It's been a long time coming, guys, but I finally have the bare bones of my website up.
I'm not going to stop posting here until I've got it more fleshed out, and for a while I will cross-post to make sure you see the updates. I've got some really exciting interviews lined up, some wonderful news, and book reviews galore. There is so much awesome to come I can hardly stand it. Currently I'm working on getting the email sign up stuff taken care of, but it's been a little more annoying than I suspected. I think I have it all in place, so if you want to sign up for updates and freebies, it's there.
Here's the link: http://elizabethjpoole.com/
Bookmark the page, sign up for the email list, do whatever you'd like to stay in touch. The biggest reason why it took me so long to switch was I didn't want to loose you guys, but I need to be able to do things with my website that Blogger won't do. So it's time for a change, but I will still be here, posting and letting you know about all the wonderful stuff to come.
Showing posts with label writing life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing life. Show all posts
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Website Stuff
I know it's been awhile since I've posted, but I am super duper busy trying to get my website up and running, as well as working on an exciting project I'll tell you guys about in just a little bit.
I finally bought hosting, renewed my domain name, and attached a Wordpress theme to said domain name. Now I'm writing copy in between the normal writing stuff. Once I get the bare bones up, I'll post the link here and you guys can tell me what's awesome and what sucks. ;)
Until then, I toil away in the word mines!
What have you guys been up to? Anything exciting planned for the summer?
I finally bought hosting, renewed my domain name, and attached a Wordpress theme to said domain name. Now I'm writing copy in between the normal writing stuff. Once I get the bare bones up, I'll post the link here and you guys can tell me what's awesome and what sucks. ;)
Until then, I toil away in the word mines!
What have you guys been up to? Anything exciting planned for the summer?
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
The Quick and Dirty Guide to Book Covers
Book covers are important. It's like a greeting card for your novel. It draws your reader in, and tells him at a glance what sort of story to expect.
While looking at tons of covers in the bookstore/Amazon, I noticed a trend in covers, a trend I thought would help you. So here you go: a quick and dirty guide to covers.
Science Fiction: Spaceships!
Space Opera: MOAR spaceships! Preferably near a planet or asteroid.
Cyberpunk: Dude in front of six computer monitors, wearing a blu tooth headset.
Dystopian: Picture of a charred wasteland.
Steampunk: ALL the dirigibles.
Fantasy: Dragons!
High Fantasy: Dragons over a pseudo-European forest *If your high fantasy is the one or two books that takes place outside Fake Europe, it will be appropriately ethnic.
Urban fantasy: badass chick or dude leaning against something. If your book features more than one sex scene, the chick will be wearing all leather and displaying brokeback.
Romance: Sexy people time!
Contemporary: Sexy dude with abs and sexy woman with boobs half naked about to jump each other.
Paranormal: Same as contemporary, only dude will have fangs and/or yellow eyes to indicate he's NOT HUMAN
YA: Teenagers! Dressed in teen clothes!
Contemporary: Pictures of lakes, boats, schools, and food. Lots of food. Teens like food, right? Put food on the cover and they'll buy the book.
Paranormal Romance: Same as above except everything is DARK and BROODING
Literary: Landscapes and pretty scenary!
Old White Dudes Having Existential Crisis: Artistic watercolor rendition of a city
Middle Aged Woman Fighting for Her Place in Society: Garden Scenery with Birds
Horror: All the dark colors! Houses! Desolate woods!
Historical: Female in period-appropriate clothing standing in front of famous landmark
Clearly this is not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it will point you in the right direction when it comes time to chose or offer imput on your book cover.
Do you have any other suggestions for genres? Plop them in the comments section!
While looking at tons of covers in the bookstore/Amazon, I noticed a trend in covers, a trend I thought would help you. So here you go: a quick and dirty guide to covers.
Science Fiction: Spaceships!
Space Opera: MOAR spaceships! Preferably near a planet or asteroid.
Cyberpunk: Dude in front of six computer monitors, wearing a blu tooth headset.
Dystopian: Picture of a charred wasteland.
Steampunk: ALL the dirigibles.
Fantasy: Dragons!
High Fantasy: Dragons over a pseudo-European forest *If your high fantasy is the one or two books that takes place outside Fake Europe, it will be appropriately ethnic.
Urban fantasy: badass chick or dude leaning against something. If your book features more than one sex scene, the chick will be wearing all leather and displaying brokeback.
Romance: Sexy people time!
Contemporary: Sexy dude with abs and sexy woman with boobs half naked about to jump each other.
Paranormal: Same as contemporary, only dude will have fangs and/or yellow eyes to indicate he's NOT HUMAN
YA: Teenagers! Dressed in teen clothes!
Contemporary: Pictures of lakes, boats, schools, and food. Lots of food. Teens like food, right? Put food on the cover and they'll buy the book.
Paranormal Romance: Same as above except everything is DARK and BROODING
Literary: Landscapes and pretty scenary!
Old White Dudes Having Existential Crisis: Artistic watercolor rendition of a city
Middle Aged Woman Fighting for Her Place in Society: Garden Scenery with Birds
Horror: All the dark colors! Houses! Desolate woods!
Historical: Female in period-appropriate clothing standing in front of famous landmark
Clearly this is not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it will point you in the right direction when it comes time to chose or offer imput on your book cover.
Do you have any other suggestions for genres? Plop them in the comments section!
Monday, April 28, 2014
The Pain in the Heart
I've been pondering this post for a long time, trying to get the words right.
Ironic, considering my chosen profession. Sometimes I think we become writers because we see great beauty and sorrow, and need to find words for it. Even if those words aren't always easy to come by.
This idea of mine is something I've long felt about writing, since I was a teenager and just starting to think about writing as a craft, and not just the stories I told myself at night, but not something I had words for.
A few weeks ago, I was reading DEAD SET by Richard Kadrey (so good!), and the feelings I've been trying to articulate came into sharper focus. The story is about a teenage girl dealing with the death of her father. She and her mother have to move into a shabby apartment, and she's struggling in a new school. She wanders into a record store one day, and finds a special room. The room is filled with records made from people's souls, her dad's among them. She travels to the Underworld, battles dying souls, and copes with the death of her father.
Kadrey has a light hand throughout the book--thank goodness. It would be easy to make Zoe mopey and depressed all the time. It would be easy to harp on how much she misses her father, and how she wishes she could be with him again. It would be easy, but the book would suffer for it.
Instead, Zoe's grief rises and falls like the tide. Sometimes, like when she discovers her father's soul at the record store, it rises. Other times, it's way underneath the surface. Not just as subtext, but as something hinted at in the spaces in between. In the words, and the scenes, and what's there, and what's not there.
Kadrey is a good writer. So good, I'm going to assume he knows the chestnut about showing and not telling. He's very good at showing. Light on the telling.
The obvious emotion running throughout the book is grief. Zoe's loss of her father. Her strained relationship with her mother. But in order for Kadrey to be able to sustain that sort of undercurrent all the time, he had to have been feeling grief himself. Not just emotion forced on the page, but a feeling that wells up inside you and pours out onto the page.
You feel sexy when writing a sex scene. You feel witty and clever when writing humor. These emotions are part of the larger book, but for me, the best books come from a place of pain. Of disquiet. Unrest. The main character needs something. Something desperately. Whether it's a sandwhich or true love, told well, we feel this yearning through the entire story, as something even deeper than subtext.
I believe that is where the words come from. The inspiration. The pain we feel in our hearts. The unrest. The easier we can tap into this feeling and just let it flow, let is simmer, the better our writing will be for it.
I'm not just talking about the subtext or surface emotions. I can think of a happy memory and feel happiness, but it doesn't last. For this other, more elusive feeling, it simply is. It just bubbles up from you--whether it's grief, or lust, or sadness, this is a state of being. Curiosity, a sense of justice. It's like a secret heart, beating inside the novel.
