It’s that time of year again! Literally, the very beginning when goals are made and determination to achieve is high. However, it’s no secret that goals made at the new year are more often than not quickly abandoned. To help my writing goals stick, I’m going to share them. *Full disclosure, I am working in uncharted territory. While I’ve submitted and had two short stories published, this is the first time I’ve completed a first draft of a novel. And it was a long one. So yes, I plan on keeping my goals to the best of my ability, there’s going to be a lot of reevaluating as I discover my process. Here are my goals as they stand now: Cut 75k-95k words Finish the second draft by the end of March Final draft for book 1 done by the end of the year Start book 2 in September FinishRead More
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Dramatic drumroll I did it! I did it with more than a day to spare! Ahead of my December 19th self-imposed deadline, I finished my first draft at 195K words (WAY over my 150k goal), hitting a new record of 4,202 words in a few hours. It is a huge relief to have this finally done (even at two in the morning), especially right before the holidays. The last thing I wanted was to have this hanging over my head the last week of December. Not only that, but I went back and looked at some original documents I started this story in. I’d forgotten how long I’ve been working on this idea. Back in October of 2015, I discovered the steampunk aesthetic and found a character nestled in the idea that quickly followed. I distinctly remember sitting in our tiny apartment living room, cluttered with costume making paraphernalia, andRead More
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When I was a young (much younger) writer tackling my first story with pencil and paper, I believed that I was embarking on a lonely career where I would lock myself away for months while I exercised my genius to emerge with a novel ready for publication. Accolades and creativity would be enough to drive me. Surprise, surprise, my authoring life didn’t go as planned. Not even close. Fast-forward many years later to me in college where I’m still doggedly pursuing a creative writing degree because I am too stubborn to consider changing course and too in love with the craft to give it up. It was in the classroom setting that I realized how monumentally important having other people cheering me on was to my writing process. Having a set deadline to turn in my work for class was also helpful in motivating me to complete projects. Now thatRead More
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As the final addition to the Reader’s Library, I wanted to share a way to receive a book every month. There are actually a lot of businesses and bookstores that offer this, but I am highlighting the most cost-efficient ones I could find. For those who want a steady stream of books or don’t want to take the time to browse through shelves and shelves, this is a fun alternative. Each of these monthly book services are unique in the way books are chosen and boxes are put together. Brilliant Books Monthly $89.00 to $325.00 a year USD This is a small brick and mortar bookstore with a dozen employees (including the intern) that aims to be the most personalized monthly book supplier. New subscribers fill out a physical card to detail their preferences that will help BBM make the best selection. All the books are guaranteed and come withRead More
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Whenever events concerning the writing community have been put on, I’ve always found myself on the attendee side, enjoying the panels and booths available. Last week, I got to experience the other side as a volunteer. A few weeks ago, I received an email from the League of Utah Writers asking for people to work at our table during the local FanX (our Comic-Con). This wasn’t the usual request for volunteers. Most of the time, there are leadership positions that need to be filled or presenters to showcase topics for conferences. However, sitting at a table talking about the League sounded like something I could handle. I had no idea what to expect. Luckily, everyone involved was super nice and had done this before. After a short wait outside of the venue, I was brought to the table and given a quick rundown of what to talk about to anyoneRead More
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This penultimate installment of the Writer’s Toolbox is a resource I’ve used over the past few years when looking to publish my short stories. It can be overwhelming to try and search for the right home for a story if a writer decides to go the traditional publishing route. I know a simple Google search wasn’t very helpful in my case, with dozens of sites and ads trying to catch my attention (and my money). While I was at a small writers’ conference a few years ago, one of the presentations was about a tool I had never heard of before. I’ve since used it to help me home my published short stories. The Submission Grinder is a no fee, nonprofit database of publishers for all genres and lengths of writing. Although it’s still a growing list (I’ve added a couple of publishers to their list myself), it is theRead More
