Writing Wednesday

Today I'm starting my weekly blog post.

Yay me!

It's going to be about my writing (obviously). But today isn't going to be in depth at all. Actually it's just going to be a quick summary or what I do. More like an introduction to who I am as a writer than my actual process.

And I'm going to use pictures!! Exciting, right?

When I first have an idea, I always write it down. It doesn't matter whether it's on a piece of paper, in my cellphone, a napkin, or a whiteboard, I just need to make sure I get it down before I forget it.

Then when I work on one idea, I hand-wrie everything; usually on a yellow, legal-sized notepad or in a composition notebook. (The composition notebook is usually easier to carry around when I'm not at home and it fits nicely in my purse and none of the pages are going to get destroyed.) I just can't write any other way. If I try to use the computer, I get really distracted and nothing ever gets written. So I avoid the computer until it's time for the long process of typing everything up.

Then it’s time for getting everything typed up. I use Scrivener now that I’ve bought the program. Before I used Word and I would separate each chapter into it’s own file. But with Scrivener, I can actually keep everything in one place, which is really convenient. Here's an example of how I used Word. As well as how I use Scrivener.

I know that what author’s listen to while they write, is a huge topic. So it’s my turn to jump in with mine. I’m fifty-fifty with the whole music thing. When I’m writing the first draft, I tend to like quietness so I can concentrate on the words I’m writing. Sometimes I can listen to soundtrack music, sometimes even the TV is on in the background (but that’s rare). Then when I type everything up, it’s a mix between soundtrack and regular music. The thing with music with lyrics is I get caught up in singing along and sometimes those words get typed up. So generally its just music, no words.

(It’s always the soundtracks for the Twilight movies too!)

Then I move on to Edits. Lucky me because I’m in the middle of it now! I print the whole novel out, whole punch it, and put it in a binder. It’s so much easier this way for me. It’s printed single-sided. I know it’s a waste of paper, but I use the backside for notes I need to make or to rewrite things I’m not happy with. So really it’s not as bad as it seems.

I use a whiteboard to keep track of what I need to get done. Between this novel, the *cough* short stories I write and publish as eBooks, and getting ready for NaNoWriMo (which I’m so excited for!).

I always have a cup of tea and whatever books I’m in the middle of reading (or rereading). Right now I’m rereading the entire Sweep Series by Cate Tiernan. It’s just my favorite. Acutally, it’s the whole reason I really started to be a writer. Then there’s Mockingjay. I actually haven’t started to read it yet, but I finished The Hunger Games on Monday and Catching Fire last night and I’m completely obsessed with the series.

I also have a special treat I like working with and that is…

I LOVE Sour Skittles!!

And then there are my fuzzy creatures!

Pepper and Fender usually sleep up here when I'm in my office, or they're running around playing, which is so much fun to watch.

Then Daisy usually sleeps on me, or the back of my chair is the dog isn’t in the room.

(Or she sits on everything that I need to use!)

Usually Moose sleeps on the floor in the middle of the room, or under my feet. Some times he insists to join me on the chair. Just keep in mind that he’s a 100 pound dog!

That’s pretty much how my writing happens!

Including the distractions.

(Don’t you love my book case?)

The Next Step

So about two weeks ago I FINALLY finished revising (AKA rewriting) my entire manuscript.

Man did THAT take a long time. I still have about ten handwritten pages to type up, but I'm not to concerned about them. I still have about 100 pages to do edits to before I get to them.

Yes, edits. I've printed out the first half of the novel, three-hole punched it and have it in a binder where it's all set for edits. I've already done the first three chapters and then because of Irene I had to put a hold on it. I've been trying to clean up the yard from all the branches and leaves. It's kinda tough because it's just me and it's an acre of land. If my husband didn't get injured at work a few weeks ago it'd probably be done already, but it's not. Plus it doesn't help that it's been raining non-stop the last few days. Kinda getting old.

So anyway… edits.

I'm thinking of taking my binder out to a library or coffee shop or something so I can concentrate on them more. I get really distracted at home from the internet, my husband (who's been stuck on the couch) and my furry babies. So I'm hoping if I can get out for a few hours a day, I can get the edits done quickly. If I do two chapters a day, I'll finish in ten days and I'll have plenty of time to make them on my computer. The one thing that sucks about having no laptop.

By the end of September, my manuscript needs to be cleaned up because I'm sending it to a Critique Partner. Hopefully she'll be able to give me some good pointers, because I'd love to start querying some agents soon.

Then it'll be November and that means NaNoWriMo. I'm kinda really excited for this because I have several ideas for stories that I wanna work on. I just need to pick which one it's going to be. But if none of them work out, I know I can write the sequel.

One last thing…. I've decided that I really need to start using my blog more. Instead of showing up once a month, I'm planning on starting a weekly post. I'm thinking of either Writing Wednesday, where I'll post a short story, something that's inspired me to write, or how I actually go about my writing. If not that then I'll do a Book Review sometime over the weekend. I read plenty of books and that'll be good for me. I really don't like just showing for "HEY I know I was missing, but I'm still here posts!" This way I'll be using this more! Yay!