Favorite Book Published In 2009?

This was a crazy year for me I must admit. So crazy, in fact, that I did not get to read as much as I would have liked. But read I did and I have to tell you...there were many books published this year that I completely adore. Seriously, books that made me jealous I had not come up with the idea first...now THAT'S a good book. At least I think so.

So what's my favorite book of 2009? The first one that pops into my head is Shadowlight by Lynn Viehl. She wrote the Darkyn Series if none of you are familiar with her. This particular book is a spinoff of sorts, related to the Darkyn, yet different. It's about ordinary people who are unaware they have been altered by vampire DNA. Just writing about it makes me want to read it again.

So, what is your favorite book of 2009?

Who Is Your Inspiration?

I have been thinking a lot today about this, and I still don't really know what my answer is. Seriously, this is a lot harder to answer than you might think. Because I am not talking about who other people think inspire you, or who you want to inspire you....but WHO inspires you. Who is the one that you think about every day, the one that pushes you to write? This could be someone that knows you, or a complete stranger. But I do feel that every writer who wants to be published has someone that they think about, well, that's my thought on it anyway.

For me, many people tell me to write, but there are not many that actually make me want to write. There are few people that make me not want to give up, who make me believe my writing does not suck. I would say the one that has pushed me the most, the one that has helped me the most, is my husband. He doesn't let me have the easy way out, he tells me how it is. And some days...he gives me the kick in the pants I need.

If you write and you don't have someone that inspires you....maybe this is the time to change that. It sure has helped me, and from the published writers I have heard about it really helped them too.

I STILL Have No Ending

Yup, it's pretty horrible. After Nano I just did not feel like writing. My brain is mush right now. So I spent a couple days sleeping and thinking about what should happen, talking to my husband again who didn't see me all month...and now I find that I am lost, unable to continue. Where to take my story from here? At first the ending was clear in my head, but the more I wrote the more I saw there was so many different paths my characters could take. So now my head hurts. For now I'll try and remain calm and take a couple more days away from my draft, but then, regardless of how I feel, I have to write my ending, even if it sucks.

Anyone else finding that they are so close to the end of their first draft or final draft and are having a hard time pushing themselves forward? Any advice for me? I have never gotten so far in a project before. Usually I drop them within the first thrity pages for something new because I have the habbit of getting bored. But with this novel...that is not the case. I love my characters and my story. I am just stuck and am not sure what needs to be done. Am I overthinking this? Because this is first draft should I just write whatever comes to my head?

Sorry for all the questions, but I really am worried about this. Any advice or comments at all would be appreciated. I just feel like banging my head against the wall.

I really should have outlined this story before writing it. Really.

The End Of Nano

Woot! I did it. I actually did it. I woke up today, banged out over 3k words and won Nano. The feeling is amazing. But now I am slightly terrified. What will next month bring me? What will happen to my novel? I know it needs an insane amount of work, but I love it. I really want to see good things happen to it. This is such a big goal that I reached. The feeling...I cannot describe it at all.

So who else won? Who lost? Will you be participating next year? I most certainly will be. And I can tell you this: next time I will be using an outline.

The Final Stretch

We have neared the end. Does anyone else feel that Nano went by way too fast? With Thanksgiving and everything else I fell beind, I'll admit it. When I realized that if I didn't kick my butt into gear I would lose I freaked out big time. And yes, I even thought of quitting. But I didn't. Instead I wrote more yesterday than I had all week. Over 4k words. I am pretty impressed with myself. Nano has taught me many things but the most important, I think at least, is that I can do this. I can write on a deadline. Some of what comes out may suck, but there have been some real gems as well.

This month has been a great and terrible journey and I am sad to see it so close to ending. Probably because I know what comes after this. After this my Inner Editor will break loose and tell me how stupid my novel is. After this I'll spend months fixing what I think is broken. Has anyone guessed that revision scares the crap out of me? It does. I have written a lot during my short time on this earth, but revision is not something I have ever tried with anything longer than a short story. What if I can't do it?

I have decided to just push ahead, enjoy these last few days of Nano and think about December when it gets here. I still have a whole lot of writing to do.

Which reminds me: anyone feel like their novel isn't anywhere near an ending? Are you worried about being able to contnue writing it in December? My problem was the exact opposite for a while. I wrote too tightly, my scenes were so fast paced that I was afraid I would run out of story. I am interested to hear what people plan to do with their Decembers. Me? I plan to flesh out my plot, my world, my everything quite a bit then go from there.

For those of you still in the game...keep writing! We are almost done!

