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

L is for The Loveless Princess

 

This year's A to Z Challenge theme is: All About Foxwick. By the way, I am so far behind in commenting back on people's blogs. I've been participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this month (a 30,000 word goal this time), so I can finish rewriting the last part in The Phoenix Prophetess. I'm nearing the end and hope to finish it this weekend. *crosses fingers* So then, I'll have the rest of the month to focus more on the challenge. So I will be commenting and soon!

L is for ... The Loveless Princess

  
As I mentioned in letter E, Eirwyn has stolen the show. A villain in many other Foxwick stories, she has a chance to tell her story in The Loveless Princess. I hope to finish writing this first draft next month and perhaps publish it around October this year.

Here is the work-in-progress book description: 

Fairy tales have happy endings. 

Sixteen-year-old Princess Eirwyn wants to believe in fairy tales. It’s why she sneaks out of the castle several nights a week in search for her father and his family. Her mother, Queen Vereina of Wintermill, prefers to keep her secrets and has her own plans for her daughter.

One night, Eirwyn’s mother catches her out of the castle and locks her in her room. But Eirwyn uses her magical gifts to escape, and with the help of Orion, the sort of common boy her mother fears her daughter will love, Eirwyn is close to discovering what happened to her father.

But Queen Vereina won't allow her daughter the pleasure of knowing her father. She imprisons Orion and forces Eirwyn to travel to Foxwick to marry Prince Javen. The love potion feels heavy in her bag, but Eirwyn has little choice. The queen will kill Orion otherwise. Can Eirwyn fall in love with the kind and handsome prince when she loves another? With love potion in hand, Eirwyn will soon learn life is not a fairy tale.

And she’ll have to make her own choices, no matter the consequences. 

A brief unedited excerpt from The Loveless Princess:

My cloak’s hem brushed against the wooden floorboards as I made my way to the gambling table, a rectangular oak table that could seat eight. At the moment, a woman and three other men sat there, playing cards in their hands and coins piling before them. They didn’t look up at me.

“Mind if I join the next game?” I held up my clinking coin purse.

The man closest to me rubbed his beard, and his beady eyes narrowed upon the bag. “If ya can pay, then ya can play.”

The woman across from me shoved the chair across from her out. Her gap-toothed grin sent shivers down my spine. “Sit down, sweetheart.”

“Thank you.” Perching on the chair, I peered toward these four people from behind the edge of my cloak’s hood. The woman’s watery dark eyes couldn’t belong to my family’s. One man had red hair, the beady-eyed man had none of my delicate features, and the third man, although very slender, had a bulbous nose and green eyes. I blew out air through my nostrils. Just like the previous thirteen moons I’ve searched, I still couldn’t find any possible family members. Perhaps what the castle’s servants said was true: My father’s family was dead.

Wednesday's Writing Update: March's Goals

 

Happy Wednesday!

I have March's goals planned out. Here they are:

1. Finish writing The Loveless Princess.

I should've had this finished by now, but it didn't get done. I do hope to finish it in March.

2. Write/Edit "Dragon Spy" and edit "Blind Scribe" from Men of Foxwick.

"Dragon Spy" and "Blind Scribe" will go through my CPs, and I hope to finish editing both stories in March.

3. Write Part III of The Phoenix Prophetess.

I ran out of time during NaNoWriMo 2012 (wrote 60,000 words in Parts I and II) to finish Part III, so I hope to write at least half of the chapters I have left, if not all of them, by the end of March. I probably have between 30,000-40,000 words left to write.

4. Finish writing my A to Z Challenge posts on this blog and Surrounded by Books Reviews.

Yes, I'm participating in the A-Z Challenge again for two blogs, and I must finish those posts soon. I do have a theme (All About Foxwick on this blog and Book Series on the other), so that's very helpful.

5. If time, write "The Sword Master," short story three in Men of Foxwick.

What are your March goals?

2013 Stats since January 1st

23,908 words written

488 pages edited

Wednesday's Writing Update: New Review of Once Upon a December Nightmare and more!

 

Happy Wednesday!

