I know what you're thinking. This blog is just wasting space on the internet, because I NEVER blog. Unless I'm super ranty or entering a contest or participating in something on twitter that requires a blog. I'd like to say that in 2014 I'll blog more, but that would be a big ole fat lie, so I'm not even go down that road.
But I do have a few writerly and readerly resolutions for this year. And some of them actually do require a bit o' blogging, so it's possible I MAY actually blog a little more this year than the last.
Writerly Resolutions:
* Last year I set a goal to write 1k a day. I did really good until about May, and then I fell off that ship so hard and drowned in an ocean of my own making. So, this year my goal is to just write every day. Even if it's just one word. That's better than none.
* I want to write three novels this year, from start to finish. Last year I wrote two and revised one, so I feel like this is totally attainable.
* Query my newest contemporary by February. IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, I TELL YOU.
Readerly Resolutions:
* My friend Nikki and I are doing a book-a-month book club this year, so I vow to read at least 12 books this year. I mean, I'll definitely read more, but at least twelve.
* As part of that book club, I vow to blog a review & excerpt of each book.
* In 2014 I won't be starting any new series, unless every book in the series has already been published. I hate having to wait years for an entire series to be released, and honestly with all the books I read, I can't remember half of the plot lines, so when I pick up the second book in a series and it's been a year since I read the first one, I spend a good few hours online trying to find recaps of the first book. So this will be the year of finishing series that are published and reading stand-alones (which I've become a very big fan of).
My good friend Nikki wrote a post on BEING BOLD in your writing today over at The Writer Diaries. This post correlates with Veronica Roth's most recent published book, ALLEGIANT. Just FYI, if you read the post, THERE ARE spoilers, but I won't spoil anything over here. But I WILL say, Veronica Roth was VERY BOLD in how she ended the series. And there have been a lot of people giving her crap about it all over the internet. But SHE'S THE WRITER. Therefore, she gets to do whatever she wants with HER story.
Nikki and I have been gushing about Allegiant since we finished reading it. And when Nikki told me she was going to write a post on being bold, it made me think. Am I bold in MY WRITING? A year ago, the answer to that question would have been a NO written in the sky by an airplane. I didn't take chances or risks. I stuck to the rules.
Almost a year ago, I finished writing my first YA fantasy novel, something I thought was groundbreaking and just all around AMAZING. And while I loved the book, agents didn't. And it puzzled me. But a couple months after I got a handful of rejections on the full manuscript (see the query made it sound MUCH better than it actually was), I decided to reread it and see what was missing. And I realized EVERYTHING was missing. It had an interesting story. It wasn't about a "chosen one" or the farm boy who realizes he's really the king's long lost son and the one meant to save the world. But it lacked conflict and the stakes weren't high enough. And it ended on a pretty big cliff hanger.
About three months ago I decided to revise it. I changed SO MUCH about the plot, and I felt good about it, but every time I sat down to write, the words just wouldn't come. Yes, in my head it was a totally different story. But in the Scrivener file, nothing had changed. And I found myself avoiding my computer because I didn't know what to write.
So fast forward to about three weeks ago. I watched the premiere of CW's new show, REIGN. I don't expect much from the CW, but I enjoy a few of their shows. And let me just tell you, I was blown away by the REIGN premiere. Nothing about the acting or the story was particularly fabulous, but it seemed to light a fire under my butt in my own writing.
So I came up with this incredibly GRANDIOSE idea. I'm talking, GAME CHANGING idea on how to make my fantasy better. Not just better, amazing. No, BOLD. I'm not ready to share it just yet. I'm still feeling a bit protective over it, because I've never been struck by SUCH GENIUS in m life. But this idea has absolutely changed my writing life. I've written four books in the last year and a half, all of them I pantsed my way through.
I DON'T PLOT. And by that, I mean I don't plot. Like maybe a sentence summary here or there, but I mostly soar by the seat of my pants and rely mostly on my memory. But I've spent 22 days plotting this book. I've written on over 500 post-its (which are now covering my walls). I have a character web on one wall (I've never done of those before). And I have a 69-chapter timeline on one wall and it LITERALLY took me nearly eight straight hours to do that. I was fairly certain my brain might explode. And last night, I scaled a map for over four hours, figuring out how long it might take my characters to get from one city to another in my made up world.
I could have spent those 22 days writing. I mean, I've written 10k, so it's not been a total waste, but I just don't spend time plotting. But it's changing EVERYTHING about my story. AND I LOVE IT. This is SO different from anything I've ever written. It's so different from anything I've read. And I'm basically in a state of euphoria over this, even though it is stretching my brain TO THE MAX.
But, here's the thing, I'M BEING BOLD, and I really think it's going to pay off. I mean, I can't say that for sure, but I *do* know that when I put my confidence one hundred percent into a BOLD writing piece, I just know it won't fail.
