The Beautiful Part of Writing--#WIPMADNESS Check-In

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, brain surgery."

--Robert Cormier

Could you imagine if you had one shot at getting your novel right? The thought makes me shudder. As I'm plugging away at this current revision, one thing that relieves the pressure is knowing that I'll be able to revise it as many times as needed. Phew!

Now, for some end of the month business:

We need a host for February. If you're interested, let me know in your comment, otherwise I'll be happy to continue. March will be a special month since the originator of the WIPMADNESS, Denise Jaden, will strike again with March Madness. She changed her blog address. Are you following?

Do you remember what your goals were at the beginning of January? Check here

My goal was to work daily on revising the WIP and to remember to eat. Done and done.

Thanks for the encouragement.

This past week I read this scary yet motivating article about how sitting all day is damaging your body. And so I started a new habit: drinking lots of water while revising and using the first floor toity so I get plenty of trips up and down the stairs. So far, so good. 

How was your month? It's time for cheers, high fives, and pats on the back.

Is Your Story Raining On Your Readers? #WIPMADNESS Week 3

"Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon."

--E.L. Doctorow

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the elements of a good story. What makes me remember one novel a year later as opposed to the one I read last month about which I can't recall a thing? Sensory details. The feelings and sensations the story arouses in my heart, mind, and gut.

Have you ever read a story that makes your heart race and your skin crawl? Off the top of my head, I can think of one such novel--DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS by CJ Omololu. 

That's the way I want to write this novel. I want readers to feel like they've experienced life in Occupied Paris. Tasted it. Touched it. Lived it.  Perhaps it will take years to get my story to that point, but I will not be satisfied with anything less.

How has your week been? Are you making it rain on your readers?

Have You Sailed Away From Your Safe Harbor? #WIPMADNESS Check-In

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain

The moment I decided to write historical fiction, I left my safe contemporary harbor and moved into the rough waters of World War II France. From the moment I set sail, the voyage became one of exploration and discovery. But the dream sometimes becomes a nightmare. Like it did last Friday when I thought I'd made one HUGE historical error which would cause the entire story to collapse. 

After I clawed my way out of the pit of despair, I remembered my source and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Having weathered that research storm and many others, I continue to move forward. Saturday I reached the 1/4 of the way mark. Yay!!!

How about you? Have you sailed away from your safe harbor? What have you explored, dreamed, or discovered with your WIP?

WIPMADNESS Check-In: Do You Want to Enough?

"You must want to enough. Enough to take all the rejections, enough to pay the price of disappointment and discouragement while you are learning. Like any other artist you must learn your craft—then you can add all the genius you like."

--Phyllis A. Whitney

A bit of cheer from my favorite dahlia

How are you doing? I was very encouraged to read all the reasonable goals set last week and am eager to clap my hands or pat you on the back consolingly, whatever the need may be. For me this week was wrought with writing ups and downs. I am a quarter of the way through this particular revision, which puts me exactly where I want to be.  But sometimes I wonder if I'm over my head. I want this novel to be both emotionally riveting and historically accurate. Have I learned my craft well enough to pull this off? I want to see this novel in print. I hope I want to enough.

So how was your week? Do you want to enough?

A little 2012 WIPMADNESS Anyone?

It's Monday morning and I just realized I volunteered to take the reins for January. Do I have writing goals this month? I'm having so much fun revising the historical, I sometimes forget to eat. Outside of working on it everyday, I don't have any specific goals. Once I start, I have a terrible time tearing myself away, so I guess my goal is to make sure I don't starve to death. ^_^

WIP goals for January anyone?

WIPMADNESS--Last August Check-In

ANOTHER NEWSFLASH!!!

House buyer backed out because association won't let her keep GOATS in our residential neighborhood.
So we're not moving yet (insert very sad face here). 

We drowned our sorrow by camping  here this weekend

Welcome to the last three days of the month. For those of you who set writing goals at the beginning of August, how are you doing? For new followers, welcome and feel free to join in on the madness. 

