Daily Writing Progress 8/8-8/14/19

August 8

Project: What’s There Inside You ch. 4

• Word Count: 726
• Total Word Count: 1,592
• Thoughts: Why do I forget how helpful word sprints are? That word count is the product of three half-hour writing sprints in one evening! I think I need to start adding word sprints to my daily writing regimen.
• Goal for Tomorrow: Write all the words! Plan “If the Shoe Fits” – May be time to move on to the one-page synopsis step of the Snowflake Method, since I’m having such trouble with some of the characters. Either that, or go back and rewrite the one-paragraph summary. That does need some work.

August 9

Wow! I whipped out my Morning Pages in less than an hour today. I don’t know why it was so much easier to get them done today – maybe because I wrote larger, to give my hand a break from my normal tight script.

Project: What’s There Inside You

• Word Count: 504
• Total Word Count: 9,895
• Thoughts: Once again, sprints prove themselves productive. One scene gave me trouble with a problem I have to think of for the characters to discuss, so i started on the next scene and got much more done!
• Goal for Tomorrow: Try to figure out this scene problem. Plan more of If the Shoe Fits

August 10

Project: Collecting prompts for a “7 prompts in 7 days” YouTube video

• Thoughts: I found Kate Cavanaugh’s video using this prompt and enjoyed the idea so much that I had to start one myself!
• Goal for Tomorrow: Film the first day’s writing!

August 11

Productive Morning Pages, but that’s all.

August 12

Project: “Write Now” blog prompt

• Word Count: 326
• Thoughts: I like how this scene went. It took a sci-fi turn. I’d expected it to go more of a fantasy route, but I like this one. Maybe I’ll do another scene with this prompt and deliberately go fantasy. Who knows? The goal was to just freewrite for at least five minutes based on the prompt, and then post what I wrote. I want to finish up a few things in this scene before I post it and link it back to the original prompt blog post.
• Goal for Tomorrow: Finish up this scene, find the missing words/terms and backstory

Project: “A Place of Memory” planning

Completed: Steps 1-2.5 of Snowflake Method

Thoughts: Still working on the characters. I had to go back to Ingermanson’s How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method book and reread the chapter about the one-paragraph synopsis so I could really understand what this paragraph needed to include. And I’m glad I did. My first draft of the synopsis had way too much detail that needed to be saved for the one-page synopsis. Seeing that also helped me realize that I need to go back and rewrite the one-paragraph synopsis for If the Shoe Fits.

Goal for Tomorrow: Finish up the character summaries and start work on then one-page synopsis.

August 13

Did I write? I certainly got my Morning Pages in.

August 14

Project: “What’s There Inside You” Chapter 4

• Word Count: 38
• Total Word Count: 2,134
• Thoughts: I need to figure out what the problem was that had the character who’s challenging my MC for leadership bound to silence until the previous leader’s death. The issue I’ve got isn’t quite believable enough for me. Maybe that’s why I had so much trouble writing tonight. Or maybe it’s the fact that I waited till past 9 pm to start writing.
• Goal for Tomorrow: Brainstorm some possible problems, and how Brian (my MC) is going to react.

Project: “A Place of Memory” planning

• Several characters done in step 3 of the Snowflake Method, though I still need to put some finishing touches. Began step 4, the one-page synopsis, expanded from the one-paragraph synopsis. I can already tell that it needs some more work, but I’m much more confident that this story will come together easier
• Goal for tomorrow: keep going! I can see problems on their way to solutions!

Daily Writing Progress 8/1-8/7/19

8/1

Got my Morning Pages done today, but it took much longer than the past few times. Got distracted by social media, and the cat wanting some attention. Didn’t work on one specific project today, but bits and pieces of several.

8/2

Project: Redeeming the Fallen

• Words Written: 512
• Total Words: 45,480
• Thoughts: Thought it was finally time to finish this story, so I started a new chapter today. I’d thought I had posted all of the chapters on a writing website years ago, but it turns out I hadn’t. Unfortunately, by the time I’d noticed it, I had lost the file. So, using the sixteen chapters I had already written, I’m now trying to complete the story. It was originally supposed to be only two more chapters, but I’ve expanded that by another two and it’s *still* not done. I may need to condense something. *And* I’ve gone back and edited some of the older chapters.
• Goal for tomorrow: Definitely work more on this chapter!

8/3

Not quite sure what happened today. I couldn’t even manage a whole page of Morning Pages, let alone any of my other writing projects. Kinda discouraging, but hopefully next week will be better.

8/4

No writing today.