Nikki and I have been gushing about Allegiant since we finished reading it. And when Nikki told me she was going to write a post on being bold, it made me think. Am I bold in MY WRITING? A year ago, the answer to that question would have been a NO written in the sky by an airplane. I didn't take chances or risks. I stuck to the rules.
Almost a year ago, I finished writing my first YA fantasy novel, something I thought was groundbreaking and just all around AMAZING. And while I loved the book, agents didn't. And it puzzled me. But a couple months after I got a handful of rejections on the full manuscript (see the query made it sound MUCH better than it actually was), I decided to reread it and see what was missing. And I realized EVERYTHING was missing. It had an interesting story. It wasn't about a "chosen one" or the farm boy who realizes he's really the king's long lost son and the one meant to save the world. But it lacked conflict and the stakes weren't high enough. And it ended on a pretty big cliff hanger.
About three months ago I decided to revise it. I changed SO MUCH about the plot, and I felt good about it, but every time I sat down to write, the words just wouldn't come. Yes, in my head it was a totally different story. But in the Scrivener file, nothing had changed. And I found myself avoiding my computer because I didn't know what to write.
So fast forward to about three weeks ago. I watched the premiere of CW's new show, REIGN. I don't expect much from the CW, but I enjoy a few of their shows. And let me just tell you, I was blown away by the REIGN premiere. Nothing about the acting or the story was particularly fabulous, but it seemed to light a fire under my butt in my own writing.
So I came up with this incredibly GRANDIOSE idea. I'm talking, GAME CHANGING idea on how to make my fantasy better. Not just better, amazing. No, BOLD. I'm not ready to share it just yet. I'm still feeling a bit protective over it, because I've never been struck by SUCH GENIUS in m life. But this idea has absolutely changed my writing life. I've written four books in the last year and a half, all of them I pantsed my way through.
I DON'T PLOT. And by that, I mean I don't plot. Like maybe a sentence summary here or there, but I mostly soar by the seat of my pants and rely mostly on my memory. But I've spent 22 days plotting this book. I've written on over 500 post-its (which are now covering my walls). I have a character web on one wall (I've never done of those before). And I have a 69-chapter timeline on one wall and it LITERALLY took me nearly eight straight hours to do that. I was fairly certain my brain might explode. And last night, I scaled a map for over four hours, figuring out how long it might take my characters to get from one city to another in my made up world.
I could have spent those 22 days writing. I mean, I've written 10k, so it's not been a total waste, but I just don't spend time plotting. But it's changing EVERYTHING about my story. AND I LOVE IT. This is SO different from anything I've ever written. It's so different from anything I've read. And I'm basically in a state of euphoria over this, even though it is stretching my brain TO THE MAX.
But, here's the thing, I'M BEING BOLD, and I really think it's going to pay off. I mean, I can't say that for sure, but I *do* know that when I put my confidence one hundred percent into a BOLD writing piece, I just know it won't fail.
I am the poster child for Type-A personality. I am organized to a tee. I need to be the leader, because, by default, I'm the only person who can do things the best way. (I'm sure you can do EVERYTHING better than me, but my brain has tricked me into thinking that). I am always looking for ways to plan my life. And while it hasn't exactly gone according to plan, I always have a general idea of how things will work out.
Go to college. Get a job. Get married. Have some kids. Die. Or something like that. I'm sure at some point in there I might have turned into an adult, but I still feel 19. So I DID go to college. I DID get a job. But no husband. And definitely no kids, and now I'm not sure I even want any of those.
I'll be 29 next month. And while that's cause for crisis all on its own, this year HAS NOT gone according to plan. I quit my full-time job in March. One that provided security, a good salary that gave me lots of extra money. But I was unhappy. VERY unhappy. And no amount of good job or lots of money could change that. I was unhappy, you see, because ALL I WANT TO DO IS WRITE.
The first plan was to move to New York City. I visited in March and though I was already in love with the city, I fell even more in love. Alas, that whole quitting job things left me with, like, no money, and as I'm sure you're all aware, New York City is très expensive. And not like, LIFE expensive, like GRANDIOSE expensive.
So I went to my parents' house for a couple months to try and formulate a plan. But I got there and instead of really making a plan, I wrote another book. It's called Say Anything. And while, at the time, it was first book out of four that I'd written that I had no confidence in, I've had the most positive feedback on it.
And after a couple months, I moved down to my sister's house in Charlotte. And for three months, I tried to make more life plans. I found a part time job that I liked well enough. It gave me time to write. A LOT of time to write. But I was living WITH MY SISTER. And her husband. And their two small kids. Who were noisy and didn't like to leave me alone.
But about three weeks ago I peeked into my bank account and I had one of those cartoon moments of eyes popping out of my head, jaw dropping to the floor. Here's the realization I came to: I HAD NO MONEY. And I needed to move out of my sister's house. But that requires rent money. AND I HAD NONE OF THAT.
