Words, etc.

Blogging Resolutions

2012-01-14T06:20:00.000-08:00

My blogging resolution:

1. Blog at least once in 2012.

I DID IT!!! HOORAY!!!

I Have A Blog?

2011-09-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

HI THERE.

I haven't been blogging lately, but it's okay because I've been writing lots and lots! The transition from FINISHING A BOOK to STARTING A NEW BOOK is always hard. Because writing a book is always hard. And my immediate feelings after finishing a book are pretty much: I have to do that all AGAIN?

Starting a new book feels impossible-- all that work, all those hours in the old world, and now I have to start from scratch??

It takes a while to knock that impossible down to a "well, I should at least try..."

And then all it takes is a good idea, and you're all, "THIS IS THE BEST STORY EVER!"

(Unless you can't decide between five ideas, because they're all 'the best story ever'. Then things get a little tricky.)

But today I'm focusing on one idea, the one I'm currently working on. I'm still getting a feel for it, so I thought I'd try something my friend Jade has done and collect some visual inspiration.

The story I'm working on is called The Apocalypse of Holo Hathaway. This is what it's about:

credit

credit

And now I'm off to write!
<3

Harry Potter Deluge

2011-07-20T02:49:00.000-07:00

Oh Harry Potter.

I have no words.

So here are a bunch of funny videos I found on Youtube.

New Story

2011-07-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm officially starting a new book today, though it's not a new idea. In fact... *searches notes for date* it seems I had the original idea for this story sometime around June 20th, 2010. Just over a year ago.

Most of my ideas come about this way. They hit me, I develop them a little, then I set them aside. Months or even years later I find myself drawn to the story again. Maybe I've thought of something that will make it EPIC. Maybe I finally realized who should really be narrating. Or maybe I'm smashing two old ideas together to create something shiny and new.

This is just how I work. Apparently. It's been this way for everything I've written. The book I just finished had the longest gap-- the original idea came to me in 2008 and I just finished it in June 2011. Yeah.

So now I'm writing Seven Days. It's young adult fantasy (of course) and I'm really excited about it. It's all planned and plotted (side note: I LOVE SCRIVENER) and I'm hoping to get a complete draft down in four months: July, Aug, Sept, Oct. That way I can set it aside and draft something new in November. That's right, I'm already planning NaNoWriMo.

So far I have about 3K words down. I've been playing with the opening scenes these last few weeks to keep my mind off of STUFF *cough querying cough* and I'm happy with what I have so far!

My goal for July is to get Seven Days to 20K words. Totally manageable, especially with the help of my lovely assistants, Scrivener and caffeine. I CAN DO ANYTHING.

Okay. Time to write.

What are your summer writing plans? I AM CURIOUS.

Into The Trenches

2011-06-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'm going to send out some queries today. Maybe. Probably. Yes. Well.... YES. Okay.

I'm nervous. But it's more an I-don't-know-what-will-happen-now sort of nervous. I'm pretty sure some agents will like my book, I'm just a little scared that they won't LOVE it enough to represent it.

On the flip side, I'm actually quite excited to send my book out. I probably won't have a heart attack. It was scarier sending the ms to my crit partners, because they were the first people EVER to read it. Now I've taken their feedback and made the book even harder/better/faster/stronger. (Yeah, I'm listening to Daft Punk to get pumped up.)

So. Into the query trenches I go.

Why does it feel like I'm heading into war? I need some face paint and a spear. RAWR.

Now What?

2011-06-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

I finished my final revisions. All of them. The book is done DONE. So I'm setting it aside for a week (at least) and then I'll do one last read through and ship it off.

...And then what? I've spent hours every single day for the last 8 months working on this book or thinking of this book or just generally being consumed by this book. And now it's done. It's such a strange feeling. When I was revising I could make plans, I could write "fix chapter 36" on my calendar and then do it. It just feels weird writing "relax" on my calendar and then sitting around anxiously because I've got to relax! the calendar says so! but I can't! Aurughh.

Anyway. You know when you have a story idea, but when you start typing it down it's just not coming together the way it does in your head? In your head it's all shiny and perfect but on paper it is... not. Well, it didn't start out that way, but I've finally molded this book into the best representation of my intangible shiny story idea.

So of course it's doubly terrifying. Because what if people still don't like it? And also, how on earth am I going to do it all again?

I think I'm on the right track. Actually, I've been really strangely productive lately. I don't know if the stars are aligned right or Mercury is in retrograde* or maybe someone's just been spiking my coffee with Productive Juice (which sounds kinda weird and gross, so I'm not use that term ever again.)

The point is this: Yesterday was my first day of vacation after finishing. And I spent the day reading Red Glove and writing 1K words on a new project. So I guess that's the kind of thing I'm going to do now. I'm cool with that.

*I looked it up. Mercury is not in retrograde, and also, when Mercury is in retrograde it has something to do with communications becoming confused or jumbled, so it's probably not a contributing factor to my productivity. It was neat though, because I learned what 'retrograde' meant. Did you guys know planets move backwards and stuff?? Wild.

