I DID write on my Morning Pages most of the days of the Round (250 words or a half hour — whichever came first — going over word count more often than not).
I DID write over 6K on a dream idea that might become a story. I’ll have to get back to it and see what develops.
There was even a tiny bit of editing early in the Round.
I DID get about half way through the Deep EDITS lesson packets. I’ve found myself looking for and using the rhetorical devices I’ve learned so far.
I HAVE sent out resumes, more than I can count at this point, and continue to send out resumes. I’ve had a few interviews as well, and one job offer (which I turned down). And while the hunt is frustrating, I’m confident I’ll find something that is a good fit for my skill set and family.
We replaced the family truckster with a new-to-us van.
I DID chaperon #2′s field trip to Red Rock, help at #3′s Valentine’s party and #4′s Easter party, stay up until the wee hours of the morning helping #1 with a paper roller-coaster assignment, and see Craig Ferguson with That Man.
That Man and I received a compliment on the wee beasties while we were out to dinner the other night. Color us stunned. I admit, they were uncharacteristically well behaved. What an awesome thing for that woman to take a moment to say, “Well done.” Parenting is tough, rewarding but tough. It’s too easy to focus on the negative. I will definitely be paying this one forward!
I’m on pace toward my goal of reading 100 books this year.
The fabulous Marcia Richards tagged me with this puppy a few weeks ago. Good thing, cause the brain is mush this morning.
Here’s the way it works: You take your current manuscript and find the first instance of the word “look”. Then you post the surrounding paragraphs as an excerpt of the book on your blog. Lastly, you tag five more blogging authors who you think might be a good choice for the game.
I’m not sure if this is the first “look” in this WiP but it’s what was open. First draft, subject heavy revisions, the cutting room floor, yada, yada.
Archie must have been changing when the paperboy knocked because he only wore jeans. Unsnapped jeans. She’d forgotten what a nice body Archie had, a runner’s body, all lean muscle. His chest and arms had a golden hue implying he spent time outdoors. The skin peaking out at his waist pale in comparison.
“Keep looking at me like that and I’m apt to forget ye are me best mate’s girl.”
Myra’s gaze snapped to his. The laughter replaced by a heat so elemental she jumped back lest she got singed. She tried not to look. Really she did. But she couldn’t miss the bulge behind the zipper of Archie’s jeans.
“I mean it,” Archie ground out.
Myra slammed the door shut between them and turned the lock. Leaning against the door, memories haunted her. She had carnal knowledge of that body and just how well Archie used it. Moist warmth flooded her. She rushed to the bathroom, locking the door. As if two flimsy locks would protect her.
She turned the shower on, as cold as she thought she could handle and stepped under the water. What was she going to do? Gerry was all that stayed Archie’s hand. Hell, Gerry was all that stayed her hand. She would not come between them any more than she already had.
And I’m not going to play by the rules
Writers…Tag you’re it!
Readers…Share the first “look” excerpt from the book you’re currently reading in the comments.
Perhaps, in part, because I didn’t take part in ROW80 last round. I love that challenge…the writing challenge that knows you have a life. And while it is great for accountability, I found myself actually writing less and just trying to keep up with the social media, the blog reading and commenting, and simply maintaining my blog.
And then it happened. Life. Things got crazy, priorities shifted, and the creative well hit a drought. I started doing Morning Pages in an attempt to at least write every day. Even that is hit and miss.
We’re back to stating our intent with ROW80 for the final round of the year. I’m on the fence. On one hand, the accountability is awesome. On the other, if I’m going to ever publish…I have to write.
As I mentioned Sunday, I have opened my WIP files for the first time in what feels like forever…which I know is closer to a month by the modify dates on the files, LOL.
The thing is, I have discovered from past experience that accountability goals are easier to do and meet when I’m drafting. Revisions and rewrites and edits, not so much.
That life thing, still crazy. Most of which I’m not in a spot to share. And I’m distracted.
If not for the fact the fine folks who designed Scrivener might mind, I think I’d change the title on all my Sunday posts. It is, at least today, apt.
My Scrivener class with Gwen Hernandez runs all month. The first week really didn’t net me any new information but it granted me the chance to play in the program without the pressure of drafting or editing. But the tide is shifting and I was inspired to…gasp…open my WIP projects. I know! I don’t want to think about how long they have been languishing on my laptop, LOL.
Even better, Friday and yesterday, I actually WORKED on my WIP. Well, one at least. It is massive, requiring massive amounts of rewrites and revisions and edits, oh my. My goal is for this story to be the first of a trilogy. Books two and three have their own projects too, and even have a scene or two already roughed out.
What brought this miracle about?
