Usually, it surprises me. Or makes me cry. But today, my writer's mind scared the crap out of me. I feel like I'm in a Stephen King novel! I never thought I'd be writing any kind of horror or thriller, but that's what this one is turning out to be.
So what did I write? Not sharing that! I've learned over the years that sharing samples usually leads to regret because in a week, a month, or a year I'll think it is such utter crap I'll be ashamed I ever posted it. If I ever publish anything, then samples are likely. Until then, process discussion only!
As I've said, I have some mental illnesses. One perk is that I get outlandish thoughts that very easily turn into story ideas. One had to do with a mauling, another with a bank robbery. Then there was the galaxy outlaw portraits hanging in the prime minister of the solar system's dining room.
Not scary sounding, I know. But there are some scary bits, I promise!
I just finished typing up all these little notes I've jotted down (in my phone or in the notebook by my bed) over the last few months. Now it's time to flush out some characters and solidify some basic plots.
Off to write I go!
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Battling My Mind
Been a while since I've seen you, darling reader. My life has been quite the roller coaster in the last...gosh! A year and a half. My posts on my WordPress site disappeared on me..so huge gap in posts! I don't think I really posted much in that time frame anyways.
So, what happened? My mind went on an adventure, leaving me practically house bound. You all know from previous posts I have been diagnosed with OCD. I went to my doctor last June because my intrusive thoughts were bad. I could leave the house to go to work and that was basically it. Toby would try to get me to go with him walking the dog, it was like pulling teeth, without novocaine, to step out the door.
Off to the doctor I went, finally. I passed the clinical depression test (sounds much better than failed the happiness test!) and was put on an anti-depressant. Then swapped to another one because I was tired all the time. Then she added an anti psychotic because the intrusive thoughts just kept getting worse. Then, the biggest drop in the roller coaster, I wanted to kill myself.
Thankfully, I told Toby, and he got me to tell my doctor. Since I was not literally about to kill myself, she put me into a partial hospitalization program (PHP), instead of recommending an impatient program. It helped. It was two weeks of intensive classes and psychotherapy. A new diagnosis was added as well. I have Bipolar Disorder, Type 2.
After that, I went through a 10 week class (once a week) called ACT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. I just finished it last week. Such a revelation! It taught me to think about my conditions and my thoughts in a completely different way. (Info on ACT here, if you're interested.)
Throughout all this I have managed to keep writing in spurts. I've started a rewrite of my novel Ivory. My writing ability has grown since I first sat down to write this novel during NaNoWriMo in 2007. One thing I've learned is that all these thoughts I have, no matter how horrible they seem, I can live with them. The interesting ones I write down now. I've gotten some great outlines since I started doing this.
While my mind and I have been at odds for the last year and half (okay, longer but who's counting?), I feel that I'm nearing a peace treaty with it. We're definitely in talks, no assassination attempts in a while. There's hope I will learn to live with my mind, rather than trying to destroy it.
So, what happened? My mind went on an adventure, leaving me practically house bound. You all know from previous posts I have been diagnosed with OCD. I went to my doctor last June because my intrusive thoughts were bad. I could leave the house to go to work and that was basically it. Toby would try to get me to go with him walking the dog, it was like pulling teeth, without novocaine, to step out the door.
Off to the doctor I went, finally. I passed the clinical depression test (sounds much better than failed the happiness test!) and was put on an anti-depressant. Then swapped to another one because I was tired all the time. Then she added an anti psychotic because the intrusive thoughts just kept getting worse. Then, the biggest drop in the roller coaster, I wanted to kill myself.
Thankfully, I told Toby, and he got me to tell my doctor. Since I was not literally about to kill myself, she put me into a partial hospitalization program (PHP), instead of recommending an impatient program. It helped. It was two weeks of intensive classes and psychotherapy. A new diagnosis was added as well. I have Bipolar Disorder, Type 2.
After that, I went through a 10 week class (once a week) called ACT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. I just finished it last week. Such a revelation! It taught me to think about my conditions and my thoughts in a completely different way. (Info on ACT here, if you're interested.)
Throughout all this I have managed to keep writing in spurts. I've started a rewrite of my novel Ivory. My writing ability has grown since I first sat down to write this novel during NaNoWriMo in 2007. One thing I've learned is that all these thoughts I have, no matter how horrible they seem, I can live with them. The interesting ones I write down now. I've gotten some great outlines since I started doing this.
While my mind and I have been at odds for the last year and half (okay, longer but who's counting?), I feel that I'm nearing a peace treaty with it. We're definitely in talks, no assassination attempts in a while. There's hope I will learn to live with my mind, rather than trying to destroy it.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Religion in Writing
Status: No longer sick. Woot.
I was raised an atheist, not a chanting in the woods atheist, an actual atheist. Believe in nothing but yourself. (That has caused me plenty of problems, trust anyone?)
Not the greatest way to go I've since learned. My only experiences with religion as a child was a collection of bible stories for children, (I'm guessing from my Grandmother) and a summer of my father taking us to Sunday school with the neighbor down the street and her kids. I found out when I was 16, he was having an affair with that neighbor at the time. Soured church for me.
There is a point to this little history of me, I promise.
I went to church with one of my friends in high school, she absolutely hated it, and only went because her parents forced her. I learned some basics that basically everyone would know. Like what a covenant is. I didn't have a clue. The people were great, but I saw the extreme side of Christianity, and didn't like it.
Now that I've grown up a bit, I've started doing my own research. I may be finally coming around, though I doubt I will ever be the person whose at church every Sunday and at every function. It's just not me and I've seem so many fake people at those things that I just can't stand it.
How does writing fit in?
I was driving home from school and had a novel idea. Happens fairly often, what was different was that this one would fit squarely into Inspirational Fiction. I shocked myself. I asked myself if I seriously thought I could, or ever would, write christian/inspirational fiction.
But then I realized that's how it works sometimes. You don't always know where you're headed until you get there. I have yet to find a genre or a niche of writing that really feels right. So maybe this is it. I doubt I'd ever write solely in one genre, I'm too wishy-washy for that.
I can't say I've read a lot of christian fiction. I think my parents managed to make me want to avoid anything remotely related to religion. I'll have to pick some up and find out if I like it.
Side Note: I've started using some of the index card methods to flush out Ivory and find out what's missing as I finish typing up the first draft fixes. NEVER again shall I write a first draft with the true spirit of NaNoWriMo. I have never spent so much time fixing stupid typos in my life, and I will never do it again.