Nano and the dreaded Week Two

Total Nano Word Count= 16,718
Nano Goal For Day 11= 1700
Words So Far= 0

So, the second week of Nano is here. Actually, it came a bit more quickly than I thought. And there is something I noticed right off the bat. Firstly, it is much harder to get my words that I need and second, I am pretty sure I have found the Week Two blues. Don't get me wrong, I love my novel. I think it's one of the best ideas I have had so far. Problem is I've gotten to the "murky middle", you know, that place a lot of writers like to give up? I've gotten myself in this deep hole and I have no idea how to get out. It's a little scary. However. I had an amazing writing day yesterday that gave me the courage to continue, even through this rough bit. I know that if I can get through this week, I can win this thing. Already I am farther on this project than I am on my other WIP, farther along in this than I have ever been in a project in about ten years.

I think Nano should be my new secret weapon, accept I don't want to use this crazy word count goal once a year, I want to use it for every project. I was afraid that by doing Nano I would wreck my book, but I see that it has helped me so much more than I could ever think possible. The secret to finishing a first draft is simply one thing. You tell yourself you are allowed to write bad stuff and make it shine on the revision. That's it. So many people give up because they want their first draft to be perfect. I am done saying that. Now I will tell myself that I can do this. I can finish this.

To anyone out there reading my blog while also taking part in Nano I have only this to say: Don't let Week Two get you down, don't let it defeat you. Keep going. Keep writing. Because the feeling we will get when we finish will be unlike any other experience.

Well, I'm off to write!

Word Envy

My Total Word Count is: 3,386 after finishing Day Two of Nano. This is good. I am staying on target here. This isn't really my issue. My problem= word envy. Quite simply I let other crazy huge word counts affect my ability to keep writing. When I see someone over 15k on only the second day? I just want to quit. It makes me want to have that word count...and yet there is no way I can get there.

So. I need to change this. I can't worry about who has what word count. I need to focus on meeting my goal every day and so far I have done that. I need to try and be proud of my accomplishments because writing this much is a huge breakthrough for me. I can't get all envious now because that will destroy my want to write.

My new goal is to get my total word count up to 5,000 by noon tomorrow because after that I have a doctors appointment, I need to buy some new clothes and a whole bunch of other stuff that will make it impossible to write. Hopefully I can do that otherwise I will fall behind. Then I would feel really bad.

Sorry this has been nothing but a rant. I really needed to let that out. Hopefully tomorrow I can talk about other things besides just Nano.

NanoWriMo has begun!

Well, I have actually decided to do it. A few days ago I signed up for National Novel Writing Month. I had to come up with a new story idea and everything because the guidelines say that you should not start Nano with a book you've already begun writing. Also, you aren't supposed to write a word until Nov. 1st. So. I put my YA novel to the side and came up with a story for Nano. Today is the first day. You have to write at least 1,667 words a day to meet the end goal of 50,000. And you know what? I did it! I got 1,708 words. It has been so long since I have written nearly anything close to that. It felt good. I really like my story idea too, so that helps.

Tonight I am going to plan some more scenes for tomorrow. I am hoping to add at least 2,000 more words to my current word count. Wish me luck on that.

I have decided to participate in some regional write-ins. A write-in is where fellow Nano'ers get together at a library, coffee shop or another location and write as much as they can for a certain amount of time. I have been told it is a great way to get your word count in for the day. I am pretty excited since I have never done one before. Who am I kidding, I haven't even tried Nano before! I need all the help I can get!

I have decided to post my word count most days here and vent about where I am in the process. If anyone else is doing Nano, I hope it is going well for you!

So far everything has started off quite nicely. I even like most of my words. Which is new for me.

What Are You Willing To Sacrifice?

While emailing a published author a few days ago she asked how much would I be willing to sacrifice to get published, because, truth is, you DO have to sacrifice something, and you don't get to know what it is ahead of time. So....I thought about it and realized that writing is more important to me than even I originally thought. My dream is worth it to me to take risks, even if it means writing four or five books a year to keep my head above water...I'll be doing what I love, and that is what matters to me.

But that isn't even all of it. Not only do most Novelists worry about money and spend pretty much every waking minute at the computer...they still have to worry about their project getting rejected. Or about their novel doing so badly they have to switch to a different publisher...

And even though I know all of this I STILL want to do this for a living. Writing is my life and I know it would be more fulfilling if I could write full-time.

So my question to you is this: How much are you willing to sacrifice for your dream? Maybe you'll find, like me, it is worth more to you than you thought possible. Maybe it will give you the strength to keep going.

Now I must go spend time with my hubby. Then its back to plotting my project.

I Found One Of The Problems In My Story

It took awhile, but it just hit me a minute ago: some of the scenes I've written don't move my story forward, don't bring any interesting conflicts or change...or are just plain boring. Now. This is normal for a first draft, but it was taking me in the wrong direction...which means I would have had to start all over again if I had not caught this. So I haven't been continuing my writing. Instead, I'm looking through my planned scenes trying to add new ones and see which ones need to go or just need to be fixed. This may take some time.

