DFTBA or Don’t Forget To Be Awkward
As per usual: I am awkward. A little less usual: this involves the phrase DFTBA
Author: Jennifer Ellision
You Got The Look
It’s been weeks, friends! I know, I know. SLACKER Jen, right? But I have excuses. Decent ones. 1) I moved and 2) I started a new, full-time job. Anyway, to business. Several weeks ago one of my CPs (and, we just found out, sorority sisters– how cool!), Alex, tagged me in the ‘You Got the Look’ meme. Basically, search out the word ‘look’ in your current Work in Progress and copy and paste some of the passage. This is a passage from Act 2, which hasn’t been seen by anyone but me yet, so it’s fairly uneven and will definitely change when I go through edit rounds. Don’t judge too harshly! š ————————————————— Bree’s ladies nodded at her encouragingly and she knelt beside the princess. “Good day to you, your highness,” she said. “Good day,” Aleta said without moving her […]
WINNING.
I’m just going to put this here… More later. š
NaNoWriMo Write-a-thon Take 2
HALLO THERE, FRIENDS. Guess what we’re doing again today? No, I’m not going to just tell you.Ā Guess.Ā All right, fine. It’s another write-a-thon! ButĀ thisĀ time it’s theĀ lastĀ write-a-thon of NaNoWriMo! I am slightly behind where I am supposed to be… today’s NaNo-generated target word Ā count is 40,000 and I’m at 36,472 after a mad dash of writing to catch up yesterday. So, I’m shooting for the standard write-a-thon 5K so that I’ll be slightly ahead of said 40,000 words. And of course, live-blogging it all. 10 AM: The start time that I chose. I snooze. Because sleep and I are best buds. 10:26 AM: I pull myself over to the computer to find that Lindsey and Christa are ready to go. Aaaaaaand here we gooooo. 36,472. 0 words today. 11:10 AM: I am building up to/avoiding writing this really BIG scene because I’m […]
NaNoWriMo Check In!
There are 8 days left in November and hence, 8 days left of NaNoWriMo. I have been alternately super-productive and the antithesis of productivity, but after doing a bunch of “sprints” with @NaNoWordSprints, I’ve managed toĀ almostĀ catch up to where I’m supposed to be, and should be fully caught up with the planned Write-a-thon tomorrow. And I’m also really excited for that finish line that’s coming upĀ soon. Because honestly, this draft is so much moreĀ workableĀ than my last one. I’m excited to incorporate transitions, major and minor details, and feedback from my CPs. I’m excited to delete the extraneous and fine-tune my strong metaphors. I’m excited to print out my current draft and take my pink pen to it with abandon. Because even though it may take another couple of drafts while I tweak it, I’mĀ so closeĀ to what I want my book […]
Write-a-thon round 2 (1st NaNoWriMo edition)
Hello again, friends! Today, I’m doing another write-a-thon with Lindsey, but this time also with Christa, Katie and Geek Girl. Now, I think they’ve all been going since 8 AM, but I am a lazy bones and when my alarm went off I cried “NAY!” And went back to sleep. But now I am AWAKE! And with GOALS to meet. So here I am, live-blogging again. I’m behind everyone else for the day, but it looks like we’ve got about the same goals. I’m shooting to add another 5K to my draft. My draft itself is currently 37,574 words, but the NaNoWriMo portion (aka the second 2 acts) are at 17,787. So. 10:32 AM:Ā I have opened up Write or Die. Here we go. 17,787 words. 0 written today. 11:21 AM: Mother keeps interrupting with packing questions as we’re moving to […]
NaNoWriMo 2012
IT HAS BEGUN. Except I haven’t written anything. Yet. I get the skepticism where NaNoWriMo is concerned. I really do. Because NaNo is about quantity over quality and no one wants to read a book that abandons quality in favor of quantity. For me, participating in NaNoWriMo has been a great decision. This is my third go around on the NaNo-mobile and each experience has taught me new things about me and my writing process. My first year, the year that I didn’t win, taught me that it was harder than it sounded to make time for those 1,667 words but that IĀ couldĀ do it. And that falling behind isn’t a disaster… but giving up is. This was also the year I tried SUPER hard to outline. I’m still hopeful that one day things will change, but for now… that NaNoWriMo […]
The Importance of Setting Goals and Deadlines
As October 31st is tomorrow, I have realized that it is unlikely that I will have a finished draft in hand. Even setting crazy goals of 5K a day (nearly impossible, since I have to work), I’m well under this draft’s goal of 70,000 words. So, some people might say that setting that deadline was pointless. But I disagree. Because having that deadline meant that I got up and to work more than I might have otherwise. If I didn’t set that goal, I might still be hovering around 5,000 words for this draft. Any progress is better than no progress at all (I mean fast progress is better than SLOOOOW progress, but I’m sticking to my progress is progress guns here). It means that my goals get transitioned somewhat. That now Draft 2 will be what I first work […]
Random Beastly Rant
Very quick rant: The other night, I watched the movieĀ BeastlyĀ based on the YA novel by Alex FlinnĀ starring Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens. I’ve read some of Flinn’s other work and enjoyed it, but never got around to readingĀ Beastly,Ā so I have no idea if this rant applies to the book or not. Overall, I enjoyed the movie. Very cute, charming little vanity-is-bad-and-beauty-is-on-the-inside message. Very teen drama, but hey… I write YA. I like teen drama. But there was one aspect that got under my skin like nothing else: And that is when Alex Pettyfer’s character clings to the shadows at night and followed Vanessa Hudgen’s character around without her knowing because she seems nicer than everyone else and she’s really pretty. He then saves her andĀ blackmails her father into letting her live with him. It tainted the entire movie for me. […]
Write-a-thon!
So, today, my friend Lindsey and I, both deciding we want to be the PRODUCTIVE sort of people, have decided to do a Write-A-Thon together. It’s basically exactly what it sounds like: we write. For a long period of time. My goal is to add atĀ leastĀ 5,000 words to my 2nd draft. I don’t have Lindsey’s crazy “I can write 8K a day” powers, but that will make it the most I’ve written in a day (term papers, etc excepted) since high school. I think we’re also going word war sporadically throughout the day? I am unsure. BUT we’ll each be live-blogging our efforts. 11 AM: Draft stands at 15,639 words. I have been awake for less than an hour and I have no caffeine at my disposal. This should be interesting.Ā AAAAAND BEGIN! 11:37: Wonder if I am using scabbard […]