04 Wednesday Nov 2015
Tags
creativity, fantasy, NaNo, nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 15, NaNoWriMo 2015, original work, update, WIP, word count, writing
And the sun sets on Day 4. And I have caught my elusive word count. I’m back on track!
Words Written Today: 2,632
Total: 6,830
First Sentence:
I have faith, if you can pick up the beat on a drum you should be able to do it with your body too.
Last Sentence:
But you’re nice for trying to give him the credit.
03 Tuesday Nov 2015
Tags
creativity, fantasy, NaNo, nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 15, NaNoWriMo 2015, update, WIP, word count, writing
So I thought it would be fun to keep track of my progress through November. I was a little behind the first couple days due to being sick, so I’m trying to catch up. Over all, I think I’ve gotten a good handle on catching up.
Stay tuned for one of these every day!
Words Written Today: 3,194
Total: 4,198
First sentence:
We’ll get there soon, Dar.
Last sentence:
Hopefully I’m a natural at dancing too.
03 Tuesday Nov 2015
Posted in NaNoWriMo, Personal Thoughts, Writing
Tags
creativity, fantasy, inspiration, musings, NaNo, nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 15, NaNoWriMo 2015, original fiction, original work, possible wip, thoughts, update, WIP, word count, writing
It’s that time of year again. Where the world narrows down to one mug of caffeine of choice (coffee, tea, coke, all three mixed together?) and the words on a page, and how fast you can get them down for the next 30 days. Or, while I type this three days into the event, 27 days now.
That’s right. It’s NaNoWriMo. Or, for those that don’t know the lingo yet, National Novel Writing Month. 30 Days, 50,000 Words.
A challenge I have accepted for the last nine years.
And for the first seven of those years, I was a complete and total Pantser. Which, for me and my writing style, may be why those first seven years I really failed at finishing my 50,000 words.
What’s a Pantser you might ask? It’s someone that starts NaNo with little to no plan and just writes by the seat of their pants. Usually they have characters, maybe a semblance of an outline, but they let the characters drive the word count and just run with everything that happens. It’s a well used way of writing for some people out there.
I have found, through trial and serious error, that it’s really not my cup of tea for writing. If I don’t have a general outline to keep me on task, my characters will usually run themselves right into a brick wall, and I’ll spend the rest of my November trying to find a way to write them out of it. Which doesn’t do much for the actual word count itself because I find myself having to back track and edit in order to fix everything.
While I don’t like everything planned out to a T, I do need a serious outline in order to make sure I don’t end up at a dead end in the story. Something I can periodically check and look at in order to go yes, I am on the right track this morning. Or, no, I need to curve my kids to head toward where I need them now, because this section is taking far too long.
The last two years I was able not only complete NaNoWriMo with my 50,000 word count, but it also meant that I was able to finish a novel I had been working on for quite a long time. The novel went through two serious outline and plot revisions before it came out into a rough draft that’s currently on my editing desk.
This year I’m starting a new novel, and I’m really hoping that I can achieve both finishing NaNoWriMo and my novel at the same time.
So how about you, dear readers? Are you a Pantser, flying where the words take you? Or are you a Planner, keeping your kids on a loose leash to make sure you get where you need to go? Leave a comment and let me know!
02 Sunday Aug 2015
Posted in Personal Thoughts, Writing
Tags
creativity, inspiration, life, musings, original work, ramblings, real life, self publishing, time, time management, writing
Warning! Rambling Ahead – Kind of a stream of consciousness post.
Sometimes I’m just not sure how other authors do it. They just have book after book coming out, and I’m stuck with just a very small collection. Granted, life hasn’t been exactly kind to me recently in the letting me write department between my dad dying, and now my mom contracting a serious medical condition. It’s left my head nearly constantly in migraine land, and my will to do much at all almost nill.
But I’m not sure watching other self publishing authors come out with books every few months helps me either. How does that work? Did I just decide to get my self publishing-ness out there too soon because I only had two finished works and a notebook of ideas that are either on my ‘to start’ list or on my ‘started but not complete’ list? Or is it just that my pace, especially with life is just slower all together.
