Losing the Groove

Ok, I know…

I’ve been a terrible blogger and social media-person 😀

I haven’t been around much to comment or even post!

The deadline for my first draft is this Friday, and I still have tons to write. So, pretty much I’ve been writing constantly lately!

But still, that’s not really an excuse.

To be honest, I am still really struggling to find my groove again after getting back from my break.

I know, right? It’s been nearly two months 😀 But, this blog is about being honest, and that is what I’m doing.

I’m just having a pretty difficult time lately, and not sure how to fix that yet!

Hopefully soon I will find my rhythm again.

Everything feels very stale and static at the moment, but I think that will change once I manage to get a new book released. Hence why I am working so hard on this one so as I can get it ready for release at the end of March!

Sorry I haven’t been around much, but hopefully soon that will change. Know that I am reading your blogs even if I don’t manage to comment

Have you ever had a bit of an unproductive time? How did you get out of it?

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Progress Report:

Status of sixth manuscript: Writing first draft.
Word count: 34,692 (+11,752 since last check-in).

Books read towards challenge: 2/50
Currently reading: Thyme in a Flask by Glen Quarry

It’s Worth The Struggle…

I have a couple of links this week that really inspired me.

I think all writers, especially new ones, go through that down time of not progressing fast enough or not being where they want to be. It’s inevitable and can sometimes stop a person writing, but these posts really gave me a boost in confidence and motivation; to remember my dream and, even though it’s hard, it’s worth all the struggle to fight for!

They reminded me to write for the love of it, to work towards where I want to be, and not focus on the negative!

http://www.yourwriterplatform.com/build-your-writing-career/#more-4734

http://callummclaughlin.wordpress.com/2014/10/25/never-give-up/

Hope you enjoy them too!

Have a great Sunday everyone 🙂

Do you have any advice or tips? Have you ever felt a bit negative about where your headed in your writing? How did you deal with it?

The First Draft- It’s a love/hate thing.

One of my major flaws as a writer (and as a person) is my need to get everything perfect first time around.

You see how this could be a problem when it comes to writing? 😀 Considering the amount of drafts we have to do before we get something we’re pleased enough with to publish?

Writing a first draft can, at times, hurt me.

Staring at this horrible screen of text that isn’t perfect, that isn’t lovely, that sometimes doesn’t even make sense; it doesn’t do me any good!

But I have gotten better over this year since writing has become career. The first draft has to be written, no matter how I do it, it is the foundation of my book. If I don’t write, then I’m not doing my job! 😀

The way I like to look at a first draft is that it is the skeleton. It is the bones of my manuscript.

The second draft is the muscles.

The third is the skin.

And from then on extra drafts and changes are the clothing, jewelry, and make up that allow my manuscript to sparkle.

Still, it’s hard. Nowadays I write my first draft without looking back at it. I just write it and keep on going. I use simple, not very active words, such as ‘pushed’, ‘pulled’ ‘looked’, etc, I even have sections where I’ve written, ‘She’s angry- describe’. I just write whatever to get that first draft down, with notes to remind me when I go back to edit.

I can then go back and change those words, make it active. make it flow. I can change the details, add description where I have left it out, etc.

But it is a struggle! When I think my writing is terrible, it puts a damper on my mood (which my poor family and friends have to deal with, sorry to them!), and I go into a fit of, ‘I suck as a writer!’ 😀

But by the end, when all the layers are added, I come out of that mood having produced something I can be really proud of. A story that has been worth all the moods and hard work 🙂

What I’m trying to say is- Just write it. Don’t worry about language, or word use, or adverbs, or anything like that in a first draft. Just do whatever it takes to get that main bulk down.

It’s after the first draft that the real work begins 😉

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Progress Report:

Status of sixth manuscript: Writing first draft.
Word count: 2793 (Total word count: 23,503).

Books read: 2/4.

Mid-October Book Review: We won’t talk about the lack of that…

And it’s done! With bonus teaser!

Photo by Oliver Hammond on Flickr

Yesterday I wrote, ‘The End’ on my first draft of my fifth book!

I have to say, considering it was supposed to be a light novella at under 30,000 words to give me a bit of a break, it kind of took on a life of it’s own!

I did skip a week at the beginning of August where I didn’t write at all (naughty, I know!), so when I realised I managed to pump out over 45,000 words in 3 weeks I was revelling in quite a lot of triumph!

