2019: What would you like to see?

Hi everyone! As the title suggests, I’d like to know what you’d like to see on the blog this year. Over the past few years, posting has taken a back seat to actual writing, life, and my own self-doubt that I had anything worthwhile to post aside from sporadic updates. I’d like to do a bit better about posting this year, and I think I’m getting to a better place – both in terms of headspace and my WIP nearing a query-able state – to follow through.

So – thoughts?

 

I’m excited about this year, and hopefully you’ll see more from me sooner rather than later! (And if you want to “choose all of the above” for the poll, just mention that in the comments, too =). )

Top 5 Songs of 2018

Hello again everyone! We’ve made it through another year – an extremely long year at that – and you know what that means…

Time to recap my favorite songs from last year!

If you follow my sporadic ramblings and other updates on Twitter, you can probably already guess a few of these. I’ve listened to almost every single one on repeat while writing or revising one project or another, and many more times when I just wanted to decompress, so I hope you find something you like in this list!

#5 “Turns to Dust” by Sound Surfer & Verso ft. Nilka: This one barely squeaked in, and I’m fairly sure it was the last song I listened to in 2018. It’s atmospheric and futuristic, hopeful and very relaxing. And I kinda sorta really want to create a winter-guard (flag twirling) routine for it when spring comes in a few months.

 

#4 “Starlight” by Babymetal: This song gives off a heavy “anime opening” vibe and it is awesome. I absolutely love how the bass and guitars work with the soaring vocals and backing symphonic-type effects. It’s powerful and again, hopeful, bringing to mind the point when a character or hero finally realizes what they have to do to win or succeed and make a last-ditch effort to save the world/the ones they love.

 

#3 “See Through Me” by Orbit Culture: Although this song is much darker/heavier than Starlight, I still get a sense of optimism or hopefulness from it. But where Starlight is more lighthearted or happy, See Through Me more befits a character who has really  gone through the ringer, arriving to a final conflict more to spite an antagonist or opposing force than actually save/resolve something. See Through Me is a “I’ll prove you wrong” song, whereas Starlight is a “I won’t let you win/you won’t get away with this” song.

And honestly, given our political landscape the last two years, I think we all need a survival or spiteful anthem. This one is mine.

 

#2 “Hip Hop Phile” by BTS: Let’s be honest–you had to know BTS would end up on this list sooner or later. (Honestly you should count yourselves lucky the whole list wasn’t just completely BTS.) But I digress – I absolutely adore HHP. I love the flow, love the stories RM, JHope, and Suga tell about how hip hop influenced them early on and what it means to them. Reading – immersing myself in fantasy worlds – was how I survived middle and high school, and is what drove me to writing: to creating my own stories, my own worlds, so that anyone who needed a respite from their own life, like I did, had one.  That’s why HHP resonates a lot with me, I think.

The heart and soul they put into this song trying to convey what hip hop has meant to them throughout their lives is palpable, and when you think of how far they’ve come, how much they struggled (and still do) with aspects of being idols, it’s that much more powerful.

 

 

And the moment you’ve all been waiting for, which really should come as no surprise…

 

#1 “Fake Love” by BTS

Where do I even start? Actually, I know where — maybe it’s cheating but loving Fake Love basically means you have four official versions of the song to repeat to your heart’s content (and trust me – I have). Each one has its own flavor and vibe, too, making it easier to listen to over multiple projects.

To me, the first/original version feels like the darkest of the four, followed by the Japanese Remix version. The remix embraces the punchy, halting flow of the rap verse and switches out the effects to create a cyberpunk/futuristic feel. The original Japanese version (non-remix) is a touch less dark, with what sounds like an added instrumental in the background to help soften it (on top of the vocals themselves, which seem a little less…angry?). Last but not least brings the Rocking Vibe version, where the synths and EDM-style beat* are changed out for rock-style acoustic/electric guitars and drums, turning the track into a much more nostalgic, somber song.

And that’s without even getting into the visually stunning music videos. BTS is known for lyrics with word play and multiple meanings, so it’s no surprise the MVs for Fake Love are layered in much the same way. I went through some of the elements here , but it definitely doesn’t cover everything. Because the song isn’t just about romantic love, but self-love too, I think it’s pretty safe to say some of the members’ own struggles, fears, and/or aspects of “fake love” show up in the MVs.

Long story short: Fake Love is art. I don’t know how else to put it.

 

All in all 2018 was, musically, an amazing year. I feel like I listened more widely, more diversely than I have in previous years, though I’ll have to go back and look through my prior end-of-year lists to be sure. In any case I highly, highly recommend to check out BTS‘s Love Yourself: Tear and Love Yourself: Answer because they are the only albums I enjoyed, in their ENTIRETY, over the whole year.