One Week

2011-06-06T04:01:00.000-07:00

I'm a planner. I find I just work better with a specific order of tasks. Maybe it's all the years of juggling last minute homework assignments (I can do math during biology, English during math, and then I'll ditch gym to do this psych report). Maybe it's all the years of working in a restaurant (I need to greet table 21, put in this order, drop off this bill, then bring ranch to table 11.) It's kind of become a habit at this point.

But I don't always stick to the plans. It's just a security thing. It's like the way I outline-- I need to start with a map showing me how to get from point A to point B. But if I leave point A and find a different better route along the way, you bet I'm taking it. The plan isn't set in stone. It's just something to fall back on if needed.

(I also plan other things, like what I would use as a weapon in the zombie apocalypse, or what window would be the best to jump from if the front door was on fire.)(I don't know why the front door is on fire. Maybe I pissed off my neighbors. Or maybe it was the zombies! They're evolving, adapting. We're gonna need bigger weapons.)

Anyway. I also plan my writing schedule. My old plan was:
1) Final revisions off beta feedback
2) Final read
3) Query

My new plan?
1) Final revisions off beta feedback
2) Pause
3) Final read
4) Query

I don't want to rush. Two years ago I queried my first ms before it was ready. Even though it's a very well known piece of advice-- DON'T QUERY UNTIL YOU'RE READY. (DUH.)

I guess it was just one of those things I had to learn myself, experience myself. It was my first completed ms. I wanted so badly to get it out there! I queried with the hope that an agent would see beyond its flaws and offer rep and help me fix it. And every time an agent requested a partial or full, I would spend the day re-reading and editing before sending it off.

Um. Yeah. I was kinda clueless.

This time when I query, I'm going to be totally sure that what I'm sending out is the best thing I can send out.

And right now I'm feeling like it's really close. I'm excited about it. I'm confident about it. I'll finish my final revisions, I'll polish it and make it shine and get it to the point that I would query it.

And then I'll put it aside for a week. One week. Then after a week of not thinking about the ms, I'll do a final read. My goal is to do this final read and not feel compelled to change anything. If I can do that, then I'll be ready.

One week.

It's not a long time, but I think it's just enough of a pause to be sure.

I mean, I've already spent eight months on the thing. I can wait one more week.

Now I just have to come up with a plan for that week of waiting. I'm thinking it will involve reading books. Lots and lots and lots of books. Yeah. Good plan.

Query Brain

2011-06-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

I have written 372 query drafts and I might just have one now. Isn't that EXCITING?? (Well the part about being done, not the part about how freaking long it took.)

But yeah, that's what I've been doing all day. And now I am suffering from Query Brain, which is a very serious condition. Basically, it makes you think in queries.

My boyfriend says he's going to take a walk, and I reply that I don't understand his motivation. Can he make it more clear?

My mom wants to go to lunch but doesn't know where, and I just don't think that's a compelling enough choice to stand out in the slush pile.

And then I drink coffee, and more coffee, and end up chatting with my crit partner Ina who helped me turn my life into a query. This is what we came up with:

Kat is an aspiring author who loves to tell stories. But when she meets Ina, a grumpy Norwegian girl who hates 1st person present tense stories, Kat's whole world is turned on its head. Armed with coffee, a dream, and a new Macbook, Kat sets out on a journey to write the best 1st person present tense YA novel ever, and prove to Ina that it can be done.

Kat knows she needs one more pass of revision before Ina will approve, and she desperately wants to print out the ms and see it on paper. She'll have to figure out the mysterious and crappy printer and somehow make it work or she'll be stuck reading her entire manuscript on a computer screen. Kat must also grapple with the fact that she's not as funny as she believes she is, or she'll be sorely disappointed when she realizes that she is the only one laughing.

If she fails, Ina's wrath will be unleashed in the form of never-before-heard similes and Kat will forever be forced to write in third person. Can Kat figure out the printer? Is it even possible? Or will she just have some Cheetos and attempt revising on the computer?

KAT'S LIFE is a work in progress, and therefore not yet complete. I believe KAT'S LIFE will appeal to one person, Kat's mom (and maybe not even her).

Thank you for your time and consideration.

I'm pretty sure the middle paragraph needs some work, and I'm just not sure the stakes are high enough.

*Sigh* Back to the drawing board, I suppose...

ETA 7:36 PM:
KAT'S LIFE spoiler alert-- after 2 hours of slamming her face against the wall, Kat successfully hooks up the printer and prints her entire ms! HUZZAH!

I FINISHED MY BOOK!

2011-05-30T00:34:00.000-07:00

It's 12:34 AM on Monday, May 30th and I am OFFICIALLY DONE with my ms, BM.

Tomorrow (well, technically today) it goes off to my crit partners.

This book has spent the last seven months eating my soul. It is SO NICE to be DONE.

Ohmygosh, SO NICE.

