I’ve decided to do this really cool summer writing intensive
created by Katy Upperman, Jaime Morrow, Alison Miller,
Elodie Nowodazkij (Ha! I dare you to pronounce that!), and Erin Funk, who on their free time from plotting to take over the world have mastermined a
great writing accountability program. If you want to join in, check out the
full details
here.
And because I’m doing Ready, Set, Write I’m also taking part
in What’s Up Wednesday (or, as my teen boy self likes to call it, Wut Up
Wenz?*). Even if you’re not doing Ready, Set, Write, it’s a fun way to catch up
with what bloggers in the writing community are doing, so feel free to join in
on your own blog.
So, what I’ve been up to this week…
What I’m Reading: I’m currently in the middle of Mila 2.0. I got the e-book on sale for $2.99
earlier this week (as of today, it’s still on sale) since I’d been planning to
read it for a while. So far it’s a fun adventure and I’m loving how Mila
struggles with understanding and accepting that she’s an android.
What I’m Writing:
Remember that new WIP I mentioned way back when (
two weeks ago) that I had to
completely rework because I’d decided to transport the story to the future?
Well, I spent early last week doing some massive world-building (
la la la, just creating
an entire world) and since writing—from pretty much the moment I got off
work until the wee hours of the morning. You’d think I’d be 20 chapters in
what with all the time I put in. But you would be wrong because you would be
forgetting to major details:
- It takes me 30 times as long to write my first
chapter as it does the next 10 combined.
- I cannot continue until Chapter One is done.
I did get through two chapters last night, which is saying
something. Not about me, no. It’s saying something about Ready, Set, Write,
which is this: Having marathon writing sessions with friends on Twitter makes
it so much easier to write instead of read, watch TV, do my nails, or get sucked
into the black hole that is Pinterest for 12 hours.
I think I’ll post an excerpt each week during these Wut Up
Wenz posts because it’ll force me to write like mad during the other six days
at the very least in order to have something to show for it. Here we go.
“Well this is boring.” I turn to find my arch nemesis leaning over the edge of his desk. I firmly believe everyone should have at least one arch nemesis in their life to keep things exciting. I was lucky enough to meet mine in seventh grade, four days after I told Linden Pearce I couldn’t go to the dance with him because my father wouldn’t let me date. He didn’t take that so well.
Today, his dark hair is purposefully tousled, his mouth set in the smirk that comes free with any Linden Pearce interaction. It’s a useful tool on unsuspecting girls, but I’m familiar with Linden’s personality, so it has the opposite effect as is intended. “Go away.”
“You can be so cranky.”
“One of our classmates has interrupted lunch to try to kill our teacher. Of course I’m cranky. I’m starving,” I growl.
As always, this is from a very rough draft. Sandpaper rough,
and not that fine crap either. I’m talking extra coarse or maybe diamond-studded.
What Else I’ve Been
Up To: Honestly, this week? Not much. Listen, when I’m in a groove I like
to keep that groove going, so most of my time that’s not spent at the day job
has consisted of me, hunched over my keyboard, researching the world for my
book until the pads of my fingers tingle. I do, however, plan to take a break
soon to see Man of Steel because it
finally looks like Superman has a personality. Hooray.
What’s Inspiring Me? I’m
a big Black Veil Brides fan, and not just because lead singer Andy Biersack is
unnaturally hot. Anyhow, their song “Lost It All” is sort of like the anthem of
my WIP. It’s as if this song—achingly sad but also tough—is the lyrical
embodiment of my main character’s personality.
What are you up to?
*I am almost certain this has made me either 10 years older
or 40 percent dorkier. Probably both.
