Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts

As you may already know, I had a bit of a crisis yesterday. On Twitter I noticed a few people say they hated writing and reading in 3rd person Point Of View. An agent said most of the submissions they got were in 3rd, and I know 1st person is very prevalent in Young Adult. I write YA, and the current WIP is in 3rd, which made me needlessly nervous.

My current WIP is a YA Epic Fantasy, but with a Paranormal twist. Epics lend themselves far better to 3rd person POV, but with the Paranormal twist, I could really see 1st person POV working. So I told my #amwriting family on Twitter (I don't know what I'd do without them), and they gave me some great advice. I wrote some random snippets in 1st person, but it just didn't feel right, and so I stepped away for a bit. I was lucky enough that a special, helpful Twitter friend came to my further rescue on what POV to use. I admire him greatly, and can't thank him enough for pointing out what I was messing up.

He told me many aspiring writers start out using 1st person, because it's how most people tell a story. I've written mostly in 3rd, but could see the reasoning, though it feels awkward to me. I thought maybe I should change the POV, but he added 1st had its problems and could be hard to master, or for readers to enjoy. He said there was a better POV to use, and then he showed me.

If you haven't checked out the Fire Drill blog, or done #wordathon on Twitter, created and headed by the fabulous @jimsissy aka Julie Butcher-Fedynich, then you've been missing out. But no problem! Because Julie has created a festive hashtag for the holidays, and if you wanna get in on it, she's sent a guest post for everyone to have some Twitter Christmas Cheer. Join in, and let the fun begin!

So. The Holidays are here again. I wanted to have a huge bash and fly all of you publishing-types into town for a party. Unfortunately, the lotto people didn't cooperate so I've teamed up with a few of the twitter writers to make our party virtual. Here's what we need to do.

1. Join the party by tweeting to #holidaybash by Monday, December 7, 2009

2. Run around you house and find a white elephant gift that will fit into an envelope, put it in the envelope and get it ready to mail. You can't buy something new. Your gift can be humorous, thoughtful, strange or dramatic. The wilder, the better. (Risque is acceptable but not dirty. PG rated gifts.)

3. On Monday, we'll post who you mail your gift to. It will be your job to follow them on twitter, get their mailing address, and send their gift.

4. Tuesday, December 8, 2009 we get our work done. Agents do agent stuff and clear your inboxes. Writers write and work on revisions. Editors, set a goal. We'll cheer you on! Authors, finish those projects. Let's all work like crazy so we can enjoy the holidays with our families!

5. Don't open your present when it arrives! We'll open them together at the party.

6. Party time is Thursday, December 17th at 9:00 PM Eastern. We'll get a chat room, open the presents, sing songs and drink the beverage of our choice ;D

Last night I realized I was *THISCLOSE* to hitting the final NaNoWriMo marker. I had been typing away feverishly all day, seeing the end of the Work In Progress coming ever nearer. I figured I could finish it and the 50K in a few days. I thought I might get 5K, or even 7-8K, as I had hit my minimum word count goal (for NaNo being much higher at 3.5K a day) very early in the day. I was just zipping along, paying no mind to the lost weekend and relaxing into the flow of words.

And then I found the Holy Grail Of Words.

Awhile ago (trust me this story is worth it) I had an odd dream that is really a sign I may spend too much time on Twitter. @Gripemaster, or as he is more commonly known, Voldetweet, was the starring antagonist in an Indiana Jones-esque search for the Holy Grail of Words. He was a floating, 2 dimensional avatar, evil and scary and hellbent on getting the Holy Grail of words before I did. I prevailed in the end, but was describing the dream the next morning, Voldetweet revealed he had made it into a Horcrux!

A while ago I hit a slow time in my writing, the words not coming. I hold myself accountable on Twitter with #writegoals, specific word counts I aim for each day. Because I'm trying to finish the rewrite of my current WIP by October 31st in order to begin NaNoWriMo fresh with the sequel to this story, my goals  are pretty high. I guesstimate this book, an epic YA fantasy to reach about 80k total. With about a week of low word counts, I'm now need to get at least 3.5k words a day for the next 15 days in order to finish by my self imposed deadline.

During the lag, many Twitter friends suggested I release myself of my seemingly daunting ambitions, worrying I'll wear myself out and quit writing all together. It was true, I did need at least a few hours break, but I'm stubborn. To be told to take it easy doesn't make it easy for me. Being told to lower my expectations of myself actually pushes me to prove to everyone - including myself - that I CAN write 2 novels in 2 months. A few hours rest, higher dose of ADHD meds, and now I'm flowing again, the story ready at my fingertips, my muse cheering me on.

A few people denounced the practice of setting these types of goals, which rankled me. To dismiss a tool many others use so offhandedly is... a lack of understanding. Goals of specific word counts, scenes, chapters, what have you may work for some. For others, goals of any kind shut out the muse, and thats okay, as long as you write, and you love it.

After having suddenly become a NaNoer last Friday, I've been working like crazy to get this October WIP done by Halloween. (hey, I like candy too, probably more than any snotty kid) I've had an awesome up and a few downs, but overall I consider this a good start to my first ever 2 in 2.

Whats that? Remember, I have to finish a WIP I started on Oct 1st, then get at least 50k on a novel in 30 days in Nov, so my friends and I have begun to call it the 2 in 2, meaning 2 novels in 2 months. Because this is an endeavor made of WIN, when I succeed I will be receiving a trophy.

THATS RIGHT, I'M GETTING A FREAKING TROPHY!

In preparation, and because I'm just not sure how long these novels will be, I took the plunge and started using Dr Wicked's Write or Die. Not the kamikazi, because I'm a wimp like that, but its been really good for me. Often times I slow down when I hit a scene I'm unsure of because I'm trying to get all the details. With Write or Die, I can't sit around thinking, or heck worrying about spelling, so I get the gist of the scene down. Then when thats done, I clean it up, make it look presentable and coherent, and move on. The best thing is I invariably add around 200 more words to a scene I've done in Write or Die, and it takes me less than half the time to spit it out of my noggin than if I'd toiled without Dr Wicked.

I've also gotten some awesome support from my Twitter friends, and its kept me pretty much on track. Throughout the day I tweet about my current progress, and my cheerleaders either *shake pompoms*, *throw confetti* (I love that part), or *whap!* me if I haven't made much progress without good reason, like my ADD has taken over or I've been sleep deprived. They're very good about helping me through the afternoon, when my meds wear off and my mind begins to wander. I'm so glad I began tweeting before NaNo, because I don't think I'd ever keep up without the support I'm getting, and the accountability for not reaching goals or slacking off. My tweets about my progress during the day look something like this:

Current Accountability: 3,619 words down, 1,381 to go to hit todays #writegoal of 5k. Have headache. Will power through.#amwriting

ALSO, I've joined a writers meetup group in my area, and I'll be going to the NaNo write ins and meetings in my region, which is thankfully relatively close. I'm finally getting out of my lonely writers bubble, and I'm really excited by this. Nervous too, but I'm ready to face my minor social phobia and rejoin the land of the living. ADD and panic attacks can do that to a girl, but I'm so much better now, and I've found my place in the world, finally. Its with all you fabulous readers and writers, who love words and stories as much as I do.

Well, my twitter writing buddies are *whapping* me to get started on my daily #writegoal, so off I go!