Do you edit as you write, or write then go back? Both? Some combo or something else entirely?
I was raised an atheist, not a chanting in the woods atheist, an actual atheist. Believe in nothing but yourself. (That has caused me plenty of problems, trust anyone?)
Not the greatest way to go I've since learned. My only experiences with religion as a child was a collection of bible stories for children, (I'm guessing from my Grandmother) and a summer of my father taking us to Sunday school with the neighbor down the street and her kids. I found out when I was 16, he was having an affair with that neighbor at the time. Soured church for me.
There is a point to this little history of me, I promise.
I went to church with one of my friends in high school, she absolutely hated it, and only went because her parents forced her. I learned some basics that basically everyone would know. Like what a covenant is. I didn't have a clue. The people were great, but I saw the extreme side of Christianity, and didn't like it.
Now that I've grown up a bit, I've started doing my own research. I may be finally coming around, though I doubt I will ever be the person whose at church every Sunday and at every function. It's just not me and I've seem so many fake people at those things that I just can't stand it.
How does writing fit in?
I was driving home from school and had a novel idea. Happens fairly often, what was different was that this one would fit squarely into Inspirational Fiction. I shocked myself. I asked myself if I seriously thought I could, or ever would, write christian/inspirational fiction.
But then I realized that's how it works sometimes. You don't always know where you're headed until you get there. I have yet to find a genre or a niche of writing that really feels right. So maybe this is it. I doubt I'd ever write solely in one genre, I'm too wishy-washy for that.
I can't say I've read a lot of christian fiction. I think my parents managed to make me want to avoid anything remotely related to religion. I'll have to pick some up and find out if I like it.
Side Note: I've started using some of the index card methods to flush out Ivory and find out what's missing as I finish typing up the first draft fixes. NEVER again shall I write a first draft with the true spirit of NaNoWriMo. I have never spent so much time fixing stupid typos in my life, and I will never do it again.
Do you edit as you write, or write then go back? Both? Some combo or something else entirely?
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Reminding Myself
Writing is relaxing. Writing is relaxing. I have to keep reminding myself of that fact.
I find myself trying to shove writing into my schedule like it's a chore. Then it's no fun and I don't do it.
I don't handle normal stress all that well. Give me emergency stress, life or death stress, fine. I can handle that. The fact that I'm moving in 2 1/2 weeks and I've got a whole 4 boxes packed gave me a sleepless night.
Of course there's more normal stress than just that, but moving is the biggie.
I always forgot how calming writing can be, especially when I've been doing edits and revisions only.
New idea for me. When I sit down to write, I'm going to set a timer and revise/edit for say 20 minutes, then write new stuff.
I'll let you know how it works! I'll be writing in between packing. At least until I run out of boxes. Which will be soon. Crap I need more boxes...
^_^
I find myself trying to shove writing into my schedule like it's a chore. Then it's no fun and I don't do it.
I don't handle normal stress all that well. Give me emergency stress, life or death stress, fine. I can handle that. The fact that I'm moving in 2 1/2 weeks and I've got a whole 4 boxes packed gave me a sleepless night.
Of course there's more normal stress than just that, but moving is the biggie.
I always forgot how calming writing can be, especially when I've been doing edits and revisions only.
New idea for me. When I sit down to write, I'm going to set a timer and revise/edit for say 20 minutes, then write new stuff.
I'll let you know how it works! I'll be writing in between packing. At least until I run out of boxes. Which will be soon. Crap I need more boxes...
^_^
Monday, March 1, 2010
Monday Calm
That's right, a calm Monday. How the heck did I manage this?
All I have on my plate today is homework and housework. Not even a lot of homework, just some reading. Housework is minimal, just maintenance really. I probably should run the vacuum and at least sweep. Which will take all of 10 minutes in our tiny apartment.
I may fit in some writing.
*GASP*
Writing?
On a Monday?
Never!
I have to drop the rent check off. That should take a whole 10 minutes. Maybe a little longer as I do have to tell our apartment manager we'll be moving out at the end of the month rather than renewing the lease. She loves us, we've lived here 4 years without any problems.
I'm hoping, no, praying my husband doesn't call me or come home with any insanity. He does have to get all his Army gear set for a layout, but that's straightforward. As long as he's not missing anything.
Hm. Should have made him do it yesterday. If he is missing anything he could have picked it up on his way home, rather than going back out. Oh well.
I'm going to go finish my homework and then reward myself with writing time. I'm going to work on Ivory some and 2YN. I should set a goal for Ivory. 10 pages of edited typed up and made all pretty. I can do that.
I hope you all have great and productive Mondays!
All I have on my plate today is homework and housework. Not even a lot of homework, just some reading. Housework is minimal, just maintenance really. I probably should run the vacuum and at least sweep. Which will take all of 10 minutes in our tiny apartment.
I may fit in some writing.
*GASP*
Writing?
On a Monday?
Never!
I have to drop the rent check off. That should take a whole 10 minutes. Maybe a little longer as I do have to tell our apartment manager we'll be moving out at the end of the month rather than renewing the lease. She loves us, we've lived here 4 years without any problems.
I'm hoping, no, praying my husband doesn't call me or come home with any insanity. He does have to get all his Army gear set for a layout, but that's straightforward. As long as he's not missing anything.
Hm. Should have made him do it yesterday. If he is missing anything he could have picked it up on his way home, rather than going back out. Oh well.
I'm going to go finish my homework and then reward myself with writing time. I'm going to work on Ivory some and 2YN. I should set a goal for Ivory. 10 pages of edited typed up and made all pretty. I can do that.
I hope you all have great and productive Mondays!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Teaser Tuesday
Quick post today.
I'm very excited to be getting back to work on Ivory, I hope this break did the trick. Friday is looking like the first chance I'll get to dive back in. Even though it will be fit in between grocery shopping and having friends over for dinner. I go early enough so I should have all afternoon. Thankfully I manage to keep our apartment clean enough that a 15 minute dash makes it sparkle.
Okay. Not sparkle, but good enough. :)
I'm semi-behind on 2YN, nothing thirty minutes won't cure. Thirty minutes of uninterrupted silence that is. Headphones will have to do. Whoever suggested the gamer headphones that block out all noise, props to you! It's like magic.
Wish me good luck! (I still haven't bought a book. I've been rereading Mercedes Lackey's The Black Swan for the ten millionth time.)
