Monday, October 31, 2005

WRITE GREAT FICTION series

Today, I'm going to start my review of some writing books that have helped me tremendously. They are the WRITE GREAT FICTION series published by Writer's Digest Books. The first book I'm going to talk about in this series is by James Scott Bell and is titled Plot & Structure. This book is an AWESOME help in figuring out the structure of your novel, and the plotting devices utilized by various writers. As a seat-of-the-pants writer myself, this book really helped me look into plotting SOME and lining up some scenes, etc. I'm currently working on implementing these suggestions in my current wip, and I have to say, I'm liking it. Oh, I don't think I'll ever get to the point where I write an extensive outline/synopsis to write from, but having a general overview has been fun to set up. I recommend you get the book if you're serious about plotting and setting up a structure in your novel!

Back to Writing

Happy Monday! This weekend was fun! Getting to see my family, eating, visiting, and playing Mexican Dominoes was so much fun! Had a great time. We took the girls to the Halloween carnival at church--they so have such a blast--and we went to the Pumpkin Patch! :) Oh, and for you wondering people, Bek whipped us all good in dominoes....however, in Mom's defense, she didn't feel so hot. LOL If I can get my scanner to work, I'll post the pix of the girls at the carnival!

Today, I'm back to writing. Hope to get some serious word count down on the page since last week was a total wash!

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Inquiring Minds

For those of you who were wondering, I DID get my house clean yesterday and today! WOO HOO! Now I just gotta get my teen to sweep & mop her floor-she washed the sheets yesterday, so BB and Robert will have a nice clean room. Hmmm...might better check her bathroom, it's been a while since I've been in there! LOL Of course, I DO have children, so it'll all be a wreck by this afternoon, but hey, at least I got it done. Good thing the kids went back to school for a full day today! :)

I actually tried to work a little on my wip last night....wrote maybe 500 words, which were promptly deleted this morning. I can visualize the scene quite well, but SHOWING it with writing...well, it fell REALLY short of my expectations! LOL Will try again next week I suppose.

Looking forward to visiting with my family. That's the only thing that really is bad about having moved away from my home state....not being able to see my family/friends all the time. But we'll have a good time this weekend, no doubt! We always do when we get together. Wonder who's gonna win at Mexican Dominoes? HMMM....my money's on Mom!

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Great Movie Lines Regarding Writers

I'm a huge movie buff. I'm a writer. So I get really excited when I find something that blurs the edges. Seen a movie, not necessarily great, but with a really great line in regards to writers/writing/etc? Here's mine, from The Stepford Wives....
Husband to wife: "Did you finish the laundry?"
Wife reply (played by Bette Midler): "I finished a chapter."

LOL Sounds like dialogue from around my house! LOL

So, any of you have any lines to share?

Still No WIP Progress

Here's the thing...with kids, you can never expect to be on schedule. I haven't written a single word on my wip this week! UGH.....life interrupts! LOL And today, I have to clean house because my family will be here this weekend! I'm SO beyond excited!

Contests.....just thought I'd announce some of the contests I've entered in....the Susannah, The Emily, and 1st Kiss. Now, I entered the Susannah because I want to support a Louisiana chapter, but also because I'm going to go to that conference in March, God willing. I only entered the Emily because, well, my oldest daughter's name is Emily. Even though there wasn't a category for me, but hey, I just couldn't help it! LOL And 1st Kiss? Well, I'm still not sure why I entered that one! LOL Oh wait, now I remember.....cash prizes and Warner is the final round judge. Hmm. Not that they had an inspy category, but hey, you never know.

Golden Heart.....I hadn't planned on entering because it's a stiff entry fee and membership to RWA....however, God never ceases to surprise me. He so loves using ordinary people to make extraordinary differences! So, because of His provision, and a very special friend being willing to do His will, I WILL be joining RWA and entering the Golden Heart. I think I'll enter Torrents of Destruction....any thoughts on that?

