Category: writing

Yankee Standard Time: Fact or Fiction?

Okay, Random Question for the Day: Do Yankees run on a different time schedule than we Southerners? I’m starting to think so. A certain person who shall remain nameless has apparently been trying to drive me crazy with the differences in our concepts of time.

Example 1: “I’ll call you back in a few minutes.” The callback actually occurs:
a) half an hour later
b) three hours later
c) Still waiting…

(Yes, all of these are correct answers.)

Example 2: “I’ll give you a call when I get up on Sunday, and we’ll spend the whole day together.”
a) The call doesn’t actually take place until, oh, 3 p.m. So, apparently, the day in Yankeeland doesn’t start ’til 3 p.m. Good to know, if you’re ever traveling there….Don’t make plans before mid-afternoon. Nothing will be open. Just a bit of travel advice.

Example 3: “We’ll get together very soon.”
a) “Soon” being…well, I don’t know when. That conversation took place on Friday. It’s Monday, and still nothing. Do you think this definition of “soon” would work for deadlines or school? “So, Professor, I promise I’ll have this final exam turned in soon.”….Like, next week? “Yes, Mr. Very Important Editor, I know I said I’d have the piece turned in soon. That was just last week. I still have plenty of time.”

Somehow, I don’t think the Southern standard of “Bless your heart!” is gonna cover this…at all.

So…on to writing. I did actually make it through the entirety of Lesson 3 in HTRYN last week when I said I would. Yay! I’m even about halfway through with Lesson 4, which is even better. I have plenty of revision ideas, too, I can feel them simmering…

Speaking of simmering, I’m pretty sure my Muse is working on a new story idea. Something that’s more traditional fantasy, instead of the urban fantasy I’ve been writing lately (like, for the past two years…). Something with ghosts, and maybe the Dia del Muerta… It feels like a nice change, and to go along with it, I started reading Michelle Sagara’s Chronicles of Elantra series. Just got started on the first one, but I’m liking the touches of humor so far.

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!

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?

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!

It’s All Coming Back to Me Now…

How much work school is, that is. Seriously. I’d forgotten just how busy it kept me, and that was when I was taking regular classes. And not working a full-time job. Online classes are just as much work (if not more), and I haven’t had time to do any writing in the past…week and a half or so. Nor any revising. At all. And I’ve decided not to worry about it. I’ve got the bulk of my homework done this week already, and I only have two quizzes to study for (as opposed to the three quizzes and a test I had last week), so if I get time, I’ll do some writing. Or maybe some revising. And if I don’t get time, well, I’ve given myself permission not to stress about it.

I’m still trying to decide whether or not I’ll be doing NaNo this year. The thought of NOT doing it bothers me a lot, I’ve done it the last four years, and I enjoy it. Yet, logically, time will probably be an issue, even though we don’t have classes the week of Thanksgiving, and I could probably get a lot done. Guess I’ll have to see. I have finals the first week of December, and I’ll be moving back to Texas shortly thereafter (Yay for going home!), with all that entails, so I’ll just have to wait and see. For now, I’m just trying to take it one day at a time.

Back To The Grind…

So, I’m back from vacation. I’m not exactly thrilled to be back, really more…resigned/annoyed, but I’m back. I had a great time, except that now I’m tremendously homesick. But hey, what are you going to do?

I’ve actually been writing on the 2YN sequel some since I got back. Not a lot, or anything. I set myself some really modest goals. I only got about 250 words yesterday, and about the same today. But it’s a start. It’s progress. And considering what else I have going on…I’m happy with it.

I also started back to school. Online classes, but I haven’t taken any classes in…we’ll just say “a long time”, so I’m a little worried about the adjustment. I’m taking four classes, and hoping/praying I don’t get overwhelmed. So far, so good, but it just got started, so it’s really too soon to tell.

My goal is to keep up with all my classes (definitely the priority), write about 2k per week, and try to do a little bit of revision on last year’s NaNo story (the faerie story). Oh, and TRY to hit the gym four days a week (which is why I’m up at the crack of midnight). Not to mention work full-time. And possibly try to sleep a little bit in there somewhere…zzzzz…..

