Writing Wrongs

July 28, 2005

Allaina has a neat tool over on her site. I remember using it when I was writing India Charlie and trying to figure out how the sun corresponded with the Islamic calls to prayer. So I had charts and printouts to help me make sense of my memory of the sun filtering through the buildings of the Khobar Towers.

This second one I just started using and I�m kicking myself for not trying it earlier. It�s ReadPlease and it�s awesome. I�m using the free version, which is enough for me right now, but I�m tempted to upgrade just to help them stay in business.

That the voices read somewhat mechanically and without inflection actually isn�t such a bad thing. You�d be surprised how much awkward phrasing that catches. Also, it reads what�s on the page, not what you think is on the page. I found three typos that I know I would have missed (and others did as well) in a story I want to submit.

I�d go on and on, but I�m afraid I�ll start doodling Charity + ReadPlease in my notebook and lose all credibility.

The Gender Genie is lots of fun. Anyone with a blog can play, too. Or if you�re in the mood to dash off about 500 words, that works. I am proud to say that my male point of view characters always come out male, although either way, my scores put me close to gender-neutral writing. Good? Bad? Indifferent? I�m not sure.

Andrew was all excited about pajama day today. In fact, he�s been practicing all week by putting on his pajama when he gets home. Kyra, of course, sees what he�s doing and follows suit. That and she has a new nightgown: Hello Kitty as a princess. It doesn�t get much better than that. So there they are, eating dinner in their PJs.

So what happens this morning? Andrew wears his pajamas for the drive in--and then won�t get out of the car. Finally, he spots a break in the traffic and dashes inside, where he changes into the extra set of play clothes before anyone can see him.

I suppose tonight he�ll be back into his pajamas for dinner.

Charity Tahmaseb wrote at 11:33 a.m.

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