Trying to Manage Time

The saying is true, time just slips away. Before I know it the day is gone. I look at the writing goals I've set for myself and realize I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped.

Our crit group leader has been encouraging us to keep track of our progress. One of the ladies even created an online place for that. It's a great idea. I flopped terribly with keeping the daily log on line. In my defense, I'm jumping between projects, and logging word count for edits is much harder because most of it is by hand right now. On the flip side, I need to keep track. I need to know how long it takes me to do something so my goal setting, and later, book commitments are accurate. Here's what's working for me.

A couple weeks ago, I started logging in start and stop times, which have turned into in and out times - they're easier to abbreviate with one letter- on the pages I'm editing. Here's what I found out one day.

I'd worked from about 11am to 11pm, with interruptions throughout the day, remember, I have four kids and it's summer vacation. I added up all the in and out times. In that 12 hour period, I got about 3 hours worth of work done. I don't like those numbers. If it feels like I've been working all day, I want more than three hours of work to show for it.

So, I think I need to try some things. Obviously there will be distractions, but I may be more easily distracted - oh shiny! - than others. I need to limit the distractions I can.

My first experiment to find what works, will be disabling things like email, and the wifi on my iPod (that could be tricky. I use the thesaurus app). The same goes for FB and text notifications. My phone will be on so the people who have my children can get a hold of me. So, if it's important, please call.

We'll see how this works. It might need some tweaking, but it's a start.

Contest News - Go Ahead, Vote Again!

So, great news :) www.vampirekissed.com changed the poll they were using for a more user friendly version. What does this mean? If you've already voted, you can vote again! So, wanna do some double dippin'? If you're reading this and thinking, contest? what? Well I got brave, entered a flash fiction contest. My entry is called I Vampire Kissed a Girl, and I Liked It. It's only 1000 words. You vote on the home page, the stories are in the forum. You don't have to register unless you want to leave a comment in the forum. And, you can only vote once time per computer. So, don't forget your phones, and other gadgets that can get online. Each of those can be used once. The Rules: No more than 1000 words Must be about vampires Must have the words vampire kissed in the title. There you have it folks, thanks for voting and for stopping by!

Contest Entry Update

First off, thank you to everyone who's voted for me! You all are amazing! Secondly, I'm currently in FIRST! (thank you again) at 26% It's not a very big lead, and there's still a whole month before this round of the contest closes, so we need to keep the momentum going. If you've already voted for me, and your computer won't let you do so again, they have a one vote per computer rule, you can still help by passing the information on to your friends and family, and encouraging them to pass it on. So, yeah, this is exciting, and it's got me re-energized to get back to work on book one, which can be a daunting, overwhelming task sometimes. Even if I don't end up winning in the end, this has been a great experience, and helpful for me as a writer. So, no regrets. Alright, time to get back to Claimed, book one in my first series. Oh, if missed it, yesterday I posted my flash fiction entry, I Vampire Kissed a Girl, and I Liked It, at www.vampirekissed.com. You don't have to register to vote, only to leave a comment. If you like it and haven't voted yet, I'd love to have your vote. Thank you!

Writing Updates

I'm starting with this today, because it's quick and easy. I have no updates, other than my cursor is working correctly again. Yay! I found out yesterday that all the work I did on Monday is gone, I've been told by other writers, that it's only words. They can be re-written, so that's what I plan to do today. Couldn't do it without a working cursor though :)

Writing Update

So, things aren't working so well for me this week. My cursor's jumping all over the place, making it difficult to write (a restart did not fix this problem..grr-that's supposed to fix everything). But, more upsetting than that, all the work I did yesterday has disappeared. I know I hit that stupid save button, I have no idea what happened to it, but it's gone. I made changes in a critiqued document that was sent to me. I have the original critiqued doc, but not the one with all the changes I made. So, joy of joys, I get to start all over. It better be better than it was, but we'll never find out if my stinkin' curson doesn't stop jumping around and screwing me up. I'm a little stressed-can you tell? It might just be a reading day, but then I'm two days behind tomorrow instead of one.

