done and everything works, it can be very, very satisfying.