Tuesday, December 31, 2013

New year resolutions

The new year is almost here. For me it's hopefully a new start. This year didn't go that great. There has been a lot of heartbreak and way too many colds. So this time around I want to better myself. I've always thought making resolutions was stupid. But as I got older and kept finding myself stuck in this hole that is slowly growing smaller, I've realized 2014 I will make two, only two resolutions that I will put all my focus onto.

1. Writing

I want a career in writing. That's my dream. I have a good feeling about my novel. I still need to edit, revise, add in two scenes. I also need to write the query letter (and come up with a hook.) as well as a short and long synopsis. I'm going to do more research, spend more hours on improving my skills and try my hardest to get my novel published. That is my main goal for next year.

2. Better myself

Lose weight, improve my writing and sewing, be a better friend, get over my anxiety, learn how to spell anxiety without using auto correct. Okay, maybe that last one isn't one of them. This goal is pretty basic. I think everyone wants these type of things for themselves. Even if they can't achieve them all, at least you've tried.

I also want to improve this blog and meet new people.


This up-coming year may or may not be a good one. But as long as I try my hardest, I think I'll do okay. What are some of your resolutions?



Sunday, December 29, 2013

Synopsis

The dreaded synopsis. Writing one is cramming your huge novel (mine is 75k.) into two-three pages. You have to write about the important stuff (Plot twist, characters, climax) while leaving all the emotions, connections and casual moments. Yet still trying to make the reader want to know more. It's challenging and I will admit, I'm not a huge fan of writing one. But its necessary. Almost all agents these days ask for a short or longer version of a synopsis.

I haven't written one in a long time so today I took the time to research and refresh my memory on the subject. I've found a few new sites that are super helpful. I've been writing down notes all day and will start writing later this evening. I personally like bouncing ideas off my fiance who has read my novel. We make a game of it and that distraction really helps me get out of the "Shit, I'm writing a synopsis!" phase and allows me to focus on getting the synopsis finished.

Today I've used these sites to take notes from...

http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2012/04/17/how-to-write-a-1-page-synopsis/
http://www.marissameyer.com/blogtype/6-steps-for-writing-a-book-synopsis/
http://www.longridgewritersgroup.com/rx/wc01/the_novel_synopsis.shtml


I've also found two YA novel synopsis that have been requested by agents. You can find those here.

http://agentqueryconnect.com/index.php?/topic/9256-query-that-got-18-requests-3-offers-of-rep-and-a-partridge-in-a-pear-tree/
http://agentqueryconnect.com/index.php?/topic/4577-query-that-got-me-my-agent-and-now-publisher/

Reading those really made me inspired. I'm going to try my best and go outside my comfort zone so I can really push myself to work hard on these professional files.

That's it for today. Not a very long post. I've been doing research most of the day which is causing me to go crazy as I've been so used to writing and sewing (Took the day off since I need supplies.) everyday. I can't wait to someday share my synopsis.

Thanks for reading!

Saturday, December 28, 2013

The day after finishing a novel: Day one

I had a heavy feeling lingering after I finished my novel yesterday. This novel has been such an emotional roller coaster. I felt the strong emotional burden the main character felt at the end. It lingered all night. I guess in some ways I too had to let something go. In my own ways this novel was very freeing. It was a reminder that I can still write. And better yet, that I can improve and get better at writing. Which really was enough to rekindle that passion I once had for writing. I feel wonderful. I want to write more and more. Ending this journey makes me feel sad. I've laughed with the characters, cried with them and helped them through tricky challenges. I felt as if I had been the one to go through myself. It feels good to finish this novel.

Today I allowed my fiance to read over the ending scenes. And he said something that excited me. "It's giving me chills." I've never had him say that about my writing before. Truth be told when I write fight scenes I always feel like it isn't good enough but I guess that's because I'm writing it. I only see it flat out in front of me. He saw it the way I wanted it to be seen. I'm so happy it came out better than I had thought. I put a lot of emotion into the final few pages of the novel. He felt the passion. That is all I can ask for.

After reading he gave me some ideas. And they really helped. I went in and revised the last few pages, adding in a lot. Last night when I finished I kept questioning myself "Should I add something more?" And he noticed that and offered me some insight about things he would like to see in it. His ideas were pretty darn good and I agreed. I added them in, changing it a bit and am finally happy to say I am 100% happy with the ending. It leaves it open. In case I decide to write a sequel later on. I think it will also make the readers think. "What happened with this or that?" I like those types of novels. I hope mine is like that. I really tried hard with this one.

And I have a good feeling about it.

Now that the ending has been revised I'll start editing. But not tonight. I use my Kindle for editing so I can read through it while in bed and catch some of those pesky and obvious mistakes before going to bed. Right now I am going to start on either the query letter or the synopsis. Not sure which it depends on which thoughts come to me first. I may start with the synopsis tonight and refresh my memory on how to write a well thought of query letter tomorrow.