Well, the link to Hope Ramsay’s post about using Scrivener for plotting on the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood blog showed up on the class loop. (Super writing pal Melanie Macek also emailed it to me. Thanks for having my back doll!) Hope’s post talks about her process and how she uses Scrivener to complete it.
This all happened about the time Gwen had a lesson up on the Label, Status, and Keyword features. All customizable to individual process. Now, I had played with the labels and status a bit. I knew keywords could be applied to documents.
But suddenly, BAM, of Emeril quality, it clicked. As fast as I could mouse over, I opened my WIP. I changed the Labels to POV, Status to the stages of the Hero’s Journey, and added keywords to track characters and plots. Pets the pretty. BAM!
Pardon my infomercial…But wait, there’s more!
Gwen was over on the Murder She Writes blog talking about her Scrivener for Dummies book right before the class started. In the comments, Gwen mentioned getting her children started with the program for their academic papers. Hello! (And look out wee beasties. This better than the SpongeBob Squarepants Typing program y’all learned to type with.) In class, Gwen mentioned she uses Scrivener for her blog posts, tracking productivity, etc. I’ve been using the simple Draft template for my Morning Pages. There’s even a recipe template!!
I was in love with the program before but now I’m seeing its potential in new ways. The class has paid for itself
On the writing front, I’ve continued to do my Morning Pages. However, the deeper I get into the revisions I’m attempting, the less patience I have in doing them. Plus side, revisions feel pretty good. I rewrote the opening scene on Friday, 1048 words, and rewrote almost three scenes Saturday, 2664 words. I know all these will need another run through but right now I’m aiming to clean up plot.
On the reading front, I have two stories to beta. Bad me, I haven’t started either. I will get them done soon, Melanie and Angela, I promise.
And I have a standing date with Doctor Who starting Saturday
I completely forgot to post last week. I’d love to blame it on having a blast with the family. Sure, that was part of it. I had planned to dazzle y’all with some vacation highlights. Even preloaded all the links.
Of course, it was vacation and NOTHING went as planned, LOL
We lost our upstairs A/C, during 115 days…yeah, not pretty. That Man came down with some kind of stomach thing that laid him low for almost three days. And due to the heat, some of the activities we WANTED to do just weren’t gonna happen.
The biggest shock?
I, known paparazzi mum, took not a single picture!
The goal for the week had been to hit some of the things locally we’ve been meaning to since moving here back in 2007. And we did get to Springs Preserve as a part of that. Fabulous. And we in no way saw everything there was to see. Definitely on the must return list.
We also watched a fair amount of movies. Places with A/C were kinda a priority
Plus we did some usual summer activities like going to the Outdoor Picture Show. We pack a picnic dinner, stake out our spot on the grass (a rather rare commodity here, LOL), eat and enjoy the carousel while we wait for it to get dark enough to watch the movie.
Mostly…I plum lost track of time. That’s my story for not posting last Sunday and I’m stickin’ to it
Then, this week, what I’ve been itching to have happen, happened.
I’d been importing a story into Scrivener as part of a general Word clean up. These characters never really left me, murmuring in the background, but I KNEW the story needed major work. Possibly an entire rewrite. So, I hadn’t looked at it since I finished it during Joely’s MayNaNo thing two years ago. Actually, that was part of the original Coyote Con. Anyway, a character threw me for a loop. Loved the extra tension it would add to the story but didn’t feel I was at the point to pull it off then. Perhaps I’m still not, but I’ve been sucked back into the story, possibly the first of three stories.
I’ve been so obsessed, I’ve kinda dropped off the face of the Internet. I apologize for not getting around to your blogs or waving at you from Twitter or Facebook. I’m sure it’ll be impossible to catch up on everything y’all have been up to but I will try to at least stop by
Speaking of blogs, I will be over at Maria’sBack to Basics blog on Wednesday. Hope to see you there!
The writing: I’ve revised. I’ve searched and destroyed (though I’ll need to do at least one more of these). I’ve fiddled. I’ve deleted. I’ve moved. I’ve tweaked. I’ve revised again. OY! Yesterday, I sent the MS to the ol’ e-reader, read through it, and made notes. Hoping I’ve finally cut it down to where it needs to be for the sub call but as of typing up this post I haven’t had a chance to implement the notes.
I’d love to get at least one more beta reader. This is a SFR, 1st person POV, sitting at 36K as of typing this post (needs to be under 35K for the call). If you’re interested please drop me an email to BuriedNWords [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!
The blogging: still maintaining that week’s worth of cushion.
The social media: sorry folks. Number one on the ol’ list has been monopolizing my time. Hope to catch up soon.
