Writing Challenge

Next week my kids will be at camp.  All three of them.  I'll be at home alone, other than the cat, all day.  I'm not sure how that's going to feel since it's been years and years since that's happened but I've decided to make the most of the quiet time and write, write, write.  And then, I'm going to write some more.

So, here's the idea. 

Y'all join me in my writing marathon.  If you can't spend all day, then set a goal you can handle and get some words on the page.  Maybe you might want to try this.  #write100  It's a really nifty way to get some writing accomplished. 

So who's up for the challenge?  Share your goals with us, then check in each day during the week and let us know how things are going.

The Senses

Last Friday night at our writer's group meeting, our speaker talked about how important it was to get all five senses (if appropriate) in each scene.  And I have to agree.  By adding the other senses, we allow our readers to get more involved in each scene. 

One thing I did when plotting out my romance novel was to take each scene/chapter and make notes of what the characters would hear, smell, feel, see and possibly taste.  Once I knew what those items were, I could then add them in and make the scene richer.  (I need to do this for my mystery. *sigh*

Now, you don't want to do an info dump of sensations.  That's about as annoying as any other info dump but sprinkle those tidbits in here and there.  Weave them in with the rest of the story. Maybe use them in your dialogue tags instead of the classic said.

So, what about you?  Do you have trouble getting all or most of the senses in your stories?  Got any ideas or tricks you use to get 'em in?

Oooooops!

One of the things I really don't like in a story is when a character rolls his/her eyes.  Or when a character "catches" someone's eye.  I always get the picture of someone taking their eyes out and rolling 'em across the table/floor and then someone catching eyeballs.  I'm not sure why, but for some reason it just bothers me.  I know it's a common way of saying things but still.  It's something I try to avoid in my writing.

Another one, and I saw this in a story somewhere... Character spun his head around.    Reminded me of the scene in The Exorsist.

Again, I try to avoid my characters body's doing things that are physically impossible but sometimes...

For example, I found this in my WIP the other day.  My character "turned" into a flower lined driveway.   My inner editor was NOT happy with that.

And, as I'm editing my mystery...I swear, I've found 900 "thats" to take out.  It's like they were on sale or something.  I have no idea why I put so many of them in there but gee...
So, the point of all this...  Give your WIP some time to cool off before you edit/revise.  Once you've been away from it for a bit, you can see it with fresh eyes and catch those slips of the fingers.

FenCon

Last year I'd planned to attend FenCon and take part in the writer's workshop.  But you know how life is and plans had to be changed so I didn't get to go.  Thankfully, the wonderful people at FenCon rolled my membership fee and writer's workshop fee over to this year so I'm going this year.  Or at least I'm going to do my best to make it. 

Last week, I received info for the writer's workshop.  The deadline to submit pages is July 15th.  Naturally I wasn't ready.  I hadn't even decided on what to submit much less have it ready to be seen by anyone other than myself.   

Now, it had to be a fantasy type novel or short story so I pulled up all my WIPs and gave 'em a good reading over to see which project I wanted to work on.  After much contemplation, I made a decision and copied the first ten pages into a new document so I can polish 'em up and get 'em ready to see the public.

After tweaking the pages, I sent them to my critique group.  We meet tonight to discuss things so I'm excited/anxious to see what they say. 

Be sure to check out the FenCon link and if you are close by, join us.  It should be an excellent conference.

And speaking of conferences...  What cons will you be attending this year?

Twitter

Okay, confession time.  I like Twitter.  I don't tweet often but I follow some really great people who share lots of great links, info and just general chat.

I've made several friends on Twitter and connected with other writers from all over the world.

I've gotten to know several agents, editors and publishers via Twitter. 

And sure, there's often a bit of frivolous tweeting but sometimes frivolous is good.

So, today's question...Do you "Twitter" and if so, who do you follow that the rest of us should follow?

I'd recommend @KristenLambTX, @jamesscottbell, @WritersDigest, @Janet_Reid, @AdviceToWriters just to start with.

Oh, me too, of course.  @JeanLauzier

Let's Finish...

Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.  

Neil Gaiman

I like this quote, a lot.  I don't know about you but I have started and stopped several pieces without finishing them.  Good stories that deserve to be finished.  Stories that readers would enjoy.  But somehow, I've managed to move on to something else...and sometimes left that for something else too.  I don't know how many ideas I've got jotted down and stuck in a drawer for later.  Seems like later never comes for them though.

So, what do I do?  I think it's time to dig 'em out and start finishing them.  For example, I have this really neat idea for a romance that involves an alligator wrestler and a chocolate saleswoman.  And there's the far east fantasy that needs to be finished.  It's a great story.  I had the first five pages critiqued by a Japanese writer a while back and she really liked it.  Said it had a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon feel to it.  Or maybe that YA ghost story. 

What about you?  Got anything you haven't finished that deserves to be finished and shared with the world?

Let's pledge together to finish one of our set aside pieces.   I'll decide which one soon and let y'all know. 

Oh...for those of you who need to get organized, be sure to check out Productive Flourishing.  He's got some great planners specially designed for us creative folk.  And if you sign up for his newsletter, he gives access to his secret lab where he has some extra special tools.

Monday, Monday

It's a rainy Monday here and I won't complain cause in Texas we really, really need the rain.  And, since it's rainy and cool outside, that makes it perfect to be inside writing. 

Which kinda brings me to today's question.  Do you have a plan for your writing?  What I mean, a path lined out to take you where you want to go.  Do you even know where you want to go?  Do you have a timeline with checkpoints so you can see how you're doing?

For example, four months of this year are gone and what have you accomplished toward your writing goals?  And what do you need to do to make those goals happen?

I know I'm behind schedule.  So, today I'm going to map out a plan.  I'm going to set things in motion, get my act together and get busy. 

What about you?