It's Not Going To Write Itself...

In the beginning of each year and past blog posts I've said I would buckle down {Cliche I know} and get down to serious business writing the several stories that are swimming in my head.  Well, I'm doing it this year also however, things are a little different this new year.  I think I have found something to keep me motivated throughout the year {I got my fingers crossed} and hopefully I'll get at the very least a first draft or more if I write everyday. {like I'm suppose to}

Writing Goals

I found this on Pinterest. I loved the break down of it and felt it was manageable to achieve my writing goals.  I've already started a writing schedule for myself.

I hope I'll have the motivation and the determined discipline throughout this whole year.

Doing/Not NaNo...

I've never done NaNo before.  I'm not going to start doing it this year...I'm not ready for that kind of pressure.  Maybe next year, I can start gathering the research for one of my pending stories in December.  By next November I can just concentrate on the writing part.That's all NaNo is...writing.

I may not be doing NaNo but I will be working on my "Work in progress" as much as possible this month.  I want to see how much I can truly get done in one month.

Here's to NaNo and everyone who is participating...good luck to you all.   

Now Hiring...

I need to figure out what Kacey will be doing for her occupation.  I think she's telling me that she is a classical musician.  Not sure what instrument she plays.I am seeing her playing a flute or some type of wind instrument I'm sure she'll clue me in when I need to know. 

First, I need to work on Francine's situation.

Websites for Writers...

I was thumbing through my Poets & Writers Magazine I saw this ad for a writing software. I went to their website My Story Writer and I was more interested in their link list for writers than their software.
Websites for Writers website has four pages full of website's for writers. Here are just a few that caught my eye.

1. Write to Done - Blog from Leo Babauta of Zen Habits fame: “That’s what Write To Done is about, at its core: the craft and the art of writing. But from that core we’ll be covering many topics: journalism, blog writing, freelance writing, fiction, non-fiction, getting a book deal, the business of writing, the habit of writing.
2. Autocrit - The AutoCrit Editing Wizard automatically analyzes your manuscript, checking it for a wide collection of writing errors and weaknesses. The Editing Wizard finds:
   
   • Overused Words & Phrases
   • Repeated Words & Phrases
   • Slow Pacing
   • Dull Sentence Structure
   • Cliche's & Redundancies
   • Incorrect Homonyms
   • Incorrect Readability Levels
   • Overused Dialogue Tags
3. Procrastinating Writers - Procrastinating Writers offers advice, motivation and inspiration to help creative writers overcome procrastination and complete the writing projects they've been putting off.
4. Word Hustler - WordHustler is the first and only website to take care of the whole process of submitting work to literary markets. Our free database features 4,000+ agents, publishers, contests, and publications. Our over 5,000 clients use WordHustler to send and track their physical submissions, which saves them time so they can do what they’re supposed to be doing: WRITING. Our goal is to make the submission process easier and more organized for writers AND the markets who receive their work. In fact, Bnet.com called us “The Match.com for the publishing industry.”

Whoever is a writer or wants to be a writer will find something at Websites for Writers.
Note: Description of websites were snagged from Websites for Writers

The Voices In My Head...I, I Mean Stories...

Meet Kacey...she's one of my main characters in one of my works in progress.  I started working on her story after Tessa stopped talking to me.

Kacey has a very interesting story to tell, I just hope I can tell it well.

There are several stories inside the challenge is getting them onto the page. Writing seems harder then it appears. The biggest problem I have is procrastination and discipline when it comes to writing. Right now, I have two works in progress and two more in my head waiting just waiting for me to get to work.  I keep telling myself,  "How can you be a writer when you don't write?" You can't!

During the summer my sister got me addicted to Pinterest for those of you who don't know, it's a virtual cork board and you pin web pictures to your virtual boards that you create.  Well, let just say, Pinterest has gotten my creative juices flowing.  I've found some great writing websites and blogs through pinning pictures, which I have add to my sidebar that anyone can check out.  These new sites are giving me inspiration to start taking  my writing and the busness of writing seriously.

