What are your goals?

My goals change daily.

When it comes to my writing goals, I have the goal to get a book out there into stores. To do that I have to get published. To do that I have to get a book deal/publishing contract. To do that I have to get a manuscript accepted. To do that I have to get a manuscript read completely. To do that I have to get an agent to either read it and or pass it on to an editor. To do that I have to send out a partial. To do that I have to send out pages. To do that I have to send out a query. To do that I have to have a completed manuscript. (I have 2 so I'm doing alright there, but I'm needing another to send out soon). To get a completed manuscript, I have to have a completed first draft that I can give to my critique group to read and make suggestions that I accept or reject. To do that I have to write the last chapter. To do that I have to write the chapters that come before the last one. To do that I have to write. To do that I have to stop this blog post.

To do that I will hit publish post and get onto the writing part of my day.

And one last thing before I go.

What are your goals?

Laura

The more you know...

The more you know about writing the harder it gets. When I first started writing a few years ago (I can't believe it's actually been that long) it was so fun and easy. I just wrote what came to mind and let the ideas flow. Of course after reading what I'd written it was obvious that I was very much an amateur. I didn't know the rules and ins and outs of writing, but it was fun. I came up with a passable plot and some good characters, but it was lacking in conflict and wasn't more than a pleasant read for those I could get to read it.

Once I joined a writers group and started going to conferences, researching online about the whole publishing process and basically teaching myself about writing I realized I had a lot to learn. I was naive thinking that you could write a book, send it out to an editor, they'd tell you how to fix it or fix it themselves and it would be on the book store shelves in no time. (HA HA) that is definitely not how it works. I have been working on my craft for some time now and am still far from being published. But I'm getting better with each word I write.

Now working on this current project, I've begun to fear it a little. What if it ends up being no good? Why should I spend this much time on something that won't be seen by anyone besides my critique group and beta readers? Then I think to myself, if its just practice writing, then it's better than quitting. No one ever succeeds on accident. Athletes, artists, business owners, scientists, doctors, and so on spend countless hours perfecting their craft. And so will I.

Don't worry, I'll be sure to let you know when I do succeed but for now, it's back to practicing.

What are you working on?

So many ideas become distracting

It's kind of funny what a writer will do to get out of writing.
I've been working all month long on trying to get a story pounded out. I started the month planning on working on a project I had more than 30,000 words in. Then the more I wrote, the more I hated it. That made me decide to put it on the shelf for a while and get back to a project I'd shelved earlier that I've had in the back of my mind. I worked on it for awhile, but I still wasn't loving it.

In the mean time, I had an idea for a story come to mind as I was driving down the road to visit my sister. I plotted it out as I drove, and when I got home I was so excited to get started on it. But I didn't want to drop a second story that same month to begin this new one. (Plus when I began telling my husband the idea he kind of shot it down) He was washing dishes at the time--I know, lucky huh-- and didn't really focus all his attention on my words. ((He's since heard it again and has told me it actually sounds kind of cool, once he let me explain the whole thing.))

Now that I finally decided to give this story it's turn, I find myself getting distracted by other things. A writer friend of mine posted a funny comment on facebook, and how he and I are chatting about how that would be the funniest premise for a story. Who know's maybe we'll collaborate on it and sell it as an ebook.

There are so many ideas out there and so few writing moments that we could never write them all. But we can sure have fun brainstorming and daydreaming.

What would you like to write about if you had the chance?

What have you been reading lately?

I've been trying to read and write during my free time. Though I've found I'm spending more time reading than writing. And that's ok, but today I started on my writing again after a few days off and realized I'm influenced by what I just read.

Let's see if I can explain this better. On my first story, I had been reading the Twilight series most recently before I began writing my book. After finishing it and sending it to some readers, many of them said, "you know, even though this isn't a story about Vampires or anything, it reminded me a lot of Twilight."

Then in my next story, I tried to be more careful about what I was reading and how I was writing so it didn't sound like I was trying to write in the same style as the author I was reading. I've heard many authors say they have discovered the same thing in their experience.

Lately I've been re-reading a couple of the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan to get ready to read the final book being finished by Brandon Sanderson. Now my story is nothing like the WOT, (It's more of a dystopian at the moment) but I find myself thinking of the way the story is done in his world. I have to conciously stop myself from using some of Jordan's terminology.

It's a fine line to walk. You want to read other books, see how authors did it right, but you also have to make sure you keep your own voice. I guess it helps to take a break from writing for a little to do some reading. You just have to make sure when you get back into your writing you can keep the little voices in your head separate.

So what have you been reading lately?

