A Whole Year?!?

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Wow, I had no idea I'd been away for so long. I knew I was pulling back due to my health and depression over it, but I didn't know it was this bad. So, what have I been up to in the world of books and writing? Not much really. I've been reading more than I have in the past few years, but writing has been a bust since my last post. I tried doing Nanowrimo last year, but I was going through something in my no defunct relationship that caused me to not finish. But returning to my blog, catching up on some author blogs, and seeing how some of you have gotten published has motivated me to return.

So, what's next? Well, after a very hurtful and painful breakup, like seriously why has no one told how painful one of those can be, I've decided to use it to write a romance novel. I would still like to write young adult novels, but the story inside me right now is a seasonal romance novel. It's going to start around Christmas time, much like my story, and go over the course of a year. I'm working out the details now of what I want the story to be. It is going to be VERY loosely based on my experience but still the same feel of my actual story. I'm super excited to get started on it.

I'm also going to try to read more. I am a slow reader, which really irritates me, but I won't let that keep me from setting goals and reaching them. I wish I could be like those of you who can read 2-4 books a week. I literally have towers and stacks of books yet to be read. I've been reading them though and I've actually read some that I've had for years and never read. And I keep adding to the stack. The Dollar Tree, dollar stores in general, and Amazon bargain books are pure evil for me. LOL! You can find some interesting gems in there. I know most people prefer current books, but I like to read a good story, period, so if it's at a dollar store and I find it interesting, I will read it. Now granted, because of this I have ended up with some duds of books, but even those are beneficial because they show me how not to write a novel. Sounds cruel, I know, but it's true, it's how writers learn to better their work. So I would like to work up to reading at least 2-4 books a week, but even with all the free time I have, I just can't see to do that. I guess if I read a book a day I could, but I'd literally get nothing done...not that I am doing that now if I am truly honest. But I am changing things, so I hope to start getting a lot done.

Speaking of reading books, I also want to do some book reviews here. I figure since I am reading books that not many people are probably reading, some of you may find reviews on them interesting. I've already talked about some of them on Goodreads, some of which I will be posting about here. Right now I am currently reading a book by Martha Stewart. I wasn't sure how I'd like it, but I am actually enjoying it. I'll make a post about it when I am done.

So my sleep pattern has been all over the place. I find I am more productive in the morning, even though I swear I am a night person. But there is just something about being up early before anyone else, listening to the birds chirping, and having a moment of "ah" to just sit and collect your thoughts and reflect on the day ahead of you. I would like to start getting up early, writing for an hour or more, and then start working on other things like my online shops I am trying to open and return to freelance article writing. I really feel there is a good story inside me and I want to share with the world. I'm constantly daydreaming new stories, I just need to figure out how to get them out of my head and into the written word.

And I guess this is as good a place as any to end this post. I plan to tweak the layout here some, find some new blogs to blogroll, a majority of mine are dead now. I seem to find blogs about anything with a goal, like weight loss or writing a book, tend to die off after a while. It's hard to keep working toward goals that require a lot of work, dedication, and motivation. So I totally get it and understand. I hope some of the authors come back like I did, and in the mean time I will try to find some other active writer and review blogs. If you have any suggestions feel free to pop them into my comments section, even if it's your own link, I'd love to check it out. And on that note, I will talk to you all later. Take care. Bye for now. :-)

Writing...I want to write.

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So it's been a while since I have written here. I kind of felt I had nothing to write any more. I wasn't actively working on a novel and the only writing I was doing was for internet marketing, which was helpful in getting me to write everyday, but it wasn't writing I wanted to do. I was doing these things called quests on one site I am a member of and most of my articles came from the quests. Now I have over 100 articles and most of them I don't even want to work on because they were something I felt forced to come up with and not something I would have written on my own. But now the website is cracking down on sub-par work and articles are being locked for bad writing, and I had 8 of mine locked sadly.

