I Can't Believe I Am Doing This!

Well actually there are two things I can't believe I am doing:

1. I am shelving Three of Ivory.

Yes, I know - shocking that I would set aside a project. I just think I need more time to wrap my head around the story and get to know the characters. I want Three of Ivory to be amazing. There are some things I need to do before I can give it the time and effort it really deserves.

2. I am starting a fantasy/romance project.

Me. Romance. I know! Now to clarify it is not going to be a steamy romance (yuck!). It is going to be a love story. Something along the lines of Jane Austin. This idea has been floating around in my head for a while. Here are some examples of the idea leaking out in my writing:

Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C

Making this decision was hard. But I came up with a really really good reasons why to do it.

As I was writing Three of Ivory I realized that it had much the same tone as Shadowed Stones. This is not what I wanted. The idea, the world, the characters are all different. So I decided I need some distance from the project so I could reset and look at it with fresh eyes. My new project is like a half step between the tone of Shadowed Stones and the tone I want for Three of Ivory. I think it will be a good way to break away from Shadowed Stones and get ready to write Three of Ivory.

Another thing I am trying... I am not telling anyone about the plot to my story. I want to plot it a write the first draft before anyone knows an ounce about it. Part of this is to keep me interested in the project. The other part of it is that this is the first real love story I have written. And I want to see how it goes without any outside influence.

Have you ever had to shelve a project - before you really began?

Confession

I have a confession. I haven't been writing. And as an extension of that I haven't been blogging.

Why?

That's a good question. I would like to say it is because I haven't been feeling well. Or because I have been really busy. But it's not. I got stuck with Three of Ivory. I am not sure why. One minute the story was on fire in my head and then... nothing.

The story still captivates me. I just feel lost. But the good news is - I think I finally found the problem.

I don't have an outline.

You see I am a plotter. With Shadowed Stones I had a scene by scene outline. Which really worked for me. This time around I wanted to give myself a little freedom so I could go with the flow. Here's the thing though:

Freedom kills my creativity.

Yeah, go figure. That surprised me. But then I thought back to when I was writing Shadowed Stones - and although I stuck pretty close to my outline there was still wiggle room. So I think for me having as detailed of an outline as possible is critical to my drafting ability.

So here is the plan: I am going to sit down and write a very detailed outline of Three of Ivory. And then start my first draft, again. I may still keep the first three and a half chapters that I wrote. I would like to - because I think they are good. But it depends on how the outlining goes. (Also, I think I may have started the story too early.)

Guess what, I just totally had the perfect vision of where to start the story and effectively introduce all three of my main characters. The best part - I can still use the dynamite first line I crafted! And the wheels (though rusty) are starting to turning again.

On another note: I promise to rededicate myself to blogging.

Have you ever been surprised by what kills your creativity?

Success

So cramming paid off! I have some better-than-I-hoped results to report today. I hope you are all finding success. Okay, here's the low down:

• Three of Ivory: I am unofficially done with world building. There is still more to do, but I am going to do it as I go. I have talked myself into this for two reasons. 1. The world building I have left is not important to the story line. 2. I need to keep moving and not get stuck. I have a good enough of a foundation to move forward.
• Shadowed Stones: I started feeling a little overwhelmed about getting ready to submit Shadowed Stones so I have been focusing on Three of Ivory. I did think of a great line for my query letter. I want to say: I am looking for a publisher for my fantasy novel, Shadowed Stones, and after reading X, Y, and Z I think your company would be a good fit. Or something like that. So I am reading a few books published by Shadow Mountain (more about that below). I do realize that this is a way to put of submitting Shadowed Stones but this is my first time and I am not ready to just jump in.
• Reading: Last month I read Tarranau by James Tallet. I reviewed it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads. Quick review: Wait for the next book to come out before reading it. This month I am reading Destruction from Twins by L. Carroll.
• Re-Reading: Last month I read The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander which I plan to review soon. (I will let you know when I do). This month I am going to read The Black Cauldron, which is the next book in the series.

I also have some additional reading that I mentioned above. I just finished reading The 13th Reality: The Journal of Curious Letters - I will let you know when I get a chance to review it. Right now I also have The Hourglass Door and Far World: Water Keepchecked out from the library. Fabelhaven is on hold. So, I have a lot of reading to do. It is a good thing it is a long weekend :)

What are your goals? How are they coming? What's on your list to read?

Goal Update

First, here are a few links:

• Blog Hop
• The Mighty Pen Contest
• Vote for my Short Story

Next, here are some updates on my goals:

• Finished reading both of my books for this month. Have three picked out to read for next month.
• I am struggling with the query letter for Shadowed Stones, so I am going to move on to writing the outline for now.
• The world building for TOI is going well. I am almost ready to move on to the characters.