Because my thoughts are a little kablooey right now, and I'm a little tired from dancing to Lady Gaga for the last ten minutes straight, I'll keep this brief.

I started BM on Nov 1 2010 for NaNoWriMo. I didn't win NaNoWriMo. I finished the first draft at about 26K-- 12K in the first act, 12K in the second act, and 2K of synopsis/notes for the third act.

I then spent Dec-May revising the crap out of said novel. (Seriously-- I tried to take out all the crappy parts.)

I'm not positive that it is any good, but right now I think it is the best thing I've written. I may just be delirious from mind melding with my computer, though.

Seven months. Thirty-eight chapters. 58,488 words.

I'm done.

And holy crap, I LOVE THIS STORY. So much.

Okay. I have to do... something now. I don't know what, but it might involve food or back flips or more dancing or oh jeeze, I don't even know. It won't be sleep though. Definitely not sleep.

I FINISHED MY BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!

<3

Write Your Effing Book

2011-05-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

So there's this book on amazon called Go The F*** To Sleep. It's for adults but it's in the style of a children's book, and it's already an amazon bestseller even though it's not out for another month. I browsed through a couple pages, and it looks hilarious.

It inspired me to write a little poem for myself. It's called "Write Your Effing Book."

Ahem
*clears throat*

The coffee is brewing, the apartment is quiet
It's time to stop debating between Kindle and Nook
You never leave the house, you don't need an e-reader
Get off the internet and write your effing book

Stop browsing amazon and shut down your tweetdeck
Why are you refreshing youtube when you know there's nothing new?
For the tenth time, you don't need to check your email
That's bullshit. No one wrote you.

You probably won't listen,
But here's some advice you should take:
Get your butt in the chair, put your fingers on keys.
You haven't done shit. You don't deserve a break.

Your bookshelf doesn't need to be re-organized, trust me, it's fine.
Stop procrastinating by writing poetry on your blog.
You're not as clever as you think you are
And you're pretty crap at rhymes

You've got plenty of free time, water, coffee, snacks, and notes
Screw Tvtropes.org, it's never just a "quick look"
The only thing stopping you now is yourself
So suck it up, be an adult, and write your effing book.

Eyelashes and Macbooks

2011-05-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

Have you guys ever heard of making wishes with eyelashes? When one of your eyelashes falls off, you put it on your fingertip, make a wish, then blow it away. Like a dandelion. Or birthday candles.

Last night, I made a wish on an eyelash. I wished for a new laptop.

About 12 hours later I had one.

But only because about 1 hour after making the wish my desktop computer exploded with death and viruses and mayhem. I lost everything-- pictures, music, videos, bookmarks. I didn't lose any writing, though (THANK GOD-- Back up your work, do it right now, do it again later).

I was computer-less. And I needed a computer. So I had to replace it.

I've been wanting a Mac for a while. I was going to get one last year for NaNoWriMo but I wanted to wait until I could just outright buy it instead of charge it. I planned to get it for myself for Christmas, but I didn't have the money then. I planned to get it for myself in Feb, for my birthday, but I didn't have the money then, either. Finally I planned to get one as celebration when I got an agent or a book deal or something fun like that.

So while I am happy that I have a new laptop, I'm not totally thrilled that I got it because my $3000 desktop exploded and I had to replace it.

And the morals of the story are:
Be careful what you wish for. Ha.
Eyelashes are powerful magic. Apparently.
PCs are stupid. Or at least that's what the guy at the Mac store told me.

Now I'm off to play with Photo Booth and Scrivener some more.

<3

Super Powers

2011-04-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Now this is just cool.

Poem For A Neglected Blog

2011-04-13T23:05:00.000-07:00

My poor little blog
I wrote you a poem but
it's not good. Sorry.

(and i'm still busy revising so all i could manage was a haiku. sorry about that too.)

Fun Fact: Haiku spelled backward is Ukiah, the name of the city I live in.

More soon*
Kat

*more blog posts, not more crap poetry.

Halfway

2011-04-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

I have reached the halfway point of my massive revision! Woo hoo! *celebrates*

I do hope the revision on the second half moves along a little faster. I think it will, because half of my total revision time was spent on the opening chapters. And I think I've finally gotten them down. In fact, I re-read the first chapter every week or so and the only change I've made to it in months was removing a comma. Which I later put back in again.

So yeah. The first half is done at just over 30K and I think the second half will be a little longer (I'm counting by chapters and acts, not word count). The finished ms will probably be close to 70K words. Which is nice, considering my NaNoWriMo draft closed out at 26K.

Because I outline, I thought revisions would be cake. But the revision cake is a lie. Thus far I have:

Added one major character and two minor characters.
Added four new chapters.
Completely changed the inciting incident.
Completely re-worked the fantastical aspects.

And I still have a lot to do. Not only do I have to completely revise every scene of the second half so it works with all the above changes, but I also have to add another four chapters and fix the entire last act, ten chapters of which are written like so:

"At a party or something with friends. What happened to the family? Still learning, getting better at managing. Ends with lots of potential."