I know I should probably stop worrying about others and focus on what’s currently in front of me, which means writing and taking care of my mom. But, well, as nearly everyone knows, the internet is hard to stay off of sometimes, and once you’re online, it’s really easy to pick up bad habits like watching things.
This week I’ll be headed out to a campground, with some sketchy wifi that only works if you’re in the right spot in the camp barn, and nearly no cell service either. (gotta love nature, and just proves that if the cell companies promise you they’ll reach everywhere – they’re lying because this little campground barely gets anyone service provider wise)
Mom and are are trying to get away some, leave work behind, try and relax and breath in nature. The weather is even supposed to be dropping to the 70’s for us so it shouldn’t be too hot or humid.
I’m hoping to try and get some of those works in progress complete, or at least limping closer to completion. Maybe take a stroll through my ideas and either flush some out, or narrow some focus down so that I can work at a productive rate.
Focus has been my hard thing as of late. Too much noise, too much going on, too much emotion that I’m bottling up. Not enough outlet, and not enough energy to ignore the white noise. I have been told by friends, take one day at a time, which is great advice, but I think she was still too broad, and that I need to start working on taking an hour at a time to really try and get things moving. Maybe once I can get moving again, it’ll help my motivation in all things. Because it’s not just my writing that’s suffered, but my performance at work and the state of the house – and the fact that we never cook anymore. I LOVE to cook, and we’ve been doing take out nearly every day for lunch and dinner – and if not ordering fresh just re-heating the left overs.
I want to get back into cooking, get back into those delicious smells not coming from the front door, but from my kitchen. It’ll not only save on the wallet, but it’s healthier over all too. The biggest thing I need to hunt down are some easy recipes. Things that can be prepped and cooked in about 30-45 minutes, because after I get home from work I have little to no energy.
So once I’m hope from camping, that’s going to be one of my priorities – finding recipes that I can cook for us after work.
Have a recipe you think I should try? Leave it in the comments.
(Though note, anything shrimp is a no go because we both hate shrimp)
24 Friday Jul 2015
Posted in Personal Thoughts, Writing
Presentation is a huge thing for an author, and for their books. You always hear the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But in reality, that’s exactly what everyone does. If the cover is striking, or draws attention, people are more likely to read the synopsis and potentially buy the book. It’s the first thing that a buyer, a reader, sees in the bookstore and so we use it to gain attention. It’s the author’s version of the red carpet in a way, there are beautiful works, and sometimes there are the ones that leave people wondering what they were thinking.
It’s why cover artists pay so much for copyright free photos – in order to work their magic, and why cover artists, whether they draw their own art or use the copyright free photos are paid so much to create the covers. We, as authors, are hoping to have a striking visual that draws people in, that makes people spend those few extra seconds to pick up the book – or pause on it in the ebook store, read a little about it, and hopefully if we’ve done a great job, add it to their cart.
But it’s not just the cover that has to draw people in. The books don’t always sell themselves, and any good author and publisher know that you need to market. It’s our job to spread the word, by tweet, blog, radio or tv ad, booths at trade shows or craft shows that fit the genre, giveaways, etc. If you can use it to get more attention, all the better, and all the best for getting the word out there that this wonderful piece of fiction, or non-fiction, that you, the author, dedicated so much of your time to is out there for people to buy. This great shining thing that you want to shout about is now available, all your hard work paid off because it’s written, it’s edited, and it’s being published (or is published).
But you, the author, need to be just as polished in some ways, as the book(s) that you’re trying to put out there to the people of the world. If you really want people to think that your book is worth reading, then you while you market it and get the word out need to be aware of how you present yourself as well. If you are constantly not using punctuation correctly, or not grammatically correct in your sentence structure, or using ‘ur’, no (for know), r, etc. it DOES, at least in my opinion, hurt your chances of getting people to buy your book. If you in marketing your book and trying to announce to the world that this great thing you did is, or will be, for sale, can’t properly write that announcement, than how can I trust that the book itself will really be great? You’re presenting poor grammar, and poor use of slang as the author in your announcement.
