Odds and Ends

Extra Saturday post:

If you’re doing NaNoWriMo, make sure to sign up with your region so you can participate in Write-Ins. Tallahassee has a Write-In nearly every weekend in November. Basically, NaNoers in Tallahassee meet together with our laptops and/or paper at the library or a bookstore or coffee and try to get our word count in for the day in the company of fellow writers. Different locales are chosen for different environments. (For example, one branch of the library allows us to bring snacks! We have other places that are more for quiet writing.)

Also, this is semi-writing related: I just got Windows 7 and so far so good. It has some nice features, though it took a while for us to figure out how to get our wireless connection to work. There are parental controls that allow me to limit my online time. I don’t know about you, but the internet is a HUGE distraction from writing, so I think I may test out those parental controls.

Now if only I could get my email set up…

Switching Gears for NaNoWriMo

Happy Halloween! Dress up, get sugared-up, and have fun!

Now, back to writing.

I know many of you are participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Me too. :) So, in theory, no one's going to have time for this blog any more, right? Haha... right...

So for the month of November, Musings will be switching gears. This will be a place to procrastinote and waste time three times a week :D Don't you love me?

My plan is to post fun stuff instead of linking to (sometimes lengthy) articles and going on and on about my own personal writing experiences. (You'll probably still get some of that, but in smaller quantities. And it should be NaNo related, too.) I'll keep my posts short so you don't have to feel guilty for checking things out.

NaNo's supposed to fun, after all, isn't it? :)

A Little History Lesson/Keeping Rejection in Perspective

First of all, I'm starting to think that a MWF posting schedule isn't going to work out. Let's try Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, shall we?

I know you're not supposed to post about rejections, but I'd like to share some perspective.

First, some history: The first manuscript I ever wrote was ... how shall I put this?... it was lacking. I sent it out to as many agents as I could find using my limited experience. (Looking back I realize how little I understood about writing and publishing back then.) I got all rejections. All of them form letters.

Shadow Bound is out in the world now. It has a chance, but I realize there's a possibility that it won't be the work that gets me published. And that's okay. I can wait. I can get better in he meantime.

I'm going to focus on how much better it is than my first manuscript. (And it's WAY better.) Some day, (if I don't get an agent for it this time) I'd like to come back to Shadow Bound and tear it apart editing. (Once I'm a better writer and tearing it apart will do it some good.) This novel has a great premise with great plot twists. (Every personalized rejection I've gotten so far has said something to this effect.)

Until then, I'd like to focus on the good. Shadow Bound has received 4 partial requests and 1 full. That's exciting for a new writer! It means that my second novel is that much better than my first. It means I'm a fast learner and it means my third novel should be considerably better still.

Have your rejections made you stronger?

Good Story Ideas and Great Characters

Here are a couple of articles about getting started--getting ideas and getting good characters. I know it's a little late to post this (for those of you doing NaNoWriMo), but the articles are good and I think they're worth a look. If you are writing a novel in November, consider this a checklist.

First, You Need a Good Idea. Alexandra Sokoloff gives a great checklist for what a good story idea is. One thing writers need to realize is this: even if you have the BEST idea for a book, if it's not a story that gets you pumped, if it's not a story that gives you chills or makes you giddy, it's not a good book for you to write.
I could never have written Dan Brown's books, even if I had had the ideas first. I just wouldn't have done as good a job.
I think this is why we as writers probably shouldn't worry too much about people stealing our story ideas. There are exceptions, of course. Don't be careless ;)

Second: Show Some Character! This article focuses more on characters of YA fantasy, but I think the advice can be applied across the board. Make sure that your characters work hard for their happy endings. It's important that your readers connect with your main character. This is a great article that analyzes a common problem that doesn't get addressed very often.