[That is the actual last chapter in its entirety. I know. It's bad.]

I'm setting a tentative goal of finishing by the end of June. I think I'll be able to revise the second half faster than the first. Especially now that the groundwork is all in place.

But I still have lots and lots to do. It's a good thing I love this story so much. Sometimes it's hard to get myself to work on it, but usually I'm just excited about it. I want to finish it. I want to make it amazing. And I want to share it. (I really want to share it. I cannot wait to send the completed ms to my crit partners. Like, seriously cannot wait. Jade's already read 14 chapters.)

Anyway. Here's my bi-monthly blog letting y'all know I'm still alive and revising. What have you guys been up to?

Why Buy?

2011-03-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

Hi.

So I was looking through my shelves and receipts and I noticed that I had a lot of new books. Like, A LOT. Like, I-bought-over-30-books-in-3-months A LOT.

The upside: I'm supporting booksellers and authors and I get lots of shiny new books.

The downside: An empty wallet. And a TBR pile that is taller than me.

Anyway. I've been caught up in editing and haven't been blogging much (or reading much *guilty face*), but I thought it would be interesting to figure out what made me buy all these books. What specifically was it that compelled me to hand over the money for each individual book?

The Recommendations - These are books that I bought based on recommendation. Something that normally might not catch my eye, but a trusted book blogger/friend loved it, so I thought I'd check it out.

When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead
Read a great blogger review about it, and then the next day my crit partner recommended it to me.
Unearthly - Cynthia Hand
Read LOTS of good reviews about this one. Not real big on the angel thing, but thought I'd check it out based on all the rave. (I read it in one day and absolutely loved it.)
Perfect Chemistry - Simone Elkeles
I'd heard so many great things about the romance in this one, I wanted to check it out.
The Sky is Everywhere - Jandy Nelson
Read a few blogger reviews that raved about this. (With good reason, it's an amazing book.)
Twenty Boy Summer - Sarah Ockler
Strangely enough, the whole Speak Loudly event brought this book back on my radar (it was an 09 debut) and some recent reviews convinced me to buy it.

The Debuts - These are the 2011 debut books that I've bought or pre-ordered so far this year. I'm not going to individually detail why I bought these ones because it's all pretty much the same reason: Awesome sounding premise and/or great ARC reviews, and of course I like to support debut authors :)

Clarity - Kim Harrington
Liar Society - Lisa and Laura Roecker
Across the Universe - Beth Revis
Hourglass - Myra McEntire
Awaken - Katie Kacvinsky
Blood Magic - Tessa Gratton
Wither - Lauren DeStefano

The Sequels - Sequel or series or companion books! Also, the three books at the end, which aren't sequels, but were bought because I loved the author's previous books.

Demonglass - Rachel Hawkins
I would have picked this up eventually, but the reason I bought it NOW was because it was released on the same day as two other books I wanted right away (Liar Society + Clarity) so I bought them all together.
Gone - Lisa McMann
I bought this with Cryers Cross. Also, I'd been waiting for the paperback version so my trilogy would match.
Behemoth - Scott Westerfeld
I knew I wanted to get this one at some point, but the reason I bought it NOW was to fill out the subtotal requirement for free shipping.
Desires of the Dead - Kimberly Derting
I received a finished copy of Body Finder from the publisher, so I wanted to purchase the second book right when it came out.
Red Glove - Holly Black
White Cat was one of my favorite books of 2010, so I am very eagerly awaiting this one.
Rules of Attraction - Simone Elkeles
Hardcover was on sale and I know I'll want to complete the trio so I bought it.

Beauty Queens - Libba Bray
I'll probably buy any novel Libba Bray puts out.
Cryers Cross - Lisa McMann
Read a great blogger review about this one, and I loved the Wake trilogy. Lisa does third-person present tense so well.
Delirium - Lauren Oliver
Before I Fall was another one of my favorite 2010 reads, so of course I had to get this one.

The Others - Books I bought because of a mix of price, impulse, and interest in seeing how the author handled certain elements in the book.

Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Heard a lot of mixed reviews on this one, so when the price dropped I decided to buy it to check out.
Pretty Little Liars, Flawless, Perfect, Unbelievable - Sara Shepard
Box set of PLL. I've heard these books are addicting, and I'm really into mysteries/thrillers these days.
The Replacement - Brenna Yovanoff
Heard good things about this one, wanted to check out another YA book from a male pov.
Invincible Summer - Hannah Moskowitz
I haven't read Break, but I like Hannah on twitter and her blog, and I've heard good things about IS. I like that it has a male pov, and the family dynamics sound interesting.
Give Up the Ghost - Megan Crewe
This one was marked down to bargain price and I remembered reading some good reviews about it.
Mostly Good Girls - Leila Sales
This one is sorta funny: I read an interview with Leila Sales and she mentioned this song I'd never heard before so I clicked through to check it out. It became my new favorite song and Leila became my new favorite person for introducing me to it. Then I decided that anyone with that great of taste in music must write an awesome book. So I bought it.