So, after I spent a night drinking my sorrows away, I tucked my tail between my legs and called my parents, and very meekly asked if I could move into their basement. And like all good parents, they said "of course." My dad flew down to Charlotte, helped me pack my stuff in a truck, and moved me to Michigan.
So moving back in with my parents has LITERALLY been the hardest thing I've EVER done. I'm incredibly independent. My freshman year of college I left and waved goodbye, knowing I'd never return to my parents' house for more than school breaks. But ten years after leaving, I'm back. And I'm really not happy about it. Because I WANT to be living on my own. I WANT to be able to afford working part time and writing in all my spare time. But here's the truth: I CAN'T DO THAT.
But it's not so bad. Two years ago, probably even one year ago, I would NEVER have been able to do this. Never quit my job to move back with my parents. BUT I'm following a dream. And I've had more people tell me this year how much they admire me for taking the most giant leap of faith to follow my dreams.
The thing about chasing dreams is, IT'S REALLY HARD. But earlier this year, I came to the realization that if I don't do this now, I WILL regret it the REST of my life.
So I get to spend a lot of my time writing, while trying to find a job to pay at least my bills (if nothing else). I rely on Twitter for nearly ALL my social interactions right now, as I have basically NO friends in Michigan. And I live in my parents' basement.
I'm still querying. Still hoping one of those queries pans out. Because I put a lot of faith in the biggest change of my life. But despite how hard this has all been on me emotionally, I'm in a good place. I'm chasing my dreams.
I just hope I catch one soon.
Go to college. Get a job. Get married. Have some kids. Die. Or something like that. I'm sure at some point in there I might have turned into an adult, but I still feel 19. So I DID go to college. I DID get a job. But no husband. And definitely no kids, and now I'm not sure I even want any of those.
I'll be 29 next month. And while that's cause for crisis all on its own, this year HAS NOT gone according to plan. I quit my full-time job in March. One that provided security, a good salary that gave me lots of extra money. But I was unhappy. VERY unhappy. And no amount of good job or lots of money could change that. I was unhappy, you see, because ALL I WANT TO DO IS WRITE.
The first plan was to move to New York City. I visited in March and though I was already in love with the city, I fell even more in love. Alas, that whole quitting job things left me with, like, no money, and as I'm sure you're all aware, New York City is très expensive. And not like, LIFE expensive, like GRANDIOSE expensive.
So I went to my parents' house for a couple months to try and formulate a plan. But I got there and instead of really making a plan, I wrote another book. It's called Say Anything. And while, at the time, it was first book out of four that I'd written that I had no confidence in, I've had the most positive feedback on it.
And after a couple months, I moved down to my sister's house in Charlotte. And for three months, I tried to make more life plans. I found a part time job that I liked well enough. It gave me time to write. A LOT of time to write. But I was living WITH MY SISTER. And her husband. And their two small kids. Who were noisy and didn't like to leave me alone.
But about three weeks ago I peeked into my bank account and I had one of those cartoon moments of eyes popping out of my head, jaw dropping to the floor. Here's the realization I came to: I HAD NO MONEY. And I needed to move out of my sister's house. But that requires rent money. AND I HAD NONE OF THAT.
So, after I spent a night drinking my sorrows away, I tucked my tail between my legs and called my parents, and very meekly asked if I could move into their basement. And like all good parents, they said "of course." My dad flew down to Charlotte, helped me pack my stuff in a truck, and moved me to Michigan.
So moving back in with my parents has LITERALLY been the hardest thing I've EVER done. I'm incredibly independent. My freshman year of college I left and waved goodbye, knowing I'd never return to my parents' house for more than school breaks. But ten years after leaving, I'm back. And I'm really not happy about it. Because I WANT to be living on my own. I WANT to be able to afford working part time and writing in all my spare time. But here's the truth: I CAN'T DO THAT.
But it's not so bad. Two years ago, probably even one year ago, I would NEVER have been able to do this. Never quit my job to move back with my parents. BUT I'm following a dream. And I've had more people tell me this year how much they admire me for taking the most giant leap of faith to follow my dreams.
The thing about chasing dreams is, IT'S REALLY HARD. But earlier this year, I came to the realization that if I don't do this now, I WILL regret it the REST of my life.
So I get to spend a lot of my time writing, while trying to find a job to pay at least my bills (if nothing else). I rely on Twitter for nearly ALL my social interactions right now, as I have basically NO friends in Michigan. And I live in my parents' basement.
I'm still querying. Still hoping one of those queries pans out. Because I put a lot of faith in the biggest change of my life. But despite how hard this has all been on me emotionally, I'm in a good place. I'm chasing my dreams.
I just hope I catch one soon.
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