Reddit for Writers [StoryDam]

This is a post I shared with the StoryDam community yesterday.

 Reddit calls itself "the front page of the Internet" and, if you are a redditor and use the site regularly, it is easy to see how it lives up to the name. When I first started using Reddit myself, if I am being honest with you, I had no idea what it was or what I was getting into. In fact, it wasn't until a fellow redditor accused me of being a spammer that I decided to really figure out what the site was all about.

And that is when things got really exciting.

Reddit is a website full of communities of people who are fans of just about everything! In these communities redditors come together to share links from all around the Internet, they share tips and experiences, ask questions, but most of all have conversations about these things. Of course, this includes a bunch of communities for writers.  

Writing Subreddits

Some of the communities, called subreddits, that are great places to spend some web browsing time, along with their descriptions are:

• Writing Welcome to the home for writers. We talk about important matters for wordsmiths, news affecting writing professionals, and the finer aspects of the writing craft.
• Books Book reviews, recommendations, stories about books or book technology, etc.
• Writers Group An online writer's group dedicated to the sharing and constructive peer-review of each other's written work.
• Keep Writing A subreddit for writers to share and critique each others work, brainstorm together, give or receive advice, and more. As long as it's related to writing, you can talk about it here.
• Prompt of the Day Another day, another writing prompt. This is the place to get those creative juices flowing, however works best for you. Post your own prompts, give helpful criticisms, and let's try to help each other learn.

There is so, so much more. On each of these pages you'll find recommendations for other writing subreddits. Each subreddit has its own set of rules and moderators, but I think you'll find it is pretty easy to maneuver once you get your feet wet.  

Your Reddit Crash-Course

Here's a quick rundown of what a reddit page looks like and what all the "stuff" means.

To see a larger version of this image, click on it! :)

This is a snapshot of the "Writing" subreddit page right now, as I am typing this. Chances are, by the time you read this, it will look pretty different. I labeled six important sections of the page as a sort of quick "getting to know you" guide if it's your first time on reddit. Here's what they are:

1. As you can probably tell, this is the title of the page you are on. On the left hand side of the number one is a small graphic (usually the reddit alien in theme with the page) and on the right hand side is the title of the page. Some pages also have completely different backgrounds and colors in an effort to customize their space.
2. All the way down the left hand side of any reddit page are these funky arrows pointing up and down. These are really important to the community. These are votes: you vote "up" if you like the post and think others in the community should see it, and you vote "down" if you don't like it or this it is irrelevant to the community. When you open a reddit page, the link/story on top is the one with the most up-votes!
3. The blue titles are the links/stories on the page. Sometimes these can bring you away from reddit to another website entirely, and sometimes it just opens up a story in text form on reddit. It depends on what was submitted.
4. I should star this one. This is where you find the community. The comments below the links are, in my opinion, what separates reddit from other link sharing sites. When you open up the comments you will notice the up and down arrows again meaning that, just as we could with the main stories, we can vote on comments.
5. This is where your information can be found if you sign up as a redditor. The envelope next to your username will change colors when someone has responded/reacted to something you submitted on reddit, or if someone has sent you a private message. And under preferences you can decide which subreddits to subscribe to.
6. On the right hand side of the reddit page you will find all of the information about the particular subreddit you are in. There will be the description, the moderators and any rules they may have for you to follow. Also, if they have recommended any other subreddits, here's where you will find them.

This is really just the tip of the iceberg. I promise (warn) you: more than any other Social Media spot on the Internet, this is the greatest of all time-sucks for me (this post was supposed to be finished hours ago!). However, it is also an amazing resource. Use it, but please, use it wisely!

Book Love of The Moment - Math and Writing Unite

Since we have no book love interview this week, I thought I'd share my current book love with you. I am midway through a fascinating learning experience that came to me by way of Reddit. Yes, you read that correctly, I got a book from a website! Back in February, I signed up for the RedditGifts Book Exchange, a Secret Santa type of game that you play with strangers on the Internet, only this one is all about books. The person who sent my books found out I was a writer and, although she said she had no experience in the matter whatsoever, picked out three awesome books on writing for me. Right now I'm reading the first of the books she bought me, Story Engineering by Larry Brooks and it is literally the perfect book about writing for me there could be!

I'm a math chick. I know I've mentioned this before. I spent twelve years teaching the subject and an entire college career studying it. The thing is, I love Mathematics. I love the patterns in it; I love the truth in it; I love the way all of Nature seems to be built around it. Mathematics is seen by many as this exceedingly formulaic, boring and stagnant subject, but what it is, when you can see all it touches is beauty and art.

