2017 Goals

Writing Goals

• Finish Editing Novel with HTRYN
• Publish Novel
• Publish Dowsers on Wattpad
• Edit Hourglass
• Be more active in writing communities.

These are some really big goals that I need to hit, and this is just for my writing, not anything else. Yikes. I'd better get my life organized and break it down a bit.

I want to publish this year. That is my biggest goals. It's scary and exciting to think that I'm pushing myself to get to this stage, but that is just the general goal. It's a pretty big process that I have broken down into parts that I'll be doing as I edit. There are some things that I won't be able to do until after I finish editing but for the most part, I have everything broken down. I have tasks that I need to do.

First and foremost, I need to edit.I have a novel that needs to be published in June. I need to edit everything. I'm almost done with the editing process so, it's all about finishing, come January.  I want to edit my novel Hourglass because it's going to be my next novel I publish. This also coincides with my finished editing with HTRYN

Publishing Dowsers...yeah. It might be a little later but I have another story I can start posting in January called Spliced. It's a Sci-fi retelling of Beauty and the Beast. This will be available on Wattpad.

I have several writing communities that I'm a part of. I would like to be more active in them this coming year. Actually participate in assignments/challenges.

That is basically my goals for next year in a broad term.

Spliced [A Retelling]

My novella Spliced is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I wrote it back in February for Tell a Fairy Tale day. It currently stands at 27k but that is before the edits. As much as I wanted to start the year off with Dowsers, I don't think that's going to happen. Dowsers has a lot of editing to go and it's generally, really long. I can at least post this while working on Dowsers.

I'm hoping to do a new retelling this year. I haven't decided what though. I was either going to do a Cyberpunk version of Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard King. I guess I'll have to figure it out later.

Writing Short Stories When You Usually Write Novels

Writing a short story is something I feel like every writer should know how to do. It doesn't matter if you say that you "only write novels" because there is going to be a time where short stories are needed. Short stories have multiple purposes.

How Short Stories Might Benefit You:

• You want to give your readers a little extra. Your readers are important. I can't stress that enough. Sometimes giving them a little something extra isn't going to kill you. Writing a short story is a good way of doing that. Say you have a side character that your audience just loves. Why not give them a little short story in that side character's point of view. It doesn't have to be related to the original story but be sure to give it a plot on it's own.

• Helps you omit needless words. If you don't want to give into your readers, then at least use it as practice to omit needless words. It will force you to stay focused on the plot and try not to generate subplots, since it is a short story.

• It opens up other opportunities. Anthologies being one of them. Or for those who aren't published yet, short story contests. There are a lot of them. Anthologies and contests are a good way to get your name out there so use it to your advantage.

• You learn to gain control. This might sound a little weird but I was one of those people who would try to write a short story and ended up writing a whole damn novel. I learned to tone it down. It taught me how to control my story, keep things on the right path because your characters really don't have the control of the story, you do. When your character's veer off, that's you trying to explore your options or you just really have a hard time following your own directions. 

 I'm sure there are other ways that short stories can benefit but these are the immediate things that came to my head.

Now that we know how short stories can benefit you, lets move on to how to write one. I'm a novel writer. I know how hard it can be to cramp a story into a limited amount of words. But I learned.

For this short story contest I decided to enter, the guidelines for the story were:

• Any genre
• No more than 3,000 words
• Due November 31st

It was a pain in the ass.  I had a great story planned out but then I realized that it was too damn long. Something had to go but what? Everything varies for me. I don't always do the same method twice in a row but these are the basics of my process.

• Figure what I wanted from the story. That meant plot. I needed a small plot that had a lot of impact and could intrigue readers to continue. So knowing what I wanted for a general plot was important.

• Keeping characters limited. There are only two characters that the readers know the names of and one that everyone refers to as "Boss" but you don't get to know him as a character very well. Keeping characters limited means that you will have to not fill your story with a ton of characters. That will just make it drag. Keep the characters that have an important role. 

• Throw everything into an outline. I advocate outlines more than anyone I know. I love outlines. They are the way I keep everything in line. I even outline blog posts. By throwing what you have into an outline, I was able to establish three major parts of the story that were 1,000 words a piece and it was more than enough for what I was writing. It will also keep you from veering off into something that it shouldn't be.

• Write what's important. This is the only way I didn't go over the limited amount of words. I only wrote down what was important to this plot. When you have subplots or a series, you'll probably have to write a lot more than in a short story. Novels are more complex than short stories. I only have one plot for this story. Keep only what's important to the story. 

It might look like a lame little list here but it works for me. It's as simple as it can get really. It's a short story, after all.

Wattpad & How I Use It

Wattpad is a website I had heard about a few years ago, and even have an account through them. I wasn't sure about it for a long time and never really explored until a few months ago. I wanted to read something but couldn't afford to buy any new books at the time. I had the Wattpad app on my Kindle and decided to give it a try.

I discovered a lot of good reads on there and thought I would look into it more on my computer. There is a rather large writing community on there, and with further exploration, I realized that I could use it to my advantage.


How I use Wattpad:

• To get over my fear of showcasing my work. This is a big one. I plan on publishing a novel soon and if I can't share my work, then I don't think I'll be able to handle it as a writer.

• To get feedback. Feedback is important. I'm not the best writer and I know I have room for improvement so why not get feedback from readers to help me improve my writing.

• To find Beta Readers. This one is a little iffy. I noticed a lot of people on Wattpad flake after a certain point in time. It's annoying, but there are a few people who really stick with you.

• To make writing buddies. There are a ton of people who will gladly be your friend. Frankly, I find that the ones I find randomly are the ones that stick with me the longest. 

• To explore the writing community. In general. There is a massive writing community. As there should be, considering it's a writing website. It's a good place to get tips and ideas from other people. There will always be an occasional asshole but there are some really nice people on there.

• To post stories that I want to share but not publish. This one might sound a bit weird. I have a huge stack of novels that need to be edited and another stack of stories that I won't consider publishing. I know that sounds weird but these are just novels and stories that I don't want to publish. Why? I don't know. I don't think I got really excited about these novels in particular. One was a challenge from the WriYe forums while my District Pluto Novellas were just for fun. I wanted to try something new. They were stories out of my comfort zone. While I don't want to publish them, it doesn't mean  that I don't want to share them.  

There are various other ways you can use Wattpad to benefit you as a writer. It's good to take advantage of what you can especially if you are like me and have certain stories that you have no intention of publishing. Maybe one day, I'll consider taking them off Wattpad and get them professionally edited for self-publishing, but that's not on my to do list.

Why I Do National Novel Writing Month

Since it's the first day of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), I thought I'd write a post on why I participate in it. There are a lot of people who don't really like NaNoWriMo because they don't do well with word count goals, or don't do well with deadlines, or they don't think they can write well enough, etc. The list goes on.