For me, not only is it hard to read and wade through to understand exactly what you’re trying to say, it leaves me with no confidence that this book will be worth my time. I don’t need a book riddled with errors, and that really is what your presentation of the announcement leaves me feeling I will get.
Just like people who go to a 9-5 job, and have a dress code, we as authors need to have a dress code of sorts, but on a more literary level. You need to present your best face when making announcements about a new book, give people the confidence that your book is worth the read because what you say flows, is legible, and makes them want to pick it up, not switch to the next available offer.
09 Thursday Jul 2015
Posted in Writing
Tags
Amazon Kindle, as a seller, creativity, discoveries, fantasy, Following the Old Ways, Meri Benson, original work, published work, publishing, self publishing, writing
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.
Following the Old Ways is now available for purchase on its own over here!
12 Tuesday Nov 2013
Posted in Personal Thoughts, Writing
As many are aware, we’re currently in the flurries of National Novel Writing Month. Pens, keyboard, tablets. They’re all being exhausted as thousands of people across the world write vigorously to try and reach that 50,000 word goal. Or in some cases, surpass that 50,000 count goal.
And me? I’m completely caught up in the insanity. And so far, I’m doing good. Though, it is only a day or so into the second week. My over all goal is to write 2,000 words a day minimum in order to not only reach the 50,000 words this month, but hopefully surpass them and get my book as close to complete as possible. With the goal to have my rough draft done by Christmas so that come the new year I can start to work on editing it after the Hols are over.
I have found that sometimes it’s a struggle to get my word count done depending on the kind of day I had, but I’ve been fighting harder over all to work through it and get things done. I will say, even with occasionally fighting, there’s a mighty great feeling to know that I’ve gotten my goal completed for the day and I go to bed a little more relaxed because of it.
Today I’ve taken a slight pause in time that could otherwise be spent writing to type up this and to work out the map of my fantasy land that my character will be traveling for the remainder of my novel. I wanted to have a visual that I could go back to and go okay, they should be reaching this forest soon, or this town soon.
Though, the fault lays down in naming everything, because the map starts to look barren when you only have your plot relevant locations on it. And then I have to start filing things in with forests, mountains, random towns to speckle the land.
So. On map creation. Question for the masses.
Do you meticulously plot out each location when you create your maps or do you just kind of toss things at the board and let the land kind of form itself the way it wants to?
Do you name everything you put on the map right away or do you let some towns or forests or lakes lay nameless until they are of importance or their name comes to you later?
29 Tuesday Oct 2013
Posted in Personal Thoughts, Writing
Tags
'properly published', musings, nanowrimo 2013, ramblings, real life, thoughts, time management, writing
First and foremost? I want to know where October went. Because hell, it’s way too late for me. I feel like I should have done a LOT more with this month than I did, though honestly that’s because I had wanted to do a lot more than I did.
I never kept up with the drabbles I had wanted to do this month, though I do fully intend to continue with my plan to write for NaNo. I’m just going to have to be more careful about staying on task and not letting the month slip away from me. Because in all honesty, I’d really like to win this year. And about two weeks in I always taper out because of Holidays and family stuff, and finals and school which I no longer have to distract me.
Secondly, I had a small issue with something today while I was browsing the Nano Forums this morning. Someone in one of the regions I’m part of posted that they wanted to talk to “Properly Published“authors, and by that she meant not self-published and not ebook. And I have a more than slight issue with not considering self-publishing or ebooks ‘properly published’.
I know that a good chunk of self-publishers do need better (or any) editors. I’ve run across more than a few that the ideas were solid, but damned if they could just have had someone run through it with the editor’s comb it would have been a hell of a lot better. And I’ve run across more than a few that you sit there wondering where the good reviews on amazon came from because it’s really, really not good. But that isn’t to say that a self-publisher is bad or not properly done.