So I stopped writing on those sites and I stopped blogging. Mostly because I felt due to my current life situation that I literally have nothing to offer. However, I have decided to bounce back and start writing again. I want to start working on novel writing, but this time through way of short stories, I'll explain that in another post. I want to start blogging again, here and on my other blogs that I will eventually have linked on this blog if you find yourself curious about my other interests. And I also want to start internet marketing writing again, this time just about topics I am interested in. I have stopped doing quests and that has made me feel better. But because I have stopped I haven't written anything since. But I have finally figured out that on one site I want to write about mostly holiday stuff since I love holidays, and on another site I plan to write mostly about dolls and crafts since that is another interest of mine. I will on occasion write about writing too, but I haven't decided which site I will put that on yet. But I want to work through all that here on my writing blog. I don't have any writing friends and so this shall be my place to sound off on all things "writerly", since mentioning it to other people kind of gets me a "pat on the head" response. And yes, I believe I just invented a word there, feel free to use it and pass it around. Perhaps in a few years it will make it into Websters and I can say, "I did that." *insert cocky smiley face here*

So I am going to make three most posts following this one explaining my individual plans for all three writing goals I have made for myself. Hopefully I should have those up today. I hope I get more readers here to stop by and share their writing adventures with me. I plan to become more active in the writing community, and I am looking forward to some online writing events coming up in the next few months. So hi again anyone who reads this. I'm back, and I'm ready to write.

I really am participating…I swear it.

So, Camp Nanowrimo is going the way of most of the Nanos I have written.  Not to well.  I’m letting other things in life get to me and I’m refusing to find time to write.  And even when I do find time to write, I refuse to write.  Why? Because writing sucks. It’s hard for me. I’m impatient. I want to story to flow from me and instead I am have writer’s constipation.  So Nano is so hard for me to do.  Don’t get me wrong, I will pull this out because I want to, but my story is just not forming well. I don’t like outlining, even though it does help me some, but I’d rather see how the story unfolds as I go along.  I’m wondering if I can write the first draft, outline for the second using first draft bones, and then go back in for the fleshing out with that in hand?  I mean it’s my novel and writing isn’t just done one way or another right?

I guess what’s getting me is that the story I am writing isn’t right. This is a rewrite of last year’s Nano because I didn’t finish it and hated it by the time Nano was done.  Why?  Because the story was just flopping around like a dying fish. There was no saving it and so I left it. This year I decided to try again with the original novel in mind, but then I realized, the time frame of that novel wouldn’t work and I’d have to try something else.  Also, the two times before I tried to write the novel they both started with the dreaded, and not much liked, waking up opening.  Yeah, I think it was brilliantly written, but seems a lot of novel’s start that way, and I’m not a sheep, so I had to be creative and go for a different opening.  I think this time around I have it starting much better, but then I fell back into the previous novel’s plot and it wasn’t until the other day I realized I really can’t go with that plot.  I have to change it because the time needs to be in Spring and not Summer.  But then the plot had to change because things that were happening in my story at the time would already have happened by Spring and they were the focal point really of the novel.  So what now?  Well it finally hit my how I could rework it and I think that it might make for a better more challenging novel to write.

I haven’t even tried writing a synopsis for my novel.  Wait, I am lying, I did try a quick one to post on my Camp Nanowrimo author’s page, but it was more like “this happened and then this happened”, instead of what the story is about.  I think I need to get into it more before I can do it and maybe study on how to write a good synopsis.  I always figured that could wait since I am just writing now, but I guess I need that in mind too so I can actually talk about the novel without actually talking about the novel. Hope you understood that.

So what’s next?  Well I am going to face my fear of killing my novel at almost half way into Camp Nanowrimo and starting fresh.  I can do this.  It’s not as scary as it seems and if I don’t hit 50k by the end of the month that’s ok because at least I would have started the novel and it would be the right novel this time around.  So here goes, Camp Nanowrimo 2012, take 2.

Writing away,
M.

Is There A Fourth Wall In Writing?

So I am reading a book right now that is part of a mini series of a series, hope I didn’t lose you there. Anyway, so in this book I am learning some things that I find irritating in writing.  One major thing being, breaking the fourth wall.  The narrator of the book I am reading, which shall remain nameless, keeps having a conversation with the reader. The author’s favorite thing to do is ask the read rhetorical questions.  I really hate that.  I hate that I am engrossed in the story and I am feverishly reading and getting my mind in the heads of the characters and there situations, and then bam!, I am suddenly pulled out of the story with some “witty banter”. Why?