I hope I can get myself into a serious writing routine and become the writer I know I can be!

Putting Tessa On The Shelf...

For now, I will be putting Tessa's story on the shelf.  I am not giving up on Tessa I'm just giving her along with myself a rest.  I will be working on another project I had started awhile back entitled "Time of Death."  For the foreseeable future I will be posting my progress to writing this story.

More details of this story are coming soon.  So stay tuned.

Excuses, Excuses And One Good Reason ...

Long days and warm nights made me not want to write.  During the summer I lost my motivation and discipline to my creative mind.  I was living my life. While my characters lives were suspended in air. Waiting, and waiting for me to get back so they again can inhabit the page. For months I wasn't  being fair to them or myself they have a story and I'm the one to tell it.

One day in late August, I went into my local Barnes & Noble and saw a sign.  It read "Writer's Workshop" I wasn't taking my writing serious. I needed something like this to help push me back into the world of words.  For the past three months, I have learned, grown creatively and...I'm here, ready to get back to work.

“Not” Working The Novel…

So, the title of this post says it all. This past week I haven’t been working the novel which kind of frustrates me.  Life, procrastination not sure which is getting in the way of my writing.  All I can say to myself is… “Don’t beat yourself up about it!  Keep moving forward!  Hopefully next week will be very productive!”

Let’s hope so…

March 14, 2011—

3:30 PM—

Wrote and edited the manuscript—

March 20, 2011—

5:52 PM—

Worked on the outline for “A Thirst for Love”— formatted it to fit on 5x8 index cards

March 22, 2011—

4:20 PM—

Worked on the outline — and wrote a little on the manuscript

March 31, 2011—

3:17 PM—

Added more description to the opening page to “A Thirst for Love”— need to work on the description a little more to chapter one

My Writing Time Sheet…

You can make this with a simple table and you can add or subtract whatever fits into your writing or how you work when you write.  I have a table that consists of… day and date, the time I start writing, the time I stop writing, than the total number of hours I wrote, and lastly notes I may want to write down.
  
Whatever you need to keep you writing!  I may change it up as my writing evolves.  Hope this idea helps in your writing journey like it has mine.

Finally, Moving Forward…

I’m finally moving Tessa forward.  I got the section that was giving me so much trouble to a point where I was able to advance Tessa’s story.

However, I’m not thrilled with the amount of time I’m spending writing.  I would like to spend more time writing but it seems everyday life is getting in my way!  What do I do about this problem?  Anyone out there have any ideas or suggestions I could use?  Let me know in comments.  I made a Writer’s Timesheet Template which is helping somewhat but not as much as I would like it to.  I will post what the Timesheet looks like soon.

One of my writing distractions is my cat.  Moe is very intelligent and if he’s not sleeping  he sits behind me in the kitchen either staring at me or meowing, sometimes doing both.  Like he’s doing right now!  Not to mention, pulling down my dish towel onto the floor and then proceeding to sit on it, then he starts his routine of staring and meowing.  He needs to be comfortable after all!  If I ignore him he gets louder!  He doesn’t take no for an answer he wants attention at that moment!  Just a minute ago, I had to stop writing this to give him attention so he would stop meowing and so I could finish this post!  

February 20, 2011—

5:36 PM—

Edited and wrote finally moving Tessa along—

 

February 22, 2011—

4:00 PM—

Edited a tiny bit —wrote a little over an hour on the manuscript

 

February 24, 2011—

3:54 PM—

Edited and wrote …

 

February 25, 2011—

4:10 PM—

Wrote the manuscript —moving forward slowly

 

February 26, 2011—

6:04 PM—

Read both chapters of the manuscript and continued writing chapter two.

 

March 10, 2011—

4:27 PM—

Wrote a good paragraph in the manuscript moving Tessa along and forward…