That evil brilliant Jenny Hansen convinced me to join Triberr. (Be sure to check out Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 because Jenny is a master at navigating the techie waters.) I’ll probably start a Tarot Tribe once I’m more comfortable with the site
And we’re back to normal, well, as normal as it gets with four wild and crazy wee beasties, one faithful but bored dog, and a schedule no sane person would volunteer for!
The writing: somehow I managed to get through the first round of rewrites. Cutting the MS down from 45+ K to 37,500…goal was closer to 30K but I’ll take it. In doing these rewrites I have realized a number of scenes need to be moved and a lot more summary type passages need to be cut or rewritten into action scenes. That is my next hurtle. I probably need to tighten up the timeline too. So I’ve printed this bad boy out and am playing around with the plot, because I’m on a deadline, I’m only giving myself this weekend to complete this step in the process. Gasp. Then for full-on revisions. I’m hoping to be ready for critique and/or beta readers in a week to 10 days so if you’re interested drop me an email at BuriedNWords [at] gmail [dot] com.
Stating I’m hoping for critique and/or beta readers just gave me heart palpitations, LOL
The blogging: somehow managed to stay on top of my posts here. Spent some time yesterday getting more scheduled so I again have about a week’s grace on posts except for these Sunday ones. Whew.
And ROW sister Marcia Richards did a fab post, Blog Better and Faster, on how to improve what I’ve already been doing. :high five: Marcia
The social media: I’m slowly climbing back on that horse. I got around to a few blogs, made comments on some, even retweeted a couple. The other aspects of social media were so-so. But at least I opened them up.
The health: oy, fail this last week. No dog walking. Even the water intake dropped. Tomorrow is a new day
August McLaughlin gave me a nice kick in the arse with her Groovy Moving post. Thanks August
And my fantastic mentor, Joely Sue Burkhart, brought up an interesting point in her Dressing for Success post. What do you think?
I apologize. Blogger is not playing nice for me. For some reason, perhaps my Google profile is set up wrong, Blogger asks me to set up a Blogger blog whenever I try to comment with my Google account. Sorry, not doing that. Normally, I’ve posted under the OpenID WordPress option, however that hasn’t been working consistently since December. If your blog offers the Name/URL option I’ve been able to post comments. If not, it’s hit and miss. So I apologize if I’ve missed you.
The re-writing has gone okay. I’m behind where I’d hoped to be by the end of this week.
The blogging, oy, still haven’t found time to replenish the ol’ scheduled queue which I really need to do cause this next week promises to be as crazy if not crazier than the one we just finished. And I’m even late today because sleep sounded SO much better last night, LOL
The social media was an epic fail on all counts except strangely the 2 retweets per week. Go figure. I didn’t even get around to my minimum 3 blogs a day.
The health, hmmm, water intake was still good with an average of 2 extra glasses a day. The dog walking was a miss though. We only got out once but we walked for 45 minutes, which is closer to the hour average we had been doing.
I’m running around more like a chicken sans head today than coherent human so I promise I’ll get around to you Rowers tomorrow
On the up side, I’ll be interviewing Keri Lake on January 31st. She released her debut novel, HALOS: Somnium, back in December.
August McLaughlin bared her soul earlier this week with an awe inspiring, thought provoking, personal story that everyone should read: Does Dirt Have Calories? What an amazing journey, even days after reading, I don’t feel I can express all my thoughts and feelings.
The Writing: Went real well this week and I’m ahead of where I hoped to be.
The Blogging: Met my posting goal but need to spend some time restocking the scheduled queue
The Social Media: My biggest challenge, sigh. The blog commenting went well and I think I met my goal of 3 a day plus at least 2 new for the week. I didn’t keep track of the Twitter or the Facebook stuff and know it was another retweet fail week. It’s only the second week, it can only get better, right?
The Health: Doing well with the water, most days getting in an extra two glasses over my three glass baseline. The dog walking, yay, hit it this week though not up to our usual length. I had to cut them short because my toe still hurts when I wear closed toe shoes and it is too cold for flip-flops, LOL, but still got in a half hour each time.
Have you ever reported a drunk driver? Were you afraid to get involved or just not sure you recognized the signs? Natalie Hartford has an excellent post on reporting drunk drivers.
There’s this place in me where your fingerprints still rest, your kisses still linger, and your whispers softly echo. It’s the place where a part of you will forever be a part of me.
In the spirit of Kait Nolan’s Fix Your Focus post, I’m not going to beat myself up for a less than stellar Round.
program y’all learned to type with.) In class, Gwen mentioned she uses Scrivener for her blog posts, tracking productivity, etc. I’ve been using the simple Draft template for my Morning Pages. There’s even a recipe template!!
