Tag: revising

NaNoReMo– NOT NaNoWriMo

Posted October 27, 2014 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Writing / 0 Comments

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 is where NaNoReMo* comes in.**

NATIONAL

NOVEL

REVISION

MONTH

Because, see, I love the community and energy that comes with NaNoWriMo and I’d like to take advantage of that and participate SOMEHOW. I won’t be posting on the NaNo site– because I’m not sure how I’d update really, but I will be updating this blog!

Goals:

1) Rewrite Act 3 (roughly 20,000 words– this is job 1, which I WILL be doing on November 1st, when everyone has that mad writing energy)

2) Expand on scenes in Acts 1 & 2.

3) Fine-tune entire draft, shading in plot points added since finishing Draft 1, fixing clunky language, etc., etc.

4) Document progress in weekly videos, covering each day of the past week.

*I highly doubt I’m the first one to come up with this and I make no claims on the name.

**Also, I’m already revising and don’t intend to wait until November 1st to keep going ^_~

Fairy tale plotting structure

Posted January 27, 2014 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Writing / 5 Comments

Several months back, I met with one of my high school teachers at a B&N to chat about books, writing, YA lit… the usual things that two people who love books tend to talk about. She taught/teaches Creative Writing (and I actually think her class was one of the reasons I decided to major in the subject when I went to college).

When we talked about our writing processes, I lamented, as I’ve done many times before, my “pantsing” nature. We also discussed revising and she shared the “Fairy Tale” outline structure with me. I think this structure would be helpful in either stage: if you’re a pantser, like me, this structure would be helpful during revisions to make sure that the plot fits well. If you’re a plotter, then this is a pretty simple outline to get you started!

Thank you again for sharing, Jessie, if you’re reading this! I may use it as I write (or, more likely, as I revise) book #2 of the Threats of Sky and Sea series to make sure the plot is sound.

Finish each sentence as it applies to your story.

Exposition:

“Once upon a time…”

“Every day…”

Catalyst:

“But one day…”

Rising action:

“Because of that…”

Climax:

“Until finally…”

Resolution:

“Ever since then…”

Homework

Posted May 23, 2013 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized, Writing / 0 Comments

A quick summation of me as a college student:

Papers or workshop writing pieces sprinted out a day or two before they were due; usually good enough for a ‘B’
Frequent all-nighters before mid-terms and finals since I didn’t study all semester; usually followed by mornings where I was so sleep deprived I’d have to ask my roommate where my shoes were… when they were already in my hands.
And, as a senior, joy that I’d ‘never have homework again.’

…Let me repeat that.

I thought I’d never have homework again.

Basically, what I’m telling you is that, when I graduated from college, I didn’t understand what it was like to have enough passion for something that I would spend my free time working at it.

Because, for my day job, I don’t have homework. I switch off at 5 o’clock and don’t look at my e-mail outside of office hours. Don’t get me wrong– I’m happy to have the job that I have, but there’s no passion for it in me. I do what’s ‘good enough.’ I go for the ‘B.’

I’m glad that I have homework now. I’m glad that I’ve found this passion for YA fiction that means that a majority of my free time is spent ‘working.’ I’m glad that I’m either reading and reviewing or writing and revising.

I’m glad that I’ve found something that makes me want to work. And it’s something where I don’t want to stop at ‘good enough.’ I want an ‘A.’ I want to work at it and keep working at it until I know that it’s the best I can make it.

I’m 25 years old, 3 years out of college, but I still drown in homework. I still pull ‘all-nighters.’

And I’m just so glad.

Revision log

Posted May 2, 2013 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 0 Comments

So, here is a plan: I’m going to update this post with revision progress day by day until I’m querying. WHICH means the last update to it will read: “MM/DD/13: Sent out first batch of queries. BRB vomiting.” And that will probably be the only thing I say re: querying on this blog because it’s seems kinda jinx-y to put that out there for the public. ANYway. I shall start with today’s progress: 5/2/13 2:30 PM: Completed Alex‘s revisions up to the end of Act 2. Began making a list of crutch phrases. Created a Wordle to help me figure out the really BIG crutch words. 5/2/13 10:47 PM: Finished Alex’s revisions. (!!!) Also I had a minor stroke-type episode where I decided I was going to rewrite the whole book in 1st person present tense… it’s currently 3rd past. […]

The Importance of Having CPs

Posted May 1, 2013 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Self-Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing / 2 Comments

Sometimes, when I browse writing and publishing blogs, I see excerpts of blog readers’ work– whether it’s a query submission or first pages, or anything else. Sometimes, the work is strong, sometimes not so much. But sometimes, they make mistakes that make me blanch and wonder “Why didn’t their Critique Partners or beta-readers catch that?” And sometimes, I can guess the answer to that question: They don’t have a CP or beta. Because here is something else I see in the comments of those blogs: complaints about the difficulty of finding a CP or a beta. First of all, to those people, I say: you are wrong. Involve yourself in the writing community or in the community around your genre and it becomes easy. I met one of my CPs, Alex, in an online YA writing class on Litreactor. My […]

Post-draft-finishing feelings

Posted April 21, 2013 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Writing / 0 Comments

Last night at approximately 11:33 PM, I finished the third second? fourth? to be honest, I don’t even know anymore. My drafts were a pretty messy affair draft of Apparent with exactly 75,100 words. And I cried. There were many reasons for this. One was that I was flipping tired. I get grouchy when I’m not snuggled under my covers by an hour that my sleeping schedule deems satisfactory. The second reason was something I shall never reveal because I have to keep a certain air of “writerly mystery.” …I mean, I guess that’s is how this is supposed to go anyway. But thirdly and finally, I cried because I finally felt close like I’d gotten close to what I want the book to be. Both of my other drafts were… how do I put this delicately? They were a mess. I […]

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

Posted January 27, 2013 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 7 Comments

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 […]

REVISE-A-THON

Posted January 24, 2013 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 0 Comments

So, this is just a quick post about the fact that Lindsey and I are doing a revise-a-thon this Sunday! If you have writing or revising goals, please join us! We love company!

A dream is a wish your heart makes & you slave for

Posted September 26, 2012 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Uncategorized / 3 Comments

Greetings, dudebros. It has been many a moon since I’ve updated this blog. I’ve been pretty caught up in posts for Almost Grown-up, making videos for A Bevy of Dauntless, and real life things. As far as the real life thing goes… I took a course for substitute teaching. Despite having a college degree and a decent resume, I don’t seem to have much luck on the job-hunting front with the economy in its current state. It’s my hope that they’ll open up the substitute employment pool and I can make halfway decent money that way. Currently working on assembling all of the application materials. One of my friends is preparing for a move to New York City for her dream job. Another of my friends recently moved to Virgina with her boyfriend. All of them are seeing their dreams […]