Contemporary Craze - Last month, I was looking at my bookshelves and was suddenly dismayed by the lack of contemporary novels I had. So I got a few contemp recs from Jade (who came through on twitter like a BOSS) and bought a few other contemps I'd come close to buying before but hadn't.

Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta
A rec from Jade. Also, it won the Printz and has a ton of good reviews.
Going Too Far - Jennifer Echols
I've seen good reviews about Echols' work, and I remembered reading the first chapter of Going Too Far and enjoying it before.
Hold Still - Nina LaCour
Another rec from Jade.
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E. Lockhart
Another Jade rec! Though I loved the Boyfriend List, so I probably should have checked this one out sooner.
Hate List - Jennifer Brown
I'd thought about buying this before and I remembered an author I liked saying good things about it.
Waiting For You - Susane Colastani
I'd heard great things about Susane Colastani and some of her books were on sale so I picked this one up.

So.

This is what I've learned today:

Trusted book bloggers/friends can easily convince me to hand over the cash for recommended books.

Often I buy books that have stayed in the back of my mind when they go on sale or I need to make a subtotal requirement to get free shipping or something. My "impulse buys" are all books I've actually considered buying before but held off.

Even if I didn't LOVE the first book, as long as I liked it there's a good chance I'll pick up the sequel. It fills out my collection and I know I'll read it eventually.

And finally, I've learned that I should probably start reading all these books before the TBR pile tips over and crushes me to death.

Cheers!
Kat

(P.S. Can I claim books as a tax deduction as an aspiring author? Just wonderin'.)

Editing

2011-02-21T14:08:00.000-08:00

I'm editing. It's maddening.

My tendency to swing between cheerfully loving it and wanting to give up and become an accountant has never been so extreme. Usually these mood swings take place over weeks, or days at the least.

Yesterday at 11:00 I was all ecstatic, THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER, Oprah's gonna have to do another season just to interview me!

And by 11:05 I was curled up in bed because the book is so bad and I'm never going to be a real author because all my ideas are TOTAL CRAP and why are my characters talking about nuns? THERE ARE NO NUNS IN MY BOOK.

This particular moment, I'm kinda in between. I feel good about it today, but I also feel like it is going to take SO MUCH WORK. Hence, procrastination in the form of a blog post.

Only... I'm in editing mode, so it's hard for me to think in blog mode. But the meager three posts here in two months haunts me. So I must blog. With nothing to blog about.

So I'll just leave you guys with something I wrote then had to cut because I felt it was a little over the top for the character. But perhaps it will amuse you? I hope so.

I've got to stop thinking about Jack. About his lips. About kissing him.

I just have to get over this little crush, and fast. I mean, it's not even a real crush, never was. I'm already over it. There was barely even anything to get over, anyway. He is my dead best friend's older brother. I'm not even sure there's etiquette about this sort of thing, but if there is I can only imagine one word: DON'T.

So I won't. It's not like it's a problem. It's not like it isn't as simple as rolling over and forgetting all about him and his stupid lips and going right to sleep. I twist around and bury my face in my pillow. Okay, now... sleep. Just fall asleep. Any second now. Come on, Liv. Think about pleasant things. Like puppies, and a meadow full of purple flowers, and fresh white sheets blowing in the wind, and soft down feathers. And kissing Jack.

NO. Bad Liv.

I groan, and flip onto my back. Apparently my list of pleasant thoughts breaks down into two categories: Jack, and things found in laundry detergent commercials.

God I am never going to sleep.

On Rule Breaking

2011-01-19T18:10:00.000-08:00

I spend a lot of time studying writing craft. I devour non-fic books on the topic. I analyze novels-- what works, what doesn't, what is brilliant, what is crap. And I think about craft a lot, writing in notebooks and filling pages with my thoughts on all different aspects.

Like, what makes a good twist? How do I put tension behind every piece of dialogue? How can I use any single mention of a character to further develop them? What elements am I using to hook readers from the start? (In my current wip, I'm using imagery to pull the reader right into my world, and tension to make them wanna stay.) How should I end the first book in a series? (Actually just wrote a long musing email to Jade about this one. Verdict: End the book in a way that doesn't affect reader expectations too much. Yeah it's A LOT easier said than done.)

Anyway, lately I've been thinking a lot about writing rules, and breaking them. You always hear, "Learn the rules, master the rules, and then-- and only then-- can you break them."

And my reaction was basically:

Psh, whatever, I do what I want. I'm a REBEL.

At first.

But the more books I read, the more I started to realize... There are a lot of good books that break the rules, but they do it WITH PURPOSE, and that's what makes it good.

This means: THINK about every decision you make, and give every broken rule a PURPOSE. Actively choose to break the rule, instead of just letting happen, and know why you made that choice. It's not about breaking the rules because you know the rules and that gives you a free pass to break them.

