September Wrap Up

*sigh*

It's been a pretty tough couple of months for me, writing-wise. As much as I'm finally moving forward on Capitoline Hill, I've been totally stalled on everything else. I made a half-hearted effort at Angels this month, but I hit a brick wall a week or so in.

I know what the problem is. I've reached a point in all my existing stories where the characters have to start moving towards the main goal. Which is the point where I realize the story doesn't have a main goal.

My pre-production--for lack of a better word--sucks. I don't outline. I don't even think past the opening chapters half the time. So it's no wonder that I get to the middle of the beginning of the story and crash and burn.

I've been making an effort at improving lately, but it's not going as well as I'd hoped. I wrote down everything I know for CH2, which I want to write during NaNo, and it turns out... there's only ten bullet points, most of which relate to the romantic subplot and not the main plot. So I'm trying not to panic that I'll be winging it during NaNo.

OK. Whining over now. I'm sure looking at my goals for September will make me (not) feel better.

September's goals:

• Write 10,000 words, mostly for Angels. Well. That didn't happen. I did write words for Angels. A few at least.
• Enter at least one bloghop and post at least one blog post (not including Teaser Tuesday). I did. I entered the Genre Blogfest (a little late, but better than never), and I posted about Kyra Lennon's novella cover.
• Be a better CP. I read one of them. Well, that's something.

Also, I started querying agents for CH, which I consider the biggest victory of all. Having accomplished that goal makes me feel better about the ones I missed.

And now, here are my goals for October:

• Outline CH2. This one is pretty important, seeing how I won't have another opportunity before NaNo.
• Query 14 more agents for CH. That will bring my total up to 25.
• Get through my CP pile. For real this time.
• Carve out a few hours a week that are solely devoted to writing. I think part of the reason I've been having trouble lately is because I'm unfocused, which comes from doing other things when I should be writing. Then I feel guilty about not writing, and a vicious circle begins. A lot of people talk about making writing part of your daily schedule. I need to be better about that.

Do you have any goals for October? Also, who's doing NaNo? Anyone want to set up a writers' group or message board or something to help motivate us?

August Wrap Up

I have to say, this was a really nice break. Taking a few weeks to decompress was a good idea. I think I'm ready to get back into things, but I'm still going to take it slow. Work promises to be crazy from now until Thanksgiving, so probably not piling up unnecessary deadlines is a good idea.

So here's last month's goal breakdown.

• Have a polished MS for CH, along with a complete query letter and synopsis. I mostly do. My betas have been sending feedback on the latest draft, and I think one more pass through ought to do it.
• Enter at least one bloghop. Er... oops.
• Visit K.S. Lewis. I did. And it was awesome! I so wasn't ready to come home.
• Relax, shake it off, and approach my writing with fresh eyes in September.

September's goals:

• Write 10,000 words, mostly for Angels. I've been in a very MG mood lately (as evidenced by my reading Animorphs for the past month). And I realized that I've been overestimating how long a MG book is. Based on some of the books I've looked up, Angels is really a third of the way done. So I'm going to try to spend the next two months working on it, so maybe I can have another finished book before NaNo starts in November.
• Enter at least one bloghop and post at least one blog post (not including Teaser Tuesday). I need to get back to being involved in the blogosphere.
• Be a better CP. I currently have three MS excerpts to read and critique for three people who have been fabulous at reading my stuff, and I owe them big time. Break time's over.

And that's it for now. How was everyone else's August? I know I've been a little absent from blogs and even Twitter, so I hope you all enjoyed your summer!

Hangers!

And now here's the second part of the Hookers & Hangers Blogfest. Turns out I'm significantly better at Hangers than Hookers, because it was a lot harder to choose, and that was even after leaving out a few that included spoilers. Thanks to everyone at Falling for Fiction for hosting this (and generally being awesome)! (For my Hookers, click here.)