I'm very excited to be getting back to work on Ivory, I hope this break did the trick. Friday is looking like the first chance I'll get to dive back in. Even though it will be fit in between grocery shopping and having friends over for dinner. I go early enough so I should have all afternoon. Thankfully I manage to keep our apartment clean enough that a 15 minute dash makes it sparkle.
Okay. Not sparkle, but good enough. :)
I'm semi-behind on 2YN, nothing thirty minutes won't cure. Thirty minutes of uninterrupted silence that is. Headphones will have to do. Whoever suggested the gamer headphones that block out all noise, props to you! It's like magic.
Wish me good luck! (I still haven't bought a book. I've been rereading Mercedes Lackey's The Black Swan for the ten millionth time.)
Sunday, June 7, 2009
I'm Bad at Titles
It's no secret I'm bad at titles. My first novel got it's title because I finally decided to just steal the MC's name. Blog posts aren't any better.
Excitement! I got a job! It's a good thing, I've been trying since January. It will be nice having a set schedule. It's a part-time job, with an awesome schedule. 8am till noon. How hard is that? I may start the waking up early routine to write before going to work.
Other excitement. I'm procrastinating. That's also a good thing. When I'm actively procrastinating from writing, I get more writing done then when I just ignore my computer all together.
All the other news in my life isn't so pleasant, most of it private and thankfully not directly involving me. Just indirectly involving me. I am an optimist. I see the best in people and hope till I can't hope anymore that they will be the best they can be. Just like I try to be. Doesn't happen very often I'm learning.
I go off on random tangents, but I finally finished Stephen King's On Writing. I rather liked it. I will admit it took me several reading sessions to get through it. I did better with the memoir parts over the technical parts. I will be keeping it as a reference though. Even if I just read a little random bit of it to remind myself we all have to start somewhere.
I just will not let work ruin my writing time. I love that I feel that way so intensely. I'm looking at my schedule, seeing it getting crunched for time and I am making damn well sure there is time for writing. And I love it.
It's funny. When faced with plenty of time to do whatever I wish, I get nothing done. But being faced with too many things to do, I get everything done. I guess I work better under pressure...
Back to writing reference books. I have...a few. First one I ever bought was Shrunk and White's. Love it. Sadly, I lost it so I get to buy it again. Then the order gets fuzzy, but I have Stephen King's which to me is more of a 'hey, this didn't happen over night' kind of smack on the head, I have one for editing. Writer's guide to self-editing or something like that. It's the one with text all over the cover with blue pencil marks. I have a couple more random ones that I think are for nonfiction.
What do you have in your writing closet?
Excitement! I got a job! It's a good thing, I've been trying since January. It will be nice having a set schedule. It's a part-time job, with an awesome schedule. 8am till noon. How hard is that? I may start the waking up early routine to write before going to work.
Other excitement. I'm procrastinating. That's also a good thing. When I'm actively procrastinating from writing, I get more writing done then when I just ignore my computer all together.
All the other news in my life isn't so pleasant, most of it private and thankfully not directly involving me. Just indirectly involving me. I am an optimist. I see the best in people and hope till I can't hope anymore that they will be the best they can be. Just like I try to be. Doesn't happen very often I'm learning.
I go off on random tangents, but I finally finished Stephen King's On Writing. I rather liked it. I will admit it took me several reading sessions to get through it. I did better with the memoir parts over the technical parts. I will be keeping it as a reference though. Even if I just read a little random bit of it to remind myself we all have to start somewhere.
I just will not let work ruin my writing time. I love that I feel that way so intensely. I'm looking at my schedule, seeing it getting crunched for time and I am making damn well sure there is time for writing. And I love it.
It's funny. When faced with plenty of time to do whatever I wish, I get nothing done. But being faced with too many things to do, I get everything done. I guess I work better under pressure...
Back to writing reference books. I have...a few. First one I ever bought was Shrunk and White's. Love it. Sadly, I lost it so I get to buy it again. Then the order gets fuzzy, but I have Stephen King's which to me is more of a 'hey, this didn't happen over night' kind of smack on the head, I have one for editing. Writer's guide to self-editing or something like that. It's the one with text all over the cover with blue pencil marks. I have a couple more random ones that I think are for nonfiction.
What do you have in your writing closet?
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Life then Writing Chatter
LIFE:
The fact that I am willing awake before 6am should tell you something about how my day is going so far. Not bad, so much as. I'm awake before 6am. Awake since 5am really. I am not a morning person. Not one little bit.
I have two giant red marks on my chin, previously zits. I have a job interview this afternoon. I have to exercise and go grocery shopping this morning. And then shower and all that fun stuff before the job interview. And I'm awake before 6am. Since 5 actually, first got woken up around 4 I believe.
This is my life during deployments. I can't give you any of the gooey details, this is way too public for that. But that's what it is. Whenever he's awake and able to just sit at the computer for a while, I'm awake too. Not that this happens all that often, but when it does, it's on days when I really could use the sleep. Totally going to suck if I do land a job, but the extra money coming in will be worth it.
And I either have a headache and runny nose from the lack of sleep/allergies, or I'm getting sick.
WRITING:
I know I started to write a post about how I finally did some writing again. I think I forgot about it and just went to bed the night before last. Short story is that I've dived back into writing. Forgot how much I loved it. I'd been stuck in 'editing only' mode. Not anymore!
I started working on a small scene for Ivory. It needed some help, mainly because it was lacking in description. Pretty sure I mentioned before that the entire novel is lacking in description. I have one part, the part I actually wrote first, that has a good amount of description. Everything else is on a description diet.
I've got my first reader helping point out where description is lacking. One chapter...it was is first note and it was for the whole chapter. That's when I decided to start back at the beginning and go though it again. I just have to break it up into scenes. I seem to do better staring at a scene then a chapter. I don't do the chapter a scene thing. My chapters range in the number of scenes.
I'm rambling.
My point is, my life is pretty crazy right now. So the fact that I managed to get my butt back to work is amazing. And I'm proud of myself for it.
The fact that I am willing awake before 6am should tell you something about how my day is going so far. Not bad, so much as. I'm awake before 6am. Awake since 5am really. I am not a morning person. Not one little bit.
I have two giant red marks on my chin, previously zits. I have a job interview this afternoon. I have to exercise and go grocery shopping this morning. And then shower and all that fun stuff before the job interview. And I'm awake before 6am. Since 5 actually, first got woken up around 4 I believe.