Now granted this book is from the 90s and it’s Young Adult, but I started to wonder if teenagers from that time found this interesting.  Then it hit me, umm duhhhh, I was a teenage from that time, lol.  And no, I didn’t find stuff like that interesting.  I had read other books from the series that were written by other author’s, and I assumed that all the authors got notes on how to narrate the story so they would all have the same feel, but none of the other books I read really broke that 4th wall.  Nope, they did something else I don’t like instead.  Foretelling.

Ok, so umm, I am reading through this book for a reason.  To find out what’s going to happen.  So why would you tell me about what is going to happen before I even get to the event?  And after reading some great advice blog posts about showing instead of telling a story, I can better understand what the advice meant. Along with the foretelling in these stories there is also a lot of telling in general.  I don’t want to be told how she is feeling.  I want her actions to speak words. I want to be pulled into her mind and if she beats the crap out of something because her boyfriend dumped her, I want to feel her rage by being shown it.  I don’t want to read, “Lily was really angry”.  No, just no.

And one last thing these books are becoming irritatingly know for are putting words into the characters’ mouths that would not normally be coming out of them. The characters in this book like to do the swears that are always cut off at just the right moment, or it is just said they swore. So I know these characters outside these books in another form of media and they are not the cursing kind, at least not to the extent in this book. It’s just this one author that I have seen has them cursing. Now I’m not against cursing, but only if it fits the character.  These words do not fit the characters at all.  I’m not sure if the books were going for shock value or if they were trying to use the “lingo” us kids were using back in the day, but it just failed to “impress”.  I have two more books with this author and if it weren’t for me wanting know how it ended I would have stopped at book one.

So yeah, I had to share my little thoughts with you all on that.  I’m glad to see that my way of reading is changing and I am finally learning what I do and don’t like about writing. I feel guilty not liking something about someone’s creation, but if I do become successful at becoming published, I know I will face the same sticky wrath of judgment.  So I might as well have my say.  Speaking of which, I may post some more book issues in the future, but I would like to let it be known that I won’t be telling the titles of any of the books in question simply because while I might not like a technique used by a writer it doesn’t mean I will bash them in a public forum like my blog.  I just want to share my reader’s observations in hopes that they may help someone else with their writing.

And on that note I am going to close for now. It’s almost 5 am and I’m super tired now. I want to read one more chapter, but it’s really late now. I’ll read more later.  And I will talk to you all later as well.  Be good until then.  Bye for now.

Barely able to keep her eyes open,
M.

I've Won!!!

I've won this year's Script Frenzy with just a few hours to spare. Now granted, I could have done so much better on the script this year. I got started on the first day, let most of the month go by, then have been typing all weekend so that I could finish in time.  I'm glad of the work I did, but I am going to continue the script throughout May without the stress of competing with time hovering over my head. Will I do Script Frenzy again? Humm, perhaps.  I'll let you know in a year.  ;-)

Going to go let her back relax from hours of non-stop typing,
M.

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling

So if any of you are fans of the Harry Potter series, it’s possible you are fans of the series’ author J. K. Rowling.  I’m a big fan of her work and her personal story.  After her last book came out I worried there was no way she could top Potter.  I mean Potter was and still is huge. How can she top that? After reading about her latest work, I don’t think she’s trying to.

I have eagerly been awaiting Rowling’s new literature release, and it seems that come September 27, 2012 the world’s waiting will be over. The Casual Vacancy (feel free to preorder now) is the newest novel from Rowling and the first since the Potter series ended.  This time her novel is aimed at adults. I was so excited to read more work was coming from her, but in reading the short blurb about her upcoming novel it has me wondering how good it will be.

While the Potter books were very much British specific, the world could relate to the stories because it took us into a world that didn’t really exist, the world of magic. It didn’t matter that the characters all talked with accents or that they spoke words specific to Britain.  The world that Rowling created was her own and though she shared it with us we all saw it in our own way so it really didn’t change how one read the books.  However in her new novel I’m not really getting that it’s a fantasy book but more contemporary.  I could be wrong, but the blurb to me read as contemporary, and this makes me wonder how the rest of the world will relate to it. Here’s the book description from the Amazon website.