Capitoline Hill

1. I nodded, feeling his dark expression in my gut. “Yes sir.”
2. “The only way we can truly know,” Donovan said, very seriously, “when the other person is dead.”
3. Which leaves us with two choices: kill them or let them join us.”

Other Books

1. She watched all these people laughing and having fun and wondered, just for a minute, what was wrong with her that she didn’t enjoy this too. - Defenders
2. You’re under arrest for murder. - Defenders
3. That’s how they know what I am. - Angels
4. I turned my back on him and stormed off. - Angels
5. "Well," I said when everyone was seated as comfortably as they were going to get, "what do we do now?" - Angels

I really enjoyed reading everyone's Hookers, and I'm looking forward to the Hangers too!

Also, if you're interested in something that sounds really cool, check out DL Hammons' WRiTE CLUB. Click on the picture for more details.

Hookers!

It's time for the first part of the Hookers & Hangers Blogfest, hosted by the awesome ladies at Falling for Fiction. Because I couldn't decide, I'm going to give you three from Capitoline Hill, then a few from my other WIPs. Enjoy!

Capitoline Hill

1. The first thing I wanted to say when Geoffrey ushered us into his office was, “It was Lucy’s fault.”
2. He was a human again, he was pretty sure.
3. We woke in a naked pile of human bodies.

Other Books

1. It was official: Shawn sucked at physical training. - Defenders
2. When Laurie regained consciousness, she was outside the burning house again, flat on her back and staring at the black sky with the swirling grey plumes of smoke dancing patterns before her eyes. - Defenders
3. Can I tell you a secret? - Angels
4. My blood ran cold, and Calli whirled on Levi, slashing her sword so fast I barely saw it and stopping just inches from his throat. - Angels
5. The gun vibrated in her left hand as it recharged, and Bex Addison idly wondered why the magical gun couldn’t reload as quickly as the Beretta in her right. - Bex Addison
6. Once upon a time, there were three little kids and a big, bad wolf. Capitoline Hill, book 2

That was fun, and I think the Hangers part might be even better. I'm looking forward to reading everyone else's!

Dust It Off Bloghop - Day 3 (and a writing update)

I'm a little sad for the end of this bloghop. It was nice revisiting old memories (and hearing all your kind words about them!). I'm sorry I've been such a slacker about visiting others and commenting. I'm hoping to spend some time catching up this week.

Thanks again to the bloghop hosts, Cortney Pearson and Theresa Paolo. You can see Day 1 and Day 2 at these links.

The Dust It Off Bloghop will be three days, May 3rd, 5th and 7th.

We've all had those manuscripts that we poured our heart into, fell in love with the characters and still think of them at random, but unfortunately had to shelf. Now it's time for a little spring cleaning. Take out those manuscripts and Dust It Off!

The first day, May 3rd: We want you to post a 1-2 sentence pitch (Great way to practice pitches) about the shelved WIP.

The second day, May 5th: Post your favorite excerpt (300-350 words)

The third day, May 7th: Post what you learned from this WIP. You become a stronger, more rounded writer which each manuscript and we want to know what this particular work taught you.

So what did I learn from Three Left? In short, everything. This was the first long project I ever wrote, the first time I put my mind to a big task and completed it. It took years (I don't remember how many), and I think it was the first time I ever showed a commitment like that. I learned about focus and about finishing what you start. I learned how to take a critique, and that most critics are not out to make you cry; they just want to help your story be better.

I also learned so much about the technical aspects of writing. Hell, I learned a lot about Microsoft Word (I'm pretty sure we'd just gotten the first version of Office when I was writing this). I learned about characters' voices and the importance of names and how to make accent marks using keyboard shortcuts. I learned about weaving a plot through the story and how to make bad things happen just to see what the consequences will be. I learned that the insert key lets you put facts back into the story, instead of just sticking them in whenever you think of them.

