Ready. Set. Write! Week 8

Ready. Set. Write! is a weekly blog check in so writers can cheer each other on and support each other. Check out one of the lovely host bloggers (Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij) for more details and to join in. It's never too late to start!

How I did on last week's goal: I wanted to hit 3,500 and I managed 3,000. Not all the way there, but I am happy with that number.

My goal for this week: I am going for 3,500 again. Victory shall be mine!

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: Alas, most of it was total crap. I just couldn't seem to figure out where I wanted to go. Why is there no GPS machine (with a cool English accent) for novel writing?

GPS: Where do you want to go?
Me: I'd like to pass quickly through their past relationship and then head into the present conflict.
GPS: Try 500 words of witty dialog about an evil childhood cat and then make him kiss her best friend in the bathroom. 

The biggest challenge I faced this week: Do you remember the cloud dough incident from last week? Well, letting them play with the rest of the cloud dough OUTSIDE was also a mistake. 

We are going to have to power wash the deck.

You never see that shit on Pinterest.

In non-craft related challenges...

I keep rewriting the first few chapters even though I KNOW it is ridiculous because I can always go back and change them later. I do this every single time. It's like I need them to be perfect before I can move on. So I'm trying to just write and not edit as I go. Results are mixed so far but I am hopeful!

Something I love about my WIP: The first few chapters are really tight ;)

How was your week?

Ready. Set. Write! Week 7

Ready. Set. Write! is a weekly blog check in so writers can cheer each other on and support each other. Check out one of the lovely host bloggers (Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij) for more details and to join in!

How I did on last week's goal: I wanted to hit 3,000 words and I got nearly 4,000. Woohoo! 

My goal for this week: I'm going for 3,500 this week. Go big or go home, right?

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: 

"The minute I got to the party I knew it was a mistake. I should’ve been home, huddled under the covers while mainlining ice cream and regretting my foolish choices. That is the appropriate response after punching the big red self-destruct button on your own life."

The biggest challenge I faced this week: My own idiocy. I tried to be a crafty mom and made cloud dough (flour mixed with oil to make it moldable) for my toddlers. Great idea, right? Um, yes, but it is WINTER here so they played with it inside, and I maaaay have slightly overestimated their ability to stay at the table.

There are now shining white handprints all over my house. It looks like Max Evans has been healing everything: curtains, furniture, pets...

(Sadly, this still worked out better than my last crafty mom moment when the toddlers fed a whole batch of peanut butter play dough to the dog and he spent the rest of the day puking up the stickiest and most disgusting substance the world has ever seen.)

Something I love about my WIP: I can't stop thinking about it.

How was your week?

Ready. Set. Write! Week 6

You guys. Thanks so much for the support last week. I was feeling a bit lost about writing in the face of real world drama (so inconvenient) and it helped SO MUCH to know that I wasn't alone. Special thanks to Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij for setting up RSW :)

If anybody out there is sitting on the fence about participating then hop off that sucker right now and put up your own post! If I wasn't checking in with other people then I would probably still be on the sofa watching Nicholas Sparks movies (totally legit life choice btw) instead of writing.

You guys are awesome.

How I did on last week's goal: Nailed it! I did more than 2,000 words and got a rough outline typed up.

My goal for this week: I'm going to up my game and try for 3,000 words.

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: 

"I love it when a plan comes together."

I'm still near the beginning, but this week was the first time that I felt like I really understood the characters and where the story is going. 

Best. Feeling. Ever.

The biggest challenge I faced this week: Sleep. My children have given it up, and therefore so I have I. Coffee intake is approaching danger levels :)

Something I love about my WIP: It's making me laugh. In a good way.

How was your week?

Ready. Set. Write! Week 5

I missed last week but I am back to Ready. Set. Write! with a vengeance :) Thanks to Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij because without this blogging support I wouldn't have pulled it together to get back to my desk this quickly. It works, people!

How I did on last week's goal: I made my 2,000 words! 

My goal for this week: 2,000 words is working for me :) I'd also like to take all the little notes off my phone and enter them into an actual outline on Scrivener.

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: To be perfectly honest, most of what I wrote last week was craptastic at best, but I was in the chair and the words are on the paper and some weeks that is good enough.

The biggest challenge I faced this week: Unexpected real life issues have really made me think about the role of writing in my life, and whether or not I am delusional for basically spending all my free time in my head and thinking of it as a career path. Because no matter how many times I tell myself that I would write no matter what (and I would - just not as much), I also have to face the fact that I am an adult (*shudder*) with certain responsibilities of the small person kind, and sometimes I think I should be putting that energy into something with more security.

