Titles and a Challenge

Well, this will be a post full of good stuff to share. First off is the fact that I think I have found good working titles for the books. This was starting to bug since I wanted something better than Book 1 and Book 2 to reference them. For my free writes I just used the main characters' names, but as I fuse them together in the actual books, that doesn't work since they are both in there. I won't reveal the names here so that I can possibly use them when it comes time to submit them, but it's nice to have names for them anyway. I'll come up with some nicknames for them for the blog. I know it seems kind of silly, but this is a big deal for me because I completely suck at naming things. I come up with something good in the end, it just takes me forever to find something I like and it stresses me out, lol.

The big news is that my darling Andrea has thrown down a challenge for me, which I have accepted and replied with a challenge for her as well. (I'm not going to be the only one stressing out.) We were at Bree Despain's book launch party last night and as we were waiting for it to start, Andrea turned to me and said "Someday we'll be here doing one of these for you." While I was then lost in giddy fantasies, she interrupts by amending her statement. "No, not someday. Two years. We'll be here for your book in two years."

Say wha??

I hadn't planned on even submitting anything for another 4-5 years. I wanted to graduate from college. And, you know, finish the books. Because I really can't submit the first without finishing the second just so that I know everything works together. So while I'm looking at her with panic in my eyes, she just smiles and says "I know you can do it."

*gulp* "Ok, I accept your challenge."

Then it dawns on me that I only have a year to finish both books, so that I can submit, be accepted, and actually published in two years. GAH! Now, I know Andrea will be lenient with me if the deadline gets smudged a bit, but I know she's serious about me actually submitting and finding an agent and everything by the time my two years is up. I may not need to be published, but I need to be making serious efforts to make it happen. And while I'm now almost sick with nerves and feeling insanely overwhelmed, I honestly think this will be good for me. Deadlines are scary, but it will help me get things done. So, I accept this two year challenge. And let's all pray that I don't have a nervous breakdown trying to make it happen.

I do have one thing that brings me comfort in this though. I issued the same challenge back to her. She needs to have a finished manuscript to start submitting in two years as well. I'm not going to be the only one having panic attacks. She has accepted, so I'll give you status updates every now and then to let you know how we do.

Flow and Structure

Ok, so when I first get an idea for a story, I kind of just do a free write. Sometimes I don't get much out, sometimes it's quite a bit. But I can't focus on anything until I get all the scenes floating around in my head out on paper. Plus, once it's all out, I can get an idea of where my story is going, and some of it is usable later, some not so much. But it's the beginning of my process.

Well, my current story started this way. At first it was going to be just one book. But the more I wrote, the more I realized (with strong encouragement from Andrea and Aubrey) that it would be better as two books. So that's what I'm shooting for. It's been kind of nice because when I get stuck on one, I can move to the other. It helps with the writer's block, but it's not distracting because they go together and both need to get done. With Book One, I ended up with just over 20,000 words from my free write. Impressive, right? I think so, since it's the most I've ever written for any one story. It's given me a pretty good idea of where everything is going to go, and I'm ready to go back and start at the beginning, really writing it like a book now. (Kinda scary to be honest.)

So, just to get an idea of what I wanted to have happen and where, I wrote a basic chapter outline. It helped me figure out where to put scenes I had written, and gave me a path from point A (the beginning) to point B (the end). So far I have written the prologue and chapter 1. I'm pretty proud, and I even came up with another side character and plot twist that I didn't plan on. That was cool. But I'm finding that I struggle with descriptions. I have a really hard time conveying what I see in my head to words on the page. Hopefully through rewrites and edits that will get better.

Today I pose a question to you out there in Internet Land. When it comes to chapters, do you think it's better to end them when it feels like a good place to end - regardless of length? My goal was 5,000 words per chapter, but I've hit a point in chapter 1 that feels like a good place to end and it's only 2,900 words. Feels a little short. But it really is a decent ending point for the chapter. I can't decide if I should stick to my word goal or if I should just let the story flow for now and make the chapters whatever length they come out in. Any thoughts?

