Hello my lovely Bloggy Buddies! I'm very pleased to announce that I am officially back to blogging! I miss you all so much, I just couldn't stay away too long.
And to show how much I love and adore you, and have missed the pants off you (okay not literally...because that would be weird) Colene Murphy and I have decide to hold a little contest! Yep, she's back too! We're comin' back in style, my peeps!
It's SO super easy and I would feel oh-so-loved if you'd just leave a comment here and tell me which book you've been DYING to read but just haven't gotten around to it. If you win, I'll buy it for you! (or if you have a favorite book that you'd like to own, put that down!) Plus, you have TWO chances to win- leave a comment here, and jump on over to Colene's blog and leave a comment there! We'll be picking 2 winners on Monday January 16.
Anyway, so now that that is out of the way, I'll just do a quick little list of what I've been up to while I've been gone.
1. Finish revising WIP to make it shine.
2. Write the dreaded synopsis and subsequently kill my crit partners with boredom.
3. Drive Little Monster back and forth to school, activities, parties, and gymnastics.
4. Catch up on reading- I almost forgot how to do that.
5. Keep my house above sanitation codes.
6. Start NEW WIP, yay!
Welp, that about sums up my break!
Now I want to hear what YOU'VE been up to! Please please let me know because I really have thought about you a lot during my break.
So remember to let me know what book you'd love for me to get you (don't forget an email if its not attached to your account), tell me how you've been doing, and go see Colene! Contest closes Sunday January 15th!
I'm so glad to be back and see your shining faces! Tootles and mwah!
Showing posts with label WIP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WIP. Show all posts
Monday, January 2, 2012
Monday, July 25, 2011
Bright and Shiny and New
So you know how while you're in the middle of one manuscript, a new idea for another pops into your head? So you frantically open a new document and furiously type out your idea to make sure it doesn't float away. Then you close it and continue on your trusty manuscript in front of you because even though your heart is screaming "WRITE THE NEW ONE! WRITE THE NEW ONE!" your brain is screaming "DON'T GIVE IN! THIS IS WHAT SEPARATES REAL AUTHORS FROM THOSE WHO DON'T EVER FINISH MANUSCRIPTS!" So you listen to your brain (hopefully...if not, you'll get there) and finish your current WIP. Ahhhhhhh.
Now.
It's time.
In the midst of those edits of your trusty current WIP (c'mon, we all need a little break from mind numbing edits) you open that word document you so frantically typed up 6 months ago.
And there it is.
Your bright and shiny new idea.
Your heart beats faster, your fingers itch to start typing. Your characters are screaming in your head to be let out and the story is bursting at the seams ready to be told. Every day as you edit your current love, the new love calls your name.
Your mind churns while at work and you have to grab any piece of scrap paper to jot down the ideas that are rolling around. You come to revelations while in the middle of a playdate. So you try to type up some kind of cryptic notes on your phone praying you'll remember what they mean (and praying the other moms don't think you're a crappy mom for seemingly texting on your phone all day) (and praying that your child doesn't fall on her face while you aren't watching...oh wait, mine already did that).
That's where I'm at right now. I have that old feeling I got when I started writing my first novel. That feeling that made my hands twitch all day, itching to write it all down. For now, I'm satisfied with beefing up my notes and fleshing out the plot. I've written the first chapter. Now it is waiting patiently for me to finish my edits.
Because I have to balance myself. I still have to reign myself in and truly finish this first ms so I can start querying. And once the querying starts, I can pour myself into my bright and shiny new novel. Because if my current WIP doesn't cut it, I have to have this one ready to try.
And if this new one doesn't work, I have tons of other bright and shiny new ideas waiting their turn.
That's what makes writing exciting for me. That is what keeps me coming back.
P.S. I know I've been pretty nonexistent anyway, but I will be taking August off of blogging to finish up my editing. Hope you all have a fantastic end to your summer and are ready to face all the fun things that come with Fall!
Now.
It's time.
In the midst of those edits of your trusty current WIP (c'mon, we all need a little break from mind numbing edits) you open that word document you so frantically typed up 6 months ago.
And there it is.
Your bright and shiny new idea.
Your heart beats faster, your fingers itch to start typing. Your characters are screaming in your head to be let out and the story is bursting at the seams ready to be told. Every day as you edit your current love, the new love calls your name.
Your mind churns while at work and you have to grab any piece of scrap paper to jot down the ideas that are rolling around. You come to revelations while in the middle of a playdate. So you try to type up some kind of cryptic notes on your phone praying you'll remember what they mean (and praying the other moms don't think you're a crappy mom for seemingly texting on your phone all day) (and praying that your child doesn't fall on her face while you aren't watching...oh wait, mine already did that).