8/5

Project: Redeeming the Fallen

• Words Written: 48
• Total Words: 45,528
• Thoughts: I may not even need these words I wrote today. Might not need any of this chapter. But there’s still things that need to be explained, and a birthday celebration. Maybe the story’s gone on longer than it should I really should just hurry up and end it. I don’t know…
• Goal for tomorrow: Figure out the answer to that problem. And work more on planning If the Shoe Fits.

8/6

No writing today, not even Morning Pages. Trying again tomorrow.

8/7

Wow. I guess this was just an off week for writing. But hey, I can only improve from here, right?

Daily Writing 7/26 – 7/31/19

7/26

Project: Freewriting

• Words Written: 299
• Thoughts: Wrote this late and night and found that was a big mistake. I used to be able to write late at night with no problem at all, but here lately I’ve been ready for bed by 10:30. The freewriting session was also to try to find how I can fix my Camp NaNoWriMo draft, but I was so tired that I stopped after 3/4 of a page (handwritten, on a legal pad). Time to switch things up and see what other times of day will be more productive.
• Goal for Tomorrow: Focus more on planning “If the Shoe Fits”. The Snowflake Method has been surprisingly helpful so far. Maybe I wasn’t ready for this method on other projects, but I am now. And do some more freewriting/planning in my Camp NaNoWriMo draft. This story has so many holes in it and is so incomplete, it’s laughable. Or cringe-worthy. Whichever.

7/27

Project: “Write Now” prompt piece

• Words Written: 275
• Thoughts: This took me to interesting places. The prompt was about a restaurant that had seen lots of scandals but never seemed to lose any customers. I honestly don’t know if I’ll finish this one. On the other hand, maybe I should. I can see a mystery aspect coming up, if I let myself get there. Yeah, I should keep going. If nothing else, it’ll be a good exercise.
• Goal for Tomorrow: Just keep writing and see where the story takes me. Try to angle the story to actually bring in that murder mystery.

Project: Camp NaNoWriMo fanfic revision

• Words Written: 1400
• Total Words: 7960
• Thoughts: *erm… filling this one in several days after the fact because I forgot to. I don’t even remember working on this one that day, but according to my Camp NaNoWriMo page, I did…
• Goal for Tomorrow:

7/28

No writing today. I typically try not to write on Sundays.

7/29

Project: Camp NaNoWriMo fanfic revision

• Words Written: 3, 492
• Total Words: 11,452
• Thoughts: Since this Camp project is revising April’s draft, lots was accomplished. I really needed those sprints in my FB group tonight. I should just do more of them tomorrow. My goal was to edit the entire draft, but looks like that’s just not happening. Just one of those months. I should also check out some dictation software, I think – my hands started hurting during these sprints. I’ve been knitting a lot lately and haven’t taken enough breaks to let my hands rest, and now they’re suffering for it. (And I totally forgot about the “Write Now” prompt from Saturday.)
• Goal for Tomorrow: More writing sprints. Treat hands (and feet) with care.

7/30

Project: Camp NaNoWriMo fanfic revision

• Words Written: 1969
• Total Words: 13,421
• Thoughts: So this session of Camp NaNoWriMo, my goal was to revise the 50,000 words I wrote for the April session of camp, and I’m pretty sure I spent half my month not writing, because this story really needs to be planned so much better. I still have so many questions that I need to answer, so many holes to fill. How do my characters get from point A to point Z? But at least I cleaned up a couple of scenes today. Too bad I actually like a similar scene from the first draft better, yet I can’t let go of these two scenes yet… Oh the choices…
• Goal for Tomorrow: Focus on Snowflaking “If the Shoe Fits” (which probably won’t be the title for long. Seriously, it’s supposed to be a YA sci-fi. Does that title even fit anymore?)

7/31

Had some awesome inspiration while working on my morning pages! Check it out!

Project: Camp NaNoWriMo fanfic revision

• Words Written: 3,360
• Total Words: 14,498
• Thoughts: Quite a few narrative changes went on in this work today. I like what I rewrote much better. Hopefully this is one step closer to filling in the blanks with this story. Not even close to my Camp goal, but that’s okay.
• Goal for Tomorrow: Print out a calendar to help get the timeline for this story back under control.
  

Project: If the Shoe Fits planning session

• Thoughts: Had a big breakthrough on my villain’s backstory! That is going to be so helpful in writing this book. I know already that I’m going to have a few scenes from his point of view, or at least from the people around him that know his reasonings. Since it’s not good to have our villains be evil for the sake of being evil, this backstory will definitely make the reader sympathize with him.
• Goal for tomorrow: Work on another character sheet – Maybe the princess’s?

Morning Pages can produce amazing things!