I love NaNoWriMo. I love the pace, I love the community, and I've learned to make the most of it. 2016 marks my 13th year participating in NaNoWriMo and I found that over the years, it has become too easy to reach the 50k mark before the end of November, in some cases, before the end of the first week. I've come up with ways to change the challenge to have it suit me more than anything.

Over the years, I've discovered that I could use NaNoWriMo to my advantage.

• Complete a Lot of Novels. It's one way to get things done. I managed to finish a trilogy, a stand alone and a 5 novella series all in November because I had time to do so. 

• Issue Bigger Challenges. 50k have become too easy. So I've decided to issue bigger challenges to myself. It can be just to finish a novel or to finish a series of novels or even extend my word count goal. In 2014, I managed to reach over 300k because that was my goal.

• Meeting New Writers. It's fun meeting other writers and NaNoWriMo has a wonderful community of writers. It's fun to talk to them and make a new writing buddy.

• Finding New Resources. With NaNoWriMo I can find new resources for my writing. Map making sites, graphics sites, etcs. There are a ton of them that other people share on the forums

Writing a good novel in a short amount of time definitely had to be because of NaNoWriMo. It took time but I'm finally able to write a full novel in 3 days. I might need a lot of work but it was still done. No rewrites needed, just some revision. Since I've been issuing my own challenges, I now have a stack of novels that I need to edit and possibly publish - even completed series.

Now, NaNoWriMo isn't for everyone but if you are finding that you hare having a hard time getting that first draft written, it's a good challenge. Also, don't be afraid to fail. It happens. You'll be surprised at how much you can actually accomplish in a month after you've set a goal. Just give it a try.

If you haven't heard of NaNoWriMo or just want to check it out: Click Here.

If you want to find my account: Click Here.

The Editing Process: Breakthrough

I finally had a breakthrough with my writing. I managed to finally get passed the second lesson and I'm onto the 3rd. This one should take me too long but when I finally have the time to finish them up I will.

So far, I have a few scenes that will probably need to be deleted, reworked, or merged with another scene. There are currently 72-ish scenes for this novel, making is a monster but I'm going to work on fixing it.

This will be my last editing update post for awhile since NaNoWriMo starts. I'll be doing writing update posts until I finish. If I manage to finish all of my projects, then I'll continue to edit and hopefully finish by the end of December.

Types of Outlines

I've mentioned before about the importance of outlining in a previous post. This is going to go into a little more depth about the different types of outlines that I've heard of or tried out myself. It will be a general list with a few examples.

• Sequence Boards. I call them Sequence Boards because you lay out your novel in a sequence of how the scenes go. You write one scene on an index card until you've plotted out your entire novel. This is my go-to method. It's nice because you can rearrange scenes to see what works better.You could also do this in a notebook, the only thing you wouldn't be able to do is rearrange the scenes to see how they fit.

• A General Outline. This is the generic outline you'd use for taking notes for class. For example: 1.) Chapter One a)character introduced b.) plot starts i.) something else goes here. Things like that. It's not a method I use anymore but it works for some people. 

• The Snowflake Method. I've never used this method before but I know several writers who have and found it very helpful. Here is a link if you'd like to take a look at it. 

• Storyboards. It's similar to a Sequence Board but a little more creative. Sometimes when I need to do something artsy for my writing, I make a Sequence Board. It has all kinds of arrows and pictures. It's fun.

• Beginning-Middle-End. There is an actual name for it but I don't know what it's called. This is basically the least amount of planning I do and it's usually for short stories. I need to know my beginning, my middle, and my end. It helps me stay on track. Sometimes I use this method with another method because it helps me understand my plot better. 

• Mind Map Method. I've only ever used this once and it was a general guide of how certain things happened in my novels. It's not the best method but at least you can have parts of your story planned out. For example, in my novel, my character meets a lot of people and these people become important to the plot. I had laid out when, where, and how he met them. Then added a little bit about them that I needed to know. If you ever used a mind map before, it was kind of hard to get everything down in one word or small phrase but I managed it...somehow.

There are tons of ways to plan your novels. You can look up a ton of them online but it's something that every writer should do to stay on track with their writing. Keep away from those filler scenes! Noted, we all write them from time to time but that doesn't make it okay. I end up deleting them during the revision stage (which you should). Outlines will help when it comes to writer's block. You know what comes next and push ahead. Even if it does suck. You can polish that up during the revision process.

Editing Process: No Longer Procrastinating

So, last week was a bit of an eye opener for me. I was so busy that I wasn't able to complete everything I needed to complete. My work schedule was ridiculously busy and I just couldn't find time for everything . So, I decided to pick up the pace a bit.

I've edited my short story and I'm currently sending it to my critique partner/beta reader who will look over it for me. If you're a writer and you don't have a critique partner or a writing buddy willing to pick apart your story, then you need one. I really appreciate mine.

I've started working on Dowsers again because it needs to be finished by the end of the year and I won't have a lot of time in November to do it. There is that.

My Western for my writing assignment is coming along pretty well. I still have a lot to work on with that. I'm going to be cutting a lot of it and fixing it that's for sure.

Hopefully, I finish Dowsers soon. I know the more I continue with these lessons, the fast I'll get through it. That's what I need to do right now.

Luca Moran from Mirror Magic

This week, in order to get ready for NaNoWriMo in less than a month, answer the following questions about as many of your characters as you’d like.

I saw this and thought it would go well with my blog post about getting to know your characters. This might be a fun way to get you started. 

I've decided to just do my main character, Luca. The story will remain in her point of view throughout both novels so it's good to start there. There is a reason why she is named Luca but that will be explained later.

Full name: Luca Moran (Female)
Birthday: December 3
Hair Color:  White (used to be brown when she was younger)
Eye Color: Gray
General appearance: She looks very washed out when it comes to color but she is lanky and looks homeless because she is. Her clothes get torn from traveling constantly. What really makes her stand up is the mark in the middle of her forehead known as the "Gods' Mark" that makes her stand out more.
Personality-type (this can either be Meyer-Briggs or you can write out their personality): Since I don't want to do the personality test for her or any of my characters, I'll just write it out. She can be shy at first, mostly because of what happened to her. She is weak, physically, and doesn't know how to fight at all. She gets anxious when dealing with something she's never encountered before - which is a lot. Despite being weak physically, she has a strong sense of will and is pushes her to continue on. She tends to think about things logically and is wary about jumping in blindly.

 I did not create this myself. If you would like to find this for your own blog, click on the image below.

Know Your Characters

Knowing your character is a must when writing your novel. They are usually a selling point to most stories since you want your readers to connect with them. So, you want to know all about your character and how they will react to things, to make them seem more believable.

This is a task that can happen differently for each character but for this post, it's about developing your main character.

• What is your character's name and age? These are pretty basic when it comes to writing but they can be important. Age will explain a lot of things about how they view things. How the world sees them. Their experiences as well. A 30-something-year-old is going to have way more experiences than a 16-year-old.