This is my life during deployments. I can't give you any of the gooey details, this is way too public for that. But that's what it is. Whenever he's awake and able to just sit at the computer for a while, I'm awake too. Not that this happens all that often, but when it does, it's on days when I really could use the sleep. Totally going to suck if I do land a job, but the extra money coming in will be worth it.
And I either have a headache and runny nose from the lack of sleep/allergies, or I'm getting sick.
WRITING:
I know I started to write a post about how I finally did some writing again. I think I forgot about it and just went to bed the night before last. Short story is that I've dived back into writing. Forgot how much I loved it. I'd been stuck in 'editing only' mode. Not anymore!
I started working on a small scene for Ivory. It needed some help, mainly because it was lacking in description. Pretty sure I mentioned before that the entire novel is lacking in description. I have one part, the part I actually wrote first, that has a good amount of description. Everything else is on a description diet.
I've got my first reader helping point out where description is lacking. One chapter...it was is first note and it was for the whole chapter. That's when I decided to start back at the beginning and go though it again. I just have to break it up into scenes. I seem to do better staring at a scene then a chapter. I don't do the chapter a scene thing. My chapters range in the number of scenes.
I'm rambling.
My point is, my life is pretty crazy right now. So the fact that I managed to get my butt back to work is amazing. And I'm proud of myself for it.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Haven't Done a Thing...
Haven't edited, haven't written, haven't outlined...I haven't done anything writing related in like two weeks.
Life just got a wee bit crazy, and lack of motivation.
No new recipes either. I totally butchered my meatball recipe today. Didn't add enough pepper and bread crumbs. Still tasted good, just not great. I'm overly critical of my own cooking. But I'll eat my friend's mushy spaghetti and say it's not that bad. lol
My plan:
Monday - Finish LIGHT IN THE DARK (short story) that I was supposed to finish...3 weeks ago.
Tuesday - Working on my outline for Entry Into Madness and type up two chapters of Ivory, fixing the tense as I go and adding description as needed. (Turns out, I'm very light on description.
Wednesday - Break day to get new tires on the car.
Thursday - More Ivory chapters, hopefully get at least 3 done. Proofread short story.
Friday - ...not sure yet. It'll depend on how the week goes.
Why nothing for tomorrow? (Sunday)...because I know I'll get busy, all of my friends happen to have Sunday either off completely or half days. And I really need to fold up all my laundry. I've got two baskets sitting, drives me crazy but I haven't had a chance. Okay, I'm all for honesty, I've just been lazy. It's all stuff that has to get folded and I'm not a huge fan of folding.
I have been trying to have a point to my posts. I guess this one is that we all have off days/weeks and it's the desire to get back to work that makes us writers. I think about writing all the time. I had a crazy dream last night, and when I woke up after I wrote it down, I started thinking about how I could turn it into a story. Maybe that's why I'm all for getting back to work. lol.
How are the rest of you doing?
Life just got a wee bit crazy, and lack of motivation.
No new recipes either. I totally butchered my meatball recipe today. Didn't add enough pepper and bread crumbs. Still tasted good, just not great. I'm overly critical of my own cooking. But I'll eat my friend's mushy spaghetti and say it's not that bad. lol
My plan:
Monday - Finish LIGHT IN THE DARK (short story) that I was supposed to finish...3 weeks ago.
Tuesday - Working on my outline for Entry Into Madness and type up two chapters of Ivory, fixing the tense as I go and adding description as needed. (Turns out, I'm very light on description.
Wednesday - Break day to get new tires on the car.
Thursday - More Ivory chapters, hopefully get at least 3 done. Proofread short story.
Friday - ...not sure yet. It'll depend on how the week goes.
Why nothing for tomorrow? (Sunday)...because I know I'll get busy, all of my friends happen to have Sunday either off completely or half days. And I really need to fold up all my laundry. I've got two baskets sitting, drives me crazy but I haven't had a chance. Okay, I'm all for honesty, I've just been lazy. It's all stuff that has to get folded and I'm not a huge fan of folding.
I have been trying to have a point to my posts. I guess this one is that we all have off days/weeks and it's the desire to get back to work that makes us writers. I think about writing all the time. I had a crazy dream last night, and when I woke up after I wrote it down, I started thinking about how I could turn it into a story. Maybe that's why I'm all for getting back to work. lol.
How are the rest of you doing?
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Coo Coo for Cocoa Puffs
Crazy week. Not even really sure what all made it seem so crazy, but I feel like this week went by so fast. This coming week isn't looking like it'll be any better. Tomorrow's packed with errands and helping a friend with stuff at her new house. Tuesday I've got my first physical therapy appointment in the morning for my knee, dinner Tuesday night with the FRG. (Army's Family Readiness Group.) Friday I'm helping another friend move into her new apartment.
So I've got Wednesday and Thursday to: finish a short story, write two quick blurbs for two other short stories, finish the chapter of Ivory I'm still working on, and get the next section of my outline for my next novel (currently calling it 'Entry Into Madness') done.
Oh and either tomorrow or Tuesday I need to finalize an event calendar for the FRG. On Tuesday night, people can look over it and give me their feedback. Then I can have it polished for the meeting in May.
I know that may not sound like much for most people, I don't have a super busy life normally. I can't honestly handle super busy all that well. I get frustrated. I'm good with organized chaos. It's when life throws wrenches into things that I get stressed.
I know what made last week seem so crazy. The car. Stupid throttle sensor went wacko making the check engine light come on and made my engine rev all funny. I freaked thinking I was going to have to drop cash into fixing it. Turns out it's still covered under warranty. :D
How do you handle stress? Or how do you cope when life throws a wrench into carefully made plans? Or anything you feel like sharing. :D
So I've got Wednesday and Thursday to: finish a short story, write two quick blurbs for two other short stories, finish the chapter of Ivory I'm still working on, and get the next section of my outline for my next novel (currently calling it 'Entry Into Madness') done.
Oh and either tomorrow or Tuesday I need to finalize an event calendar for the FRG. On Tuesday night, people can look over it and give me their feedback. Then I can have it polished for the meeting in May.
I know that may not sound like much for most people, I don't have a super busy life normally. I can't honestly handle super busy all that well. I get frustrated. I'm good with organized chaos. It's when life throws wrenches into things that I get stressed.
I know what made last week seem so crazy. The car. Stupid throttle sensor went wacko making the check engine light come on and made my engine rev all funny. I freaked thinking I was going to have to drop cash into fixing it. Turns out it's still covered under warranty. :D
How do you handle stress? Or how do you cope when life throws a wrench into carefully made plans? Or anything you feel like sharing. :D
Sunday, April 19, 2009
What I've Learned, So Far. #1
What I've Learned:
~ Actually think about things like tense before getting too far into the first draft. I'd rather fix it at 50 pages than at 400 pages.