When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…. Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the town’s council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations? Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.

Now don’t get me wrong, I so plan on reading this book. I mean come on, it’s J. K. Freaking Rowling, so of course I am going to read it. I hope the name alone will make people want to read it because I want her to be a continued success. But I have seen in the past where YA authors tried to write for adults and it just didn’t translate well.  Since her book is for adults I don’t imagine kids getting their hands on it easily if at all so the market has narrowed down for her. I just wish it would say if the book is fantasy or not. I think if it was fantasy it would have a better chance than contemporary. I don’t know if there is a big draw for adult readers for stories heavily based in certain countries. Not too many Anglophiles out there like myself…but if there are drop me a note and let me know so we can dream about England together.  

But perhaps I am wrong and this book will be the new craze and we’ll be hearing about the movie The Casual Vacancy in a year or two.  I’m thinking in 480 pages there has got to be something gripping and exciting, and I can’t wait to get my paws on it.   It’s nice to have something to look forward to from Rowling again. I don’t know if I can do the $21.00 asking price from Amazon, down from $35.00, but I do plan on shopping around and seeing if I can get it a hair cheaper.

So what do you think? Think the new book from Rowling will be just as awesome as Potter? Don’t think it can live up to Potter? Or do you plan to wait and read before you make your mind up? Though I have some lingering doubts on how it will do, I plan to wait until I read it from cover to cover before I make my finally decision on it. For once in my life I can’t wait until September to come.  LOL!

On that note I will close. I am working on Script Frenzy, yes I know I barely mentioned it, but I am chipping away at it…kind of. This month has been a hectic one and so I am still cleaning up last year’s work so I can continue with this year’s. Hey, I have 8 days and a few hours left to knock out 100 pages…piece of .  Alright readers and writers alike, I am off. Talk to you all soon. Be good until then. Bye for now.

Wondering how many pages she can knock out tonight,
M.

Long Time No Write

Its been a while since I have written here.  To be honest I haven't had much to say when it comes to writing. I have not done much of it since Script Frenzy and Camp Nanowrimo last year.  Those two made my attempt at Nanowrimo just suck. I started it then let it die. I told myself last year that that was the last time I would do Nanowrimo and from now on would write all the time instead of once a year.  Yeah Spring has just started and I haven't written a damn thing. Shows how dedicated I am. Well, that is going to change starting today.

A lot of stuff has been going on with me in my life and I have been pulling back and hiding to avoid facing things and reality.  The reality of things is that I am unhealthy, lack willpower and determination, and constantly throw pity parties because I'm not getting results I want. *insert eye roll here*  From now on I'm going for "it".  What "it" is is weight loss, better health, finally starting my selling businesses, and finally working on writing and submitting for publication.

Great, now that I know what I want to do, start my businesses, get healthy, and become a published author, I need to figure out how to get to where I want to be. This is where things become muddled for me.  I don't know how to take the first step. Mind you, I know what the first step should be, and well yes I can actually take that first step, but I guess its the second step that is hardest for me. How do I continue to work and strive towards my goal. I always mess up and have to start over on everything and I know if I don't want to do that anymore I have to stop quitting.  So here goes.  Here's my attempt at doing so. Its a new season, a fresh start. By the beginning of summer I want to have my novel "Jumper" written. Yes I am still working on that, oh and I have done some changes to it. For one thing I've change the main characters' names that are more fitting to them. Also I don't think the story will be called "Jumper" any more, but for now it will stay. I know if I do get published the name will change to something better, at least I hope it does...no it better change to something better. LOL!  And well right now I am at outlining stage...again. I know, craptastic, but it is what it is. The stories I wrote just never seemed right. Its going in the right direction but its just not there yet. So I am back to square one. I'll be sharing more details about my novel here as it unfolds. At this point I have changed character names, removed some characters, added some characters, and I am still working on the plot.  More to come.