I received a new review of Once Upon a December Nightmare. You can read the review here. As a reminder, Once Upon a December Nightmare is still free on Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords, Sony, and iTunes.

Writing and editing this month has been pretty sparse. *sighs* Between the writers' conference earlier this month, having more work at the day job, and a family problem during the first full week of February (it's now okay), it's been difficult to find the energy to write and edit. Thus, I'm behind on this month's goals.

As for Starred, between critique partners' comments and time, I've decided not to edit this novel right now. I hope to work on it again in August.

I still hope to finish editing Part II of The Phoenix Prophetess this month. I also should finish my notes for Part III, which I still need to write. If all goes well, I should be able to complete this goal this weekend. *crosses fingers*

I have started writing "Dragon Spy," story two in Men of Foxwick. I have five more scenes, or around 3,000 more words, to write. I should be able to finish this story before the end of February. I also need to do my third edit of "Blind Scribe," so I can send it to CP #3.

Then, there is The Loveless Princess. Last week, I managed to write through Chapter 9, or one-third of the novella. I still have another 20,000+ words to go before the novella is finished, so it's looking very doubtful that I'll finish it by the end of February, since I still have so many other things I need to do. That's okay. I'm loving the story and what's happening with it, so if it needs more time, then so be it. I would like to reach the midway point with this novella, though, by the end of February.

As for the next couple days, I'm working on friends' critiques and blog posts.

How's your writing going? What do you have going on this week?

Wednesday's Writing Update: Writing and Editing as Always

 

Happy Wednesday!

Is it just me, or are these Wednesdays flying by too quickly?

First, I received a lovely review of Gravity: The Complete Trilogy from Nick Wilford at Scattergun Scribblings yesterday.

Last week I mentioned I finished writing "Blind Scribe" in Men of Foxwick. My first CP read it and got a critique back to me, so I'm making some changes, so I can send it to second CP soon.

On Monday, I finished editing Part I of The Phoenix Prophetess. I've now sent it to my three critique partners, so I'm hoping they'll like it. I'm at the point with Part I where I'm way too close to the story, characters, and writing, so it's hard for me to edit it any more without some additional guidance. Next month, I plan to tackle self-edits on Part II.

My main concerns for the rest of January are writing The Loveless Princess and editing Act I of Starred. I'm a bit behind where I'd hoped to be, but if I can do a chapter/scene a day, then I should be able to finish writing the first thirteen chapters of The Loveless Princess and have Act I of Starred edited by February 1st. We'll see how that goes.

As it is, I know no writing/editing will be done on Saturday, since I'll spend most of the day at the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference and then my sister's eighteenth birthday party Saturday evening. It'll definitely be a busy weekend.

So I guess I should get back to work.

What are you working on this week?

Wednesday's Writing Update: November Stats, December Goals, and The Next Big Thing

 

Happy Wednesday!

The Nightmare Collection Blog Tour went great last week. I had 25 stops in five days, am now over 600 blog followers, 2300 Twitter followers, added 14 subscribers to my newsletter, am almost at 150 likes on my author fan page. I had 170 individual comments too, not including people who commented more than once, and I had 363 entries to my Rafflecopter giveaway (winners have been notified). All in all it was awesome, and I met so many new people. I'm working on commenting on everyone's blogs this week and following back.

I have November stats for everyone. Since it was NaNoWriMo, my word counts were pretty awesome, and the pages edited wasn't too bad either.

Word count: 60,003

Pages edited: 224

My December goals included:

1. Finish writing The Phoenix Prophetess. Although I got 60,000 words written last month, I didn't manage to finish the novel. I hope to remedy that this month, but I'm not putting pressure on myself to finish it. It'll either get done or not.

2. Plan for next year. This means I'll make my tentative goals for next year as well as plan when I would like to accomplish them. I also would like to write outlines for everything I want to write in 2013, so there will be less planning time and more writing time.

3. Modify my website and blog. I like what I have, but I want to play around with things and see if I can make the sites better. So far, I've updated my blog's look, but there is still more to do.

4. Read and relax. Ideally, I will have everything done by December 20th or so, so I can spend the last bit of the year by taking a break.