• What changed in their life that made this story important? I've read a lot about characters and this is a common thing that comes up. Something has to change in the character's normal life. So what made this change so much more different.

• What was their past like? Someone's past is important to who they are in your current novel. Even childhood scars can still effect them. Make connections with their personality and how it changed them.

• What kind of personality do they have? This connects with the past question. Something might have a huge influence on who they are in your novel. This is important to how they will react to certain instances in your novel. And make sure that you follow it. 

• Name some of their flaws. Flaws aren't the same as imperfections. You characters need to have flaws that will conflict with something in the story. It has to cause some kind of issues.

• What is their culture? Culture can have a big impact on who they are as a person or some of their strange habits.

• What do they look like? This one can be tough. You don't need to know every single detail of your character unless it's absolutely important. If their tattoo is nothing more than a mark on them when they got stupidly drunk and really has no purpose...then we don't really care. But if the tattoo becomes a mark that causes your character to become a target, then we might need to know about it. 

These are the absolute basics of what you need. Characters are another thing you want to develop as your write. You want them to grow. You want to learn somethings about them too. By giving them room to grow, you'll build a more realistic character.

WriYe Blogging Circle: Planning Or Pantsing

If you are a planner, what part of planning is your favorite? If you’re a pantser, what is your favorite part of pantsing?

Bonus: Show us your NaNo planning - handwritten or computer screen!

I love planning out my novels. A lot of people don't enjoy this part of the process but I do. Getting deep into my novels is probably one of my favorite parts, aside from writing the actual novels. I love building my own worlds - which I do a lot.

My favorite part about planning is probably the outlining portion. I like knowing where my novel needs to go. It also helps me consider things I need to discover about the world I'm planning for. It's good to know where I want my story to go, too. The world slowly builds itself as I outline or even as I write.

Building Your World

World Building is a pretty important part of writing a novel, especially, if you've created your own world. You have to basically build up your world from scratch which is fun and addicting (if you are me and many other people I know). Even writing a novel in the modern times will need some world building. Knowing your settings is important so it will remain consistent throughout your novel.

The thing about world building, it that people take it too far and they end up losing sight of their novel. It's happened to me and my friend does it all of the time. I'm trying to get her to tone it down a bit because she goes nuts with world building. It tends to make her unmotivated to write.

Remember, you only need to know the important things.

This is more for the Fantasy/Sci-fi people but they can also work in other styles.

• What kind of government does your world have? This might be important because it can change the way the world functions. You've got to keep in mind how different governments work and how it effects the community. 

• Does your world have magic? If it does, how does it work? What are the limitations? Magic needs limitations. You can't have save your character from everything. Nothing is more annoying that limitless power.

• Where does your story take place? I feel like this should have been one of the first bullet points but I'm just going to go with it. What the name of the place your story take place in? What's it like there? Describe, briefly the place in which your story will be.

• Do you have any strange creatures? If it does, list a few and a brief description only if they are important to the story.

• Is the world part of the plot? Meaning, is the world falling apart, dying, being destroyed and your character has to save it or seek refuge somewhere else. You know, things like that.

• Only add important detail. You don't need to know everything about your world before you start the novel, just the key things that are important.

• Build the world as you write. You are going to come up with new material for your world as you write. It's okay to learn about your world as your character shows you.

This is as basic as I can get the list. Just remember not to over-build your world and allow for some room to play with it. You can add further detail as needed.

If you novel deals with military, you might want to know a few things about your military. Or if your story has to deal with slavery, you've got to know the system. Things like that. Ask yourself a lot of questions that will help improve your novel and make it seem like a real place.

Take what you need and go from there.

NaNoWriMo 2016: Mirror Magic Series

What inspired the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea?
I was going through my Talecraft cards last year when I came up with this idea. It was just a small idea then but when I finally sat down to plan it, it became a huge idea that turned into a douology. I plan on writing both of them for NaNoWriMo. They are called Mirror Magic and Mirror Mage.

Describe what your novel is about! 
The whole series is about a girl who has to figure out her magic, why it's different from the other magics, and she has to find out how to use it.

What is your book’s aesthetic? Use words or photos or whatever you like! (First Novel)
Whenever I think of this book, other than mirrors, I think of a forest in the winter. The dead trees everywhere, snow coating the ground and it just over all makes it hard for people to hide. It's kind of bleak and bare.

Introduce us to each of your characters! (First Novel)
Luca Moran - Named after her father because they thought they were having a boy. The MC who has to figure out her magic, deal with discrimination due to the mark on her forehead, and stay hidden from the army that has been trying to capture her.

I'll keep it at my main character. Anyone else will really spoil the plot.

How do you prepare to write? (Outline, research, stocking up on chocolate, howling, etc.?)
I love outlining, researching, and world building. Those are my favorite things to do when I'm planning out my novels. I used to just write without guidelines but I found myself writing a lot of filler. So my outlines are scene-by-scene but they are loose enough to allow me creative freedom.

What are you most looking forward to about this novel?
I'm looking forward to actually writing it. It's not what I usually write because it's very character driven rather than plot driven. I don't write many character driven novels or stories.
List 3 things about your novel’s setting.(First Novel)

• Cold, winter
• Lots of Forests
• Tense air due to the Kingdom's main problem. 

What’s your character’s goal and who (or what) stands in the way? (First Novel)
Her main goal is to learn how to use her magic and how she can use it to protect herself and others that she cares about. There are many things that stand in her way, the army, the Kingdom's rebellion, and herself.

How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel? (First Novel)
She will have better understanding about herself and her magic.

What are your book’s themes? How do you want readers to feel when the story is over? (First novel)
Don't be afraid of doing things alone. That basically covers the first novel. 



If you'd like to fill this out, click the image below and be sure to check out the other blogs as well.

New Genre Challenge: Western

Well, this happened. A writing group I'm apart of is doing a genre challenge and I'm writing the only things I haven't really touched. Western. This is about a female gain robbing a train without anyone noticing. It's basically 5 short stories that are going to run to about...5k a piece, so 25,000 words total for the whole thing. Each short story is in a different gang member's point of view showing what kind of job they did. I'll definitely post this on Wattpad once I'm done with it.

It's an interesting experience. I know nothing about writing Westerns but I'm doing a lot of research on them. And I love trains. So it's a bonus. I'm hoping to get this done before the end of November while editing everything else I have. I've got so much on my plate. I'd better make a list.

Introduction to Planning a Novel

It's October. Just a little under a month away from National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I figured it would be the best time to do this kind of post. It's a planning post, kind of. It's more like an overview of what I'm planning on posting this month. Since it is close to NaNoWriMo, I've decided to do a planning series where it goes through basic points of planning.

