Go to work

I saw this quote the other day and I LOVE it! This is exactly how I feel in regard to my writing. It's not always easy (it's never easy!) but I love writing SO MUCH! I love creating stories and characters and sometimes a world. I also struggle with it at times but I keep going because I don't feel like myself when I don't write. SO I've written Stephen King's above quote in my journal and I'm going to refer to it because as I said - I totally agree! Plus, whether it's meant to be or not - it is motivating! 

Writing again

I'm so happy to be writing fiction again. I took December off to give myself a break from everything, to spend the holidays focused on my family and to evaluate my goals. I knew I wanted to keep writing. I still know I want to be published but I needed the time off in order to remind myself that I write because I LOVE it. I think it's okay - more than okay actually - to want to be published but at the core I believe one should write because they have an intrinsic love for doing so. When I realized that I was actually missing the act of writing for the pleasure of discovering and telling the story in my head it was a relief. Yes, a relief. 

I've had a certain story in my head for a few years now but never felt ready to tell it. I'm ready to tell it now and have started writing it. I started it last week and have made a bit of progress on it. I'm going to write this stor while continuing to submit my others. I won't give up but I won't lose track of my love for the writing again either. 

Bleed for art

I've seen and heard this quote from Ernest Hemingway many times. I've had mixed emotions and opinions about it, too. Currently, I feel as if it is the absolute truth. 

Adjust the plan, never the goal

I had given myself a goal of today to submit my latest manuscript. I'm not quite ready to do it, though! I'm close - so, so close. Yesterday, when I realized I was going to miss today's goal I started to go into a bit of a funk. I don't like missing deadlines of any sort - even self-made deadlines. The thing I realized is that I have to cut myself some slack. I'm only going to be off by a day or two and honestly, that's not bad! I'm not letting anyone down - including myself - so I'm not going to worry about it. Who knows, maybe I will make today's deadline? I have half the day still to go.

Progress

I love this quote and believe it to be true! It has been for me anyway. In July I thought about what I had left to do with my current manuscript in order to get it submitted. I was in the process of revising and making the second draft. I knew I needed to complete that one and go through it one more time. So, with that in mind I gave myself an August 19th deadline. I'm thrilled to say that I am on track to meet my given deadline - which when I gave it was six weeks out. The way I've done this is by working each day. Some days I've been able to do a lot and others only a little but it has all added up to progress!

It is important

This quote is SO true! I realized last week that I was dragging my feet in regard to revising my current manuscript. I decided enough was enough and that I needed to buckle down and get things DONE! I am happy to say that over the past week I have completed twelve chapters of this round of revision! I have four to go and then I need to put all the revisions into my electronic document. At the moment I am working off of a printed copy of my manuscript. It has been amazing to revise this way! I have things crossed out, written in and questions about plot holes written in the margins. It has been a completely different experience revising on paper rather than on the computer screen. I have no idea why but it is the truth for me! I'm actually excited to be doing revision which is odd for me. I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this project and I am happier with it each day. 

Overhaul or polish

I'm happy to share that the revision on my current manuscript is finally going well! So far it has been mostly polishing but I am coming to the last quarter of my book. I know there is some overhaul work coming within a couple of those chapters. I'm excited about it though because I am one step closer to submitting this book. 

A Title

I HAVE A TITLE! Excuse my all caps excitement, please. I am so excited to FINALLY have a Title for my current book! I was truly beginning to sweat not having a title for my book because I am ready to submit said book - as in tomorrow, the next morning at the latest! 

It's not uncommon for me to lack a title at the beginning of a writing project. It doesn't bother me at that point because I know the title will come to me during the writing process. I also know whatever title I choose may be changed when it comes to publication. Still, I need to submit the book with a title. So imagine my nerves as I began to near the end of writing the story and still had no title. Then I went through the first round of revision with no idea of what I wanted to call the book! Same thing for revision round two. Now I'm at the end of my third round of revision and until about an hour ago still had NO IDEA what I wanted to call this book! Then it FINALLY came to me and I am so happy with it! I won't get emotionally attached to the title but I am still so relieved that I have a name for my book!

I love writing advice! That doesn't mean I always take it but I LOVE to hear and read about authors opinions and advice on their personal writing journeys. Though I don't take every bit of advice I hear I do always learn something I can use! Add in a title that's meant to make people smile and I can guarantee I'm going to want to read the book - and learn the advice. I just got this book today so I can't share anything I've learned from it just yet. However, I am excited to get into it.

Take the Risk

I love this quote and believe it to be absolutely TRUE! I attended the California Dreamin' Writers Conference this weekend and it was amazing! Robyn Carr and Sarah MacLean were the Keynote speakers and both had wonderful and inspirational things to say about this writing life! The crux of both of their speeches was to WRITE! What a surprise, right? It was nice - and well-timed - to hear it, though. Another thing I took away from this weekend was a reminder to stay true to myself, my writing style and what I want to write!

I have been told a couple of times recently, "You can't write that. No one will want to read that." It was discouraging, to say the least. I was reminded during Sarah MacLean's speech today to "Take the Risk!" So I'm going to do just that - Take the risk! I'm excited, nervous and hopeful!

Writers Conferences

A writers conference is something I used to want to give a try. Now that I've been to two I know that I LOVE them! I will be going to my third one this weekend! Two years ago I went to the California Dreamin' Writers Conference for the first time and fell in love with the event! It was so nice and truly amazing to be surrounded by people - mostly women but some men, as well - on the same journey as me. We're all at different places in our career but the end goal is to be a published author and that camaraderie felt - and still feels - AMAZING!

