Friday, January 8, 2016

Beautiful People #14 // Writerly Resolutions and Goals

Note: So yeah, at least for the time being, I’m going to start posting on Fridays now, as well as on Mondays and Wednesdays. It’s possible I won’t be able to do this consistently, but we’ll see how it goes. At least for now, Friday will be a random post day—anything from tags, to discussions, to book reviews, to whatever my Vulcan heart desires. Also, just so you know, this is my 100th post! Here, have some virtual coffee. (Also, I apologize for formatting strangeness--I just got a new computer and a new word processor, and I'm still working some of the kinks out.)



For those of you who aren't familiar with this link-up, Beautiful People is hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In. (You should definitely check out their blogs.) Last month I participated in Beautiful Books #3, and you can find the link to that here



What were your writing achievements last year? 


Last year was somewhat less productive for me than the year before. I started editing in January with high hopes of making good progress. Among my assorted rough drafts from NaNoWriMo 2015, I had written a trilogy, and I had worked up an editing timeline which I had hoped would help me completely polish that trilogy in a year and a half. (Yes, go ahead and laugh. It’s very funny. Ha ha.) But then snow happened. A LOT of snow. For a long while, the snowbanks at the ends of our wrap-around driveway were taller than me, and I’m no hobbit. This all meant I had to do a great deal of shoveling, and one of the side effects of intensive shoveling, for those of you who don’t have snow where you live, is exhaustion. So it was rather difficult to make editing headway during the winter, and starting out behind threw me off kilter for the rest of the year. That’s not to say it wasn’t a good year, I just didn’t feel as on top of my game as I did in 2014. That being said, I did manage to bring the first book in my trilogy to what I hope will be the next to last major draft. Yay me.



Tell us about your top priority writing project for this year? 


I’ve actually shared some snippets from my current project with you before (the links are here and here). Essentially, it’s a young adult fantasy with dragons and murder and revenge and other fun dark stuff. The main character has a hard time differentiating between acting out of love and acting out of selfishness, to put it mildly, which is probably my favorite type of person to write. I’m hoping to have that book ready to query by April at the latest. But I’m willing to take as much time as I need to get it right. 

After that, it’s a bit of a toss-up. I want to tackle my NaNoWriMo 2015 time travel novel, but I want to try editing two projects at once, to see if that’s something I can manage, so I’m going to need to pick another draft from Rough Draft Mountain (also known as my hard drive). And I hope to edit at least one more novel later on in the year, if I can possibly pull that off. *internal screaming* I’m leaning on targeting one of my historical novels set in the time of the first European Black Death outbreak, but I haven’t decided on what I’ll edit after that. Maybe I’ll draw straws, or stage a Rough Draft Hunger Games, or maybe I’ll have you vote. We’ll see. *twirls pen*



List 5 areas you’d like to work the hardest to improve this year. 


Um, obviously nothing because I am a perfect writer. 

Ahem. 

Just kidding. 

I definitely want to get better at the organizational side of things—I want to get more efficient so I can get more done. I have a lot of books I need to edit and a lot more that I really really want to write, so if I’m going to have my cake and eat it too, I need to step up the pace. 

I want to cut down on meaningless procrastination. I’m all for taking breaks from writing, but I don’t think it’s super helpful when my time off is unproductive and undisciplined. Facebook sucks my mental energy—so does Twitter. But, after writing something challenging or emotional, my tendency is to scroll mindlessly through my newsfeed so I don’t have to think. But I would rather spend that time researching or reading or painting or doing some other meaningful task. 

I want to convey emotion better in my writing. A couple of my beta readers have pointed out that my current main character acts out her emotions, but she doesn’t really seem to feel them. Granted, my goal for her is to communicate the way people reeling from trauma sometimes can’t feel very much at all and they just act out how they think they’re supposed to feel. But if I’m not getting the point across, I’m not getting the point across, and I need to address that. 

I want to improve the endings to my novels. I’ve never been hugely confident with them, and I want to work at making them snappier and more dramatic. Since I’m a panster, and I figure out my story as I go along, everything tends to fizzle out at the close. Which means, now that I’ve learned how to fly the plane, I need to learn how to land it. 

