I think back to the day Mari was in the hospital and I told someone whether Mari made it or if she passed I was thinking about writing a book about her life. I’m not exactly sure why I would've thought to do something like this as I definitely didn’t believe I was a writer. After she passed and a little time went by, I decided to write a book about her life. The only drawback is I had no idea what I was doing. My husband tried to help me with editing it the best he could. His main comment was … [Read more...]
Reflecting back over the A to Z Challenge #AtoZchallenge #acfw
This year is the first time I did the A to Z Challenge on this site. However, I did do it last year on my daughter's dedication site (mommysangelinheaven.com) and fell in love with doing it. So this year I decided to really up the ante, so to speak, and do the challenge on both this site as well as my daughter's site. It wasn't easy and I even was late a couple of times with posting, but I was able to write on every letter and get them posted on both sites. Yea!!!! The topic I chose to write … [Read more...]
O is for Outline
Or as I like to call it: Plotter. In writing a novel you have what we writers like to call either Pantsers or Plotters or somewhere in between. A pantser is someone who writes their novel, as they say, by the seat of their pants. In other words, there is absolutely no plotting of the novel whatsoever. They write their novel as it comes to them. However, with a plotter, it 180 degrees in the opposite direction where they outline everything before they write a single word for their … [Read more...]
C is for Character Sketch
When I began to write the fiction novel I'm working on I had no clue how to really do it. There was so much I needed to learn. My true growth started after I became a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and joined the large critique group they have. Over that first month in that group it was amazing how much I had learned. Yet, I had so much more to learn and am still doing so now. I came to realize that I'm a plotter. One day I had an idea to write a quick and concise outline … [Read more...]
Day 102: Five Things Writers Can Learn from Cats
1. Stay focused. As writers it's important to stay focused on our writing to make it the best we can. When we don't we end up with a mess and more likely than not have to go back and either do some major edits or to rewrite it all. No fun at all. So staying focused is paramount to making the writing successful. 2. Retain mystery. It's important to keep the story a mystery so the reader will continue to keep the reader engrossed in the story otherwise they would lose interest. 3. Hunt … [Read more...]
Day 101: Waiting for the Train
We all have our ways of writing. Some write on a computer. Some write on paper. Some write in a journal. Some write on post-it notes. We each have our own unique way of doing things. When we do sit down to write do we allow ourselves to get into the moment to really take off like a freight train and everything flows smoothly out or are we trying to force something that may not be right, or even ready, for what is being written, especially writing a book? So far I'm the latter. If I'm feeling … [Read more...]
Day 66: The Pitfalls of Grammar
When we first think about something to write, whether it's a new book idea, a short story, or even a paper for school, we need to be able to be free to write without worrying about where a comma goes or if you have a run on sentence. Just write. Freely let your hand write out those thoughts on paper or into the computer. This is where our creative juices flow. Freely from our minds to the paper below us. I love that time. None of it may make sense when I'm done, but in that moment it sure did … [Read more...]
Finding Something Interesting This Evening Online
As I sat here writing tonight and then went searching for some graphics, I came across an interesting one that had this on it: When To Shelve the Book You're Writing. Well, that little bit piqued my interest so I click on the graphic and it took me to this blog post: samanthaboyette.com/when-to-shelve-the-book-youre-writing. What this woman had to say was quite interesting. I know in the book I've been writing, or trying to write, every once in a while I think maybe I should move onto a new … [Read more...]
I’m beginning something new
I've decided to try something new here. I want to be able to write a little something each day. Whether it's about the book I'm currently writing or just to say how my day was. I want to keep my readers up to date with everything. Today, I've mostly been writing posts for my daughter's dedication website (Mommy's Angel In Heaven). I love writing on there as that website has not only become apart of me but my soul. I get to openly share with people my thoughts and how I'm feeling at the time … [Read more...]
I’m Back (Man It’s Been A Long Time)
Well, who knew that my break would have taken me this long. Since my last message we have moved to Anchorage, Alaska. Our nephew has gone back home to live with his biological mom. And now I'm back into my writing. It's been so exciting as I completely rewrote out a new outline for my book as I figured out how I needed to proceed forward. I've just started writing out the new scene's and rewriting several of the ones I already had as the book takes on a new turn. I'd like to start a writing … [Read more...]