What is planning in a novel? It's where you figure out what your novel is going to be about, your characters, and your setting. It's simple. There are various ways to go about planning, but these are some of the key things that are consistent for me when I plan.

Things I plan on covering:

• World Building. World building is essential to a lot of writing even in contemporary settings. You've got to know key/important places and why they are important. 

• Character Building. This is also important since characters are kind of needed to tell a story, whether it be human or non-human. You've got to have some kind of information down about them.

• Plotting and Outlining. I'm a huge supporter of outlining. It's a good way to track what you are doing in your story. My reasons are in a different post that I will link HERE.

Unfortunately, there are only enough weeks in the month for three more posts but these are the bare essentials for planning a novel. Especially if you writing for NaNoWriMo. It's easy to lose motivation during the month it's best to know where you are going with your novel. 

But the one thing you need is an idea. You've got to start somewhere. If you don't have an idea then you need to get one. How you go about getting ideas for novels/stories is up to you. I can't tell you how to generate your ideas as they vary from person to person. Do some exploration, you'll find something to write about.

The Editing Process: Slacking

So, this last week kind of sucked when it came to editing. I didn't work on Dowsers at all. I instead worked on The Survival Agreement because it needed some work. I'm going to have to get started on editing my short story for that contest. I really need to get things done.

Basically I'm slacking. I did finish planning my two novels and created the cover art for it already. I'm actually pretty happy about it. I put aside my editing to do this so I really need to get back on track.

How To Handle Constructive Criticism

Constructive criticism can be a scary thing when you've written or made something for others to see. While you'd love for people to just tell you how awesome you are, it's not very realistic that someone would do that. People are more than likely going to point out what you could do better, and while it will feel like you are being stabbed, you'll find that you can actually learn from it.

Things to know about constructive criticism:

•  It can be painful to hear. It really can be painful to hear but you will learn to handle it better the more it happens and you'll be able to distinguish the good from the bad. 

• It can help you improve. There is a point where you are going to need help from an outside source, especially if you aren't planning publishing through traditional means. Constructive criticism is a way to help your story and your writing improve.

• You can learn from it. It kind of falls in with the previous point but I'm going with it anyway. Constructive criticism can help you find your weaknesses and places that need help. Learn from it so you don't make the same mistake twice.

 Things you SHOULDN'T do about constructive criticism

• Ignore them. Do NOT ignore the constructive criticism, especially if you asked for someone to review your story. That's just rude and you might end up losing readers. I guess this is for people who post online more than published authors.

• Laugh at them or play it off as a joke. Again, that's rude. That is disrespecting them and their opinion. If you don't like it then maybe you shouldn't be posting your work for people to see. 

• Reject everything. Just don't. Some things are okay. When it's consistent, maybe you should look into that. If they just tell you that you suck, then you can forget everything I said and ignore them. That's not being constructive. 

• Take everything too personally. There are people who are going to have biased opinions and aren't going to like what you wrote. That's fine. You can't please everyone. Just remember that there are going to be people who loved your story. Not everyone liked Harry Potter or Twilight or Hunger Games. It's going to be the same for everything.

• Ask for critiques if you aren't going to like it. I feel like this one is rather obvious but people tend to do this a lot. I'm not sure why you would ask someone to critique your work if you didn't want to accept it but just don't do it if you don't want to hear what they have to say. 

• Belittle the person giving you a critique. This is also rude. They took the time out to try to help you and you go and try to make them feel bad about it. That's not okay. Respect them. If you don't like what they said then just say "Thank you for reading my story," or "I'm sorry this story wasn't to your liking." etc. Be polite even if you want to reach through your computer and strangle them.

This might not have been the best guide ever to how to handle constructive criticism but I have a hard time wrapping my head around why people react to it badly. I get my fair share of constructive criticism and I welcome it. It helps me become a better writer and improvement is something all writers should strive for. 

The Editing Process: My Ending Sucks

Does editing ever make you want to rip your hair out? Because that's what I'm feeling this week. I'm still on lesson two of How To Revise Your Novel. This novel is really long and I feel bad for the people who wrote an even longer novel.

Basically, I've come to the conclusion that the ending part of this novel sucks and that it's going to need a massive overhaul. Well, the whole novel needs an overhaul but the ending needs one especially. It's awful. The ending shouldn't be awful. I think I have too many fillers and info dump because I was rushing to get this over with.

This is probably another reason why I don't actually want to publish this novel, Dowsers. I don't think I had much inspiration writing it. Hopefully the editing will go well. I plan on posting the first chapter by 217 on Wattpad.

The Importance of Outlining

Some people believe that outlining a novel or story isn't always important. The people who we call "Pantsers" as they are the ones who write by the seat of their pants. I used to be one of them until I discovered the wonderful thing called an outline.
An outline is basically a guideline for your book. You write down your scenes in order of how you want them in your book. Or you outline by chapter, it really depends on you as a writer. It's important for you to have one at some point in your writing process.

What outlines can do for you as a writer:

• They keep you from taking your characters down an unplanned road.  I don't know about you but some writers lose track of what they are writing. An outline is a way that you can keep your characters down the right road.

• You have a clear cut visual of your story. Sure there are still things that might surprise you here and there but not everything should be a surprise to you as the writer. What might come as a surprise is more of an epiphany moment. You finally figured out how to connect point B and C or something along those lines.

• Outlines can keep you from writing unnecessary scenes. This kind of goes with the first point. Outlines can keep you from writing filler scenes or anything that is unnecessary to the plot of your novel. If you follow your outline, you're sure to not write filler scenes. As long as you don't plot filler scenes (a post I'll get into later).

• It keeps you organized. Writing can be absolute chaos sometimes. You've got to research and figure out your characters and all sorts of things. Sometimes you have to create some kind of chart to figure out how your character(s) get from point A to point B or how object C connects with the suspect of your character. Having all of this in various places can be really hard to find. It's best to find a way to keep it all in one place. An outline is a nice way to keep it all right there, even if it's just a little note or however you add it to your outline.

•  It won't add unnecessary characters. This kind of goes along with the unnecessary scenes. Basically, anything that you don't need, it will help you keep them out of your story. It helps when you're editing so you don't have to trim them out later.

• It helps you explore new ideas for your story. This is one of my favorite things about outlining. It opens up new ideas and subplots for your novels. You will be able to see where a story will go if you changed a scene even in the slightest. You might even find a way to make your story stronger. 

• It's fun. Okay, this isn't why it's important but I feel like I should add it anyway. I love outlining my novels. There are so many ways to do it too. I do a lot of different things but I generally end up going back to the index cards. 

There are benefits to outlining. If you've never outlined a novel before, then you should consider trying one. Going about it is easy but you should try different methods to figure out which one suits you.

The Editing Process: Going By Slowly

I'm getting a little frustrated this week. Lesson two of How To Revise You Novel is taking me forever. I think it's my novel itself. I'm getting bored with it already. I just want to get to the part where I re-plot everything. This story needs a massive overhaul.