I’m really starting to get my writing routine down and sticking to it 🙂

It’s always a rather exhilarating moment to finish a first draft, but it does tend to be only for a moment, because then I get the sinking feeling of knowing how much editing there is to do next 😀

And I have to say, I was worried about going back and reading this one. For some reason I got it into my head that the writing was terrible and I was going to practically be changing everything.

So, when I started reading through and looking at editing, I was pleasantly surprised it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I had told myself it would be! In fact, some parts were pretty darn good, if I do say so myself 😀

There is still plenty of editing to be done, but I have to say I’m enjoying the editing a lot more now I realise it’s much better than I thought, especially considering it’s a first draft.

And now, I am going to brave and post an unedited teaser/excerpt from my new book!

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“And now, it’s time to get physical,” she said.

“Huh?” Alex asked, broken from her thoughts.

“What you like in a man, in his looks. But I think that’s pretty easy to determine.” FG slapped her wand against the desk’s surface, the bottom drawer flinging open and making Alex almost topple from her chair in surprise. From the drawer floated a dog-eared, well-read romance novel that Alex only brought out when she was certain she was alone.

“No, you can’t have that!” Alex yelled, trying to clamber over the desk to retrieve it. But it was nestled in the fairy godmother’s lap before she even had the chance.

The front cover was a vivid purple, the title, ‘Love of the Best Kind’, emblazoned in hot red, curling front across it.
“See? There is a romantic buried beneath that professional exterior of yours.” FG chuckled but Alex flushed red, sinking back into her chair and hoping it would swallow her whole.

FG flicked open the book, the crumpled pages falling open with ease. Her brows raised as she scanned the words and her eyes slowly widened.

She snapped the book shut. “Well, maybe not so romantic, but certainly passionate.”

Alex sunk further into her chair with a groan, covering her eyes with her hand.

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Hope you enjoyed it!

How are you guys doing with your writing projects? Do you dread the editing phase? Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by your own work when going back and reading it over?

*As usual, I will be away over the weekend and back on Monday to reply to comments and emails 🙂 Have a brilliant weekend everyone!*

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Progress Report:

Status of fifth manuscript: Editing first draft.

Books read: 5/4

Mid September Book Review: Currently reading.

Taking a step back…

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend! 😀

I know it’s normally Romance Weekly Hop day today, but due to the bank holiday there is no post this week. Though if you’re interested in checking out the hop, it starts with Nina Mason. It’s all about first kisses!

So, I so have to admit I was really glad for the long weekend as I was completely stuck on a scene in my book when writing on Friday. I had NO idea where to take it and I think I tried to rewrite it in about ten different ways, seeing how it would best to write it in order to move the story and characters forward.

Well, it was hard and it was just not going to happen!

So, over the weekend I didn’t touch my writing. But, as if often the case, I couldn’t stop thinking about 😀 I went over and over it in my head trying to figure out how to write this rather crucial scene which is a turning point in the story.

All weekend I still had nothing

Zip.

Zero.

Nadda.

I was having a slight panic when I went to bed last night thinking I’d have no idea where to go when writing today, and this is my last week to get the first draft finished!

And then at about 3 o’clock this morning it came to me! I was tossing and turning trying to think of this scene and just couldn’t sleep and the solution came out of nowhere. I mean, it was something I hadn’t even thought of, something so completely different to what I’d come up with so far.

And it was absolutely perfect!

It just made me realise what a good idea it is to take a long step back from your writing sometimes if you’re struggling. I think I got myself so focused on the scene and the little picture, that I forgot to look at the whole thing.

So, this morning I sat down to write and managed to pump out about 3,000 words in an hour and half! I was on a roll and it felt really, really good 😀

Have you ever been really stuck on a scene? How do you deal when you get stuck? Do you ever have to take a break from your writing to look at it fresh?

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Progress Report:

Status of fifth manuscript: Writing first draft.
Word count: 3188 (Total word count: 39698).

Books read: 5/4

End of August Indie Review: Written and ready.

Rekindling my Love for Love!

My next book is going to be packed full of romance.

Why?

Because I want it to be 😀

I love romance, hence why I write it, but my last couple of books have had heavy stories to go along with romance. And I’d say they were romance of a different kind- a passionate, heavy romance.

This time I want something light and romantic.