Listen with your heart, and without judging based on another group/artist/song, and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

 

Did you have any favorite songs of 2018? Any songs or album releases you were looking forward to, but then were let down by? Were there any songs that sneaked up on you, maybe one in a genre or style you don’t usually like but found yourself really enjoying? Let me know in the comments!

*Apologies if I butcher musical terms and whatnot, because I’m mostly just describing how I hear/what it sounds like to me. 

NaNoWriMo Eve Thoughts

안녕! (Hello!)
I’ve been learning Korean for a few months now so I figure I should probably try to actually practice more often. 

I know it’s been a while, but this time I come bearing news of significant progress on my urban fantasy WIP! I finished draft 3 in July, followed by draft 4 at the very beginning of October, and then promptly sent it off to several beta readers. So the last three weeks or so have been the slightly terrifying fun kind where I wait to hear what everyone thinks.

No really, it’s been fun! The feedback I’ve received so far has been helpful and useful, alleviating pretty much all my fears of it being a shitty book, while also giving me alternate options to explore with the problems I know still exist.  I’ve been able to breathe, and finally, FINALLY after what feels like years, properly devoted the majority of October to preparing for NaNoWriMo.

I learned my lesson from last year to focus on one single idea. What’s a bit surprising is the project I’ll be writing in November isn’t any of the five or so I started through the course of rewriting/revising my main WIP. No, this is a new idea…like a three month old maybe-this-could-be-cool idea that stood up and started strangling the other projects I’ve had simmering for eons.

It’s a cross between Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle, with a dash of The Last Unicorn. Still fantasy, but (hopefully) softer and definitely more self-indulgent. As usual I don’t have everything figured out, but at least I’ve got a beginning, end, and some vague idea of what happens in between those two points.

Midnight NaNo setup is ready!

In the effort of full disclosure, I will say I’ve struggled a bit with brain weasels during this prep season. The more I learn about writing craft, publishing trends, and the like, the more I tend to stress whether this (and my other projects) are good/different enough to be marketable. Obviously this is…not a great thing to be worrying about, and I’ve caught myself several times now trying to warp the plot into something I don’t want.

After working on the same MSS for the bulk of the last four years, I want to write something without worrying whether I’ll find a home for it or not. To that end I’m trying to think of it more in terms of writing fanfiction**–as self-indulgent, gushy, and silly as I want.

**Note: I am by no means looking down on or implying fanfiction is less serious than published fiction. I have read so many fanfics over the last several months with beautiful voice, gorgeous prose, heartwarming and sometimes heartwrenching plots; they are researched and edited and loved by the individuals writing them. I want to get back to that place where writing is as much for me as it is for any future readers.

 In any case, we’ll see how this all pans out through November!

 

Like last year, I joined up with The Mighty Pens again for NaNo season. This year we’re raising money to support NaNoWriMo directly. If you’d like to support me/us, you can find more information out in my tweet below!

#TheMightyPens are raising money for #NaNoWriMo itself, so if you’d like to donate you can find the link below. Any amount helps!

Or if you’d like to sponsor me for my wording, give me a shout! I’ll be aiming for at least 50,000 words this year 😊.https://t.co/EPZmbjnogg

— Chesley Cox (@Chesley_Cox) October 20, 2018

 

As you might have noticed I also changed the title of the blog. While this will still be a place for me to talk about writing in general, I want to use it as a space to fangirl over…well, whatever I want to. Anime, music, art; anything that moves me deeply to the point I have to gush about it. I feel like I should have made this shift ~2 years ago after watching Yuri on Ice, but it’s better late than never.

So, this is your only warning that there will be fangirly posts upcoming. The first two will be recaps of the BTS concerts I attended — Sept. 16 in Fort Worth, and Oct. 6 at Citi Field in New York. Both shows were a blast, and I really want to take my time writing my thoughts out for each. I took a ton of video clips in New York, too, so the plan is a little travel vlog to accompany that one.

Theoretically. Assuming I don’t beat my computer to death trying to edit everything together.

 

For those of you participating in NaNoWriMo: good luck! I hope you throw caution to the wind and your inner-editor out the window so you truly enjoy the whirlwind wording. Please don’t stress out about trying to hit 50,000 words–the whole point is just to get you writing, that’s it. Whether you end up with one word or two hundred thousand (yes, it happens), that is more than you had before. The words don’t need to be perfect, they just need to be on the page. Good luck, have fun, and 화이팅! ^-^

-Ches

The Worlds We Teach (a rant)

First up before I get into the rant part of this post – Hi! DFWCon ended just a few hours ago and was awesome as always. This was my fourth year attending the conference, and the first time I actually pitched.

