The past three months wrapped up in a tidy post.

Posted April 10, 2013 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 0 Comments
The past three months wrapped up in a tidy post.

Because I post so sporadically, I rarely update you all on my life. And it usually seems to be in bullets when I do. Maybe that will change and maybe it won’t. But for now, updating this blog at all seems better than the alternative. So, let’s talk about my last few months, mmmk? In February, I went to DISNEY to celebrate my friend Kelsey’s birthday! Kelsey used to intern at the parks and remained friends with people who worked there who agreed to use their employee passes to get us in fo free. I’m a pretty big Disney nerd and I had a great time. We went to Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom in one day and then returned again the next day solely for Magic Kingdom. It was unseasonably cold for Florida (in the forties and fifties, […]

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The new “a-thon:” Of a revising nature

Posted January 27, 2013 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 7 Comments
The new “a-thon:” Of a revising nature

I have had my 2nd draft “done” since November. Except not. Because it is RIFE with plot holes, placeholder names, weird sentences and scenes without the tension the should have. I won’t think about Act 3 too much right now, because it is missing scenes more than the desert misses the rain. …see what I mean about those weird 1st draft sentences? But Act 2– THAT is in my power to fix. So Lindsey and I are revise-a-thonning today. My goal: fix revising Act 2. Which might be a little crazy because it means trying to work my way through 40 more pages (I’ve already done 20), and ADDING things. Hopefully the insanity is warranted. Also, if you want to join in (with revision OR just writing), let us know and tweet us! Me on Twitter | Lindsey on Twitter […]

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You Got The Look

Posted December 15, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 2 Comments
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! 😉 ————————————————— 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 […]

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NaNoWriMo Write-a-thon Take 2

Posted November 24, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 4 Comments
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. Guess. All right, fine. It’s another write-a-thon! But this time it’s the last write-a-thon of NaNoWriMo! I am slightly behind where I am supposed to be… today’s NaNo-generated target word  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 […]

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NaNoWriMo Check In!

Posted November 23, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 1 Comment
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 to almost 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 up soon. Because honestly, this draft is so much more workable 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’m so close to what I want my book […]

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Write-a-thon round 2 (1st NaNoWriMo edition)

Posted November 11, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 2 Comments
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: 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 […]

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NaNoWriMo 2012

Posted November 1, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 0 Comments
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 I could 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 […]

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