As for health, I am finding it so hard to exercise and stick to my diet, and I just wish I could bribe myself to do it somehow. I have tried it before and it just doesn't work. I don't think I have mentioned it here before, but I am a doll collector of various dolls from cheap dollar store dolls to expensive Asian ball-joint dolls, and I have a set of vintage Barbie dolls waiting for me as an incentive to lose a large sum of weight. They were bought I think in 2010 and I can't have them until I lose the weight. Now I tried this with a Blythe doll and I did lose the weight...only the put it back on again.  I think I put it back on because I did a lot of starving because I was bad off at the time and could barely eat. Since I didn't learn how to really lose weight the right way doing that I put the weight back on. This time I am doing it the right way so I know how to keep it off for good or at least how to lose it again if I do notice the weight creeping back up.  But it seems if I want anything done I need to bribe myself for what I want.

So what can I do to get myself to write more?  I need something to get me to write the novel and finish it.  What would be a good incentive?  Hummm.  I know, for finishing the novel by June 20, 2012, the first day of Summer, I will have earned myself 3 books to read, 3 notepads and pens, and a bottle of "For Audrey" China Glaze nail polish that I really really want.  And laugh if you must but I really want these things.  LOL!  Maybe some of you can relate to the love of books, notepads and pens,and nail polish. LOL!  I seldom buy new stuff for myself and I don't remember the last time I bought new books for myself.  I am thinking I want the "Hex Hall" series, and there are three of them out so I think its perfect. The notepad and pens are for outlining, brainstorming, and jotting when novel thoughts come to mind. And as for the pens, well you can never have enough pens, especially if they are cute.  :-)  I so need a counter of some sort to show this on the blog.  LOL!  As for editing bribing I'll worry about that later.  I'm thinking it will be something a little more enticing because I feel editing will be the hardest part for me.

Ok, now that I have that all done, now its just my business I need to force myself to start. I haven't done it yet because honestly I am scared of being a big mess up on it. I want to open my doll clothing business as well as my amigurumi pattern business. Later on I want to open a vintage clothing shop and an Ebay or Amazon shop with my boyfriend so we can attempt to work for ourselves. See, I've got plans, and they are good plans, I am just to scared to act on them. But that stops today. I have the two main shops I want to start set up already, I just need to put inventory in and start promoting.  That one I think will still take some time as I need to figure out prices, shipping, logos, promotion, etc. But once I get my first sale I will treat myself to stationary, tissue paper, and a tag paper punch as payment for a job well done and to make my packages I send out look nicer.  Ok so I have the incentive, I guess with this I just need a deadline. I'm giving myself a month to get everything in the shop and set up for business. On April 20, 2012 I will be open for business. Stay tuned.

And then we return to the big one, weight.  Yes, yes, I still have the dolls, but that is for ultimate goal weight or at least getting to a certain number in weight.  I need tinier incentives to get things going. Ok, I want something for the first 20 pounds. Since those pounds can be tricky and sneak back up on you I will do something small. I think a bottle of crackle or shatter nail polish or a pretty nail polish I like. I want to start small and leave bigger things for when the going gets tough, and we all know it will.  I can't set a real deadline on the 20 pounds, but I will give myself roughly 2 months. So by May 20, 2012 I need to be 20 pounds less.  I am not going to say my weight here because it's personal to me and I won't cheat because it won't benefit me any if I do. I don't need a bottle of nail polish that bad to cheat with this.  LOL!  So I will post a counter for that as well here on the blog.  And please don't worry, I will not make this into a weight loss blog, I'll just mention every now and again how my progress is going.  This blog is strictly to get my rear in gear and write this damn novel.

But now that I have incentives, what will the punishments be?  Perhaps the disappointment in myself and the embarrassment of having to admit here that I've failed will be enough. Yeah, the thought of admitting after I posted this post that I still failed after all is scary enough to make me at least try not to look like an ass on the internet.  So yeah, there.

Ok, I am actually glad I was able to talk this all out here. It really helps me feel a little more centered and less like I am free-falling into nowhere.  I was thinking of writing myself a daily schedule in a notebook so I didn't waste time during the day. I think I will do that then post a new entry here of what I will be doing today so I can be held accountable.  Perhaps my return to writing and blogging here will be my savoir.  No, not perhaps, it will be my savoir. I plan to blog everything about my writing and life in general to be accountable on everything.  So here we go, day one. I just need to get through the next roughly 17 hours and 17 minutes. If I can do that, its one step closer to goal. :-)  I'm going to close for now and go work on my schedule and some outlining. Talk to you all soon.