And I learned about what I couldn't do. When I started the very first paragraph of Three Left--even when I came up with the title--I expected that not all four of my MCs would make it to the end. Ultimately, I decided I couldn't kill off a main character, not one I'd spent so much time getting attached to. So I altered the meaning of the title to avoid that possibility. I'm not saying I'll never kill a main character, but I know it's something that's particularly difficult for me to carry out, even though I think about it at least once with every book I write.

Most importantly, I learned that I could write, and it might even be coherent. I had a lot of problems when I was a kid because my brain worked more quickly than my fingers did. Once I learned to type properly on the computer, that helped a lot. I could finally make sense of all the words constantly careening around my head (seriously, I wish you all could see it in here. It's like a Moon Bounce). I could edit things so other people would understand them too.

I'll probably never do anything with this book, but it's always going to hold a special place in my heart as my first. And the lessons I took from it are invaluable.

Also, quick writing update: When we last left our writer, she was sitting by the broken mess that was Defenders crying and cursing, vowing to only work on Bex until she finished it. Well... um... things have changed. Midway through telling my most awesome CP/friend K.S. Lewis that I was putting Defenders on hiatus, I had an epiphany (seriously, I think I was mid-sentence). What if it's not a five-book series like I'd planned? What if it's just one book? One dramatic, action-packed book, instead of five drawn-out, slow-building books? It was like the brightest, shiniest lightbulb went off. Of course it's only one book. I never had enough material for five. No wonder the first book seemed painfully slow and plotless.

So that was on Thursday. On Friday, I started editing/rewriting the 12 chapters I'd finished so far. I'm up to chapter 10 now, and I haven't hated myself or my writing in days. I actually have things about the future planned. It's amazing how one little (okay, kind of big) change can make all the difference.

So Defenders isn't on hiatus. But I am still working on Bex (and Angels) at the same time. I'd really like to finish the 1st draft of one of them before NaNoWriMo, but we'll see how that goes.

Anyone else have any exciting news to share (about writing or anything else)?

S is for Flash Fiction... Saturday?

In all the hubbub surrounding yesterday's URL redirection thing, I completely forgot about Flash Fiction Friday. I was on a hot streak today, editing Capitoline Hill (I plan to have it ready to send to beta readers tomorrow), so I decided to go with a snippet from my MG novel, Angels, especially since I won't get to post anything about it during the A-Z Challenge. I'm only on chapter 6, so it's still pretty early, but I'm liking the way it's turning out so far.

Short plot summary:

Zachary Taylor Middle School has an infestation of demons, and Mallory Shea is the only one who can see them. Well, Mallory and about 500 guardian angels, that is.

And here's a little snippet:

Did I think that real demons were going to show up at the eighth grade dance at Zachary Taylor Middle School? No, not really. And judging by my classmates’ reactions, everyone seemed really excited about the angels and demons theme. Girls were already starting to plan their costumes.

So I plastered on a big smile when Veronica glanced my way. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Veronica doesn’t know about my secret. She also doesn’t know she has a guardian angel. A pretty ugly one, actually, but I wouldn’t tell her that. If I were ever to tell her anything about this. She’s nice though, the angel. Iona. And she really loves Veronica, so I couldn’t ask for anyone better to guard my friend.

“What do you think?” Veronica asked as we walked back to Micah, standing awkwardly on the outskirts of the crowd. “Should we go as angels or demons? If we go as angels, we’ll be considered goody-goodies. But if we go as demons, everyone will thing we’re sluts.”

Micah made a face. “I hate that word,” he whined, but Veronica ignored him. Veronica usually ignored him. She wanted to be cool, and Micah was definitely not cool.

Behind her, Garwin made a face at me and made a little halo with his hands over his head. I barely resisted the urge to laugh, knowing that no one else would get it. “I think I’ll be an angel,” I said, and Garwin shot me a thumbs-up, complete with a goofy little dance that almost had me giggling again. He was a comedian, my angel. “I’d rather be a goody-goody than a slut.”

What am I doing?