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

WIP Progress HALT

You know, I knew my writing time would be very limited because of the kids getting out half days, but I had the intent to do some writing last night after I put the kids to bed and spent a little QT with my husband. I figured I'd write from at least 10 until 11. Didn't happen. Why? Because at 9:30, our electricity went out. Neighbors across the street had lights blazing, but my whole side of the street was without power. And it wasn't just a FLICKERING. Oh no, that would be entirely too easy. No, we were without power until almost midnight. I know this because we went on to bed around 10:30, and we thought we had turned off everything before we retired. However, my 3 yr old sleeps with her radio on....when I put her down, I normally have it at a normal volume, then when we go to bed, I turn it way down. Around midnight, my room fills with music! Ah, the power's on and the monitor beside my bed blared with her music. I managed to stumble to her room, turn down the radio, and crawl back into bed. I guess I COULD have gotten up, come downstairs, reboot my entire system and wrote a little, but by then, my heart wasn't in it and my mind was set on sleep. So, today I hope to get SOME writing done, before I have to go pick up the 5 yr old from her half-day out! UGH

Monday, October 24, 2005

Glitch in Writing Time

You know, just when I get on a roll, the wind gets knocked out of me! After such a great weekend for writing, I come to a screeching halt. Today, Tuesday, and Wednesday the kids get out half-days of school for end of 9 week conferences. Why would they do something so stupid? I mean, really....with the gas prices up, you'd think they'd consider just closing for one full day for the conferences--hey, the school buses wouldn't run for a day, saving a day's worth of gas. Think about this....all the schools in the district, all the buses that run for each school, the gas to do a run each morning and each afternoon for each bus for each school...come on, that could save some money. MY money...the taxpayers' money. I mean, am I the only one who considers such things? But anyway, I go back to my point....so now, I have to stop writing like at 11:30 (yeah, I'm past that point anyway now! LOL) to get dressed to go get the kids, leaving here at 12:15. Therefore, my writing time is all jacked up! And, I have my family coming up this weekend for Halloween, so I need to clean the house. Don't you just hate when life interrupts writing?? UGH

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook

By MAASS.....published by Writer's Digest Books.....***** (5 Stars Rating)

Okay, I read the novel, then the workbook was recommended to me. After reading just the opening paragraph in the workbook, I knew I'd struck gold! This workbook can help you take your novel to the NEXT LEVEL. Indepth, insightful, with exercises to use..IN YOUR CURRENT WIP, make this workbook a MUST for any fiction writer.

More WIP Progress

Wow! I stayed up til 2 this morning, writing away. Final word count done in now, 3 days? Over EIGHT THOUSAND words! Wow, that really feels good. I needed it! After being in "research" mode for several weeks, I was glad to get back to the actual writing! I decided, after much debate among buddies, that every week, I'll be posting a "review" of a writing book, reference book, resource book for writers. So, check back weekly to see what I'm talking about!

Saturday, October 22, 2005

WIP Progress!

After my nap, I felt duly motivated to write. So, I wrote chapter two and sent it to my group! WOO HOO I'm feeling a bit happy today about that. Being as I just started this story, oh, two days ago and I'm now OVER 6K words into it, I'm thinking of throwing a party! Celebrating! LOL Actually, I'm just going to move on to chapter 3! I think I'll drive my group insane....see how much I can write and send to them by tomorrow night! Hmm....might be a cause of mutiny! LOL

Supposed to be writing, but I'm too lazy

Hi all! Just woke up from a nap with the kiddos. SHOULD be starting chapter two of my new wip....I'm getting pretty excited about this story...I'm dealing with some tough global issues and I'm pretty intense about it! Imagine that--me, intense? LOL Since my hubby's out of town, I opted for the nap today so I can stay up most of the night and write. Well, that's the plan anyway. Watched MONSTER IN LAW on dvd last night...was actually quite amusing. I've sent chapter one of my wip to my crit buddies/readers....hope to get a response back from them to see if it's hitting its "mark". I hate first few chapters, did I mention that? I end up changing them oh about midway through the book anyway, so you would think I wouldn't stress....but noooooo, I do! LOL But hey, God is good and He loves me, so I went ahead and left it and sent it to my readers! We'll see.

I'm a Blogger!

Okay, so kicking and screaming I was pulled into the lure of blogging! Why? Because everyone told me to! So I'm a little in denial about the whole thing...how am I supposed to be a wife, mom, home-organizer, critiquer, writer AND a blogger? I don't know, but we'll see!