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*Paces*
I have all the strict ideas down on paper: the ones that have refused to leave my head while I wrote the other one. The rest won’t come, I don’t think, until I start writing in November. How terribly frustrating. Sometimes you need to just write, the act of writing will somehow work everything out in the end. That alone can often do me more good than a planning session: things will fall out of the sky that I never suspected just because I am writing. Alas, I must bide my time til Nov. 1. Well, at least I won’t have time to mope about Halloween ending! {Edited 10/23/09} I…
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Rapture!
I must have turned on the light three times and jotted down notes as I lay in bed trying to fall asleep last night. All those ideas I held back are flowing out now for Book 2, and I’m so excited! I can hardly wait til November. I am writing out layout ideas like mad. ~added at 7pm~ Also, I realize I have more and more friends joining me for NaNoWriMo! I’m so excited! ~added at 8pm~ Just finished writing up my main character’s school schedule, complete with professors, and I feel like I’m back in college!
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IT IS FINISHED!
FINAL DRAFT OF MY NOVEL IS DONE!!! As of 11:45 AM this morning. Oh my gosh, I’m done! Next comes the intensive editing, but first, big-time celebrating!!!!
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Blogs du jour avec hollandaise
I love to blog, and honestly, watching “Julie and Julia” yesterday just fueled the fire. It was about good food, book publishing AND blogging, among other things! Needless to say, I love it when favorite things come together. ^_^ On that note, I just wanted to share a few blog entries I ran across recently. Of course, I’m always on the lookout for seasoned writers on the web; people who have been around the block a few times and know the world and know the life, and this is a great opportunity to introduce one of the ones I follow: Cures for Writer’s Block & some Preventatives. ~ I first…
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All within me cries out
I officially have the crucial details for the rest of the book, aka the last 3-5 chapters. So let it be written, so let it be done! *clap clap*
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Just a few more miles to go
I had a chance to talk with one of my local writing friends today, and she read Ch. 19 to give me feedback. Oh my gosh, she said she loved it! She said it was so intense and gripping and she couldn’t wait to see what would happen next! *squee!* I’ve realized that this is the closest I’ve ever come to finishing a book that I haven’t really rushed. I’ve consistently written from the deepest part of my gut, and I’m actually really proud of all of it so far. Sure, there will still be editing and critiques to figure in, but I am absolutely elated. I am already three…
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So this is what the end feels like…
Juggling writing with freelance work now, so I have more time. I’m getting to a very exciting part of the story, where things get worse before they get better. Believe it or not, I am making a valiant DO (there is no try) to finish the entire thing before Aug. 14th. So I will definitely be hauling tail the next week or so. I’m really excited!
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Life Experience (Write what you know)
The old adage goes; “write what you know.” As an author, I’m what I like to call a “method writer.” Like a method actor, I want to have some experience in areas I’ll be writing about so I can portray them with realism. I’m a rather curious, adventurous person, so I’ve racked up a number of experiences. I’ve been horseback riding, gone to a firing range, been spelunking, rock climbed on a bare rock face, traveled, and a host of incidental things that I can draw reference from; anything from standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon to driving a car. Not to mention going through college and moving…
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My real garden with imaginary toads
*waves* Hey, guys. Don’t worry about the Twitter thing, it will all get worked out, and if not, I’ll figure something out. But I’m not stressed about it. In fact, right now I am just so happy that I’ve had enough energy to write a little bit of my book every single day! And now that it’s the weekend I can really gain some ground! I am on Chapter 15 now, which I’m quite excited about. I know I say this, but I really feel like the end is in sight. I am writing through everything, not pruning as much as I am trimming here and there so it is…
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I meant REALLY listen!