Day one after finishing my novel has proven to be a good start. But there is a lot more work to be done.


Thank for you reading!

Friday, December 27, 2013

Done. For now.

When ever I say "I just finished my novel." I mean I've only just started. Yes. The novel is finished. The plot has ended, the characters have said goodbye. But it's just the start. There is editing (This can go on and on. Just don't over do. Stop when you feel you've nit picked your novel enough. over editing is obvious.) and revising. I have a few small scenes I had wanted to write but forgot that I need to go in and write in. It'll also help the word count go up. Not that I'm not okay with where I am at. More words the better. Then there is the task of writing a query letter and a short and long synopsis. That's only if you want to head towards the career writing path. Which I do. I hopefully can get the revising and editing finished before January as there is a contest coming up around Jan.14th that I would like to enter. Although I would much rather have an agent it could be a great way to open a few doors in the writing world. 

There is a lot to do. The journey doesn't end here. I used to think goodbyes were forever. And it may still be the case among people but not with novels. I'll get to read over and editing a lot while I'm in the process of polishing up my manuscript. I'll get to see the characters, hear their voice and follow along on their journey again and again until I am finished and ready to start sending out query letters. Even then I may pop up the word doc on my Kindle just to remind myself of my dreams.

I'm excited. 

I think tonight I will leave the word doc closed. Maybe I'll work on the query letter or synopsis or maybe just sit back, watch a movie and play around with a short story or something. I'm not sure. I'm feeling emotional beat. 


Thank you so much for reading. I'll be updating (hopefully) often as I go through the next steps. 

Thursday, December 26, 2013

The final run.

I am almost done. Tomorrow will be the day. I'm sure of it now as I write down the final layout for the novel's ending chapters. It's hard to explain the emotions that I feel as they are mixed. I am so happy with this novel. It's refreshing for me knowing I could finish a novel after that long period of time where I could not focus on one novel. I jumped from idea to idea and found myself stuck, craving to finish the novel but wound up rushing it too much. Now I have a good pace, found my voice and am once more enjoying writing. I've put a lot into this novel. And I hope it shows.

I may be finishing the novel but I am not done. 

You see this is only the start.

There is still much to do before I can start sending out query letters. Such as writing the query letter as well as a long and short synopsis. Then we have editing and revising. Although I'm not too worried about editing or revising as I've been taking notes about mistakes and scenes that should be added. So that will not take me long. I will edit three, maybe even five times. It all matters if I or my second pair of eyes find any mistakes after the first few edits. The query letter I need to start working on now since I know how the novel is ending now. As well as the synopsis. As both are important and wind up taking a lot more editing sessions than the novel winds up taking. 

Once that is finished my journey really starts.

I can start picking out agencies, researching the agents and finding out what they are seeking and if I may fit that match. During this period I like to do a ton of research. That means reading interviews, their websites and blogs if they have them as well as read a few of the authors' books they've published. I like to be educated on the agents before hand. 

There are many things that could come of this journey and I can only hope for the best. I've learned a lot from writing this novel. I've put time, love, tears, and all those crazy emotions I get from drinking way too many cups of coffee during the late evening well into the early morning. 

I have an idea for my next novel. But have not yet began the out lining process as I don't want to pull any attention away from my novel right now until it's finished and query letters have been sent. That way all my attention can be given to the next novel. 

Thank you for reading. There are so many thoughts rushing around in my mind right now I feel drained. I need to go write and finish this chapter so I can work solely on the last chapter tomorrow. Wish me luck. It'll be an emotional roller coaster as this novel comes to a close. I can't wait.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

70,000k.

I did it. 70,000 words goal completed. Let's party! I'll bring the treats, you drink the drinks. What? Maybe next time? Wait, what? It's a holiday? Oh. I see. Maybe next time. For now I'll just celebrate by myself. But you better keep your promise. I'm really happy, even if I'm not really happy. I'm happy for my novel. It's growing and growing. Soon it'll be walking on its own, headed to the bookstores. I can dream.

I'm so sassy today because today has been nothing but drama and I have a very short fuse. Not the best way to celebrate my 70k mark but that's okay. I'll just go ahead and write some more and have my character go party for me. Or not.

Currently I am writing the second to the last chapter. Important events are about to happen, everything is wrapping up, loose ends are explained, tying together in a pretty knot. Being this close to finishing is both sad and exciting. The characters I have become friends with. I find myself thinking "What would so and so do during this event?" Or "How would they feel?" I've put so much raw emotion into this novel. It's become a part of my soul. I am this novel. It's me. In a way I guess. That sounds strange but I feel close to it. So much work has been put into it. I hope it comes through and takes me places.