I won’t lie, it was a little nerve-wracking – especially since I didn’t start working on my pitch until last Wednesday or so? Didn’t finalize my pitch until Saturday morning… like an hour before my actual time slot. But I did it and it went so much better than I expected, the rest of the conference felt so much less stressful than the prior years (even though I had no intention of pitching previously!). I’m so thankful to my writing tribe for helping critique my pitch drafts, and oozing confidence for me.

Special shout-out to my husband for listening to the pitch over breakfast and guessing questions the agent might ask me, and to Leah for skipping the first class session with me to practice. Funnily enough, the agent did ask the same or similar questions to what I practiced with them, so I didn’t stumble over answering nearly as much! ❤ you all!

Mmmm post-conference margarita.

NOW. Rant time.

*Dear white men teaching “How to Write” SF/F courses at writing conferences: if the only books you’re going to hold up as examples are “classics,” especially if every single one was written by a white man: you’re wasting the audience’s time.

Is it good to know some of the pillars on which the genres were founded? Sure. But if all you’re going to talk about is their accolades within the genre, and not break down their elements at a craft level before moving on to MORE RECENT EXAMPLES, you’re doing a disservice to those being taught.

(Unpopular opinion: Dune is not a great book. Nor was it edited well.)

If all you do is point to works in the past, how exactly will that foster growth in the genre? How does that challenge writers OR the reader? How is that inclusive?

Maybe this is just a *me* thing. I want to know who the movers and shakers are in genres now, or within the last five years. I want to know what they are doing differently, how they’re turning the genre on its head or the ways they’re challenging it.

But you know what, I don’t think this is just a *me* thing. If you’re going to use comp titles in your query, it’s suggested that the comps be pretty recent titles (anywhere from 2 to 5 years old). Obviously there’s an exception to everything, but “classic” SFF has historically been het-white-male-centric (and racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. in a number of cases). So age of the book aside, why would you want to point to such titles as objects for study? It’s just…backwards.

You mean to tell me you can’t find ONE SFF by a WOMAN to hold up? Ann Leckie, Kameron Hurley, Yoon Ha Lee, Rachel Aaron, Martha Wells, S.A. Chakraborty, Amal El-Mohtar, Seanen McGuire, etc.?

You mean to tell me you can’t find ONE SFF by a POC to hold up? N.K. Jemisin, Nnedi Okorafor, Justina Ireland, Aliette de Bodard, Daniel José Older, Jeanette NG, Fonda Lee, Tomi Adeyemi, Roshani Chokshi, Liu Cixin, etc.?

Those are just a small sample of authors currently publishing in SFF, but seriously…if you won’t even use a recent SFF by a dude, like James S.A. Corey, John Scalzi, Chuck Wendig, Andy Weir, etc… that gives me the impression you’re either incredibly lazy (at best) or you’re on the side of the fence clamoring to stay within the narrow-minded, racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. style boundaries of 20+ years ago.

It’s not a good look, and not only am I going to (internally) side-eye the hell out of you, but your credibility to me – be it as an instructor or an author – is going to crash pretttttty quick. I get wanting to look to and acknowledge the “roots” of a genre, but if those are the only examples you give to writers new to the genre(s) or those looking to improve, guess what? You’re not being inclusive. You’re not helping the genre to grow, or giving said writers resources that illustrate how SFF is growing, changing, becoming more inventive. You’re stifling it.

You have a platform, so use it wisely. /endrant

*I’ve witnessed this two times, and both speakers/instructors were white males…hence the rant.

 

That’s it for me on the subject. If you’ve had similar experiences and want to commiserate, feel free to leave a comment!

Twitter hiatus, NaNoEdMo, and other reflections from March

March has finally come to an end, which means one thing: my Twitter hiatus is OVER.

Thank. Goodness.

 

Elroy dropped by for moral nap support.

 

I’ll be honest, sticking to the hiatus was harder than I expected. I knew I was erm, addicted somewhat, but not to the extent I thought. Day one was fine. Days two through twenty-something were frustratingly boring, especially at my dayjob. Probably 90% of the news I intake – be it publishing/writing, politics, pop culture, etc. – comes from Twitter…which means I was pretty much in the dark for a whole month. Totally not fun, so if I ever make such a pact again: TALK ME OUT OF IT. Moderation, yes; complete blackout, no.

 

So much revising.

That said, NaNoEdMo went really well. I logged over 66 hours of revising time, completing four chapters in the process. I *gasp* actually enjoyed revising for like…a whole week. Coincidentally that was the week where I revised 49 pages in total (one of them a 15 page day!). So as much as I hated being away from Twitter, clearly it had some benefits.

