Dear 2012,

Before I begin, I would like to apologize for not properly celebrating your introduction. Instead of the usual alcohol infused night, followed by an aspirin infused first of the year, you will be welcomed by my husband and I as we snuggle on our couch with a baby in bed, a glass of wine and a kiss at midnight.

Onward, I have steep goals for you my friend. Believe it or not, none of them involve losing weight, as was a resolution to most of your predecessors. I have several goals and resolutions I would like to discuss. I understand that some of them are not very likely to happen with you, but being a published author is a life goal of mine and not just designated to the confines of your 12 months.

My goals and resolutions are as follows:

Resolutions:

1) To attend as many family 'child' birthday parties as I am able

2) To take my dog for more walks

3) To Make lunches for work at least 3 days a work week for both me and the husband

4) Start saving money for emergencies

5) Read at least one book to my daughter every day

Goals:

1) Finish my YA SciFi manuscript by May. (It is currently 1/3rd of the way finished.)

2) Have aforementioned manuscript submission-ready by July.

3) Write a Query

4) Write a Synopses

5) Start submitting to agents by August.

6) Have a rejection

7) Have a partial request

8) Have a full request

9) Have an offer of representation

10) Accept an offer of representation

11) Read a minimum of 25 books

12) Go camping (at least once)

I don't usually go into a new year with such high hopes, as the past few years have been agonizing to say the least. 2011 changed my life forever, with the birth of my daughter, and I am determined to make you continue that trend. I will not only celebrate my daughters first birthday with you but also my 10 year 'total anniversary' with my husband.

Needless to say, you will be a big year regardless of my completion of these goals and resolutions, but why not make this year the best it can be?

Here's to me, you, my copy of 2012 Writers Market, and our journey that will start in a few short days.

(total anniversary is the total length of time I have been with my husband, from the very beginning of our relationship.)

In Which All the Things!

After making my rounds on a few of my favorite writers blogs the past few days, I have found that several of them have post titles, within the past month, that start with "In Which". One of my previous post even started with it!

I have always been a sucker for titles that start out with "In Which", but now it seems to be way overused.

Looks like I am going to have to rename all my chapter titles now. Sad face.

In which I Fail NaNoWriMo...or not.

I would like to congratulate all winners of NaNoWriMo 2011! Winning is no easy feat.

If you follow me on the Twitter, it's no secret that I have failed NaNoWriMo, for the second year in a row. Although I believe it is not a complete loss.

Firstly, I finished the month with writing just over 30,000 words and I have to say that I am very proud of every one of them. Crappy or not. This is the most word outage that I have had in my entire writing life. Averaging close to 1,000 words a day is amazing for me.

Writing does not come as easy to me as I wish it would. If When I finish this first draft it will be the single most hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. Just because it doesn't come easy to me doesn't mean that I don't enjoy it on some level. I love editing what I've already written. I can edit like a mad house, it's getting the words on the paper the first time that is a challenge for me.

Second and most importantly, by forcing myself to write almost everyday I have come up with two mind blowing plot twists. I blame this for not reaching 50k. Once I thought of the first twist, I edited my outline to accommodate it. Then as I was editing for that twist, I thought of the second and added that in as well. I broke NaNoWriMo rule number one, DON'T EDIT!

I have never been a force-yourself-to-write advocate but now I see why some writers do it. It really gets the juices flowing and all the thought process to get those proverbial juices flowing can lead you to some great revelations and ideas.

I am so passionate about this story that it drives me crazy. I want to shout the plot from the rooftops but as an aspiring author I'm terrified someone is going to steal my idea and be awesome with my awesomeness. I'm not awesome very often so when I am, I savor it :) I haven't even told my mother the detailed plot yet because I want her to experience the surprise when I let her read the completed first draft.

In conclusion, my NaNoWriMo fail maybe wasn't a fail at all. Yes I failed the ultimate goal of nano which is to write 50K, but the underlying goal is to get people writing and I think I made it out of the nano madness with a few scraps and bruises to show off.

How was your NaNoWriMo expierence?

NaNoing on the Weekends?

Howdy Ho Neighbor!

Last year I attempted my very first NaNo, while preggers, and let me just say a lot of crying was involved. If I didn't make my word count or wasn't able to write that day I was a hot mess. After 10 days of the NaNo Nightmare, I decided it wasn't the right time to have that added stress in my life and I dropped it.


Well it is officially the 9th day into NaNoWriMo and I have no intentions on quiting any time soon. I am however, very disappointed with my word count. As it stands at 11:11am I am only just shy of 10,500. Now I do work full time and have a 5 month old who is not only teething, but also testing the waters to see how much she can get away with with mommy; and of course as a first time mom I beckon to her slightest whim. (maybe not her slightest whim, but my heart breaks when she screams for longer than 5 seconds).


I find that I'm having trouble writing on the weekends. There is so much that needs to be done and so many things to distract you, especially if you are procrastinating, which I am infamous for. However, looking back on this past weekend, there were times when my daughter was sleeping and my husband was playing Xbox that would have been the perfect time to write but for some reason I just couldn't get into my writing groove. My writing mojo was gone.

That's where I call out to anyone willing to give advice on how they manage to write anything on the weekends! How do you find time to muster up your writing mojo on those days surrounded by family?

xoxo,
A(n) [advice seeking] Wannabe Writer

Back in Action

The last time I wrote a blog post was in February. Meaning the last time you heard from me I was still very pregnant. Well I am four months postpartum and finally building the patience to read and most importantly write again!

For some reason for the entire duration of my pregnancy (and a bit after I gave birth understandably) I was unable to focus on anything, let alone had the desire to read or write! Too much brain power was needed to focus. So if I attempted to read, I would be brain dead with everything else. In a somewhat related note: just in case you are wondering, your kitchen cabinetry will not heat up your pop tarts, no matter how long you leave them in there. The sad part is that I did this on more than one occasion.

Going from reading 25+ books a year to a big fat zero was depressing.

Today I just finished reading Matched by Ally Condie. That was the first book I read in the past 12 months! I've got a lot of catching up to do!

I just polished the first chapter of my YA SciFi novel and I have to say that I am very impressed with my work. I've never been a cocky person but there were a few times in the first chapter that I actually thought to myself, "Holy cow did I write that? Cause that was awesome!" Now I know why some people say write it than forget it for a while, because when you go back to edit it will be like reading something new.



Also, I would like to introduce my new inspiration for writing:

My Boogirl

Story Structure = No More Writers Block

After months of hating myself and believing I had writers block, I realized I didn't have writers block at all. I knew what I wanted to write. I just didn't know what to write next because I didn't know what came next.

I found a really cool blog while surfing the net earlier this week that not only helped me organize my thoughts and ideas, but also put story structure into a guide that cleared the airwaves and have gotten me out of my writing rut!

The blog is http://www.Storyfix.com and if you are a wannabe writer and have not read his blog, you have got to check it out! Larry Brooks updates frequently with writing advice made of pure gold. He even has guest posts, one that helped me in organizing my ideas in a way that makes my head not hurt when trying to look through the scrap paper tapped to the walls of my bedroom. My husband is very happy the papers are now gone.

Bottom line is writers block may not actually be writers block, but a block based on lack of organization. Now that I'm all organized and happy I can get to business again and get this sucker written!

(While I love to write, my grammar is far from perfect so I apologize for any mistakes made in my posts)