Off to conquer the day,
M.

Maybe I’m Not A Pantser

Ok, so I am trying to work on my newest novel, and I’m on page 25 of it, and I’m just so frustrated with it.  One, I’m still sucking, and two, it just seems like it isn’t flowing right.  But the thing is, if I were to leave this alone and come back to it in a couple of months I would laugh my ass off at the things I wrote…that’s a good thing.  So I guess I’m not that bad, just needing to figure out ahead of time what I want these people to do.  I hate outlining, but if I could just have a general idea what I want to happen in each chapter that would be good I guess.  I’m liking this story, just needing to know how to get to the end point.  But I worry having an outline might take away from the writing for me.  Ugh!  Just not sure what to do.  Ok, I’m going to try to do an outline for this current chapter and see how it turns out for me.  More soon.

Writing away,
M.

I Give Myself Permission To Suck

So I am hard at work on my new novel that I decided to pick up after I made peace with myself for putting “Jumper” on hold.  This new novel is coming along, just I still have the stress of not knowing what’s going on in the novel and the stress over thinking that what I am writing sucks.  This is when a video by Maureen Johnson popped into my head where she talked about sucking.  I went back and watched it and it made me feel a little better about sucking.  So for public knowledge, I give myself permission to suck!  And now you can too.

Writing away,
M.

Jumper…

So for those of you who don’t know, I’ve been working on my first Nanowrimo winning novel “Jumper” since 2008.  I am currently in the process of rewriting it, but the story is just not there for me yet.  So I am going to put it away for now and focus on something else.  I feel the time I am wasting avoiding working on it because the story is still locked away in my head somewhere is wasted time that could be dedicated to a story that is brimming and ready to come out of me.  So I am working on something new for now and will return to “Jumper” at a later time.  *sigh*  That is all.

Writing away,
M.

Can they sell the color of her skin?

Hey guys, this one’s going to be a long one.  So I thought I would update you all on some interesting info.  So I have still not cracked open the “Jumper” outline yet.  Why?  Because I got to reading writer’s blogs last night.  But I’m so glad I did.  I think in reading them I learned why I am having such a problem with “Jumper”.

 

What am I reading?

So I thought I would start telling you guys what I am currently feeding my brain.  Right now I am currently feeding it “As You Wish” by Jackson Pearce.

So far I like it.  I have already heard a little about it from going to her live show last week and reading a little of what people have said about it since then.  It hasn’t taken away from the reading experience because there is a lot to the story that wasn't mentioned.  To give it to you quick, it’s about a young girl who conjures up a genie and has three wishes.  She doesn’t want them to be “bad” wishes so she is taking her time making them.  The genie gives her tips on how to get a good wish, even though he knows helping her take her time on the wish making is aging him and keeping him from his beloved home.  He doesn’t know why he’s helping her take her time, but he just can’t bring himself to trick her to wish.  She’s already made her first wish in the part of the novel I am at, and so far she is liking the wish, but for some reason the genie is not so happy.  I’ll be reading more today to find out what happens when she makes her second wish.  I’ll do a full book review later when I finish the novel.  I haven’t been doing book reviews lately, but I have several that need one, and I like sharing my thoughts on the books I read.  So expect more of those to come here as well.  I need to bring some over to this blog from my other blog so some may be showing up sooner than you think.    Ok, back to outlining.  Bye for now.

Writing away,
M.

Choices, choices, choices…

Ok, so I want to get back to writing, like as of yesterday, but I have one tiny little problem.  See while I was waiting to get the inspiration to work on “Jumper”, I would of course get other novel ideas and write them all down and tinker on some of them.  I’m still not ready to work on “Jumper”, and thought I’d try a contemporary novel idea I had.  Problem is, “Jumper” is still screaming at me and forming in my mind as I try to work on other stuff.  Why am I not working on it?  Why do I keep pushing it to the back burner?  I guess because the story is still cooking in my mind.  But then what do I work on now?

