Category: Writing

Introducing The Business and Craft of Writing Series

22159317_1509436672426752_1079978262542680064_nI’ve been meaning to update for months, but I’ve been busy with life and my writing. (So it goes… Sigh.)

Anyway, last November, I did an Instagram photo challenge for writers. One of the items was to post our “Author Bucket List.” I hadn’t ever specifically thought of what my bucket list would be, though I did have some long term goals and hopes. Two of which kind of go hand-in-hand: 1) Present at a writing conference and 2) Teach a creative writing class.

As I was thinking about what I wanted to do with this blog and my bucket list, several things occurred to me.

 

A) My passion is publishing and writing. I majored in English and minored in editing, but I frequently said that if my minor had been a major, I would have dropped English in a heartbeat. And maybe someday when my kids are out of the house (or basically out of the house), I’ll actually work in publishing.

2) I LOVE to advise people on writing and publishing.

3) If I want to teach or present, I better start practicing.

All of which is a very long-winded way of me saying that I’m starting a new blog series! At first it’ll probably just be a random compilation of various tidbits about the publishing industry and writing craft, but eventually I hope to have a system worked out.

The first few topics will be things that I wished I knew back when I was 14 and looking at getting my first novel published. I’m already working on the first post, so keep your eyes out for that one!

 

Writing goal updates

Earlier this year I set four writing goals for myself.

  1. Finish a first draft of something
  2. Revise an earlier novel
  3. Write a short story
  4. Write more consistently

I’m happy to say that I *am* writing more consistently than I was and I’ve started numbers 2 & 3. Goal number 1 is kinda not cooperating, so I’m changing tactics.

The story that I had originally hoped to finish the first draft of is so broken right now that I really don’t know where to begin fixing it. I have some ideas but I think one of the biggest issues is that this particular story is one that I technically started when I was 14, then trunked until after college. I’m not the same person I was 10+ years ago and I’m not interested in the same things in the same kind of way I was then. So I’ve decided that this one is getting re-trunked for now. I might pull it back out later, but we’ll see.

I have several other ideas floating around that I’m interested in writing. One of them is a middle grade (MG) fantasy in the style of Diana Wynne Jones, who is my writing idol. A second idea is a Victorian romance. I’ve already started the MG book and I have a rough plot idea, but I’m not super interested in writing that at the moment. But I don’t know for sure what direction I’m going with the Victorian romance either. So currently I’m researching and fine-tuning both ideas. Later this year I’ll work on one of them and *maybe* try NaNoWriMo in November. (That’s super iffy though.)

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Last month I mentioned that I was starting a short story for my July Camp NaNo project. I’m glad to say that I won again! Of course, I set my official goal so ridiculously low that I wrote almost half of it the very last night of camp, but hey! It kept me motivated.

I’m still working on that story and hope to finish it this month. As soon as I’m done with it, then I’ll see where I am with research/fine-tuning and either start a new story or continue with my revision in September.