Meaningful Monday – Not Dead

Though I did fall from the face of the Earth for a while there, and from the face of the web. I went under for a while to participate in NaNoWriMo. This was my second year, and I’m proud to say that I won this time around! I reached 50,000 words, ahead of schedule even, though I didn’t complete a novel. Not really, I just added 50k words to my current WIP Heritage Blade: Awakening, and of that large chunk of literature, I may actually end up using…10,000 or so. It took 40,000 words to really get the story going, and I didn’t make any real progress until I neared the end. As a result, I’m about 78,000 words deep, and have yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

That’s right, where I should be tying up my story I’m just now cresting into ACT 2. I spent 70 pages in the same setting with my characters sitting around, talking, plotting and planning, but not actually doing anything. There was hardly any advancement, absolutely no growth, and the entire thing is just…stagnant. I’ve found that’s what happens when I focus on quantity and not quality. And that’s just for ME. While the method utilized in NaNo works for some people, I most certainly am not one of them. When I’m not allowed to think my writing through, I don’t get anywhere with it. I have something to edit, true, but most of it I’ll wind up cutting up anyway.

So, next year, when November rolls around, I don’t think I’ll be participating again. Of course, I say that now, but a lot can happen in a year. In the meantime, I’ll take what I’ve got and add onto it until I reach the end.

How was your NaNo experience?

NaNoWriMo – Day 5

Like many in the writing world, I practically fell from the face of the Earth at midnight on November 1st. That marked the start of NaNo 2011, and I’m so exited to be participating again. This year, my writers group is participating as a whole, which provides a level of support and accountability that I can’t even begin to describe. Thanks to my girls I’m hitting my daily goals, and I’m even a few hundred words ahead of the game.

Now, it’s only day five, so I’ve still got a long way to go, but I’m incredibly optimistic about it all. I’m especially looking forward to the next NaNo session where we all gather together and just write, for hours at a time. These sessions have been keeping me afloat, otherwise–between work, family and planning a baby shower–I would have sunk right out the gate. Hopefully, on my days off, I’ll be able to put a nice sized dent in my word count. I’ll need it as a cushion for Thanksgiving and Black Friday, after which I’ll be surprised if I can manage speaking words, let alone writing them.

How’s everyone else’s NaNoing coming along? On schedule? Ahead of the game? A little behind? No worries if you are, there’s still plenty of time to catch up. And I’d better get to writing so I can bump my count before work. Back into the fray!

Surprise Post Sunday!

It’s a surprise because I don’t normally post on Sunday’s, and I don’t know if I ever did…

I’ll revisit that tangent later.

As most in the writing community know, the fast approaching holidays bring with them an event that has little to do with candy, turkeys or tinsel. NaNoWriMo! That thirty-day stretch where, each year, thousands of writers across the world band together with a single goal in mind–50,000 words in one month. I participated for the first time last year, and am eagerly awaiting the 2011 run!

Now, my method of preparation is mix between pantsing and a plotting. Both methods have their pros and cons, and I don’t specifically view one as being so much better than the other. I like my happy middle where I loosely plot out about five chapters, write to catch up, then plot out five more, but this post isn’t about said great debate. My writers group, Novel Clique, firmly believes in having discipline concerning starting new stories. The point of being a writer isn’t to begin a book, it’s to finish one, repeatedly if possible. So we took the whole having-to-start-a-new-project thing and personalized it to having-to-finish-a-current-project.

My WIP Heritage Blade: Awakening is the project I’ve chosen to focus on during NaNo. Oddly enough, I started HB during NaNo last year, but another muse took the reigns and went off in a totally different direction. That lack in discpline I’m working on, heh. Still, I’m about a third of the way done, and after doing the math, I figure I’m about 55k words from the end. The rest of my group is working on manuscripts they’ve only gotten their feet wet on as well.

While I would enjoy breathing life into any of the dozens of ideas crowding around in my subconscious, finishing this story is the higher priority. I have the same goal as everyone else, complete 50,000 words in thirty days or less, I just had to tweak it to fit my overall writing ambitions.

In other news in my little corner of the world, I’ve gotten my first official plug! At least I think it’s my first…I tend to be a little oblivious, so I’ve been told. Now, folks have put in a good word for me before, quite often in fact, but the only reason I say this is official is because it’s not from someone I already know. Not that I don’t appreciate my friends and family talking about my writing–love you guys and what you do!–nor do I view their promoting me is any less important. Just want to make sure that it’s clear there is no comparison to level of significance.

I post on both Harper Collins sites, Inkpop and Authonomy, and imagine my surprise when a friend on the latter linked me this last night. I haven’t stopped smiling yet! It’s driven a lot of traffic to COVETED and I am so thrilled. It totally made my month. A faburlous confidence booster to kick start NaNo preparations.

Are you doing anything special to get ready for NaNoWriMo?

