Writing is fun again!
Hi, LJ Land. You might not believe this, since I haven't been here in a year, and only sporadically for quite a while before that, but I've missed you!
So here I am, dipping my toes back into blogging, because I've missed my LJ friends and because I've found writing out all my writing problems here really was quite helpful to me, and I miss knowing what I'm thinking :)
Life News Since Last Blog: My Hubby got a new job back in October and we moved up to the Frederick, MD area, which is where I grew up. Actually, we're currently (still) living at my parents' house as we look for our new home and try to sell our house in VA. It's been a bit crowded and frustrating at times, but it's also nice to have extra hands helping with the Seriously Active 19-month-old. Tiny Human is a ball of energy and I am frequently exhausted, though in a good way, since she's a pretty darn fantastic kiddo.
In writing news, I'm finally getting back to my own process. I realized last year that I was trying to fit some sort of "Writer" mold that just wasn't me. But that didn't mean I could just hop back on that bike/ horse/ whatever-metaphor-you-want and get back at it the way I used to. Nope, writing really is a muscle. It apparently needs regular exercise to keep it working the way you want it to.
Last year my writing goal was an average of 250 words a day. I mostly hit that goal except for the "moving months" of October and November where I totally fell off the writing wagon. But towards the end of November I realized I was not going to be happy writing in fits and starts, and I really did have to try to write every single day again, no excuses. And... I've been doing it. For me, writing really isn't something I can say "well, I can skip today, because I had a good day yesterday"-- at least not right now, when I'm still trying to get back to a good writing groove.
I started out the year working on a new story, with a working title of Maisy Medium, about the little sister of a psychic medium. It's a contemporary, real-world setting, so it's quite different from everything else I'd been working on for a while (Darlington, Nat&Will, The Ties of Blood, Conviction), and a bit different from Accursed or Wings & Fangs, in that the MC isn't the one immersed in the paranormal world. So it's been a bit of a challenge, but one I've been enjoying working on.
Lately, though, I've finally found my footing in my revision of Darlington! Gee, that's only taken what, three years? hahahahahathud
Seriously, though, it feels so good to be working with Marna and Tenn again. I've gotten feedback from one beta reader already who loved it (yay!) and am waiting on a few more responses to come in over the next month or so. I think the difference is that I've given myself permission to just let this revision go the way it wants to. If I feel the need to write a scene from another perspective to really understand it, I do it. If I need to write a scene that doesn't actually take place within the story's timeline, but I need it to see what happened to set something else in motion, I do it. This not only has helped me find a stronger footing in the story, but it also has gotten me to enjoy laying down words again. I've actually broken 1000 words/ day half the days this month. I can't even consciously remember the last time I did that (but my records tell me it was in January 2011).
It's not like I'm going to have this darn thing ready to query any time soon. I'm not even letting myself think that way too often, because I get overwhelmed (mostly b/c agent research! sooooo time-consuming and frustrating!), but at least I finally feel like I'm heading in the right direction again.
How about everyone else? I'm so sorry I've fallen off the face of the earth, but I'm hoping everything is good with all of you, and I really would like to know how you're all doing, life-wise, writing-wise, whatever! *hugs LJ friends*
So here I am, dipping my toes back into blogging, because I've missed my LJ friends and because I've found writing out all my writing problems here really was quite helpful to me, and I miss knowing what I'm thinking :)
Life News Since Last Blog: My Hubby got a new job back in October and we moved up to the Frederick, MD area, which is where I grew up. Actually, we're currently (still) living at my parents' house as we look for our new home and try to sell our house in VA. It's been a bit crowded and frustrating at times, but it's also nice to have extra hands helping with the Seriously Active 19-month-old. Tiny Human is a ball of energy and I am frequently exhausted, though in a good way, since she's a pretty darn fantastic kiddo.
In writing news, I'm finally getting back to my own process. I realized last year that I was trying to fit some sort of "Writer" mold that just wasn't me. But that didn't mean I could just hop back on that bike/ horse/ whatever-metaphor-you-want and get back at it the way I used to. Nope, writing really is a muscle. It apparently needs regular exercise to keep it working the way you want it to.
Last year my writing goal was an average of 250 words a day. I mostly hit that goal except for the "moving months" of October and November where I totally fell off the writing wagon. But towards the end of November I realized I was not going to be happy writing in fits and starts, and I really did have to try to write every single day again, no excuses. And... I've been doing it. For me, writing really isn't something I can say "well, I can skip today, because I had a good day yesterday"-- at least not right now, when I'm still trying to get back to a good writing groove.
I started out the year working on a new story, with a working title of Maisy Medium, about the little sister of a psychic medium. It's a contemporary, real-world setting, so it's quite different from everything else I'd been working on for a while (Darlington, Nat&Will, The Ties of Blood, Conviction), and a bit different from Accursed or Wings & Fangs, in that the MC isn't the one immersed in the paranormal world. So it's been a bit of a challenge, but one I've been enjoying working on.
Lately, though, I've finally found my footing in my revision of Darlington! Gee, that's only taken what, three years? hahahahahathud
Seriously, though, it feels so good to be working with Marna and Tenn again. I've gotten feedback from one beta reader already who loved it (yay!) and am waiting on a few more responses to come in over the next month or so. I think the difference is that I've given myself permission to just let this revision go the way it wants to. If I feel the need to write a scene from another perspective to really understand it, I do it. If I need to write a scene that doesn't actually take place within the story's timeline, but I need it to see what happened to set something else in motion, I do it. This not only has helped me find a stronger footing in the story, but it also has gotten me to enjoy laying down words again. I've actually broken 1000 words/ day half the days this month. I can't even consciously remember the last time I did that (but my records tell me it was in January 2011).
It's not like I'm going to have this darn thing ready to query any time soon. I'm not even letting myself think that way too often, because I get overwhelmed (mostly b/c agent research! sooooo time-consuming and frustrating!), but at least I finally feel like I'm heading in the right direction again.
How about everyone else? I'm so sorry I've fallen off the face of the earth, but I'm hoping everything is good with all of you, and I really would like to know how you're all doing, life-wise, writing-wise, whatever! *hugs LJ friends*