I don't know if it is a case of mid-manuscript blues or laziness. I've surpassed the 50k mark on my WIP and crept to a near halt. I have maintained my 5k a week goal for a month and a half now, but this week ... this week it is like I am afraid to write. I know that sounds crazy, but that is what it feels like. I don't know if it is fear of not meeting my weekly goals, I mean after all I am only answering to myself, or if it is fear what I am writing is just not going to be good enough as a whole.
My calender for February is brutal when it comes to things that will cut into my writing time. Hitting my 5k mark will be all but impossible with the mixture of no school days, dentist appointments (not to mention the haze I will be in after my wisdom tooth is cut out), working on normal days off, holidays, an anniversary, and two birthdays!
Spilling all that to my beloved writing partner, Adriana , yesterday she quietly suggested easing up on myself. Her thought was backing off on the word count goal would allow me to breathe and break through the icy fear, allowing me to move forward, even if at a slower pace. Soo we are going to try that. I've backed the magic goal off to 2k a week for this month, obviously more when/if I can manage it. I ended up with with a little over 900 words yesterday, which are the first words of the week. Not a bad start.
Wish me luck.
Love,
MM
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Weekly Word Count and Another Publication!
It has been a strange week for writing. I have Wednesday and Friday off and I have to thank God for previously unheard of production this Wednesday. I ended up with 3026 words. That's A new high for me. In comparison, Friday's word count was a paltry 973. This wouldn't be such an issue, I have my 5000 weekly goal broke into 833 words a day 6 days a week with a day off, BUT I didn't write a word Mon., Tue., or Thurs. *winces* I'm not sure what the problem has been this week. I'm confident I will meet my goal with today and tomorrow yet to churn out a mere 1000 words, but it bothers me that really slacked off this week. I could have had 7-8 k this week if I had followed my normal schedule the other days.
Onto good news, two of my short stories, On the Chance and Promise of Tomorrow, were accepted to the Static Movement Anthology, Something from the Attic 2! The editor, the fabulous Chris Bartholomew had such kind words to say about my writing. It is amazing how a couple words of praise can inspire a writer's confidence.
Lotsa Love and Creativity
~MM
Onto good news, two of my short stories, On the Chance and Promise of Tomorrow, were accepted to the Static Movement Anthology, Something from the Attic 2! The editor, the fabulous Chris Bartholomew had such kind words to say about my writing. It is amazing how a couple words of praise can inspire a writer's confidence.
Lotsa Love and Creativity
~MM
Saturday, January 8, 2011
A bit of Exposure and Progress
I had a bit of wonderful news the other day...the anthology Literary Foray is now available on Amazon for purchase and they used an excerpt from one of my stories in the description! It really was unexpected and an honor not to mention a great little bit of exposure for me. 
Those that know me well know I am an incredibly slow writer. Those that don't know me ... now you know too. LOL So with the success of my short stories the last two months of 2010 I wanted to build on that in 2011 with my WIP novel. I have a horrible track record of setting novels aside and never picking them back up. I did not want that to happen to Club Justice. I knew I needed goals to keep me moving, but really struggled with what type of goals to set for it. I finally settled on 5000 words a week. Many of you can blow that out in a day, I know, but not me and I figured it was another step in the right direction and a way to keep the words flowing. I started December 27th with 18589 words and when I closed up Word last night I was at 30965. It is humbling to mark the progress and it gives me great hope. I've added a word count widget to my BLOG to publicly track my progress. Maybe it will help keep me on track.
Another thing that I did for the first time is I created an outline for my WIP. How professional of an outline I can't say, however it is something for me to jot down ideas and high points for the story and refer back to when I hit those blank moments at the beginning of a new chapter. Is there anything as terrifying as a blank page? UGH!
I know it has only been two weeks, but as I am getting fond of saying ... it is another step in the right direction. Wish me luck
and the same to you my friends.