Besides emotion, I've also improved myself. Unlike my other novels I wrote this novel for myself. I have kept in mind the readers of course. As that's always going to be important but  I also made sure to improve myself so my skills can hold up the heavy plot. Because if I want to get anywhere with writing, I have to keep improving.

So far writing down words I think I need to use more, or that are interesting in a notebook is helping a ton. The words are flouting in my mind. I can easily flip open the notebook and find a word that will fit into the sentence I'm writing. It's really added some spice to my writing. And I've only been doing it for a few days. But it's helping. So I think I'll stick with it.

There is still so much to do with this novel. I'm not sure which path it will lead me down but I'll stick by it the whole way. I have this feeling. It's a good one. Unlike anything else I've ever felt while writing a novel. Maybe it's a sign of something good to come. I'm not sure. I can only hope.


Thanks for reading! Have a safe and happy holidays. Drink something yummy for me.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Soon, it ends.

Man, I have been super busy lately. Haven't had much time to go on here and post. So here I am (finally.) A lot has happened. My novel, From Afar is coming to a close. I can feel it reaching it's ending. It's bittersweet as I've really fallen for this plot and the characters are very fun to write about. But everything good must end. And there will be a lot of editing to do before I can start getting it ready to send to agents. I have a good feeling about this novel. I really do. I've put a lot of emotion into this novel. Heck, I've even cried while writing some of the scenes. Hopefully that emotion is strong and pulls through to the readers.

My goal is to finish up before January. Right now my novel is at 66,177 words and 223 pages. Not bad. I want to get to at least 70k when it's finished. Although there are a few scenes I want to add in so it may grow larger when I'm in the editing/revising stage. Which is perfectly fine with me, as long as I can reach my goal. I'm hoping to get the editing start right away once the novel is finished. I would love to start sending out query letters by the middle of January. It's a lot of work ahead of me but I have time. So I going to put my soul into this novel and hope for the best.

But that's all I can really say about my novel right now. I'm currently wrapping up one of the three last chapters and am really excited to finish. The ending scene is going to be powerful and really fun to write. It was the first scene I created when I first decided to go ahead and write this story. I can't wait!

In other news I got something pretty awesome for the holidays...



A bookshelf! Geez. I needed a nice bookshelf for a long time and I am so thankful my fiance decided to get me this for the holidays. Look at all those books! They look so sad. ;_;

I hate having my books stacked up like this but I have to wait until my father can nail the bookshelf into the wall. Since there is plug in behind the shelf my fiance didn't want to risk sticking a nail into the wire in the wall. So I have to wait. There are four shelves. Five if you count the bottom. I think I may need to hoard more books. Below are all my novels and nonfiction novels. And above are manga and graphic novels. I can't wait to organize the shelves. There will be so much space VS what I had been storing my books on. I love it. I couldn't be happier.


Anyway, another thing I have started doing is collecting words and phrases. Why? To help improve my writing of course. I've been stuck using certain phrases and words too often so this will help me change that by giving me some examples (that I can easily get to.) to stop using those phrases/words too often. It's really helped already even though I only have one page filled out so far. It's really fun going online, reading and writing down words I find interesting or that I don't use often enough.

I gotta collect them all!


Thanks for reading. I wish you a happy holiday season. May you find happiness and joy.



Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Two chapters to go

My novel is almost finished. I did want to be done by the second week of December but I had become too busy (and distracted.) to finish. But I am in first of the last three chapters of the book. It's going great! I'm still finding myself interested in the characters, plot and setting. I want to write. I'll be playing my 3DS and will have to set it down to write because the urge to write, the inspiration is so strong I can't help myself. I'm feeling very good about this project. It's growing and blossoming as I go on.  Even when I'm sewing all I can think about is "what should I do next?" with the novel. I'm loving it.

I am doing the final out lining for the last few chapters once I am finished with the chapter I am on. There will be a total of eleven chapters. That may not seem like a lot but these chapters are long. I sort of forgot about chapters when I first started because I was so excited to write the novel. So I made them very long. Which is okay. Novels don't need a lot of chapters. It's more about the plot, setting and characters. My fiance is making a cover for the novel since I get two free copies of my novel (once its finished and edited of course!) from completing NaNoWriMo. I'm giving one copy to him and keeping one for myself. I love getting proofs because they are great to use for editing.

I normally use my Kindle to edit since I easily overlooked mistakes while reading the word doc on my computer and it works pretty well but it's much easier reading it on paper than on a screen. So I'm pretty pumped about seeing what he comes up with. So far he's said his idea is of a room belonging to the main character, showing a window with a white butterfly outside the window. It's one of the scenes in the novel when the "villain" is first introduced.

I will be finished by the end of the month. Which doesn't give me much time to edit before the contest in Jaunray but I'm okay with that. It'll make me work harder. Editing is pretty easy, not as hard as writing the novel. But there is some revising I'd like to do so hopefully I have enough time.

That's it for now I have a ton to do today! Thanks for reading!