So, I wanted to write a book where romance was going to be the main theme of the story. But, it’s also going to be a contemporary piece and I haven’t written a chick-lit type book before. So I needed to get into the mood for writing it.

I scoured the kindle store for books in that genre, but also I watched a lot of romance movies.

I have to say, they really did help me get in the right frame of mind 😀 As I said in my Romance Weekly post last week, I am very inspired by the visual.

I watched Austenland, which was just beyond awesome!

Then I had an overload on Jane Austen, watching Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. Next up was While You were Sleeping and Penelope.

I have to admit, I was a bit de-motivated when I started writing my book, as I enjoyed writing in the fantasy genre so much. But watching these movies and reading that type of story reminded me exactly why I planned this book next.

Because I love every moment of those fun romantic movies! Every stolen glance, every damsel-in-distress moment, and every inevitable kiss in the rain! 😀

My next book is going to be a light, fun read where the romance genre in movies and books is heavily involved in the storyline, so watching and reading this type of genre has been perfect for getting me in the right frame of mind.

Let’s call it research! Very necessary research.

I always forget just how much the right mind-set can help to give me motivation to keep writing!

If you’re finding yourself a bit stuck in your story or not motivated, pick up a book in the same genre or watch a movie and remind yourself why you chose that genre. Reigniting your love of that type of story can be an amazing way exciting your creativity to keep writing!

Do you sometimes have to re-find your love of a genre? Do you always read within a specific genre? Are there any books or movies that instantly get you in the mood for writing?

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Progress Report:

Status of Fifth Manuscript: Writing first draft.
Word count: 2395 (Total word count: 24770)

Books read: 3/4

End of August indie book review: Written and ready.

Romance Weekly Blog Hop #lovewritechat

It’s Romance Weekly blog hop day! Feels like I haven’t done one of these in ages, so it’s nice to get back to it 😀

If you’ve come from Dani Jace, author of White Doe, then welcome!

Now onto the questions:

1.Does humour help or hinder you in your creative process?

It helps, a lot! I do like to write some dramatic moments in my book, so I tend to always have moments of humour or fun to help lighten the mood.

2.What is a favourite go-to book or movie you use to unblock a problem in your writing?

What a good question!

I usually try to watch movies and read books in the genre I’m writing, to get into the right head space, especially seeing as I write in different sub-genres.

But one movie (actually three movies) that always gets me writing is The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I love those movies, and there is something so inspiring about them that always gets me wanting to write and create an amazing story of my own!

I’m incredibly visual, so I think movies often inspire me to write a lot more then reading does in a strange way 😀

3. What’s the most inspiring book you’ve read this week or month that’s generated a new idea?

I just finished reading The Unravelling of Lady Fury by Shehanne Moore, and I was completely inspired by her character Captain Flint. He’s a brilliant character that I just fell for instantly, and it inspired me into thinking about the way I write my male leading characters.

Some great questions this week, it was nice to get back into the blog hopping groove!

Now why not check out what Gemma Brocato has to say in answer to the questions?

How would you answer this week’s questions? Leave your answers in the comments! It’s always fun to share.

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Progress Report:

Status of fifth manuscript: Writing first draft.
Daily word count: 4321 (Total word count: 13184)

Books read: 3/4

Mid-August Book Review: Written and ready.

Now let’s try it that way…

I realised something recently about my planning process.

For each book I have written so far, I have planned them each with a different technique.

I haven’t done this on purpose 😀 It is just something that has happened naturally as I started to plan.

It was an interesting observation about my planning style that I didn’t really notice until today. Possibly it’s because I write different sub-genres and it works better in my head for certain genres to be planned out certain ways.

– Stolen Bloodline: I didn’t have much of a plan at all, I wrote scenes that I liked and then worked them all together.

– The Queen’s Jester: I made an incredibly detailed bullet point plan that had every single scene and moment detailed on it.

– Heart of the Arena: I did something similar to The Queen‘s Jester, but the bullet point style was loose, only detailing big scenes and not specific moments.

– Prophecy of Stones: I planned out like a map. The characters go on a quest-style journey, so I plotted out the map and the route they would take, then I noted down what happened at each location on the map.

– For my next book (number 5!): I have taken the approach of noting down scenes on notelets and spreading them out on the floor.

Obviously there are a lot more notelets than this! But you get the idea.

