In his book No Plot? No Problem, Chris Baty, the founder of National Novel Writing Month, suggests that writers create what he calls “the two Magna Cartas.” Basically you make a list of things you love in fiction books and a list of things you hate in fiction books and refer to the lists as you write. 
I don’t think I have had or will have any ( Read more... )

I thought I had experienced boughts of writer's block before, but after the last couple of days, I have changed my mind.  My first real experience with writer's block started the day before yesterday.  I have begun the horrendous process of revising the draft of my romantic suspense novel, Gallery of Lies.  (Shay, I am so feeling your pain.)  When ( Read more... )

First, my RWA membership packet came in the mail, which was exciting.  It didn't have anything in it that I hadn't already read online and they had already e-mailed me my confirmation notice, but it was still great to get the packet and know everything's official on paper ( Read more... )

I have wanted to join Romance Writers of America for a while now, but since I didn't have a completed manuscript, I couldn't quite justify the expense.  HOWEVER...  I won NaNo this year, and have a finished draft.  Granted, that's not quite the same thing as a completed manuscript, but to me it's a major accomplishment.  I'm going to start my ( Read more... )

Oh my goodness it's Dec. 2!  I planned on starting my Gallery of Lies revisions on Jan. 1.  I thought I would be ready to do that because by then, I would be finished with the short piece for the e-pub contest.  Alas, I'm only about 1500 words into the 18000 word draft for that and because of my insane inspiration to do something medieval, I have ( Read more... )

Okay, I made a decision.  I'm going with option C.  I have to admit, however, that since making that decision, it is not going well.  I was inspired with a brilliant idea for a medieval love story, and I really do think the basic premise has promise and would be perfect for a story of this length.  The problem is that I know practically nothing ( Read more... )

Today was pretty much wasted for several reasons ( Read more... )

My NaNo has officially exceeded 50k!  It will eventually become a 55,000-60,000 word complete, polished manuscript ready for submission.  Right now, I need to step away from it, so it's going into a drawer for at least two weeks.  Then I'll start the revision and expansion process.  In the mean time, I've got to decide on my next project.  I'm ( Read more... )

Last week I submitted some of my writing for a contest--the first contest I had ever entered by the way, and I checked the results today, and my work was chosen for their mini-critique!  While I would certainly have loved for them to have chosen it as a finalist instead, I'm THRILLED that they picked it for anything and their critique is really ( Read more... )