Author: tamaramorning

Revision Block

Is there such a thing? If so, I have a raging case of it. It’s worse than staring at a blank page and being unable to think of a single word to write (although that’s pretty bad). A few weeks ago, I started working through HTRYN with Chasing Shadows. Lessons 1 & 2 weren’t bad, but Lesson 3….all I’ve done is read the lesson and punch holes in my index cards. Not exactly a hotbed of revision activity.

I’m not sure why I’m having such trouble getting started on this. Well, I DO tend to have issues with The Sentence, even if it’s The Revision Sentence, so that could be part of it. But that’s the only hazy idea I have for what’s going on mentally. I’d say it’s lack of motivation, but…I’ve been writing every day. Only a bit, but still, daily progress. And I’ve been doing some pre-reading for school. And working out almost every day. So clearly I have some motivation.

I have absolute faith in the HTRYN process. I know what it did for Werewolves for Dummies, and I have every faith it can take Chasing Shadows that much closer to the story I want it to be. Of course, it won’t do that if I don’t actually apply it, so there’s the general problem with that idea. Hmm…Could be fear of failure. Of course, not revising the story at all is even more clearly a failure, so that should be an incentive…

Okay. Tomorrow I intend to work through Lesson 3 of HTRYN. ALL of Lesson 3. And get a few words written, of course. Wish me luck!

Social Media

I don’t understand why some people feel it’s necessary to put every single bit of their personal business on the internet for everyone to see. I’ll admit, sometimes I am a Facebook addict. I like to know what my friends are up to, and it’s interesting to see what some old school friends/acquaintances have been doing as well. However…I don’t understand why some people put every little detail of their lives out there in cyberspace. Who really cares what you’re eating for lunch? Or what you had for breakfast? Do I need to know that you’re having problems with your significant other? No. Do I care? Possibly, but if I do, you’ve probably already told me about it via something slightly more personal, like a phone call, text message, or even an email. And do you really want everyone on the planet to know you’re fighting? Personally, I wouldn’t. I barely want to tell my closest friends/family members, much less a bunch of almost-strangers that I haven’t seen or talked to in person for YEARS. I just don’t get it.

I guess it’s sort of a catch-22 for writers. You want to have an online presence, and you want your readers to feel like they know you…but you don’t want to bore them/disgust them with all the little details of your everyday life. So what is the happy balance? Right now, I have a personal Facebook account, and this blog. That’s it. That’s the extent of my web presence. I will probably get another Facebook account if I ever get published, but I can’t really see myself Tweeting 72 times a day. Heck, I can barely blog once a week (and here lately, it hasn’t even been THAT often!). I guess it’s a fine line to walk between overexposure and getting your name out there. I just wish more people had found the right balance–without TMI.

Another Year’s Goals

I don’t do “resolutions” per se, but I do set goals at the beginning of every year. I don’t always reach them, but I strive to do my best to get there. This year, I didn’t set a lot of goals. I know it’s going to be a busy year, what with finding a new job and continuing my back-to-school journey, so I didn’t want to over-reach myself and get distracted. That being said, here are my goals for the year:

1) Revise Chasing Shadows
2) Revise Witches
3) Complete the 2YN2 story (probably about 40k left to write)
4) Completely re-do and finish the sequel to Werewolves for Dummies
5) Do NaNo

As far as non-writing-related goals, I only have two:

6) Complete a half marathon (“complete” meaning some walking is okay)
7) Carry a 4.0 in school

Of course, “revise the zombie story” will hopefully be added in sometime this year. And I should mention that the NaNo story will probably be something new and completely different…NOT a sequel to anything else. I have some ideas percolating…I can feel them. I’m currently querying Werewolves for Dummies, and I’ll start querying Chasing Shadows when I’m done revising it, as well.

So, yeah, those are all my goals for the years. Anyone else setting any for the year?

I am DONE! Yay! Okay, so the story isn’t actually done. Far from it, actually, but I am done with it for now. Now I need to focus on finals this week, getting everything transferred so I can start school back in Texas in January, the actual move, and, you know, finding a job! But I’m through with NaNo! Done and won five years in a row now. I actually only wrote 17 days out of 28, which averages out to around 3k a day. Not too bad. Now, I’m off to much more mundane writing: my Sociology final.