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I feel so behind the times barely getting around to sharing this addition to the Reader’s Library. Throughout my education career, I had heard references to it, but it only ever stayed on the periphery of my awareness until recently. Project Gutenberg celebrates 50 years of offering free literature! Some quick facts: Since its founding by Michael Hart in 1971, everything offered by Project Gutenberg are works with expired copyrights in the U.S. Volunteers digitize and proofread the books before they are added to the library. Books can be either read online or downloaded. There is no fee or registration and no special apps needed to access the library. Project Gutenberg has over 60,000 eBooks available to the public. Personally, I enjoyed reading recently added short stories published in the Imagination: Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy from 1955. It was a treat to read about the interesting and uniqueRead More
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Summer has officially started! And with that comes all the fun and craziness that makes life the fantastic, chaotic ride it is. Luckily, I’ve made some progress in between everything going on. Intensity is building in my story, and I can’t wait to see how it all comes together on the page. Progress aside, I do have to make a confession. There was an unrelated creative itch that I had to scratch. I stole quite a few evenings this month to explore an unrelated project. Long story short, I have a character in another medium that was begging me to explore her memories. A handful of them came to me so strongly and suddenly that I was having a hard time focusing on other tasks. Finally, I gave in and wrote them out—by hand—oddly enough, even going back to my original method of pencil and paper. Through this entire “project,”Read More
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For this installment in the Writer’s Toolbox, I wanted to share a resource that has helped motivate me to write when I struggled with the desire to keep going. Since 2008, the Hugo winning podcast, Writing Excuses, has been putting out weekly episodes to help instruct, inspire, and motivate writers. Howard Tayler, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Brandon Sanderson host the podcast with a myriad of special guests that offer wonderful insights. The episodes don’t run too terribly long (the tagline is “Fifteen minutes long, because you’re in a hurry, and we’re not that smart”), so it’s easy to play one in between tasks, or if you’re like me, binge an entire season in a week or two. Right now, Writing Excuses is in its 16th season, so there are quite a few episodes to catch up on. If that seems daunting, feel free to jump in and listenRead More
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This installment in the Reader’s Library is, admittedly, a little unconventional. Quick note: I am only suggesting a tool, not promoting a specific brand. First, a little backstory. I started my new job over a year ago. It’s a great job, but it requires that I am at my computer for eight hours. That doesn’t include the hours I spend writing or looking at my phone. Shortly after starting my job, I was plagued by painful headaches that impeded my ability to do other tasks. When I got my yearly eye exam, pictures were taken that let me see the immense pressure on my optic nerves. I’ll leave the medical jargon out, but my eyes were taking a pounding. Long story short too late, all the time looking at screens was making my head hurt. Why am I telling you about my screen time and the headaches it was causing?Read More
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It’s not often that something or lack of something in a book bothers me enough that I feel the need to respond to it. I even waited a while to give me some space between reading the last page and writing this post. Keep in mind that everything beyond this sentence is my opinion and my imperfect experiences as a person and a writer for many years. Books are subjective, I totally get that. What one reader will love can bore another. As a writer, I do notice when an author has been lazy or is choosing to not do the work their story deserves. There were a lot of things that weren’t working in this novel, but I am only going to write about the one element that tipped the scales against it. A bad case of the straw man is what brought me to it. No, this hasRead More
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In the spirit of Black History month, I decided that the inaugural tool I wanted to add to the Writer’s Toolbox is a gem I stumbled across when I was researching how to describe characters of color in my story with equity and respect. Writing With Color is a site specifically geared towards writing. There’s no need to twist or fold the advice to make it fit your writing project; no fitting a circle into a square here! The Spring Conference I attended a year ago opened my eyes to some of the pitfalls I was inadvertently falling into in my early writing. The advice and suggestions found on Writing With Color have enriched my descriptions and made me a more conscientious writer. Instead of regurgitating the same list of adjectives that writers have used in the past, I have a tool to push myself into coming up with evenRead More