Photo Friday

Vero, a friend of mine from my May 2008 Mommy message board is also a writer. I was inspired by her last two posts on her blog. She has decided to enforce a blogging schedule. Now, I don't think I can blog most days of the week, but I am going to set the goal of blogging at least three days a week. (Check out her blog and learn more about her writing adventures. I am hooked on her Perspective.)

Today's post is inspired by her Friday post. She showed off her writing space, and now, I will show off mine.


I write on my laptop. It is a big ol' thing (17 inch) and the space bar has seen better days, but I love that I can bring my writing with me wherever I go.




I am mainly stationed in the corner of my living room. I keep the computer on at all times during the day so I am ready whenever something pops into my head that NEEDS to come out. (Oh, and, yes, I NEED that blanket as the window beside me has a horrible draft)

I like to keep notebooks, 3-ring binders, and note card containers stuffed between the couch and the wall, and in the nook behind me. The back of the couch catches some stuff as well. Easily accessible.

Tuesday Teaser

From my current chapter in Serenity. This is very rough.

**Snipped**

It's Tuesday Teaser Time! (On Wednesday)

This is from Serenity. Seryn is running after Clay and Xander is close behind. This is a first draft and very rough.

*SNIP*

Tuesday, but no teaser... yet

Hey all! I think I may finally be in the writing groove today. Nap may prove to be an inspirational time for me today ;) Well, I hope to get something written while the munchkins are down for nap. If I am able to get something written, I will share a snip with you.

Meanwhile, if you haven't seen the blog: The Bookshelf Muse: Massive Followers Contest!, I recommend checking it out. It is a great resource for writers. They have put together an Emotion Thesaurus, a Setting Description Thesaurus, and a Colors, Textures, and Shapes Thesaurus. Plus, for reaching 100,000 hits to the blog, they are running a contest. Check it out!

Teaser Tuesday

Well, I have decided that since I have put Undo down for hibernation for an unknown amount of time, I have decided to post the prologue that I managed to pound out. Please enjoy, this may be all you get from this story for quite some time.

*snip* Thank you for the comments, they actually added a little fuel to this idea :)

*Just a note, Undo was the novel I attempted for NaNo, but couldn't put 100% into since Serenity was banging around in my head.

NaNo = Not This Year

I starteed NaNo before finishing the first draft of Serenity. Not a very smart move considering how different Serenity and Undo are. I could not invest in Undo with Serenity reeling through my mind. So, to be fair to Undo and its characters, I have decided to drop from NaNo this year. It was not a fun decision, but word count was severely suffering and the story was going nowhere fast. There is always next year. Of course, once Serenity is complete, I could challenge myself to completing the first draft of Undo in 30 days. Hmmm.

Final word count: 3,405/50,000

NaNo WriMo Day #1

I decided to attempt the challenge of NaNo WriMo, so far, the progress has not been fantastic, I'm hoping to catch up tomorrow when I have a little more downtime and hopefully my two little ones aren't as crabby. I'm heading to bed, but I wanted to post up my word count for the end of my day, it is pathetic, but it is better than nothing.

Total word count after Writing Day 1: 764/ 50,000

It's Tuesday!

I just realized it is Tuesday. I suppose you would like a teaser today, wouldn't you?

This is from Chapter One:

* Removed, thank you to all who read and commented :) *

Update and Goal for 9*28 - 10*5

Unfortunately, I did not complete chapter six. A charater is missing a name, he needs it before I can continue. I did that with Xander, too. He started as Bastian, but it wasn't him, so I couldn't go any further until I got it figured out. I was stalled for a few days. I would have thought of a name over the weekend, but I was an extra photographer at a wedding on Saturday :) It was a blast. Now, I am back to my writing world.

My goal for this week is to get to the end of chapter seven. I haven't got a clue what chapter seven will be about just yet, but I will complete it, which means I must complete chapter six. :)

Now, does anyone have a name for a warlock that starts with a K or M and is 8 characters long, tops?

Goal for Today

I have decided, I will start writing down my daily or weekly writing goals to hopefully stay on top of my writing.

Today's goal: Think about Chapter 6 and what needs to be told. Write down important points and begin writing it out. I need to figure out what is on Clay's mind at this point in the story and if he needs to get to his fated destination just yet. Ahhh! My mind need sto figure this out so my fingers can write it out.

Goal for the week: Complete Chapter 6 by Monday the latest.

Teaser Tuesday!

Here is my first "official" Teaser Tuesday entry!
This scene is from Chapter 3, Seryn has just followed a sprite up a tree:

* Removed, thank you to all who read and commented :) *

Just a Small Update

I am currently working on chapter five. I have the chapter figured out, now I just need to get it into written form. It is currently standing at 838 words. I expect it to be just over 2000 words once it is completed.