Last summer I went to my first national conference for the Romance Writers of America. THis is an annual event and at some point I'd love to go every year. Hopefully that will happen before too much longer. However, I can't make the national RWA conference this year so I will go to California Dreamin' Writers Conference once again this weekend. The keynote speakers are Robyn Carr and Sarah MacLean. I'm looking forward to hearing both of them.

There are also several workshops I am looking forward to. Such as, Self-Editing: Ten Tips to Make Your Words Pop, Working Past the Fear, Writing the Romance Novella, Mastering the Art of Great Conflict and Pros in Your Prose t name a few!

I am looking forward to a great weekend with writer friends, possible new friends to be made and a lot of learning about this writers life that I love!

Writing Mojo

I am so, so happy to say that I am back to what I perceive to a normal level of writing! I went through a couple of months where I wrote but it felt like a bit of a struggle. To be completely honest it was depressing! However, this week has gone really well and I am SO relieved! I am thoroughly enjoying the story I am currently writing, as well.

Of course I do still have some revision work to complete. Even that is coming along nicely, though. I'm going to a presentation on editing this weekend, too. Hopefully I'll learn some good tips to apply to my revision.

So all in all, I'm happy my writing mojo has returned!

Love Between the Covers

A documentary about the industry that is The Romance Novel. It's on Netflix right now.

A little each day

A little progress everyday adds up to BIG results!

I saw this quote today and I realize that it is SO TRUE! I've been feeling unhappy with what I was thinking of as my lack of progress lately. This helped me to realize that I am making progress! Maybe it isn't as much and as fast as I'd like but I'm still writing, still editing and therefore, still moving forward!

Keep a notebook

I came across this quote by Jack London on Facebook. I LOVE it so much! Considering that I already do exactly this I decided I had to write it in my journal and share it, well, everywhere! LOL 

Now I am off to use this very same notebook to jot down some character notes and story ideas that I have running around in my head for a new book. I don;t want to lose the ideas while I am finishing the revisions on my current book. 

Plugging away

I had breakfast and a revision session with a friend this morning. We do this once a week and it is so helpful to me! For one thing it is super nice to have a friend who absolutely understands what it is to be a writer and working toward publication. I am very fortunate to have supportive people in my life: my husband, our children, family and friends but my writer friends understand on a different level. This morning my friend was working on her synopsis and realized she wanted to change the order of some of her story arcs. I knew exactly what she meant just as she understood my ramble about not getting stuck in revision and not submitting my book.

This brings me to what I've been struggling with for a month or so. I have been hyper revising. I don;t really know if that is a 'thing' but it has become a thing for me. I'm absolutely nitpicking my novel to the point that I am annoying myself! My friend helped me to realize that I need to stop this! So, I have decided that I will finish the round of revision I'm doing now and submit the story. I've given myself a goal of January 31st. I originally said I'd do it by next week but pushed it until the end of the month so I can write the synopsis. Maybe with the next book I'll write the synopsis first. At any rate, I am so thankful for the support system I have - especially writer friends who get all the quirks that go along with this endeavor!

Goal setting

I went to a writing workshop this morning. During the session we heard about goal setting and your core story. Both sections were really good but I want to focus on the goal setting. The speaker shared tips for making smart goals. Make them attainable and make them something you can control! For example, saying I will have a book published next year isn't so smart. I'm not in control of the agents, editors or publishing world in general. However, I can (and AM) say, "By March 31, 2017 I will submit two novels." I'm actually almost ready to submit one and will most likely do so by the end of December.

Another thing that was stressed during the workshop is to WRITE DOWN your goals! We are 42% more likely to achieve our goals if we have written them down! Isn't that amazing? I thought about this fact and realized that it is the absolute truth for me! Another truth - in general but also specifically for me - is to set a deadline!

I want to share three goals I have with a deadline of March 31, 2017:

1. As I said above, I will submit two novels to publishing companies.

2. I will attend the California Dreamin' Writers Conference that is taking place at the end of March.

3. I will write the first draft of a new book.

These are attainable goals that move me forward on my career path. How about you? Do you set goals and if so do you find that you are likely to achieve them?

National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month - NaNoWriMo - has begun for 2016. It's a journey that a lot of writers take in November to write fifty thousand words of a first draft of their novel. People all over the world take part - some are first time writers, some are writing their twentieth novel. There are even what is called 'NaNo Rebels' - people who rebel against the fifty thousand words and do something else writing related, like create Thirty Covers in Thirty Days. Whatever one chooses to do the NaNoWriMo experience and the camaraderie within the writing community is amazing! I highly recommend it.

Wordless Wednesday: Readers for Life Literacy Autographing

Author business cards

Yes, author business cards are a thing. I had no idea of this until I went to the California Dreamin' Writers Conference last year. I felt a little silly when someone asked me for a business card and I didn't have one. Then I forgave myself because you don't know something until you learn it and that was my learning experience.

So, with the Romance Writers of America national conference coming up I figured I'd better have business cards this time. I had a heck of a time deciding on which cards to order. There was an abundance of choice but I had a difficult time finding a design that was exactly what I wanted - which was and is, clean, simple and pretty. It doesn't seem like that should have been hard but oh it was. The RWA conference is in sixteen days and I knew I was running out of time to order the cards if I wanted them to arrive in time. So last night, I sat down with my laptop, the website open to order the cards and enlisted my husband's help. I'm so glad I did because he pointed out a couple of good things about the cards I was finally interested in. With his help and tips in mind I narrowed it down to two choices. This afternoon I made up my mind and ordered the business cards. They are set to arrive by July 6th. I can't wait to get them. Even more, I can't wait to have the opportunity to hand them out the conference.