Writing is known for being a solitary pursuit. While there are writer’s groups and ways to create a network around writing, the work itself has to be done alone. Chatting with friends cuts into writing time. It’s easy for a write to tumble into THE ANTI-SOCIAL BUBBLE aka the thunder dome where no one makes eye-contact or speaks. It’s even easier when the creative life takes a nosedive and depression crawls in.
Read MoreWriting Resources
Writing can be an incredibly isolating and challenging task. It's hard to find help, and sometimes it's hard to even know where to look to find help. Sometimes, it's hard to even know what's good resource versus a bad one, and sometimes you don't even know what you don't know to even ask about! That last one seems to be the story of my life.
So, here I've compiled some of my favorite resources that I use on a regular basis and I think would be helpful for writers all along their journey, whether you're just starting out, published, lost, or just curious.
2015 in Review
2015 has been a strange, but successful year. This year I've written just under 300,000 words. I finished three novel drafts, two short stories, and a lot of rambling to myself. 90,000 words were all written during this year's NaNoWriMo. All in all, I know I could have written more words this year, but life happened. I bought a house, lost several friends and made some big changes to better help steer me towards the future I want. I'm not disappointed in this year, but I am excited about next year. I know what I want to write. I know what I want to do and now I get the chance to actually make a move on those goals. If 2015 was my year of planning than 2016 is my year of action and I am so ready for it.
Read MoreWriting Realities
When I was in high school, I would fantasize about what my life would be like when I became a real writer. I'd have a fancy house and a live in chef so I could just write all day. Everything would be great and I'd have tons of free time to do anything else I wanted to. It'd be perfect. Now I want to throttle high school me for ever even thinking that.
Read MorePitching!
Until very recently the idea of pitching an agent or an editor face to face was among the most terrifying things that could ever happen to me. I got flustered when readers asked me what my book was about let alone when I had to tell an agent or editor what my book is about. Talk about a freak out inducing moment.
Read MoreCelebrate then Evaluate
Now that you've had a little more time to celebrate your Nanowrimo victory (or any other completion), now comes the time to step back and decide your next move.If you're at a total loss on what to do with your first draft then I'd tuck it into a drawer and move onto another project for a month or more. Some space between you and the manuscript will help you better see it for its flaws when you pick it up again. It's okay for it to not be perfect. More than likely it's a long way from perfect and will require a lot of work to get to the submittable stage.
FINISH IT!
During NaNoWriMo, and any other time you're writing, the biggest danger is trying to be perfect. Perfect is an enemy of finishing things. If you keep going back and fixing every tiny error or imagined error then you will never finish anything.
Read MoreNaNoWriMo!
The first few days of Nano are always a roller coaster of emotions.
Read MoreTo Outline Or Not: 5 Ways to Plot Your Novel
Plotter versus Pantser, the age old battle of writers everywhere. Some writers can't imagine wasting time writing a word without having a plot down and prepared, while other writers won't write a word if there's a plan strangling their ability to explore the story.
Read MoreMoonlight and Magnolias!
This year I went to the Georgia Romance Writer Association's Moonlight and Magnolias for the first time and I had an incredible time. I was really nervous going into the conference because I'd never been and I didn't know anyone who was going to be there. It turned out to be one of the most fun, informative conferences I've ever been to.
Everyone was beyond friendly, before I'd been there ten minutes I'd already made new friends and was getting all kinds of great advice on how to make the most of my time at the conference.
For the first time ever, I pitched agents and editors and I didn't burst into flames once! I actually spent all day Friday taking cancelled pitch sessions and ended up chatting with 7 agents and/or editors. Out of those 3 requested fulls, and 2 requested partials. The other 2 didn't represent my genre but we still had great chats about books and writing.
Jana Oliver gave a great speech during lunch about not quitting and her own path to success. It was really inspiring to hear!
Saturday I went to several workshops and learned a lot of new techniques and tips to try out. I think my favorite was learning about storyboarding your novel. I had a lot of fun cutting up pictures and making a collage of inspiration. I'll definitely pull that out in the future. Chris Marie Green gave a really fun but moving speech about her own struggles with publishing and her path through the ups and downs. She themed everything with TV shows and it was really engaging to listen to.
The evening was the Maggie Awards and one of the things i was most excited about! There aren't many chaces to get dressed up like a princess so I was happy to have the chance to throw on a dress and heels. Because I wasn't staying at the hotel, I actually ended up getting dressed in the bathroom and made several friends who were doing the same thing. Nice to know there'll always be somewhere there to zip your dress up!
The ceremony was lovely. There were a lot of beautiful tributes and speeches and it was so exciting seeing how many people cheered for one another. When the awards were over the dance floor opened up and partying fully commenced. I had a great time during the few songs I danced to!
Sunday was the day of goodbyes and while I hated telling everyone bye, I know I'll see many of them soon when I visit the Georgia Romance Writer's next meeting! :)
All in all I was amazed at how welcoming and supportive everyone was. All of the authors were thrilled to meet new authors and share wisdom. Everyone was so passionate and in love with writing that I came home ready to write my heart out on new and old projects. It's hard to be around so many incredible people and not leave inspired!