Deep down, every author wants to write that epic book or series, the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings that moves a generation, becomes a major motion picture, and makes you so successful that you never need to work a day job again. It may not be an all-consuming thought, and that certainly doesn't mean you're not going to write and even publish other things, but I firmly believe somewhere in the back of every writer's mind is that desire to write an epic story.

For me, Defenders is that story. It's a five-book series, and by the end of book five, I truly expect it to change lives. It's got romance, action, philosophy and politics all rolled into one, like The Giver meets The Hunger Games but with werewolves (and a host of other supernatural creatures). I have big dreams for this series.

So why am I writing Angels instead?

Unless you follow me on Twitter, I know I haven't talked much about Angels. It sort of came out of nowhere. I wrote half the first chapter during NaNoWriMo last year, then stuffed it in a metaphorical drawer in lieu of finishing Rosetta, starting Defenders and writing some short stories. It was really just a silly little writing exercise when I had writer's block one day.

Which is what happened again a few weeks ago. I had writer's block on Defenders, so I looked through some old projects to get my mind off it for a little while. Angels popped up, and I wrote a little more. Then a little more the next day. And again, and again, until I'm now 3,000 words into it, and it's starting to develop a plot.

Perhaps the scariest thing about it is that it's middle grade fiction. I've written MG fiction before, mostly when I was in the middle grades. The only MG thing I've written since graduating middle school, however, is The-Novel-We-Speak-Not-Of.

For those of you who haven't been following my blog since last November (so... everyone), I consider my third novel (and 2009 NaNo submission) to be the lowest point of my writing career so far, made all the worse by the fact that I had been sitting on the plot for several years before getting up the nerve to write it. Badly.

(Kim says it isn't as bad as I think it is. I agree. It can't possibly be. The Hindenburg wasn't as bad as I think this novel is.)

Needless to say, I have some concerns. I don't speak like a normal person to begin with. I like vocabulary, and I like using words to their fullest extent. I like grammar, and I like using it properly. 13-year-old girls do not do this, or at least not often. Not the ones in my story. And the 13-year-old girls I used to talk to are now in high school (I have a lot of younger neighbors). So what makes me think I can write this character and her friends convincingly?

I'm also afraid that the minute I put any pressure on this (i.e. call it an actual WIP), it'll crack. It feels so very fragile right now. I guess all books do when I first start out, but I think my insecurities are making this one worse.

The flip side of this is that 1) the words seem to be really flowing with this one, and 2) I'm having a ton of fun writing it. Which is a really nice change, considering how difficult Defenders is being. I guess I'm just confused because I've seen myself as an adult author, and I've seen myself as a YA author, but I'd never even considered the possibility I might also be a MG author.

Of course, I'm only 3,000 words in. Maybe I'm just getting ahead of myself.

Has your writing ever taken you by surprise? Every gotten really into writing a book you never expected? Or ever written something you didn't think you knew how to write? Or should I just shut up and be glad the words are coming?

February Wrap Up

I figure the end of the month is a good time to take a look at how I'm doing towards my writing resolutions and see what I can do to improve, both as a writer and as a chronic procrastinator.

Just as a note: according to Blogger I had 400 page views for the month of February. From when this blog began in October 2011 through January 2012, I had 114. I also went from having only one follower (thank you, Kim!) to have over 30. So thank you to everyone who's been following my blog and tweets! I really appreciate each and every one of you.

Goals:

1. Write 1000 words per day, Monday through Friday. As of this morning, I had 970 words left to hit my monthly goal of 21,000 words (which is akin to that 1000 words/day goal). Barring some unforeseen circumstance, I expect to write that by tonight, thus accomplishing this goal. (Hey, it's nice to start on a high note.)
2. Begin Defenders. Yesterday I hit the 10,000 word mark for Defenders, so I'm well into it now. I also started/continued a story I'd originally intended to use for NaNoWriMo called Angels, but I'm only about two chapters into that and seem to be using it more for when I get writer's block, so we'll see what happens with that.
3. Finishing editing Rosetta. The wheels fall off the wagon here. Not only have I not finished my edits, but I've barely worked on them all month. I started out with about 70 pages edited, and now I'm up to about 90. Not good enough.
4. Submit short stories. This morning I submitted a short story to Penumbra eZine. I've also been submitting flash fiction stories to blog contests (and I must admit I'm getting kind of addicted to them). This is a fun way to hit my word count without agonizing over one novel the whole time, especially when that novel is as ornery as Defenders.

