IWSG: Changes, May Goals, and Jessica Bell's Adverbs and Cliches in a Nutshell

 

It's the first Wednesday of the month, so you know what that means ... it's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group meeting. IWSG was created by the awesome ninja captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can find out the other members of the group here.

Okay, I love the A-Z Challenge, but who else is glad it's now May? *laughs*

I've been doing a lot of thinking when it comes to writing and blogging, and I've realized I need to cut back a bit on the latter. Between Surrounded by Books Reviews and this blog, I've been blogging from six to eight posts a week (not including the twelve posts a week during A-Z). That's a lot. So, I've decided to start blogging on Mondays and Wednesdays. Only.

Here, I will continue my typical Monday and Wednesday schedules. Mondays will look like: 1st Monday - Book Chat, 2nd Monday - Purrsonal Stories, 3rd Monday - Fantasy Chat, and 4th Monday - Bookworm News. And Wednesdays will be: 1st Wednesday - IWSG, 2nd Wednesday - Indie Life, other Wednesdays - Writing Update.

If you've been following this blog for a while, then you'll notice what's missing. Yes, that's right. I'm giving up Friday Flash. I've been participating in Friday Flash off and on since July 2010. I love writing flash fiction, but most of my writing nowadays is focused on longer works. I do still love showcasing my writing on this blog, so instead of flash fiction, I will start having excerpts/teasers of my writing in my Wednesday Writing Updates.

And I'll still be open to guest posts/interviews/etc., but I'll move those to Mondays and Wednesdays as well.

Why the change? I've figured I have another  215,000 words to write this year, give or take a few thousand (20,000 or so in The Loveless Princess, 80,000 or so in both Book Two of the Phoenix Trilogy and in Book Three of the Phoenix Trilogy, and 35,000 or so in Neighbors of Foxwick). At least a hundred thousand of those words will be written in July (Camp NaNo) and November (NaNo). I'd like to have all this writing done before December, so that means I'll need to write 23,000 words a month (excluding the 50k in both July and November and zero in December). That comes to around 766 words a day. With that type of word count needed, then I must make changes and focus on writing more.

And I still want to visit people's blogs too, so I thought cutting back on the blog a bit will give me more time for everything. We'll see how it works out.

Also, since A-Z was going on, I didn't do my typical goal's post, so here are my goals for May:

1. Finish writing The Loveless Princess, do a self-edit, and send to critique partners.

2. Do final edits on Men of Foxwick. I should have my short story collection back from CPs by May 20th. That'll give me time to do a final edit, proofread a couple times, and format in May/June for a June release. 

3. Catch up on blogs/emails.

4. Finish doing my self-edit on Part III of The Phoenix Prophetess and send to a few CPs.

That's it. Do you have some May goals? Are you changing up your blogging schedule?

2013 Stats

Counted since January 1

75,610 words written (35,006 in April!)

795 pages edited     

And we have a special message from the lovely and talented Jessica Bell:

Too many adverbs and clichés in your writing? I've got just the fix for you.

by Jessica Bell

Writers constantly have rules thrown at them left, right, and center. Show, don’t tell! Stop using so many dialogue tags! More sensory detail! More tension! Speed up the pace! Yada yada yada ... it can become overwhelming, yes? I used to feel overwhelmed by it all too. In fact, I still do sometimes. It’s hard enough to get the words on the page, let alone consider how to put them there.

In Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, she says that in order not to be overwhelmed, a writer needs to focus on short assignments. She refers to the one-inch picture frame on her desk and how that little picture frame reminds her to focus on bite-sized pieces of the whole story. Basically, if you focus on one small thing at a time, the story will eventually come together to create a whole. I believe the same applies to learning the craft of writing. If writers focus on one aspect of the craft at a time, the process will seem less daunting and piece by piece it will come together.

My name’s Jessica Bell, and my own struggles with feeling overwhelmed inspired me to write the Writing in a Nutshell Series of pocket-sized writing guides. So you can learn to hone your craft in bite-sized, manageable pieces. In the first book of the series, I focused on demonstrating how to transition “telling” into “showing.” In Adverbs and Clichés in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Subversions of Adverbs and Clichés into Gourmet Imagery, I deal with another of the most common criticisms aspiring writers face: to absolutely avoid adverbs and clichés like the plague. But see, right now, I just used one of each. I also used a couple in the first two paragraphs of this post because they come naturally, and we utilize them frequently in everyday speech. But in fiction, too many adverbs and clichés weaken your prose. It’s considered “lazy writing,” because it means we don’t have to show what’s happening.

If your manuscript has too many adverbs and clichés, it most likely means that the emotion you felt while writing it is not going to translate to the reader in the same way. So how exactly can we approach the subversion of adverbs and clichés? For starters, play around with simile and metaphor when you’re trying to convey emotion, and for action, use strong verbs to show it happening in real time.

The key? Think smaller details rather than the bigger picture.

Need some help and inspiration?

In Adverbs and Clichés in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Subversions of Adverbs and Clichés into Gourmet Imagery, you will find thirty-four examples of prose which clearly demonstrate how to turn those pesky adverbs and clichés into vivid and unique imagery. Dispersed throughout are blank pages to craft your own unique examples. Extra writing prompts are also provided at the back of the book.

“Jessica Bell's latest pocket guide, Adverbs and Clichés in a Nutshell, will inspire you to leave bland behind and pursue your creative best. With force and clarity, she demonstrates how adverbs and clichés hobble vibrant writing. She then marks a course toward unique expression and provides workouts that will help writers at every level develop a distinctive voice.” ~Laurel Garver, freelance editor, author of Never Gone and Muddy-Fingered Midnights

Purchase links:
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Ca | Kobo

Bio: The Australian-native contemporary fiction author and poet, Jessica Bell, also makes a living as an editor and writer for global ELT publishers (English Language Teaching), such as Pearson Education, HarperCollins, Macmillan Education, Education First and Cengage Learning.

She is the co-publishing editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal, and the director of the Homeric Writers’ Retreat and Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca.

For more information about Jessica please visit:
Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook