Thursday, December 13, 2007

12 days till Christmas

I can't believe there are only 12 days until Christmas. I've run out of time to get everything done. I wanted to hand make some things but am really having trouble finding the time.

The good news is that my spare time is being used to work on my new YA novel. I'm up to about 6000 words now. That was my goal for this Sunday. I'm writing some really hard, dark chapters right now and am drawing upon my experience with grief and one of a close friend. It's rather cathartic to take that pain and channel it through a character. I'm letting her say everything I still can't.



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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

1st 5000 words

I've been working on my new YA novel and have just completed the first 5000 words. I haven't written 16 pages in a very long time. I did a middle grade novel about 5 years ago and have been focusing on picture books and short stories.

I'm loving my story and the research that has been going along with it. I've decided that when I finish, I'm going to get a professional critique.

I literally cried through an entire chapter. I've never experienced anything quite like that while writing. It was so bizarre. I could barely see my laptop because of the tears, but my fingers were flying as they told the story. It's something I'll definitely remember.

Friday, December 7, 2007

I've started my YA novel

I can honestly say that I have been writing everyday for about 3 weeks now. I worked on a picture book, a contest entry (my story sucks and needs help), and I began my next book. I'm in the honeymoon phase where I'm completely in love with it.

It's loosely based on a true story. A story I learned about in high school. It's one of those things that always stayed with me and that I wanted to write about.

I'm using my new process of not revising and just writing the story. It's been writing itself. The muse has been active. I love when that happens. It's like someone else is writing the story.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

New Writing Technique

I am the type of writer that will revise Chapter 100 times and not finish the story. It's not working for me. I have so many stories started. I really do want to finish them, but I need to leave Chapter 1 alone and move on.

Here's my new thing. I'm just to keep writing and get the story out. I'm not going to worry about the right word or editing. I've practiced this technique on 2 picture books and it's working. I just write the whole story out, ignoring age of language, word count, etc. I then start revising, editing, trimming.

I've started a YA novel that I've been wanting to write for years. Wish me luck.
















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