We can learn from our mistakes. (I mean experiences)

I have been writing furiously on a few different projects lately and have come to discover that sometimes I don't like what I'm writing. I'm not saying that my story is junk, I'm just saying I'm not feeling the love for it right now.

I've been forcing myself to finish a story thinking the only way I could get better at writing was to finish it and learn from the experience. While I believe that is true, it is also true if you don't write what you love and love what you're writing then no one else will.

I had a partial request that just came back as a "no thank you". And while it was dissapointing that they didn't want it, I also discovered that I feel relief knowing the next project I work on doesn't have to be the follow up that would go with that story. This is the thing I've been working on recently and what I did my NaNoWriMo project on.

So in my last post I made myself a challenge to do a mini writing month and get 30,000 words written. I am still going to do that, but as a writer/creator I can decide what project it will be on. I have another story that's been percolating in the back of my mind that I'll be jumping into. I'm excited to see where it goes.

There are also a few blogs and things I've read recently that I thought I'd share so you can benefit too. I hope they are as helpful to you as they've been for me.

Reading this blog post from Natalie Whipple gave me some much needed reminders and lessons I can learn through her experience. Check it out HERE

Betsy Love, a friend of mine online, though I feel like I know her in real life though I've never met her had this on her blog.It's some great information about what agents and editors really care about. Check it out HERE

Also a couple of agents or blogs or podcasts about writing I think are great

Writing Excuses

Nathan Bransford

Rachelle Gardner

Please share in the comments some blogs or websites I should look into. Thanks

Laura

Another month filled with words.

I enjoyed the writing abandon of NaNoWriMo so much that I'm going to do my own month of writing here in March.
I managed to churn out the 50,000 words in November, though some of them were repeats and do overs, and begin agains, I was able to keep at least 30,000 of those after doing an edit to get the story straight in my mind again. So my goal for this month is to write 30,000 new words.

I plan to write them on the same story I did in November, which happens to be a follow up story of my most recent completed novel. I figure doing 30K is a realistic goal and I have a group on FB I'll be reporting to so I'll have incentive to keep going. Plus, getting this story closer to completion is always a reward in itself.

So you fun readers who see my blog. What other kind of reward should I give myself if I accomplish my goal. (Can't cost more than $10, but free or low-low cost would be even better) And what should be my consequence if I don't complete it? I need your suggestions.

Laura

Book Review Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow

I eagerly awaited this book since I sort of have a writers crush on the author. Nathan Bransford was a literary agent with an amazing blog that taught me tons about the whole publishing world. He is no longer an agent, but his blog still has all kinds of helpful information. See his blog HERE

I was able to get the local library to get a copy of this book and was so excited to read it. When I did, I enjoyed it, but not as much as I had hoped to. I don't know what it was that felt lacking for me, but as I thought about it, I wondered if it was because it is a middle grade novel instead of Young Adult (the category I've found myself reading most frequently of late)
It is still an enjoyable read, and I think it's worth looking into.

Here's what the book has to say about itself:

Space travel is all fun and games until someone breaks the universe.

Jacob Wonderbar has been the bane of every substitute teacher at Magellan Middle School ever since his dad moved away from home. He never would have survived without his best friend Dexter, even if he is a little timid, and his cute-but-tough friend Sarah Daisy, who is chronically overscheduled.

But when the trio meets a mysterious man in silver they trade a corn dog for his sassy spaceship and blast off into the great unknown. That is, until they break the universe in a giant space kapow and a nefarious space buccaneer named Mick Cracken maroons Jacob and Dexter on a tiny planet that smells like burp breath. The friends have to work together to make it back to their little street where the houses look the same, even as Earth seems farther and farther away.

Here's what I have to say about it.

I liked the characters in it. I did giggle in places. The planets they visit are wildly imaginative. A planet with 30 second days, and 30 second nights. A planet entirely populated by scientist, a planet of substitute teachers. The planet where the King of the Universe lives sounds nice and too perfect. The space ships are fun and I'd love to be able to trade a corn dog for one myself.

Jacob, and his friends Dexter and Sarah have a great friendship, but find it tested as they go through some of the experiences in outer space. There are parental issues brought up. There are friendship problems brought to light and how to deal with making choices you are willing to live with, but done in a way that isn't too preachy.

I know that Bransford is a fan of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, and a few places in the book reminded me a lot of that series.

Some places in the book confused me and I believe or hope they'll be cleared up in some of his follow up stories. I believe there are 3 planned for it.

Overall, it's a fun book and I'm sure the middle grade audience it was written for will love it. I enjoyed it, but at times found myself analyzing it as an adult instead of just letting myself really get into it.

Check it out for Amazon HERE

Check out Barns and Noble HERE

Check out his website again HERE