And finally, I want to improve my writing overall. While it’s important to focus on areas where my writing is weaker, that’s not hugely helpful when I forget to work on everything as a whole. So I want to make sure that no part of my craft gets neglected in favor of another. 



Are you participating in any writing challenges? 


Not currently. I will, however, participate in NaNoWriMo come November. I probably won’t do either of the Camp NaNoWriMos, mainly because I already have a boatload of rough drafts and I really should spend that time editing since I know I’m going to try to write 800,000 words in November. 



What’s your critique partner/beta reader situation like and do you have plans to expand this year? 


Right now, my system isn’t anything special. I just finish a draft, share it with random people I trust, and twiddle my thumbs until I get feedback. Then I edit and repeat. So I’ll be doing that again this year. 



Do you have plans to read any writer-related books this year? Or are there specific books you want to read for research? 


Currently, I don’t have any major plans. Last Christmas, my mom bought me a copy of LETTERS & LIFE by Bret Lott, and it’s about writing. I haven’t read it yet, but I really want to, so I’ll make sure to tackle that one this year. As for research, I don’t have any books in mind at the moment. 



Pick one character you want to get to know better, and how are you going to achieve this?


I want to get to know November (Ember—from my time travel novel) better because I find her rather interesting. She has this tiny bit of hope, and she’s letting it destroy her, and I want to explore her potential further. As for figuring out characters, I do that best as I work with them and put them in difficult situations. I’m not one for doing character charts and diagrams and whatnot. To me, those sorts of things are like tutorials for complicated software. I get bored and distracted so I skip them and poke around until I’ve figured out what I need to know. In other words, I learn by doing. 



Do you plan to edit or query, and what’s your plan of attack? 


I do plan to edit, and I do plan to query. My plan of attack can be summed up in one word: 

COFFEE



Toni Morrison once said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” What are the books that you want to see more of, and what “holes” do you think need filling in the literary world? 


Every book I write is something that I would have loved to have found on the shelves, so I guess you could say that those are the holes I perceive in the literary world, and I’m doing my best to fill them. 



What do you hope to have achieved by the end of 2016?


By the end of 2016, I hope to have finished editing my current work in progress and started querying agents for it. I hope to have brought two or three (or more) other manuscripts to that next-to-last draft stage. I also hope to have written 800,000 words. Oh, and a publishing contract would be nice. 



Well, that’s it, little coffee beans. What is your editing system? What are your writing plans for this year? Where do you hope to be by the end of 2016?

34 comments:

  1. Everytime you mention Ember, I want to read her story more. Seriously, she sounds like such a fascinating character. :)

    Also, that is a solid plan of attack. *nods* Coffee can help you do anything.

    Congratz on the 100th post!! :D


    Alexa
    thessalexa.blogspot.com
    verbositybookreviews.wordpress.com

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    1. Thank you! I really enjoy writing her, and I'm excited to start editing that novel. I'll definitely share snippets, but it will probably be a month or two (or more) before I do. :P

      Coffee definitely is an effective strategy. It's pretty much my secret weapon. Only it's not secret.

      Thank you! And thanks for commenting! :) Happy blogversary!

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  2. Conveying emotion is so difficult, and I think it's a constant struggle and something I will always want to work on. I see this huge gap in conveying emotion between me and some of my favorite authors, and I want to close that gap, as tough as it is. 800,000 words in one year?!? Oh boy. Good luck!

    Also, *whispers* I've never had coffee before. I don't think I'm allowed to yet. :P *dodges rotten tomatoes*

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    1. Emotion is just one of those tricky areas that some people excel at, but I think it's safe to say that at least half of the writers out there struggle with it to a degree. But I guess that makes sense, because often, we ourselves don't even know what we're feeling, so it's extra difficult to convey how someone outside ourselves is feeling. Maybe. Maybe not. *shrugs* But conveying emotional is definitely a learnable skill, so I'm optimistic. Good luck!