Progress-by-stickers!

In terms of progress, I’m down to the last three chapters. I’m expecting to have to rewrite at least a couple scenes in one of them, because the language is practically gibberish compared to the images I’m trying to convey. The final chapter needs just a little bit of smoothing. If everything goes better than expected *crosses fingers* draft 3 will be done in the next two weeks, and I’ll have enough time to go back for another pass before sending it off to betas at the end of the month.

 

Also during the hiatus…

I came across Tim Clare’s “Couch to 80k” podcast and am loving it so far. Like the site suggests it’s not just for people who want to take an idea they have and turn it into a book, but for those already writing who are burnt out or struggling with a block/anxiety.

Seriously, it’s awesome. Let me get personal for a second: I have a difficult time with writing prompts. I don’t fare well going to writing meetups unless they’re with my main set of writing friends, or the critique group I’ve belonged to for four years. I always feel this giant pressure to perform or produce and it locks me up. I’m a wording perfectionist in front of others, so trying to produce something on the spot that feels “good enough” is a struggle. Taking steps to better my mental health has helped, but those feelings aren’t gone.

However. In two weeks of exercises I’ve written:

• A fun Loki/Thor brotherly fanfic snippet
• Possibly the start of a short story, taking an early prompt (picking an “interesting object in a character’s bag”) and adding a strong emotional tone

These may not seem impressive or anything to be happy about, but to put it in perspective – the last time I wrote fanfic was pre-college, during my online forum-based rpg days. And the last time I had a short story idea, let alone tried to write one, was probably close to three years ago.

The freewrite exercises during gave me freedom to play around with, well… anything and everything. I dabbled in poetry. I ranted a little about politics. I wrote meaningless vignettes. Exchanges that may or may not happen further down in the urban fantasy series.

 

It seems like such a small, no-brainer thing to give ourselves permission to write freely for no one but ourselves, without judging the words or where our head/heart lead us in the idea – but it’s not. Not when you have deadlines, imposter syndrome, a nasty inner critic, or some combination of those three. They don’t even have to be contracted deadlines! The way we compare ourselves to others to measure and define our success is so, so harmful. We [writers] need to remember that we are our, essentially, our own first readers. Forget everyone else; we should be happy with the story, ideas, characters, etc. ourselves, even if it’s not perfect on the page yet.

If you need permission to do that, to find self-satisfaction in your writing, to let your imagination free to roam and get dirty and fuck up – you have it. You have permission – more importantly, encouragement – to do just that.

So yeah, give the podcast a listen. It hasn’t banished my writing blocks or anything like that, but I’ve seen so much potential in just taking 10 – 20 minutes a day to let my mind wander and see what it comes up with.

 

I also want to talk about falling in love with BTS, but I think that deserves its own post (or Twitter thread, at the very least). You’ll just have to wait for all that fangirling.  Until then, HAPPY APRIL!

Really enjoyed reading Warcross, too! Where is the sequellllll???

Top songs of 2017

Aside from the raging trash fire that is the (US) government, 2017 was – for me – a year of renewal. A year of getting back to happy, remembering (and reminding, esp. on hard days) why I write, and finding excitement in it again.

That’s not to say it was easy, because haha rewrites and revisions are freakin’ hard, BUT my dreamer/creative side came storming back full force. Actually it’s probably more apt to say my imagination went into overdrive, since I paused revisions to do NaNoWriMo on three *new* ideas. (It was either that or let my brain explode, and I’m pretty sure that’s not in anyone’s best interest. Lots of stories to tell, no time to waste on expending brainmatter, etc. etc.)

Anywho, I wanted to share my favorite tracks from 2017 – the ones that went above and beyond in terms of inspiration and propelling my writing endeavors/aspirations. It’s a little difficult to tell from the list, but 2017 was, uh, interesting…musically speaking. I actually have country songs (yes, that’s plural) on at least one of my playlists now. Never thought I’d see that happen.

Without further ado, I give you my top songs of 2017!

10. Dance Again – Neffex

9. Ashes – dEMOTIONAL

8. (A)tension – Versus Me/Craig Mabbitt

7. Electric Eye (Zardonic Remix) – Celldweller / Zardonic

6. Black Wedding ft. Rob Halford – In This Moment

 

5.  Hypnotize – Awaken the Giant

I love the melancholy, spacey vibe of this track.

 

4. Omen – Redeem/Revive

Upbeat and angry – a perfect song for kicking ass. I love the combination of the clean vocals and guitar riffs in the chorus as well, because it brings to mind a character triumphing over an obstacle, or a situation where others expected them to fail.