Writing Updates

I've gone through chapters 4-6 and realized they no longer belong. Chapter four is completely gone, there might be a paragraph from chapter 5 that shows up somewhere else, and maybe a couple paragraphs from chapter 6. Chapter 7 I need. Over the weekend, I also joined a critique group. This is a really big step for me, because I still have thin skin, and at first act defensively and get discouraged. It takes a few days for me to process it and come up with productive questions and different ways to do things to satsify myself and my crit parter. Now, I'll have even more. And I think the rule is to be brutally honest, it's better to have your crit group point something out than an editor or agent. Not only can receiving brutal honesty be an issue for me, but so can giving it. I'm always worried about how other people feel. Guess I'll learn to get over it, or I'd better just toss in the towel now, which is not what I want. Adaptation to brutal honesty it is. Todays writing goals: 1. Create a chapter four that bridges chapter 3 and 7. 2. Gather good, productive questions to ask about the critique I got back last week and move forward. Non-writing goal: leave the yummy peanut butter cookies in the kitchen alone. One for breakfast is enough. Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

Waiting and Writing

I've left a message with Children's Mercy Hospital's Neurology department, I'm waiting for them to call me back. Emma's had a referral (and approrpriate paper work in) for 3 weeks now, and I haven't heard from them. Today they heard from me (nicely). Also left a message for them about Alta's referral from the ER yesterday. Hopefully, I can take both girls in at once, we'll see. Logic whispers a warning: Don't count on it. So, while I wait for neurology to call back, I'll be reworking chapter one, using the suggestions, ideas, and comments from Saturday's critique session. Some of them were very helpful. These changes should help me make chapter one as good as I wanted it to be. I'm learning, writing is journey. It's filled with twists and turns, and ups and downs. It's fun.

Courage

Today was the monthly HeRA meeting, HeRA is a local chapter of RWA (Romance Writers of America), and I did something that scared me. For those who know me, I'm usually okay in front of crowds. I'm friendly, I'm easy going, I'm fun (no, this is not a personal ad), but when I stood in front of people I've only seen on two other occasions, and read the first 6 pages of my first book, I shook, I broke out in a sweat, and I worked to control my voice. It's not the crowd, or the reading outlound that got me, it was sharing of something that I've put so much work into, wondering if it was good enough, how it would be perceived and welcomed. One of the ladies put it very well today when she said it's like your baby, and you don't want people to tell you it's ugly. The women who commented left me feeling capable, not crushed. Yes, there are things I need to change, but they were also complimentary, and that made all the difference for me. I'm still working on developing a thick skin -which I've heard is one of the best tools in a writer's arsenal. So, come Monday, when it's time to get back to work, I'll be taking their suggestions and putting them to work. Thanks ladies!

Almost Done!

I can so see the end! Actually, I have the end, there's just a few spots I need to fill, like some descriptions, and add to a scene or two, then I can do the happy dance of finished work :) I have to get ready for the day, then I can hide in my room with my laptop and add those in, then...it's official! Yay!

Yesterday's Writing Update

I had a total of 5522 new words when I finished writing yesterday, 13 or 14 new pages I think. I don't know that I've ever had a day that big...but I'm going to try again today! Especially now that I know the basement is a really great escape for it when the kids are home. I'd like to have this draft finished in March, and then jump back to playing with Claimed and get that polished. Then maybe I'll do research for a different series, then come back to polishing up Chased. You can catch a few random lines from Chased on twitter. Okay, now to get the kids to school, get myself ready, then onto writing :) Have a great day, thanks for stopping by!

Writing Update

I've added over 2k words so far, and I think I might sneak up stairs (or down) to add some more. It's just so hard to hear the voices in my head when Kim Possible is on in the background. I'm not the type of writer who can have back ground music, so background kids or tv is out of the question. Although, I can get by with chanting monks. My favorite background noise, though, it white noise, like the washer and dryer going. Writing has actually encouraged some laundry days here. Thanks for stopping by!