It then occurs to me that many writers were famous for being tortured. Hemingway. Fitzgerald. Plath. It's not that you can only be a good writer if you're borderline suicidal, but that these people have obviously had horrible things happen to them, and this infused their work.
I think you can be perfectly well adjusted and still feel disquiet. Or curious. Or rail against the injustice you see. And these feelings will then lend themselves to words, because it burns inside you to tell it.
I still don't know if I'm explaining myself properly, but it's the best I can do for now. In the meantime, I hope you all mine your own emotions, if only to exorcise them on the page.
*I totally stole this title from the name of a Bones episode, because it fit so well.
Ironic, considering my chosen profession. Sometimes I think we become writers because we see great beauty and sorrow, and need to find words for it. Even if those words aren't always easy to come by.
This idea of mine is something I've long felt about writing, since I was a teenager and just starting to think about writing as a craft, and not just the stories I told myself at night, but not something I had words for.
A few weeks ago, I was reading DEAD SET by Richard Kadrey (so good!), and the feelings I've been trying to articulate came into sharper focus. The story is about a teenage girl dealing with the death of her father. She and her mother have to move into a shabby apartment, and she's struggling in a new school. She wanders into a record store one day, and finds a special room. The room is filled with records made from people's souls, her dad's among them. She travels to the Underworld, battles dying souls, and copes with the death of her father.
Kadrey has a light hand throughout the book--thank goodness. It would be easy to make Zoe mopey and depressed all the time. It would be easy to harp on how much she misses her father, and how she wishes she could be with him again. It would be easy, but the book would suffer for it.
Instead, Zoe's grief rises and falls like the tide. Sometimes, like when she discovers her father's soul at the record store, it rises. Other times, it's way underneath the surface. Not just as subtext, but as something hinted at in the spaces in between. In the words, and the scenes, and what's there, and what's not there.
Kadrey is a good writer. So good, I'm going to assume he knows the chestnut about showing and not telling. He's very good at showing. Light on the telling.
The obvious emotion running throughout the book is grief. Zoe's loss of her father. Her strained relationship with her mother. But in order for Kadrey to be able to sustain that sort of undercurrent all the time, he had to have been feeling grief himself. Not just emotion forced on the page, but a feeling that wells up inside you and pours out onto the page.
You feel sexy when writing a sex scene. You feel witty and clever when writing humor. These emotions are part of the larger book, but for me, the best books come from a place of pain. Of disquiet. Unrest. The main character needs something. Something desperately. Whether it's a sandwhich or true love, told well, we feel this yearning through the entire story, as something even deeper than subtext.
I believe that is where the words come from. The inspiration. The pain we feel in our hearts. The unrest. The easier we can tap into this feeling and just let it flow, let is simmer, the better our writing will be for it.
I'm not just talking about the subtext or surface emotions. I can think of a happy memory and feel happiness, but it doesn't last. For this other, more elusive feeling, it simply is. It just bubbles up from you--whether it's grief, or lust, or sadness, this is a state of being. Curiosity, a sense of justice. It's like a secret heart, beating inside the novel.
It then occurs to me that many writers were famous for being tortured. Hemingway. Fitzgerald. Plath. It's not that you can only be a good writer if you're borderline suicidal, but that these people have obviously had horrible things happen to them, and this infused their work.
I think you can be perfectly well adjusted and still feel disquiet. Or curious. Or rail against the injustice you see. And these feelings will then lend themselves to words, because it burns inside you to tell it.
I still don't know if I'm explaining myself properly, but it's the best I can do for now. In the meantime, I hope you all mine your own emotions, if only to exorcise them on the page.
*I totally stole this title from the name of a Bones episode, because it fit so well.
Monday, February 3, 2014
THIS
The Writing Process in Pictures
In case you're wondering where I'm at with the whole writing a book thing, THIS is the answer. Somewhere in the middle, between Jack wandering around aimlessly and the guy banging his head against the wall for the second time.
But in the immortal words of Joey Tribianni, "How YOU doin'?"
In case you're wondering where I'm at with the whole writing a book thing, THIS is the answer. Somewhere in the middle, between Jack wandering around aimlessly and the guy banging his head against the wall for the second time.
But in the immortal words of Joey Tribianni, "How YOU doin'?"
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Uplifting Links
Reporting from the daily slog here.
Life is setting into a semblance of a routine, although there's a lot of unpacking left to be done, and the floors need to be mopped again. But still. The weather is gorgeous here, with an average low of 75, and a high of 85. I take Connor outside to look at the nature and play on the playground and enjoy life in the Caribbean.
But the writing is a slog right now, so I needed a pick me up. Happily, I found some posts I found helpful, so I thought I would share them with you, because who doesn't need a pick me up? No one, that's who.
A Season in the Show
And this one:
It Takes the Time It Takes
So there's some wisdom for the beginning of your week.
Anyone up to anything new? How's the new year treating you so far?
If you'll excuse me, I have some words to write.
Life is setting into a semblance of a routine, although there's a lot of unpacking left to be done, and the floors need to be mopped again. But still. The weather is gorgeous here, with an average low of 75, and a high of 85. I take Connor outside to look at the nature and play on the playground and enjoy life in the Caribbean.
But the writing is a slog right now, so I needed a pick me up. Happily, I found some posts I found helpful, so I thought I would share them with you, because who doesn't need a pick me up? No one, that's who.
A Season in the Show
And this one:
It Takes the Time It Takes
So there's some wisdom for the beginning of your week.
Anyone up to anything new? How's the new year treating you so far?
If you'll excuse me, I have some words to write.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Milestones and Setback for 2013, Goals for 2014
Here's a really fun experiment.
This was my post last year, Milestones and Setbacks for 2012, Goals for 2013
All I can think of it wow. Wow wow. The places I am now, the places I thought I would be...looking back on the year and figuring out what you could have done better, different, and what you want to never changed. It's a strange feeling, like the room is spinning even though you're standing still.
I thought I would make a comment on my goals for this year and see what happened. I'm not going to say failed, because that's just too negative and I put enough stress on myself as it is.
My goals for this year, and how I stacked up:
*Finish writing Zombie Road Trip before the end of January
I did it! By the skin of my teeth, but I finished sometime around the second week of January *is too lazy to look up the exact date*
*Edit the pants off Zombie Road Trip
This sort of happened. I edited the crap out Zombie Road Trip. And then some more. And it's still off and wrong, and I can't figure out what direction to take the book it. It's just so personal and hard to read that I wind up needing long breaks away to get the distance I need to be able to actually edit it. Which sounds like bullshit, but it's the truth I am having a hard time admitting to.
*Query Zombie Road Trip
This so did not happen, and I need another good edit before it's ready for the betas. So yeah.
*Get website attached to blog soon
I didn't do that, but I did revamp my blog and add the pages I wanted. It's not nearly what I wanted it to be, but in the midst of moving and packing, something had to slide.
*Do more active things with blog--contests, give aways, guest posts etc
See above.
*Learn how to manage time better for everything--writing, life, friends and family
This actually happened. I manged to get into a routinue of when to do the dishes, to sweep and mop, to write and spend time with my husband. It's not perfect, and it falls apart when something happens, but it's there.
*Exercise regularly
Not quite as regular as I want, but for awhile before we moved I was doing a really good job of going out for a walk after dinner with the kid, and stretching in the morning. It's harder to do here, since we're inside an apartment complex, not a neighborhood, but there's places for it and I need to make the effort.
*Attend James Scott Bell's Next Level fiction writing seminar
Didn't happened; no money for it.
*Attend RWA that's being held in Atlanta next year (2013)
Also didn't happen.
*Attend Dragon*Con and spend lots of time with Rena.
Happened and it was so much fun!
*Make more time for reading
Done! I am reading like a mofo! Go me!
*Attend cousin's wedding in hometown of upstate New York
I went with Connor and my family. It was...surreal returning to my childhood home I'd hadn't seen in over a decade. I had a lot of fun.