Swamped

And not in a good way, either. I had a busy weekend, and I’m still struggling to get caught up. My to-do list is staring at me threateningly. My brain (or possibly my Muse) woke me up WAY early yesterday and today with a list of things I needed to be working on. And I have a lingering sense of guilt. All this means I haven’t been getting done what I need to get done.

The only thing going really well–and that I’m not behind on–is the writing. The “new” story is flying along pretty well, and I’m about 22k in, so it’s over a quarter of the way finished. This draft, anyway. Other than that…I’m behind.

Off to get some work done. I hope everyone else is being much more productive than I am lately.

Advantages Of Living In The South

When the forecast calls for the potential for snow (Or sleet, or a “wintry mix”), things shut down. Everything shuts down. The best part about that? My job actually cares about the safety of its employees, so they closed those of us in the “affected” area down for Friday. Which meant I had an unexpected–but very much welcome–day off. So I stayed home, and watched the record-breaking snowfall back home (the DFW area). It was beautiful, but I was glad I missed it. Meanwhile, all we got was rain. LOTS of rain. To the point that when I had to go outside, I was immensely grateful for my new rain boots, because there was at least three inches of water standing. Which would have been horrific if the temperature had dropped to the expected low and everything had actually frozen over (A lot of people said that was bound to happen, what with the Saints winning the Superbowl and all).

So instead of working on Friday, I got a lot of stuff done. I’m actually writing on the HTTS story. It’s going well so far. I’m working on revisions for the other three stories. The zombie story is coming along slowly, but surely. The werewolf story…Wow. The actual revision itself should be interesting. And the angel story…I find I’m very unhappy with the POV, but I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do to fix it. For now, it’s enough for me to know that it IS an issue, and I CAN fix it. And I will. No matter how much work it entails.

I Think My Muse Is Out To Get Me

I’ll admit I’m something of an overachiever. Well, maybe it would be better to say that I try to do too much, and when I don’t have 17 things going on, I feel sort of lost. I also feel like I do my best work when I’m on the verge of being overwhelmed. That’s a pretty accurate statement. (And if you’ve seen my goals for the year, you know it’s true.) So, this month my focus was supposed to be on three things:

1) Revise the werewolf story (one lesson per week)
2) Revise the zombie story (one lesson per month)
3) Do four lessons in HTTS and start writing that story.

APPARENTLY, that wasn’t enough for my Muse. Nope. He decided that I ALSO needed to start revising the angel story, because it’s been burning a hole in the back of our brains for a while now, and I haven’t even looked at it since I finished it on November 30th 2008. Clearly, Muse thinks it’s been simmering back there long enough, and it’s time to bring it out, make it look all appetizing, and put it on the menu. (Perhaps I should go eat breakfast. This is making me hungry.) Plus, I’ve seen a lot of angel stuff lately, and that’s got me itching to work on the story even more. So. Here I go. Revising three stories simultaneously (though not all at the same level of frenetic intensity) while writing another one. The goal is to have a complete first draft from HTTS as well as two revised manuscripts by May–when I go on vacation. And boy, am I going to need it…

January Progress

So, these were the goals I set in January for the entire year:

Write, using HTTS:
2YN 2
Ash’s story

Revise, using HTRYN:
Werewolf story (already in progress)
Tempest
Chasing Shadows
Atlantis
TSS
Zombie story

Other goals:
Go back to school
Start learning Irish
Read 150 books
Blog twice a week
Run a half marathon

I feel like I’m doing pretty well so far this year. I’m into lesson 8 on HTTS for the 2YN sequel, and have a complete line-for-scene outline done. Yay! I’m revising the werewolf story AND dabbling about with revising the zombie story as well.

I’ve done some of my research for going back to school. I know when I have to have the different bits of paperwork in, and I’m pretty sure I’ve decided on a school with a program I’m interested in. I’m a little nervous about going back to school, but excited, too.

The Irish is going pretty well, too. I’ve got some of the basics down, and I found some really cool learning software I want to order ASAP. I’ve been so busy, I haven’t had much time to read, though. Only 5 books in January, I think. The blogging is going well. I’ve hit my twice-a-week goal every week.

The gym…not so much. Working out has been sporadic at best, but I’ve done much better over the last week.

And…that’s all for now, folks!