As I mentioned in my review of Save the Cat!, the value of any how-to book is whether it inspires you to take action. For the past several months, I have been stalled out and completely avoiding working on my werewolf novel, The Cold Nothing Taste of Winter. After drafting about two-thirds of the book, plot problems proliferated and I didn't know ( Read more... )

I did not quite meet NaNo word goal for the week, as I’ve been skipping writing days during the work week. Things are getting hectic at my day job, since we have to go to press with our December issue before Thanksgiving and there is a lot of work to do.

But I made it through Chapter 16 on the novel and I’m happy with the progress of the story.

On ( Read more... )

Along with two strength training workouts and a couple of walks with my sisters and niece, progress continues on the novel. I fell behind on the word count after skipping a couple of days, and so have been playing catch up over the weekend. Now, I’m just about on target again. I would prefer to be ahead of the game, but really it doesn’t matter, ( Read more... )

Some writers avoid talking about what they’re working on with anyone, and my understanding is that this is because they feel they loose the excitement of discovering and writing the story when they tell it.

I personally find the opposite is true. While I’m writing, especially in the first draft stage, talking out the story can be incredibly helpful ( Read more... )

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Current Project: Under the Midday Moon
New Words: 2,292
Current Total Word Count: 13,010
Goal: Put together an workable draft of the novel that I would actually let someone read.
Accomplished: Chapter Six, which is halfway done.

Random Rough Sentence(s): I turned my head. Evan’s face loomed large in front of me, blurring every time he moved too ( Read more... )

Current Project: Under the Midday Moon
New Words: 1,860
Current Total Word Count: 10,718
Goal: Put together an workable draft of the novel that I would actually let someone read.
Accomplished: Finished Chapter Four!

Random Rough Sentence(s): I dribbled, starting slow until I got into a tempo, then passed the ball hand to hand and between my legs, ( Read more... )

Current Project: Under the Midday Moon
New Words: 824
Current Total Word Count: 8,858
Goal: Put together an workable draft of the novel that I would actually let someone read.

Accomplished: Finished Chapter Three, in which Claire and Evan discuss the coming events of the weekend and the potential for beer.

Random Rough Sentence(s): Evan reached ( Read more... )

Current Project: Under the Midday Moon
New Words: 1297
Current Total Word Count: 8,034
Goal: Put together an workable draft of the novel that I would actually let someone read.

Accomplished: The first half of Chapter Three.

Random Rough Sentence(s): I was tempted to tell Adam about my parents, because what else is a best friend for, if not for ( Read more... )

Current Project: Under the Midday Moon
New Words: 1866
Current Total Word Count: 6,737
Goal: Put together an workable draft of the novel that I would actually let someone read.

Accomplished: A new draft of what I think will be Chapter One. At least, it resembles chapter one, though it may not be chapter one later.

Random Rough Sentence(s): I ( Read more... )