Something that might work for you: I did a timed writing asking myself what was I doing wrong, what I needed to change, ect and I came up with quite a few new scenes that way. It also gave me ideas I had not even thought about before. I have heard about timed writing before, but I never really thought it would work. But I was desperate and I tried it. And it did wonders for me.

The only worry going through my head at the moment is I won't finish this book by the deadline I gave myself. But, considering what I'm going through at the moment, I think I'll manage.

Do You Read While You Write?

Not sure if any of you who read this are writers, but I thought I'd ask anyway. Many published writers I have read about say that when they are in the middle of a project they don't read fiction. And for good reason. Writers tend to be a bit like sponges. They can lose their voice while getting lost in another persons.

I find that to be the case with me.It's very hard for me not to take on the style of the book I'm reading if I'm also writing, especially if the book is amazing. So I have learned that, for me, I should stay away from fiction as much as possible when I'm in the middle of a project.

But for others, they don't have a problem reading while writing. In fact, they can find it to be an experience that lifts them up and keeps them excited about writing without affecting the way they write.

So. Do you read when you write? Do you think it's harmful? Does it even matter? I'd love to see what people think about this.

Story Update

The walls have finally come up. Now I need to stop and figure out what is going on so I can get back on the right track. But, I have an idea what my problem is. Mainly....my plot cards kinda suck. This is the first time I have used this technique, so I'm trying to cut myself some slack, but I know that is what it is. My conflicts don't matter to me, the twists, I feel, are too easily seen. So. I won't rework these plot cards but I will focus on making the middle matter.

I am already starting to dread the revision, and I just started! I know it's a pretty common fear, but I can't stop worrying. I'm driving myself crazy really.

Ok. Back to dealing with new plot cards. Hopefully I'll be working on my story again soon.

There is a contest going on at Jennifer J. Bennett's blog. The idea is to write a monolouge about a random household object. It must be under 1000 words and you cannot include a picture. Winner recieves a Barnes and Nobles giftcard. Visit her blog for more information http://jenniferjbennett.blogspot.com/2009/09/contest-2-characterobject-monologue.html

Concerns

It hit me today: I don't like my Plot Cards for the middle of my project. That realization scares me. Although I am not very far yet, if I keep writing every day, soon I will reach the "murky middle". Soon, I won't have any idea of what needs to happen next. I've tried working on my cards, but I'm not making very much progress. I guess I'll just deal with it when I get there.

This brings me to an important point: You should look through your cards before starting your story. If you don't, you'll realize later that you hate many of the scenes you had planned.

I can't wait to write this next scene. This is where things really pick up. I haven't been this excited in a long time. My goal is to write at least 500 new words, which I am almost certain I can accomplish. I've been writing every day, something I haven't done in a year. This is a big step for me.

Before I close I want to recommend a book to anyone reading this. For anyone who wants to write, you need this. "Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg changed my life. It made me burn to write. It gave me great tips on how to get started. The section about timed writing is brilliant.

So. I'm off to write and enjoy the day with my husband. Have a great writing day. I know I will.

Finished First Chapter

I finished the first chapter of my project yesterday. It's only seven pages long, but I think they are pretty good for a first draft. I have decided to write every day, even on weekends, because at the moment I only write 300-600 words. Maybe when I am able to write a bit more I will switch back to five days a week, but for now, I need all the time I can get!

In the course Thinking Sideways I am on Lesson 10 and it is about the Law of Unintended Consequences, or LUC. I learned how to create my own LUC, how to make my story deeper and more full of conflict because of this Lesson. Soon I will be writing an unplanned scene based off an unintended consequence...I can't wait! And later this week I'll learn how to write query letters that get noticed, something every writer needs to have mastered in order to get an agent.

Things have been moving rather slowly, but I have been progressing. Best of all, I really think I can finish this project. I know it most likley won't be publishable, but it will be a learning experience. I can't wait to reach the end and I've only just begun!

First Pages

Project Update: I wrote my first scene today. It was much shorter than I wanted it to be. I was hoping for 1000 words...or at the very least 500. Instead, my scene ended at 277 words.

There is freedom in having a blank page to work with, in just starting the story. It can be difficult as well, especially when you don't know where you are going. Or where your story should even start.

One piece of advice: It should start with change. Something should be different about this time, this day, this situation. It should NOT start with backstory. Backstory is boring and will throw the reader right out of your story.

If you have problems starting your projects, even after spending months planning them...ask yourself some questions. Where are you? What is your character doing? Who are they watching? Why are they there? What changes? After answering these you should have some interesting ideas on where to start. It helped me at least.