The excitement of selling our house, planning the move, then having hope dashed to pieces, kind of threw me into a frenzy this past week, but I've been writing through it. The toughest thing, as I blogged about on Friday, has been my reluctance to end the story. I have one more big climatic scene to write, but I'm dragging my feet to get to it. I'm at 16K of my 20K goal for the month.  

Next month our WIPMADNESS host will be Jaye Robin Brown. I believe she'll be posting this Friday, so if you'd like to join in on the fun, be sure to check in with a new set of goals for September.  

So we have THREE MORE DAYS to reach our goals. Some of you are already there. Yay! How about the rest of us? Are we getting close? 

More Madness!--#WIPMADNESS Check-in Week 4

NEWSFLASH!!!

Our house sold!!! So if all goes well, we'll soon be on our way home to sunny, Flagstaff, Arizona!

San Francisco Peaks--Love this town!

Okay, now that I've gotten that off my chest, I can turn my attention to the more important stuff, like all the progress that I've heard about on the WIPs this week. From what I can tell, there's a whole lot of writing going on in our group. How's your week been? Chaotic? If so, you're in good company.

Staying focused while in the midst of a move is going to be my biggest challenge. Right now, I'm 7500 words away from reaching my 20K goal for August. Yesterday I read this post from Laurie Halse Anderson about staying calm in the center of chaos. Seems appropriate. I'm going to do my best to keep up my early morning writing routine. We'll see what happens.

Anybody ever have to write through chaos? How do you do it?

More Madness-Week 3 Check-In

"It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants.

The question is: what are we busy about?"

  -- Henry David Thoreau

Have we been busy? I know I have. Last week I had the privilege of being stuck home in bed with a nasty cold and I took the opportunity to write like a madwoman, making up for lost time. I've noticed there hasn't been much #wipmadness activity on Twitter which could mean either of two things:

(A) We are so busy writing, we haven't had time to fart around on the Internet.

OR

(B) Life has been so busy, we haven't had time to write or fart around on the Internet.

I'm hoping for most of us, it's been A, and if it's been B, I hope things are calming down.

Today we reach the halfway mark of the month and I am a few hundred words short of 10K, half of my 20K goal for August. With the obstacles that have come up, I am quite happy with where I am. 

So how are all of you doing? Are you busy writing or is life keeping you running around like an ant? If you're discouraged, try reevaluating your goals and setting something more attainable for the rest of the month. It's okay. Life happens. If you've somehow managed to get ahead of your goals, maybe you could up the ante?   

More Madness: #WIPMADNESS Check-In Week Two

"Don't be a writer. Be writing."

--William Faulkner

So my hard drive crashed again. Need I say more? Which means I haven't been able to write since I arrived here at the SCBWI Conference in LA. I have arthritis in my hands and fingers which makes writing longhand way too painful.

Enough whining. I'd love to share all the amazing moments of this past weekend with you, but I'm posting this from my iPod which, as you know, is a hunt-and-peck venture. What I really need right now is to hear all of your good writerly news. Next week I will share my conference highlights. I promise. So how was your week? What were your obstacles and how did you overcome them?

More Madness!!!--#WIPMADNESS August Check-In--Week 1

"We aim above the mark to hit the mark."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

IT'S GOAL WEEK! 

Some of you new followers may wonder what in the red rock I'm talking about. Each March, Denise Jaden hosts a writing challenge called March Madness and a group of us had so much fun, we've kept it going all summer long. You can find us on Twitter, cheering each other on using the hashtag #wipmadness.

All are welcome to join us. Just set a goal for the month of August and check back here each Monday to tell us how you're doing. We'll jump up and down and do cartwheels for you, even if you have a bad week.

So in the spirit of my favorite transcendentalist, Mr. Emerson,  I am going to aim above the mark for August. Ready? I hereby do swear that I will write 20,000 words on my WIP and thereby FINISH the first draft. 

Now that I've got that off my chest and down in writing, it's your turn. What are your writing goals for August?

P.S. For all you Partners on the Path, Stephanie Jefferson interviewed me here ^_^