Hangin' at the Courtyard and Writing...in the Chicago Area

Most of you probably know, but my brother and sister joined the Navy back to back. Their boot camp experiences overlapped by nine days. My sister's graduation was in December and my baby brother's graduation was this morning. There were too many of us here today, so I'm waiting in my room at the hotel for them to finish up and give us a call. Depending on the amount of time I have today, I might be able to get a little bit of writing in. I added about a 1k words last night I think. Anyway, here's a pic of where I'm working today. I've got a great view of the snow covered courtyard! I wish one of them could have graduated in mild weather so I could do more than look at the courtyard though! But still, it's nice and relaxing to look out over it. I also overload myself with books when I travel. I never know what I'll be in the mood to read, or how much time I'll have so I'm overly prepared. This time I brought the book Finding the Lost, by Shannon K. Butcher with me. I've been waiting about a month on the library waiting list, and I only have 100 pages or so left. Here's the book with the courtyard behind it. And another view, don't you love the cover? I do! I especially love this book because the main character's name is Paul :) Almost feels like I brought my husband along!

Hope you all have a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by!

Planning, Plotting, & Paper

I've been busy the last couple days. I have about 9 note book pages (front and back) full of notes for Chased, book two, and a few directional notes for future book ideas. Manuel and Alec now have their very own backgrounds and history. Both are fairly old vampires. Manuel de Leon was changed way back in 1513 and was a Spanish Conquistador Alec Babineaux was changed in 1625 and was a French soldier in a Louisiana fort long before the Louisiana purchase. I now know who they were before they were changed, who changed them, how and why, and a lot of their lives before they show up in my stories. I've learned about the history of Florida, New France (Quebec), and Louisiana. As well as brief histories of various groups of people like Native American tribes like the Natchitoches - part of the Caddo Confederacy and Jesuit and Recollect priests in Quebec in the 1600's. I have time lines and myths noted and reworked some history to my advantage. Today I finished up Alec's history and started on some beasties that will make an appearance. The first beastie is a snake demon, so I scrolled through Native American lore, as well as myth and lore from around the world looking for things I could pull in and I found what I was looking for, but in the process gleaned tidbits of information about all sorts of snake mythology. I also found out what happens if you type in snake demons as search words and found myself in a land of beautiful, yet terrifying art. One picture in particular caught my eye, (link) and it may get used as inspiration for my snake demon, who now has a name: Jake Pomo, he's named after my brother (Jake, not Pomo). He asked and I thought, why not? I'm pretty sure he has an eye patch, and I'm pretty sure I know why. For tomorrow: Play with Jake, the snake, Pomo and get him finished up. Then create gremlin and witch/warlock characters. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? I had a blast! After I have these notes done, I'll transfer them to my index cards for easy organization and access. Have a great day, and thanks for stoppin' by!

Friday Writing Update - Claimed

Prologue and first three chapters are mostly edited. I'm getting a little discouraged, I'm trying to find my groove, and it's not happening as quickly or easily as I thought it would. I've never done this before, so I'm in the trial and error zone. Do I edit the paper and then go back and edit in the doc? Seems redundant to me. It's playing with my eyes too, trying to change focus between my printed page, and my computer screen. Argh...I need to find something that works for me so I can get excited about it and not stall when I should be working. I keep trying new set ups, and new ways and so far, I'm still working on it. I've got my laptop, jumbo notebook (to hold first and second drafts, as well as research), and my tablet that I need to make space for. During the writing process, I sat on the couch - but now it's kind of hard to spread out there. Unfortunately, sitting on a hard chair at the dining table isn't doing it for me, desks in general are kind of hard for me to work at, physically, and creatively. I'm short, and tables and desks always seem too high for me to work at comfortably. I have a chair that I can lift, but then my knees are too close to the bottom and more than once I've jammed my knee into the underside of the thing when I was trying to get comfortable - that didn't really help any. Part of it's my clumsiness, but you get the idea. Tonight I tried a different set up on the couch and it might work. We'll have to see. My goal was to have this finished by the end of the year, and at this rate, it's going to be close...I need to get into my groove and get working. Thanks for listening to me rant a bit...