I guess my issue stems from the use of ‘properly’. I wouldn’t have bristled at the term as much if she had used say… ‘traditionally published’. Because I feel like saying that self-publishing and ebooks aren’t proper is discounting a lot of good work and a lot of good people. Especially since there are a fair few of traditionally published authors that are making their way into ebooks, making shorts available to their fans for a cheaper than paperback/hardback price that might fill in the gaps between some of their books. And I think that’s a wonderfully awesome use of the media, by the way, but does that make the short they’re selling for a couple bucks any less proper than the edition that you can pick up in the store?
My two cents anyway.
08 Tuesday Oct 2013
Posted in Personal Thoughts, Writing
Tags
joining in on the fun, nanowrimo, nanowrimo 2013, planning, preparing, prompts, weekly goals, writing
So, I’ve been working up a little bit of stuff around me and I’ve decided to do NaNoWriMo this year. Or more like again. I’ve done it for a couple years, and I’ve yet to be able to actually win it, so I’m putting a lot of will power into steaming through and actually being able to say I won this year.
I’ve even got a schedule for the month of October to get me in the writing mood a little more, working on some fics inspired by the daily prompts that are posted in the Prompt forum on the website.
And if you’re wondering what NaNoWriMo is? It’s National Novel Writing Month. Basically, for the month of November I promise to work my tail off and write 50,000 words be it a novel, fanfiction, a collection of short stories. 30 Days, 50,000 words. And the focus isn’t to get bogged down in quality so much as getting the quantity out, and then use the month of December to edit what you’ve written.
Wanna join the craziness? http://www.nanowrimo.org is the place to go. Sign up is open, and the forums are already a flurry of fun and talking as people prepare for the insanity that is November. If you’re new to NaNo, there are also regional forums where you can see if maybe someone is hosting a write it, or other fun plans to keep people in their area on track. You might make a new best friend.
And if you want to add me on there? my handle is kougerkat
14 Wednesday Aug 2013
Posted in Personal Thoughts, Writing
Tags
book release date, camping, learning new things, rambling, randomness, self publishing, update, writing
It’s oddly nice sometimes to get offline, hang out with friends, and just… relax unplugged. Well, I was a little plugged in until my best friend joined me out in the woods for the festival last week, but that can’t be helped when my smartphone gets better internet service than cell service out in the middle of no where. But the crux of it was, it was nice to be unplugged for a while.
Get back with nature, just have some good time with friends, campfires, and some crafts. And when there’s time, get back with the old pen and paper and just… get to the essence of writing without all the distractions from the internet that can crop up. Seriously, writing with a computer that has online capabilities is sometimes like ordering a new ebook from Amazon. I go for the free book, but suddenly, ten bucks later, I have a small arsenal of new reads and I’m going ‘no, get me off here!’.
Can you tell I have a very ‘Oh! Shiny!’ kind of personality? Heh. I tend to get distracted easily if I’m not careful, and even sometimes when I am careful.
This week is a get back into the swing of going to work kind of week over all. Though I’m hoping that I can get back into the swing of writing as well. As per my friend’s suggestion, I need to see about putting aside one hour to write a day so even if I don’t get the thousand word (or more) goal, at least I am getting some words out. And in that hour I won’t do things like play on tumblr or poke around on facebook. Dedicated purely to writing. I want my Fae story out, damnit.
And in other news this week, hopefully the anthology I’m part of will be released Friday, fingers crossed at least.
And did I mention that while at the camping trip, a friend of mine said that she would help me to figure out how to format a word document so it’s all ready to self publish at create space? Because I really am seriously thinking of doing some shorter, novella length works for kindle/create space while my novel is being pushed at some big publishing companies. At least, that’s what I’m hoping for, for this Fae novel of mine. Big house publishing company. Hopefully it’s got enough potential and punch for that.
Meri's Corner 