Going Online With Library Patrons

 The problem with the ongoing pandemic - how it restricts the availability of indoor locations, the problems of cleaning contact surfaces that include TABLES and STUDY ROOMS as well as KEYBOARDS and MICE of our public computers - is how to make the library effective for our patrons when our patrons can't come in.

One thing we are doing at Bartow Library has been creating online videos and activity links. We did a lot of Online Storytime readings for our youth literacy and read-along families. Our librarian in charge of the book discussions has been using Zoom since May and has been gaining more chat members.

She's also involved in teaching our exercise and Tai Chi classes, so she's asked us to make and present a YouTube video to share with the class enrollees she still has signed up.

So I just wanted to share that here as well, try to get the word out, and let any library users know your public library near you should be doing similar things you can follow!

Keep an eye out for more stuff!

Writing Motivations: Finding Something Consistent To Do

I think one of the things I look for in a writing project is a deadline, the idea that I have a goal to reach as much as I have a story to tell. I've got ideas - there's about five plots I've got bouncing around in would-be novel formats, there's eight Talents (superhero) stories on the backburner off the top of my head, just came up with a plot idea two weeks ago I haven't even fleshed out yet - but without a deadline or sense of urgency those stories just, well, sit there.

One thing that's been mentioned before and something I've finally taken a look at is this site Wattpad. It's a self-publishing submission site for storytelling, covering not only fanfiction but also original fiction. It tracks online readers so you can get an idea how many people are reading - and liking - your stories. You can publish in a serial format, meaning you can do a novel chapter-by-chapter. I'm not entirely certain of the copyright rules - if you want to pull the online work so you can go publish it as a print novel - but I think it favors the writer being able to control their ownership of work.

My Camp NaNo project may not necessarily fit this serialized format... but one of my other science fiction story ideas might.

I'm going to trying this out this month of May, see how it goes.