      Hehe, actually, my goal is to write 800,000 words in one month. But thank you! :P

      *gasp* You poor deprived soul! *sobs* Well, when you're allowed to drink it, I hope you enjoy it!

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    2. In...a...month...what...make sure your fingers don't fall off...You're lucky they didn't fall off this November when you wrote FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND WORDS.

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    3. :P I will definitely try to make sure that doesn't happen. There were times last November when I stopped feeling them, though, so I'm thinking I should at least get wrist braces before next November. :)

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  3. Omg 800,000 words. *dies in cup of coffee* AHEM. BUT STILL. This is a post of complete fabulousness and I'm totally hoping your querying goes well when you get to it. ;D Making the book as good as it can be is always good too, though, so I understand the no rush. GOOD ON YOU.

    I have trouble with characters' emotions too. *wails* I'm not a very emotional bean *raises Vulcan hand* and my characters tend to either be dorks or ice queens. -_- So I want to work on writing more different types of characters. hehe.

    Thanks for joining in the linkup! ;D

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    1. That's the plan. *dies with you* And aww, thank you! I'm always so scared of rushing my book out there when it isn't quite ready. I feel like that would be just as embarrassing as going out and forgetting to put trousers on first. *nods*

      I AM A VULCAN TOO. *gives you Vulcan high five* I think my character tend to be killers, ice people, or pushovers. So yeah, I do want to work on making them all distinct and everything. :) Good luck!

      You're welcome, and thanks for hosting it! :D

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  4. I think someone needs to give you a medal for writing 800,000 words. Or, you know, more coffee. BUT LIKE WHAT?!!?

    I hope you acomplish all your writer-ly goals with grace and efficiency this year! (Actually, who am I kidding. We're writers. We flap and wail and flail all over the place, but we get the job done.) And it'd be great if you shared some snippets of your writing projects sometime in the near-ish future. *settles down and waits*

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    1. Well, I definitely would appreciate the coffee, but I think I'll wait on accepting the medal until I've actually accomplished the thing. November is a long way off and I could, like, forget how to speak English and fail at my goal so miserably that I will have to change my name and move to a different country. It could happen. *nods*

      And thank you! There will probably be a lot of flapping and flailing and other undignified things, but I will try to be as graceful about it all as I can. :P Awww, I'm so glad you actually WANT to read my writing. And I will definitely share some sooner or later. *edits like a mad woman*

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  5. Happy 100th post! Also, you make me want to get to know somebody like November better, too. :D It sounds like you have a busy year ahead of you! If you get a publishing deal, though, I will bring you cookies. Because that would be neighborly of me, I think.

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    1. Thank you! *hands out coffee* And thank you again! I'm glad people seem to like Ember, because she's one of my favorites as well. :) I really do though. And if you bring me cookies, I will eat them and name you my newest favorite person ever, because that would be neighborly as well, I think.

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  6. Woohoo, congratulations on your 100th post! Procrastination will be the downfall of us all ... WOAH, 800000 words? *gulps coffee* That is seriously hardcore! I think your plan of attack for querying sounds fantastic :D

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    1. Thank you! :) Yeah, pretty much. And yep, I'm going to try at least. *shivers* And thank you! *gives you coffee beans*

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  7. Rough Draft Hunger Games?! YES. Organization and my level of procrastination when it comes to writing need work as well :)

    My plan of attack always starts with coffee, too. Without coffee we would not be where we are today.

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    1. I know, right? :D I think a lot of writers struggle with organizations and procrastination--we should totally have a support group for that. :P

      Coffee is the fuel of genius--or something like that. But seriously, without coffee, the world would be a much darker place.

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  8. Sounds like some good plans! I hope editing goes well. :D It's awesome that you have first drafts that need editing. I always want to edit, but hardly have any first drafts finished for editing. :P

    NaNoWri also sounds like fun! I think I'll have to do it this year.

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    1. Thank you! I hope so too. :) It is nice to have plenty of first drafts to edit, but it's also a teeny bit stressful because I want to edit them all and it's so hard to choose which one. Maybe this year you'll finish some rough drafts so you can edit a bunch. :D

      It is a lot of fun--I mean, it can be stressful and difficult, but I'm always really happy at the end when I have a ton of shiny new words to work with. You should definitely give it a go. :)

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    2. I'm definitely doing NaNoWri this year!

