The One With A Writing Metaphor
…And just like that, I had a video idea.
Category: Writing
On finding joy in creativity
In short: I read this essay last week and it gave me some thoughts on writing and living a creative life in general.
A moment of writing inspiration– courtesy of The Sims 4
I go through spurts where I play The Sims a LOT. I finally bought The Sims 4, so lately, I’ve been in the midst of one of these spurts. Meet Jane. She’s a writer. Now, Jane’s career started off slowly. She worked a Day Job as a Writer’s Assistant. She wrote a little bit, and self-published a couple of children’s books. She read a lot to advance in her career; it was her daily task. And then Jane got two promotions. To advance in her new position, her daily task was to write– EVERY DAY. To go to work in an INSPIRED mood. It was a new task set for me. Every morning, when Jane gets up, I have her eat breakfast and take a “thoughtful” shower so that she’ll be inspired. And then, with whatever time is left before […]
My first school visit
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a high school book club, where the club read Threats of Sky and Sea this month. Equal parts nervous and elated, I left Day Job early and pulled up to a place that I don’t think I’ve been to since 2006– when I graduated from there. This was my first school visit and I tried to disregard the surrealism of the situation– along with the urge to cry out that “I DON’T EVEN GO HERE.” Not someone who is innately comfortable with attention, I was pretty dang nervous, but the informal setting quickly helped me relax. I’d estimate that about 20 students attended. We pulled together chairs in a loose circle around a table, and let the questions fly. The school visit was off, and moving fast. A lot of questions that […]
Ghosts, flashlights, and book research
Those of you who read last week’s Friday Five know that I went on a ghost tour a couple of week ago in St. Augustine. See, I have a book in really early development stages that will involve a certain amount of ghostitude (no details coming for a while yet, but let’s call it Ghost Book), so I wanted to get an idea of some things involved in dealing with ghosts from someone who makes a living in ghost stories. The only other ghost tour I’ve ever been on was also in St. Augustine– around thirteen years ago when I was thirteen. I remember being more impressed by that one, but in all fairness, that was clearly a theatrical ghost tour. The one I went on earlier this month specifically advertises itself as the best “non-theatrical” ghost tour in St. Augustine. […]
NaNoReMo– NOT NaNoWriMo
Yes, you read that right. No, I didn’t mean NaNoWriMo. Well, maybe I did. Kinda. Sorta. You see, I LOVE NaNoWriMo. But this year, it’s just not in the cards for me. Why? Honestly, while chances are slim that I can do it, I’d like to get Riot of Storm and Smoke (Book 2 in the Threats of Sky and Sea series) out to you guys in December. January at the latest. But I’m still revising in order to make it the best book possible, and since I don’t know for sure when I’ll be able to release it, I haven’t scheduled a cover reveal (this cover though… *squeals*), a blog tour, or really… ANYTHING. Because it’s not done enough. It’s not… fully cooked, y’know? It’d be like if I gave you a burger that was cooked rare when you asked for it well-done. THAT […]
End of the month check-in!
For a birthday gift, I wanted to give myself two finished drafts. So… How did I do? 2 drafts. HA! That didn’t exactly happen. But, I’m very pleased with my progress. I think that’s the important thing with setting crazy goals: even if you don’t completely achieve them, you will probably make significant progress. Here is the thing: the Riot of Storm and Smoke draft isn’t complete. But for my purposes… it is. I’ve figured out the plot. The scenes that need to be added in and the ones that need to be subtracted. This means that I get to dive into my favorite part of the process: revisions. I get to take things out, bulk scenes up, add in forshadowing. First revisions are where I finally let myself go and tinker with the prose of my story. When those things are added, I’ll patch up […]
Writing Tool: Word Count Dashboard
I am in looooove with a new app, thanks to Christa Seeley of More Than Just Magic and Inaccurate Realities. Called Word Count Dashboard, it brands itself as “part word count tracker and part vision board,” and it’s TOTALLY helping me in my goal for word counts on book 2. I mocked up my favorite book two inspiration photo (“Enchantress” by Gaudi Buendia on DeviantArt) as a cover, set my goal, and I was off! With Word Count Dashboard, you log your writing sessions and can even make notes on them if you need to be reminded of what a particular session brought out! For writing sessions with enough words, you earn bronze, silver, or gold stars, which are definitely highly motivating! (Yes, you do spy a tentative title for book 2 there. ^_~ ) If you need a change of […]
Game of Thrones writing
I am way late to the party on Game of Thrones. If you didn’t already know that about me, I’m going to go ahead and assume you’re surprised because my friends used to say to me: “But Jen, I would have thought Game of Thrones would be totally YOUR THING!” To which I would reply: “Me too. But… meh.” For whatever reason, I couldn’t force myself to get interested or invested, despite reading the first book. Despite watching the first season. But, I was determined to give it another shot and now… now, I’m invested. I’m not reading the books, which is strange for me. I think George R.R. Martin tells a great story, but his writing style isn’t a good mesh for my reading preferences. Doesn’t mean I don’t think that he and the television show adapted from his […]
Write-a-thon day
It’s been far too long since I write-a-thonned, but progress MUST be made on Book #2 of the Threats of Sky and Sea series. My goal is simply for 3,000 words. I’ve found that 5,000 is a bit unrealistic for me. I’ve done it before, but by the time I reach word 5,000 I feel more frustrated than accomplished. But Aleta and Bree need their story told, so ON I GO! I’m joined today by Lindsey Allyson, Angel of Mermaid Vision Books, Christa of More Than Just Magic, and Candice of The Grown-up YA. I love write-a-thons with friends because they’re so helpful to keep me accountable and make sure that I get my shit done! Plus, we all get to cheer for each other’s accomplishments! 10:46 AM: The draft currently stands at 6,144 words, and I’ve just switched into a […]