I had a really great phone convo with one of my dear writer friends last night. We hadn’t chatted in a while, and it felt good to catch up. We know each others’ writing weaknesses, and she helps me so much (I can only hope it’s mutual!). We talked about life and stories, and she encouraged me to keep growing as a writer, which will lead to some necessary tweaking in my narrative. I caught a glimmer of golden truth today when I had a chance to scribble some thoughts down. It was a truth that I knew well, but it still hadn’t sunk in. I was continuing with an…
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Distance
People have always told me that distancing yourself from your work now and then is the best thing a creator can do. When you take a step back, you have the freedom to move outside of your work and look at it afresh with a more discerning eye when you return to it. I tend to forget this, especially when I’ve set a writing deadline for myself to finish Draft 2 ASAP by the autumn. But the good thing about being so busy with life is that I’ve gotten some distance from my story, so when I went back to try editing last night, it was so much clearer and…
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When Characters Have a Mind of Their Own
I was talking with another writer friend last night, and he was telling me how frustrating it is when characters develop and change as you write them, and they mess up all your nice plans for the story’s direction. There can be nothing more frustrating, trust me :-), yet I like to look at it as a challenge. You really WANT to listen to your characters, or if you’d rather, your intuition about your characters. It’s so important if you want your story to be genuine, original and true. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, especially to creative types who like to plan ahead! Some of my characters start off one…
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Intricacies
I’ve been blessed with a window of time to blog today! Yay! I haven’t been posting because things are pretty much progressing about the same. Still writing away when I have free time, mostly on the weekends, but I am finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I did this huge organization thing where I took all my digital notes (I have so many more written on paper! *faints*) and organized them to see what spots I still had to fill in. This helped immensely, so now I know where I stand and what I still need to cover. And I’ve been getting an overflow…
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The string around the finger
I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe […]/Oft turning others’ leaves, to see if thence would flow/Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sun-burn’d brain./But words came halting forth […]/Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,/Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite–“Fool,” said my Muse to me, “look in thy heart and write.” ~Sir Philip Sidney, Astrophil & Stella This has sort of been the story of my writing life lately. I’ve been trying to figure out certain characters, certain plots…picking my brain to shreds to come up with something perfect. I have to remember that nothing is ever perfect the…
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The Anticipation is Killing Me!
I have been making some fun new plans for Book Two, so that means I reeeeally need to finish Book 1. Lock onto it, mate. It’s within our grasp!
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My kingdom for a hermitage
LKHamilton: 9 pages done. Breaking for lunch. I wish I had the time to do that! ^_^ (Well, I suppose I do, but I cannot live by writing alone!) Right now, I’m making sure I have the old stuff integrated into the new, to make writing through the week easier. I am trying not to edit right now, but get the story itself into a final congealed form. That’s more important than being nit picky. Oh, to be a hermit with nothing better to do than write and write and write. *wistful sigh* Stone walls do not a prison make,Nor iron bars a cage;Minds innocent and quiet takeThat for a…
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Decisions, decisions (Traditional vs. Self-Publishing)
I am pleased to say that since I have time to actually organize my life now, I feel safe in saying that I have time to write again. I keep finding myself scribbling story ideas on little pads or scraps of paper as I work throughout the day. I just had an interesting conversation with my friend Todd over lunch, a fellow writer. We were discussing the pros and cons of publishing with an acutal publisher vs. self-publishing. Big publishers have been losing ground recently, not unlike the music industry with the indie movement, where artists are pursuing their dreams on their own terms. I’d agree that self-publishing is becoming…
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I’m a shockwave ready to kill
Draft two is coming along nicely: I keep coming up with better ways to do scenes, except for the fact that it totally disrupts the order I had before, and I need to figure out how to make it work all over again *facepalm* Am I just making it harder for myself, just because I want something special? Figured out some religious and mythological history about the area one of my characters was born in. It explains a lot about why things are the way they are, and why he turned out the way he did. I saw a music vid today that totally captured a slice of this same…
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Draft Two hath begun
I’ve been settling into work nicely ^_^ w00t w00t! And today I’ve had time to actually do some REAL writing, which is super fab. I originally decided that before I went back and did an intense run through on draft one, I’d finish the entire story. However, I am having a hard time figuring everything out with just the old draft, since there are a lot of changes I’ve wanted to make. So, I’m starting draft two tonight, cleaning through, editing, etc. It feels good to be back again.
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Life Developments
Rather blessedly, I must say, the gainful employment has occurred. Huzzah 😛 However, as all work does, I feel that my time to write will be significantly zapped. Although, even with all the time in the world, I wasn’t doing much for my story. *facepalm* A friend of mine told me today that I’ll probably be able to get more done, since I’ll have more structured time and I’ll have to prioritize, and I believe she’s right. Besides, there’s nothing like life experiences to inspire more stories to write. I think I will do a bit of notebook-writing before I drift off to bed.
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Ah, fresh new blog!
“A hard beginning maketh a good ending.” ~ John Heywood Can I get that in writing, Mr. Heywood? 😉 “Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Hey, guys. I’m a first-time author on a journey: to tell stories the best way I know how. I’ve been published in a few tiny anthologies, but I’m planning something bigger: a young-adult fantasy novel series. It’s been a long time coming, and I’m on the verge of finally finishing the first draft. I’ve been working on this project since I was quite young, so to have it get to this point is really…
Artist, Author, Geek