 

3. Hopelessly Hopeful – Asking Alexandria

Another upbeat tune, but less aggressive or harsh than Omen. I really enjoy the tempo of this one, and the way it all comes together to sound “softer,” in a way, without weakening the intensity

 

2. Invisible – Don Vedda

Don Vedda is quickly becoming one of my favorite artists. This song is just…gah, so perfect. It has something of an 80’s vibe, but the synths don’t overwhelm or drown out the rest of the song. The bass line is heavy and groovy (omg the fret slides!). The guitar solo fits so well with the atmosphere and style. Don’s voice practically a work of art. And the video is gorgeous. (Honestly, the rap bridge is the only downside to the track. It’s not a bad idea, and fits pretty well with the track as a whole, but those lyrics are meh.)

 

1. Bulletproof – Desasterkids

This song makes my dark little heart sooo happy. Heavy bass, dirty guitar, futuristic keyboard/synth parts – perfect for a near-future SF project, don’t you think? And don’t even get me started on the video… *swoons*.

 

 

BONUS: There’s Nothing Holding Me Back – Shawn Mendes

This was actually the song I listened to the most according to Spotify. It’s sweet, fun,  playful, and fits the main couple of the paranormal romance I started so perfectly. Every time I hear it I either get this stupid grin on my face, or my chest does somersaults – just from imagining the two of them and the shape of their story. It is completely, utterly joyful, and I can’t wait to get back to writing them!

And there you have it! Maybe one of these will spark your own fancy idea, or a give new insight for one you’ve been sitting on for a while.

Are there any particular songs you listened to in 2017 that have stuck with you, or provided inspiration for a particular character/scene/element? Let me know in the comments!

NaNoWriMo 2017 Reflection

November’s come and gone, and with it, the excited frenzy of NaNoWriMo. I’ve posted at least once before about how much I love NaNo, and how it kicked me in the butt to start putting the stories in my head onto paper/screen, so of course I participated again this year. As long as I have a choice, I’ll participate every year!

Hufflepuff, so helpful.

 

This time around, I decided to work on three *new* stories I’ve had simmering in the back of my braincave for a good while. It was more than just an itch to write them – I needed to free up some brain space and get some idea of which one to work on next.

Which would have been great…if I also hadn’t decided to try and up my word goal by a lot. Somehow I got it into my head that I could write 80,000 words. Previously my max had been 60.5k in 2015, so 60k became my min goal.

Now, projects! What have I been cooking up, and how much did I want to accomplish for them?

Project #1 = adult paranormal romance, commonly referred to as the Dryads project. I’m super in love with the main characters in this one. It’s much more lighthearted, fun, and funny than anything I’ve written thus far. Goal: 20k words min, 30k aim.

Project #2 = YA space opera involving dragons, thus called the space dragons story. I like the concept of this and had some ideas of scenes, but hadn’t really settled on a plot. Of the three projects, this one felt like the weakest or hardest going in. Goal: 10k words min, 20k aim.

Project #3 = adult cyperbunk or post-cyberpunk, code-named TC. This was the newest idea out of the three, but I was really excited to dive into it. Goal: 20k words min, 30k aim.

 

One other thing to mention before I get into the results – this year I decided to write pep talks to myself to read at word count milestones. I did this a week or week and a half before NaNo and sealed them up in envelopes, thus ensuring I would probably forget what exactly was on them by the time I reached the goal. These also had rewards on them for motivation, like buying a slice of cheesecake for myself or getting to buy a book off my Amazon wishlist.

I kind of wish I had thought of the personal pep talk thing sooner, because I really enjoyed getting to open up the note and see the encouragement from past-me. The me that was SUPER EXCITED to write three projects, putting down new characters and worlds on the page before realizing I should have prepped more.

 

Pumpkin seeds, water, and a cocktail in the skull jar = writing essentials.

 

So, how’d I do?

Dryads = 38,282 words
Space Dragons = 5,321 words
TC = 5,270 words
Orobouros = 1,011 words

TOTAL (based on my validation file) = ~50,140 words. There is always a discrepancy between whatever word processor you use and NaNo’s actual validation program. I think I actually had around 50.4k combined between all my docs, but didn’t keep track of the last few days well.

But wait, what’s that? That extra project at the end? That, my friends, is another random project I’ve been sitting on for about a year. My brain spontaneously decided to give me the opening for it, and I couldn’t very well just let it languish.

As you can see, the results were 10k less than my min and almost 30k less than what I wanted. Still, if I’d been working on a single project, that 50k would be pretty close to half a book for me.