*Plan meals better, and experiment more
Dinner is also happening, and I feel more in control. Not that I wasn't cooking before, but I only knew how to make a handful of meals that turned out well. Out of desperation and boredom, I'm trying recipes and making things yummy. I cooked Thanksgiving by myself this year after all!
*Maybe start a bento blog? Or post on here about bento adventures?
Not happening in the near future. Just, no.
*Finish ripping giant collection of cds into iTunes and finish music library once and for all
I also made some progress on this, hoping to not have to pack the hundreds of jewel cases I have, and made half way progress before we moved. So I compromised, and bought a giant CD holder where my CDs now live.
Okay so. That was last year.
Milestones, Events, Accomplishments:
*Moved to Puerto Rico
*Finished rewriting Zombie Road Trip
*Kept self and family alive (this counts! Don't laugh!)
*Read a lot of books this year
*Went to several author events
*Went to Dragon Con and it was AMAZING!
*Wrote 50K and 20K on two different manuscripts only to have my hard drive wipe and cut that in half.
Set Backs:
*Moved to Puerto Rico. Don't get me wrong, it's gorgeous here. But it was so not part of our five year plan. Sold my car, traded in my husband's Jeep and wound up having to get a more expensive one, sold most of our big furniture. Moved to a new country and had to start over with a lot of things we already had taken care of.
*Realized Zombie Road Trip still needs lots of edits. *weeps quietly*
*Hard drive wiped itself and took the knees out of both of my rough drafts. Much pitying and weeping and gnashing of the teeth happened.
Goals:
*FINISH UNPACKING THE HOUSE OH GOD THE BOXES
*Self publish a novella. Details to come
*Really seriously get this closer to what I want out of website. It's coming. I've got things in the works.
*Edit! Edit! Edit! Lots of editing in my future!
*Query. I'm thinking about revising Ghosts Between Us before tackling ZRT again, so we're leaving this open ended.
*Finish the two rough drafts I have started.
I feel like this list should be a lot longer, but I'm drawing blanks here. This is a good at-a-glance in any case. It's not like I don't have several major projects on the to-do list here.
So what are your plans? Any goals? Do you make lists like these, or do you prefer to live in bliss?
This was my post last year, Milestones and Setbacks for 2012, Goals for 2013
All I can think of it wow. Wow wow. The places I am now, the places I thought I would be...looking back on the year and figuring out what you could have done better, different, and what you want to never changed. It's a strange feeling, like the room is spinning even though you're standing still.
I thought I would make a comment on my goals for this year and see what happened. I'm not going to say failed, because that's just too negative and I put enough stress on myself as it is.
My goals for this year, and how I stacked up:
*Finish writing Zombie Road Trip before the end of January
I did it! By the skin of my teeth, but I finished sometime around the second week of January *is too lazy to look up the exact date*
*Edit the pants off Zombie Road Trip
This sort of happened. I edited the crap out Zombie Road Trip. And then some more. And it's still off and wrong, and I can't figure out what direction to take the book it. It's just so personal and hard to read that I wind up needing long breaks away to get the distance I need to be able to actually edit it. Which sounds like bullshit, but it's the truth I am having a hard time admitting to.
*Query Zombie Road Trip
This so did not happen, and I need another good edit before it's ready for the betas. So yeah.
*Get website attached to blog soon
I didn't do that, but I did revamp my blog and add the pages I wanted. It's not nearly what I wanted it to be, but in the midst of moving and packing, something had to slide.
*Do more active things with blog--contests, give aways, guest posts etc
See above.
*Learn how to manage time better for everything--writing, life, friends and family
This actually happened. I manged to get into a routinue of when to do the dishes, to sweep and mop, to write and spend time with my husband. It's not perfect, and it falls apart when something happens, but it's there.
*Exercise regularly
Not quite as regular as I want, but for awhile before we moved I was doing a really good job of going out for a walk after dinner with the kid, and stretching in the morning. It's harder to do here, since we're inside an apartment complex, not a neighborhood, but there's places for it and I need to make the effort.
*Attend James Scott Bell's Next Level fiction writing seminar
Didn't happened; no money for it.
*Attend RWA that's being held in Atlanta next year (2013)
Also didn't happen.
*Attend Dragon*Con and spend lots of time with Rena.
Happened and it was so much fun!
*Make more time for reading
Done! I am reading like a mofo! Go me!
*Attend cousin's wedding in hometown of upstate New York
I went with Connor and my family. It was...surreal returning to my childhood home I'd hadn't seen in over a decade. I had a lot of fun.
*Plan meals better, and experiment more
Dinner is also happening, and I feel more in control. Not that I wasn't cooking before, but I only knew how to make a handful of meals that turned out well. Out of desperation and boredom, I'm trying recipes and making things yummy. I cooked Thanksgiving by myself this year after all!
*Maybe start a bento blog? Or post on here about bento adventures?
Not happening in the near future. Just, no.
*Finish ripping giant collection of cds into iTunes and finish music library once and for all
I also made some progress on this, hoping to not have to pack the hundreds of jewel cases I have, and made half way progress before we moved. So I compromised, and bought a giant CD holder where my CDs now live.
Okay so. That was last year.
Milestones, Events, Accomplishments:
*Moved to Puerto Rico
*Finished rewriting Zombie Road Trip
*Kept self and family alive (this counts! Don't laugh!)
*Read a lot of books this year
*Went to several author events
*Went to Dragon Con and it was AMAZING!
*Wrote 50K and 20K on two different manuscripts only to have my hard drive wipe and cut that in half.
Set Backs:
*Moved to Puerto Rico. Don't get me wrong, it's gorgeous here. But it was so not part of our five year plan. Sold my car, traded in my husband's Jeep and wound up having to get a more expensive one, sold most of our big furniture. Moved to a new country and had to start over with a lot of things we already had taken care of.
*Realized Zombie Road Trip still needs lots of edits. *weeps quietly*
*Hard drive wiped itself and took the knees out of both of my rough drafts. Much pitying and weeping and gnashing of the teeth happened.
Goals:
*FINISH UNPACKING THE HOUSE OH GOD THE BOXES
*Self publish a novella. Details to come
*Really seriously get this closer to what I want out of website. It's coming. I've got things in the works.
*Edit! Edit! Edit! Lots of editing in my future!
*Query. I'm thinking about revising Ghosts Between Us before tackling ZRT again, so we're leaving this open ended.
*Finish the two rough drafts I have started.
I feel like this list should be a lot longer, but I'm drawing blanks here. This is a good at-a-glance in any case. It's not like I don't have several major projects on the to-do list here.
So what are your plans? Any goals? Do you make lists like these, or do you prefer to live in bliss?
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Back Up Your Stuff--Right Now!
Yesterday I suffered a devastating loss.
I've been using my lap top's hard drive to save my work because my desk top is on the boat with the rest of our stuff (still not here) and the casing on my external hard drive has popped open, and I was worried it would stop working.
But when I booted up the lap top yesterday, the computer had reset itself to it's settings from almost two years ago. I knew it right away when I saw the wallpaper I was using at the time. I've run scans and rebooted it in hopes that all of my hard work would come back, but I don't think that's going to happen.
Luckily, I saved my work on my husband's computer about two weeks ago, so I'm only a little behind. And by a little, I mean I lost 20K words on both of the manuscripts I've been working on. Not to mention the notes, the brainstorming, the novels I've been critiquing. It's all gone.
I'm getting a new external hard drive for Christmas, and I'm looking into a Carbonite subscription. If not for Christmas, then definitely after. I cannot think of how much worse I would feel if I lost EVERYTHING instead of just two weeks worth of stuff.
There's also services like DropBox and the iCloud, depending on what you want to pay (or not) and how much space you need. I want more space because I have family photos to save in addition to writing.
