A Day in the Life of a Writer

Okay, not that I actually know what a NORMAL day in a writer's life looks like. BUT, for the first time since I can remember in forever, I have a full day off with nothing that I HAVE to do - other than go to my chiropractor appointment. Which I did. I have comp time from my work trip last week because I worked so many hours, and get both Friday (today) and Monday off - no PTO required.

So, I have decided to use both days to experiment in the life of a writer, pretend I am a full-time writer and see if I actually enjoy sitting for hours and working on writing-related things. Two days seem like an entire world to me, and yet, at the same time, not quite enough time. I mean, I not only have 3 books I want to work on, I want to do short stories, writing exercises, writing books, writer's digest, blog posts, find places to submit short stories or flash fiction, work on nonfiction articles for company newsletter, and of course, am wondering if I can stay the course when I have more than half an hour to do whatever I like.

So far, I've made a sort of schedule: write 500 words in book I am currently most enthralled with (my 2017 NaNo novel), read an article in writer's digest, 500 words, writing exercise, 500 words, article, 500 words, etc. We shall see how this works. I've been at it for one hour and 15 minutes and am already going off schedule to do a blog post, but still feeling energized and excited for the hours ahead. The atmosphere of a coffee shop helps too. Other people chatting or writing or studying - and the addition of coffee at my side - it just FEELS like I need to be writing. I love it.

Anyway, now that I have shared my joy with you all, I shall go back and finish up the 300 words still due on the 500 word spurt.

Faithfulness in the small things

Believe it or not, I am still working on my NaNo Novel. Very slowly - I am only at 20 thousand something words - but I am determined to finish it. Both because I have people asking me to finish it and because I want to show myself I can do it. What I should really do is pretend it is November and make myself write 1667 words every day. But instead I am writing here and there.

Lately, I have been trying to write more. Because - the other day I was praying. And I was asking God to bless my writing and to please help me get published this year. And a verse came to mind - or was it when I was reading my Bible next? - either way - that verse, Luke 16:10a: He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. . . .

And I was officially convicted as I felt God prod me, with words something along the lines of the following: You are asking for publication, yet you are unwilling to spend even a few minutes every day writing. I have blessed you with both the ability and desire to write, but you play games on your phone instead. Why do you ask for more when you have not even used what I give you?

Well, that was sufficient to silence me. And so I have been striving to be faithful with little that God may trust me with much. Sometimes that has still meant only one sentence a day - as in the past couple days - but even pulling the story out briefly helps me maintain view of where I am and reminds me of what I need to do.

So remember - build from the bottom up. Every little bit helps.

Release of Nightrage Rising

As you can imagine, I did not catch up. The rest of the month ended up being so busy that my computer might as well have remained broken.

But, on a different note, a friend of mine is releasing his second book! It is a sequel to his first book, A Hero's Curse, which was excellent! The book is being released tomorrow, December 9th, and will be available on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2AsFwIa . Details on the story are below:

Nightrage Rising is a street-level fantasy-adventure novel with a healthy splash of Nancy Drewish mystery—mixed with a dollop of wit and snark. It is a fast paced, first-person, present-tense story of a girl discovering self-worth, courage and friendship in the face of an unstable kingdom, magical inequality, and a dangerous, seductive cult. If you grab a copy off the shelf and flip to the back cover, here’s what you’ll find:

“Essie Brightsday is blind. But that hasn’t kept her from curses, dragons, or rock basilisks in the past. Now her family lives in the bustling capital of Plen, a far cry from their small farm tucked against the Valley of Fire. Little does she know that a secretive cult is growing in the city, guaranteeing this adventure will be just as eventful as the last…”

While Nightrage Rising is the sequel to A Hero’s Curse, it was written to stand on its own. If you missed the first book, don’t worry, you can still jump in, right now.

Find out more about Hero's Curse and Nightrage Rising on P.S. Broaddus' website: http://www.psbroaddus.com/nightrage-rising/

NaNoWriMo Update - Week Three

So it has been an adventure. The first week actually went really well, and I was even slightly ahead of my word count! And then . . . . my computer died. Yup. It decided this month was the prime time to have the hard drive go. So I have been handwriting - sort of. I like handwriting - when I'm not forced into it. I haven't gotten super far. And I am skeptical about being able to read it now that I've written it. Buuut, my husband fixed my computer and it is working again as of today! What do you think? Can I catch up? I am certainly going to try!

