The writing side...
Shards of Glass has been resting before edits. I did get a wonderfully helpful critique back from my beta reader. It's so cool to see your writing through someone else's eyes and discover its strengths and weaknesses. For instance, she felt the satisfying end of the book came about a chapter and a half before my ending, and the rest was just a final tidy-up of loose ends. I still have to get into re-working that section, but it was a neat perspective to see and I like her ideas. (Speaking of which, does anyone have any interest in beta-reading SHARDS once I've done my next round of edits?).
Shards is also hanging in there at PageToFame, with 41% of readers voting for it to continue to Round II (from what I've seen of PageToFame, that's actually a pretty solid upvote). 22 readers so far, so it's going to be a while before the Magical Algorithm determines if I go to round II or get booted.
The Goddess of Vengeance Wore Pink Galoshes... 1,928 words. This is something I only recently started working on, and you can read my elevator pitch for it here.
Outline for Goddess...1,679 words. Yes, this is new for me. When I read Plot & Structure by James Scott bell, one of his suggestions for the seat-of-your-pants type writers is to start outlining for the begining and then add to your outline as you go, combining planning and flexibility. I have a detailed outline for the first fourth or fifth of the novel, and I'm going to keep building it as I go.
So... outlining is brilliant. Or at least, a serious time saver. So far, I can write 500 words of Goddess in under 1/2 hour, which is quite helpful for my morning routine. The reading side...
Pretty quiet on the reading side. I'm still working on Beautiful Creatures
by Kami Garcia and Marget Stohl, and I finished Hush, Hush
by Becca Fitzpatrick. I'm enjoying both, but I do wonder about the message that all these fated-romance books -- cummulatively, not blaming any one title -- have on teenagers' perspective on romance. That could be a post all of its own, though.The blogging side...
100 followers! OMG, I love you guys. I was so excited to finally see the number "100" in the sidebar. I'm going to hold off on announcing my contest until 101 followers, though. I want to get one more thing for the contest, and then it should be ready (as of tomorrow). But.. I'm waiting until 101 followers. Because one of you is my mom, and you HAVE to be a fan of my writing, so you don't count. ;)
Due to aforementioned Those Days, I haven't been around to many of your blogs as I'd like, but hopefully I'll get a bit of a chance to rectify that in the next few days.
How are all your projects going this week? Read any good books?
13 comments:
Happy 100 and soon to be 101 followers! I love that your mom follows! I look forward to a contest!
Hooray for writing!!! And book reading!! I am currently wrapping up the Heist Society by Ally Carter and then my books should be in the mail next week - Hex Hall & Before I Fall. I think before that I'll try and read He Loves Me, He Loves me not which is about 40 short romantic stories!!! It's a big book thats why I say I'll try I don't think I'll finish before the others arrive!
Congrats on the first 100.
I've also wondered about the effect on real teens of all these paranormal romances, especially the idea of fate. Shouldn't we as mature adults be giving them a picture of reality--that good relationships take work? Maybe it's just the mom in me...but it would be a great topic for a future blog. I'd love to hear your perspective.
Congratulations on 100! That's exciting. Unfortunately I've been having "those days" as well. February has not been kind to my writing. I hope, unlike you, March is more a willing partner.
Yay 100! Very exciting.
I'm still reading this Bill Bryson book, but getting close to the end. Not sure what I'll pick up after that; my TBR pile is still pretty big. :-)
Your blog is so positive and so interesting I clicked to Follow...and happy for you to have 101! Look forward to your blog!
It says 101 now, which I feel is cooler again! Congratulations on reaching 100 followers, I'm a quarter of the way there :)
I'd be happy to beta-read SHARDS for you, but I should warn you - I'm kind thorough! Alos as I work quite long hours, we may want to talk deadlines first. Should you need me, my email address is firstname.lastname at gmail.com and my first and last name are in my blog url.
Hey, congrats on 100+ followers! What an achievement! And I admire your hard work on your writing. Sorry you've had one of "those" days. Hope you're able to relax... (But ouch about getting your wisdom teeth out in the near future. Not fun.)
YAY for 100 followers!! And YAY for Hush, Hush. I heart Patch. ;)
Thanks Jen! I really want to read Before I Fall, I've heard such good things about it... tell me what you think when you read it!
Laurel, look for a post about that coming soon... I have the exact same concerns. My view of romance was skewed as a teenager as it was. I remember long talks in college about how Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson's Creek had given us crazy expectations to find a "soul mate"!
Piedmont, I hope March is a good writing month for you! I'll just have to catch up in April.
Summer, I'm with you on that... my TBR pile is always massive too. I tend to have 8-12 books out from the library at once, because my eyes are bigger than my free time!
Kittie, thanks so much! I'm thrilled to have you as 101, especially after seeing your blog and how interesting it looks!
Ellen, that would be amazing! I don't mind a beta rider who takes a while, because between work and school, I'm a slow beta reader myself (and of course, I'd be happy to read your work in exchange if you'd like).
Thanks, Shelley! I'm not happy about my wisdom teeth one bit. My wisdom teeth were pea-sized until I was 24 (don't ask me what that implies), and now they're growing, the wrong way of course.
I liked Patch too, Tiffany! Fun book.
Wisdom teeth- blecch!
I'll agree with your question on the YA romances- I read several and am now steering clear of them. At least for a while. My issue was they weren't terribly realistic and the plots had soooo many holes I couldn't ignore them.
I forget to be a follower. I've rectified that error.
My projects have stalled. But this weekend I'm hoping to start putting YOUR critique into revisions. I'm excited to be finally using your suggestions.
Time, its such a cruel task master. It wants your all, but doesn't slow down when your too busy for everything. I've been there all month, and looks like this weekend is the only real break I'll get until sometime in April. May, if I'm a slow learner.
Congrats on the 100 (er, 101) mark.
Congratulations on 100+ followers! I'm so excited for you with all you've accomplished with Shards! Way to go!!!
:)
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