I am also a writer. This you have come to know, and I've mentioned this before as well. I've spent a lifetime steeping myself in stories. I read them; I told them; I wrote some of them down. What I always saw was the beauty and the art in each of the stories, but I believed that beneath it all,

there

must

be

a

pattern.

Perhaps this is the inner mathematician striving to make sense of every beautiful thing she comes in contact with. I don't know. What I do know, however, is that Larry Brooks is bringing this pattern to light for me. He is not stripping away the art or the beauty that lies within the worlds our words create, he is simply showing me their underpinnings. He is showing me the math behind the natural world of the story.

In introducing this structure that he argues is present in all stories and screenplays, Brooks discusses the resistance he often runs into from writers who argue this type of thinking is too formulaic. Brooks says he is not instructing the reader how they should write the story - you can still be a pantser, if you like to just let things flow; or be a plotter if you'd rather plan ahead - either way, there is a structure, a core that lies beneath the story no matter which approach you take.

I can not fully express to you how closely this rides to discussions in math education. The argument rallies on over whether mathematics should be taught procedurally (this is akin to our plotting writers - set up the rules ahead of time, then dive in) or through problem solving and discovery (like our pantsers, problems solvers dive in, start working, make mistakes, start over, make discoveries along the way and unearth the rules for mathematics as the problems are solved). Whichever teaching technique is employed, the mathematics at its core remains the same.

There is so much in this book that simply makes sense to me and, I believe, will make me a much better writer as a whole. When I have completed it I will be sure to write a thorough book review discussing Brooks' thesis in full. For today, I simply wanted to share with you my most current book love experience. The book that has currently enthralled me and pulled in my conscious and subconscious thoughts toward it. While I am reading these days, with pen and notebook in hand, I am thinking of stories, of structures, patterns, architecture and the beauty that they all create. It's a wonderful read and I just wanted to let you know!

Writers: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Math Minds: Do you think math is best taught procedurally or through problems solving?

Readers: Do you believe there is an inherent structure in all stories you read? Why or why not? 

Reevaluating My Own First Book Love

On Friday, while thinking about books, first book loves and all of the great stories I have come across so far from the people who have participated in the book love project, I suddenly craved more stories. Since I had also just signed up for a book exchange on Reddit (read about that coolness in my post at Word of the Nerd), I recalled that I was part of a pretty cool book community there and decided to ask my "big question": What was your first book love? of the reddit community. The discussion was amazing, so much fun and, most important of all, enlightening to me.

You see, while engaging in discussions with lots of other people about their first book love I was reminded of my own: The Monster at the End of this Book! When another redditor claimed it as their first book love, I was instantly swept away to multiple memories of laughs, rereads and sharing the book with my little brother. I responded on reddit with the following comment:

In all honesty I keep wondering if I should rewrite my own first book love story and write about this book. The only problem is that I don't readily recall when I was introduced to it, how I was introduced to it or when I first read it. I simply remember this book always being around, always reading it, always laughing and loving it. I cherished my original oversized copy of this book until it was destroyed in a flood we had here in 2010. If I EVER see the oversized version of this book again, I am grabbing it up. My husband just recently bought me the sequel to this book that came out recently pairing Grover with Elmo. Also a great book, but there is nothing quite like Grover laying bricks across the page.

It was part of the redditor's response that really struck home to me next:

It was like my little brain's Sixth Sense--the twist was just mind-blowing.

That was it! Or at least part of it... Not only was this book visually engaging, about a character I knew and loved, but, on top of all of that it had this wonderful twist in the end. It was great storytelling in all of its simplicity. Jon Stone, like any good mystery writer, had not held back anything, all the clues were there. In fact, everything was right on the cover, we readers needed to look no further. However, in our fascination with the lovable and furry Grover we could not not see what was plainly before us. As Mike Smollin's illustrations distracted us from the obvious page after page, our curiosity drove us to keep turning against all of Grover's pleas because, as scary as the conclusion might be, we thought, If Grover can do it, so can I.

I will not spoil the ending for those of you who have not yet had the joy of reading this book. I will, instead, share the book with you through the wonderful magic of YouTube. However, before I leave you with this techie treat I will say that there is some real reader magic missing in this translation. For the purists, I highly recommend that you find this book in its tangible form to read and turn the pages with your own fingers and hands. I will tell you personally I don't think anything made me feel so powerful as a child as my ability to pull down each of Grover's constructs. I believed him when he said I was strong.