And finally, how I build worlds.

First of all, the map. I usually always have a map. Sometimes the map comes later in the world building. Sometimes it is very detailed sometimes it is just a sketch. The map for Shadowed Stones is very detailed. The map for Three of Ivory is really just a sketch right now.

Related to the map are the countries, governments and cultures. For the countries I usually have a name, and I also like to sketch the flag. I also identify the type of government and a little bit of the social classes. Trade and industry are often details I include. Hmm, what else? Oh, I also like to make a list of common physical attributes, name the language, and naming conventions for naming people and places.

Also, in worlds where there is magic - I setup the system of magic. What it can and cannot do. How to use it. Who can use it. And so on.

Next step: Character Bios.

A Late Update

Sorry this post is so late. I have two very good reasons for the delay.

1. I was waiting to see if I won the short story contest I won over at Splintered Lands. The winners were supposed to be announced today.
2. I was having issues connecting to the internet with my laptop.

Here is a quick update on where I am with my goals.

I am about 80% finished with reading Tarranau

I wrote my first query letter for Shadowed Stones, discarded it a wrote a second. I am giving it time to simmer before I go back to it. I plan to work on the outline next. Check out the tab above "From Pen to Published" for updates on my journey toward publication.

I have started cracking down and working Three of Ivory. I downloaded a program that looks to be really cool for creating maps. If it turns out I like it I will post and let you know about it.

I finally decided which old favorite I want to read. I decided on The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. The first book is called The Book of Three. Now I just have to go dig it out of a box in the basement.

Stay tuned for tomorrow post where I will reveal the story behind getting engaged to my husband two weeks after our first date!

How about you? How are your goals going?

My Goals

As promised (although late - its a long story that involves a flat tire and waiting for a tow truck) here are my goals. I plan to put up meters on my blog to track my progress.

Because of the state my projects are in, these are going to be general deadline type goals until I can get to a point where I can set finer, weekly goals.

Writing: Three of Ivory, a fantasy series

• 1. Complete world building and overview series outline by end of August.
• 2. Complete character related pre-work (work sheets and so on) by end of September.
• 3. Complete detailed outline of the first book by the end of October.
• 4. Begin first draft in October.

Publishing: Shadowed Stones, a fantasy novel

• 1. Research 10 publishers a week.
• 2. Finish researching publishers by August 20th (no more research after this date!)
• 3. Have a detailed submission plan by the end of August.
• 4. Send out first submission by the end of September.
• 5. Keep up with beta reader edits - finish last round of edits by end of year.

Reading: I have two goals with my reading. First, re-read some of my all time favorites (and review them on good reads). Second, help support other authors that are either new and upcoming, indie or self published, or who I meet or hear about through the electronic grape vine.

• 1. Read one book from my to-re-read list every month.
• 2. Read one book from a new upcoming/indie/web sphere author every month.

More to Come

This is just a quick post to let you know that I am still here and still working on my projects.

The progress has not been great. I did finish my entry for the Splintered Lands contest and now I am anxiously awaiting the entry deadline date (August 15th). Then I can start anxiously awaiting word :)

Since my productivity has been so low I have decided to setup goals for each of my projects (Shadowed Stones and Three of Ivory) as well as for reading (which I sorely miss).

Tonight I am going to settle on these goals and then post them so that you can all help me stick to it. I would be open to any advice on how to set and keep goals for writing and reading!

How about you? How are your projects coming? Do you use goals to keep yourself on track?

P.S. News flash - just received my first blog award from my good blog friend Krista M. So check out my Saturday post to read all about it!

The Progress I have made.... 0

I regret to report that I have not made much progress on any of my projects this week.

Shadowed Stones: I am re-working a few of the chapters in the last quarter of the book. I am trying to inject more of a love story based on a beta readers suggestions. Hoping it turns out well.

Three of Ivory: Nothing. I have been thinking of things in my head. And I did take a crack at drawing a map. But the map does not fit with some of the things I want with the story. So I am going to file that away and try again.

Splintered Lands contest entry: Hit a wall. Got right up to the climax of the story and then... nothing. I think I am feeling a little gun shy because it is emotionally charged. And I already know I have to re-work the middle. The deadline is approaching and I really need to get working

So I give myself a B for effort, but my actual grade for this week - F.

The good news is I can only go up from here!

How are your projects going?

Monday Madness

So... there is no winner of The Mighty Pen award this week due to lack of entries. As a result I find myself with an empty post slot. I thought I would take advantage and talk a little bit about my method of operation. (Or at least, the method I plan to use for my next WIP Three of Ivory.)