National Novel Writing Month - Week One

How are you all doing? Surprisingly, I have kept up in this first five days of  writing, despite the fact that we were in Oklahoma for my brother-in-law's wedding. It was quite an adventure, keeping up. The first day involved staying up until 2:00 AM to get it done.

Friday, the day of the wedding, was surprisingly not bad writing-wise. Daniel had lots of groomsmen things to do so I got to go to a coffee shop and work for awhile. I happened to sit across from a woman who had done Indie publishing and bought her book Poisoned, since she was doing a book signing/selling thing. It was rather encouraging to meet a mother who had written two books during previous years of NaNoWriMo and then finished and published them! Her other book was I am Lucifer, in case you are curious.

I think I am fulfilling the criteria for a cliche and sappy book. I have an underappreciated, poor artist working an office job trying to pay for her mother's cancer treatments. And then, of course, the rich, handsome young man who does not view her as anything more then a young girl and is being wooed by the perfect woman who works in the same office.

I am plodding away and trying not to overthink it. I hope you are all doing as well! And that I continue to do well.

Oh - quick tip that sometimes help me. I turn on a movie, then write 300-500 words, watch about 5 minutes and then press pause until I write another 300 - 500 words, until I finish. It is surprisingly effective, especially when I really don't want to write.

NaNoWriMo Beginning Woes

National Novel Writing Month, here yet again! It is amazing how must faster the years go by as we grow older. I could have sworn it was still springtime. 

Nonetheless, in NaNo I will participate, and unlike last year, I will win, whether I get sick this time or not! I have convinced one of my friends to join me, so hopefully the companionship in misery will assist in victory. 

We have determined we are going to relax and have fun with this year's book - to write a completely sappy, cliche romance novel. Exactly what that is - well, plots keep coming to me (if plots they can be called) and then moving on. So, I feel rather like this very apt NaNoToon right now.

https://nanotoons.wordpress.com/2017/11/01/2017-november-1st/

A Literary Experience

I went to a literary festival the other day, for the first time ever. It included master sessions, which were rather boring and political (why on earth would you make a literary festival political?), and morning and afternoon workshop sessions, which were much more useful and happy.

I should note that going to this was way out of my comfort zone. First of all, I went alone, so I couldn't hide behind anyone. Second of all, it involved actually discussing writing with people. And third of all, the workshops actually involved talking about what you were writing. So, it took courage to go in the first place - only made worse by the fact that the rental car company had only huge trucks left so I had to drive a truck that took both my hands to hoist myself into in order to even get there since Daniel had the car!

But anyway, the first session on revision was the most useful, but also the most difficult. I had to bring the first five pages of my book - I actually brought 10 because I was trying to decide whether to keep the prologue or not - and THEN they had us actually partner up with a stranger in the class and read each other's writing so we could critique it!! Not going to lie, I probably wouldn't have gone had I known that was why they wanted us to bring some of our book. But I am glad I did it. The gentleman, Sam was his name, was a high school English teacher and knew how to be both straightforward and still gentle. He could see immediately I was almost over a cliff with concern that someone was going to actually read this and took some time to calm me down before reading all 10 pages. But after that, I actually took his suggestions quite openly and calmly and it may be the most useful thing I've ever done in all my writing life. He told me what I had suspected all along, which is that I don't trust my readers so I over-explain things, but then he went a step further and told me that even more than that, I don't trust myself, which adds even more to my over-explaining in my books. He then showed me a couple examples and explained how he thought I could cut it down and what all the writing books had been saying finally really clicked.

He also told me he could tell that I had very good visualization and I was able to set the scene well, and that it was obvious I knew my characters well. I really appreciated hearing that since I kind of thought those were the two things I struggled the most with. He then encouraged me to share my writing more and, just as my husband tells me, that it really isn't a reflection on me if someone criticizes my writing. So much easier to be told than to believe!

But I do feel like I have a much better understanding now of what needs to be edited in my book, at least in the second editing round (I am still only halfway through the first round), and I have learned that it is possible for me to hear the corrections that have to be made and live through it!