~ Love
~ MM
Another thing that I did for the first time is I created an outline for my WIP. How professional of an outline I can't say, however it is something for me to jot down ideas and high points for the story and refer back to when I hit those blank moments at the beginning of a new chapter. Is there anything as terrifying as a blank page? UGH!
I know it has only been two weeks, but as I am getting fond of saying ... it is another step in the right direction. Wish me luck
and the same to you my friends. ~ Love
~ MM
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Wishing all a Happy, Creative 2011!
I wish all my BLOGGER friends a Happy and CREATIVE 2011! Welcome the year of the Novel!
Love,
MM
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Another Short Story Accepted!
I submitted my newest short story, The Library Lady , this morning and it was accepted to the Literary Foray anthology where it will be joining my two previously accepted stories!
Thank you Nicole for your amazing feedback!
~ MM
Thank you Nicole for your amazing feedback!
~ MM
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Looking Back ~ November 2010
Who is good at keeping New Year's resolutions? Anybody? Anyone? I didn't think so. The old proverb says, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." When it comes to New Year's resolutions I think most of those intentions are forgotten before the hangover subsides. Perhaps knowing this a writing site I belong to, Writing Dot Com, encourages us write them down and post them up for the world to see in the form of a Dear Me letter. This could be either to humiliate us later when we fail miserably, or because we are writers, take your pick. Whatever the reason, this provides us the opportunity towards the end of the year to dust the list off and see how we've done. When I was asked to do just that, I cringed.
Maybe a little background will shed some light on why I found this request so painful. At this time last year I was immersed in the craziness known as NaNowrimo or National Novel Writing Month. I wrote over fifty thousand words in just a month. I let loose, ignoring my inner editor and wrote more on one project than I had ever written before. I was stoked! My confidence was soaring through the roof! But, I was burnt out. Holding down a fulltime job and cranking out 1667 words a night during the holiday season had taken their toll. I thought I just needed a little break.
I took the month of December and most of January off citing the holiday distractions and burnout as excuses. In the last two weeks of January I managed a short eight hundred and sixty five word tale to win that weeks round of The Weekly Quickie and, of course, my aforementioned Dear Me letter. By now you are probably thinking 'that's not too bad, a month and a half off, and it was over the holidays.' Uh huh ... except I didn't write again until July 21st.
Now maybe the cringe makes sense to you. So, I went back and re-read my Dear Me letter, peeked at my Portfolio, and low and behold, the sun crept from behind the clouds. Maybe my dear friend Giselle saved me by taking over The Weekly Quickie contest, or maybe it was just time. Either way I entered round one of her reign on July 21st and it was like the dam broke. I've wrote fifteen short stories since then. Most have been for The Weekly Quickie, short and sexy, but there have been a few longer pieces mixed in there including a 2nd place entry in The Paradise Cove and an entry to the October Short Shots Contest.
Taking a good look at the goals outlined in "Dear Slacker...err...Me," this is what I found.
1) I will clear the mental hurdle of the novel and complete one, even if it is only for my satisfaction.
I completed revision on my novelette His Pet, posting up the final thirteen chapters of the tale and making at least one reader, who had been waiting patiently for two and a half years, very happy. I also worked sporadically on my WIP Club Justice that sits at just under twenty thousand words to date.
2) I will enter at least eight contests on the WDC site.
To date I've entered eighteen. Of those eighteen I've placed or rated an honorable mention in twelve, with two others still open for judging.
3) I will submit at least eight items for publication off site.
I've submitted six so far. Three have been accepted for publication in anthologies and three are pending. UPDATE: The other three were accepted to Daily Flashes of Erotica Quarterly Anthology!
4) By the end of the year I will be able to show at least one of my works off in print, or a sheaf of rejection letters telling me what I must improve.
Today I held the anthology, Something from the Attic, in my hands for the first time. Inside its beautiful covers is my short story, "Muse." I can honestly say I am a published author.