So I skipped a week of writing to ponder, and I would love to say that I spent that time in serious reflection, but I mostly watched Scott Eastwood in The Longest Ride on iTunes and sent my friends texts about hot cowboys.

See? TOTAL ADULT over here, guys.

Then I got back in my chair and did my 2,000 words. 

So I guess I'm delusional. 

But happy. 

And fond of cowboys.

Something I love about my WIP: One of the characters is a snowboarder and I am loving writing about the mountains. I miss them.

How was your week?

Ready. Set. Write! Week 3

I am loving Ready. Set. Write! so far :) For anyone who doesn't know, it's a summer (winter for me) writing intensive for writing/planning/revising and is hosted by Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij. Everyone sets some goals and then updates with a brief post on Mondays so we can cheer each other on and hold each other accountable.

Fun, right? Check out one of the host blogs for cool buttons and further instructions!

How I did on last week's goal: I missed one day, but still managed 2,000 words which is sooooo much better than nothing!

My goal for this week: I'm going to say four days of 500 words because I have some work drama happening this week (ALWAYS SO FUN) and I may need a night off to sit on the sofa drinking wine and watching The Longest Ride trailer on my laptop.

Because that's just how I roll when the going gets tough.

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised:   

Hear me baby? Hold together.

I've been skipping around, playing with scenes I have in my head and getting to know the voices. Will these scenes ever actually fit together? I'm going to channel my inner Han Solo and say YES.

The biggest challenge I faced this week: Real life was super distracting this week. What's up with that? Don't these people know I've got s*** to do?

Something I love about my WIP: The kissing.

How was your week?

Ready. Set. WRITE!

I am really excited to be starting Ready. Set. Write! this week. It's a summer (winter for me) writing intensive for writing/planning/revising and is hosted by Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij. Everyone sets some goals and then updates with a brief post on Mondays so we can cheer each other on and hold each other accountable.

Fun, right? Check out one of the host blogs for cool buttons and further instructions!

How I did on last week's goal: My goal was to write 500 words a day for five days last week and I did it, which is excellent because I really just need to get back in the habit of making myself sit down and get the words out.

My goal for this week: I just want to keep rolling with the 500 words/five days formula for now.

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: If this WIP was a student its report card would say this: X lacks focus but has potential.

The biggest challenge I faced this week: The same challenge I face every night, Pinky - TRYING TO STAY OFF THE INTERNET. 

Something I love about my WIP: I've written MG in the past but I'm playing around with something aimed at an older crowd, so it's fun to let my characters swear. I have toddlers and can't swear in real life anymore so I'm meeting my profanity needs on the page :)

How was your week?

Out of the Slump: My Epic NA Book Binge

Things I have NOT done in the last two months:

• Watched TV
• Any housework beyond avoiding health code violations.*

Things I HAVE done:

• Read over 100 New Adult books.
• Kept children and pets alive. (The plants...meh.)
• Thought about 20-something guys' abs. A lot.

My one click finger is going to need physio and I am seriously sleep deprived, but I don't care.

Now, I'm a Middle Grade girl from way back. I've always written MG, and the bulk of what I've read for the past few years is MG and YA. They're what I love and what I know and that will never change, but I was in a major reading slump. I didn't take enough chances: I knew what I liked and I stuck to it. 

Slumpity slump.

When I was in high school I read anything and everything. I'd start the day at Sweet Valley High and go to bed with Anna Karenina. I binged on stories and stayed up too late and didn't care about genre or audience or language. 

I haven't read like that for a long time, but two months ago I fell in love with NA and I didn't look back. (Duh. Like I was taking my eyes off that Kindle.) I read everything I could get my hands on. Some of them were absolutely amazing. Some of them really, um, weren't. I didn't care. I gave them all a chance because this whole NA thing was new, and different, and exactly what I needed. 

Hey, it's hard for writers to read. Books are our entertainment, but they're also our job. We're not just reading for fun: we're looking at the language and the character development and mapping out the pacing in our heads. 

But I haven't been doing (much) of that lately. I've just been devouring stories to the point of giddiness and I honestly haven't been this happy in my reading life for years.

So if you're in a slump I highly recommend trying something new and completely different. If it includes hot hockey players with killer abs then SO MUCH THE BETTER IMHO, but whatever lights your fire, obviously.

And if you want any NA recommendations then just ask! I'll be updating my goodreads soon...but that takes up valuable hockey player abs reading time, and you know how it goes, right?

*Yeah, actually this is just normal.