I first found Julia Cameron’s “Morning pages” several years ago, mentioned in her book The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation Into the Writing Life. Every once in a while, I’d try it, but never get more than a day or two into the routine before I’d forget or just plain stop.

For those who’ve never heard of it, morning pages are a concept she first discusses in her book The Artist’s Way (which I actually haven’t read yet, but it’s on my TBR list): “three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning” (hence the name “Morning Pages”). There’s no wrong way to do them – they’re about anything and everything that crosses your mind, for your eyes only. Three pages of anything, and then do it again tomorrow morning.

I decided it was time to try these pages again, and maybe, just maybe, the simple act of writing would help me work through some writing issues I’ve had this last month. I started on Monday, accidentally skipped yesterday, but made sure I wrote today. (Also noticed that today’s writing session went a lot faster than on Monday. Julia did say that could happen sometimes.) About halfway through the second page of stream-of-consciousness writing, I had an interesting story idea hit! Read it and tell me what you think.

Had a thought, but then it disappeared. Lost thoughts… that would be an interesting story, fantastical creatures come along and steal thoughts from their unsuspecting victims. It’s usually out of fun, just teasing, no harm meant. But maybe there’s some sorcerer or other creature who wants all these captured thoughts for themselves and someone needs to go stop them before all the thoughts are taken and people walk around in a confused, unproductive haze. But who goes after this/these being(s) taking the thoughts? How old are they? Is there other magic involved? One of the characters is a creature once believed to be mythical and gets more distressed the more they notice thoughts going missing – the only one that can see the creatures taking the memories. Their friend, the main character, thinks it’s a perfectly normal thing–people forget what they’re doing all the time. But maybe they realize the danger when someone who never seems to forget what they’re doing suddenly does, and forgets something very important. Where would these two have to go? Again, how old are they? What does it take to stop the thought-thieves and restore order and defeat the Big Bad? Ooo – maybe the original job was to just store memories for later to remember happy or special times. But some of these memory keepers get a bit troublesome (What’s the right word?) and started taking thoughts as they formed just for a laugh, and had such a laugh that they kept it up. But a group of those was persuaded/tricked by Big Bad to start just taking the thoughts for him/her. But why does he/she want them to begin with?

I mean… that sounds like a great middle-grade book in the making! What do you guys think? Do you know anybody who would read that? Is this a story I should pursue? Or am I absolutely nuts?

Yes, You WILL Finish Writing That Thing!

Yes, You WILL Finish Writing That Thing!

Yes, You WILL Finish Writing That Thing!
— Read on megdowell.com/2019/07/26/yes-you-will-finish-writing-that-thing/

This is such a beautifully encouraging post! We all have those doubts, those nagging voices that are certain that we can’t, and so they encourage us to quit. But maybe this post will help you–and me–to push past those doubts and finish Writing That Thing!

I Write Because…

(This post is the first in a series as I work through WordPress’s Everyday Inspiration course.)

…I was inspired by a college professor last year to get involved more in the literary community around me. Sure, I’d been writing for years before that (including stories and scripts for several college fiction classes) and I had always wanted to write something worthy of publishing Someday (that dreaded word), but it was in learning just how large the literary community is, and how easy it is to become involved, that the idea of becoming a published author just became that much more real to me.

…I want to inspire a love of reading in all ages. I have loved books since I was at least three and, according to my mom, had memorized every word of the children’s book I am a Bunny (though, my favorite children’s book is always going to be The Cross-With-Us Rhinoceros). And just because a book might be geared toward a specific audience, it doesn’t mean loving that book is limited to that audience. Look at the Harry Potter novels. (In fact, keep an eye out for my review of the children’s book Frindle, a story of a ten-year-old boy who discovers the power of words.)

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. … The man who never reads lives only one.”

George R. R. Martin

And, well….

Doesn’t everyone?

Characters coming to life!

*This post contains an affiliate link. In plain English, that means that I may receive a small commission if you purchase something through the link provided.*

September is here! At long last! We’re coming on to my favorite time of year – autumn. Well, technically from autumn to the end of the year, but this is where it begins. I love the colors, the crisp air that invigorates as it fills your lungs, the hoodies and jeans, hot chocolate… it’s all so wonderful!

For many of us writers, September also brings the “official” NaNoWriMo prep season.

In the twelve years I’ve participated in this mad adventure to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days, I’ve only ever “won” once. This year feels somehow different for me. I’m more excited about my novel than in years past; I’ve dreamed of publishing a novel, but haven’t made much effort. But this year it feels possible. I just have to keep preparing and plotting and building.

