Monthly Archives: June 2007

Scraping Others’ Sites for Content

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Before you read what I have to say, check out this article, over at Blue Hat SEO.

How it works 

Okay, if you didn’t go read it, here’s the gist. You can find good content for your site by “scraping” old sites. The URLs are no longer active, but you can find the cached content stored online, like the Wayback Machine.

So, you find some good content that you think is abandoned. You copy and paste it into your own site, and reap the benefits of more unique content (which search engines love) with no more work than it took to find it.

One commenter even admitted to saving wikipedia articles for a few months and then posting them to his blog. Since the actual wikipedia article has no doubt changed, he’s now posting unique content.

Of course, it’s unique content that he didn’t create.

Ethical?

Not even close. This is stealing someone else’s content, plain and simple. Some of these people may be attributing the work to its original source, but I really doubt it. Even if they do, it only slightly elevates the activity, in my opinion.

I have a couple old sites that I’ve let fall by the wayside, and there’s some abandoned content out there as well. Does that give anyone else to use that content without my permission? No, it doesn’t.  Never mind the fact that I may want to use it again some day. The fact remains, it still belongs to me, whether I’m making use of it or not.

This technique depends on the original owner of the content not noticing that his work has been resurrected…on someone else’s site. That’s probably a decent assumption. I doubt that most people routinely check to see if their content has been swiped. However, all you need is one person to step up and say that you’ve taken their work, and you have some serious credibility issues.

Why do it? 

I think most people who do this type of thing are shooting for the quick money from blogging, if there is such a thing. They load their sites with lots of content and hope that some AdSense clicks will bring in a monthly check. That’s fine, but if you’re working on creating a blog that readers will come back to time and again, this is a really bad idea. Months of work can be undone in one posting if your readers find out that you’ve been swiping material and passing it off as your own.

A better way 

Write your own content.

Ask guest bloggers to write content for you. Many bloggers will do this for links back to their sites.

Get content from legitimate sites that offer free content. Tell where the content came from.

Ask site owners (if you can find them) to use their content.

Buy content.

If you’re going to the trouble of building a blog, don’t sabotage yourself by doing something you’d be ashamed for your readers to find out.

Andy Griffith Show: A different era

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I was watching television with my mom, a real Andy Griffith fan, and this particular episode made me think about how things have changed, and maybe how they haven’t so much.

A little girl asked why boys have to think they’re better than girls at everything. “The male ego,” is the answer she receives, with the advice that maybe it’s a good thing to let men think they’re better at everything.

Next, she tries it out on Opie (who’s still sporting the black eye she gave him earlier in the show). Of course, he likes her much better when she plays dumb.

My first reaction was to think about how different things are now, but are they? I asked my husband and his response was that boys are threatened by girls who are better, but men are not. Do you agree? Do women still feel as if they have to dumb themselves down in order to be attractive? Is it something that women do in front of men, or is it broader? I know when I was a kid I got teased for being smart, so I quickly learned to hide it.

So, how many of you have hidden your intelligence for some reason? Was it to attract someone, or to fit in, or for some other reason?

Taking the Night Off

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I’m taking the night off from blogging, so you won’t be seeing the next post in the “Characters” series until tomorrow. I hope to put up more of the workshop-style posts over the next weeks, so I’d love to hear what you think of them.

For now, I’d like to recommend a great writing book, Stephen King’s On Writing. I’ve read the book, and I’ve been re-reading it via audio book this week. If you haven’t read it, you really should. It’s funny, sad and insightful, and he gives some wonderful writing advice as well.

See you tomorrow. I’m off to do spend a little time relaxing with my hubby.

Get to Know Your Characters: Extremes

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You’ve already worked on fleshing out your characters. Let’s start thinking a little more about their personality, goals, quirks, background, etc. In this case, I’d like to think about some of the extremes, that is, what your character likes most, least, etc.

For this part of the character building series, I thought a list of questions would be useful. You can print this out and use it for each of your characters. Just copy/paste the questions into your word processor. Answer as few or as many as you think helpful. In some cases, the question may lead you to more back story. That’s okay, just go with it.