In high school I read several books on writing. I am working on compiling a list of the books that most impacted me and will post them when I have it. During this time I explored my voice and the structure of how I write. In writing Shadowed Stones I learned many different things. My writing method is a combination of everything I have learned thus far.

1. The idea. I get all different kinds of ideas from all different sources. Sometimes I draw a map and then start imagining what the world is like. Some times I get an idea about an element of a society or a form of magic. But the most common ideas I get are about characters. I try to keep track of all the little snatches of ideas I get because I often pull them into my WIP or combine them to complete a full thought. Once I have an idea I mull it over in my mind to see if it is something I want to work on.
2. Planning. I alternate between the two tasks below until I have enough of a foundation to start building my outline.
   • The World: This includes maps, laws of magic, creatures, culture and so on. The idea is to flesh out enough of the details of the world where the story takes place so that I can fully understand the environment of the characters.
   • The Story: I think of characters and how they interact and are related and how they fit into the world. This is where the first glimmers of my outline start to appear. At this point I don't keep to a chronological sequence. I just let the ideas for scenes and characters flow.
3. The outline. I do a scene by scene outline. (To me a scene is a full section starting and ending with some kind of break.) I did not divide Shadowed Stones into chapters until my second draft was finished. I plan to divide Three of Ivory into chapters at the outline stage. This gives me the road map of the entire story. I like having a tight outline because it better helps me work in foreshadowing and so on.
4. Write. I write from start to finish. This helps me keep the flow of the book going. When I wrote the first part of Shadowed Stones, I actually divided out the scenes for each of my view point characters and wrote them in sequence - then spliced them together. Not sure if I will do this with Three of Ivory or not. The splicing together was very difficult.
5. Revise. This is the final step I take before attempting publication. And I do several revolutions of it. I always do one revision/proof read before sending to beta readers. I then revise based on the feedback I get. I have found that for me, it is difficult to put more detail in with a revision. So I try to get as much on paper to start with.

What about you? What is your method of writing?

Friday Update

First of all, welcome to all my new followers, hope you enjoy!

Just thought I would update you on the things I am working on:

• Splintered Lands writing contest entry: 2,500 words of (at least) 4,000. Half way through according to my outline. Entries are due August 15th.
• Shadowed Stones: I have not gotten much research done on publishers to submit to. And *gasp* I haven't started writing my query letter or summary or anything. I have however started work on a digital version of my 10 year old hand drawn map.
• Three of Ivory (WIP): Nothing concrete on paper yet. I have been working on fleshing out my characters in my mind. Can't wait to finish up some of the other things on my plate so I can get back to working on it.
• Critique Group: Caught up with Roseanne in reading her current WIP "Change of Heart" - totally left me hanging and can't wait to read more. Anxiously awaiting the chance to read Jen's "Earth Song" - read the first chapter and it hooked me. Now have to wait for her to finish her next draft.

Keeping up with everything is getting to be a little daunting, but I don't mind. I enjoy being busy and am loving writing again. I do have a question for all of you. Do you like the title Shadowed Stones?

WIP Update and Other Wonderful Stuff

First of all I would like to do two things:

1. Say "Welcome!" to all my new followers!
2. Say "Thanks!" to my primary beta readers for Shadowed Stones Jen and Roseanne

I have Shadowed Stones out to beta readers now and plan to start working on compiling some query letters (*cringe/squeal*).

I haven't had much time this week to work on Three of Ivory. The good news is I got a lot of background work done over the long weekend. I have, however, been thinking about my three main characters.

That leads me to some feedback I would like to get from all of you. Two of my MC's are from a distant foreign land. I want to set them apart from the others in a subtle way. Do you think an uncommon eye color and skin tone (for the country the book takes place in) will set them apart enough?

My Next Project

I have come to the decision to go ahead with TOI as my next project. I have been so enraptured with my background work that I cannot imagine working on something else. The runner up for my next project, TCOM - will most likely still be written. It is a captivating idea, but is very similar to the book I just finished writing and I would like to do something a little different.

Yeah!

So now that I have selected my next project I am going to reveal its working title. Note that I have also added it to the From My Pen tab.

Three of Ivory

In my post Three Words #1, I mentioned that a friend of mine gave me a list of three words to write a story off of. (Snake, Ring, Bubble) This story grew out of that list. I have a few short pieces I wrote based on this idea. I may post them some day if I can find them in my story box.

Every Friday I will post updates on how the work is going.

Question: I have the name of two of my characters but am not sure about the third. Is Kell to common of a name? It seems very familiar to me.

P.S.
Normally on Monday's I plan to post the winner of The Mighty Pen award - however, I took care of that yesterday. (And the Winner is...)