The point is, you need to save your stuff. Right now. If you're broke, sign up for DropBox and use the free space for the most important stuff. Email yourself your manuscripts. Print everything out and put them in a safe deposit box. Make sure that if God forbid, your computer gets stolen by a pack of rabid chimps, sets itself on fire, or disappears into an alternate universe, you don't lose everything.
I've lost work before. When I was in high school and we were still using floppy disks (the hard kind, not the actual floppy ones) I lost some disks of poetry and stories. It was just gone. No idea where it is. It always feels like a sucker punch to the gut, like something deep and important is gone and there's nothing you can do but mourn.
There's a lot of so called negatives to living in the computer era we do. We're growing up with completely different experiences than our parents and parent's parents. One of the best things, though, is the ability to inexpensively store information. So take advantage of that, and make sure your work is safe.
If anyone needs me in the meantime, I'm going to be laying on the couch eating chocolate for breakfast.
I've been using my lap top's hard drive to save my work because my desk top is on the boat with the rest of our stuff (still not here) and the casing on my external hard drive has popped open, and I was worried it would stop working.
But when I booted up the lap top yesterday, the computer had reset itself to it's settings from almost two years ago. I knew it right away when I saw the wallpaper I was using at the time. I've run scans and rebooted it in hopes that all of my hard work would come back, but I don't think that's going to happen.
Luckily, I saved my work on my husband's computer about two weeks ago, so I'm only a little behind. And by a little, I mean I lost 20K words on both of the manuscripts I've been working on. Not to mention the notes, the brainstorming, the novels I've been critiquing. It's all gone.
I'm getting a new external hard drive for Christmas, and I'm looking into a Carbonite subscription. If not for Christmas, then definitely after. I cannot think of how much worse I would feel if I lost EVERYTHING instead of just two weeks worth of stuff.
There's also services like DropBox and the iCloud, depending on what you want to pay (or not) and how much space you need. I want more space because I have family photos to save in addition to writing.
The point is, you need to save your stuff. Right now. If you're broke, sign up for DropBox and use the free space for the most important stuff. Email yourself your manuscripts. Print everything out and put them in a safe deposit box. Make sure that if God forbid, your computer gets stolen by a pack of rabid chimps, sets itself on fire, or disappears into an alternate universe, you don't lose everything.
I've lost work before. When I was in high school and we were still using floppy disks (the hard kind, not the actual floppy ones) I lost some disks of poetry and stories. It was just gone. No idea where it is. It always feels like a sucker punch to the gut, like something deep and important is gone and there's nothing you can do but mourn.
There's a lot of so called negatives to living in the computer era we do. We're growing up with completely different experiences than our parents and parent's parents. One of the best things, though, is the ability to inexpensively store information. So take advantage of that, and make sure your work is safe.
If anyone needs me in the meantime, I'm going to be laying on the couch eating chocolate for breakfast.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
The House That Structure Built
Update: editing hasn't kill me. Yet.
Neither has packing, although there was that time with the boxes of books that almost ended poorly.
Honestly, these update posts make me self conscious because I know I'm editing at the speed of a glacier. Most of my writer friends have started and finished their edits. Writers all over the blogosphere announce how happy they are to be done editing.
And still, I am revising. I'm not even done with the macro stuff yet.
I worry there's something wrong with me. That maybe I just suck, and can't edit my way out of a paper bag, and that's just it for me. But then I kick some sense into myself, and realize it's not really me, it's the book at this point. Because sweet magnolia cupcakes, this book has a lot of things wrong with it. My rough drafts are messy to begin with, but this baby was written in ten months, starting when my son was five months old and I was carving out fifteen minutes during nap time to write a few sentences. I suppose it's no wonder there's some serious issues such as structure, tone, and voice, all the way down to the minor stuff like how I fell in love with the word "just".
Or how I need to replot the entire thing. And kill some characters. And fix the plot holes. You know, the basics.
It's been very discouraging, because I feel like I'm taking too long. That I should be done now. It doesn't matter I only have about two hours a day, less lately since the son has decided to wake up between the hour and hour and a half mark from his nap. I've taken to staying up late a few nights to get some more time in. That lasts for a few days, and then I crash.
Lately, the moving thing, the whole let's go through our entire house worth of stuff and get rid of 50% of it so we can afford to move to Puerto Rico has cut into the writing time as well. My husband reports to work the first week of September, and now that our original plans of him staying in a friend's place for a month have changed, he has to get a place to stay a week after getting there (and staying in a hotel in the meantime). We're shipping our stuff over there a month earlier than expected.
So yeah, there's other stuff going on. But I still need to make time for writing, I still need to keep progressing even when that evil voice tells me I should just start all the way over. Again.
Because, here's the thing folks. Revision doesn't just teach you how to fix THIS book. I mean, yes, that's what you're doing when you revise. You're making the words not suck. But ideally, while you're revising, you're getting better at writing, so when the time comes to start a new rough draft, you're not making the same mistakes over and over again.
To do that, and to revise properly, you have to figure out what you did wrong the first time, and how to fix that.
As easy as it sounds, it can be very hard. Very mentally taxing. I find drafting emotionally draining (or rejuvenating, depending on the scene in question), but revision is mentally taxing. You're picturing the book in it's entirety and thinking about what happens if you shift this scene forward. Or you're just focusing on one scene, and reading through each line for the moment where the pacing slacks off. Either way, it makes my already tired brain tired.
So that's where I'm at, folks. I'm still editing, still toiling away. I'm making a lot of progress, don't get me wrong. I can see how each day of editing is moving me forward, and as soon as I figure out the new plot order, I can start the scene by scene stuff. But it still feels like it's taking forever and I should be done by now and I'm doomed and omg I'm just going to eat some chocolate and hide from the world.
Then I remind myself it's taken other authors years to finish their edits, if we're going to play the compare yourself to others game, and then I don't feel so bad.
So, sound off people. Where are you at in your writing? What do you do when it feels like it's taking too long?
Neither has packing, although there was that time with the boxes of books that almost ended poorly.
Honestly, these update posts make me self conscious because I know I'm editing at the speed of a glacier. Most of my writer friends have started and finished their edits. Writers all over the blogosphere announce how happy they are to be done editing.
And still, I am revising. I'm not even done with the macro stuff yet.
I worry there's something wrong with me. That maybe I just suck, and can't edit my way out of a paper bag, and that's just it for me. But then I kick some sense into myself, and realize it's not really me, it's the book at this point. Because sweet magnolia cupcakes, this book has a lot of things wrong with it. My rough drafts are messy to begin with, but this baby was written in ten months, starting when my son was five months old and I was carving out fifteen minutes during nap time to write a few sentences. I suppose it's no wonder there's some serious issues such as structure, tone, and voice, all the way down to the minor stuff like how I fell in love with the word "just".
Or how I need to replot the entire thing. And kill some characters. And fix the plot holes. You know, the basics.
It's been very discouraging, because I feel like I'm taking too long. That I should be done now. It doesn't matter I only have about two hours a day, less lately since the son has decided to wake up between the hour and hour and a half mark from his nap. I've taken to staying up late a few nights to get some more time in. That lasts for a few days, and then I crash.
Lately, the moving thing, the whole let's go through our entire house worth of stuff and get rid of 50% of it so we can afford to move to Puerto Rico has cut into the writing time as well. My husband reports to work the first week of September, and now that our original plans of him staying in a friend's place for a month have changed, he has to get a place to stay a week after getting there (and staying in a hotel in the meantime). We're shipping our stuff over there a month earlier than expected.
So yeah, there's other stuff going on. But I still need to make time for writing, I still need to keep progressing even when that evil voice tells me I should just start all the way over. Again.
Because, here's the thing folks. Revision doesn't just teach you how to fix THIS book. I mean, yes, that's what you're doing when you revise. You're making the words not suck. But ideally, while you're revising, you're getting better at writing, so when the time comes to start a new rough draft, you're not making the same mistakes over and over again.