Also, the lovely Emilyann Girdner tagged me in The Next Big Thing meme. I've been tagged before and answered the questions for Starred and The Phoenix Prophetess, but I've decided to use them meme to tell you about my first project in 2013.

1. What is the working title of your book? The Loveless Princess
2. Where did the idea come from for the book? I had finished writing Women of Foxwick, and I wanted to explore more about Eirwyn, Queen of Wintermill. She’s probably my favorite character of my Foxwick Chronicles.
3. What genre does your book fall under? YA Epic Fantasy
4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? No clue, but I do have an idea on what young Eirwyn looks like, if this character had more blue hair than blond. Click here for the picture.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Princess Eirwyn craves a fairy tale ending, but the costs of one will destroy everything she’s ever known.
6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? It’ll be self-published.
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? I don’t know. I haven’t written it yet, but it shouldn’t take more than a month or so.
8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Not that I can ever have as beautiful prose as Michelle Davidson Argyle, but the story reminds me a bit of her fairy tale collection Bonded. It has that feel to it, even though it’s quite different.
9. Who or What inspired you to write this book? The character Eirwyn inspired me. She is a villain in the other Foxwick stories, and she’s ready to tell her side of the story.
10. What else about your book might pique the reader's interest? The Loveless Princess will be a novella-length book, or so I assume it’ll be, since I haven’t written it yet. Eirwyn is a strong character, and she’ll do whatever she can to have the life she thinks she deserves. If you enjoyed A to Z Flashes of Foxwick and Women of Foxwick, then you’ll definitely want to pick up The Loveless Princess when it is available, but I believe people who like fantasy and young adult will enjoy it as well. I hope to release the novella sometime early next year.

And if you would like to answer the questions, feel free to do so.

Do you have any news?

Wednesday's Writing Update: September Stats and October Goals

 

Happy Wednesday!

First, I have some really cool news. Rayne Hall contacted me on Saturday. She is the editor of the Ten Tales themed anthologies, and she read Women of Foxwick and thought that "Lady Bard" would be a perfect addition to the forthcoming anthology Spells: Ten Tales of Magic. After making certain about rights and the like, I've agreed. I'm pretty excited about the exposure and the fact that it is the first time an editor contacted me about a story and not the other way around.

Oh, and I've been asked to be on a panel about blogging at the 2013 Roanoke Regional Writers Conference. It'll be my first time on a panel.

Okay, now for the general news. I have September's stats, and I'm pretty pleased with how productive I was last month.

Total Words Written: 24,825

Total Pages Edited: 628

And I published Gravity: The Complete Trilogy in print and ebook formats as well as re-published Once Upon a December Nightmare in ebook formats. I also finished the first draft of Nightmare Ever After, and it's with my critique partners and beta reader. I plan to start editing it for publication on October 15th. The only thing I've completely failed on is editing my YA Contemporary Romance novel Starred.

Here are October's goals:

1. Edit, proofread, and format Nightmare Ever After for publication by October 31st.

2. Read through The Phoenix Prophetess and make lots of notes on scenes, characters, etc. to get ready to rewrite it for NaNoWriMo.

3. Start formatting The Nightmare Collection, which will include "Nightmare at the Freak Show," Once Upon a December Nightmare, and Nightmare Ever After, for print and ebook with a release date hopefully in late November and start figuring out a blog tour for the first full week of December for The Nightmare Collection. Information about signing up to host me during the blog tour will come in next Wednesday's post.

4. Edit Act I of Starred.

5. Make an outline for The Loveless Princess, a YA Epic Fantasy novella set in the world of Foxwick. If time, begin writing the novella.

 

Also, if you'd like to add me as a writing buddy on NaNoWriMo, please do so. I'm bookworm0753 there.

Up until last weekend, I had planned to write Twelve Days of Foxwick for a December release. Day One of the stories twelve days went well, but it quickly fell apart from there. I figured I could push through or re-evaluate this novella. I've decided to stop for now and hopefully Twelve Days of Foxwick will be available November/December 2013. Instead, I'm working slowly on The Loveless Princess for a hopefully January/February 2013 release date.

So what are your October goals? How did September go for you?