All posts by admin

On Writing

Ever have one of those Aha moments

Walk to Work Day
Walk to Work Day (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Heh, I know it’s getting late. Almost 9pm here, but figured I would post something since I’m still working. I have my own business I run, we do things like SEO, wordpress, social media – things like that. I had a problem I was trying to figure out all day. I went on a walk with my daughter and wife, it has been beautiful here the past couple of days. On the walk we talked about stuff, on the way back to my house, I figured out my problem.

So why do I tell you this? If you’re having a problem with your story, or if you’ve boxed yourself into a corner with your plot. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Take a step back and don’t think about it for a bit. Do something fun and exciting. Your mind works in mysterious ways and it will come to you.

I also got a killer book yesterday, which I’ll share with you more about it tomorrow. I finished up a the ending for one part of my second story, I don’t really like to call them parts, so I’ll call them threads. The second thread should be finished tomorrow, then the third thread should be finished by next week. Then I’ll probably finish editing one and two and send them off to the “professional editor”. I’m still trying to figure out if I want to continue writing, or if I want to stop while I’m editing. I guess I’ll decide that when I get to it.

Words written – 3022. Enjoy your night.

On Writing

To twist or not to twist

Plot twists
Plot twists (Photo credit: sgs_1019)

Wrote 3,150 words today. Another good day. A reminder, one of the reasons I write a word count here everyday is to keep myself accountable. If I get distracted or bummed, I just remind myself that I have to tell you guys how many words I wrote today.

So we’re starting to wrap up the second story. There are two threads within it. I was writing both of them for awhile, and then I decided to focus on one, when I get that one done, I’ll work on the other one. So the first thread is almost done. I’m trying to think if I want to kill a character off – and use that for a bit of another plot twist, OR not kill him off. I think I’m leaning more to the killing him off. I should have completed that bit by tomorrow and then I’ll share what happened.

Still haven’t gotten any feedback from the beta readers yet. But we’ll see.

I think probably what we’ll do is finish up on book 2 – then work on editing them really hard. I think I’ll probably continue writing the next one, already know what it’s going to be about. The goal is of course to publish one a month, from now thru December – starting in May. I think if I work hard enough I will be able to do it, after all I’m a firm believer in the fact that you can do whatever you want to do, if you work hard enough.

Now back to “work” for me, hope you enjoy your evening.

News bits

Beta Reader Weekend

Whew!
Whew! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Whew, was a busy weekend and a start to a busy week. Hopefully you and yours had a great one as well. For once this weekend it was warm. It was good to stand outside in the sunshine, without a coat.

I did get some writing done. I usually aim for 3,000 a day, every day, but I miffed it a little. I think I did 2k on Saturday and then 3k on Sunday. Saturday I spent much of the working on my Father In Laws books. I kind of got drafted into the job, but hey, I love my father in law so it’s all good. I did get that finished this morning, so hopefully he’ll get his taxes done in time.

Also this weekend I sent the first installment of part 1 of my series to 7 beta readers. I didn’t think that would be very hard, but it was. I guess sometimes it’s hard to let your baby go, but the goal of course is to sell them.

Today I was back into gear and did about 3200k words. I had mentioned that you could get a discount if you participated in the writing camp – you get 20% off Scrivener. Finally found the link with all the details. http://www.campnanowrimo.org/special-offers

I still have some work to do, so I better get back at it. Will post some more tomorrow.

On Writing

Notes – TGIF

Hey, welcome back. TGIF. I’ve been working some on tweaking the blog. I think I’ve found a template I like. Hopefully it will stick around. The theme I like last time lasted for a whole day…

Writing went good today. Wrote 3070 words. I had a hard scene to write and actually found some tears in my eyes… also had sent some notes to some beta readers and they all said yes… happy dance. I know. Baby steps right. Anyway got some editing to do so this is quick and to the point. I’ll post some more over the weekend and do some research on choosing beta readers.

On Writing

Welcome to my Humble Abode

1 Comment

I’m creating this website mostly for myself. Mostly to document the journey I’m about to take. I’ll let you know of things I’ve tried and worked, and things I’ve done that flopped. If you’re following this then hopefully you won’t make the same mistakes I do.

I’ll also use this blog to keep me straight. See if you tell someone you’re writing, and you tell them how many words you’re writing, and that you expect your book to be out on this date. Then you will have people that will question you and ask you – hey how’s that book coming along.

So the goal write now is to write. I’ll be writing a series of books. I’m not exactly sure how long they will be yet, or I should say how long the series will be. I think maybe 7 or 8, but I guess it depends entirely on how long winded I get.

I started writing on March 14th. I wrote 1,000 words. I’ll tell you a little more about how I got my idea later on.

I decided that writing 1,000 words was pretty easy, so I decided to write 2,000 words. I mean heh, 2,000 words is twice as many. Whatever you’re working on will get done twice as fast. I did 2,000 words from March 15th to March 25th.  I then figured that 2000 words had gotten pretty easy so I jacked it up to 3,000 words. I’ve done that since the 26th and today is April 4th. Now it’s a habit. I write every day, well I wrote 6k the day before Easter, then took Easter off, but I’ve written every day and plan on continuing to do that.

So I’ve finished the first book in the series, I set it aside for a week and started editing it today. I’m now working on the second book and I think I’m halfway through. Again chugging right along. I do recommend if you’re starting out, one way to stay motivated is by going to Camp Nano and joining. It’s a little late but you can still join. You’ll also be able to get a tool you’ll want to use at a discount. I’ve been using http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php and love it.

One more thing before I go today – it’s been a long one. You’ll want to make sure you write every day, because it helps you keep in touch with the plot and characters. You’ll also be surprised when you aren’t writing how your next scene is going to go. Enjoy your evening.