Working On It

Okay, I managed to do a bit of revision and my brain is happy. I've known my story was too long, and I knew that the best place to cut was in the beginning. There was a lot of info there that worked for me getting to know my characters, but didn't necesarily belong in the book itself. I just condensed 18 pages into 3. That will definitely help! Whatever was causing my mental editing block, I think this may have fixed it. I'm going to go through my written edits in my notebook, (about 100 pages) then I'll switch to editing directly in the document. My eyes are getting confused jumping back and forth between the book and the screen!

Couldn't Do It...

Couldn't keep moving, so I'm reworking the first 20 pages or so of Claimed so that I can move on. I was also working with paper and pen, but may just need to work directly with the doc on the computer. I hate feeling like I'm duplicating work by going through my paper draft and then going back to the computer to find and fix everything. I hope I'm saving a step by working directly in the doc. itself. I've never done this before, so I'm trying to figure this out as I go, and that's frustrating me too. Any authors who want to comment on how they do the editing process, please, feel free! Thanks for stopping by!

Figured Something Out

I think I know why I'm not just jumping into edits, it's taking me time to agree to finally look things over. I know I need to re-do the beginning of the story, and I haven't done it yet, so it feels like I'm editing something that's not ready, because it's not completely finished. Now that I know this, I wonder if I can trick my brain into agreeing to just continue with the edits and then do the rewrites all at once. Some how, I need to assuage that part of myself that feels like I forgot to do something. I'm at page 105 for edits, I started editing a while back when I read over the first 70 pages to refresh my memory, it had been awhile since I'd sat down to write. I couldn't help it, I edited as I went, so now, I just have to pick up where I left off, then I can go through and make things better - that's the plan anyway! Wish me luck! Thanks for stopping by!

Today - Tuesday's Work

I'm picking up at page 205 of Jennifer Chase's Dead Game, I hope to finish and get it back to her today. Isn't technology great! All changes, ideas, suggestions, etc... are done directly to the digital document. No prinitng pages of manuscript, sending them off, marking them up, and sending them back, all the time waiting on the USPS. When it's finished, it's at her desk within minutes :) I hope to start edits and rewrites on my book, Claimed tomorrow or Thursday, we'll see how things go :) Claimed is part of the Annwyn series, because there's more stories floating around in my head ;) Didn't sleep well last night, guess I should have spent it working on Dead Game, but at 2 am, I really thought I should go to bed, since I had to get up at 7:30 to get the kids moving...maybe I'll have better luck tonight. Once I did fall asleep, I didn't sleep that well...sad, huh?

I'm Done!

Wow! I didn't think I'd do it, but I finished today. My first draft is done! This feels really good. I think it took me 8 weeks to do everything after page 70. I ended with 245 pages, and 124,282 words. That translates into about 414 book pages. I'll start revisions on Tuesday, most likely since the kids are out of school on Monday. I've already got a good idea of where to start cutting. I also came up with some title and series ideas. My friend Kathy brainstormed with me last week. The series, because there are other characters to follow, is tentatively called Annwyn. I think this book will be called Claimed. Yay!

Wednesday Writing

Field trips, feeling sick, cross country meets, scouts, service projects, things like that are holding me up. I'm not sure I'll make my goal of finishing my rough draft by the end of Friday. I still have two more writing days though, so that will help :) I'll at least get closer! I added another 10 pages today and I know where I'm going, so picking up in the morning should be pretty simple. Sometimes the hardest part about writing, is just sitting down, holding still, and starting. When I know what's going on and I'm just too tired to keep writing, it's much easier to get back into it in the morning. So, here's to good mornings, I hope you have a great one!