When I cringed this morning I thought 2010 was a bit of a disappointment on the writing front, with the exception of my three short stories, none of which were wrote this year, being accepted for print. Doing research for this contest has really opened my eyes and I am amazed at what I have accomplished in what amounts to less than four months. This challenge has encouraged and inspired me. Once again it highlights the finer things about our community.
Thank you.
Maybe a little background will shed some light on why I found this request so painful. At this time last year I was immersed in the craziness known as NaNowrimo or National Novel Writing Month. I wrote over fifty thousand words in just a month. I let loose, ignoring my inner editor and wrote more on one project than I had ever written before. I was stoked! My confidence was soaring through the roof! But, I was burnt out. Holding down a fulltime job and cranking out 1667 words a night during the holiday season had taken their toll. I thought I just needed a little break.
I took the month of December and most of January off citing the holiday distractions and burnout as excuses. In the last two weeks of January I managed a short eight hundred and sixty five word tale to win that weeks round of The Weekly Quickie and, of course, my aforementioned Dear Me letter. By now you are probably thinking 'that's not too bad, a month and a half off, and it was over the holidays.' Uh huh ... except I didn't write again until July 21st.
Now maybe the cringe makes sense to you. So, I went back and re-read my Dear Me letter, peeked at my Portfolio, and low and behold, the sun crept from behind the clouds. Maybe my dear friend Giselle saved me by taking over The Weekly Quickie contest, or maybe it was just time. Either way I entered round one of her reign on July 21st and it was like the dam broke. I've wrote fifteen short stories since then. Most have been for The Weekly Quickie, short and sexy, but there have been a few longer pieces mixed in there including a 2nd place entry in The Paradise Cove and an entry to the October Short Shots Contest.
Taking a good look at the goals outlined in "Dear Slacker...err...Me," this is what I found.
1) I will clear the mental hurdle of the novel and complete one, even if it is only for my satisfaction.
I completed revision on my novelette His Pet, posting up the final thirteen chapters of the tale and making at least one reader, who had been waiting patiently for two and a half years, very happy. I also worked sporadically on my WIP Club Justice that sits at just under twenty thousand words to date.2) I will enter at least eight contests on the WDC site.
To date I've entered eighteen. Of those eighteen I've placed or rated an honorable mention in twelve, with two others still open for judging.3) I will submit at least eight items for publication off site.
I've submitted six so far. Three have been accepted for publication in anthologies and three are pending. UPDATE: The other three were accepted to Daily Flashes of Erotica Quarterly Anthology!4) By the end of the year I will be able to show at least one of my works off in print, or a sheaf of rejection letters telling me what I must improve.
Today I held the anthology, Something from the Attic, in my hands for the first time. Inside its beautiful covers is my short story, "Muse." I can honestly say I am a published author.When I cringed this morning I thought 2010 was a bit of a disappointment on the writing front, with the exception of my three short stories, none of which were wrote this year, being accepted for print. Doing research for this contest has really opened my eyes and I am amazed at what I have accomplished in what amounts to less than four months. This challenge has encouraged and inspired me. Once again it highlights the finer things about our community.
Thank you.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Hating Game ~ BLOGSPLASH!!!!
Help Talli Roland's debut novel THE HATING GAME hit the Kindle bestseller list at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk by spreading the word today. Even a few sales in a short period of time on Amazon helps push the book up the rankings, making it more visible to other readers.
Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/hNBkJk
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/hX2ieD
No Kindle? Download a free app at Amazon for Mac, iPhone, PC, Android and more. Coming soon in paperback. Keep up with the latest at http://www.talliroland.com/.
About THE HATING GAME:
When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she's confident she'll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she's perfected from years of her love 'em and leave 'em dating strategy. After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it's revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes. Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?
[If you'd like to help promote Talli's book, please copy this post and paste it onto your blog or FaceBook wall. Christmas and Hanukkah are right around the corner -- and this would make a great addition to your gift-giving list!]
~MM
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