I'm almost done though. After this I have several more lessons before I get to the overhaul but hopefully it will get better. I still have to fix the broken plot and whatever the other chapters have. So much work. I have to keep at it because I have to finish it by the end of the year. Then I have to start working on my other story that is halfway through the Holly Lisle class.

But in order to finish it, I'm going to have to find my plot cards that I made...I cant remember where I put them.

I absolutely need to finish Lesson Two by Saturday. I have to.

How To Make the Most of Your Beta Readers

I've recently run into issues when beta reading. People don't seem to take it seriously. As a beta reader, being blown off and basically told that my opinion doesn't matter really pisses me off. Despite the fact that I'm trying to help, writers tend to think that my opinion isn't important.

As a writer, these are the things that are really going to help you improve. It's important that you take someone's comment into consideration if they gave you constructive feedback. I'm also a writer, I hate people telling me that there is something wrong with my story, but I consider that they might be right. More than half the time, they are.

So writers, before you get a beta reader, here are some things you might want to remember as you continue with your writing path.

Some things you SHOULDN'T do with your beta reader:

• Tell them that their opinion is wrong - They are your reader, your audience. Their opinion really does matter. While not all of their opinions should effect your story, you should at least try to see it from their point of view - as long as it's reasonable. If there is some kind of biased against a type of person or event then I think it's safe to say that was just an opinion and you can ignore it.

• Think that betas are there just to compliment you - if that's what you are expecting, then I think you'll be in for a rude awakening. It's not realistic to believe that your writing is the best. If your beta reader isn't finding anything wrong with your story, then they are probably lying to you. They are bound to dislike something.

• Argue with your betas about something you disagree with - It's petty. Arguing with your beta is something you should avoid, especially when the beta is just giving you his or her opinion your story. They are allowed their own opinion. Trying to justify yourself shows a lot of who you are as a person and you will lose betas that way. It makes you sound like you believe your writing is superior to anything they have to say.

• Do not expect your beta readers to finish in one day - Come on, let's be real. They have jobs and lives too. If you send them a 150k novel and hope that they will finish it in a day, then you are sadly mistaken. If you want quality input, be patient.

Some things you SHOULD do with your beta readers: 

• Ask questions - Questions can get you very far when it comes to your betas because you then get to pick apart their brain and really discover why they may have or may not have liked a certain part of your story.

• Value and respect their opinion - These people are your audience. They are taking time out of their busy day to read the story you wrote and while some of their opinions may hurt, you've got to learn to take it. Some of them might just tell you that it sucks and give you no reason as to why - ignore them. They are being assholes. You want them to explain why it sucks. Take things into consideration.

• Get to know your betas - I don't know about you, but I would want to know the person who is about to rake through my manuscript.

• Be firm about certain points - People will argue and argue about a lot of the things that really needs to be there in your story. You should know what is relevant to your story and what isn't. If they feel like your character needs to be a badass when your character isn't then tell them no. There are some things you need to stand firm about, especially when someone is trying to change the entire plot of your story. That's not what a beta reader is for.

• Compile facts - If a good portion of your beta readers say that there is a certain part that they really just can't stand or they don't like what a character did (within reason - antagonists tend to be disliked sometimes) then you might want to consider changing that or fixing it. Try to figure out what they didn't like about it and work on it. It doesn't matter if you liked the scene or if you didn't, sometimes you write things that aren't important to the story.

• Find a good platform that works for the both of you - Personally, I think Google Docs is the best place to go when beta reading and editing need to be conducted. It's easily available and you don't need to have a Gmail account to send it to someone without a Gmail account. My friends don't have one and they are able to use the comment feature just fine. You should also be lenient about how it's sent to them. 

• Edit your manuscript before giving it to a beta reader - This is for the sake of a the beta reader. They don't want to read your sloppy first draft. Fix it up to the best of your abilities and then give it out for someone to read. It makes it easier on them as a reader and they can actually enjoy the story.

• Set up a way you can communicate with each other - Keeping in touch is a good way to connect with your beta reader. If you have questions, then you can ask each other without problem. In any kind of partnership, communication is key.

These are my general thoughts and opinions on how writers should benefit from beta readers. As a writer, it is important to remember that you have room to grow.  You will never be the best at it as you keep changing and improving. Beta readers can help you there so please treat them with respect.

The Editing Process: Pushing Ahead

I don't think I've mentioned this before but I've been using Holly Lisle's How To Revise Your Novel course to edit my novels. For Dowsers, I'm only on lesson two of the class and have been on lesson two for weeks. Not because I stopped. The beginning lessons tend to take a lot more time than some of the other ones.

Dowsers is also a very long novel. And the longer the novel, the more work I'm going to have to put into it. Currently, this novel is at 122k words. Printed, that's 177 pages (normally) and that isn't separating my chapters onto a new page. It might not seem like a lot but if you ever take this class, you'll realize just how much time it takes.

I'm not going to lie, it's totally worth it. I was reading another novel I took through the process (and still need to finish) and it's way better! I mean, leagues better. I put it on my kindle to read and I'm going to finish editing it after I finish Dowsers.

I'm hoping that Dowsers will have the same results as my other novel. So far, I'm picking apart my novel and seeing all of my plot holes and other things that were terrible. And I have to keep going with it if I want to get it done on time. I have so much more to do. 

What I Do With My Time

Procrastination
What is your worst time waster? How long do you allow yourself to procrastinate? Do you regret it, or do you think it’s worth it?

Bonus: Try to forego one of your time wasters this month and see how much higher your WC is! But not that school, work, necessary stuff. We need you happy, healthy and not in trouble for truancy.

Lately, I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos. I have my moments but I just get really tired when I get home and just want to veg. My hours at work at changing and I'm trying to get used to it all, not to mention school has started. Sometimes I just want to kick back. YouTube videos are usually short and I try to use them as more of a character study since I don't have the energy to go out and people watch. It's really easy to pick up on certain quirks that people have. You have to go and find the right ones though. Not the scripted messes that people tend to make.

I don't know if that's considered procrastinating since I'm actually doing something but I think it's procrastinating. It's not something I do for long, maybe an hour or so before I get bored and go back to writing. My attention span for watching videos/TV/Movies is really short. I don't mind when I'm doing something while its playing in the background but I can't always just sit down and watch stuff.

Since I tend to pick up a few personality traits that I can use, I don't tend to regret it much...until I see the pile of work I have to do later - then I regret it. So, yes. Yes I do regret it. Actually, writing this post is me procrastinating from the massive amount of stuff I really should be doing...

Short Stories

What do you like about writing short stories? What don’t you like about writing short stories? How do you think short stories differ from novels?

Bonus: What is your favorite short story anthology?

