I need to buckle down to Candace Havens' Writing Game challenge. I sent her note asking about where to link her--and got NADA. True, she's busy pimping her own books, but still . . .
--Speaking of which, I'm already a day behind and a day late. 632 words in the hole that I need to write on top of the new count for today.
Food for thought, peeps: No matter where you are in your writing career, DO NOT alienate your readers, and potential purchasers, of your novel. True, you are only one voice, but many single voices add up to substantial numbers. Think about it.
I HATE cleaning house, but I like the end product--A CLEAN HOUSE
My family claims to eat leftovers, but they DON'T.
--And they complain that I don't cook enough. At the time of this blog post, I have in my fridge from last week: Beef Enchiladas, Homemade spaghetti sauce, pizza--two kinds, and yes, I make my own crust, chicken tortilla soup, a big vat of chili, and a smidgen of homemade marinara sauce. Feel free to come over and chow down!
Let your writing sit for a couple of months, if you can, prior to your final polish. For some reason, I pulled up a picture book story that I wrote earlier this year. My comment, "Oooohhh.....crap!" Now this isn't to say that it was a rough draft, it wasn't. This story had been through about six edits--four of them documented into a new word document. I read three sentences and my fingers itched to rework it!
--I guess it is a good thing I never queried this particular story! :-)
Today is laundry day. Laundry day is usually a good writing day. Why? Because of the built in breaks. Don't look at laundry as a chore. Look at it as an opportunity to take those much needed walkabouts from writing!
AND GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE NANO PARTICIPANTS!!
Write on!
Showing posts with label writing challenges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing challenges. Show all posts
11/2/09
10/26/09
Day One
Today's the first day of my FCS writing challenge! Yay!
I only had three peeps, including myself who responded, BUT will welcome anyone up for the challenge no matter when you hop in to play the game!
This will be a tough week for me because I didn't accomplish yesterday's goals. :-(
--But I decided to rework only one or two pages prior to walking the kiddo to school. Once she's in school, it's new words only until I finish my word count for the day, then I can diddle with editing.
--my buddy Jody got back to me with comments on my synopsis. Definitely food for thought, though easy fixes. Jods didn't understand why my character buys a Civic Hybrid when she's in such a high-powered type of job. Hmm, I need my character financing some sort of money pit. . . me thinks she should own a horse . . .
--Just got a judging packet for the Linda Howard contest. Five paranormals with a due date of November 29. I HATE putting judging off, but I can't judge until I get my daily word count in. I'll post calender appointments for the weekends, reminding me. Doing one or two every weekend or after my daily writing will finish them in a reasonably timely fashion.
--I haven't heard from this week's recapper for my GIAM loop. Hell, it looks like I might have to get that together, too! Karin doesn't seem to be the only one who thrives on stress!!
On to FCS challenge taker-uppers!
Margaret: goal 15000
Jody: no word count goal
Karin: 2000 words a day
We may be small, but we are a mighty group of players! Come join the fun!
Write on!
I only had three peeps, including myself who responded, BUT will welcome anyone up for the challenge no matter when you hop in to play the game!
This will be a tough week for me because I didn't accomplish yesterday's goals. :-(
--But I decided to rework only one or two pages prior to walking the kiddo to school. Once she's in school, it's new words only until I finish my word count for the day, then I can diddle with editing.
--my buddy Jody got back to me with comments on my synopsis. Definitely food for thought, though easy fixes. Jods didn't understand why my character buys a Civic Hybrid when she's in such a high-powered type of job. Hmm, I need my character financing some sort of money pit. . . me thinks she should own a horse . . .
--Just got a judging packet for the Linda Howard contest. Five paranormals with a due date of November 29. I HATE putting judging off, but I can't judge until I get my daily word count in. I'll post calender appointments for the weekends, reminding me. Doing one or two every weekend or after my daily writing will finish them in a reasonably timely fashion.
--I haven't heard from this week's recapper for my GIAM loop. Hell, it looks like I might have to get that together, too! Karin doesn't seem to be the only one who thrives on stress!!
On to FCS challenge taker-uppers!
Margaret: goal 15000
Jody: no word count goal
Karin: 2000 words a day
We may be small, but we are a mighty group of players! Come join the fun!
Write on!
7/24/09
Candace Haven's Write Workshop
I have no idea where I heard about Candace Haven's workshop.
Maybe it was Facebook. Candy left a link to subscribe to the yahoo group, but it isn't the first time I'd heard about it. One of my former RWI chapter mates, Deanna Ponder mentioned doing her workshop.