Finding Time

Oddly enough, I’ve been doing too much of that lately, finding time. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can have…negative connotations, even if they are small. For instance, I’ve been so wrapped up in writing and edits that I completely forgot to update my blog this past week. And whenever I remembered, it was either a day I don’t normally post (I try to get something up 2 times a week, either on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday) or it was while I was at work and away from my machine. Of course, by the time I got to my computer, my mind was set on fixing or finishing a particular scene.

So, this post is about finding time outside of writing, to do those things we need to do as writers that don’t necessarily mean putting pen to paper. What I mean is the blogging, the updating websites, the interacting on Twitter and Facebook, etc. I am now faced with an interesting dilemma, in that I have to sacrifice writing time in order to see to my web duties. Again, not necessarily a bad thing. I’ve started making a schedule for myself. From this to that, I write, from that to this, I blog, from here to there, I check Facebook and Twitter, and so on. So far, it’s been working, surprisingly well.

How do you find time away from finding time?

Meaningful Monday: Dog Tired

A cliche, I know, but anything more clever is currently beyond me. I am, in a word, exhausted. It was a long day at work, without going into detail, and I did nothing but run errands afterwards. In short, I’m sorry to be posting so late. To be honest, the fact that it is Monday completely escaped me until about ten minutes ago, and as a result I have nothing really “meaningful” to say. Again, my apologies, but I’ll make it up to everyone, I promise! I’ll…start up Totally Not Slacking Tuesday, or something equally entertaining. ^_^

Oh! Before I forget, I’m narrowing down the list of which sentence will kick-start the Twitter Round Robin at the end of this month. Yes, there is a list, for I love lists and those who know me know I tend to be indecisive at times. Anywho, folks are still signing up to participate, so if you didn’t get a chance to, you can just comment on my previous post with your Twitter information so I can add you to the list. It won’t be for a couple weeks yet, so there is still plenty of time.

In other news, the mini-retreat my writers group and I went on–we spent Saturday evening, night, and Sunday morning at a hotel–was a complete success. Our lesson plan was based on Noah Lukeman’s The First Five Pages, which is an absolute must read for any writer striving to take their craft seriously. This novel is ranked up there with Stephen King’s On Writing and Les Edgerton’s Hooked, in my top three books on craft. I can’t tell it all, but what I learned from Mr. Lukeman has changed the way I approach writing as a whole, for the better. It’s a quick read, I flew through the entire thing in less than a week, and I only read it during my hour long lunch break at work. Get it, read it, absorb all you can from it.

Hnm…I guess this turned out to be a pretty meaningful post after all. Fancy that.

Things to do Thursday: In lieu of Writerly Wednesday

At least for this week. Wednesdays are now particularly busy for me. Between work and Bible Study, I literally have an hour and a half to come home, change clothes, manage dinner and get out the door so I’m not late to the church. All while battling rush hour traffic. So, posting is somewhat impossible, especially if I want what I say to venture anywhere near coherent. During weeks where I can’t manage a Wednesday post, I’ll do it on Thursday! And toss in some clever (so I like to think) title that starts with TH in there.

Today the Thing to do is announce the plans for the Twitter Round Robin! I’ll be posting information in the forum for the Campaign so those who might be interested will get a chance to sign up. The event will take place near the end of October, yay Halloween. I encourage everyone to sign their name to the list by October 10th so I can start assigning folks their numbers. These will help with the posting order and, hopefully, avoiding any sort of major confusion.

The story itself is going to be horror at its core, but can be shaped into the realm of fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, historical, or some Frankenstein-esque mix of the entire lot! On the day(s) we post, the hashtag #TRR should single us out from the crowd. I haven’t seen it pop up anywhere just yet, so I think we’re safe on that one. #TRR will also be how I am able to find the relevent tweets and place them together so folks can read the entirety of the story afterwards.

As we get closer to the launch, more details will be explained and questions that may arise will be answered, but for now this is the gist of things. If you’re interested in playing along, just comment below and include your Twitter account name. This is going to be so much fun. ^_^

Meaningful Monday: Do I post about anything but contests, anymore?

I’m starting to wonder. I love contests and blogfests, interacting with fellow writers and all that jazz, but I’ll be happy when I can put the time into truly meaningful posts again. A new job can really take it out of you. Speaking of “truly meaningful” posts, I’ll have details on the Twitter Round Robin up this Wednesday, for those who are interested in participating. I’ll go on some time mid to late October, horror themed for Halloween of course (my favorite holiday). I can’t wait, it’s going to be so much fun!

Now then, on to the point. Two contests were brought to my attention recently, and I plan on entering COVETED into both. The first is an Agent Inbox contest being hosted by the wonderful Krista V. over at Mother. Write. (Repeat.) You can grab the details there, but the gist of it is you submit your query letter and the first 250 words of your COMPLETE, POLISHED, and READY TO QUERY project–she was very specific about this–to the address provided. The winner, or winners if the agent chooses more than one, can receive anything from a request to see the next few pages to a full! How exciting is that? As of this post, her home page says there are only 19 slots filled of the 50 she has open, so plenty of space for anyone who wants to participate. The contest will run until those all 50 slots are filled, or tomorrow (Tuesday, Sep. 26th), whichever comes first.

