Writing – Page 13 – Writing Wrongs

Weekly writing check-in: peering into 2021

Three days into 2021, and I’m keeping up with the Story Storm challenge. I have three ideas, and I’m inordinately proud of that.

I noticed that last year, I really didn’t do a “year in review” or post about goals (well, other than the (Love) Stories for 2020 project–that was the goal for 2020).

And I’m not going to post goals for this year. I’m really not all that prescient, and I can’t peer that far into the future. If 2020 taught me anything, it’s that.

However, there are a couple of things I do plan to work on:

Lean into my strengths. My writing process actually involves a lot of thinking. You know that saying: Don’t think, write!
Well, mine should be: Go think, then write! This is contrary to a lot of popular writing advice. Then again, a lot of popular writing advice can be wrong (as least on an individual level).
For instance, way back in January of 2020, I mentioned in the comments that I had an idea for a pirate adventure. The story didn’t come together until late in the year, and not until I decided Heart of a Pirate King was a Christmas story.
I need to give myself more time to think. To that end I also plan to:
Eliminate distractions. I like to stay informed. During 2020, it felt crucial to stay informed for so many reasons. But it’s one thing to stay informed; it’s another to drink from the firehose.
I’ve been drinking from the firehose. Intellectually, I know I don’t need to. I have trusted go-to sources for news, politics, and the publishing industry. I won’t miss the big things. I can do without all the little things.

And that’s as far as I’m peering into 2021. Here’s to a year full of writing and stories and joy.

Weekly writing check-in: winter and story storms

We have storms. Many storms. All the storms. After our October surprise snow, we’ve had nothing here until the 23rd.

Then it was Mother Nature playing catch-up with a blizzard.

Now we have lots of snow.

This week, I did a little work on Coffee & Ghosts. Mostly I focused on the holiday and musings for 2021.

I also officially released Here’s How We Survive: The (Love) Stories for 2020, which is the ebook and print version of all the (Love) Stories for 2020 (which you can absolutely still read for free).

I also signed up for Tara Lazar’s StoryStorm. 30 story ideas in 31 days. I’m pondering what sort of ideas I’ll (hopefully) be generating. Fiction? Nonfiction? Blog posts? Really, you can use it for any type of writing.

Want to join me? Click the image or the link to visit Tara’s site.

Weekly writing check-in: that’s fairly rough

I’m not really sure why I’m so surprised that my rough draft is so … rough.

But it is, and I am.

Okay, not too surprised. I do need to pull out an entire section (trust me, it doesn’t work) and delete an entire character (he’ll just have to wait for another book/series). I was hoping that the structure, at least, was solid, if not the prose.

Alas.

But I slept on it. In the morning, things looked brighter (as things tend to do). I have a sense of what the story and the revision need and how that will cascade into the other two novellas in Coffee & Ghosts Season Four.

Again, I’m writing at the speed of tortoise, but I’m nevertheless pleased with my progress this week.

Weekly writing check-in: brewing up some Kona blend

Just like the editing and scheduling last week, it took me a while to get everything formatted, submitted, re-submitted, and so on.

But it’s (nearly) done!

It’s weird having only two scheduled posts on my dashboard.

I’m pondering what I might do with my blog in 2021. I know I can’t maintain the one-story-per-week pace. I don’t have enough stories in reserve, either on my hard drive or in my head.

Also? I want to get back to writing longer fiction. I’m itching to dive back into Coffee & Ghosts Season 4, and I’m brewing up some Kona blend to do just that.

I have two (maybe three) spin-off series in the Coffee & Ghosts world I’d like to write.

Then there’s that fairy tale series.

A possible epic fantasy duology.

That time travel.

That cold war spy series.

You get the idea.

You can’t do it all, at least, not all at once. (I can’t anyway. No doubt there’s a writer out there who can. We’ll pretend she doesn’t exist.)

So I’m looking at picking a small number of things to focus on for 2021:

Definitely Coffee & Ghosts
A follow-on series
Back to blogging more (because I like blogging more than I like social media–actually, I like blogging and loathe social media. I’m terrible at social media anyway, so I might as well do something I like)

I’m leaving the list at that before I’m tempted to add even more to it.

Now for some coffee.

And some ghosts.

Weekly writing check-in: It’s going to take longer than you think

I didn’t quite get all the editing, formatting, and scheduling done last week, but I did accomplish it all this week.

Which brings me to the lesson I’ve learned (over and over again) this year:

It’s going to take longer than you think it will.

Always.

At least in my case. But then, I’m not one of those writers who likes to live on the edge, pounding out a draft an hour before the submission deadline.

That being said, I do have a jumpstart on the ebook since I’ve been adding each story to the manuscript as I finished it. This may be the second lesson because I can’t tell you how happy I am that I do not need to pull that together this week.

But will I have everything formatted and on the retail sites by next week?

Maybe … but I think lesson one applies here as well.

It’s going to take longer than I think it will.

Weekly writing check-in: Done!

Well, I am happy to report that all the stories for the 2020 Project are done! Finished! Complete!

I need to do some editing and proofing (I mean, we’re not barbarians around here).

And then there’s the post formatting and scheduling. So that’s what I hope to accomplish today.

As a result, I’m keeping this check-in extra short.

See you next week.

Weekly writing check-in: Impressive job!

So, this may be my favorite sp@m comment yet:

Keep functioning, impressive job!

In fact, I think a variation sums up 2020 fairly well.

Still functioning? Impressive job!

In actual writing news, I’m working on that very last story for the 2020 project. I finally figured out that it’s a Diamonds and Toads retelling, which is one of those fairy tales I keep coming back to. I find it unfair. I believe it’s more of a curse to have diamonds and gems fall from your mouth than toads and vipers. (Really, vipers could come in handy, especially in 2020.)

But it’s a modern retelling, so no actual toads or diamonds are making an appearance (so far). If you want actual diamonds (and some toads), there’s always An Army of Toads in my fairy tale compilation, Straying from the Path.

Next week, I hope to report that this story and the 2020 project are complete.

Weekly writing check-in: Good luck, always

I’m pleased to report that I did go on that final walk of 2020 last Sunday. On that walk, I discovered this token in the spot where I’ve found so many other of my rock “friends” this year.

It made me doubly glad I opted for that walk.

This week, I’ve been working on the last two stories for the 2020 project. Did you know that the last Friday in 2020 falls on Christmas day? This is something I’ve known from before the start of the year, and my mind has been churning, trying to conjure up a Christmas story.

I think I have one, albeit one with pirates. (Because nothing rings in the Holidays quite like a band of pirates.)

That leaves me with one story left to write. I actually have a start on it. I just don’t know how it ends.

And I really wish it were nice enough so I could go walking and ponder that.

Weekly writing check-in: this week was the longest month

On Friday, I went to fill out my timecard for work, and I stared at the date: November 2 for a good thirty seconds, confused.

Wasn’t the 2nd weeks ago, at the very least?

Apparently not.

Anyway, the week started with this gorgeous sunset on Monday evening.

And since the week ended on such a grand note, and we only have one more day left of pretend September, I’m going to skip the writing update and go take one last walk for 2020.

See you next week.

Weekly writing check-in: Happy (belated) Halloween

I spent this week working on the last two stories for the 2020 project (and so far, I’m really enjoying myself). I woke up early this morning (thanks to the time change) and spent some hours at my writing desk while the moon was setting. It was lovely.