So many words. So little time.
Category: inspiration
I hope everyone has a Happy Valentine’s Day, whether you have a Valentine or not. Love yourself. Eat chocolate. Be happy. Love is important, and loving yourself is near the top of the list.
Write something you love today, no matter how simple. Try out something you’ve been meaning to write. A limerick? Haiku? Adventure short story? Cheesy high school romance? If you love it, write it. Worry about the details later.
This week was fairly productive, considering it was the first week of grad school (Eep!). I did a tiny bit of writing—1,000 words or so—in The Fall, plus outlining 10 scenes in it as well. Having an outline made the writing flow pretty well. Something I know, yet I still started writing this story with no outline. Smart move, there.
I did a little outlining in the Witches revision, also. I’m sort of feeling my way with that, since I’ve revised the story several times, and this is more of a re-write than a revision, but I’m using the current draft as a guideline. We’ll see how that works out. My voice and style have changed significantly since I originally plotted the story.
Yesterday I attended a local authors’ event with a friend. It’s part of the library’s Year of the Book promotion. Each author had a table, and they each spoke for 10 minutes.
My friend and I went because we both love Rachel Caine’s work. (I’ve read The Morganville Vampires series, the Weather Warden series, the Outcast Season spin-offs, and her re-telling of Romeo and Juliet. I’ve been wanting to read her The Great Library series as well.)
Somehow, by sheer luck, we arrived about 15 minutes before Rachel’s talk, just in time to hear Sarah MacTavish. (I feel like I’ve heard of her, but can’t swear to it. I read SO MUCH that authors sometimes get a little bit mixed up in my mind sometimes.) I enjoyed her talk, and the short chat I had with her afterwards, and bought her book, Firebrand. Young adult fiction about the Civil War from an author who carries her supply of books in an R2D2 suitcase? I’m sold! I’m looking forward to the read, just as soon as I wrangle enough time from my schedule for it.
My purchases for the day:
It’s been quite a while since I purchased physical copies of fiction. The bottom two books I bought at the event, the top three at B & N beforehand. I was so excited when I got home, but I had serious reader’s indecision: What to read first?
Answer: Firstlife, by Gena Showalter, because I’m hoping to get approved to review the second book in the series, and because I’ve been interested in this one for a while. Isn’t the cover gorgeous?
Confession: I read the entire thing last night. Loved it! The concept is so unique, and the characters compelled me from the first page. You should definitely read this!
Just a few things from my Writing Pinterest board that all writers will understand. (I don’t own any of these images, but bless their creators, for totally understanding the struggle.)
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had/is having a good holiday weekend.
This is, of course, the obligatory re-hash of my 2016 goals, as well as a public declaration of my goals for 2017.
In 2016, my goals were:
Writing:
1) Finish Witches HTRYN. Didn’t happen. I started work on it, and realized that I have to re-write the story from scratch (mostly).
2) Finish 1st draft of Siren Song. Done! (More or less.)
3) Finish 1st draft of The Fall. Nope. I did write some of it, but not much.
4) Start Camelot Done! (To the tune of 1 chapter, a sort-of prologue, and some brainstorming.
5) Revise Casting Shadows. Didn’t even look at it.
6) Finish copyediting classes and make X dollars at it per month. Also no, although I did work on the classes some.
7) Have 500 followers on this blog. Only up to 314.
8) Have 200 followers on my personal blog. Only up to 199.
Reading:
1) Read Gone with the Wind. Done!
2) Read 1 book per month from my TBR shelf. Done!
3) Read all books on the reading list for my American Women Writers class (8 total). Done!
4) Read one classic per month. Done!
5) Read one book of poetry. Done!
6) Read 2 books per month to review. Done!
7) Read one inspirational book per month. Done!
8) Read 75 books total. Done! Actually, I read 128 books—WAY over my goal—which I’m pretty happy about. You can check out my books on the 2016 Goodreads challenge here.
Writing:
1) Finish draft of The Fall.
2) Finish draft of Camelot.
3) Finish Witches revision.
4) Self-pub something or find agent.
5) Revise Chasing Shadows.
6) Publish/sub Chasing Shadows.
7) Do/win NaNo (with the Southern Fic story).
Reading
1) Read one book per month set in a different culture or by an author from a different culture.
2) Read 100 books.
3) Read one classic per month.
4) Read one spiritual book per month.
5) Review 5 books per month.
6) Read one book from TBR pile every other month.
7) Read Battlefield Earth.