It’s hard to keep perspective of the words you have written if you’re comparing them with where you want to be. There was one particular Sunday during NaNo where I needed like 8500 words to break even on progress, and all I could manage over the whole day was something around 4100 words.

I was so frustrated! Sitting there, hour after hour, with words coming out but not fast enough to get where I wanted to be. And, I don’t know, after maybe ten minutes of stewing in that frustration and looking back over my word count/progress, it hit me.

I had written ~4100 words on the day. Four thousand one hundred words. Yet I was stuck on this incessant need, this fuckin’ wall I’d built up in my head to scale and haul myself over to consider it a successful day.

You want to know what my normal drafting average is? Probably somewhere between 1500 and 3000 words/day. Previously the most I’ve ever written in one sitting was ~4600 words. This November I had a 6k day (my new PR), a 5k day, a 4k day, and at least a couple 3k+ days. Word counts aren’t everything, but comparing my previous drafting counts to then/now? That’s pretty awesome progress, folks. I had no reason to be ashamed of falling short of that 8500/day goal, or to be hard on myself.

To reiterate: if I had written 80,000 words in 30 days, it’d probably be equivalent to a full first draft on the Dryads project. That. Is. Insane. But…I could probably do it. Possibly even in the next few years.

 

And, you know, with a ton of coffee.

 

Unrelated to word count, working on these three projects revealed pretty clear strengths/flaws in my original plans:

• trying to get 80k words from three different ideas is a baaaaad idea
• I need to study Aliette de Bodard’s Dominion of the Fallen series for POV/character weight before attempting to write TC again
• Dryads will definitely be the next project up for drafting/revising after my UF is out the door
• If I say I’m going to take all of October off to prep for NaNo, I SHOULD ACTUALLY DO THAT
• personal pep talks are awesome, and will return
• not all stories/ideas can be, or should be, fast-drafted

 

This last point is something that will sit with me for a while, I think. Dryads has been pretty easy to draft, so far, because the plot and characters have been solidifying in my head for five or six months. I have the feeling TC will be pretty easy to draft too, assuming I get the plot and POV ironed out. Both of those projects are closer to the modern world as we know it, so maybe that’s why.

Space Dragons and Orobouros will take longer because even at this stage they have  richer and deeper voices. I don’t want to sacrifice that to get all their words on the page, if it means I’ll have spend months rewriting them. My goal is to write cleaner first drafts so rewrites and revisions don’t eat up gobs of my time. For some ideas that means plotting or outlining better from the outset; for others it will mean writing slower in what snatches of time I find between other projects.

Or it does for now, since I’m not under any deadlines but my own!

 

My take on NaNoWriMo is that it’s worthwhile to participate so long as you learn something from it, even if what you learn is that you don’t write well under pressure or need to have some extensive outline before starting. Though the default goal is 50k words, word count really does come secondary to the writing itself. And through the writing, putting yourself in that pressure cooker up against a deadline with a suggested word goal, I have a feeling you’ll learn a fair bit about what does and doesn’t work for your process.

If you did NaNo this year – congratulations! Whether you wrote one word or one hundred thousand, that’s still more words than you started with.  If you haven’t tried NaNo yet, do it! Give CampNaNoWriMo during March (or is it April?) or July a whirl. You can make your own goals for camp, but still have a deadline. It might help you ease into the frenzy that comes back around every November =).

 

 

Fall Update + The Mighty Pens

Hi everyone! It’s been a while, but I actually have writing updates and stuff I can post about. Let’s get those out of the way before we talk about my favorite writing time of the year.

Obligatory floof with some of this year’s new releases.

First and foremost – I FINISHED THE MOTHER F’IN REWRITE!

Eighteen months from start to a complete second draft, and I am THRILLED that is behind me. Draft 2 came out to 110k words, seventeen chapters total. I can’t remember the first draft count off the top of my head, but it doesn’t sound like much of a cut.

Much of the overall plot remained the same, but it was tightened a fair bit. I cut characters, added new ones that made sense. Added A TON of setting details and character stuff I neglected in the first draft. The resulting story is far and away a better version of what I originally wanted and envisioned. It’s finally *my* vision of Charleston, the main characters, and the plot.

Long story short on other things (because I really want this to be a shortish post):

• Entered Pitch Wars, didn’t get picked*
• Put up a blurb during #CPMatch and ended up with three new CPs
• Pitched during Pitmad for the first time
• Bought a new house!
• Sold our old house!
• Adopted a new kitten!

Before I move on, one other note and shout-out regarding my rewrite: I have been so, so lucky and am eternally grateful for my writing buddies/critique partners – Leah, Amy, and Lindy.