Fleshing out characters has always been a big weakness of mine. In years past, a good chunk of my writing was fan fiction, where I dealt with characters that already existed; so I never worried about it.

But then one day, while browsing through the “Adopt a [x]” forums on the NaNoWriMo website back in February or March, I came across a series of titles up for “adoption” (meaning that someone else had shared title suggestions, probably because they weren’t going to use the titles themselves): If the Shoe Fits, If the Dress Fits, and If the Crown Fits. I fell in love with those titles and knew I had to write the stories! But I didn’t want to take the fantasy route. Instead, my mind went toward YA sci-fi. I also wanted them loosely inspired by the Cinderella story (after all, isn’t that where the phrase itself was inspired? Wait… is it? I don’t actually know…) and to follow the girl as she learns certain royal duties she didn’t expect to have to learn while protecting the real princess. She also has a genetically-inherited energy power that she tries to keep hidden because of something that happened several generations ago.

But I didn’t know anything else about her beyond that. I’d tried to fill out one of those thousands of character charts that exist on the internet for my first attempt at writing her story during Camp NaNoWriMo in April. Big fail there. Sure, a few details got filled in, but that just didn’t make her real to me.

Then I (re)discovered the Shadow Room exercise in Holly Lisle’s Create A Character Clinic and sat down to work on it. I’d expected to work on this character, whoever she is, but that is not who appeared first. A man showed up, a soldier, with a big secret and a betrayal weighing him down. Now where do I go with that? But after (I’ll admit) months of doing nothing with him, I decided to set him aside and try to see where I could go with the girl.

When she showed up and talked with me, I realized that this version of her had already gone through most of whatever I was going to put her through in this first book and I was interviewing her near what will probably be the climax of the book. (The soldier, on the other hand, I believe comes in much earlier.) Another thing that surprised me was that she named the princess–Allie (which I later discovered was short for Alexandrina)–when I hadn’t even tried to come up with a name yet–and I love browsing baby name websites for just the right name.

Well, after that, I had to find out who this princess Allie was. She showed up for the interview even further along the story than the main character (who still doesn’t have a name herself) where there’s even more of a hurry for things to happen. Actually, as I type this, I wonder if what she told me might be happening in book 2. And Allie gave me two more names to discover–Rand and Roxie. Now Rand could possibly be the soldier (it could be short for Randall, which means “shield wolf”), but Roxie… It’s not my main character’s name, so she might be another gifted girl that’s in the guard protecting Allie.

My first three characters (R to L): the soldier, the FMC, and the princess

Though I’m not very far along in the creation process, I highly recommend taking this class. (You can click on the link above, or the one in the sidebar.) I can’t wait to see where these characters lead me, especially as I continue preparations for NaNoWriMo 2018. I’m preparing a little differently than I have in years past, so I feel so much more confident that I just might hit that 50,000-word mark this year!

“Shades of Fae” Release Blitz

Hello again all! Welcome to Day 1 of the “Shades of Fae” Release Blitz. I have a couple of author friends with novels in this e-book anthology and I can’t wait to see what’s in these pages.

Title: Shades of Fae

Genre: Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance

Publication Date: July 10^th, 2018

Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

Blurb:

Not every fairytale has a happily ever after.

We only know three things about the Fae: They don’t lie, they cheat. What they aren’t given, they take. And if they can’t rule…they conquer. Now the fate of humanity lies in a battle between good and evil where lines are not easily drawn.

Time travel to 19th century France, brave the gritty streets of New York City, or enter the realm of the Fae itself in this darkly enchanting collection from today’s hottest USA Today, award-winning, and international bestselling paranormal and fantasy authors.

Shades of Fae is your ticket to a mystical realm where Sinister Sidhe and Dark Elves manipulate mortals, vengeful fae warriors battle nefarious vampire lords, and an apocalypse rife with werewolves, dragons, nymphs, banshees, shifters, and supernatural hunters brings unparalleled danger.

In 2018… The Fae are Coming…

Find out who survives and who dies when you order Shades of Fae TODAY!