To do that, and to revise properly, you have to figure out what you did wrong the first time, and how to fix that.
As easy as it sounds, it can be very hard. Very mentally taxing. I find drafting emotionally draining (or rejuvenating, depending on the scene in question), but revision is mentally taxing. You're picturing the book in it's entirety and thinking about what happens if you shift this scene forward. Or you're just focusing on one scene, and reading through each line for the moment where the pacing slacks off. Either way, it makes my already tired brain tired.
So that's where I'm at, folks. I'm still editing, still toiling away. I'm making a lot of progress, don't get me wrong. I can see how each day of editing is moving me forward, and as soon as I figure out the new plot order, I can start the scene by scene stuff. But it still feels like it's taking forever and I should be done by now and I'm doomed and omg I'm just going to eat some chocolate and hide from the world.
Then I remind myself it's taken other authors years to finish their edits, if we're going to play the compare yourself to others game, and then I don't feel so bad.
So, sound off people. Where are you at in your writing? What do you do when it feels like it's taking too long?
Friday, May 3, 2013
Wicked As She Wants Release Party
Today is the day!
I am going to Delilah Dawson's book launch party tonight for Wicked As She Wants, and I am so pumped!
I had the pleasure of meeting Delilah at Jordon Con a few weeks ago. I've been reading her Blud series for awhile now, so meeting her in person was a real treat.
If you haven't picked up one of her books yet, they are a brilliant blend of steampunk, romance, and alternate worlds. Once I got to the part with the bludbunnies (adorable, vicious bloodsucking rabbits) I was sold. The fact that the writing was awesome and the characters lovable was just cake.
I'll have a longer post later about the happenings of the launch party, but in the meantime you can amuse yourselves by checking out her books.
Try not to let the bunnies bite!
I am going to Delilah Dawson's book launch party tonight for Wicked As She Wants, and I am so pumped!
I had the pleasure of meeting Delilah at Jordon Con a few weeks ago. I've been reading her Blud series for awhile now, so meeting her in person was a real treat.
If you haven't picked up one of her books yet, they are a brilliant blend of steampunk, romance, and alternate worlds. Once I got to the part with the bludbunnies (adorable, vicious bloodsucking rabbits) I was sold. The fact that the writing was awesome and the characters lovable was just cake.
I'll have a longer post later about the happenings of the launch party, but in the meantime you can amuse yourselves by checking out her books.
Try not to let the bunnies bite!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
And Then THIS Happened!
This weekend I went to JordanCon and met... *drum roll* Seanan Mcguire.
*SWOON*
I know. I KNOW!
The best part? She was awesome! I was so nervous meeting one of my favorite authors. I write books myself, so I know it's not magic, but still...there's something about meeting the person responsible for so many amazing books that still makes me awestruck.
Now it's time for me to tell you a funny story, and you can all laugh at my expense.
When I walked into the room where the Urban Fantasy panel was being held, I was thinking I would stay in the room, get a good seat, and see the panelists as they were coming in. This would give me time to decide who people were.
Because I am crap with people's faces. Especially faces that I recognize from Internet photos. So when a bubbly blonde wearing an awesome pink shirt announced she had cupcakes and did anyone want one, I was thrown off. Then as she was speaking to someone else, she said "Seanan's house is unguarded since she's not home."
So I thought, no, that's not Seanan Mcguire. Even though she REALLY looks like her, it must be her sister or something. Then half of my brain piped up, "It is so her." "No it's not. You're going to call her Seanan Mcguire and you're going to be wrong and this wonderful blonde person will be so offended, and then the REAL Seanan will show up and also be offended."
In other to settle the debate before the panel started, I did the unthinkable--I asked. To her credit, she did not laugh at me. I then proceeded to draw a blank on all the things I wanted to say. My brain kicked into high gear, and I did the psycho-fan babble. She was nice and wonderful and encouraging, and didn't back away slowly.
What I didn't say is I had the same doubts about Deliah S. Dawson, Alex Hughes, and James R. Tuck, and only when they were sitting in front of their name badges did I know I was right.
Oh yes, did I mention? The panel was FILLED with awesome authors. The only author new to me was John Hartness, and he was wonderful. I will definitely be picking up his book.
 |
| Here they are, the bright minds of urban fantasy. There was a lot of swearing, as you would imagine. |
 |
| I don't remember what question Seanan was answering, but I am pretty sure she's talking about chainsaws. |
After the panel was over, I went up to swoon over Deliah Dawson, James R. Tuck, and Alex Hughes. And guys, they were so nice! Friendly, welcoming, just...really amazing people. I am still walking around on cloud nine.
So that was my weekend. How was yours?
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
New Adult: My Thoughts
I've let this post compost in the Drafts section for awhile. I wanted to make sure my thoughts were well thought out, instead of just a reaction to the current articles.
As a result, these links are a few weeks old, but still relevant. You should check them out if you want to find out more about this new genre.
http://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/new-adult-its-not-about-the-sex-but-dont-be-afraid-of-the-sex-either/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/books/young-adult-authors-add-steaminess-to-their-tales.html
http://bloggers-heart-books.blogspot.com/2012/12/new-adult-nuisance-or-necessary.html
http://jezebel.com/5970716/new-adult-fiction-has-tons-of-sexy-sex-for-the-millennial-reader-trapped-in-adolescence
As I tweeted to Sara Megibow, I am honestly a little disappointed that this new genre is being touted as YA with sex. I know that's not all this genre is about; I certainly am not trying to stereotype any of the books or authors coming out. I agree that we needs more YA books that handle sex in an adult manner. We need books about teens and young adults going through their first sexual experiences. I know people think sex in books will encourage kids to have sex, but I don't agree. If they want to read books with sex in them, all they have to do is pick up a romance novel.
It would be better in the long run if they could read about a character's first experience with sex in a variety of different forms and out comes, and make their own personal decisions from there. I firmly believe we read books for a vicarious experience. I want a book to make me think and see an old topic from a new perspective, but it's also training wheels. I know from reading tons of horror, if there's a crazed serial killer on the loose who wants to kill me dead, I will not go into the darkened basement sans flashlight.
Some of my favorite books growing up were by Judy Blume, who tackled the topic of sex with realism and depth. I watched my friends and associates struggle through their first sexual experiences, and I can't help but think a little more preparation might have been nice. I knew girls who had sex to make a guy like them, because they were curious, because they wanted to get it over with, so they could be better in bed for when their real crush asked them out. Because they thought they were in love, and because they knew they weren't but they wanted to get back at an ex-boyfriend.
I know this would have happened regardless of the amount of sex in YA, but I think if we could have experienced these things through the lens of a character, it might have helped some of us work through our issues (for the record, none of these girls were me. I was terrified of the idea of a guy seeing me naked, so I waited until I was a) older and b) knew I was really in love. There's your TMI for the day.).
So yes, I am all for sex in New Adult. But is that all there is?
What about the entire experience of remaking yourself? What about going through being a responsible adult for the first time? Your entire life up to this point centered around school. Your friends, love interests, and associates were completely dependent upon geography. These days the Internet can fill in some of these gaps, but you can't tell me having three dozen friends on the Internet who like the same things you do will make up for eating lunch at school alone.
I had friends in high school, but as you know, I am a nerd. I played Dungeons and Dragons. I read fantasy books. I watched a ton of anime. I went to high school during a time these things were not cool. Becoming an adult...I just can't explain the amount of freedom I felt getting out into the real world and no longer being judged (as much) by my reading preferences.
The things they tell you matter in high school (getting good grades, being a jock) no longer matter. The manager at your crappy minimum wage job gives not one single shite that you were a quarterback in high school.
Even if your parents made you pay for stuff, getting an apartment for the first time will not prepare you. It will not prepare you for prioritizing your bills, and realizing after you paid rent, your car note, insurance, and the utilities, you have fifty dollars left to buy food.
