Tag Archives: discoveries

Holiday Weekend

02 Sunday Jul 2017

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This weekend is going to prove to be a loud one. It already has been, truthfully. Last night, there were a ton of fireworks going off even though there is still some time before the 4th. I don’t mind them over all, so long as they’re not from the neighbors coming into my yard, but my cats don’t particularly like them or know what to do with the sounds and scares they get from the super loud noise. I expect that they will only get worse as we head toward the 4th.

Over all, my whole plan for this Holiday weekend is to try and relax some, get some reading in, and of course, getting some writing done. Camp started yesterday, after all. And Camp is all about writing. Getting those words on the page is my goal. And it shall happen. I believe in myself.

I also ended up finding a used online bookstore. So I might do a bookhaul blog once they all come in. And hopefully after some quick reads, they’re all cozy mysteries, get a couple reviews up on here. Reading and writing! It’s important for days off!

Though, tomorrow I do have half a day of work. But it’s better than a full day I guess.

How are you spending your 4th of July weekend? Do you have Monday off?

Photo by Mike Enerio on Unsplash

 

New Writing Prompts on the Horizon

15 Thursday Jun 2017

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So, I was at the bookstore the other day with my best friend and I happened upon this book just sitting on a shelf staring at me. I get distracted by shiny, and I don’t mean shiny like pretty but shiny like actual shiny. The writing on this book was all shiny reflective gold and I kind of loved it. The title of the book also caught me, no lie.

Write the Story – yes, the image that probably dragged you in here to read my blog post.

It’s this mostly empty book, with a prompt and ten items that you should be including in your writing when filling the prompt.

I’m excited to try to use this to help me better at writing. Because these can be used just for exercises to get me a little more back in the writing spirit. I think it will be fun to see what crazy interesting things will come from these prompts.

Maybe I’ll even share them here. Or at least pieces of them. We’ll see.

I’m hoping to start working on doing these prompts maybe once a week in July. I know they’re not really meant to be all that long, the book only gives you a page each prompt, but I never know how long my short prompts are going to be until I’m writing it and it’s coming to a close. After all, my current WIP was originally planned for 30,000 and it’s going on 50,000 words. We shall see.

What do you use to inspire you? Let me know in the comments below.

Novella becomes Novel…? Maybe?

25 Thursday May 2017

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So, last post I was calling one of my WIPs a novella. And then I took the time to actually look at it. And, hefty job, print it out at 100 pages printed from Word. Word was also kind enough to let me know that my WIP is currently 48,000 words approximately.

48,000 words.

Can I still call it a novella at this point?

I mean, no one would call The Great Gatsby a novella, and it’s roughly 50,000 words. And my WIP should be about that range when I finish.

When I started it, I didn’t expect it to be much longer than maybe 30,000 words or so. That total would put it firmly in the novella category, and I never really paid too much mind to the word count while I was working on it. I never noticed when I passed the 30K mark, and then the 40K mark.

Of course, this thing needs a heavy revision after I finish it, but really, I guess I should start calling it a novel? It’s kind of crazy to me that my tiny idea turned itself into a full fledged novel.

When do you consider a work a novel, instead of a novella?

2016 – Revitalizing and Refocusing

03 Sunday Jan 2016

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Hi everyone. If you’ve been around, or deduced by the handle of this blog, my name is Meri. If you’re new to my blog, welcome! If you’re returning, welcome back!

This blog was originally started back in 2013, as a way to keep up with thoughts, ideas, and things that came to me while writing, but also where I could review books as I read them and give my honest opinion on them.  And for the most part, that is what’s happened here on this blog, but at a very sporadic and nearly chaotic schedule.

To give a little background, I’m an aspiring author who is trying to make a living at writing. The catch is that, naturally, I have a life away from the computer. I have pets, a house to take care of, as well as a mother with cancer that I’m looking after – she’s strong, and doing well but I want and need to be there for her. And, as if that wasn’t enough, I have a full 9-5 job that takes up most of my time during the week, so most of the house things take up my weekend.

Every time I mark off that I’m going to buckle down, really get writing, and commit to doing better at this blog, life tends to throw me curve balls. But, with this new year I am putting my foot down and saying no more. I will find the time, I will put in the focus, and I will get posts done. Because I want to commit to this, I want to grow my online presence not just as a blogger but as an author. It’s not just good enough to put books and shorts up on Amazon, which I’m still working to get on a decent schedule as well.

sleeping kitten

My New Resolutions for this Blog are:

  • To post regularly (two or three times a week)
  • To read more books, there by writing more reviews
  • Update on my WIPs more – because as a writer I’m working on my WIPs more.

What are your resolutions for the New Year? Leave them in the comments!

Days of Winters Past

21 Monday Dec 2015

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kittne December has passed in a whirlwind of no snow, which for Chicago is very unusual. December is a very busy time of year for me. Not so much in the way I would like, because I wish it was more writing intensive than it actually is. Work gets very busy, because we have fellowships that are being worked out, and interviewees to fly in and all that so I spend a lot of time working on travel things for my work. And then there’s my office’s Holiday Party. I’m in charge of it, from drinks to food to decorations to music to room reservations and all that’s in between. The only think I’m not in charge of is the alcohol. But naturally, all that needing to plan out, and then actually do day of, means that I’m running lots.

All the running means that I’m not really doing much in the way of writing, because I don’t really have a lot of time to think. But at the same time, after NaNo and all that push, it means that I get a small break in my life so I can kind of recharge on the writing front. I still have high hopes of finishing my NaNo novel before the new year begins.

And later this week (or the way my life goes, next week), I’m looking to post about my goals, both reading and writing wise. Because I want to try and really stick to with more of each.

Are you going to post goals for next year for writing or reading? Let me know in the comments!

New Steps

09 Thursday Jul 2015

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Some new steps in the direction of self-publishing, however small. I’m excited, and a little nervous, about finally getting something up on the Kindle eBook store that’s all my own.

ftow2 cover

Following the Old Ways is now available for purchase on its own over here! 

Things discovered while editing

11 Friday Jan 2013

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It always amazes me sometimes, how things in my story change as I edit them.

With a short story I wrote last year, when I went through edits and it barely changed content wise. It was tighter, better written, and flowed more smoothly and I did add a decent amount of new content, but the core story and what the characters were doing didn’t really change all that much.

However, I just finished editing the newest short story and most of the content has changed. Certain aspects of why a character was doing something or what they were doing specifically had changed. It’s better for it, but it just amazes me some with how different it ended up being compared to the other story I edited. Though I also ended up having a secondary character take over briefly and insert herself in the beginning of the story rather than just have a tiny space in the end of the story. But I also think she deserved that addition so I gave it to her.