Happy Monday and here we are on the last Monday of October. Thanks so much for coming to my blog to check in, share your stories, your ups, your downs. All of you are _so_ inspiring. And I want to say to you what I told our Angelina. The books and stories you work on make their way to kids who want and need to read them. I've seen the power of story first hand, the connections, the differences. You make a difference in a child or teens life when you connect with them in a story that makes them laugh, takes them on a wild adventure, makes them cry or makes them go "hey, that's me, I know what that's like". I could tell you story after story of experiences I've had when handing kids books. I won't right now. Why? 'Cause we got some #wipmadness to do!
School is done! So here is my #wipmadness for this week.
- Get organized and started with NANO and PIBOIDMO
- Read, read and read for #Cybils MG realistic fiction panel
- Start writing blog posts for the above reads!
That's it for me. What about you? How was your last week? What are your plans for this week?
AND---see you all over @ Hanging on to Wonder for our November check-ins.
Thanks again for hanging out here. Shout out and thanks to Jaye for taking on Novemeber! Happy Halloween!
Excited about hosting next month! Hope all you doing NANO can still make time to stop in, because, there will be surprises :)
ReplyDeleteMy week has been ok, I fast crawled my way back to 18K and now I'm stuck again - doubting, questioning, wondering if this ms is worth anything - part of it is sophomore fears, now that I actually have a book deal - part of it may actually be this manuscript.
To complicate things, I came up with an AWE-Mazing idea that I'm already scribbling madly over. It's totally my kind of sprawling Southern melodrama. Anybody out there work on more than one thing at a time?
See y'all next week.
Surprises? We like surprises!
DeleteOH. MAN. I _hate_ that when that happens to an ms. I seriously wish there was a magic yes-no button to tell you whether or not to push through or move on.
Yes on the more than one thing at a time, but usually a picture book or two or a pb and a novel. I know a few novelists who will work on finishing a revision and starting a new draft. In this case I'd say rest the one for a couple of days while you scribble on this new one. This is the second time stuck...maybe a brainstorm session with a writer buddy or crit group, if you haven't done that already. Any HOW, enough from me.
Good luck!
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ReplyDeleteI finally got my butt into gear with my rewrite and I knocked out two chapters and had lots of backstory daydreams. I wish I could work on more than one thing at a time b/c I have a new idea knocking around in my head, but I tend to get tunnel vision with my projects.
ReplyDeleteSee everyone next month over at Jaye's blog!
You know, tunnel vision is not a bad thing. I go the other way sometimes and it takes a long to time to get anything done. Way to go on the chapters and backstory daydreaming!
DeleteAs you all may know, I'm in a deep blue writing funk. Not a first for me and probably not my last. Thanks all who stopped by my blog to give me encouragement and suggestions. The one that resonated the most with me is the need to write something just for fun. So I'm toying around with that concept.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, my heart is with you who are contending with Sandy, hoping you will all weather the storm safely.
My goal for the week is to read, relax, and see if I can recapture a glimmer of writing joy.
You know, that is good advice. Something I'd do well to remember, too. Have. Fun. Seems I meant to make that the focus of my posts for this, this month.
DeleteHang in there. You are right, it does pass. I like your plan...read and relax. If you want to play let me know! I'll be around most of the week.
Hugs, Angelina. Reading and then writing for fun sound like a good way out to break through a funk. God, how I despise the funk when it descends. :-(
DeleteI had a good long writing funk recently, too, and it sucks. Hugs to you, Angelina! I'm all for the read-and-relax strategy. Pressuring myself just made me feel worse, and pushed the joy further out of reach. Dabble with words in a way that brings you joy, and trust that this too shall pass....
DeleteYeah...dabble with words that bring you joy. I like that.
DeleteAre you doing NaNo AND PiBoIdMo???? Whoa. BEST OF LUCK! And thanks so much for hosting this month.
ReplyDeleteI did some revisions and got my requests off for the HLandS contest last week, but I also snuck in a little drafting each day, and I'm now on my second-last chapter of the WIP. Trying really hard to finish it up before the month ends so I can have a nice clean start to revise it in November.
Hope you all have a great finish on the month. I look forward to seeing you all on JRo's blog next month!
LOL, I am now rethinking that even as I type this reply. Welcome on the hosting. Congrats on getting those requests of and getting some drafting done _each day_. See you next month!
DeleteI just finished my revisions on my manuscripts and am organizing a list of agents to research and query. I need to rework my query and get back into the draft of a manuscript I started. Good luck with the reading and NaNo.
ReplyDeleteWay to go on your MS!! Good luck with the agent research and reworking the query.
DeleteI'm not sure what PiBoldMo is, but I am doing Nano! Actually, I'm suddenly pretty terrified about it, which means I'm putting too much pressure on myself. I like Angelina's thoughts on writing for fun. I need to apply that for Nano.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I'm finishing up a draft of my next nonfiction writing book and will be looking for beta readers soon if anyone is interested...
Hey Denise...it is picture book idea month. the goal is to come up with a picture book idea everyday.
DeleteI am _so_ with you on writing for fun during Nano and working on keeping that in mind. Even as I was prepping yesterday I could feel the anxiety etc building, lol. Maybe we can keep each other in check. Have fun and write on, lol!
Way to go on getting that draft done! Man, I would _love_ to beta read for you, but the reading plate is so full.....
Prepping for NaNo this week, and hoping to keep it fun. I'm bad for heaping pressure on myself to "make it good!", when I actually believe first-drafting should be a joyful exploration -- challenging, yes, but still fun.
ReplyDeleteHappy prepping and yes yes yes on keeping it fun. I am so glad you brought that up here and in your reply to Angelina. Joyful Exploration...awesome thing to put on a stickie and on my computer, possibly on my forehead to keep it really front and centre. Looking forward to Nano-ing with you!
DeleteSpend day doing a Skype visit with a HS which was really cool!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151477338669918&set=a.58585149917.83910.650799917&type=1&theater
More than a few of the girls asked when my sequel was going to come out. Uh, if that's not inspiration to write? I don't know what is.
Way to go, everyone! I kicked some serious butt last week, despite some crazy business at the day job, and my WIP is now complete and in the hands of my agent!!! (pauses to shake in boots)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what I will be doing during NaNoWriMo. I've never done it the "right" way and written a complete novel. I've always used it as a goal keep for my WIP and an excuse to have a write-in on Friday nights. So this time around, I might actually float the new concept through the real process and see if I can do some damage...really...
Whatever you are doing, wipsters, keep the madness going! Love ya!
Great to do lists for everyone. I can't wait to read the results!!
ReplyDelete- Jessica @ Book Sake