Leah, Amy, and I met at DFWCon 2015. We don’t write the same things, but we’re always there to support one another (oozing confidence is our thing). Lindy joined the fold after DFWCon 2016, and she’s been my alpha reader/confidante/sounding board pretty much ever since. She helped me hone my pitch, and read ALL of my chapters as I rewrote them for the WIP. Like, the last year of the rewrites were so much more bearable – AND PRODUCTIVE – because of her. All three of these wonderful ladies’ enthusiasm and support have helped keep me afloat; my tribe means the world to me, guys.

Yuri On Ice ties with Pride and Prejudice (2005) for best-stress-reliever.

Okay, onto the other important thing.

I love NaNoWriMo. No, seriously, I do. NaNo taught me how to get shit done. (The drafting part, anyway.) I like charity and helping people in need when I can, too.

So it’s really cool that two awesome authors, Kat Brauer and Susan Dennard, put together a group (The Mighty Pens) which joins the writing frenzy of NaNoWriMo with fundraising for an awesome cause: the Malala Fund. You can read more about the group and fundraiser in the links posted, but in short, the Malala Fund is dedicated to providing twelve years of safe education for girls.

How does this relate to NaNoWriMo and/or me? Like a race or something like Jump Rope for Life (if you’ve heard of that, not sure they’re still doing it), people get sponsorships of donations depending on how long they run, or how many minutes they can jump rope. The Mighty Pen has a similar goal – drive donations and/or sponsorships based on how many words we write for NaNoWriMo.

MY GOAL:

• 80,000 words, all of it for new projects. This isn’t for one book, either. I have three stories (technically more but I have to at least strive for an intact sanity by the end of November) I want to get started so that when I am finished with revisions, I have headway into new words. My ideal breakdown is:
  • 30,000 words on a paranormal romance
  • 30,000 words on a cyberpunk sci-fi
  • 20,000 words on a YA space opera

If you’d like to sponsor me, whether it’s $1 per 10,000 words or $10 for every $10,000 words, I would be so, so grateful and you’d be helping girls all over the world!

 

How will I know how many words you’ve written, or current progress?

• I will be updating my word counts on my NaNo profile with each writing session.
• Though I am going to try to stay off of Twitter and other social media to maximize writing time and reduce distractions, I will do my best to post my word count at least once a day.
• Ask me!

 

That’s all I have for now. For any other writers – I hope to see you burning up your keyboards or notebooks with how quickly your stories are coming out of you. May your words flow bright and strong!

 
*I hoped I wouldn’t be picked, actually, which sounds sort of… counter productive, but I can go into that more sometime later if anyone wants. I definitely wanted to apply just to give it a shot, but was less stressed about not getting picked than getting picked.

 

Latest Reads

It’s been a while since I’ve done any reviews, and there have been a few already released this year that I loved, so let’s remedy that, shall we?

First up – THE MUSE by Jessie Burton. It’s completely different from her first book, THE MINIATURIST (you can find my review here) and totally works on its own. There is a freedom and something like joyous abandon in the voice and prose that goes beyond Odelle and Olive – the primary characters and narrators. Yet Burton hooks it all together through the mystery of the painting, of the Schlosses, of Isaac and Teresa. You won’t find magical realism here like existed in The Miniaturist, because it doesn’t need it. It’s compelling, gorgeously written, and I think has more of Burton in it than her first book. I’d give it a 4 out of 5!

 

Kameron Hurley’s THE STARS ARE LEGION is up next. If that cover doesn’t make you want to buy it, I honestly don’t know what to do with you. It’s an inventive sci-fi of world ships (actual whole planets!), and brutal women who have their own hidden agendas. Like the levels of Katazyrna, I know I’ll have to re-read it two or three more times before I truly get all the details and intricacies built into it. If you like Hurley’s other series, especially the Bel Dame Apocrypha books, you’ll enjoy this. I’d give it a 4 out of 5, also!

 

The last one I want to talk about is Aliette de Bodard’s THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS. Because Asmodeus needs a bit more room to be doted on =).  You like fallen angels, magic, and dragons? Good. Read this. Actually, read book 1 first, then come back.

The House of Binding Thorns picks up shortly after the events of HoSW, when Madeleine is returned to House Hawthorne and, unfortunately, under Asmodeus’s thumb/dagger. There’s a lot to love in this book: a deeper, longer look at the Dragon Kingdom under the Seine, and their growing interactions with the houses; Asmodeus marrying into the Dragon Kingdom; the Annamite community that makes the best of the magic-ravaged city, away from the Fallen; a glimpse back to House Silverspires; the introduction of a Fallen who has stayed out of the war and conflict between the houses, making a life with the one she loves on her own terms.

