I truly believe putting good thoughts out into the universe brings good things back to you. A friend puts it more simply - Good energy brings good things. That being said, I hate it when someone says, "there's good in every situation, it's up to you to find the positive in the situation."
I would love to say to them, "Really, what's the positive of the sudden death of my family member who was only 8 years old? She wasn't ill, wasn't suffering so explain the positive in that situation." I'd be interested in hearing the response to that question.
I really wish people who think they're being well meaning would think before they speak. You may not be aware of what someone around you has gone through or is going through.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
What's Up Wednesday
This week...
My current WIP (work in progress): I revised two chapters last week. I had hoped to get more done, but am pleased with what I accomplished.
Quote of the week: "You are the sole deciding factor between procrastination and progress." ~ Josh Duhamel
What I'm reading: I'm not currently reading anything. I just finished Julie Ann Walker's book from last week. I'll probably start a new book this evening.
Random things: I've been decorating my planner each week. I find by decorating it, I'm using it more and it's a fun creative outlet.
Random Photo of the Week:
Here's what last week's planner pages looked like.
My current WIP (work in progress): I revised two chapters last week. I had hoped to get more done, but am pleased with what I accomplished.
Quote of the week: "You are the sole deciding factor between procrastination and progress." ~ Josh Duhamel
What I'm reading: I'm not currently reading anything. I just finished Julie Ann Walker's book from last week. I'll probably start a new book this evening.
Random things: I've been decorating my planner each week. I find by decorating it, I'm using it more and it's a fun creative outlet.
Random Photo of the Week:
Monday, January 25, 2016
A Creative Outlet
There's a wonderful book called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. (I believe it was first published in 2002) that talks about filling your creative well. I often find that if my writing is not going well, I need to step back and take a couple of hours to do something outside of writing.
Two of the things I like to do are crocheting and building puzzles. Both allow me a creative outlet that allows my brain to work on whatever plot problem I'm struggling with while I'm working with yarn or trying to find a piece of blue sky that fits in just the right spot.
I've come up with entire scenes while working on a puzzle. I've learned to keep a pad of paper and pen nearby so I can jot down ideas and notes so when I go back to the laptop all those wonderful things my brain came up with aren't lost into the ether.
Someone recently told me best selling author Susan Mallery also builds puzzles. I don't know if she uses them as a creative outlet while plotting out her writing, but it's nice to know I'm in good company.
Two of the things I like to do are crocheting and building puzzles. Both allow me a creative outlet that allows my brain to work on whatever plot problem I'm struggling with while I'm working with yarn or trying to find a piece of blue sky that fits in just the right spot.
I've come up with entire scenes while working on a puzzle. I've learned to keep a pad of paper and pen nearby so I can jot down ideas and notes so when I go back to the laptop all those wonderful things my brain came up with aren't lost into the ether.
Someone recently told me best selling author Susan Mallery also builds puzzles. I don't know if she uses them as a creative outlet while plotting out her writing, but it's nice to know I'm in good company.
Friday, January 22, 2016
This I know for sure...
I love finding a great new series of books to read. I really like finding it when the series has been out for a bit so there a lot of books that I can read before I catch up to the most current release. What I don't like about it is when I'm caught up and have to wait six months or a year for the next book to come out like everyone who has read the series from the beginning.
I'm in that situation now. I stumbled across the Fatal Series by Marie Force this past summer, read the seven books that had been published in quick succession and have been impatiently waiting for the eighth book to come out. The good news is I read on a website that it's supposed to be released some time this month.
Are you reading a series where you're impatiently waiting for the next book to be published?
I'm in that situation now. I stumbled across the Fatal Series by Marie Force this past summer, read the seven books that had been published in quick succession and have been impatiently waiting for the eighth book to come out. The good news is I read on a website that it's supposed to be released some time this month.
Are you reading a series where you're impatiently waiting for the next book to be published?
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
What's Up Wednesday
This week...
My current WIP (work in progress): The first chapter is done, polished, and sitting like a shiny beacon on my desk. I'm going to send it to a beta reader this weekend. I want to ensure the book starts off strong enough to make the reader want to keep reading.
Quote of the week: “There’s no excuse to wait a day to do what you want to do and to change the way you want to change.” ~ Sophie Bush
What I'm reading: Hell or High Water by Julie Ann Walker. This is the first book in her new series.
Random things: I'm trying to do a better job of keeping track of the books I've read and want to read on Goodreads. It's nice to have all the books I've read in one organized place instead of trying to remember if I've read a book or not.
Random Photo of the Week:
It's been wicked cold here lately. Even the cat has started snuggling in the blankets.