So, I'm pretty sure this is it. This is my earliest book memory and, as both my parents have passed on, I have no one to ask if there is one that I connected with before it. However, as I said on reddit, I don't remember the first time I read this book. I don't recall if it was read to me, with me or by me on my first read. What I do know is that this book is in my forever memory, as if I never lived without it. I know that when I saw it float by me in my basement flood I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach. I know that I can still read this book today and capture a moment of childhood within its pages.

I don't think I could ask much more from a book. Therefore I have a couple of thank yous to dole out:

Thank you Jon Stone, not only for this book, but for all of your work on Sesame Street.

Thank you Mike Smollin for drawing such a lovable Grover and such believable brick walls.

Thank you Grover, for being just as scared as the rest of us, and showing us how silly that can be!

What are your impressions of The Monster at the End of This Book?

How do you feel about the read aloud videos like the one here in comparison to a tangible book?

If you would like to share your story of your first book love, e-mail me at blogwithnv@gmail.com!

 

My Reddit Mistake

This past week, for the first time ever, I was called a spammer (cue dramatic music).

This made me sad, but it happened on Reddit, the social news website, which I had minimal experience with, so I instantly knew it was all my fault. Although I had no intentions of ever spamming anyone and I thought what I was doing was basic blogger practice, it was clear that I had made a mistake. This led to one big question:

What did I do wrong?

The short answer to this question is "Everything!!" but I can slim it down to two biggie mistakes that led me down this path. Here they are:

Mistake #1:
I Used Reddit As A Submitter Before A Reader 

Most of my social media use has started since I starting blogging, not before. I had never even heard of Reddit before I started blogging, and I didn't start using it until, one day it showed up in my traffic stats. Back in March 2011, I wrote a blog post about a non-profit grant opportunity here on Rivera Runs Through It. I was hoping to share the post with IHRF (the foundation for my rare disease) and other people who have IIH. Well, someone submitted it to Reddit. It remains, until this day, as the most popular post on this blog. I needed to know what Reddit was, so I followed the link in my traffic stats to find out.

The link took me to a page that asked me to sign up and asked me if I wanted to submit anything. I saw the power of this tool and I decided to save up only my best posts for this guy (to be honest with you, the speed with which that first post rocketed, scared the heck out of me!). A couple of times I went into the Reddit site directly to try to use it, but, with my inexperience, it overwhelmed me. 

Mistake #2:
I Used Reddit Just Like it Was StumbleUpon

All social media sites are not created equal. I know this. I swear I do... but the submission process felt  so similar! Those of you not new to Rivera Runs Through It, you know that I am a StumbleUpon gal - I know it, I love it, I use it regularly (maybe too regularly!), so, when I submitted my first link to Reddit, the process felt very similar and something I was quite comfortable with. Here is the StumbleUpon process:

1. When deciding I want SU to know I like something I found on the web, I click my thumbs up "I like it!" button
2. If no one else has ever done so (happens to me quite often), then I am asked to write a REVIEW for the site if I would like to, so other "stumblers" can see why they might like it.
3. I go on with the rest of my life. 

When I submitted a link to Reddit, I was asked first about the title and what part of Reddit I would like to submit it to, and then I was asked to write a comment if I would like to. I mistakenly interpreted this "comment" request to be the same as the "review" request and would often write it as a teaser or a "selling point" so people could see why they might want to read this post! Had I not made mistake #1 (above), this would have never ever happened.

 What have I learned?

You must know that the teacher's soul inside of me was, in fact, quite excited that I made a mistake, because without it I would not have been able to actually, finally learn about Reddit! I have decided in just the one weekend of playing since "the incident" that Reddit Rocks!!

Reddit is a community! The "comments" that I misinterpreted as reviews are actually (brace yourself people...) comments in order to engage in a discussion about the link with other "redditors." I love this! There is a main page of Reddit that has the top leading links from all of reddit, but there are also separate sections of Reddit for just plain old "funny" links or "food" links or "world news", or, honestly, almost anything you can imagine (I even found a MATH group of redditors!!!).

I am concerned I have created a whole new addiction for myself (the iPhone app has already been downloaded), but I think I have also found a fun new way to find out what's going on on the Internet. I think you should check it out to (if you haven't already), but you should do so in the right order! Go in and USE Reddit; become a redditor, join the conversations, begin some conversations and just have some fun! I highly recommend it.

Have you used Reddit before? 

Are you already a Redditor?

Have you ever misused a social media/media sharing site before?

Reddit alien image credits:
Reddit help
BloggingExperiment.com
~Lord-scarab
Reddit submission by danwin