For example, don't have your character talk constantly in run-on sentences just because you want them too, or just because you think it's FRESH and QUIRKY. And don't use a cop out excuse like, "That's just their voice" or "That's just the way they talk."

WHY do they talk that way? Are you trying to capture the stream of consciousness in first person present tense? Or maybe the character talks that way because when they get excited they forget how to switch off their mouth. Or maybe you're using a long run-on sentence to PURPOSEFULLY make the reader feel a little breathless or rushed.

In my current wip, my main character had just received some bad news, and her head was spinning. So I CHOSE to use a run-on sentence here because I wanted the reader to grasp that she wasn't really thinking clearly. That her mind was wandering and she was going off in this tangent and was so intent on NOT ending the thought because then she knows she'll be brought back to the present, where the bad news is right in her face.

In fact, in revisions I added about twenty words to this already very long sentence to make it more of a run-on. And immediately after this very long sentence, I used a couple of very short sentence fragments, to bring her back to the present. Which is cold. And hard. And painful.

Of course this isn't just about run on sentences or fragments. Creative punctuation usage, intentional lack of punctuation, big blocks of text, lots of white space, super short chapters, exceptionally long chapters, and any other rules you can think of.

Go on. Break the rules. Break them all, if you like. Just know WHY you're breaking them, and let that reason add power to your writing.

Six Reasons I Don't Blog

2011-01-12T01:23:00.000-08:00

In order from least to most likely.

6. I'm actually, legitimately busy with real life and do not have computer access.
Honestly, on any given day, I have AT LEAST five hours of uninterrupted computer time. (I know, I should be putting out like a book a month.)

5. I am WRITING and it is going WELL!
This almost never happens, but when it does I am quite happy to say eff blogging because the words are flowing and my story is actually making sense and oh, I just love it so much!

4. I have nothing interesting to say.
I am of the idea that you shouldn't blog just to blog. Who wants to read something you barely wanted to write in the first place? And while I do believe that having a blog and online presence is important, I will say this: I have NEVER not bought a book because the author didn't have a blog, but I have lost interest in a book because the author was kinda annoying with the self-promotion and pointless posts just to fill in a M-F schedule.

3. I used up all my clever on emails to my crit partners.
I have somehow convinced these people that I am humorous, so it takes some work to keep it up. Also, I tend to ramble. A lot. Just ask Jade. Seriously, though, we get into the longest, FUNNIEST email chains, and I need a loooong time to write each one. I mean, it takes me like 10 minutes to write each tweet because I keep revising and revising and revising until I realize that the moment has passed and it's not even funny anymore and then I have to come up with something new.

2. I'm procrastinating.
Youtube, reading, watching TV, alphabetizing my bookshelves, organizing the refrigerator, reading blogs, counting stars, browsing amazon, watching the moon wane, refreshing twitter, wandering around the apartment aimlessly, reading web comics, blowing really big bubbles with gum, indoor cartwheels (bad idea, FYI), deciding I need arbitrary items like a new desk lamp or a passport or In-N-Out before I can bring myself to write, and MANY MORE!

1. I'm lazy.
And Buffy is on Netflix instant stream. But mostly the lazy thing.

Whoa, January

2011-01-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

So it's January, I suppose. Kinda swept in here all quiet like.

December was a whirlwind of Real Life Events, hence the lack of blogging. And writing. And doing anything productive, really.

And then I brought in the New Year with a case of Imploding Head Sickness, which rendered me unable to perform basic tasks like breathing through my nose and sleeping without waking every ten minutes to cough. I couldn't even concentrate fully on Buffy, let alone work on my wip.

But now I'm feeling better. Still a little head-coldy, but I'm halfway through Buffy season six, so I am making progress.

Revisions are painful. I've decided to work on this project until it is DONE, which is something I haven't really done before. Sure I've finished drafts, I've revised and revised and beta'd and revised some more, and I've even queried.

But I've never felt like any of my projects were actually done DONE to the point that I felt they no longer needed work. So that's my goal now. I want to really put the effort into this. I don't want the story to be I-guess-I'll-query-to-get-some-feedback-on-how-to-fix-the-bad-parts done. I want it to be DONE. For reals.

This month will be all about revising, and trying to get a solid working draft that I can send out to beta readers.

What have you guys been up to? Hope your holidays were fun, and here's to a great year!