If you never went grocery shopping alone, taking that fifty dollars to the store will not prepare you for how little that will actually buy. Let's not even discuss junk food.
I wish there was more emphasis on EVERYTHING there is to learn and figure out about being an adult. Not just the sex part.
New Adult looks like a promising genre, but I wish there was more focus on other things than just the sex. Because "YA with sexy parts" does not a genre make.
What do you think?
Monday, April 8, 2013
First Lines
Chuck Wendig has a cool flash fiction challenge this week you might want to check out, but that's not why I am posting.
I am posting because if you check out the comments section, you will see three hundred (and counting) first lines. I find it very illuminating to read nothing but first lines. When I was first starting out, I wanted a hooky first line. Something that really punched you in the face.
And a really hooky first line that works with the rest of the paragraph? That's amazing. But I've learned over the years that coming up with something really hooky isn't as hard as I thought, but connecting it to the rest of the paragraph and story is nearly impossible. A really hooky first line demands your attention.
For example, one I just made up just now: "The last time I died I thought I would come back as an angel."
It's pretty crappy, I know, but work with me here. Look at how much attention that sentence calls to itself. "I'm interesting and mysterious! Look, my main character died and came back as something other than an angel! How cool is that??"
Attention is a good thing when a reader is browsing through books at the bookstore. *insert obligatory joke about how bookstores are disappearing and soon we'll have nothing but digital books and it's the bookocalypse* *curls into the fetal position and cries* But if that sentence doesn't flow naturally into the next paragraph, and into the first page and so on, it's got to go. Seriously. Sometimes a more quiet opening line can pack a bigger punch.
Hooky first lines can be great. The current opening line to Zombie Road Trip is: "The first time I ever raised a dead body was at my grandmother's funeral."
It's still rough, and might change, but for the time being, it flows. The next line is: "It was basically like Night of the Living Dead, the Grandma edition."
Each sentence needs to build on the previous one, or the reader's attention is going to wan. A slight less hooky first line, but one that flows perfectly into the next few lines is much better than a hooky first line that just sits there.
But these are just my thoughts.
What do you think?
I am posting because if you check out the comments section, you will see three hundred (and counting) first lines. I find it very illuminating to read nothing but first lines. When I was first starting out, I wanted a hooky first line. Something that really punched you in the face.
And a really hooky first line that works with the rest of the paragraph? That's amazing. But I've learned over the years that coming up with something really hooky isn't as hard as I thought, but connecting it to the rest of the paragraph and story is nearly impossible. A really hooky first line demands your attention.
For example, one I just made up just now: "The last time I died I thought I would come back as an angel."
It's pretty crappy, I know, but work with me here. Look at how much attention that sentence calls to itself. "I'm interesting and mysterious! Look, my main character died and came back as something other than an angel! How cool is that??"
Attention is a good thing when a reader is browsing through books at the bookstore. *insert obligatory joke about how bookstores are disappearing and soon we'll have nothing but digital books and it's the bookocalypse* *curls into the fetal position and cries* But if that sentence doesn't flow naturally into the next paragraph, and into the first page and so on, it's got to go. Seriously. Sometimes a more quiet opening line can pack a bigger punch.
Hooky first lines can be great. The current opening line to Zombie Road Trip is: "The first time I ever raised a dead body was at my grandmother's funeral."
It's still rough, and might change, but for the time being, it flows. The next line is: "It was basically like Night of the Living Dead, the Grandma edition."
Each sentence needs to build on the previous one, or the reader's attention is going to wan. A slight less hooky first line, but one that flows perfectly into the next few lines is much better than a hooky first line that just sits there.
But these are just my thoughts.
What do you think?
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Done
So I am done with the first draft of Zombie Road Trip.
I don't feel excited yet. Mostly, I feel like a fake. That's because my endings in the first draft suck. They suck big time. They suck so much they create tiny black holes stealing all my joy. When I say I am finished, I feel like I am anything but.
It's not until a few days later do I start to feel joy at being finished. I know people talk about post-novel ennui, and for me, it comes on quick wings of loathing. Of realizing how awful the ending is, how big the plot holes are, etc etc etc...
Yes, I am a perfectionist. Most people say that with a certain amount of pride. That they demand a high quality in themselves. That IS something to be proud of, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it in small doses. But I'm not talking about spell checking something before you send it to your boss.
I'm talking about never wanting to let anyone see something until it's "good enough". And since it will never be "good enough" in your eyes, no one ever sees anything. That's why I've written five novels and never queried one. That's why when I finish a first draft all I initially feel is despair at how awful it is.
And that why I am breaking the cycle with this book. I've let people read the first draft, warts and all, despite how much I want to crawl in a hole and die at the thought, and why after a break, I'm going to revise the crap out of this book, and then I am going to send out some queries.
In the meantime, I am going to be celebrating and telling everyone who will listen that I am DONE with this draft.
EDITED TO ADD: My friend Liz has advised me that I can improve my crappy ending by adding: AND THEN THEY ALL DIED. THE END.
Or if I was feeling optimistic: AND THEN THEY HAD SEX.
I think I am going with: AND THEN THEY SAVED THE WORLD AND EVERYONE WAS HAPPY AND GOT KICK BUTT AGENTS AND AWESOME BOOK DEALS.
THE END.
I don't feel excited yet. Mostly, I feel like a fake. That's because my endings in the first draft suck. They suck big time. They suck so much they create tiny black holes stealing all my joy. When I say I am finished, I feel like I am anything but.
It's not until a few days later do I start to feel joy at being finished. I know people talk about post-novel ennui, and for me, it comes on quick wings of loathing. Of realizing how awful the ending is, how big the plot holes are, etc etc etc...
Yes, I am a perfectionist. Most people say that with a certain amount of pride. That they demand a high quality in themselves. That IS something to be proud of, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it in small doses. But I'm not talking about spell checking something before you send it to your boss.
I'm talking about never wanting to let anyone see something until it's "good enough". And since it will never be "good enough" in your eyes, no one ever sees anything. That's why I've written five novels and never queried one. That's why when I finish a first draft all I initially feel is despair at how awful it is.
And that why I am breaking the cycle with this book. I've let people read the first draft, warts and all, despite how much I want to crawl in a hole and die at the thought, and why after a break, I'm going to revise the crap out of this book, and then I am going to send out some queries.
In the meantime, I am going to be celebrating and telling everyone who will listen that I am DONE with this draft.
EDITED TO ADD: My friend Liz has advised me that I can improve my crappy ending by adding: AND THEN THEY ALL DIED. THE END.
Or if I was feeling optimistic: AND THEN THEY HAD SEX.
I think I am going with: AND THEN THEY SAVED THE WORLD AND EVERYONE WAS HAPPY AND GOT KICK BUTT AGENTS AND AWESOME BOOK DEALS.
THE END.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Question: Should You Rewrite Every Trunk Novel?
My friend Joe and I were talking about rewriting old trunk novels. He's in the middle of redoing several books he's already finished, and me...well, you know me. I've done several rewrites with various results.
It got me thinking. There's trunk novels I've written that I still love, despite how broken they are. Every book really does teach you something, and if I didn't love something about it, I wouldn't have written it in the first place. I look back on them fondly, but realize that no amount of revision would save those books. If I ever wanted to unearth the premises and characters, I would have to start from scratch.
But should you?
Is it really necessary to rewrite every good idea you've ever had? A certain amount of reusing old ideas is going to happen no matter what, so parts of those books will live on. But maybe at the end of the day, it's necessary to let go of an idea, a setting, a group of characters, no matter how awesome they are, and move on.
I don't think I'm going to redo every book I've ever written. Sometimes you just have to put them in a trunk and call them done. It's sort of freeing, when you let it go like that.
What do you think? Would you go back and redo every good idea you have, or just let them be training wheels?
