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This is the first year I’ve participated in NaNo.  I’ve thought about it a couple of times.  Once I started but dropped out early, citing the reasoning that it just didn’t work with my “process.”  But, I think I get it now. It’s sort of like when I actually became a writer instead of a person who wants to write.  At first, I wrote because it would be cool / financially gainful / fun (ha!) to write a book.  But then, it wasn’t all that fun–at least some of the time–and odds are not in anyone’s favor to actually sell a book or for itRead More →

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Turns out, this whole “just write” strategy is actually very difficult for me.  I can’t seem to stop looking up the page and thinking, “Dude, this is crap,” which I always do and sometimes it’s not. But, for me, that’s the whole point.  To learn to let go and let what I know, both learned and intuitively, about craft and my muse do what they do. So, yesterday–a slow start.  Today?  It’s anybody’s ballgame, baby. Also: Very awesome article about the costs of rewriting those sentences.Read More →

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WordPress doesn’t like my “live” badge, so I’ll stick this one in here.  Yeah, I’m going for it.  My goal: 2k words daily.  I’ve never written a word without planning the hell out of it, so I’m kind of excited to try this.  Check the twitter updates on the left to see how I’m doing.Read More →

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Look. I’ve had a difficult year. I’m not whining, honestly. I won’t even go into detail, because I’m private that way and that wouldsort of be like whining. You’re welcome.  But, whatever.  I’ve been a bad writer. I put off doing my synopsis/query for On A Bet.  I didn’t know how to do one, or who to send it to, plus it’s scary.  I stopped writing Skye’s Falling because I joined a crit group and I got overwhelmed, feeling like I *had* to make all the changes, which is just a bad idea (for me) when it’s just a first draft.  It’s not supposed toRead More →

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Working on a new story that I’m really excited about.  Written down my backstory, written where my characters are immediately before the story starts.  Now I’m working on the GMC charts* for my two protags, my secondary characters, and my one (maybe two?) antagonists.  Once I have this, it will be awesome and make the story better to the nth degree.  But, how much do I hate doing these?  I always have to get the book out and go over the parts I highlighted (thankful for that foresight, go me) and make sure I have concrete, measurable external goals and then the internal part whichRead More →

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Listen to me. No, seriously.  Stop what you are doing, stop twittering or IMing or going through your email and listen to me.  I think I’ve got the long synopsis thing kicked.  Or, a first draft of the long synopsis kicked.  Or maybe the outline of a long synopsis which I can use to create a nice long synopsis. Whatever. Listen to me when I tell you this: do not ever, for any reason, no matter what, put off writing your synopsis/query letter for an embarrassingly long time because those things are scary.  The whole thing is scary.  You’re going to wimp out now? YouRead More →

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I just ordered some books for my daughter because she’s become hooked on Nora Roberts and somehow I’ve managed to keep one or two books of a trilogy and be short the rest.  So I rounded out about four trilogies for her and placed my order. So you know, I’m a clicker.  I’m one of those people that will totally start out on a page about, say, rabbits and end up on a page about how to make a quilt out of old t-shirts.  That being said, I innocently clicked on the recommendations for me link.  And I saw this. (Digital How to Write aRead More →

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I know, it’s Wednesday, and I totally had every intention of writing this awesome blog, because I am in the midst of my creative process, and I’ve got good stuff to share. But it’s the first day of school, and yesterday was the day before the first day of school and freshman orientation, and the day before that was middle school orientation, plus I work (somehow), so I just didn’t get to it. Not that you’d trust me, anyway, given the run-on of the previous sentence. So, I’m linking you to an article I’ve been meaning to read for two weeks. Seriously. It’s been openRead More →

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I mentioned (I think) that I’m working on a new manuscript. I’ve got several characters roughly sketched and about 35 pages of backstory (the setup for the now) written. I love this part, where there’s still so many things to do, and you can just pick and choose. Should I develop the characters more? Should I research jobs? Draw my town? Find pictures of their apartment? Jot down scene ideas? Writing a novel is such a long and difficult process (duh), that I love the parts where it feels like you’re so on top of it, and options are limitless. It’s a lot better thanRead More →

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As I spent seven hours a few days ago, reading weird websites and finding ways to waste my time, I realized that I was avoiding writing out of fear.  Fear of what?  That I’m just not good enough.  I’m not good enough to pull it off, my writing isn’t good enough to be published, I’ll ruin this awesome story just begging to get out.  I actually had to walk away from a WIP I had 1/4 of finished because I psyched myself out that bad.  I’ll go back to it later, but for now, we–the manuscript and I–need some distance. But, I’m not the onlyRead More →