With the first calendar week of NaNo over, I thought I I’d give a brief update: I’ve written 10, 272 words so far. That’s more than I’ve written in a week in probably 5 years! I’m happy with my progress, and eager for more.
So…I’ve decided to do NaNo next month for the first time since 2012.
Yes, I have a full-time job with long, crazy hours. Yes, I go to school, too. Yes, I have a 5k to train for in 2 weeks, a 10k in 5 weeks, and a half-marathon in February. Yes, I have 2 blogs to maintain and I write book reviews for My Trending Stories.
What’s your point?
I participated in—and won—NaNo 5 years in a row, from 2007-2011. I started NaNo in 2012, but depression hit me hard, and I abandoned it (along with practically everything else). I found that barely-started story (about 35 pages of it) last year and did not even remember writing it. (But I was pretty impressed!)
When I had mostly conquered my depression (May 2013), I wanted to get back to my normal life. Then I had a stroke on June 1st. I spent the next 6 months in a haze of exhaustion, recovery, and adaptation as I came to terms with my new normal after almost dying.
I didn’t write a thing for over a year.
Slowly, I’ve gotten back into writing, but I miss the adrenaline-fueled rush of NaNo, so I’m giving it a shot next week.
Guess which story I’m going to finish? Yep. The one I started during my last NaNo.
…I’ve decided to do NaNoWriMo for the first time in 4 years! I did it–and “won”–5 years in a row, from 2007-2011. In 2012, I started it, but then my depression kicked in and I stopped writing.
Had the stroke in June 2013, and I’ve been struggling to get my writing groove back ever since.
I’m not going to write a new novel, though. Instead, I’m going to finish the novel I started in 2012, now called Siren Song. I finished the outline months ago. Now I’m going to put it to use.
I’m witchofbreithla over there, if you’re interested.
Yes, it’s probably insane to be working full-time, finishing up my Bachelor’s degree, and training for a 10k..and deciding I need to spend most of November writing.
Insanity is relevant.
When does not-writing become a thing of “because I don’t feel like it” instead of “because I have a thousand other things that have to be done”?
When does my brain stop making excuses and get itself together and get my body in front of the keyboard?
When is “tired” no longer a valid excuse for not getting things done (things besides writing)?
When will I learn that I can’t do everything I’d like to, not and give each thing the attention and focus it deserves?
When will real-life have-to’s stop interfering with my writing time? (Looking at you, last-minute work meeting on my day off.)
When will I finally beat my tendency for procrastination? (Which eventually becomes active self-sabotage.)
When will people finally understand that “I can’t, I have writing to do” does not mean “Sure, I’m not doing anything anyway”?
When will my brain finally give me an outline for The Fall, so the actual writing part feels less like wandering around with a blindfold on?
When will I finally overcome this stupid mental block/laziness and sit in my chair and actually WRITE?
When?
I finished up the outline for Siren Song in January, and then promptly didn’t write a word until… late February. My “goal” (which I frequently find myself ignoring) is two 500-word sessions a week. I can remember writing 10,000+ words a day for NaNo years ago, so 500 words twice a week should be ridiculously easy. Should be.
As it turns out, actually making myself sit down and write is almost impossible. But this morning, I made that my first priority, and wrote 1,000 words.
Not setting any records with that, but I’m thrilled with it.
I also started outlining my final project for my capstone class, which is a short story based on the mythos of Camelot. I’m actually looking forward to writing it, and using it as backstory for when I start writing the Camelot project sometime in the future (because my Muse gave me a fantastic idea with that months ago).
How is the Muse performing for you?
Friday I spent a little bit of time in a place I never really imagined I’d be: the house where Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind.
Gone with the Wind is my favorite book. I read it for the first time when I was 11 years old. I’ve probably read it at least 25 times. I’m reading it now (Sort of.). The name of this blog comes from the novel. It’s not that I idolize the era it takes place in. I don’t. There was a lot wrong with that society, its practices, and its beliefs. It’s not that I wished I lived there. (Ha. I despise wearing dresses, so living where elaborate dresses was the norm is a joke.).
But the characters are so vividly realized I feel like I know them, as is the setting. I think Margaret Mitchell did an astounding job creating characters and bringing them to life. I still laugh, and cry, every time I read the book.
I did not know that Ms. Mitchell had her husband burn the first draft (there was only one copy) of the novel after her death, as well as any other projects she was working on. I didn’t know that she never intended to publish it at all, and wanted it back after she did let a publisher look at it.
I knew she worked as a reporter for a while.
What I did know: still my favorite book. Ever.
Tomorrow Is Another Day 