I had a novel I was working on for last year’s Nano, but decided to quit because it needed an outline and I had no time to work on one.  So I am thinking of working on it now that I’ve found a way to make it work where I can tell the point of view of both characters from a book I am currently reading.  But that is not the contemporary novel I was thinking of working on.  I started outlining that one the other day and finding character names and whatnot.

Then I went through my writing folder, big mistake, and found all the other work I’d started on and didn’t carry through.  “Jumper” is the only one I carried through and finished the first draft, only to see that it wasn’t the right story my characters were trying to tell. So I am restarting it.  Keeping the skeleton of the story, but changing it around.  Even my main character Andrea has change some. So it still needs to be outlined. Maybe I need to focus on “Jumper” and leave these other novels alone until I finish it. “Jumper” won’t let me rest until it is written.

So maybe I already have the answer in front of me?  Just work on “Jumper” and get that story out of me since my characters are now being so talkative and I don’t have the deadline stress of Nano to tell me when to finish it by.  Of course I want to give myself only 3 months to finish it so it won’t be something I am still working on 5 years from now.  I mean it’s already something that I’ve been working on for a little over 2 years.  So maybe its time to get this novel done.  I really want to actively try to become an author.  Writing is just something that I find so fascinating and I have so many stories to tell.  So I’m deciding that this year is the year I am going to get serious about it.  I think I doubted myself before, but not anyone.  I’m still worried people won’t like me and any published works will be destined for lone dark shelves at discount liquidator stores and dollar stores, but I can’t let that fear stop me.  Because who knows, maybe one day my book will be reviewed by some of the awesome reviewers out there and be read by the awesome readers out there on their suggestions.  Maybe my book will be on a bookstore shelf one day and someone “will just have to have it”.  I can’t tell the future, and I shouldn’t act like I can.  I should just believe in myself, my work, and the fact that I’m pretty dang awesome. 

So…(takes a deep breath)…“Jumper” it is then.  I’m actually nervous about it.  I keep thinking it’s not ready to be written, but then when will it ever be ready?  So I guess me and my characters are going to be having a chat now.  Wish us luck.  This is going to be the year I finish this novel, and by my calculations, by the time May starts.  I am going to work on the outline for another couple of days, and since Feb. is short a few days I will be starting the actual novel writing on Jan. 30th.  So I have 4 days to get this outline done.  Busy bee mode is on.  I’ll keep you updated.  Bye for now. 

Writing away,
M.

New work in the works.

So I’ve started on my new novel now.  Thank everything.  I was going to work more on my 2008 Nanowrimo novel, but something just keeps forcing me to avoid it.  I think about it non-stop, but I just can’t do it.  I don’t know what it is.  I think I’m afraid of facing that story I’m trying to tell.  I don’t want to do Andrea, my main female character, any unjust by not telling her story right and getting it all out there.  So I want to take my time outlining.  So instead I choose to work on a contemporary piece that should hopefully come together nicely.  So far the outlining is coming together ok.  It’s taking some time to piece together my characters and the plot, but it’s coming along.  If this story works out how I see it in my head, does it ever work out the way we see it, then it should be a cute little novel.  Fingers crossed.  Well I’m going back to outlining.  I so need to come and work on this layout soon.  It’s so dated.  I’ll do that soon.  Writing takes priority now.    Bye for now.

Writing away,
M.

I write like...

So my sister showed me this cool website called I Write Like. It basically tells you, well, who you write like. I just put in the first few lines of my novel and it said this:

I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Here's the wiki for James Joyce if you need some extra info on him. So I was rather impressed with myself when I saw that, but then I started thinking...does that mean my work is classic or dated? LOL! I'm going to try posting some blog posts and other novel bits in and seeing who it says I write like then. Let me know who you right like. :-)

Writing away,
M.

I'm back.