Three out of four isn't too bad, though I definitely wish I'd done better with Rosetta. If I ever want to start querying, I need to be, you know, complete. SO, with that in mind, here are my goals for March (I really like lists).

• Continue writing 1000 words/day. This seems to be a pretty good amount, enough that I don't feel like I'm not doing anything, but not so much that I can't handle that with my day job. This makes my March word count goal 22,000 words.
• Edit 50 pages of Rosetta per week. I honestly have no idea if this is feasible, but I need a stricter deadline for myself than, "Be done by the end of the month." I'm rewriting substantial parts of the book, but I'm still using quite a bit of the first draft, so hopefully this won't be completely unattainable.
• Get 50 followers on my blog and Twitter. I'm at about 30 for both, so I don't think this is out of reach.
• Continue to submit short stories and flash fiction.

I've discovered that I truly work better (read: I only work) when I have hard deadlines for myself with as little wiggle room as possible. If I can possibly find a way to put off doing the work, I will, even if I regret it later. I'm never going to be the kind of writer who only writes when they're inspired because I'll have nothing but a drawer of half-started manuscripts to show for it.

What about you guys? Does this kind of scheduling work for you, or do you work better with more flexibility?

Writing Prompts

So I spent the better part of this evening looking for ways to fill my NaNoWriMo word count. After running through my list of projects (Rosetta, Dash, YA, Long Live, and now my newest story Angels), I came up with... writing prompts. So I set about searching for writing prompts online to help get me started.

I have to tell you: they suck.

I don't know if it's just the websites I found, but there were a ton of one-word writing prompts (which can be fun when I'm in the mood for them) and a ton of prompts along the lines of, "Write about something you dislike about yourself." But there were very few longer prompts, containing things that might get your mind working if you're having trouble coming up with an idea of your own. It's all well and good to have the prompt, "Cinnamon," but if you're already a little burned out and not having luck coming up with a concept, sometimes you need a little more.

Maybe it was just the way I was searching. I typed "Writing prompt" into Google and went with the sites on the first page. Is there a better topic to search? Maybe "story starters" or something like that?

When I was in high school, I used to spend the first fifteen minutes of every morning doing free writing. Basically, I'd sit at my desk at 5:15 in the morning and write about whatever could possibly come to mind.

Needless to say, there were a lot of angry journal entries about how much I hated being awake that early.

I liked doing the free writing. I read about it in one of those "How to Be a Writer" books (maybe Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird), and the author talked about how it loosened up her mind for the rest of the day. I noticed a distinct uptick in my creativity whenever I did it. I felt more awake during the day (which was ironic because I woke up earlier), and I felt like my brain was firing on all synapses.

Unfortunately, like most things I did in high school, this faded away as I got older. Eventually, I valued the extra fifteen minutes of sleep more than the burst of energy and creativity I would get from free writing. Nowadays, I wake up and sit on my computer for a half hour before even attempting to move. I could use this time to write/free write.

Instead, I watch reruns of Boy Meets World or play games on Sporcle.

Part of the problem is that I'd rather write than free write, but I'm afraid whatever I wrote at six in the morning would be completely useless--and it probably would be. But I don't want to have to rewrite everything I do, and I don't want to waste time writing things that don't matter (aka stream-of-consciousness free writing), so instead I write nothing. And for some reason my brain is okay with this.

Anyway, at this point I'm just looking to fill my word count, but I will go back to the initial point and pose a question to all of you who are reading (so possibly just Kim): Does anyone out there have a tried-and-true writing prompt site they use?