Participating Authors:

USA Today bestselling author CK Dawn

USA Today bestselling author Shawnee Small

USA Today bestselling authors Cheri Schmidt & Tristan Hunt

Elle Boon

USA Today bestselling author Pauline Creeden

Award-winning author Tameri Etherton

Award-winning author Cyndi Faria

USA Today bestselling author Isadora Brown

USA Today bestselling author Amy L. Gale

USA Today bestselling author Charlene A. Wilson

USA Today bestselling author Katalina Leon

USA Today bestselling author J.A. Armitage

USA Today bestselling authors Megan J. Parker & Nathan Squiers

Lynda Kaye Frazier

Kim Carmichael

Colleen Halverson

Danielle Rose

Lynda Haviland

Dyan Chick

Award-winning author Cate Rowan

Award-winning author JB Michaels

R.S. Broadhead

Jen L. Grey writing with Heather Renee

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2JsEI9F

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shades-of-fae-ck-dawn/1127801922?ean=2940154982204

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/shades-of-fae

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/shades-of-fae/id1333316500?mt=11

 

Shades of Fae Pre-Order Blitz & Giveaways

Hi all! I’ve been sitting on this one for a while now, and I finally get to share! An author or two I know have stories in this collection. Check it out!!!

Title: Shades of Fae

Genre: Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance

Publication Date: July 10^th, 2018

Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

Blurb:

Not every fairytale has a happily ever after.

We only know three things about the Fae: They don’t lie, they cheat. What they aren’t given, they take. And if they can’t rule…they conquer. Now the fate of humanity lies in a battle between good and evil where lines are not easily drawn.

Time travel to 19th century France, brave the gritty streets of New York City, or enter the realm of the Fae itself in this darkly enchanting collection from today’s hottest USA Today, award-winning, and international bestselling paranormal and fantasy authors.

Shades of Fae is your ticket to a mystical realm where Sinister Sidhe and Dark Elves manipulate mortals, vengeful fae warriors battle nefarious vampire lords, and an apocalypse rife with werewolves, dragons, nymphs, banshees, shifters, and supernatural hunters brings unparalleled danger.

In 2018… The Fae are Coming…

Find out who survives and who dies when you order Shades of Fae TODAY!

USA Today bestselling author CK Dawn

USA Today bestselling author Shawnee Small

USA Today bestselling authors Cheri Schmidt & Tristan Hunt

Elle Boon

Award-winning author Tameri Etherton

Award-winning author Cyndi Faria

USA Today bestselling author Rue Volley

USA Today bestselling author SJ Davis

USA Today bestselling author Amy L. Gale

USA Today bestselling author Katalina Leon

USA Today bestselling author J.A. Armitage

USA Today bestselling authors Megan J. Parker & Nathan Squiers

Lynda Kaye Frazier

Kim Carmichael

Colleen Halverson

Danielle Rose

Lynda Havilan

Dyan Chick

Award-winning author Cate Rowan

Award-winning author JB Michaels

R.S. Broadhead

Jen L. Grey and Heather Renee

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2JsEI9F

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shades-of-fae-ck-dawn/1127801922?ean=2940154982204

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/shades-of-fae

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/shades-of-fae/id1333316500?mt=11

 

Camp NaNoWriMo – Week One Check-In

Word Count Total: 10,521

Well, this week started off pretty shaky for me in writing for Camp NaNoWriMo. I hadn’t taken the time to plot out my original loosely-based-on-Cinderella-with-YA-scifi/fantasy story idea or do any sort of planning for it beyond a few notes for my main character’s bio. So, I chose to work on another story already in progress (yep, I’m being a NaNo Rebel this time, for the first time in all my NaNoWriMo experience) while I plan out what I am calling “If the Shoe Fits”, based on a title I found in the NaNoWriMo adoptables forum. (Seriously, check that forum out if you’re looking for inspiration!)

To help me plan “If The Shoe Fits”, I’ve signed up for Holly Lisle’s “Creat a Character Clinic” online class. She leads you through what she calls a “Shadow Room Exercise” to help you discover a character and their story. When I did this exercise, I was expecting to work on my female main character (currently called Finn). But the character that entered the room was completely different – a man, an officer in his world’s military, carrying a secret that he knows needs to be shared but also knows that telling the secret will be seen as a betrayal – even though he sees that, in a way, “they” have already betrayed him. Now, who the heck is this guy, and what is his place in this story? Or is this even the right story for him? I probably won’t know until I progress a little further in the class. But I’m intrigued.

The new Camp NaNoWriMo story, A Place of Memory, is moving along partly how I expected, but I was also surprised at one scene I wrote that contains a very important revelation for my main character, a secret that was locked away from him for fourteen years. And now he has to deal with that knowledge, how it changes the relationship between him and the person who kept this secret, and how it’s going to affect his future actions and mission.

I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, that word sprints – trying to write as much as possible in a set amount of time – is always a huge help in moving my stories forward. Even if it’s only a couple hundred words or so (say, if I’m writing for 30 minutes), it’s more than I had before. And after all, I don’t always have to keep everything I write. But I’ll save a good chunk of that for the editing process.

How’s your writing progressing this week? Are you participating in Camp NaNo? Comment below with any of your thoughts.