WUW: 100 Words is Saving My Life Edition
What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop that’s easy and fun. All you do is answer the four main questions, then visit the other participants’ blogs to see what they’re up to this week. Join us! Jooooiiiin uussss!
So, I took last week off because I was bad blogger and I was behind on my commenting. Y’all saw comments from me because I visited your blogs, but yeah, no blogging. It’s a new enforcement technique to help me be a good community citizen. I do like reading y’all’s blogs, but sometimes I look at the sheer number and feel very overwhelmed. There are too many good writers to befriend out there! 🙂
And speaking of writer friends, I read my CP Kate Scott‘s book Counting to D this weekend! I loved it! I received an arc from her publicist, and here’s what I wrote about it on Goodreads:
Click the picture to pre-order it from Amazon!
“We’re different people, and that’s okay. Different doesn’t have to mean worse. But it also doesn’t have to mean better. Different only means different.” That is, I think, the crux of this story. The characters all find different ways to feel superior to each other–whether it’s through brains, brawn, or beauty–when they’re all aching to be “normal” and accepted. But, as dyslexic Sam discovers, there’s really no such thing as normal–and that’s a blessing. You won’t find lyrical writing or lush imagery, but that’s not Kate Scott’s style. You will find snappy dialogue and three-dimensional characters that are interesting and familiar. Not because you’ve read about them in a dozen books, but because you could’ve gone to high school with any of them. I love how the author showed that everyone can be nice and mean. Nerds can be jerks and popular kids can be sweet and sincere, and vice versa. Sam’s struggle is about dyslexia, but anyone who’s felt “weird” and “abnormal” will recognize themselves in her story–and that’s everyone because we all have something that we feel sets us apart, and not in the good way. This is a story with heart and soul, and I found myself thinking about the characters and missing them only a half hour after closing the back cover.
Next Wednesday Kate will be guest posting on here, and then the Tuesday after that (the 11th), her book will go on sale. Yay!
WHAT I’M WRITING
My first order of revisions-business was to add a whole sequence. I finished that last week and it turned out to be so awesome. Things happened and characters stepped into roles that I didn’t anticipate. Don’t you just love when that happens in your writing? The next order of business was to do a chapter-by-chapter outline of my book, taking note of certain types of events, and just really getting a good feel for how everything flows. I finished that yesterday, then had a nice chat with my SIL about the pacing, flow, and character arc. Today, I will start my chapter-by-chapter revisions. This is where the real work begins! Time to smooth it all out, plump what needs plumping, and help my characters really come to life. Last night I had a little panic–some of that silly fear of how much work this is going to be. Then I thought of this quote:
“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” -Earl Nightingale
That’s my new go-to for shooting down that silly writerly-fear I’m prone to.
WHAT INSPIRES ME
Well, the quote above, obviously. Also, the alumni from my MFA have a private group on Facebook where we chat about whatever we like. Someone read a book (or a story/article? something like that) about an author who vowed to write 100 words every day, and ended up writing much, much more than that. My friend started another FB group for those of us who were interested in participating in the 100 Words a Day Challenge. We all post on there every day that we get at least 100 words down. This has changed my whole life. Okay, maybe not, but it has helped me tremendously. So, I’ve devoted nap times to writing, yes? Well, there have still been days when I don’t feel like writing, for whatever reason. On those days, I said to myself, “Just get 100 words. That’s it.” So I start writing with just that goal in mind, and every. single. time. I’ve ended up getting at least several hundred words written, sometimes even over a thousand. It really is a mental block and nothing more, but 100 words is so easily attained, that even on days with the worst mental block, I can talk myself into getting my butt in the chair.
Give it a try. You won’t regret it.
WHAT ELSE I’M UP TO
Not a whole lot. Life’s pretty quiet–which is nice. Things were too crazy last fall and during the holidays. Time for a break!
Oh! I did finally get a synopsis up for my MFA thesis and literary YA contemporary novel, RED SKY:
Two years after being raped, 17-year-old Audrey Winters feels like her life is finally stabilizing. Then her best friend Graham declares his supposed love, her mother announces her engagement, and her new lifeguarding job becomes almost too much to handle. Somehow she finds the courage to keep it all together, but when she runs into her attacker at work—as a fellow employee—Audrey must decide just how brave she is.
*Edit: Oh, I forgot that I now have to wear glasses all the time! (But I’m not a good candidate for contacts.) I’ve been glasses wearer for years, starting in 4th grade, and when I got to like 8th grade I refused to wear them except for studying, etc. Then in college I got a new prescription and was admonished to wear them only when reading, on the computer, driving, etc. Well, I went in a few weeks ago for the first time in five years and I’ve been upgraded to a certified Four-Eyed Geek. I don’t mind though. I really like my frames, and I’ve kinda always wanted to be someone who wore their glasses all the time anyway. 🙂
Here’s my new look!
How’s your week going? I hope fabulously.
#writing #youngadultbooks #reading #katescott #creativewriting #youngadultfiction #fiction