Short stories are nice when I need a break from writing a novel or editing. Sometimes novels tend to be a lot to commit to but writing a short story is exactly what I need. It's also good practice for working on concluding things. I like the simplicity of writing a short story.

But, short stories are limited. Coming up with a smaller plot tends to be harder than writing a full on novel, sometimes. Not for everyone. It's important to stay focused on the task. Since they generally have one plot and maybe one subplot - maybe - it tends to be a lot harder to conclude everything within the small word count. That's where I struggle, as I'm not a good short story writer but I try.

There are obvious differences to short stories and novels. Word count being one of them. The structure is a little different since everything has to be wrapped up at the end of the short story. The amount of characters you introduce in a short story is very limited. I could go on, but I guess it's pretty obvious. There are more limitations to writing a short story compared to writing a novel.

I don't have a favorite short story anthology.

The Editing Process: Knowing What Went Wrong

Dowsers is one of the longest novels I've written and decided to edit. There are a lot of mistakes that I need to fix before this reaches other people. Aside from the normal grammar and spelling mistakes I have, I found several things wrong with my main and sub plots.

Going through it once was enough to force me to understand where I went wrong. Thankfully, there is no insta-love. Or love triangles (I hate them). The relationship between my characters is important for their development because my characters have problems. Don't all characters, though?

I do need to redo the ending. I'm terrible at writing endings and beginnings. This is something I'm going to have to work on because it's the most important part of the book. I can't having it being lame. That just won't do.

There is also a matter of my antagonist being slightly bipolar. He really shouldn't be that way. I mean, he's good at acting because that how he gets what he wants, but he isn't bipolar. So, that is on my list of things I need to fix.

Now, the plot. I've been playing with some other options that my plot has to offer to see if they work better. It might. I might have to figure out what works best - which offers the strongest plot. It's going to be a lot of work, but it will be worth it in the end.

Pretty soon, I'll have to do some trimming...and adding. Adding is the hardest parts editing but it has to be done.

The Survival Agreement

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I thought I would post the cover art of my story, as I just published the first chapter on Wattpad last night. It was definitely outside my comfort zone but it did make it's way through a few people before I posted. Those people have been credited at the end of the chapter.

Feel free to check out my Wattpad: HERE - The first chapter of The Survival Agreement is available there. I'm hoping to update at least once a week on Sundays since this is a finished story. The only thing that takes time is when others are helping me by going through it.

This story is the first installment of my District Pluto series. And at the current moment, I'm editing the second story, The Morality Sentence. It's going to need some work - a lot of work.

Third Edits - Complete

These edits for The Survival Agreement didn't take me very long. While I know there are places that I can improve in, I need another opinion so I'll be actively looking for beta readers. I actually have a few that I've contacted but I'm waiting to hear back from them. This is the hardest part of the process for me. Finding someone to read my work.

I actually sent it to an editor. I was going to wait until after the beta readers but it already presented itself. I figured I'd see what they had to say about it until I find more beta readers. This is mostly a trial time for me. I don't know what process I would prefer first and which I would prefer second. I guess I'll see.

Second Edits - Done!

Finally! Finally my second edits are done for District Pluto: The Survival Agreement (formally known as The Sacrificial Son). I've even created a checklist for what needs to come next. My third and final round of edits (which is mostly a syntax edit) should be over quickly before I sent it out to Betas. Then I'll be editing two projects at once. The next story in the District Pluto series, Morality Sentence and my stand alone novel Dowsers. I'm hoping to get some of these out to Betas by the end of the year but I have a feeling that Dowers will take me a long time to edit but I really need to get back on it.

One thing I noticed when doing this second edit was that my characters were weak. While typing up my edits, I tried to fix this but I don't know how well I did. I guess I find out when I start the last round of my editing. If not, then hopefully my betas can help me with how they read. It occurred to me that my characters didn't even have the barest of description so I had to add that in. That was a struggle.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the outcome of this short story/novella (possibly a novelette). I can already see the improvements compared to my very first draft. I finally have a name for it too, as I stated above. It's no longer Sacrificial Son, it is now titled The Survival Agreement. I already have the cover art made (and fixed). Actually, I have two. I have one that I picked out but I'll also ask the people who are my betas - if they want to. I'm not going to force that on them. I already have one in mind.

Writing Traditions

Traditions
Zombies are a July tradition here at Wriye. Do you have a writing tradition of your own? How did it come about?

Bonus: Share an example of your tradition!

I think the closest thing to writing traditions I have are NaNoWriMo and WriYe. Even the prepping is part of the tradition because it gets me excited to do what I have planned. Then I fall flat on my face (with WriYe) half way through. But I try. I really do.

How I came about NaNoWriMo was by accident one year. I don't even remember how it happened, I just stumbled upon it my Freshmen year of high school (12 years ago) and I've kept going since. I don't normally get involved with the local writing events that happens with NaNo. I mainly just use the site to keep track of my word count, and to lurk in the forums from time to time.

I came about WriYe a few years later. I can't remember how though. Probably by accident - like everything else.  WriYe is a huge commitment and I have a hard time staying on the forums for the whole year but that doesn't mean I forget to accomplish my writing goals. Though, I do tend to lose track of where I'm at in my goals.

That's really all I have to say about my traditions involving writing. I don't really participate in any other writing events, not yet anyway. I'm trying to get everything organized and I have too many manuscripts to edit. Though, I might stop editing from time to time to write a new novel to add to the stack.

...Editing my own work is hard but I'm slowly getting there.

Critique and Criticism

Critique and Criticism
What is your method of critiquing a piece of writing? What do you expect out of people critiquing your work?

I haven't critiqued in a really long time. In my head, I do it all of the time, but I haven't critiqued someone's work (with them being willing) in years. But, I guess I could say, that I look for inconsistencies or anything that stands out to me that really shouldn't be there (misplaced plot, forgetting to delete a passage before continuing, etc). I tend to ask a lot of questions when I'm looking over someone's work, mostly to benefit them. Instead of telling them that something is wrong, I ask them specific questions so they will figure it out and hopefully, it will help them improve other places of their story as well.

I also look for grammar issues and sentence structure flaws, if they ask me to, but I mainly focus on the story itself, rather than the syntax. At least at first. Unless the same mistake is consistent throughout the story. Then I'll point it out. For example: I was reading someone's story and they lacked commas.  I had to go back and read several sentences to figure out what in the hell they were trying to say. I definitely pointed that out.


When someone is critiquing my work, I would hope they would be honest with me and ask me questions as needed. Questions are beneficial, and so is being straight forward. Though, I haven't gotten close to this yet, I would hope that they would do their best to help me improve my writing rather than just be an asshole about it, but there is always that group of people who will be flaming jerks and just straight-up tell me that my work is crap. If they aren't going to give me a reason why my work is crap, then they aren't worth my time.