Oh, and Asmodeus kiss scenes. *swoons*

Seriously, read it. Madeleine deserves a medal, or something. We get a much better understanding of Asmodeus and what he cares about. Overall: gorgeous writing, lovely characters, and an amazing world I’ll come back to again and again. HoBT gets a 4.8 out of 5 from me!

 

The next books up on my TBR are THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas, DREAMS OF THE EATEN by Tex Thompson, CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber, and INFIDEL by Kameron Hurley. Are there any particular books you all *gestures wildly* are excited about releasing this year? Books I can add to my ever-growing TBR shelves?

Rewriting…still

I’ve been working for a full year now and still haven’t finished the second draft of my UF book. Let’s just say it’s been a steep learning curve, and various crap happened throughout the year that didn’t make it any easier.

But – and there is a silver lining here – I’ve learned a lot. Just like a first draft, you kinda have to figure out a process for second and later drafts by doing it. Otherwise you’re flailing and wasting time and letting the voice of doubt sink its claws deeper into you….

I know, I’ve been there. I still flail, waste time, and want to burn the scene I’m trying to fix at least once a week. I don’t, though. I cut the words, re-write them over and over if I have to, until they make more sense.

Surely drafts three and on will be much, much easier.

 

Assuming this guy lets me have some peace at the desk!

 

In any case, I’m sure there are tons of you out there looking at your NaNo or some other WIP first draft, positively cringing (or crying) from all the problems you see. Good news! NaNoEdMo is coming up in less than two weeks! Like NaNoWriMo, there’s a community undertaking the journey with you of trying to fix those words. Instead of 50,000 words, the goal is 50 hours of editing. That’s a little over 1.5 hours per day. Sounds totally do-able, right? Head on over to the website and sign up!

Having said that, I really, really don’t suggest diving in without some kind of plan.By that I mean jumping in feet first without looking over the first draft, thinking about what needs to change, characters that need to be moved, making notes, etc. It’s overwhelming. But if you’re looking for a place to start, this is what I tried:

• Let the book sit (hopefully you’ve let it rest for a few weeks, if not a month, since finishing the draft)
• Highlighted sections in different colors based on what changes were needed (green for setting, orange for plot, etc.)
• Wrote each scene on a notecard
• Made an outline for what actually happens in the first draft (even if you went by an outline while writing, it may be good to make this just to catch any differences that cropped up by accident)
• Made an outline for draft two based on what needed to be moved/changed
• Came up with an arbitrary date to finish the draft

 

What actually worked:

• Outlines — these have made the biggest improvement, I think. Every time I changed something or got feedback from an alpha reader/critique partner, I readjusted the outline and was able to stay on track much better.
• Scene cards — these helped to an extent. They’re nice if you want to lay them all out and see what happens when you move pieces around, but for me, there was too much information on them. My scenes were too big, so about a quarter through I stopped using them as my guideline.
• Alpha/Beta reader — to be fair I didn’t have a reader/crit partner until about halfway through the year, but I highly recommend having someone read the revised/rewritten chapters as you get through one.

 

What didn’t work:

• Highlighting the first draft — there was simply too much that needed to be reworked. Since it’s first person POV and the main character didn’t cooperate very well in the first draft, a lot of it couldn’t be salvaged word-for-word.
• Word/scene goals/timeline — hahahaha. I have broken pretty much every one of these I made. I underestimated how long it would take to rewrite everything, because my brain isn’t in first-draft-vomit-mode. It’s in make-everything-pretty mode. Luckily I’m not on a contracted deadline so I can take as much time as you want.
  • If it takes you a day to fix 50 – 100 – 1000 words, THAT’S OKAY. You don’t have to try to do a scene a day.

 

I also read quite a number of articles on rewriting, editing, the second draft, etc. Many, many of them will be much more helpful than me, both in terms of process and motivation/inspiration. The edit caves are deep, dark, and full of hidden bears that will gobble you up if they get the chance… take a torch and a shotgun with you:

 

Chuck Wendig has three good write ups about editing/rewriting/second drafts. Hopefully you get a kick out of the profanity as much as I do.

Susan Dennard has a treasure trove of writing posts, from planning a draft to fixing one.

Delilah Dawson, whom you should follow on Twitter, often takes questions and runs through scenarios like starting a short story or what her process is for revisions. Might be a little difficult to find the edit/revision posts but worth a look.

NaNoEdMo has a ton of posts from previous years to go back through. One of my favorites is this one by Julie Hutchings.

 

You can also look up Rachel Aaron (Bach), Kristin Lamb, and Holly Lisle to fill your brain with more revision gooey-ness. There are so, so many others too.

Catch you all at NaNoEdMo!