It got me thinking. There's trunk novels I've written that I still love, despite how broken they are. Every book really does teach you something, and if I didn't love something about it, I wouldn't have written it in the first place. I look back on them fondly, but realize that no amount of revision would save those books. If I ever wanted to unearth the premises and characters, I would have to start from scratch.
But should you?
Is it really necessary to rewrite every good idea you've ever had? A certain amount of reusing old ideas is going to happen no matter what, so parts of those books will live on. But maybe at the end of the day, it's necessary to let go of an idea, a setting, a group of characters, no matter how awesome they are, and move on.
I don't think I'm going to redo every book I've ever written. Sometimes you just have to put them in a trunk and call them done. It's sort of freeing, when you let it go like that.
What do you think? Would you go back and redo every good idea you have, or just let them be training wheels?
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Birth of a Novel: The (Not) Birthday Edition
Last Thursday I was going to write a Birth of a Novel post, and call it the birthday edition. Because January third is my birthday, naturally.But, life had other plans, and it's a week later. The baby and the husband were both sick, and there was one night where the baby didn't sleep at all. We're talking crying out in his sleep from ten until two when I got him up, to being awake from two until five when he passed out from exhaustion.
Then he woke up at eight in the morning.
Yes. I was miserable. The very limits of my patience were tested and exceeded. Parenting: not for the weak of heart.
I got him to go back to sleep until eleven, and I spent the day on the couch staring at the TV, counting down to nap time.
Couple this with being very stuck on my book, and I don't have a lot of progress to report on my word count. I did sit down yesterday, after sleeping great for the last two nights, and hammer out some brainstorming.
See, the thing is, the book has veered wildly off course. I have ideas of characters and plot threads to put into the book, but they're not there yet. Things are very different, and I am having a hard time building up to the climax when the beginning and the middle of the book don't really match up.
I read this post by Laini Taylor today that made me feel much better. Most of my panic is because I don't know what happens next. It makes me very comfortable. The book feels like it's coming apart at the seams and I have no idea what to build towards.
I have to remember that a lot of writing comes from faith. You have to believe in yourself; in your ability to spin something out of nothing. I made everything up--all the characters, the plot events, the setting. All of it. It came from my brain.
Sometimes, you have to trust your brain to come up with stuff later. You might not have the answer right away, and that's scary. But that's okay. The answer will come.
I'm not sitting and waiting for inspiration. Yesterday's brainstorming session was very productive, so today I am going to try and re-outline the rest of the book.
If you build it, they will come.
So remember. Trust your brain.
How about you? How's the book coming along? What about the rest of your plans?
Monday, December 31, 2012
Milestones and Setbacks of 2012, Goals for 2013
I'm going to go ahead and say that one of the biggest milestones of 2012 is that the Mayan Apocalypse didn't happen. As someone who has intricately thought through what it would be like in any apocalypse scenario, I can say most of us wouldn't do well. Not well at all.
Aside from that, it's been a very eventful year. Kameron Hurley has an awesome post where she talks about things she wanted to get done this year, and where she succeeded and failed.
Inspired to do the same, I present to you this post.
Milestones, Events, Accomplishments:
*Gave birth to my son
*Did not die of sleep deprivation (yet)
*Managed to not smother my husband in his sleep (placed on list at husband's request)
*Quit job to stay home with my son
*Started rewriting my book, Zombie Road Trip
*Moved into a bigger house
*Bought new computer
*Organized most of music library and figured out how to fix the messed up songs that WMA messed up
*Went to Dragon*Con and got to spend time with Rena
*Started Pinterest boards to help mind map book ideas. You can see them here.
*Made new friends via Twitter, Internet stalking, etc
*Read lots of book on the craft of writing, and regular fiction
Set Backs:
*Did not finish rewrite of Zombie Road Trip (I could have pushed through and wrote the last 15K(?) before the New Year, but I needed to stop and brainstorm the last act)
*Neglected this blog something fierce. Sitting at under 80 followers for a long time.
*Did not get website up and running
*Certain family relationships have deteriorated with no fix for the foreseeable future
*Still beta reading too slow
*House work and other Real Life Stuff piles up to near breaking point, so I manically clean/work on things/run errands
*Barely exercising
*Not reading as much as I would like
*Still not cooking as much as I want to
Goals:
*Finish writing Zombie Road Trip before the end of January
*Edit the pants off Zombie Road Trip
*Query Zombie Road Trip
*Get website attached to blog soon
*Do more active things with blog--contests, give aways, guest posts etc
*Learn how to manage time better for everything--writing, life, friends and family
*Exercise regularly
*Attend James Scott Bell's Next Level fiction writing seminar
*Attend RWA that's being held in Atlanta next year (2013)
*Attend Dragon*Con and spend lots of time with Rena.
*Make more time for reading
*Attend cousin's wedding in hometown of upstate New York
*Plan meals better, and experiment more
*Maybe start a bento blog? Or post on here about bento adventures?
*Finish ripping giant collection of cds into iTunes and finish music library once and for all
That's my accomplishments and set backs for this year, and my goals for the next.
What are you guys planning for 2013? Feel free to post in the comments section what you're doing!
 | |||
| It's funny because it's true. |
Inspired to do the same, I present to you this post.
Milestones, Events, Accomplishments:
*Gave birth to my son
*Did not die of sleep deprivation (yet)
*Managed to not smother my husband in his sleep (placed on list at husband's request)
*Quit job to stay home with my son
*Started rewriting my book, Zombie Road Trip
*Moved into a bigger house
*Bought new computer
*Organized most of music library and figured out how to fix the messed up songs that WMA messed up
*Went to Dragon*Con and got to spend time with Rena
*Started Pinterest boards to help mind map book ideas. You can see them here.
*Made new friends via Twitter, Internet stalking, etc
*Read lots of book on the craft of writing, and regular fiction
Set Backs:
*Did not finish rewrite of Zombie Road Trip (I could have pushed through and wrote the last 15K(?) before the New Year, but I needed to stop and brainstorm the last act)
*Neglected this blog something fierce. Sitting at under 80 followers for a long time.
*Did not get website up and running
*Certain family relationships have deteriorated with no fix for the foreseeable future
*Still beta reading too slow
*House work and other Real Life Stuff piles up to near breaking point, so I manically clean/work on things/run errands
*Barely exercising
*Not reading as much as I would like
*Still not cooking as much as I want to
Goals:
*Finish writing Zombie Road Trip before the end of January
*Edit the pants off Zombie Road Trip
*Query Zombie Road Trip
*Get website attached to blog soon
*Do more active things with blog--contests, give aways, guest posts etc
*Learn how to manage time better for everything--writing, life, friends and family
*Exercise regularly
*Attend James Scott Bell's Next Level fiction writing seminar
*Attend RWA that's being held in Atlanta next year (2013)
*Attend Dragon*Con and spend lots of time with Rena.
*Make more time for reading
*Attend cousin's wedding in hometown of upstate New York
*Plan meals better, and experiment more
*Maybe start a bento blog? Or post on here about bento adventures?
*Finish ripping giant collection of cds into iTunes and finish music library once and for all
That's my accomplishments and set backs for this year, and my goals for the next.
What are you guys planning for 2013? Feel free to post in the comments section what you're doing!
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Holidays, Writings, and Apocalypses
As I write this, I am holed up in a bunker hoping to escape detection from our machine overlords...
Okay, not really. I couldn't resist the urge to make a plug about the failed apocalypse. From someone who is writing about the zombie apocalypse, it would be irresponsible of me to NOT plug the apocalypse. Not that I was actually hoping the world would go down in flames. No, seriously. I know I write about apocalypses a lot but it doesn't mean I'm super crazy...
*awkward silence*
Anyway...
The book is coming along, but I'm slogging through. It feels like work, and that every word I type is drivel, but I am advancing ever onward to the end of the book anyway. I just hit 77K, and I should be almost done. It's hard to tell, since the beginning in no way shape or form matches the middle of the book.
