Everyone is writing Christmas short stories, so I decided to try my hand at one yesterday. As always, it turned out overly dramatic, but here you go anyway! Sadie hung the last ornament, a simple silver bell. Perhaps the simplest of all her ornaments. And yet. With a soft stroke of her hand, the tiny… Continue reading The Whole Story
Category: Writing
NaNo Updates and Word Wars
So much for writing throughout all of NaNo, hmm? Well, the truth is, my writing has been so sporadic and usually at such late hours, that I simply haven't made the time to update you all. For all that, however, I'm running fairly on time. I am at about 33,000 words and though it is… Continue reading NaNo Updates and Word Wars
NaNo Day 3 & 4
There's a reason I didn't do a post yesterday...I didn't finish my goal word count until 1:30 AM. I had to push pretty hard to make myself finish, and apparently I wrote myself out because so far today, I've done a grand total of 511 words. Instead of writing during the day yesterday, I cleaned,… Continue reading NaNo Day 3 & 4
NaNoWriMo Day 2 and Query Letters
It is 11:15 PM so I figured I should get in my blog post for the day. I'm not quite at my word count goal for the day, but I know I will reach it! I've got about 300 more to go, and I'll have written 3,000 today - ugh, I'd better get that in… Continue reading NaNoWriMo Day 2 and Query Letters
NaNoWriMo Day One Plus Rejection
Yes, as a matter of fact I did stay up until midnight to begin writing. And much to my surprise, in one hour's time, I managed to get in 1700ish words. Of course, most of it will have to be trashed, but that's besides the point. I started, and I'm getting to know my characters,… Continue reading NaNoWriMo Day One Plus Rejection
Priorities
One of the most difficult parts about being a writer - particularly an unpublished one - is giving yourself priority. It is so easy to dismiss your needs, because the only person who will know is you (and God. And your husband. And any other writers who might be holding you accountable.). But, the point… Continue reading Priorities
Deep Dives
It's been a few weeks. And if you don't follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you have no idea where I went. I promise I had good reason for disappearing. In summary, I was doing a deep dive into my three main projects. And here are the results: Drawn Into Love: I know, I know… Continue reading Deep Dives
Just a Snippet
Five Days. Three Goals. Finish the initial review of Picture of the Past (appr. 70 pages)Finish doing a deep dive breakdown of Drawn Into Love (appr. 275 pages)Get up to 60k words in my current WIP (10,778 words) That's what I've been working on this week. So far I have finished #1, and not started… Continue reading Just a Snippet
Facing My Book
Today, I am doing something in my writing career that I have never done before. I...am creating an outline. Yup. A book outline. As in, writing down the scenes, the purposes of the scenes, the character goals and motivations, etc. Basically, I'm creating the most epic spreadsheet ever to break this book down into the… Continue reading Facing My Book
Storytellers Conference: Day 3
There were only two free sessions today, but they were the best of the conference! Granted, they were (finally!!) about fiction, so I may be biased. But seriously, I took almost three pages of notes on just the two and the only reason I didn't take more is because the final session had a handout.… Continue reading Storytellers Conference: Day 3
Forest Idylls 