Every day for two weeks, Candy pulls a word count number or # of pages to revise out of a hat. Do the daily challenge and you succeed. Go over the daily challenge and you can bank your extra words/pages for another day--kind of like Weight Watchers. You save your extra points for that one big splurge you plan on the entire week. I try not to write on the weekends. That's my family time, so I'll be using my banked points. BUT I'm a miserly son-of-a-gun and don't want to give up my words. So if the count is easily doable (<1000 words) I'll make a point of doing it so I don't spend my words.
It has all the goodies in it that I like:
--no money
--self-paced, up to a point
--challenging
--Yahell is silent
No money is involved. I love freebies. Candace Haven's definitely earned her 2009 PRO Mentor of the Year honor with this one. Love it!
Self-paced. Just like regular BIAW's you only get out of the challenge by how you decide to tackle it. Do it half-assed, then you don't get the positive effects from it. Plus you can do the revised pages challenge if you aren't working on something new.
Challenging. Every day a new number is drawn. Yesterday's draw was the biggest, 3265 words. Now if I had been on this loop prior to May 2009, I'd have been freaking over this word count, but in May I did Barbara's BIAW and logged in 15,000 words in only five days. I knew I could do this.
Yahoo is suspiciously silent. Candy's had some problems with people not getting the messages. I'm one of them, but I don't mind. All I do is head over to the Write Workshop yahoo group and find out today's count. When I'm done for the day I post to the Write Workshop Chat group.
I don't need anyone's 'YAY!' Congrats. blah, blah, blah--and I don't get them since I'm new to the group and many of the members have formed their friendships.
--I get my satisfaction from meeting the challenge head on and defeating it.
So as soon as I learn what today's challenge is, I'm going to be . . .
Writing on.
Today's challenge: 862 words--Easy-Peasy, I'm going to go over to add to my banked word count. :-)
Maybe it was Facebook. Candy left a link to subscribe to the yahoo group, but it isn't the first time I'd heard about it. One of my former RWI chapter mates, Deanna Ponder mentioned doing her workshop.
Every day for two weeks, Candy pulls a word count number or # of pages to revise out of a hat. Do the daily challenge and you succeed. Go over the daily challenge and you can bank your extra words/pages for another day--kind of like Weight Watchers. You save your extra points for that one big splurge you plan on the entire week. I try not to write on the weekends. That's my family time, so I'll be using my banked points. BUT I'm a miserly son-of-a-gun and don't want to give up my words. So if the count is easily doable (<1000 words) I'll make a point of doing it so I don't spend my words.
It has all the goodies in it that I like:
--no money
--self-paced, up to a point
--challenging
--Yahell is silent
No money is involved. I love freebies. Candace Haven's definitely earned her 2009 PRO Mentor of the Year honor with this one. Love it!
Self-paced. Just like regular BIAW's you only get out of the challenge by how you decide to tackle it. Do it half-assed, then you don't get the positive effects from it. Plus you can do the revised pages challenge if you aren't working on something new.
Challenging. Every day a new number is drawn. Yesterday's draw was the biggest, 3265 words. Now if I had been on this loop prior to May 2009, I'd have been freaking over this word count, but in May I did Barbara's BIAW and logged in 15,000 words in only five days. I knew I could do this.
Yahoo is suspiciously silent. Candy's had some problems with people not getting the messages. I'm one of them, but I don't mind. All I do is head over to the Write Workshop yahoo group and find out today's count. When I'm done for the day I post to the Write Workshop Chat group.
I don't need anyone's 'YAY!' Congrats. blah, blah, blah--and I don't get them since I'm new to the group and many of the members have formed their friendships.
--I get my satisfaction from meeting the challenge head on and defeating it.
So as soon as I learn what today's challenge is, I'm going to be . . .
Writing on.
Today's challenge: 862 words--Easy-Peasy, I'm going to go over to add to my banked word count. :-)
2/6/09
Writers: Psychotic Nutjob or Talented Artist
My family thinks I'm a nutjob . . . .uh, don't go there, people!
But I really don't care what they think, which is part of the problem. Yeah, I do have my moments where I use the shock factor (as hubster calls it) on them as I talk about killing a character, or inventing an animal, or having my faeries live on the Aurora Borealis, or wishing I had a brownie to clean up the house, but they don't understand me, and I have now become firmly implanted in their minds as a nutjob. My side of the family is chocked full of "engineers", "medical personal" and you know, "scientists". If you can't see, hear, smell, yadda, yadda, it ain't real. I used to be one of them, a med tech, and worked in a hospital for years, but now I'm different and they don't know how to categorize me.
The only people who understand me on my side of the family is my SIL, considering I have 8 bros and sis's that isn't saying much. She's supportive and helps me brainstorm through my writing problems and, I like to think, knows who I really am. Hubster and DD tolerate my quirkiness. Hubster is a network IT director, so he's firmly in the category of "engineer's" even though he doesn't technically have an engineering degree--it's the mental state of mind that I'm talking about here. They really felt a part of the writing process when they helped my brainstorm my children's picture books. I need to write a few more Peter stories, but I digress. It's the Urban Fantasy's that have them rethinking the nutjob situation.