When the book is a slog like this, when you're Internal Editor screams at you that the book is wrecked, you're doomed, and you should start over now, all you can do is take it word by word. Paragraph by paragraph. Scene by scene.
I literally cannot remember how I finished the other books. I've written five full length books, and I know each time I hit this place, that everything is coming undone and it's too wrecked to continue and I should just give up. Start over.
I've listened to that voice before, for various reasons. I'm not saying NEVER listen to that voice, but there comes a time when you have to just finish the book and see what you have. You can't hit a moving a target (technically, if you're a good shot, you CAN, but for the purposes of this metaphor, you CAN'T) and you can't edit an incomplete book.
I know I've moved past this horrible, sucky feeling at least five times (more, actually, because I have more books that are technically finished, but I don't count for various reasons), but I can't remember how. It's weird. They say you forget the pain of labor, otherwise women would only ever have one kid, but that is so not true. I remember every hour of that 30+ labor, but I can't really remember moving from suck to finished.
So I focus on my writing for today. I focus on the scene I am currently in, and what might happen directly afterwards. So far, it's working. I don't think I'll be finished writing before the New Year, which was my goal, but I am super close, so maybe in time for my birthday (January 3rd).
In holiday news, Christmas is almost here and we're so excited. It's Connor's first Christmas, and he turns ten months old the day before Christmas. He already got to open his presents from my in laws because they've going to be out of town. He got some fun baby activity centers and a walker he's been driving around the living room for the past hour.
My in laws got my husband and I a GRILL! I know, right??? We've wanted a grill so bad, but living in an apartment we were never allowed to have one. Something about a fire hazard or something.
I know I'll be doing a lot of grilling in the week to come, and not just my characters! Zing!
Wait, come on guys, that was funny...
So as the year comes to a close, what are your holiday plans?
Okay, not really. I couldn't resist the urge to make a plug about the failed apocalypse. From someone who is writing about the zombie apocalypse, it would be irresponsible of me to NOT plug the apocalypse. Not that I was actually hoping the world would go down in flames. No, seriously. I know I write about apocalypses a lot but it doesn't mean I'm super crazy...
*awkward silence*
Anyway...
The book is coming along, but I'm slogging through. It feels like work, and that every word I type is drivel, but I am advancing ever onward to the end of the book anyway. I just hit 77K, and I should be almost done. It's hard to tell, since the beginning in no way shape or form matches the middle of the book.
When the book is a slog like this, when you're Internal Editor screams at you that the book is wrecked, you're doomed, and you should start over now, all you can do is take it word by word. Paragraph by paragraph. Scene by scene.
I literally cannot remember how I finished the other books. I've written five full length books, and I know each time I hit this place, that everything is coming undone and it's too wrecked to continue and I should just give up. Start over.
I've listened to that voice before, for various reasons. I'm not saying NEVER listen to that voice, but there comes a time when you have to just finish the book and see what you have. You can't hit a moving a target (technically, if you're a good shot, you CAN, but for the purposes of this metaphor, you CAN'T) and you can't edit an incomplete book.
I know I've moved past this horrible, sucky feeling at least five times (more, actually, because I have more books that are technically finished, but I don't count for various reasons), but I can't remember how. It's weird. They say you forget the pain of labor, otherwise women would only ever have one kid, but that is so not true. I remember every hour of that 30+ labor, but I can't really remember moving from suck to finished.
So I focus on my writing for today. I focus on the scene I am currently in, and what might happen directly afterwards. So far, it's working. I don't think I'll be finished writing before the New Year, which was my goal, but I am super close, so maybe in time for my birthday (January 3rd).
In holiday news, Christmas is almost here and we're so excited. It's Connor's first Christmas, and he turns ten months old the day before Christmas. He already got to open his presents from my in laws because they've going to be out of town. He got some fun baby activity centers and a walker he's been driving around the living room for the past hour.
My in laws got my husband and I a GRILL! I know, right??? We've wanted a grill so bad, but living in an apartment we were never allowed to have one. Something about a fire hazard or something.
I know I'll be doing a lot of grilling in the week to come, and not just my characters! Zing!
Wait, come on guys, that was funny...
So as the year comes to a close, what are your holiday plans?
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Birth of a Novel Progress
I've been making intermittent progress lately, but it's all in a good direction. Time really is a funny thing. It can slip through your fingers if you're not paying attention, but if you watch the clock too closely it seems to crawl by.
But these are not new observations.
I've passed the 60K mark, and this feels like a bigger milestone than 50K for some reason. I guess it's because I am more than half way done, and that feels better.
The best news is I've fallen in love with my book again. Books are a little like being married, especially if you're in the long haul for drafting. Writing a novel in a month or two is a little like having a short, passionate fling. When the writing goes longer than that, you have to keep falling in love with the book, over and over again, or you're doomed.
Or it feels like doom, anyway.
The important thing is I've rediscovered my passion and zeal for this book, reminded myself why I started it so long ago, and I look forward to writing. Writing isn't always about sunshine and love and passion, but it should be there often enough, or you start to question why you even bother.
So here's to falling in love, all over again. *lifts a glass of champagne* I hope you rekindle the love you have for your book soon. I hear diamonds help. ;)
What about you? How goes your novel progress?
But these are not new observations.
I've passed the 60K mark, and this feels like a bigger milestone than 50K for some reason. I guess it's because I am more than half way done, and that feels better.
The best news is I've fallen in love with my book again. Books are a little like being married, especially if you're in the long haul for drafting. Writing a novel in a month or two is a little like having a short, passionate fling. When the writing goes longer than that, you have to keep falling in love with the book, over and over again, or you're doomed.
Or it feels like doom, anyway.
The important thing is I've rediscovered my passion and zeal for this book, reminded myself why I started it so long ago, and I look forward to writing. Writing isn't always about sunshine and love and passion, but it should be there often enough, or you start to question why you even bother.
So here's to falling in love, all over again. *lifts a glass of champagne* I hope you rekindle the love you have for your book soon. I hear diamonds help. ;)
What about you? How goes your novel progress?
Monday, November 19, 2012
Updates and More!
There's not a whole lot to update on you on, other than to say I am still not sleeping well, am running around like a chicken with my head cut off preparing for the T-word this Thursday (shhh, don't say it or I will break out in hives), and finishing the house.
We're basically unpacked, thanks to the help from my family, and I've basically gotten back into the swing of things, but time is still at a high premium.
I am not writing nearly as much as I want to, but I am glad I am doing NaNo all the same. I am making time and forcing myself to write words here and there, when normally I would say I didn't have enough time and move on to a chore.
The end result is I am not making as much progress as I would have wanted to before the month started (and I was still harboring delusions that I would have more time), but I am making progress.
Progress counts.
It's a good lesson that even when you're busy and life gets in the way, you can still make time for writing.
So how are you all doing? Have the holidays gotten you yet, or are you holed up indoors with a shotgun at the ready?
PS: I have no idea what I was thinking when I said "and More!" in the title. I have no "and More!".
Except this picture:
PPS: And this Tumblr. It's hilarious.
We're basically unpacked, thanks to the help from my family, and I've basically gotten back into the swing of things, but time is still at a high premium.
I am not writing nearly as much as I want to, but I am glad I am doing NaNo all the same. I am making time and forcing myself to write words here and there, when normally I would say I didn't have enough time and move on to a chore.
The end result is I am not making as much progress as I would have wanted to before the month started (and I was still harboring delusions that I would have more time), but I am making progress.
Progress counts.
It's a good lesson that even when you're busy and life gets in the way, you can still make time for writing.
So how are you all doing? Have the holidays gotten you yet, or are you holed up indoors with a shotgun at the ready?
PS: I have no idea what I was thinking when I said "and More!" in the title. I have no "and More!".
Except this picture:
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| Free Digital Pictures |
PPS: And this Tumblr. It's hilarious.
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