I don't mean to sound like a bitch about it either. I'm asking for constructive feedback to help me improve. Telling me that I suck at writing, isn't telling me where or why they think I suck at writing. It's just telling me that this person isn't into my story. That happens. I'm not delusional to think that everyone is going to enjoy my writing, since I know I don't enjoy every piece of writing that I come across.

Telling me how I should write my novels or stories is also something that I would like them to not do. My plot is written like this for a reason and trying to sway my story line isn't going to happen because the chances are, my story is already finished and the way I wanted it. They can question my plot if there are some major plot holes that need to be fixed or if the plot is weak (or has weak points) but their opinion on how my story should go is a big no-no. I can forgive small adjustments but not if they are suggesting that I go back and change everything. Just - no.

When critiquing, you're supposed to let the writer know where things really didn't connect with you, as a reader. If the characters come off a bit wooden instead of real, or if there is an incomplete subplot that never got resolved - these are things that should be pointed out. If they are a bit harsh about it, I'm okay with that, at least they are telling me where I need to improve. Let me know where my sentences get too wordy or if my sentences are too choppy. It happens. I catch them when I'm going through my edits. I hope that someone will catch them when reading through my story too (the ones that I miss).

Again, I haven't gotten to this point as I'm still going through my edits, since it's long and tedious but I'm getting to it. It's on my list of things to do once I finish editing the first short story of District Pluto.

My Genre of Choice

Genre
What’s your main genre? Why do you write in that genre? Do you have a tip to share for someone wanting to break into that genre? What genre would you like to break into?

Bonus: What is your favorite book written in your genre? (Written by you or another great writer!)

The main genre I write is Fantasy. I like going into different worlds that I've made and having my characters encounter some really strange things. I also like the freedom I can have with writing in this genre but there are also "rules" that one must follow. Things need to make some kind of sense. You can't just have something work without really knowing how it works. It kind of makes it complicated but I really like this part of it. Sometimes figuring out the mechanics to certain things can change the plot of your novel to something even better or it helps you get a better understand of what is supposed to happen.

My only tip is to know your world and don't allow it to bend to make it easier for your characters. Just because you have the power to do so, doesn't mean that you should. Always give your characters obstacles to face, even smaller ones, because it helps with character development.

I've read a lot of books in this genre but my absolute favorite is almost anything written by Tamora Pierce (almost - some of her books are good but just don't catch my attention). I never have issues going back and rereading her work. Also, Harry Potter is a good book that I can always go back and reread. To be honest, that is how I judge a book. If I have the ability to go back and reread it without pointing out flaws from both the writing and the characters, then it's a good book.

Abandoned Novels

Trunked Novels
Have you ever set a novel aside? Was it finished or unfinished? Why did you abandon that novel? What would it take for you to go back to it?

I've abandoned a lot of novels. I've actually been spending a lot of time recently going through them just to see what I have and some of them were really good but then a twist happened and then it fell apart. To go back to that novel, I would need to do some serious rewriting and plotting to see where my novel should have been going.


That is going to be a goal that I have later. Finishing my unfinished novels. Some of them are probably a lost cause or they are novels that are going to have to be used in some other way. Maybe they just need a little more planning...who knows. I guess, going back to them really depends on if they really catch my attention when I go back to them.


Bonus: Post an excerpt of your trunked novel. - Unfortunately, I don't have an excerpt to share right now.

Finishing Part One

As far as editing goes, I'm doing pretty well. I'm not finished with the mark ups that I need to do. This novel is a lot longer than some of the other things I've been editing so I'm still plugging away but I have less than 100 pages to go before I'm finished with that process.

When I get to the actually editing process - re-plotting and whatnot that needs to happen in some parts- I should be good because I already have my changes written in a time line. Keeping track of the time in my novel has been a pain in the ass so I tracked it before I started editing so I have a sense of where everything needs to be. Let me tell you, my novel is so far off from the mark in some places that it's painful.

I can't wait until I get to the actual re-writing of the scenes part of my novel. As much as I hate that part of it, I know that it's going to be worth it in the end.

Editing And All That Fun Stuff

What is the one thing you struggle with when it comes to editing? What is the one thing that you find easy to do? What is your favorite editing tip?

Bonus: Take a selfie/novel-ie of you/your novel in the midst of revision.

My biggest issues when it comes to editing a novel is finishing the edits. I struggle with rewriting the parts that need work. I have no problem tearing through my novel, though it takes me a lot of time since I'm a little picky but it's worth it.

Editing in itself is a monster, especially when it's your first time. I've edited  a few things but the only things I've ever completed were a few short stories. The satisfaction just after finishing those was rather nice and I'm hoping that I'll feel very accomplished after finishing editing a novel. 

My favorite editing tip would be to know what you wanted your story to be about before you start editing. It seems like a weird editing thing but by knowing what you want from your novel will help you focus on where the changes need to happen. Sometimes, I lose focus on what I'm working on but I have it written down in a place where I can see it, so it keeps me on track.

The image above is the closest thing I have on the novel I'm currently editing.

Crossing the Finish Line

That re-telling of a fairy tale that I started in February is finally finished. The ending was kind of rushed but I knew I was going to have a hard time with that part of the story since I hadn't fully thought of the ending though, I always struggle with the ending and the beginning on my first draft.

Strangely enough, the beginning was perfectly fine. I'm probably going to make adjustments here or there but it's done. It will sit until I'm ready to edit it. I'm trying to get the format down just right but I guess it won't really matter since I'm probably not going to publish this one. I'm going to test it out on my Kindle to see how it looks but it's not going to be available for some time.

It was fun to write. Though there are some small plot holes, it's something that I can easily fix when I get to it. I really enjoyed writing my characters especially my minor characters. I have a serious love for minor characters and I tend to like them more than main characters. I'm not sure why.

Anyway, soon, I'll be working on some cover art for this, probably hand drawn because I can't afford stock images right now, but I'll gladly draw it. Not to mention, this computer isn't the best for editing photos of any kind. I'm going to take my chances with doing it some other way. Or maybe I'll find an online photo editor that I can use.

It seems silly to make cover art for a story I don't plan on publishing, but it feels more complete when there is a cover.

A Month of Correcting Things

Now that February is coming to a close, it's time to get back into editing. I hate to admit that I hardly touched my manuscript in a few weeks - shame on me. So, it's going to be my main focus for the month. I've been working on my retelling of a fairy tale story and it's not even close to being done so I'll continue working on that in March. It shouldn't take me too long...I hope. It's getting pretty lengthy.

So, for the next month, all my posts will be about editing and the process I'm going through. I'm actually going to start that process today after I'm doing writing my chapter. I've been using Holly Lisle's How To Revise Your Novel class because, while it is a long process, I noticed that my manuscript turns out far better than I anticipated it to be. So, I'm going to stick to it.

Thankfully, this week is my Spring Break from school. I'll have plenty of time to catch up since I only have six lessons to start with. I just need to find the best solution to doing the worksheets since printing them isn't an option right now.