My entire story is currently standing at 14,097 words. Granted, only 11,749 words are consecutive. The remaining are tidbits I had already written when they began clawing at the inside of my head.

Goal for today: complete chapter five. Can I do it?

Just a Tiny Teaser

This is just a teeny blurb from chapter two:

* Removed, thank you to all who read and commented :) *

WooHoo!

Just a very brief update.

I have finished Chapter 4! I'm so excited, things are really falling into place and Seryn's story is only going to get better. She still has a lot to be told. I have around 10,500 words in my first 4 chapters. I'm so excited to have finally hit the 10,000 word mark!

Chapter five is off to a rough start, but I have been doing some editing on the first four chapters and hopefully chapter five will start itself once my revisions are complete.

Well, off to finish my edits, maybe I'll get gutsy enough to share another passage sometime this week.

Do You Want a Teaser?

Here is a chunk from my first chapter, although, I'm thinking I need to add some more. Please remember, this is only my 1st draft and the story isn't even complete yet. I intend to write more details and possibly add some extras to the beginning. This is the first page:

* Removed, thank you to all who read and commented :) *

Plugging Away

I'm almost finished with Chapter two, just a few more things to plug into the story/dialogue and it is complete. The first two chapters are a bit of introduction to the two main characters. Chapter three is when the fun begins. Don't worry, though, the first two chapters are far from slow.

What I find amusing about my writing process, is that, even though I know all the major events, even though I know how it is going to end; the unfolding of this world, these characters, their story excites me. I can't wait to find out how all these things that I know are going to happen come around. I love seeing the characters grow as their simple world gets stretched and molded, as things happen to the characters.

I know the final words of chapter two, but I don't know how much more still needs to be let out before those words are written down and the pre-first draft gets sent to Missy.

By the way, if you are a writer and you don't have a Missy, I suggest getting yourself one ;). Missy is my best friend and she is helping this story take the exact shape I want/need it to take. I finished my pre-first draft of chapter one and sent it to her. She read it and then sent me an e-mail with all the questions that went through her head while she read. I can't tell you how immensely helpful that was. Most of the questions she asked will be answered before the end of the book, but there were some I hadn't thought out and from that, I was able to add in the details my tale was missing. She is truly going to be one of the main nails in keeping this story put together, with her, the reader won't need my brain to understand all the little details.

Well, I need to finish up and get dinner started. I hope to be done with Chapter two tonight and have chapter three close to completed by tomorrow (I already have the last half completed, just need to iron out the details to lead up to the end).

...And We Have a Name

So, I was sitting on the couch this afternoon, going through the list of names Missy, Jason, and I had compiled, when something popped into my head that I needed to write down. Once that section had been written out, my character was finally able to recieve his name! I'm not at a stand-still at the moment! Hooray!

I bought some index cards yesterday, and sat down at the table this evening to fill out my "storyboard". I was having some troubles filling in the gaps from one point toward the end of my story and the actual end. The index cards helped a lot! I highly recommend using index cards to map out a plot if you find yourself getting stuck here and there. You write a sentence or two describing a scene on each card, what ever pops into your head. Once all your scenes have been put onto paper, you lay out your cards and find the most logical sequence for the events. Once they are layed out in the order that makes the most sense to you and then you are able to actually see where you need to fill in any gaps in your plotline. I think I used about half the deck for my story, but, it would have been more had I not already had sections of my story 'completed'.

Well, I am off to write a bit before I call it a night! I hope my stalls are out of the way for now. :)

Names

I hate that one of my characters does not have a name that fits him, yet. My story has stalled for the moment, just because I don't have his name and he is crucial to the story. I tried just throwing a name in there so I could get my story out of my head and onto the computer screen, but his scenes don't feel right because his name is not.

Ah, the frusterations of writing, one miniscual detail can totally throw off your entire groove. I am currently working with my best friend and my husband to namethis character and it is getting closer, but there is still not much I can do with the storyline at this point because he is involved in most of it and writing the wrong name makes his character feel a bit flat there. HMPH!

A New Adventure

With no internet for a month and having just finished reading my latest book series, I decided to try my hand at writing once again. I began going through my old writing projects and found some useable material. I had a slight idea, based on a dream.
I knew the place I began writing was not the beginning. I have a few sections already developing. I decided that I work better when I write what is in my mind, rather than in any sort of order. I know the end and the first big chunk of story. I am excited to see how everything turns out in my written world.
Jason has been helping me with discovering more about my characters and the general story. I have been able to discuss ideas with him that have led to developments for a second and possibly even a third story.
I will be posting thoughts I have regarding my writing process and using this site as an online journal just to write anything that comes to mind. I hope to be able to finish the first draft of this story within the next two months.
Keep watching as I will be running ideas that I may need some feedback on. Thank you for reading and I will try to get on here tonight to write more coherently once all the children in the house are asleep.