Plot Cards And Why You Need Them

For the past few days I have been plotting my novel using the techniques in the Thinking Sideways course. This involves writing one sentence, under thirty words, for every scene in the novel. In the sentence you should include: your characters, the conflict, the twist and the setting. Without these elements you can end up writing a weak scene, you can get lost, you can even end up writing a novel that isn't worth saving.

Plot cards are important for many reasons. They keep your story on track. They allow you to write strong scenes. They can be used when you must plan and write a novel in a very short amount of time. For me, it has been a struggle writing my plot cards, but I know that in the end I will love what turns out and I will be that much more likely able to finish my project.

I will be honest. I never did project planning before taking Thinking Sideways. It never even entered my mind. I was the type that just got an idea in my head for an awesome character with a problem and wrote like crazy. Problem was...I hit the brick wall fast because I had no idea where my story was suppossed to go.

I have found that even though I was not much of a planner that this Lesson is helping me more than I can even imagine and it is a tool I will continue to use even after I finish this course. I love some of the ideas i'm getting. But I also see what needs to be fixed.

Well, that's it for today I think. Next time I'll either talk about fixing plot cards or even starting the first pages of a novel, depending on where I am at that day.

An Update About My Lessons

Thinking Sideways has taken up quite a bit of my time and surprise, surprise I'm still managing to fall behind.

I'm working on Lesson Five right now. I'm suppossed to be learning all the critical info about my protagonist, antagonist, setting, conflict and twists. I got through my protagonist rather quickly, but I am lost now. It has come to my attention I am unsure who the biggest antagonist in the story is. So now I am asking myself questions and waiting for answers. This lesson is very important for the development of my story, I can't just skip it. Hopefully, I come up with something soon.

Besides my issues with Lesson Five I am still in love with this course. There is so much helpful material I am going through. I know I will be using many of these tools for my other writing projects. And I know that because of this course my writing is maturing.

Talking to other students in the forums has turned out to be incredibly helpful. When I have gone off track they are there to point me in the right direction. They give my examples of how they went through the lesson.

One piece of advice I can give is to never neglect your characters, the conflicts, twists and the setting in the planning stages of writing. If you don't you may be setting yourself up for failure, like I did in the past.

That's it for today. Next time I'll be ranting about my next lesson I'm sure.

When It Rains, It Pours

I'm in California right now. I was suppossed to be here for a nice relaxing vacation before returning to work. But it has turned into a nightmare.

I was suppossed to be on my way home today so I could make it to Oregon in time for my shift, but something horrible has happened. When my husband was at the beach his wallet, car keys and phone all got stolen. That and his glasses got lossed yesterday and he's legally blind! I've been trying to get a hold of my work to let them now what has happened...but they haven't answered the phone. So I have no idea if I'll get fired for this or not. I have no idea when I'll get home. So I am at the end of my rope. I don't know what to do, what to think, what to say. I just want to cry.

What do you do during a crisis? Deal with it, leaving your emotions out of it? Let someone else deal with it so you can sit in a corner and cry? Get angry and yell at everyone? I'm not doing much of anything right now. I'm starting to get scared. I can't loose this job, I just got it.

Right now I'm just praying that I can hold myself together. I don't know if I can.

Well...

I have never blogged before. This is new and very weird for me, knowing that anyone can see my thoughts, see me.

I guess I should start by saying why I am here. I am here to talk about writing, about me, about anything I can think of really. I am here because I want a place just for me. And I think this is it. I want to share my ideas, my fears and my dreams with people. I want to give and recieve advice. This is why I am here.

Hmmm...what should I say next? I graduated from high school in 2008 and then married. I have a job that I hate and think every day about quitting. Why? Because, more than anything, I want to be a writer. I have wanted it as long as I can remember. I don't want fame, I just want someone to read my stories and love them as much as I do. I want to write something that matters.

I haven't done much in my quest to become a writer. Sure, I have written stories...but I have never had the courage to send them out. It is hard to stick to one thing, I have so many ideas in my head. My brain goes blank when I think of revision. I realized pretty quickly that I needed some kind of help.

Luckily, I had been reading the blog of a full-time Novelist and saw that she had a writing course unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was called Thinking Sideways. At first, I had my doubts. How much could it really help me? Nothing else had. I did some reseach, read the reviews and saw that a lot of people got something great out of her course. So I decided to try it out. And you know what? I love it so far. I am already so much closer to my Muse. I can feel the ideas brewing and I know they won't stop anytime soon. I have a long ways to go in the course, but I can tell it is already worth the money. This course will help me, it will give me what I need. The tools to write the best novel I have in me.

Ok, so I guess that is all you really need to know about me, for now at least. I am just another writer in search of making my dreams a reality.

Tomorrow I will talk about my next Lesson and let you all know how I did, what problems I faced, ect.