Growing Up

I recently took a giant leap in my writing life.  Most of you know (my faithful readers) that I wrote a book last November, and that I was beginning revisions a few months ago. After doing two rewrites, I decided it was time to send my book out to be read -- well this is huge for me. I rarely ever let anyone read my work, especially a novel!   However, I know that I will never grow as a writer if I don't let my work get torn to shreds.  Choosing who to send my book to was tough, and it's been hard waiting as she reads it.  The person I decided on has a lot of experience with both reading and editing. It's someone I respect, and I look forward to her feedback. 

I feel a little outside of my comfort zone, but as each day passes, I forget that my little piece of artwork is on someone else's desk, being read by a different set of eyes.   I cringe at the thought of something that I might have left out, or an inconsistency that I might not have corrected.  Now I wait -- I wait to hear what she thinks, I wait to discover how my writing looks to someone else...  I guess you could say, I'm growing up?

AMAZINGLY

I want to be an amazing writer – Now one would think that this was always my goal.  It was not.  My goal was simply to write. It was my passion – it IS my passion. However, I have been giving up before I start, and I have been expecting less than mediocre from myself.  I haven’t required myself to be an amazing writer. I have just wanted to be a writer. That is not enough anymore. I want to be amazing. I want people to read my stories, and I want them to fall in love, over and over again.  There are several books that I have fallen in love with, several movies that I watch at the very least, once a year.  There are stories within me that keep me comforted, and others that keep me terrified. We all have a story, and it is important to tell it so that others can fall in love with our words, our situations, our characters.. and sometimes us.  That is what I want for myself, and my writing. The next few weeks will be full of rewriting.  Taking the work that I allowed just mediocre, and making it better.  Pouring myself into my words, and creating something that not only I love, but that others will love as well. It is no longer okay for me to just want to write – It is however, okay for me to want to write AMAZINGLY.    Kphilbrick.

Nano Day 8

I am now at the part of my book where all five of my main characters are together in one scene for the entire weekend. I have been leading up to this part of the book for almost 20k pages, and now that I'm here, I feel a sense of fear. Whose perspective will I tell it from? How will I merge all of these personalities into one house for one weekend? Thankfully, it's only a few chapters, and things will go back to semi-normal. I would love to hear how your Nano books are coming? If you are not participating in Nano, then how is your writing going? Make sure you remind yourself why you started writing to begin with -- tap into that energy! 

Late Night Writing - Nano Day 5, 6 & 7

I am starting to notice a pattern with my writing for Nano. I am waiting until the very last part of the day to start. It's not that this hasn't worked for me --I've exceeded 15k and feel like I am at a good pace with my story. Only last night did I fear that I was revealing something too early in the story. I still haven't convinced myself that I didn't, but for now, it will remain where it is.


The problem with waiting until the end of the night is I risk not being able to get my word count in and possibly my creativity is not as keen as it would be if I were to do it earlier in the day. Frankly, by this time of night, my brain is fried from other things. My goal for the next 10K words is to produce them earlier in the day, and then if I want to write later in the night, it's perfectly acceptable. I'm not sure if my fear is that I will sit down and stare at a blank page, or if I am just afraid that I won't be as creative if my brain is fully functioning.

Even today, I sat down to start writing, and now I'm blogging.

What time of the day do you find is the best for your writing?

Free Giveaways After 100 Followers Reached!

So why the giveaways?  I will be honest and admit that my blogging is for me, however, there is such a thrill with sharing my words with others. I love getting comments, and knowing that someone else is feeling the same way, or has a story that they can share with me. I spend so much time reading other blogs, and commenting when I can. I love when others recommend a blog to me, because usually I fall in love right away. I want to get the word out about my little place in the blog world, and at the same time reward my followers.  Writing can be a lonely journey, and by having this blog, I don't feel so alone anymore! Here are some of the items I will be giving away. I may add more as my follower list grows :)

                 

So how does this work?  It's very simple.  I need to reach 100 follower by the end of Nano, which is the end of November. So if you like my blog, and you think it's worth spreading around, then repost and retweet. I will be doing a random drawing of those who spread the word on December 1st or after 100 followers are reached.  Leave your comment here that you have reposted somewhere in your writing world!  Thank you so much, and leave your own blog, because I will be returning the favor! <3 Kristy