Are You Writing Alone?

In one of my manuscripts, I am attempting to write it in first person past tense. however, I continually slip up and write it in first person present. In my head, I want it to be told in first person past. So after every writing session, I go back and change the verb tenses throughout the story. I sent a chapter out to my critique group, and mentioned this. One of them wrote back, and asked, "why don't you just write it in present tense?"

And wow! Why don't I? Why was I fighting so much to pigeon hole the story into the tense, when for some reason it clearly wants to be told in first person present (except for flashback scenes). Suddenly the entire writing process seems a whole lot easier.

I also recently got feedback on Lexy, which is out on submission to agents, and I realized that my first chapter isn't as strong as the rest of my novel. I rewrote it after I finished the novel, and it starts in a better place, but I haven't poured over it the way I did the rest of the novel. I am in the process of tightening it up. Little things, not huge, but I think they will help immensely.

While most of your writing is done alone, it is important to reach out to others during the process for critiques, for editing, for a new perspective. Although this is an occupation or a hobby that is mostly solitaire, it is important to be open to feedback, to be willing to change.

How do you reach out to others for help in your writing?

Books I Love: Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols

Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols

As I thought about the first book I would share that I really liked, Jennifer Echols came to mind. I actually really enjoy all of her young adult books. She has a great writing voice, and I buy them the day that they come out. Her adult books are a little more adult. I've enjoyed all her books since I found her, but I think my favorite on the ones that she calls her dramas. I love Going Too Far, Forget You  and  Such a Rush. 

Dirty Little Secrets is the story of a girl whose sister got picked up by a record label and she got left behind. It talks about her coping with this and how her family has treated her as a result. Of course there is a cute boy involved throughout the book. 

It's a great read. The think I love about Jennifer Echols is I love her voice as she writes. I like that she isn't afraid to look at deeper issues, and explore pain, but at the same time I love that things work out in the end. She's got lighter stories, and then heavier ones (like the ones I listed above). 

Have you read anything by her? What do you think?

Friday Five

1. I am not a morning person. I have never been one that does well without sleep. In high school and most of college, I went to bed around 10:00 (well except for the weekends). Then I met my husband who is a night person and I adjusted my schedule. Now I work and think best between 10:00 pm and 1:00 am. However, this year my daughter started middle school and schools starts at 7:30. It's killing me. I'm finding that I have to go to bed earlier, and I'm losing some of my creative time. Maybe I need to switch to being a morning person. Is that even possible?  Anyway, the kids get the first two days off of school next week, and I've been chanting to myself for the last few days, just a few days until I have four days to sleep in. Four whole days!

2. This week I have been rereading books by some authors. I am a rereader, and I probably do about fifty percent of my reading as rereading. It goes in phases too. I love revisiting stories and characters that are powerful and meaningful and seeing what makes a story really work for someone.

3. I have started on a new manuscript in the last month or so. It will go by the name of Aimee--since I name my stories after the main characters. Aimee is a contemporary YA. Something I haven't done before and technically could also be named Steve, since I am attempting to narrate from both perspectives. We will see how it goes. But I really like the two characters. It's a fun story.

4. The weather has been crazy in my part of the country. We were affected by that freezing polar vortex and got down to 9 degrees (quite a feat in the South), but then we were in the 70s the Saturday after that (5 days later). I think people tend to get the sniffles more with all the fluctuations.

5. I'm really struggling to come up with a number five today. It's an early release day, which means my kids are getting home three hours earlier than normal from school. It should be a good day overall. Have a happy Friday!

Goals for the New Year

Yes, I know it is actually January 15th, which means the month is half over and I know that it seems silly to write down goals and resolutions for the new year now. The truth is that even though I haven't written anything down yet, I have been thinking a lot about the different goals that I want to set in regards to writing. So without any further ado and no more excuses here they are.

1. Write every single day. The last year I got out of this habit, which made it a lot harder to actually write when I sat down and tried to do it. The times that I am best at writing and when things come the easiest are when I am doing it consistently. 
2. Aim for a chapter a day. This might sound extreme, and I'm definitely not there yet, but when I get going and I'm in the rhythm, I know I can hit this goal. It's something I am working toward achieving by the end of the year.
3. I have three novels planned out and ready to write, and I want to write them all this year.
4. Revising--I want to get much better at revising.
5. I want to start posting regularly on the blog again. So I was thinking of choosing one book I love each week to mention, and then do a craft post and a Friday Five. I think I can handle three posts a week. (I reserve the right to change this if it gets to be too much. I'm thinking new book on Monday, craft/writing post on Wednesday and Friday Five.)