~ Detailed outlines ROCK!
~ After writing for the day, go back and do a quick edit for grammar, typos, etc. I'll save so much time.
~ Don't dwell over the word count. I get obsessed and spent more energy figuring out how many words a day I can write to finish it in a certain amount of time. Worry about it once the story is done.
~ While cookies are good motivation, I never manage to get past the first goal point before eating all the cookies. Way to fix that: Have someone hold the cookies hostage. Someone who can't be bribed.
~ Carry at least a small notebook EVERYWHERE. I need to put a big one in my car. The little one in my purse can only do so much.
~ Routines rock, but are so hard for me to stick to this year. So I've learned not to stress over it. It is what it is.
I figure I'll be updating/changing this constantly. Every time I 'learn' something about my writing process. What's easier, what works, and definitely what doesn't work.
What are some things you've learned as you've advanced in the stages of writing?
~ Actually think about things like tense before getting too far into the first draft. I'd rather fix it at 50 pages than at 400 pages.
~ Detailed outlines ROCK!
~ After writing for the day, go back and do a quick edit for grammar, typos, etc. I'll save so much time.
~ Don't dwell over the word count. I get obsessed and spent more energy figuring out how many words a day I can write to finish it in a certain amount of time. Worry about it once the story is done.
~ While cookies are good motivation, I never manage to get past the first goal point before eating all the cookies. Way to fix that: Have someone hold the cookies hostage. Someone who can't be bribed.
~ Carry at least a small notebook EVERYWHERE. I need to put a big one in my car. The little one in my purse can only do so much.
~ Routines rock, but are so hard for me to stick to this year. So I've learned not to stress over it. It is what it is.
I figure I'll be updating/changing this constantly. Every time I 'learn' something about my writing process. What's easier, what works, and definitely what doesn't work.
What are some things you've learned as you've advanced in the stages of writing?
Friday, April 3, 2009
Motivation
I've found the best way to motivate myself is to give myself rewards. Doesn't always work though.
I need to buy a kitchen timer. I had one, but it is long gone. I like to set it when I'm taking a 'quick break'. 15 minutes turns into an hour very easily with me. The TV is also evil. I turn it on in the mornings to watch the news, but if I don't shut it off right away, I get sucked into whatever is on next. I've gotten good with shutting it off though.
The big issue for me is I always have good days and bad days. I'll go maybe a week straight being productive then it's like someone flipped a switch and I get nothing done. Writing wise. Other stuff I have to do, no matter what.
Food is a great motivator...except when it's junk food. I have to be careful with promising myself ice cream. Example: If I just finish that edit on chapter whatever, I can have a mug of ice cream. I'll end up get lots of chapters done, and eating lots of ice cream. Probably making myself sick in the process. (Can't have too much dairy.)
On a day to day basis how do you stay focused/motivated? Are you a daily writer? M-F? Or just whenever the inspiration strikes? I'm always curious about how other people do things. :D
Laters!
Meg
I need to buy a kitchen timer. I had one, but it is long gone. I like to set it when I'm taking a 'quick break'. 15 minutes turns into an hour very easily with me. The TV is also evil. I turn it on in the mornings to watch the news, but if I don't shut it off right away, I get sucked into whatever is on next. I've gotten good with shutting it off though.
The big issue for me is I always have good days and bad days. I'll go maybe a week straight being productive then it's like someone flipped a switch and I get nothing done. Writing wise. Other stuff I have to do, no matter what.
Food is a great motivator...except when it's junk food. I have to be careful with promising myself ice cream. Example: If I just finish that edit on chapter whatever, I can have a mug of ice cream. I'll end up get lots of chapters done, and eating lots of ice cream. Probably making myself sick in the process. (Can't have too much dairy.)
On a day to day basis how do you stay focused/motivated? Are you a daily writer? M-F? Or just whenever the inspiration strikes? I'm always curious about how other people do things. :D
Laters!
Meg
Friday, March 27, 2009
Eyes Wide Open
Editing sure is an adventure. First I'm changing tense, that is always fun. Second, I'm combining almost every other chapter so far. I'm up to the original chapter five, it is now part of chapter three. I'm cutting a lot out of the beginning, I went a little backstory and info dump heavy. Backstory or back story? One spellchecker likes backstory, the other back story. Google was no help either. Anyone know?
I also don't think I'll be participating full force in NaNoWriMo this year. So much of my editing is due to the craziness of NaNo and the fight to get as many words as possible. I have added so many contractions to dialogue, it's crazy. I'll definitely be participating, I'll just be focused on writing well, rather than getting as many words as possible no matter what it takes. It's just not worth it on the editing end. :D A little extra time when writing, will save me so much more time when editing.
I'm sure I'm not the only writer out there that has learned things the hard way. It really is different on this side of the novel though. It's like once you finally stop being a teenager and realize that you really don't know everything. It took me until 20 to really get that. Figures it would take me until now to realize how much work a novel really is. Now being two and a half years after I decided to write a novel. (I'm 22 now...not a fan of counting half years in age anymore though. hehe.)
I have honestly fallen in love the site Forward Motion. It's an awesome site for writers. It's a huge site at first glance, takes a bit to get used to, but I'm loving it.
As I'm planning my next novel, I'm looking at it with a whole different perspective. I am still looking forward to it with excitement, just with a realistic view. I'm not going to let it take me two years to finish the first draft this time. Once I start writing it, I'll have a deadline set. Self-imposed deadlines do not usually work for me, the key is for me to tell as many people as possible about the deadline. Some of my friends actually find some kind of joy in tormenting me when the deadline is looming and I'm behind. hehe. It gives me the boost I need to finish though.
Deadlines, good or bad for you? Any little gems of knowledge you've learned as your writing adventure has progressed?
And I promise, eventually I will get the hang of writing posts that stick to some central thought rather than bouncing all over the place. Maybe. I'll try, we'll see. :)
Laters,
Meg
Edited: My NaNoEdMo progress? 29 hours. 21 hours left and 5 days. Basically 4 hours a day if I want to get my 50 hours. Might happen. :)
I also don't think I'll be participating full force in NaNoWriMo this year. So much of my editing is due to the craziness of NaNo and the fight to get as many words as possible. I have added so many contractions to dialogue, it's crazy. I'll definitely be participating, I'll just be focused on writing well, rather than getting as many words as possible no matter what it takes. It's just not worth it on the editing end. :D A little extra time when writing, will save me so much more time when editing.