  • What is the accomplishment your character is most proud of?
  • What is he most ashamed of?
  • What is his biggest regret?
  • What was his first love like?
  • How old was he when he left home?
  • What was high school/college like for him?
  • What kind of work does he do?
  • How did he get into that line of work?
  • What are his hobbies?
  • How does he dress? Describe a typical outfit.
  • What’s his house like? Describe its size, decor, etc. Is it neat or messy?
  • Is he an introvert or extrovert?
  • Who’s his best friend?
  • Who is his biggest rival or worst enemy?
  • If he could do anything with no consequences, what would it be?
  • Is he religious?
  • What did he do last weekend?
  • Who is he dating / married to now? Why are they together (or why is he not dating)?
  • What does he want? This might be in the context of the story, or in general.
  • What does he worry about?
  • What is he afraid of? This might be something big (like dying of cancer like his dad) or small (spiders, the dark).
  • Does he have any prejudices? Beware the character who has none. Do you know any real people who don’t?
  • Would you want to work for him? Why?
  • Would you want to marry him? Why?
  • If he were someone you knew, what would you say his best qualities were? What are his biggest faults?

I wouldn’t spend more than a few minutes on each of these, unless it seems particularly fruitful. If one seems to lead you to an interesting trait, or to something that might explain his behavior in the story, then pursue that. If not, then don’t spend too much time (or skip the question altogether).

Most of this will never make it to your story, but you can certainly work in a few that will help your readers understand who he is and why he behaves as he does.

While you’re at it, see if you can come up with a few questions that would be useful to developing your character and post them below.

Get to Know Your Characters: Family Tree

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You’ve written one or a few diary entries for each major character, and you know your characters’ physical characteristics. So, what next.

You need to flesh out (I’ve seen some write it “flush” out, but let’s hope your characters don’t come to that) your characters’ backgrounds.  While most of this information will never make it into your book, it will help you know your characters a lot better. Maybe your heroine is terrified of spiders because her uncle used to tease her with them, or maybe your hero doesn’t trust anyone who reminds him of his mother because she left when he was ten and very sick. You get the idea.

Here are some prompts to get you started.

  • Parents. Are they living or dead? Are there any family issues that relate to the character’s development? Is she used to a loving, stable family or a dysfunctional one?
  • Siblings. How about some sibling rivalry? Do problems with siblings extend into his current life?
  • Extended family. Here’s where you can think about the crazy uncle or the aunt who ran off with the trucker. What events with extended family shaped your character’s development.
  • Childhood friends, teachers, neighbors. Does your character keep in touch with any of these people? Who was the biggest influence? Was your character bullied, betrayed, abused?
  • Family traditions. Holidays are a great way to bring in some background material without making it seem too forced. Maybe your main character can drop everything to attend that yearly get-together, or do everything in his power to avoid it.
  • Neighborhood. Where did your character live as a child? What was the neighborhood like? What did kids do outside all day in the summer or after school?
  • Finances. Was she poor? Did she have to babysit to make enough to buy next year’s school clothes, or did her parents buy whatever she needed?
  • Events that shape the character. Think about things that happened to your character, whether good or bad, that somehow shaped who he is now.

I think that’s enough to get started. I’m sure you’ll think of other things as you write. The point is, childhood profoundly affects who we are as adults, and the same is true of your characters. If your character is stingy, chances are something in his formative years gave him the tendency to be stingy.

While you won’t want to burden the reader with lots of backstory, a little here and there will make your character seem more real. After all, real people have a history, and so should your characters.

The Literary Elite, or Not

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First off, take a second to read this. Northcoast Exile: A Classic Example Of Why Newspaper Book Pages Are Dying. In short, he talks about the elite view that “just anyone” can’t write a book review or (GASP) criticism.

Read the block quote and take a second to think about it.

Let me put this bluntly, in language even a busy blogger can understand: Criticism — and its humble cousin, reviewing — is not a democratic activity. It is, or should be, an elite enterprise, ideally undertaken by individuals who bring something to the party beyond their hasty, instinctive opinions of a book (or any other cultural object). It is work that requires disciplined taste, historical and theoretical knowledge and a fairly deep sense of the author’s (or filmmaker’s or painter’s) entire body of work, among other qualities.

Let’s see… In order to write criticism, or a “humble” review, I need

  • taste
  • historical knowledge
  • theoretical knowledge
  • “deep” sense of the author’s body of work

What surprises me is that anyone does meet these guidelines. Since I have a M.A. in English, I think I’m relatively qualified to speak to his argument. AHEM… Climbing on soapbox.