My current WIP (work in progress): The first chapter is done, polished, and sitting like a shiny beacon on my desk. I'm going to send it to a beta reader this weekend. I want to ensure the book starts off strong enough to make the reader want to keep reading.
Quote of the week: “There’s no excuse to wait a day to do what you want to do and to change the way you want to change.” ~ Sophie Bush
What I'm reading: Hell or High Water by Julie Ann Walker. This is the first book in her new series.
Random things: I'm trying to do a better job of keeping track of the books I've read and want to read on Goodreads. It's nice to have all the books I've read in one organized place instead of trying to remember if I've read a book or not.
Random Photo of the Week:
Monday, January 18, 2016
A Lesson Learned
Have you ever read a book where something about a character's appearance changed mid-story with no explanation? The character is first described as having blue eyes and then they're later described as brown? The hair color changes or in some cases, even the person's name suddenly becomes something completely different? Writers work hard to catch these type of things but occasionally they slip through the editing process even at the final publication end by major publishers.
It's even harder to keep characters and their appearances straight when you're writing a series with multiple characters. Main characters in one story usually become secondary characters in other stories in the series. And then there are the secondary characters who will always stay that way but are needed to move the series forward.
I'm currently working on my first series. The first and second books are written. They still need to be revised before being sent out on submission though. I didn't have a problem remembering someone's name or what they looked like because I went right from finishing book one into writing book two. I took a few weeks off from writing to let those sit a bit and loosely plotted out the story lines for the rest of the series.
Deciding I would write the third book during the week and revise book one on the weekends, I jumped back into the writing fray. And suddenly had problems remembering the appearances of some of the characters from book one, some of their mannerisms, and the like.
I've read multiple times in multiple places in the past that one should always keep a "Bible" when working on a series and include character sketches, character backgrounds, setting details, world building details, etc. in a format that's all neatly indexed and tabbed. Did I do that? No. I had to wade through the first manuscript looking for the details I couldn't remember.
My writing time is at a premium and using that precious time to build a notebook full of information I wasn't sure I'd even need didn't seem important. I also didn't see how I could forget anything about my characters or where the stories were taking place. I quickly learned how wrong I was.
Boy, is that series bible important. I still haven't put a physical notebook together with all the pertinent information I think I'll need, but I am building a spreadsheet in Excel. My spreadsheet includes character names, hair and eye color, distinguishing things about them such as tattoos, scars, accents, their family members, and a bit about their background that makes them they way they are. Setting details such as street names, parks, coffee houses and the time of year are also included. I've started keeping research details on a separate tab in the spreadsheet as well.
I learned an important lesson. All those writers who stated that a series bible is an absolute necessity knew exactly what they were talking about. I can't help wondering how many of them learned this the same way I did, by trial and error so to speak.
It's even harder to keep characters and their appearances straight when you're writing a series with multiple characters. Main characters in one story usually become secondary characters in other stories in the series. And then there are the secondary characters who will always stay that way but are needed to move the series forward.
I'm currently working on my first series. The first and second books are written. They still need to be revised before being sent out on submission though. I didn't have a problem remembering someone's name or what they looked like because I went right from finishing book one into writing book two. I took a few weeks off from writing to let those sit a bit and loosely plotted out the story lines for the rest of the series.
Deciding I would write the third book during the week and revise book one on the weekends, I jumped back into the writing fray. And suddenly had problems remembering the appearances of some of the characters from book one, some of their mannerisms, and the like.
I've read multiple times in multiple places in the past that one should always keep a "Bible" when working on a series and include character sketches, character backgrounds, setting details, world building details, etc. in a format that's all neatly indexed and tabbed. Did I do that? No. I had to wade through the first manuscript looking for the details I couldn't remember.
My writing time is at a premium and using that precious time to build a notebook full of information I wasn't sure I'd even need didn't seem important. I also didn't see how I could forget anything about my characters or where the stories were taking place. I quickly learned how wrong I was.
Boy, is that series bible important. I still haven't put a physical notebook together with all the pertinent information I think I'll need, but I am building a spreadsheet in Excel. My spreadsheet includes character names, hair and eye color, distinguishing things about them such as tattoos, scars, accents, their family members, and a bit about their background that makes them they way they are. Setting details such as street names, parks, coffee houses and the time of year are also included. I've started keeping research details on a separate tab in the spreadsheet as well.
I learned an important lesson. All those writers who stated that a series bible is an absolute necessity knew exactly what they were talking about. I can't help wondering how many of them learned this the same way I did, by trial and error so to speak.
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