The second contest is a one line pitch critique over at Reel YA. If you follow the Operation Awesome blog, one of the great gals who run and contribute to it has started a side blog and is hosting this contest. You can hop over to read the rules, but you essentially post in the comments–after following the blog–and TWO winners will be selected at random to have their one line pitched critiqued by an agent. I’m totally down for having any of my work looked at by an industry professional. That sort of insight is priceless. This contest will run from now until Tuesday, October 4th.

As I said, I’ve entered both contests, and I wish everyone else who does so the best of luck! ^_^

Writerly Wednesday: Mini-retreat!

Today is a short blurb of a post, just musing over something most writers I’ve spoken to would love to experience. A retreat. Getting away from it all and just writing. No work, no family–not that we don’t love our families with everything we are–and no distractions whatsoever. Isn’t that wonderful? Thinking about it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

My writers group and I have been to conferences together, and now we’re planning a mini-retreat. One night in a hotel room, just us. Well, our muses are invited along as well. I honestly cannot wait to delve into The Zone and not have to come back up for hours. The only way it could be better is if it lasted longer. And included breakfast with endless coffee. Mmmm, coffee….or chai tea lates. I think I like the late idea more.

Anywho, I’ve learned that retreats are amazing, but you don’t have to leave to experience them. Not when you put your mind to it. I take one or two-hour long retreats a few times a week when I can. I tell everyone that I’m not to be disturbed until a certain time unless it’s WW3 important. Sometimes…it doesn’t work out. Other times I’m allowed my space. I mix up my own chai tea late, Wal-mart has fabulous mixes both in a powder and concentrate form, I lock myself in my office, I put on my good headphones and I go in.

Absolute bliss. ^_^

What’s your idea of the perfect mini-retreat?

Meaningful Monday: Twitter Story

Just a few updates to keep everyone on the same page, and to prove that I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. Though work and writing tend to swallow me up and refuse to spit me out ever once in a while. A little while ago I mentioned in a post that I was thinking about doing a sort of Round Robin on twitter. The entire story, whatever it may be, will be completely in tweets! And I’ll be sure and post a transcript afterwards so folks can go back and read the entire thing without having to slosh through Twitter to do so.

That’s where I am so far, idea =  formulated. Now for the fun part, deciding what sort of story to post. Well, deciding what sort of story to start with, since everything can change from one tweet to the next. It can go from science fiction to fantasy and back again, though I imagine there would be some slight difficulty in jumping between historical and post-apocalyptical. I’ve also be toying with the idea of expanding on an already existing story, writing a scene in a book we hear about but don’t necessarily get to read. For instance, something from Harry Potter during the time the Marauders of some such.

Unfortunately, I’ve too many ideas and there is too little time. At least for the first one. I don’t see why there couldn’t be a second. Or third. Or fourth! But you have to start somewhere, as the saying goes. So, where should we start? Since I’m not the only one involved in this, I invite my fellow campaigners, both old and new, in a group with me or not, to submit ideas for the Twitter Round Robin. You can post them in the comments, as well as expressing any interest in being a part of it. I’m putting together a list.

I like lists… Happy writing!

Meaningful Monday: Robins are Round?

So, the third Platform Building Campaign is underway. There is so much activity going on in the group/in the forum every day that it’s enough to make your head spin. In a good way. I wish I could participate more, but I started a new job last week and the training schedule is intense. Still, I’m doing my best to follow more and more Campaigners every day, on both Twitter and their blogs. I’m also discovering Campaigners on Goodreads as well. It’s a whole lot of fun. Though, I have to admit, I need to be more interactive here on my blog in responding to comments and the like. Funny thing, I’m just not used to receiving so many!

Anyway, on to the main event! Or, rather, one of them. I’ve been trying to think of something interesting and fun for the people in my group to participate. I’m sure a lot of you remember the amazing Choose Your Own Adventure bloghop that group 9 from the second Campaign put together. Well, I’m wanting to do something similar to that, but with Twitter. I’m thinking a round-robin style short story. Everyone who signs up will get a number and we’ll all use a hashtag–that I’ve yet to come up with–to keep track of which tweets go into the story or not. That’s the basic idea, and I’ve got to hammer out the details like how many participants will be involved and what genre(s) will be tossed into the pot, but I figured mentioning it early would give everyone time to decide if they wanted to participate or not. ^_^

And now for the meaningful bit of this Monday’s post. Nope, didn’t forget! It’a another contest. This one celebrates the art that is the short story, and when I say short I mean miniscule. The Aspen Writers Foundation and Esquire Magazine present a Short Fiction Competition. There are lots of details, and the link provided should answer any questions. It’s open to everyone to participate, so you know I’m all over it. Good luck to everyone else who enters as well!

Have a safe and happy Labor day!