2011 Books

2011-01-02T13:41:00.000-08:00

1. Twenty Boy Summer - Sarah Ockler - 1/1
2. The Sky is Everywhere - Jandy Nelson - 1/5
3. Across the Universe - Beth Revis - 1/14
4. When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead - 2/2
5. Delirium - Lauren Oliver - 2/11
6. Cryer's Cross - Lisa McMann - 2/20
7. Clarity - Kim Harrington - 3/8
8. Liar Society - L & L Roeker - 3/13
9. Unearthly - Cynthia Hand - 3/14
10. Going Too Far - Jennifer Echols - 3/20
11. If I Stay - Gayle Foreman - 3/29
(No books in April? WTF Kat?)
12. Divergent - Veronica Roth - 5/12
13. Wither - Lauren DeStefano - 5/19
14. Beauty Queens - Libba Bray - 6/4
15. Red Glove - Holly Black - 6/12
16. Where She Went - Gayle Forman - 6/14
17. Demonglass - Rachel Hawkins - 6/16
18. Invincible Summer - Hannah Moskowitz - 6/28
19. Hourglass - Myra McEntire - 6/29
20. Uncommon Criminals - Ally Carter - 7/15
21. The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary E. Pearson - 7/24
22. Supernaturally - Kiersten White - 7/28
23. The Near Witch - Victoria Schwab - 8/5
24. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins - 8/20
25. Extras - Scott Westerfeld - 9/4
26. Possess - Gretchen McNeil - 9/8
27. Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor - 9/21
28. I Am Number Four - Pitticus Lore - 9/23
29.

Three Things I Did This Weekend Instead of Being Productive

2010-12-06T23:11:00.000-08:00

1. I caught up on TV missed during the week.

I'm super excited for new Castle tonight! I'm glad House wasn't Ruined FOREVER by House and Cuddy dating. Ooh and I really loved Glee last week. The sectionals episode was so good! I was glad to see that they didn't drag out the Rachel/Finn/Santana thing, the performances were fantastic (the dancing!!), and the character relationships were great, especially Rachel & Kurt and Brittany & Artie. Also, I realized that Chord Overstreet, who plays Sam on Glee, would make a great Peeta in the Hunger Games movie. Yeah? What do you think?

2. I read Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

It came in the mail and I had to stop everything and read it right away. Fantastic book. After I finished I put the book away then cried a little. Not because it was sad-- it was just such an emotional ride. And let's be honest here: Sometimes you need to cry a little after being Etienne'd.

3. I hung out on Youtube. A lot.

Here are some videos I like:

In Which I Declare Love for my WiP and Parody Jay-Z

2010-12-03T04:28:00.000-08:00

You guys.

I am revising and I am ripping my novel into pieces and pondering commas and all that other editing madness and here's the thing: I love my story.

I'm almost afraid to say it. Like it should be whispered. Or blog-whispered.

i love my story, shh don't tell.

This is terrifying.

I keep expecting to hate the story, especially because it's such a freaking mess. You've seen my final chapter in it's entirety in the last post, all 23 words of it. The whole thing is still at 26K. It has no written ending, plot lines have to be changed, characters have to be added. And it's going to take a ton of work just to get this into a somewhat coherent first draft, let alone a brilliant and polished manuscript.

But I still love it. Like, a lot.

Like I want to burst into song, but I want to sing about how much I love my ms, but there's not really a song for that, so I'm just gonna end up singing Jay-Z "I got 99 problems but a WiP aint one, if you're havin' writin' trouble I feel bad for you son, 'cause I got 99 problems and a WiP aint one, hit me!"

(We can pretend that never happened.)

I want to bottle this feeling and save it for later, when I really need it.

Oh, and before you get sad because you are indeed having writing trouble and were looking for more advice than "I feel bad for you son"-- DON'T WORRY. It's totally cyclical. Trust me. You'll come to love your story again. Just as I will come to hate mine. Maybe tomorrow. I guess you'll know if this post mysteriously disappears and is replaced with a rant about how hard it is to write a freaking book.

I probably shouldn't blog when I'm highly caffinated at 4am anymore.

NaNoFailMo

2010-12-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

National Novel Fail Month. That's what I participated in this year.

Blarg. I didn't win NaNoWriMo. I ended at about 26K which is just over half of the goal. Eek. I think my main problem was that I finished the draft at 26K on 11/19. It was short. It was crappy. Some scenes were written hastily with shorthand and abbreviations, some were written in a sentence with the intent to write the whole scene out later. The last chapter/epilogue, in its entirety, is this:

"At a party or something with friends. What happened to the family? Still learning, getting better at managing. Ends with lots of potential."

Like, seriously? That's the entire final chapter?

First of all-- "Ends with lots of potential"? WTF kinda crap ending is that? And how about "At a party or something with friends." There's some brilliant scene settage. I smell a Printz.

Anyway, looking at that last chapter brings me to the next point: How much revision is in my future. I have about 8 chapters (out of 40) that are "written" like the final chapter. A few words and the general purpose of the chapter, but nothing more. Of the remaining 32, about 12 are filled with tips on how to "fill out the scene later" and helpful notes like "[Cassie joins the table and says something clever]".

Half of the chapters are still okay story wise, but since they were written in a rush and many things have changed as I've gone along, they still need rewriting. Like, one of my characters has a supernatural power, and I decided halfway through that using the power should have some kind of retribution. So for the first half of the book everything is fine and dandy whenever the power is used. Then in the second half whenever the power is used the character gets horrible headaches of doom. So I need to go back, trace the appearance of the power from scene to scene, then change it so the headaches accompany the power from the beginning.

