ISWG 2013!!!

Wow! Sometimes it’s hard to believe another year has come and gone. 2012 was full of so many good and bad memories, but now 2013 stands before us like a clean slate waiting to be utilized. A lot of times when I get new journals, I hate to mar the brand new cleanly, pureness of the pristine white pages, but this year, I plan to make the most of it and so I’m going to mark those pages up until there’s no blank space left! ^^ Okay maybe there will be a little white space in there somewhere, or else I’d probably have trouble reading it, but you get the idea, right? J

Around this time of year, everyone starts making their resolutions about what they’re going to do more of, different, or better. Well…I’m not going to do that. Or rather, I’m not going to make resolutions. I was thinking this morning about resolutions and how I never seem to hear that many people doing anything to accomplish their resolutions. I always hear things like, “Oh well. It’s just a resolution, so it’s okay. At least there’s always next year!” So I’ve come up with a plan. I’m going to write down one goal and the steps it takes to reach that goal, kind of like an outline or a road map, and hang it up somewhere I can see it every day. Studies have shown that people who write down their goals are more likely to accomplish them. Even more so are the ones who put what they wrote somewhere they can see it.

With that in mind, I’d like to share one small goal I’ve set for myself.

My first goal for 2013 is: Complete a full outline for my novel.

I’ve never actually been good at outlining and as such, I’ve avoided them like the plague, but more and more I feel like I really need one. In order to accomplish this goal, I’ve started using index cards to write down scenes that are vital to the plot and organized them into the three different parts I have planned for my book. So far I’ve got a good feeling so we’ll see! ^^

Today is also the first Wednesday of the month so Happy IWSG!!! The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a wonderful place where writers can share their worries and failures as well as their successes and advice. Led by our fearless leader Alex J. Cavanaugh, IWSG meets the first Wednesday of every month and you can join on his site here.

Thanks for stopping by everyone! Got goals for the New Year? Share them down below in the comments! ^^ J

Happy New Year’s everyone!!! ^^ :D

 

November IWSG

Hey everybody! Today is the first Wednesday of November so it must be that time again! J Since my last IWSG post, which was my first IWSG post, I’ve been getting back into the heart of my writing bit by bit and it’s great! I’ve also been reading a lot more writing articles as well which is kind of great, and at the same time, not so great. I’ve found a lot of great tips and techniques, but the more tricks I learn, the less I focus on moving my manuscript forward to stop and do tons of edits. Editing is a good and necessary thing, but I’ve found I really don’t make any forward progress when I switch out of my actual writing mode. I guess if I were to boil it down to one question I could ask my fellow IWSGers, I guess I would probably ask how do you go about your editing? Do you write out a chapter at a time and edit what you have? Or do you write the entire manuscript and then go back and edit?

If you're interested in joining IWSG, Alex Cavanaugh is the wonderful host and you can find his website here.

Happy writing everyone! ^^ :D

I like to Move it Move it!

A lot of different writers write for a lot of different reasons. To entertain, educate, and to make a statement are just a few. I remember really enjoying writing in school and making up all sorts of dark and twisting tales to entertain my friends during lunch. We each had our own stories, but characters and concepts often spilled into each other’s pieces as we wowed (is that even a word?) each other with strange and unpredictable plot twists.

Nowadays, I still enjoy writing, but I find my reasons for writing have multiplied. Have you ever finished a book and found yourself motivated to take on the evils of the world and make everything right? I have. And it’s something I hope to replicate in my writing.  Maybe not in every piece I write, but someday I want to inspire someone to get up, use their voice, and take a stand. There are a lot of things wrong in our world and as individuals a lot of us feel helpless as the tides of time and life erode our wills to do anything about it. Change doesn’t always have to be a big, grand production either. Most times it isn’t. Sometimes is can be as simple as a smile or a short line on a page. The tiniest things we say and do every day are the things that form the foundations of the big and grand.

Of course I still enjoy writing just because I can, but sometimes it would be nice to know someone took something important away from having read my book. :)

So tell me, why do you write?

Adventures in Short Stories

Yesterday as I was editing and reediting the first chapter of my novel, I started to become a little bogged down and decided to step back and think about some long term goals. A novel, depending on the speed at which you write, can be a long endeavor! You have multiple chapters to fill, plenty of characters to flesh out, and after all that, you have editing. For a beginning writer like myself, it started to look like a rather daunting task! Working through my writing course with the Institute of Children's Literature I mostly wrote short stories. The whole time I kept thinking to myself, I don't like short stories. How can you become invested in a story that's only five pages long? Where's the build up? The plot? The adventure? The romance? I was simply not interested in such short works of fiction.

Now that I've been able to seriously commit to a full length novel, I'm beginning to see the value in short stories. When you've been working at the computer, hammering out all those little details, a short story is like a nice little breather. You can step away from that big daunting project, focus on something a little simpler, and just enjoy a shorter, less complicated piece of fiction. That's why I've decided to revive my first assignment for the Institute and make a true blue effort to get it published! ^^ :)

Strange Medicine, is a short story about two twins who go on a journey in New York to find a cure for their mother's sickness. After countless doctors have tried and failed to help, all seems lost until Tansy hears in her mother's whispering delirium, the name of a single doctor. Doctor Skiff. When Tansy and her brother Brett raid their mother's address book all they find are three words: Skiff Central Park. And so their adventure begins...

I heard somewhere that if you make a goal, you should either write it down somewhere you can see it or tell someone about it so why not do both? :) Getting Strange Medicine published is mine. What's yours? :)