That's where I'm at right now. I have that old feeling I got when I started writing my first novel. That feeling that made my hands twitch all day, itching to write it all down. For now, I'm satisfied with beefing up my notes and fleshing out the plot. I've written the first chapter. Now it is waiting patiently for me to finish my edits.
Because I have to balance myself. I still have to reign myself in and truly finish this first ms so I can start querying. And once the querying starts, I can pour myself into my bright and shiny new novel. Because if my current WIP doesn't cut it, I have to have this one ready to try.
And if this new one doesn't work, I have tons of other bright and shiny new ideas waiting their turn.
That's what makes writing exciting for me. That is what keeps me coming back.
P.S. I know I've been pretty nonexistent anyway, but I will be taking August off of blogging to finish up my editing. Hope you all have a fantastic end to your summer and are ready to face all the fun things that come with Fall!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Banned from Blogger
Hey everyone! Sorry for my absence last week. Hubs and Little Monster were out of town so I took the opportunity to crank out the rest of my edits for my WIP. So after hours of editing, possible hallucinations, and a sore butt my first round of edits are officially done!!
BUT
Yes, there's a but....
Now it's on to my 2nd round of edits from my 3 crit partners....le sigh....
SO
I am on a Major Editing (Salute -- Major Editing) roll right now, and don't want to lose steam, so I've banned myself from blogger until I can crank out at least the first part of my 2nd round of edits.
My attendance will be sporadic at best, but please know I still love you guys! But a book won't publish itself on it's own, so I gotta take some action here.
I will leave you with some pearls of wisdom: When you are home alone for a whole week, you may want to maintain contact with the outside world. By the end of the week, I'm pretty sure I had a Girls Night with two of my main characters. Complete with pillow fights in our underwear, consuming mass quantities of cookie dough, and watching Beaches.
BUT
Yes, there's a but....
Now it's on to my 2nd round of edits from my 3 crit partners....le sigh....
SO
I am on a Major Editing (Salute -- Major Editing) roll right now, and don't want to lose steam, so I've banned myself from blogger until I can crank out at least the first part of my 2nd round of edits.
My attendance will be sporadic at best, but please know I still love you guys! But a book won't publish itself on it's own, so I gotta take some action here.
I will leave you with some pearls of wisdom: When you are home alone for a whole week, you may want to maintain contact with the outside world. By the end of the week, I'm pretty sure I had a Girls Night with two of my main characters. Complete with pillow fights in our underwear, consuming mass quantities of cookie dough, and watching Beaches.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Hacking The WIP
I've had a revelation.
A couple weeks ago, after careful debating, consideration, and frantically emailing my crit partner, I've come to the conclusion that I need to hack a major part of my WIP.
For some reason I thought I needed to have both my main character's POV and the love interest's POV (and for the life of me I can't remember why I came to that conclusion). But I kind of didn't decide that until a little ways into my book. So I had my MC and her personal journey and conflict, and the overarching conflict all the characters had to go through, but the love interest didn't really have his own story. He was just there along for the ride.
After a question was brought up about his POV, I began to think about it. Was his POV necessary to the story? Did he propel any of the plot forward? While he is considered a big character to me (it's sort of an ensemble cast of four characters, with my MC as the main-main character), I couldn't figure out his purpose (besides making out with my MC).
So I'm chopping his POV. Cutting it right out and making it all from my main character's perspective. It's going to take a while, but I think it's worth it. I think it will make my MC stronger.
While their love story is a significant part of the novel, I want to focus more on her personal journey and the four of them as a group and their collective journey together.
Tell me, have you had to chop a significant portion of your book? Was it hard to let go of a big part of your "baby"?
A couple weeks ago, after careful debating, consideration, and frantically emailing my crit partner, I've come to the conclusion that I need to hack a major part of my WIP.
For some reason I thought I needed to have both my main character's POV and the love interest's POV (and for the life of me I can't remember why I came to that conclusion). But I kind of didn't decide that until a little ways into my book. So I had my MC and her personal journey and conflict, and the overarching conflict all the characters had to go through, but the love interest didn't really have his own story. He was just there along for the ride.
After a question was brought up about his POV, I began to think about it. Was his POV necessary to the story? Did he propel any of the plot forward? While he is considered a big character to me (it's sort of an ensemble cast of four characters, with my MC as the main-main character), I couldn't figure out his purpose (besides making out with my MC).
While their love story is a significant part of the novel, I want to focus more on her personal journey and the four of them as a group and their collective journey together.
Tell me, have you had to chop a significant portion of your book? Was it hard to let go of a big part of your "baby"?
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