I'm all ready to get into it. I've got a four-pass revision plan and everything:

One: Go through and fix the story from the beginning; make sure all the different plots and character arcs are at least in place. This step involves writing any scenes that weren't fully written out before. It doesn't have to be good, it just has to be there so I can fix it in the next round.

Two: I'm going to print the whole thing out and go through it with a pen, fine tuning all my plots and arcs, analyzing my words, and making sure everything is good and consistent. I'm also going to spend time going through chapters one at a time and making each one shine like it's the most important scene in the book.

Three: Enter the changes from paper to computer into a new doc so every word gets some attention, do one more final read through, then send it off to betas.

Four: Revision based off of beta feedback. If significant changes were needed, resend to betas for another round. If feedback was minor, do final revision then prepare for querying.

So. That's my revision plan. I don't know how long each step will take, so I'm not sure when I'll be done, just that these are the steps I need to take. I could do it in a month or two if I were really truly dedicated, but likely I'll be done around spring. Whenever I finish, I'm hoping step one will be done as soon as possible. I really want to get ACTUAL drafts of these scenes written so I can print it. I look forward to sitting in the living room, snuggled in blankets with a hot cup of tea, a pen in my hand and my printed ms on my lap. Because right now I'm in my cold-ass office, wearing a jacket and fingerless gloves so I can still type. I reallyreallyreally want this drafting phase to be done now so I can go curl into a ball in front of the heater.

How did all of you do for NaNoWriMo? Win? Lose? Light your computer on fire?

Week Two

2010-11-11T15:25:00.000-08:00

Well I'm about halfway through week two of NaNoWriMo and I'd say my freak-out level is about a 7.

It's just... So. Many. Words. Also, everyday! Everyday writing, no breaks, no days off, unless you write extra ahead of time or write later to catch up, which sounds scary, and I don't want to be doing that.

I know a lot of people are writing like crazy and are well ahead of schedule, but I am totally thrilled to just be keeping up. I'm at 17K words right now, which feels great, but I need to hit 18333 today, so there's still a good deal of writing in my very immediate future.

Wild to think that I'll be breaking 20K before the weekend. The last time I brought a novel to 20K was Temper, in February. It's nice to be drafting again.

That being said, holy crap this manuscript is going to need a ton of work come revision time.

For starters, I'm at 17K and I'm already about halfway through my outline, meaning my novel might end much sooner than expected. I was figuring around 70K. It's now looking more like, um, 40K. Which is even below the NaNoWriMo goal of 50K.

Now if the novel is complete at 40K words, great, it's a complete draft, which is an awesome thing to have. But I will still be a little sad that I didn't "win" NaNoWriMo. I do think after revisions the story will be closer to 50-60K, because I have a handful of scenes I need to add to the beginning chapters, but for now I'm just trying to get the thing out of my head.

Anyway, my plan is simply to write the 1.7K words/day and if I finish early, I'll go back to the beginning and try to add some scenes before the month is over. The biggest downside to this is that it might feel too revision-y for me and then my editing brain will take over and I'll do nothing but rewrite the first chapter eleven times.

But I guess we'll see.

How are your NaNoWriMos coming along?
How much of your projects are you sharing?

I'm actually being pretty secretive about mine. I will say this: It's young adult fantasy. The main character is a 17-year-old girl named Olivia, and she's trying to solve her best friend's murder. And, if you're especially curious, I put up an excerpt from the first page on my NaNoWriMo profile. (Just keep in mind this is not super polished!)

Happy NaNo-ing!

Word Sprints

2010-11-05T01:43:00.000-07:00

I've been quite productive tonight. I did some self-monitored word sprints, timed writing sessions of thirty minutes with breaks in between.

First sprint I wrote 711 words.

Second sprint I wrote 817 words.

Third sprint I wrote 973 words.

A total of 2501 in about two hours, with a decent chuck of time spent feeding my internet addiction by allowing myself to update twitter and check for new blogs. Not bad.

Of course, this strange productivity decides to show up just before midnight on my second day off when I have work very early in the morning. Wonderful.

I've realized that writing sprints work quite well for me, but only when I'm really, really determined and really ready to sprint. It's like a mind state I need to motivate myself into. A thirty minute block of writing like crazy. If I can mentally prepare myself for it, then I can write great amounts. My fingers never pause. I don't stop to re-read and correct. It's a very good way to get words on the page, which after all is the main point of NaNoWriMo.

My current word count is at 7834, so I only need about 500 words by the end of today (the 5th) to be right on schedule. Some of y'all are doing great-- already decently past 10K words, and a few WriMo friends are in the 20-30-40K range. At least one or two insane people have already "won" NaNoWriMo with 50K words.

To which I say:

...

[Shocked silence. Also, some choice words I won't repeat because I try to keep my blog PG-13.]

For now, I'm going to take another break and spend some time with my boyfriend. I might do another word sprint tonight to push past 8K, but I'll probably wait until after work tomorrow evening.

Have you ever tried timed word sprints?
Do they work well for you?