On the hubster's side of the family, my MIL understands, sort of, she's an artist. So she understands different visions, subjectivity, and how you pour yourself into a work only to have it rejected. I still think she thinks I'm an oddball, but she doesn't really mind. Now, my Bro-in-law is interesting. He understands. He totally drives me nutso, not the same a nutjob mind you. He is a creative computer dude. And this may be why he drives me crazy--we are very similar--GAK! Brain overload, brain overload! Yeah, after knowing him for 18 years, I just figured this out. . . talk about my swift brain synapses.
Even when you find like minds, writing is still a lonely business. Only you can trust your vision and be true to yourself . . . even if everyone around you thinks you are a total nutjob.
So, what is the difference between a writing nutjob and an artist?
--a publishing contract.
You bet your sweet tookus it is. All is forgiven if you manage to get published. That means you are somebody. Someone took a chance on you, therefore you have talent.
Until that day, and probably even after, I'll remain Crazy Aunt Margaret, the nutjob.
Write on!
But I really don't care what they think, which is part of the problem. Yeah, I do have my moments where I use the shock factor (as hubster calls it) on them as I talk about killing a character, or inventing an animal, or having my faeries live on the Aurora Borealis, or wishing I had a brownie to clean up the house, but they don't understand me, and I have now become firmly implanted in their minds as a nutjob. My side of the family is chocked full of "engineers", "medical personal" and you know, "scientists". If you can't see, hear, smell, yadda, yadda, it ain't real. I used to be one of them, a med tech, and worked in a hospital for years, but now I'm different and they don't know how to categorize me.
The only people who understand me on my side of the family is my SIL, considering I have 8 bros and sis's that isn't saying much. She's supportive and helps me brainstorm through my writing problems and, I like to think, knows who I really am. Hubster and DD tolerate my quirkiness. Hubster is a network IT director, so he's firmly in the category of "engineer's" even though he doesn't technically have an engineering degree--it's the mental state of mind that I'm talking about here. They really felt a part of the writing process when they helped my brainstorm my children's picture books. I need to write a few more Peter stories, but I digress. It's the Urban Fantasy's that have them rethinking the nutjob situation.
On the hubster's side of the family, my MIL understands, sort of, she's an artist. So she understands different visions, subjectivity, and how you pour yourself into a work only to have it rejected. I still think she thinks I'm an oddball, but she doesn't really mind. Now, my Bro-in-law is interesting. He understands. He totally drives me nutso, not the same a nutjob mind you. He is a creative computer dude. And this may be why he drives me crazy--we are very similar--GAK! Brain overload, brain overload! Yeah, after knowing him for 18 years, I just figured this out. . . talk about my swift brain synapses.
Even when you find like minds, writing is still a lonely business. Only you can trust your vision and be true to yourself . . . even if everyone around you thinks you are a total nutjob.
So, what is the difference between a writing nutjob and an artist?
--a publishing contract.
You bet your sweet tookus it is. All is forgiven if you manage to get published. That means you are somebody. Someone took a chance on you, therefore you have talent.
Until that day, and probably even after, I'll remain Crazy Aunt Margaret, the nutjob.
Write on!
10/31/08
BIAW & NaNoWriMo
BIAW--Book in a Week
NaNoWriMo--National Novel Writing Month
Both of these endeavours are writing challenges. Most BIAW participants don't finish a book in a week, but the goal is to write as many pages as possible within that week.
NNWM does have a goal of 50K in 30 days. This is a doable goal, but as a writer your plate must be cleared, your research accomplished, and your internal editor turned off. The problem for most Americans is that this is also the month of Thanksgiving which is spent with family, not writing.
This next week I will shoot for 2K a day, Monday thru Friday. That should give me a 10K start on book 1 of my demon war series.
Now to finish organizing my notes, finishing my demon excel worksheet, and thinking about my first couple of chapters.
NaNoWriMo--National Novel Writing Month
Both of these endeavours are writing challenges. Most BIAW participants don't finish a book in a week, but the goal is to write as many pages as possible within that week.
NNWM does have a goal of 50K in 30 days. This is a doable goal, but as a writer your plate must be cleared, your research accomplished, and your internal editor turned off. The problem for most Americans is that this is also the month of Thanksgiving which is spent with family, not writing.
This next week I will shoot for 2K a day, Monday thru Friday. That should give me a 10K start on book 1 of my demon war series.
Now to finish organizing my notes, finishing my demon excel worksheet, and thinking about my first couple of chapters.
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