May #writemotivation Wrap Up

Well, this month I qualify as a "Close, but not too close" on my goal of finishing WIP#1. After a very productive first month of 20K, I've gone down to 10K each of the last two. Still not bad, but I hoped to be finished by now and working on edits and another story. Ah well, best laid plans and such.

Anyway, I did end up hitting 44K as of the moment of writing this blog. I've passed chapter 18 and will being chapter 19 hopefully tonight. It's been an awesome experience so far and a lot of fun. I've never written this much in my life and I keep getting ideas. I've also met a lot of awesome people who are taking the same journey I am.

Anyway, goal wrap up.

• Finish WIP -- Err..yeah, didn't happen, but I am on Ch. 19 so maybe next month...K?
• Blog once a week -- Ding! Point!
• Cheer on my #writemotivation tweeps -- Ding! Point!

Anyway, here is a random pic that I took while on a walk with my mom and my kids through a Nature Preserve with thousands of butterflies. This little guy hung out on my hand for a good chunk of the walk.  He only left when I went to sent a text to a friend with this picture. He hopped on my phone and I had to shoo him away so I could type. I guess he liked my phone better.

'Till next time.

That was easy...ok, maybe not and #writemotivation update

I actually have an easy button, it is supposed to make things easier. Isn't that what the commercials say? If only that were true...but I digress...I think.

Anyway, May has not been going as planned, but most plans don't. By the end of April I was supposed to have reached the 40K mark on my WIP. I hit that mark a couple days ago. By the end of May, I was supposed to be finished with draft one. Yeah, um...not gonna happen.  But you know what? It doesn't matter.  The important thing is that I'm working on it. I'm in the middle of ch. 17 and have 24 planned. I've already reworked the first 3 chapters in my head. Once I've finished draft one, I plan on printing it off and then going through with a pen and writing down notes, etc. that I have gotten from betas, or have popped into my head. Anyway, the beginning of the end is near.

#writemotivation update
1) Finish WIP -- I'm currently on ch. 17 of 24. I'll be close, but I don't think it's gonna happen.
2) Cheer on my #writemotivation tweeps -- struggled a little with this, but getting back into it.
3) Blog once a week -- Yup, almost didn't this week, but made myself do it.

That's all I have for today.

'Till next time.

Honesty Is Not a Lonely Word and #writemotivation update

The month in the #writemotivation world, the imminently cool, KT Hanna, decided to do a critique/beta match up for all of us participating. It's an interesting idea and I've seen several other groups doing things like it. Basically, everyone writes up what they need and then people pick the person (or people) that matches what they need. It's awesome and I am really looking forward to the match up. For those who don't know: a critique partner is someone who digs deep into your story and points out the nitpicky stuff. A beta reader is someone who just reads it and says, this worked or that didn't work so well. A beta reader is more surface stuff whereas a critique partner is more in depth.

So, what does this have to do with honesty? Well, a lot. In any relationship honesty is one of the foundations of success. If you aren't able to be honest, you don't have a relationship. This is true for all relationships. Honesty breeds trust and if you trust someone, good things happen. This is Relationships 101 and not Rocket Science.

In a critique partner/beta reader relationship, honesty and trust are also so very important. In these types of relationships, you are trusting them to be honest enough to tell you if something doesn't work. These things can make, or break, your chances at getting noticed by a publisher. Or, if you are going the self-publishing route, keep from having people dedicate entire blogs to pointing out all of your mistakes. If you don't believe that this happens, just check out the 50 Shades of Suck website. It's sole purpose is to make fun of the Fifty Shades trilogy.

Luckily, I have been blessed with several good beta readers and critiquers (is that even a word?). One of them is my 10 year old son. He reads each chapter as it leaves the printer. As my son, I don't always believe him when he tells me that what I'm writing is more interesting than Rick Riordan. He and I have talked about that and he has told me, in no uncertain terms, that if it sucked, he would tell me. I guess I'll have to trust him. :D

Anyway, he just read chapter 16. He looked up at me and said, "If you had gone into more detail with this last scene, I would have thrown it at you and told you that you went to far." I just stared at him. Up to this point, I had not heard anything like that. It was actually good to hear. Chapter 16 had some intense content in it and I was worried it would be too much. Good to know that I did it just right.

#writemotivation goals

1. Finish WIP: About to start Chapter 17 of 24. With only two weeks left, I'm still not confident that I will make it, but I will be really close. 7 chapters is a lot to do, for me, but with school being done, I won't have any other writing distractions.
2. Blog once a week: YES!
3. Cheer on my #writemotivation peeps: Yup!

'Till Next time (sorry no random pic!)

Things I've Learned and #writemotivation Update

I've learned several things in my life, most of them from Star Trek, Star Wars, and other scifi genres, not to mention fantasy, etc....etc...ok, yeah, I'm a geek/nerd (or whatever you might want to call it). Anyway, I'm talking about recent things (writing things, life things, miscellaneous things...ALL THE THINGS!).

Here are some of the things I've learned:

1. Blogging is a good way to get ideas out of my head and just have fun with random things
2. Being active in the Tweet-verse is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I have met some really amazing people who have been really encouraging with my writing. It's a curse because I keep connecting with all these awesome people who are also awesome writers and I don't have time to read ALL THE THINGS!
3. Setting random blog locations is fun and silly, but sometimes results in some weird traffic sources. I have since learned to never set any of my locations in Russia. My number one referral site at the moment is a children's furniture site in Russia. Why? I have no clue. And yes, every blog is a different location. Have fun. :D
4. The #writemotivation movement is awesome and really helpful in developing your obsession with writing.
5. Plotting the end of a book can be very scary and amazing at the same time.
6. If you write everyday, you can accomplish a lot.
7. I can write and people enjoy it.

Now for my #writemotivation goal check in.

1. Blog once a week: Check
2. Finish WIP#1 by the end of May: Um...may not make it unless I have a super productive streak, but still possible
3. Cheer on my #writemotivation tweeps: YES!

Finally, I have found my mascot. He needs a name. I'm up for suggestions. Yes, it is a stuffed tarantula wearing a Robin Hood hat.

'Till next time.