That basically sums up my goals. Let me know about yours! See you on Friday!

My Review of Just Ella by Annette K Larsen

This was a sweet story of a princess who falls in love with a commoner. There were enough twists and turns to keep me interested in the story, and I really did like the main love interest. Ella tries to make good decisions, and the writing was clean and easy to read. If you are looking for a sweet love story (that is clean), you should definitely check this out.

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Just Ella by Annette K. Larsen Book Summary: A Proper Romance Ariella was only looking for a distraction, something to break up the monotony of palace life. What she found was a young man willing to overlook her title and show her a new and vibrant way of life. But when her growing feelings for Gavin spiral out of control and clash with the expectations of her station, she will discover that the consequences of her curiosity are far more severe than she’d imagined. I watched in helpless horror as two guards hauled Gavin to his feet and dragged him from the room. My voice was frozen, unable to protest as another guard took hold of my arm, leading me upstairs. From the confines of my room, I stared into the darkness beyond my window, hoping to catch one more glimpse of Gavin. He was gone, and I wondered if he would have been better off if he had never met me. I write clean romance. Why? Because that’s what I love to read, but over the years I’ve discovered it’s quite a challenge to find good clean romance. I believe it’s a genre that many people are looking for and too few authors are writing. My first novel, Just Ella, took me many years to write because I wanted it to be more than just a cutesy love story. I wanted it to have depth, to feel genuine. Hopefully I succeeded, but you’ll have to be the judge.

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Praise for Just Ella "I fell in love with this book. Treat yourself to something wonderful. You can't go wrong with Just Ella!" ~Inspired Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer "By far one of the best romance novels I've ever read. Pulls you in with great, likable characters and keeps you going with a sweet and exciting love story--plus a good plot to give it even more substance. Full of those tender moments you want to go back and read again, plus exciting moments, clever humor, and some suspense as well." ~Jana Miller "Annette Larsen writes a love story that takes time, is complicated, and yet still sweeps you up in the romance (without the cheese, thank you). It's compelling and emotional and sweet and you will love every page." ~Kimi  

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  Author Annette K. Larsen I was born in Utah, but grew up in Flagstaff Arizona and St. Louis Missouri, the fifth of seven children. I attended college at Southern Virginia University and Brigham Young University where I studied English and Theater. I now live in Idaho with my husband and four children. I have Charlotte Bronte to thank for the courage to write novels. After being bombarded with assigned reading about women who justified abandoning either their families or their principles in the name of love, I had the great fortune of reading Jane Eyre. And that was it: finally a heroine who understood that being moral and making the right choice was hard, and sometimes it hurt, but it was still worth it. After rereading it several years later, I realized that if I wanted more books to exist with the kinds of heroines I admired, then I might as well write a few myself. My books are about women who face hard choices, who face pain and rejection and often have to sacrifice what they want for what is right. The consequences are often difficult or unpleasant, but it the end, doing what’s right will always be worth it. I believe there is no substitute for good writing or good chocolate. Fortunately, one often leads to the other.  

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Just Ella Book Blast

Just Ella by Annette K. Larsen Book Summary: A Proper Romance Ariella was only looking for a distraction, something to break up the monotony of palace life. What she found was a young man willing to overlook her title and show her a new and vibrant way of life. But when her growing feelings for Gavin spiral out of control and clash with the expectations of her station, she will discover that the consequences of her curiosity are far more severe than she’d imagined. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Speaking of roofs

There is currently a gentleman stomping around on top of mine. We live in a town home, and I had no idea that they were going to be working on the roof today. It started out with a little bit banging in the unit next door, or at least that's what I thought, but then it sounded like someone was running around in the crawl space. Now there is banging, and scraping, and I wonder just how long this is going to go on.  It is really creepy to hear unexpected footsteps across your ceiling.

I can connect this to writing. Sometimes when you are in the middle of editing, you think one little minor repair needs to take place--let's compare it to replacing a shingle, but once you get up there you realize that the one little mistake in your story is actually a lot bigger, and you need to replace the whole roof. The entire thing, nearly starting over from scratch.

Do you just patch up the hole and hope it holds together, or do you get down and dirty and start fresh?

I recently pulled out an older manuscript that I'm about a third of the way through and realized that I love the idea, but I've got to scrap it. It is so telly, and I can also see how I've improved as a writer between now and then. So do I scrap the project entirely or do I start fresh? A single shingle isn't going to fix this one.

Happy Writing