I'm sure I'm not the only writer out there that has learned things the hard way. It really is different on this side of the novel though. It's like once you finally stop being a teenager and realize that you really don't know everything. It took me until 20 to really get that. Figures it would take me until now to realize how much work a novel really is. Now being two and a half years after I decided to write a novel. (I'm 22 now...not a fan of counting half years in age anymore though. hehe.)
I have honestly fallen in love the site Forward Motion. It's an awesome site for writers. It's a huge site at first glance, takes a bit to get used to, but I'm loving it.
As I'm planning my next novel, I'm looking at it with a whole different perspective. I am still looking forward to it with excitement, just with a realistic view. I'm not going to let it take me two years to finish the first draft this time. Once I start writing it, I'll have a deadline set. Self-imposed deadlines do not usually work for me, the key is for me to tell as many people as possible about the deadline. Some of my friends actually find some kind of joy in tormenting me when the deadline is looming and I'm behind. hehe. It gives me the boost I need to finish though.
Deadlines, good or bad for you? Any little gems of knowledge you've learned as your writing adventure has progressed?
And I promise, eventually I will get the hang of writing posts that stick to some central thought rather than bouncing all over the place. Maybe. I'll try, we'll see. :)
Laters,
Meg
Edited: My NaNoEdMo progress? 29 hours. 21 hours left and 5 days. Basically 4 hours a day if I want to get my 50 hours. Might happen. :)
Monday, March 2, 2009
Editing
My editing is going well. I'm line editing still. I'm on page 220 out of 398. Once I'm done procrastinating here, I'll be getting back to work. I tried to do the evaluate the scenes thing first, but I couldn't stand passing over stuff I know needed to be fixed. So I'm line editing, making notes about the scenes and chapters as I go. It's working for me.
I sit down to work and time just flies by. I seem to do around 10 pages a time before my mind has me look up, check the clock or check what page I'm on. It's nice. Before I'd be checking the clock every single page. Once I'm done the line editing I'll be typing it all up. Making changes with the scenes as noted, so far I only have one new scene to write, the rest either need to be rearranged or multiples turned into one.
Then I haven't decided, but I think I'll be printing it out again to give it another read through. At that point I think I'll also be willing to send it out to my first readers. And the first chapters to Critters. I like editing. It just is a lot more work than I thought. I didn't believe people that first drafts are really bad. Haha.
I'm trying to finalize an outline for my next project. It's not going well. I just switched which story I'm going to work on too. The one I wanted to work on is just not inspiring to me right now. The other one is. EIM. haha. That's what I label the pages about it as. Entry Into Madness is it's title. I started working on it forever ago. Then Ivory (the one I'm editing) took over and it got forgotten. Then the idea for the other one hit(that one's Atlantis Found) and I forgot about EIM altogether. I found the notebook I started working on it in. That's when I decided to switch my writing focus to it.
I use too many 'then's. And 'so'. But I've gotten good about editing that out.
Back to work for me.
I sit down to work and time just flies by. I seem to do around 10 pages a time before my mind has me look up, check the clock or check what page I'm on. It's nice. Before I'd be checking the clock every single page. Once I'm done the line editing I'll be typing it all up. Making changes with the scenes as noted, so far I only have one new scene to write, the rest either need to be rearranged or multiples turned into one.
Then I haven't decided, but I think I'll be printing it out again to give it another read through. At that point I think I'll also be willing to send it out to my first readers. And the first chapters to Critters. I like editing. It just is a lot more work than I thought. I didn't believe people that first drafts are really bad. Haha.
I'm trying to finalize an outline for my next project. It's not going well. I just switched which story I'm going to work on too. The one I wanted to work on is just not inspiring to me right now. The other one is. EIM. haha. That's what I label the pages about it as. Entry Into Madness is it's title. I started working on it forever ago. Then Ivory (the one I'm editing) took over and it got forgotten. Then the idea for the other one hit(that one's Atlantis Found) and I forgot about EIM altogether. I found the notebook I started working on it in. That's when I decided to switch my writing focus to it.
I use too many 'then's. And 'so'. But I've gotten good about editing that out.
Back to work for me.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Laughing at Myself
This is why I am so glad I can laugh at myself.
Dave recommended this book to me in the comment section of this editing questions post. Helen Ginger backed up the recommendation on the same post. So I went out on a mission to find the book. None of the bookstores around here had it in stock. Didn't want to order it, I kept hoping the next store would have it.
I finally gave and decided to look it up on amazon. As soon as the picture popped up, I recognized the book cover. I stared at it for a moment, convinced I'd seen it before. I go to my bookshelf, dig to the back, and voila! There it is. With pages tagged with sticky notes and everything.
Turns out I got it early last year when all I could think about was getting to the point of being able to edit my novel that then, was still sitting at a dismal 52k. (post-NaNoWriMo blues) I bought it, read through it leaving sticky notes for parts that looked good, stuck it on the bookshelf and promptly forgot about it.
I just stood here, holding the book in my hand, laughing at myself for a good five minutes. Only me, would go searching store to store for a book I already had. If I had just looked at my bookshelf closely, I would have noticed it.
I will be spending the rest of the afternoon, going through the book again. What made me decide to check amazon today? I spent almost a hour trying to figure out how the heck I ended up with a scene 17 pages long, and half page scenes before and after it? Totally unbalanced and it was driving me crazy. :D
I hope you all are able to laugh at yourself when you do something silly.
Dave recommended this book to me in the comment section of this editing questions post. Helen Ginger backed up the recommendation on the same post. So I went out on a mission to find the book. None of the bookstores around here had it in stock. Didn't want to order it, I kept hoping the next store would have it.
I finally gave and decided to look it up on amazon. As soon as the picture popped up, I recognized the book cover. I stared at it for a moment, convinced I'd seen it before. I go to my bookshelf, dig to the back, and voila! There it is. With pages tagged with sticky notes and everything.
Turns out I got it early last year when all I could think about was getting to the point of being able to edit my novel that then, was still sitting at a dismal 52k. (post-NaNoWriMo blues) I bought it, read through it leaving sticky notes for parts that looked good, stuck it on the bookshelf and promptly forgot about it.
I just stood here, holding the book in my hand, laughing at myself for a good five minutes. Only me, would go searching store to store for a book I already had. If I had just looked at my bookshelf closely, I would have noticed it.