I love this song

I have loved this song forever. I heard it years ago while my uncle was playing a new-at-the-time video game. I am not a gamer, it's just not my thing, but this game would take time out to play little video sequences that gave the game a storyline. And the instant I heard this song, I loved it. I always turn it up and sing along whenever it pops up on my ipod. Well, last night I was writing and it came on and as I was singing along, it hit me that the lyrics completely describe the sad yet wistful emotional state of my main female character. So, while I'm not ready to share plot points or anything yet, I thought I would share the song, because even if it comes from a 90's playstation game, it's still beautiful. Enjoy!

P.s. - Last night I finally broke 20,000 words and part one of my WIP!! Very exciting!!

Critiques and Inspiration

This last Tuesday was my first in person critique group session. It was just me and Andrea because Aubrey and all her little boys were super sick, but we got some good work done I think. It was a fairly simple meeting - we read each other's stuff and made notes and suggestions and asked questions on where we were each headed with our stories and clearing up any confusing pieces. We listened to some music that was inspiring us at the moment and then headed to the travel section of the bookstore where we met to look at ideas for settings. It was really helpful, because while it's always good to get feedback in emails and texts, it's nice to get it in person. Andrea and I brainstormed a little on pieces of each of our stories that were giving us trouble, which I must admit was very helpful. I have a much better idea on how to end and start the story in a way that is suspenseful but doesn't tick off my future readers. So, a huge thanks to her for helping me work that out. I'm excited to work on everything and making it better as I go.

As for inspiration, this week also saw the release of Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead. She is one of my heroes and this book just inpsired me to put my heart and soul into what I write, so that I can write a story that will connect with readers. I love all of her books, and in each series, she brings something different to the table that makes it unique and special. But in each series, the story is so beautifully written that I get completely sucked in and can't stop until it's finished. Someday, I hope I can write a story that others will love as much as I love her books. If I can do that, if I can write something that connects with people, makes them care about and love my characters, then I will be the happiest girl in the world. So, a big thank you to Richelle Mead, not only for writing incredible stories, but for inspiring me to strive to do the same.

I'm a visual person

Ok, so I have been writing quite a bit lately - as Andrea and Aubrey can attest to since I'm constantly sending them emails with all my new stuff - and while I keep an eye on my word count  (last time I looked it was hovering around 24,000) it's a completely different experience to see it all printed out. On paper. Not looking a screen that I scroll up and down on.

All I can say is - wow. I didn't really understand how much I have actually written until I had that pile of pages sitting in my hands.

The girls and I are starting up a little critique group (we critique each other's stuff all the time, we're just making it a little more official) and tomorrow is our first in-person, sit-down session. Most of the time it's all through texts or emails, so I'm super excited to go over everyone's ideas and projects in person. But I don't really feel like taking my laptop (it's still new and I'm protective) so last night I printed out everything I've written on my WIP.

It's 39 pages.

That blows my mind. It's kinda heavy in my little folder and I have this little blossom of pride in my heart for the fact that I've gotten this far. It's more than I've done in the past. It actually gives me motivation to keep going. It's very exciting.

I can't wait to hear what the girls think, and to see more of what they've been working on as well. Excited!

Music

I love music. In fact, I can't write without it. But I'm fairly particular in the music I listen to. It can't be upbeat. It can't be something I find myself singing along to. That's distracting. But it needs to have a great feel to it, something that invokes some kind of emotion in me, which usually translates into a scene where one of my characters feels something similar. Or it just really zens me out and I can get into a great groove. So when I sit down to write, I put in my headphones and zone out all the things around me so I can get lost in my head.

Last night Sparky had to study for an upcoming test and the kids were in bed sleeping. So I pulled out my beautiful laptop (It's new and I still sigh in happiness over it.), put in my headphones, and started typing. The song that I was listening to?

Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri. It's a new discovery but I'm completely in love. It's haunting and beautiful and while it's not really relevant to what I was writing, it got me in the zone. So for an hour I had this on repeat and got out 13oo words. Not bad for an hour. So Christina Perri, I thank you. : )