      I tagged you for the Dragon Loyalty Award if you'd like to do it.

      http://ashleyg-inserttitlehere.blogspot.com/2016/01/dragon-loyalty-award-my-inner-dragon.html#comment-form

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    3. Yay! *happy dance*

      Thank you for tagging me! I will definitely do it :)

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  9. What the crap XD 800K? I've found another writing superhuman! When i find people like you, I always feel a little better about the scale of my goal. It now seems manageable ;)

    I'm trying to edit and write another novel in a different genre right now....it's hard XD Good like with editing two at a time!

    They way you described Ember in that once sentence had me pause for a moment. She seems like an interesting character! I hope you have an uber productive year :D

    dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.com

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    1. :P I'm always happy to make other writers feel better! (And pssh, what are the odds I'm actually going to make it to 800K?)

      :D Good luck! That's definitely going to be a challenge, but a really good one. :)

      Thank you! I'm looking forward to working with her, and I hope she'll live up to expectations. :)

      Thanks for commenting!

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  10. I am so with you on the troublesome emotions. All my characters appear to have emotional problems. It's definitely something I want to work on a lot more this year. The level of emotion actually portrayed correctly in my current project is making me weep bitter tears.

    Goodness, you have some amazing goals this year. You are truly a productive writer to be able to make goals like finishing three or four books in a year, plus your enormous and awesome November goal. I'm going to struggle to make meaningful progress on even one book! Good luck with everything. You are supremely amazing.

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    1. I think it's interesting how many commenters have said the same thing--and I'm starting to wonder if it's actually a pretty common problem. Maybe? *shrugs* But at least we know that we could all try to help each other. :P

      Thank you! They're definitely going to keep me on my toes, and there's no guarantee that I'm going to succeed, but especially now that I've stated them on my blog, I will definitely try my hardest to reach them. It helps that I'm not in school currently, so I have extra time on my hands. (I'm basically writing full-time now.) And I figure, I may not have this chance a few years down the road, so I should push myself now and make good use of this time. Good luck on your own book progress! I totally understand that you're busy with university and everything, so even working on one book is super amazing. :D

      Thank you, and thanks for commenting!

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  11. 800,000 words! Holy sheesh! The most I've written for one book is 90,000, but the finished product would be much less, as a lot of the things I added were meaningless to the plot or changed enough for revision. I can't imagine writing so much in just one year!

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    1. It's definitely going to take a lot of work, since the most I've ever written in a month is 444,444 words. Hopefully I'll have the time and energy to make it. My rough drafts are always too long as well, and I end up cutting at least 50% percent and then adding in scenes to beef them back up again. But congratulations on writing 90,000 words! That's no small achievement.

      Thanks for commenting! :)

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    2. No problem! I can't even imagine writing that much in a year, let alone a month!

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    3. :) It's definitely going to be a challenge, but I remember when I was starting out writing and I couldn't even imagine writing more than 600 words a day. It just takes working up to. And I may find it doesn't happen this year. But I hope I succeed. *crosses fingers*

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  12. *slow clap for the sheer amount of writing you get done*

    I agree with all the ways you want to improve, though! Getting better at not procrastinating and being more organized are the hardest things, so naturally I'm in dire need of fixing that up in my own head. So we'll see how that goes this year.

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    1. Why thank you. *bows deeply*

      They are so hard though. Gah. And somedays I do so well, and then somedays I'm like, I'm doing well if I get one thing done. I hope you succeed at being being more organized and focused this year. :)

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  13. It's nice to hear some more about your stories. ^ ^ Yay for editing! I'll be doing a lot of that this year too. In fact I'm doing some tonight haha. Best of wishes with your goals! :D

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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    1. Aww, thank you! I'm excited to be editing again. :D Good luck on all your editing endeavors! *gives you tea* See, I can be reasonable and cater to individual needs. *nods* Thank you, and same to you!

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