Hi! Sorry, I've not been blogging lately. Why not? Well...
I've been painting my condo living/dining room. The living room has two walls left and the dining room also has two walls left.
I also caught up on some TV shows I happen to enjoy. I'm not ashamed to admit that I watch television from time-to-time. I enjoy stories and the medium doesn't have to be limited to text for me to enjoy them.
I've been reading books by other Ottawa-area authors.
I've also been writing... sort of. Well, planning to write may be more accurate. I've been pondering my NaNoWriMo piece and intend to come up with a plan for it soon. I've started putting a plan together for a sci-fi conspiracy story that's been rattling around in my head.
And, I've been stuck.
My main novel, whose working title is, "Scion," has had me stuck for a little while. Here are the reasons why, I think:
1. This first reason I feel rather silly about. I had a character tell my protagonist to go and rest. That's it. I've been stuck because of that. The other day I said, "What the hell is wrong with me? So he told her to go and rest... that doesn't mean she has to!" And like that, I could write again, though I'm still figuring out what should happen while they kill time until night comes and they can leave under the cover of darkness. I think they'll order pizza. She's never had it and it could be yummy.
2. I keep saying writing a series is harder than writing a single novel. I need to stop that right now. Writing anything is hard. Each novel in a series must be its own story. Also, part of the great thing about writing is that we create problems for ourselves that we then have to figure out how to solve. We place our characters in predicaments that seem highly unlikely to leave them alive and somehow manage to keep them alive... or sometimes we kill them off. I've killed a few along the way. Couldn't be helped... or maybe I like to kill characters (she laughs maniacally). Anyways... stopping talking about it being hard. From now on it's back to writing a little at a time whenever I can find a spare moment.
3. I keep forgetting where I left off. I think this is just an issue with staying organized. I get in the habit of writing tidbits in my email and I think I need to go through those tidbits and get rid of the ones I've already merged into the story and work on merging the rest into it.
4. I'm worried it's leading to, "So what?" I think this item is something to bring to my writers group. I think I should start talking about the end of the first book. I'm not sure I know how it ends. I know what I'm building to series wise, but book one needs to be completed first.
5. I think I'm a little scared. I've been working on this book since 2010 and it's rather precious to me. I'm scared I'll publish it and people will think it's crap or they'll scour it to find that one thing I messed up. I'm scared they won't like it. I think it's normal to feel these things though. I'm also both scared and excited for what happens once the manuscript draft is complete... Editing could be arduous and scary. Maybe I should hire a book coach. I'm not sure how expensive they are or if there are any in the Ottawa area, but they sound worthwhile. EDIT: 2015-06-01 I've since learned that book coaches are a scam. Don't get one.
My NaNoWriMo piece may never be published. It might just be something for me. Perhaps I should think of all of my writing this way and take the pressure off of myself. I wouldn't be surprised if that change in mindset helps me finish the rest of it.
Tonight was the first ChiSeries reading event of the season. I bought two books. Then the second author, Madeline Ashby, read and I had to buy two more. She was hilarious. She thanked us all for staying up past our bedtimes because Ottawa people are early sleepers. She described her own story before reading the snippet she read to us and kept interjecting that somehow her publishers went for it. (Her books involve robots/androids. The protagonist is in kindergarten and decides to eat her grandmother. Then she grows to full human size because of the intake of extra mass.) Extra bonus... she's tiny like me, though still taller than I am. I hope I can be as comfortable reading in front of a crowd someday. I'll have to dig into my theatrical past likely. It's rather dusty and I'm allergic to dust, so... drugs? I mean the allergy kind! Anyways... as this analogy no longer makes sense... or does it?... I think it's time to say good night.
Ciao,
R~
I've been painting my condo living/dining room. The living room has two walls left and the dining room also has two walls left.
I also caught up on some TV shows I happen to enjoy. I'm not ashamed to admit that I watch television from time-to-time. I enjoy stories and the medium doesn't have to be limited to text for me to enjoy them.
I've been reading books by other Ottawa-area authors.
I've also been writing... sort of. Well, planning to write may be more accurate. I've been pondering my NaNoWriMo piece and intend to come up with a plan for it soon. I've started putting a plan together for a sci-fi conspiracy story that's been rattling around in my head.
And, I've been stuck.
My main novel, whose working title is, "Scion," has had me stuck for a little while. Here are the reasons why, I think:
1. This first reason I feel rather silly about. I had a character tell my protagonist to go and rest. That's it. I've been stuck because of that. The other day I said, "What the hell is wrong with me? So he told her to go and rest... that doesn't mean she has to!" And like that, I could write again, though I'm still figuring out what should happen while they kill time until night comes and they can leave under the cover of darkness. I think they'll order pizza. She's never had it and it could be yummy.
2. I keep saying writing a series is harder than writing a single novel. I need to stop that right now. Writing anything is hard. Each novel in a series must be its own story. Also, part of the great thing about writing is that we create problems for ourselves that we then have to figure out how to solve. We place our characters in predicaments that seem highly unlikely to leave them alive and somehow manage to keep them alive... or sometimes we kill them off. I've killed a few along the way. Couldn't be helped... or maybe I like to kill characters (she laughs maniacally). Anyways... stopping talking about it being hard. From now on it's back to writing a little at a time whenever I can find a spare moment.
3. I keep forgetting where I left off. I think this is just an issue with staying organized. I get in the habit of writing tidbits in my email and I think I need to go through those tidbits and get rid of the ones I've already merged into the story and work on merging the rest into it.
4. I'm worried it's leading to, "So what?" I think this item is something to bring to my writers group. I think I should start talking about the end of the first book. I'm not sure I know how it ends. I know what I'm building to series wise, but book one needs to be completed first.
5. I think I'm a little scared. I've been working on this book since 2010 and it's rather precious to me. I'm scared I'll publish it and people will think it's crap or they'll scour it to find that one thing I messed up. I'm scared they won't like it. I think it's normal to feel these things though. I'm also both scared and excited for what happens once the manuscript draft is complete... Editing could be arduous and scary. Maybe I should hire a book coach. I'm not sure how expensive they are or if there are any in the Ottawa area, but they sound worthwhile. EDIT: 2015-06-01 I've since learned that book coaches are a scam. Don't get one.
My NaNoWriMo piece may never be published. It might just be something for me. Perhaps I should think of all of my writing this way and take the pressure off of myself. I wouldn't be surprised if that change in mindset helps me finish the rest of it.
Tonight was the first ChiSeries reading event of the season. I bought two books. Then the second author, Madeline Ashby, read and I had to buy two more. She was hilarious. She thanked us all for staying up past our bedtimes because Ottawa people are early sleepers. She described her own story before reading the snippet she read to us and kept interjecting that somehow her publishers went for it. (Her books involve robots/androids. The protagonist is in kindergarten and decides to eat her grandmother. Then she grows to full human size because of the intake of extra mass.) Extra bonus... she's tiny like me, though still taller than I am. I hope I can be as comfortable reading in front of a crowd someday. I'll have to dig into my theatrical past likely. It's rather dusty and I'm allergic to dust, so... drugs? I mean the allergy kind! Anyways... as this analogy no longer makes sense... or does it?... I think it's time to say good night.
Ciao,
R~
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