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Writely Keyboard Shortcuts

September 9, 2006 / Stan Shinn

Here are some helpful shortcuts for those of you using Writely to compose your works.
FROM THE EDITOR MENU:

Ctrl S to Save
Ctrl K to Insert Link
Ctrl M to Insert Comment

FROM THE BROWSER:

Ctrl B to Bold
Ctrl I to Italicize
Ctrl-Z to Undo
Ctrl-Y to Redo
Ctrl A to Select All
Ctrl C to Copy
Ctrl V to Paste
Ctrl X to Cut
Ctrl Home to go to the top of the document
Ctrl End to go to the end of the document
Ctrl Alt-? to select the next word
Ctrl Alt-? to select the previous word

OTHER TIPS:

To count the number of words in your Writely doc, just select “Edit” > “Count Words.”
Another handy shortcut is Shift Enter. This keyboard combination adds a carriage return that stays only one-line high when you export the document from Writely.

Chapter Breaks for Each Scene?

August 25, 2006 / Stan Shinn

Maximum Ride Here is an interesting page-turner technique. James Patterson (www.jamespatterson.com), author of numerous best-selling books, has released the latest installment of the Young Adult series.

In this book (titled School’s Out Forever) there are 142 chapters (yes, 142!). There are only 406 pages. Some chapters are three or five pages; others are only a paragraph or two.

Each scene gets a chapter break. You end up with a lot of white space, but I think this is on purpose. My theory is that by having each scene be a mini-cliff-hanger, and requiring the reader to glance over at a new page or turn to a new page, you create suspense.

A glance at some of his Patterson’s books targeted to adults make me think he does this all the time.

Is this a new trend? A gimmick? Or a valuable tool for thriller writers to create suspense?

More importantly, what do you think publishers think of this technique? Should writers consider this technique when they are preparing their manuscripts?

Let me know your thoughts. Discussion is underway at the Faith*In*Fiction ‘For Writers’ forum where I have also made this post.

Character Name Generators

August 21, 2006 / Stan Shinn

Need some help creating some character names? Check out these useful sites that have very interesting tools to generate names and do research on names:

Google Book Search

August 21, 2006 / Stan Shinn

Trying to recall a magical quote from your favorite book? Wondering who else has used the character name ‘John Hoggins’? Google’s new Book Search feature allows you to do this and more.

Try it out at Google Book Search