I will be spending the rest of the afternoon, going through the book again. What made me decide to check amazon today? I spent almost a hour trying to figure out how the heck I ended up with a scene 17 pages long, and half page scenes before and after it? Totally unbalanced and it was driving me crazy. :D
I hope you all are able to laugh at yourself when you do something silly.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sleepless night wanderings--semi-rambling
I often have sleepless, or at least near sleepless nights. At least when my husband is out of the country due to work.
Tonight I ended up at my cable providers website as my cable went on the fritz around 1:30am. I have already received a reply stating they have sent the reset signal to my cable box and if the problem persists to reboot my cable box, and if it's still there, to reply back saying it still is a problem. I haven't gotten to checking to see if it works. First today (okay, yesterday) my phone service went out, only to find out it was the phone itself, not the phone service. I don't feel like dealing anymore with customer service at the moment.
On to my wanderings. I ended up on WikiHow, because I can never remember the time to cook bacon in the microwave. Yep, I eat bacon at 2 in the morning. Mainly because my awesome fry pan is dirty. Then it lead me to Make Framed Eggs, which I make a lot, don't call it that though. I call it the toast thing with the egg in the middle. Now I want to go wash that fry pan, make one while taking pictures to update the site. I've never been a big wiki fan. But I like pictures when it comes to cooking.
Then I ended up on Forward Motion. I think Forward Motion is going to become a pretty awesome site for me. The site is huge and it is a lot to take in, but there is a ton of useful information, so it's worth it.
I decided the other day I wanted to attempt to switch to the Dvorak typing set-up again. What is Dvorak? I tried out some typing exercises on a different site after switching my keyboard to the dvorak set-up. (Pretty easy, my Windows XP came with it already, just gotta turn it on. And then not look at the keys.) I did pretty well on the typing exercises, just got bored and switched back. It is much easier on my wrist. I just already am a fast touch-typer(touchtyper? touch typer? and my spell check doesn't like typer) so it is not so easy to quickly retrain my fingers and brain.
I played on Ticker Factory for a while. It is not the best for writing progress trackers, but it's got some cute stuff.
I am making slow progress on editing Ivory. I could totally make good use of my sleepless time, if I didn't feel like I should be sleeping. Basic problem is I can't sleep when I'm tired. I have to be exhausted. My brain does not work so well when tired. I don't want to risk screwing up my manuscript by editing when tried. I will however, write when tired. I can always fix it when I'm editing. :D Might just be making more work for myself later, but at least then I'm being semi productive.
I always want to vacuum when I can't sleep. I normally hate vacuuming. I live in an apartment so vacuuming at 2am is not all the good for neighborly goodwill. I can sweep and mop at least.
I am an avid to-do list maker. More often then not, they actually work and I get most of the stuff done. Sometimes though, they become the bane of my existence. I crumple the page up and chuck it in the trash with vengeance. I like adding stuff to the to-do list that is so easy or normal routine just so I can check it off. Like I sometimes put 'wake up'. Just so I can start my day by checking something off the list. :)
Alright, my wrist is done for the night. Day. Till after I sleep. Good morning!
Meg
Tonight I ended up at my cable providers website as my cable went on the fritz around 1:30am. I have already received a reply stating they have sent the reset signal to my cable box and if the problem persists to reboot my cable box, and if it's still there, to reply back saying it still is a problem. I haven't gotten to checking to see if it works. First today (okay, yesterday) my phone service went out, only to find out it was the phone itself, not the phone service. I don't feel like dealing anymore with customer service at the moment.
On to my wanderings. I ended up on WikiHow, because I can never remember the time to cook bacon in the microwave. Yep, I eat bacon at 2 in the morning. Mainly because my awesome fry pan is dirty. Then it lead me to Make Framed Eggs, which I make a lot, don't call it that though. I call it the toast thing with the egg in the middle. Now I want to go wash that fry pan, make one while taking pictures to update the site. I've never been a big wiki fan. But I like pictures when it comes to cooking.
Then I ended up on Forward Motion. I think Forward Motion is going to become a pretty awesome site for me. The site is huge and it is a lot to take in, but there is a ton of useful information, so it's worth it.
I decided the other day I wanted to attempt to switch to the Dvorak typing set-up again. What is Dvorak? I tried out some typing exercises on a different site after switching my keyboard to the dvorak set-up. (Pretty easy, my Windows XP came with it already, just gotta turn it on. And then not look at the keys.) I did pretty well on the typing exercises, just got bored and switched back. It is much easier on my wrist. I just already am a fast touch-typer(touchtyper? touch typer? and my spell check doesn't like typer) so it is not so easy to quickly retrain my fingers and brain.
I played on Ticker Factory for a while. It is not the best for writing progress trackers, but it's got some cute stuff.
I am making slow progress on editing Ivory. I could totally make good use of my sleepless time, if I didn't feel like I should be sleeping. Basic problem is I can't sleep when I'm tired. I have to be exhausted. My brain does not work so well when tired. I don't want to risk screwing up my manuscript by editing when tried. I will however, write when tired. I can always fix it when I'm editing. :D Might just be making more work for myself later, but at least then I'm being semi productive.
I always want to vacuum when I can't sleep. I normally hate vacuuming. I live in an apartment so vacuuming at 2am is not all the good for neighborly goodwill. I can sweep and mop at least.
I am an avid to-do list maker. More often then not, they actually work and I get most of the stuff done. Sometimes though, they become the bane of my existence. I crumple the page up and chuck it in the trash with vengeance. I like adding stuff to the to-do list that is so easy or normal routine just so I can check it off. Like I sometimes put 'wake up'. Just so I can start my day by checking something off the list. :)
Alright, my wrist is done for the night. Day. Till after I sleep. Good morning!
Meg
Friday, February 6, 2009
Questions
Do you ever stop and ask yourself, “What the heck am I doing?”
I feel like I should be asking myself that. Instead I am forging ahead with my writing.
The first goal I set for myself, that I honestly tried to reach, was finishing my first novel. I made it with two days to spare. I gave myself a year to write it. Okay, 15 months. But I did it. And that was an awesome feeling. I keep plowing ahead because I want that feeling again. I want that sense of accomplishment. That is what keeps me going everyday. Except the days I don’t care and just crash on the sofa all day. Those don’t happen too often thankfully.
I was wondering, I know I only have 2 followers, but how do you edit? I printed out my finally finished novel and have been attacking it with my red pen. And then typing up fixes, finding more fixes while doing so. Is there a better way? Or is it just one of those whatever works for you deals?