Now with that said, off to finish up some writing and start working on my editing. There is a lot that I need to finish by the time March ends.

Tell A Fairy Tale Day

On Friday, February 26th, it's Tell a Fairy Tale day!

So naturally, what better time to re-write a fairy tale. Most of my day was spent plotting out the story I wanted to tell. It's a sci-fi version of Beauty and the Beast. I didn't intend for it to be Sci-fi but it kind of happened to be that way, which is fine because I can re-write it however I want. It should be interesting, I hope.

My goal is to have it finished by the 26th, if not, then the 28th. It will be a nice break from the novel I've been editing very slowly. I haven't been in the editing mood lately. All I want to do it write, so that's what I'm going to do. Maybe in the end, it will be something I actually share with someone.

...After editing it a few times, of course.

Making Connections

How do your characters connect with one another? What kind of connection do they have? How do you connect your characters to the reader? 


This is a bit difficult to answer. In my current novel, which I'm editing, my characters (my two main characters) are connected through their university. They are opposite in certain aspects but, in a way, they are very similar in their values. I'm hoping that people can connect to them because they both go through some real life struggles.

I think that when a character, no matter the setting, have similar or the same problems that real people go through, then they can form a connection with the readers. Though you can't expect to have that kind of connection with every reader.

Generally, I try to base connections off things that good portion of people go through, or even things that I've experienced before. Being able to relate to a character helps make them feel real to the readers.

Changing Things Up

After my computer stopped being reliable for school, I decided to get a new one. Now, it still works just fine, other than the battery being terrible but it's still functioning. For the time being, I'll be transferring my documents into an external hard drive until I get a new desktop.

For now, I have a little Netbook like computer. It has a terribly small memory but I'm making due with all my flash drives. It works. I've decided to try a new writing program as well. Since 2009, I used Liquid Story Binder and loved it but lately, I've been wanting to try Scrivener. Partially because LSB hasn't been updating and I need certain things that it doesn't have. I won't feel bad about not using it as my main writing tool because I think I used as much as I spent on it.

I told myself if I ever got a new computer, I would give Scrivener a try. So that's what I'm doing. I have 30 days before it expires and by then, I'll know if I want to use it or not. Not that it would cost me much. I'm still trying to understand it but I think I'm really liking it. It's simple and while it doesn't have everything that LSB has, it has enough to make writing easier.

I'm not getting rid of LSB at all. Heck no. There are certain things that the program has that Scrivener doesn't and I can use it for more than just writing. I could use it for lesson plans. Actually, I was considering using it to hold all of my lesson plans so I can recycle them from time to time.

Anyway, now that I have a slight grasp of what I'm doing, I'm going to put all of my notes for Dowsers into Scrivener and see how much I like it. I know I should start off by writing an actual novel in it, but that will have to wait for another time. I have several novels that need to be written. For now, I'm just focusing on editing.

The Editing Begins

This week was pretty good. I'm currently 44,148 words into my novel. After it went astray for awhile, I finally got it back on track. Thankfully, I'll be able to edit those scenes out later this year when I decide to edit it.

I recently printed out my stand alone novel Dowsers for editing. I just started editing it so it should be fun. I'm pretty excited about editing this one. I'm not sure if I'll publish it but I'll enjoy it, at least.

Well, other than that, that's all that really happened for me this week. Reaching 750 words is getting harder and harder. I might change my goal to something lower. Maybe 500 words next month. 

School, Work, and Writing

This last week was my first week of having classes, a full time job, and trying to write and edit projects at the same time. Well, the first week this year and the first time in a very long time. It turned out pretty well. Writing 750 words was a lot easier than I expected it to be. I had to squeeze it in from time to time.

Thankfully, I managed to do it consistently for the last 17 days. I'm hoping to keep it up. Tuesday might be an issue but I'll work it out.

My weekly word count is, 6,484 words. My grand yearly total so far is 36,605 words. Not too bad. My novel is going to be ridiculously long though. I'm not even a third of the way through it yet. Though, I do know that there is going to be a lot of editing with this one.

Keeping Up with 750 words

This week was a bit tricky. My work hours make it a bit harder for me to fit in my writing time and with my class starting on Monday, it's going to make it even harder. 750 words a day becomes hard. Though I managed to keep up with it on top of the things I had to do for work.

I can't say how many words I wrote for this week, but as of right now my monthly total stands at 30,121 words. With editing, I clocked in my 10 hours for the month. Now, I'm going to prepare to work on it in February. I need to print everything out.

As far as reading goes, I'm not doing too well in that department. The book I picked isn't really holding my interest which isn't good. I'm going to push myself through it to see how it goes.
There is a whole list of books I want to read this year and I'm stuck on the first one.

Overall, it was a pretty good week.

WriYe Goals

WriYe Blogging Circle is back. Hopefully, I can keep up with it this year.

Goals:
What’s your Wriye Word Count goal and why did you chose it? What are you going to be focusing on this year? What are you doing differently this year compared to last year

Bonus:
Set your intention for this year. Share it with us!

My WriYe word count goal for this year is only 300,000 words. It's not a large goal but a more reasonable one for me this year. I decided to aim low so I could actually reach my goals (both writing and personal). My main focus this year will be writing my novel series. It's a 5 novel series, the first two novels are already planned out.

Another thing I'm focusing on is editing. I still have that short stories series that needs to be edited, but after the 3rd short story, I need to rewrite the other two and add several more 10,000 word short stories to go with it. There are just so many things that need to happen with this project that I realized it won't be finished any time soon. So my main editing focus is a stand alone novel called Dowsers (for now, at least). I wrote this novel two years ago and it currently stands at 122,000 words. There is a lot of work that needs to go into this novel.

Last year, I focused mostly on editing. I didn't get very far with that. In fact, I think I only finished about 2 1/2 stories. I'm pretty sure I wrote more than I edited. My goal is still pretty low for word count but it's manageable. That's what I'm going for.

My intention for this year, in terms of writing and editing, is to prepare for publication at some point. Currently, I know I'm not ready for publishing, since I don't have a single story that I would share with others. Hopefully, soon, I'll be at that point.

January Goals

The beginning of the year is going to be harder to start off than my normal years. With my classes starting mid-January, I need to try to get ahead of the game before then but if I don't manage to finish, I still have the rest of the year. Because 2016, I'm taking it a bit slower than I usually do.

Here are my writing/editing/reading/etc goals for January:

• Write book #1 (no real title yet)
• Edit 10 hours in District Pluto
• Read 1 book
• Blog once a week

It's simple enough right. That's just my goals for writing. I have personal, work, and school goals that are not added to the list. For now, I'm keeping my blog strictly writing related until later in the year. Smaller lists help me stay focused. I won't feel so overwhelmed with all the things I need to do.

We'll see if it helps at all.