  • Taste. There’s a subjective one to kick things off. Spend about an hour talking to a handful of English instructors, and you’ll find that one’s classic is another’s swill. So, whose taste should we be following? Ah, yes, other critics’, of course.
  • Historical knowledge. I won’t argue this one much. Yes, it’s beneficial to understand the historical context a book is written in. Is it necessary to reading and enjoying the book? No. Necessary to writing a good review? Maybe. I’d say it depends on the book.
  • Theoretical knowledge. This one is almost as bad as “taste.” In my opinion, those enamored of literary theory have a bad case of “emperor’s new clothes.” I’m not saying there’s nothing useful to be found there. However, most people make too much of other’s theories and spend too little time thinking on their own. One night, two of my classmates locked themselves in my professor’s office because one had accused the other of being a “new critic.” For the unititiated (and you’re really, really lucky!) , that’s a pretty nasty insult. I’m surprised they didn’t come to blows.
  • “Deep” sense of author’s work. I’m guessing this guy reviews a book every couple months, if he’s lucky? He has to read the book, review the author’s other works (and what the prevailing critics have to say about all of them). Then, he needs to consider the historical times in which the book was written, and set, if different. Finally, he’s free to form his own opinion, if he’s still able to.

I think the notion that normal, everyday people can’t read, and more importantly, form useful opinions about, literature is one of the many reasons fewer people read today.

I used to teach English, and the occasional literature class. I always dreaded the first reading assignment, particularly with Freshmen. I’d toss out a question to open up discussion and get nothing. Another question. Nothing. I might get a brave soul or two who’d make a comment, but these were usually older students.

Those students fresh out of high school tended to sit quietly and wait, pens in hand, for me to give them the answer, which they would dutifully memorize and spit back to me on the test.

Except, literature doesn’t work that way. There’s no right answer. No right opinion. Forget about what critics and reviewers say, what do you say? It was so much fun when my students were finally able to break out of that mindset and really read and enjoy what we were working on. And it was so sad to realize that so many of them had had reading ruined for them forever because they kept searching for the right answer.

I’ll climb off my soapbox now.


Get to Know Your Characters: Get Physical

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I’m not a big fan of long physical descriptions, as a reder or writer. However, I think it’s a good idea to know what your characters look like, even if you never give your readers most of this information. At the very least, it will help you avoid mysterious growth spurts, hair changes, and similar transformations!

Make some basic notes about what your character looks like. If you have a photo you’d like to use, that works too.

  • Height
  • Build (stocky, thin)
  • Hair color, style, length
  • Eye color, shape
  • Scars, tattoos, etc.
  • Teeth (white, missing, etc.)

You should also make notes of any mannerisms that your characters have. Here are a few examples.

  • Blinking
  • Fiddling with glasses
  • Chewing lower lip
  • Hand wringing
  • Nail biting
  • Adjusting clothes
  • Scratching
  • Fidgeting
  • Foot shaking

I’m sure you can think of a dozen others. The point is, everyone has little mannerisms that you recognize. Think of your best friend. Does she twist her hair when she’s nervous? Does he rap his knuckles when impatient? You can use little quirks like this to make your characters seem more real.

I prefer to let these type of mannerisms develop as I write the rough draft. Then, I may go back during the editing process and work in a few to highlight the emotional state of my characters. I try not to overdo it, or people start twitching and fidgeting all over the place .

Get to Know Your Characters: Diary Entry

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Whether you’re editing, like I am, or writing a rough draft, getting to know your characters well can make a world of difference in your writing. Go beyond your characters’ looks, jobs and immediate motives and explore what makes your characters real.

Because what makes your characters real to you will make them real to your readers.

Dear Diary

For each character, write a diary entry. You may want to treat this as a freewriting exercise; that works best for me. I set my timer for about 15 minutes and begin writing. I may need to do several sessions for some characters, but only one or two for others.

Here are some beginning lines that might help you. I try to focus on entries that show a wide range of emotions.

  • If only I could…
  • I wish I had never…
  • If (name) would only stay…
  • If (name) would only go…
  • I don’t know what I’m going to do about…
  • I’m so happy that I finally…
  • I’m so relieved that…
  • One day, I want to…

I tend to focus on relatively negative diary entries. After all, a character who had no problems would make for a dull book.

Comfort Books

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Do you have a book you go back to time and again? For me, it’s the one that I grab when I need a bit of comfort and familiarity. It’s the literary equivalent of curling up in my favorite pajamas with some chocolate ice cream

For me, the book is Pride and Prejudice.

Leave a note in the comments and tell us what your comfort book is.

Knit in Public Day

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I completely forgot about it until I started reading some blogs this evening; however, I think I redeemed myself by knitting in public yesterday.

I occasionally knit at appointments, and since my mom had a doctor’s visit yesterday, a scarf I’ve been working on went along with us. The man in the waiting room with us watched the entire time. I wonder if he’d ever seen anyone knit before.