I feel like I should be asking myself that. Instead I am forging ahead with my writing.
The first goal I set for myself, that I honestly tried to reach, was finishing my first novel. I made it with two days to spare. I gave myself a year to write it. Okay, 15 months. But I did it. And that was an awesome feeling. I keep plowing ahead because I want that feeling again. I want that sense of accomplishment. That is what keeps me going everyday. Except the days I don’t care and just crash on the sofa all day. Those don’t happen too often thankfully.
I was wondering, I know I only have 2 followers, but how do you edit? I printed out my finally finished novel and have been attacking it with my red pen. And then typing up fixes, finding more fixes while doing so. Is there a better way? Or is it just one of those whatever works for you deals?
Monday, February 2, 2009
Not Another Superbowl Post
Only thing I'm going to say about the Superbowl: The game was awesome, and the Comcast prank that I learned about today, if I had kids I'd be pissed but I don't, the prank was hilarious. Prank, hack, whatever it is being called. I don't have Comcast so I was spared the interruption of the Superbowl.
Editing while writing is WORKING. I don't lose my focus as often while I've got that red pen in my hand, and I think I am writing much better on my new piece then I did with the first one. I swear sometimes when I'm editing I stop and just shake my head. Some of the sentences I came up with. I can't believe half of the trash I wrote. I didn't really believe people that said that about their own work. But it's true. First drafts are mainly complied of junk. Especially first first drafts. This was my first ever complete novel. My first ever attempt at a novel too.
Editing by hand and then fixing it on the computer seems to be working well. While I'm fixing stuff in the word document, I'm noticing things I missed while I was page editing. This good be a good thing. :D Hopefully it will make my second read through much cleaner. So far I've only had one page that the red pen didn't touch. And it was a half page at the end of a chapter...hehe. Totally a beginning writer here. I'm just happy I really am continuing to learn and I can already see the benefit of knowing I'm not the best writer out there by a long shot.
Off to type up more fixes, later all.
Editing while writing is WORKING. I don't lose my focus as often while I've got that red pen in my hand, and I think I am writing much better on my new piece then I did with the first one. I swear sometimes when I'm editing I stop and just shake my head. Some of the sentences I came up with. I can't believe half of the trash I wrote. I didn't really believe people that said that about their own work. But it's true. First drafts are mainly complied of junk. Especially first first drafts. This was my first ever complete novel. My first ever attempt at a novel too.
Editing by hand and then fixing it on the computer seems to be working well. While I'm fixing stuff in the word document, I'm noticing things I missed while I was page editing. This good be a good thing. :D Hopefully it will make my second read through much cleaner. So far I've only had one page that the red pen didn't touch. And it was a half page at the end of a chapter...hehe. Totally a beginning writer here. I'm just happy I really am continuing to learn and I can already see the benefit of knowing I'm not the best writer out there by a long shot.
Off to type up more fixes, later all.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Writing Lifestyle
Writers, whether it be novel writers, screenwriters, playwrights, or poets, have this historical stigma of being addicted to some variety of a bad habit. Whether it be alcohol, drugs, gambling or their 13 year old cousins. I like to think that is changing, and that it mostly applies to discussion of classic writers. Such as, *insert drum roll here* Edgar Allen Poe. Most of it is romanticizing writers I think. Some crazy class of people that only are able to do what they do because they were drunk or depressed while doing it.
Sometimes I do wonder how some authors come up with their ideas, say Stephen King. He says he dreams up a lot of them. That I can totally understand. Except he must have some crazy dreams. A dream of mine turned into an amazing plot twist. I’m not a drunk, I’m not a chronically depressed person, I’m not addicted to drugs or gambling. I’m pretty average with an above average imagination. If I don’t write, or jot down ideas pretty regularly, I start rambling on to my friends or husband about some wild possibility spurred by some random thing. I think the last one was when I couldn’t get a hold of one of my friends and I managed to envision this wild adventure she might be on and that’s why she wasn’t answering her phone.
Cowboys did make a small appearance. That is when I decided I needed to be writing while I’m still editing. I always carry a small little notebook with me, but honestly, it gets used for doodles more than notes. It is the notebook by my bed that gets all the ideas. It seems that just when I’m ready to lay down and sleep is when my imagination goes wild. It is also great for jotting down great ideas from dreams. Once, my handwriting was so horrible it took be about 30 minutes to decipher what I had written. That was the awesome plot twist. :)
I have a small binder full of pieces of paper with one or two sentences on them. At some point my organizational skills will take over and I’ll copy them all into a much neater pile. But for now it is a mess. Are any of you, my few, yet growing readers, super organized with all of your writing related stuff?
And I find deciding on a Title very hard sometimes.
Laters!
Sometimes I do wonder how some authors come up with their ideas, say Stephen King. He says he dreams up a lot of them. That I can totally understand. Except he must have some crazy dreams. A dream of mine turned into an amazing plot twist. I’m not a drunk, I’m not a chronically depressed person, I’m not addicted to drugs or gambling. I’m pretty average with an above average imagination. If I don’t write, or jot down ideas pretty regularly, I start rambling on to my friends or husband about some wild possibility spurred by some random thing. I think the last one was when I couldn’t get a hold of one of my friends and I managed to envision this wild adventure she might be on and that’s why she wasn’t answering her phone.
Cowboys did make a small appearance. That is when I decided I needed to be writing while I’m still editing. I always carry a small little notebook with me, but honestly, it gets used for doodles more than notes. It is the notebook by my bed that gets all the ideas. It seems that just when I’m ready to lay down and sleep is when my imagination goes wild. It is also great for jotting down great ideas from dreams. Once, my handwriting was so horrible it took be about 30 minutes to decipher what I had written. That was the awesome plot twist. :)
I have a small binder full of pieces of paper with one or two sentences on them. At some point my organizational skills will take over and I’ll copy them all into a much neater pile. But for now it is a mess. Are any of you, my few, yet growing readers, super organized with all of your writing related stuff?
And I find deciding on a Title very hard sometimes.
Laters!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Editing/Writing Combo meal
Editing, but not writing has started to fry my brain. I've decided to start my next project, while editing. I have no idea how well this will work. I've never tried before.
I shall post on my success or failure at this attempt. I'll be starting tomorrow as I need to sleep now.
Laters
Meg
I shall post on my success or failure at this attempt. I'll be starting tomorrow as I need to sleep now.
Laters
Meg
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