Not Going So Well…

Time to write has been at a premium lately, and I’m afraid I haven’t accomplished much. Writing, that is. I’ve accomplished a lot of other things (packing, homework, studying, working), but very little writing. However, I did get 4k in yesterday, bringing my total up to 15k for the month. In other words, only about 8k behind pace…I intend to be caught up this week, since everything is (mostly) packed, and almost all my homework is done for the week/semester (Just have to worry about finals in a couple of weeks.). The story is still flowing pretty well, and I just met my villain, so it should get very interesting very soon.

Wenching…


You are Petunia!

Congratulations! You are a lonely little Petunia in an onion patch… a sweet delicate flower, sweetening the air around you. Being a Petunia means that you love life, laundry and the pursuit of cleanliness! You don’t just love your laundry, you roll around in it, sleep in piles of it and have vivid, epic dreams about YOUR LAUNDRY. You care deeeply about the public’s hygiene.

Which Wench Are YOU? Find out at http://www.washingwellwenches.com

We saw the Washing Well Wenches comedy act at the Ren Faire today, and they were great! Hilarious! If you ever get the chance, you should definitely see them. I took the quiz to find out which wench I am, and these are my results.

NaNo Week One

Week One of NaNo is over, and I’m sitting at 8,001 words. I’m happy with that, considering I only wrote four of those days, and 8,000 was my goal. I only have one more chapter outlined, so I need to work on that ASAP and figure out what comes next.

My best friend was in town this weekend, so we did a bunch of NOLA stuff. Had a lot of fun. We went to the French Quarter Friday night. Saw all sorts of things, which is always a given down there. Had the most amazing ice cream ever (Amaretto flavored Italian ice cream, yum!). Went to the French Market and shopped on Magazine Street. Went to St. Louis No. 1 cemetery and saw Marie Laveau’s grave (That thing always gives me the creeps!). Then, today, we went to the Louisiana Ren Faire and had a blast! We decided that next year we’re going back to Scarborough Faire in Texas, and we’re getting costumes. That should be entertaining.

And that’s about it, other than the time change beating me down! It always takes me a while to adjust, so I’m off to get some much-needed sleep.

Ready for NaNo?

I’m not. Not even remotely. I have only the most vague, fuzzy ideas for plot. I have a few ideas for general conflict. I have nothing more than a hint of a couple of new characters I need. So, basically, I guess I’ll be winging it this year. I’m not super thrilled about that, but I know it will all work itself out. And if not, well, there’s always revisions…

Good luck to everyone else out there doing NaNo!

Final Countdown…

…to NaNo, that is. Yes, I finally made up my mind: I’m going for it again this year! This will be my fifth year, and I’ve won every year. The last two years, I’ve set myself the personal goal of 100k, and I hit it both years. This year…I’ll be thrilled with 50k. I work full-time, I’m going to school full-time, and just for fun, I’m prepping for an out-of-state move the first week in December (Me? Trying to do too much? Nah…I’d never do that.).

I just decided two days ago what I’m going to write. While I have the beginnings of an awesome YA paranormal fantasy involving ancient Greek mythology, I don’t have time to develop that world as fully as it deserves. So…I’m going to be writing the sequel to my werewolf story. Most of the basic character development is already done, so I just have to come up with a few new characters and a plot. “Just”…Ha. (Cue manic laughter now…)

Good luck to anyone else out there about to embark on the insanity that is NaNo!

Update Stuff

Well, midterms are behind me now, thank goodness! I’ve been so busy with school stuff I haven’t had time to do much of anything else. No blogging. No writing. Not as much gym time as there should have been, and definitely not enough sleeping! I don’t know if that will get better or worse before the end of the semester…

For various reasons that I can’t currently get into, I don’t expect to be very prolific on this blog for at least the next couple of months. Possibly in December, if everything goes well.

I’ve been thinking about doing NaNo. Toying with the idea. I really WANT to…I’ve done it four straight years, and it’s something I enjoy, I’m just not sure if I’ll have time this year, what with the four classes and all. Plus, my best friend is coming in for a visit the first weekend of the month, so there goes three writing days (Because I’d MUCH rather hang out with her than stare blankly at a computer screen!) But…I think I’ll probably end up doing it again this year, although probably only with the 50k goal, unlike the 100k I’ve shot for (and hit) the last two years. We’ll see. (Now if I only knew which story I was going to write…)

I’m subbing the Werewolf story right now. Have had some partial requests, but nothing else so far. I love this story a lot, so I hope it finds a home.