I had been thinking of merging all my blogs into one, but seeing as each one deals with a different topic I have decided not to merge and to leave them all as they are. So I am back writing here. I have been working on Jumper. 3 chapters are done and 3 are left. I know that there will be more chapters than that as the plot unfolds and more things are revealed to me. So far the story has changed several times and I like the changes. But it just feels so weird rewriting Andrea's story. Her plot is getting thicker and I am back at the "hard" part of writing, getting her story started. And now I am doing it from her point of view. Ugh!!! Don't get me wrong, I love the story and it refuses to let me walk away from it, but it's so frustrating and I have several other ideas I want to entertain in other novels but I can't until Andrea tells me her story. So that is where I am write now. Rewriting history, at least where Andrea is concerned. Wish me luck.

Writing away,
M.

I think I need a do over.

So here lately I have been in this weird funk. There are so many things I need and want to do but I just can't stick with anything long enough to do it. I don't know why. I'm not really a lazy person. Once I start something I am dedicated to it until I finish it. So I don't know what this funk is. It might be related to things going on in my life that I can neither control or change and it's frustrating to me. This frustration is sucking the life out of me along with a few other things that I actually can control and change but for some reason I just don't have the dedication to do it. It's so weird. On some things I will do what I need to do until it's done. But on the one thing I need to do in order to change my life I just can't be dedicated enough to do it. Maybe I will be blog about it in my main blog later...if I can be motivated enough to do it.

So why am I writing about this in my writing journal? Well, this funk I am in has also affected my writing. I have not be dedicated to it in a long time even though writing is all I can think about. So for the past couple of days I've tried to get back to writing with little to no success until this morning. I got back to "Jumper" and tried revising chapter 6 when I just saw that the story was lacking something. I've let it sit so long that it's no long the story I want to write. Don't get me wrong, I still want to write Andrea and Maxwell's story, but there is honestly something missing as well as the story seems like a tango done by two people with either two left feet or they've only had one lesson. So I've been tinkering around in my head lately on what to do with it. Do I just keep going? Do I chuck it all together? What do I do? Well, it was two seconds ago that I finally decided what to do.

I'm going to rewrite "Jumper" and I'm going to do so in first person. I've been reading a lot of first person YAs lately and I think this story might be better told in first person. There are so many people in the story that it's easy to lose sight of who the story is about. It's about Andrea and what happens to her and Max. So instead of me telling her story, I will simply let her tell it herself. I think that's what she's been trying to tell me all along.

I will be starting on chapter one tonight to see how I like it. Fingers crossed tight that it will work. I want this novel done and ready for submitting by Fall. The way I wrote her story first time around it seemed to only warrant two books, but perhaps writing it in first person will warrant several books like I originally intended it to do. She was suppose to go through several time periods fixing certain events so that her life would go in a certain way that would better the world. To give you a better idea of what I mean, think the Terminator and how he went back in time to kill Sarah and John Connor to fix his time. So yeah, we will see how this works out. Wish me luck. :-) Off to write now.

Writing away,
M.

Word Count

This is a sticky word count post for the month of November. Please check the post below for recent blog updates. Thanks. :-)



Writing away,
M.

I'm back on track.

So I kind of came to a stop once I finished my two novels that I was sure would take up all 50k this month. But, I have found a way to get me started again. Haiku! I thought of it last night and I have written several already since last night. So here goes...I am going to write 15k in haiku. I have a little less than a week to complete it because I will be done before thanksgiving. I want to be one of the ones who get the purple bar on the day validation starts. Of course I will keep writing after that to see how much I will end up with at the end of the month but I want to have my 50k done by then. So yes, I am back on track. Haiku people. Haiku!!! LOL!

Writing away,
M.

I finished my novel!!!

The second one for the month. I now need to come up with a few stories to write to make up for the last 15,000 words. I am so not stressing about it. I am so far ahead of the game and I still plan to finish before Thanksgiving. Once I get started I know I will be able to knock out the rest of the words in no time. I am working on a story that I have wanted to write for years now. I just need to find a story similar to what I want my story to look like to see what kind of words I should be working with. Ahhh!!! So excited and in disbelief. I'll miss Nicole and her friends since after this month I am going back to Andrea for a while, but its all cool. As for now, I'm going to go exercise and then come back and work on my next story. Eeeee!!! I finished another novel!!!


Writing away,
M.