The notelets have been brilliant as I have been able to see the gaps where I need to fill in scenes or link scenes together, but I’m not sure it would have suited the way I approached writing my other books. These different ways of planning have certainly showed me how much variety and individuality there is in the writing process, and it makes me wonder how I will plan out book number 6 😀

So my tip for the day is: If you ever feel stuck or get a bit of writer’s block, it might be worth trying out a different method of plotting a scene, short story, book, poem, etc. You never know if looking at it in a different way might just jog something new 🙂

Have you tried out different planning methods? Do you use one method that works for you all the time? Do you have any planning tips or tricks for others?

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Progress Report:

Status of fifth manuscript: Writing first draft.

Word count: 5100 (Total word count: 8863).

Books read: 3/4

Mid-August book review: Written and ready.

And I’m feeling good!

I got the first manuscript back from my readers last night, which was pretty awesome as it usually takes quite a bit longer. So, I was already taking that as a good sign that the story flowed and read easily.

When I give my manuscripts out to my readers, I ask that they note any parts they particularly liked, so as I can get a sense of what people enjoy and what are my strengths (also to make me feel a bit better as I slog through their notes for edits :D).

It’s fun finding out which bits they pull out as liking and find interesting.

But, I have to say I felt pretty darn tootin’ good when I got the manuscript back this time and found comments like this:

‘Nice, nice, nice, nice.’

‘Fab! !- Highlighted! Love it!’

‘You can just ‘take it as read’ from here on in that I love all the Sindrin bits!’

‘Love it!’

It really made me smile! 😀

I am proud of all the stories I have produced so far, but I was particularly glad to see comments like this on this manuscript, because I worked really hard on bringing everything I’ve learned and making this one of my best books. Really, really hard!

Normally I try not to write these kind of bragging posts, but I am so proud of this story I could burst! 😀 I can’t wait to get it out into the world and see what others think. I promise on Monday it will be back to regular posting 🙂

Now it’s just waiting for the last 2 manuscripts, and seeing what they think!

How is your writing coming along? If your in CampNaNo, are you doing well with your word goals?

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Progress Report:

Status of fourth manuscript: Waiting for copies from the readers (1/3 returned).

Books read: 1/4

July eBook Review: Written and ready.

Romance Weekly #lovewritechat

Back to the hop this week! Hello to all of those joining me from Sarah Hegger’s blog!

What questions are in store today?

1. Do any characters you’ve written into your books remind you of yourself? Explain which ones and why.

I don’t think so. I do try and stay away from making any character too like me, as I think it would be rather awkward reading through it and finding a character doing and saying everything I would 😀

2. Was there a teacher or mentor in your life who helped nurture your writing?

Oh, good question. I never really had a teacher or mentor for writing, but I do have to say my best friend has been a big influence in my life and writing. I actually met him on a post-by-post roleplaying forum, so writing was what first connected us 😀

Over the years I have been inspired by his writing, and he has really helped motivate and give me the confidence in my own work to pursue this career. One of the biggest helps has been the fact he’s so honest, he doesn’t mind telling me when something doesn’t work in my writing or needs improving/changing, and knowing that it won’t hurt my feelings. He seems to understand my want to improve my craft, so has always pushed me to keep going.

Thank you for that, Aether! 😀

3. Every author has that moment when they doubt their ability to write. When that happens to you, how do you pull yourself up by the bootstraps and continue? What do you do to inspire YOURSELF?

Ah, the ups and downs of writing. I’m ashamed to admit that my down moments usually come when I read another author’s blog and see how they’ve sold hundreds of books, whilst I haven’t.

Sometimes I worry my stories won’t appeal to anyone but me, that my ideas won’t affect people the way they do myself.

Then I realise how much I love writing, how much I need to write and get these stories and characters onto paper. That is what motivates and inspires me, the fact that I have such an intense passion for what I do, that I have to keep going, no matter what anyone else is doing.

I am determined to be successful in this career, because I love it too much to fail 😀

An interesting set of questions to come back to this week 🙂 How would you answer them?

Now check out what Katherine has to say about them! Katherine Givens: http://katherinegivens1.wordpress.com/posts/

Don’t forget the Giveaway!

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Progress Report:

Status of Fourth Manuscript: Editing first draft.

Books read: 0/4 (July)

July eBook Review: Writing review.