Highly Recommended Blogs

There is a post I've been meaning to get to that keeps alluding me, but it finally came to mind today when I was wracking my brain for something to blog about.

Must-read blogs!

I have quite the list of blogs going over on the side of my page - blogs I read. In fact, it might seem overwhelming to some but I really do read or at least check in on all of those blogs.

Specifically though, I wanted to bring attention to the second row that I have labeled "Blogs: Agents, Editors, and Publishers" because there are some really, really awesome gems in there for writers. It's safe to say I'd recommend any of the blogs I have listed, but there are some in particular that are constant, priceless resources for writers.

Jessica Faust at BookEnds, LLC is a literary agent who cofounded the agency with fellow agent Jacky Sach. Jessica makes awesome posts about the publishing business quite frequently. She's definitely worth bookmarking. Just check her archives! Her most recent post "Query Letter Phrasing to Reconsider" is definitely worth checking out but don't forget to check her labels/archives out, too. I guarantee you'll find plenty worth reading!

Moonrat, an editor, frequently makes awesome posts on her blog Editorial Ass from her editorial perspective of the publishing business. Make sure you check her archives and labels for some of the great posts she has done in the past. A recent example I'd recommend: "Why you should never submit unagented to publishers."

Jennifer Jackson over at her blog Et in arcaedia, ego is a literary agent. She also has some great, informative posts but my particular favorite thing about her blog is her "Query Wars" where she posts the number of queries she has received in a week and what she has requested partials for, etc. She'll often make comments regarding the sad little numbers of requests she makes and I find it to be a rather intriguing peak into the world of querying from an agent's perspective.

Editorial Anonymous is a children's book editor who frequently posts responses to questions that she has been asked, among other fun things. These little gems often offer awesome, quick insight into the publishing/editing world - especially for authors who write for children.

Literary agent Nathan Bransford is already highly known and widely popular in the blogging community of writers, but if you haven't discovered his blog yet, he is certainly a must-read. I always look forward to his posts and they rarely disappoint. If your time is limited, make sure you at least take the time to read "The Essentials" that he has up on the side of his page including his very informative FAQs!

Colleen Lindsey, an agent for FinePrint Literary Management, posts frequently on her blog The Swivet. I'm not interested in every post she does, but she has made some really, really great posts that have been very informative for me as a writer. As with all of these, check her tags and archives. There is some awesome information buried in there!

Kristen at Pub Rants is another literary agent among my list who has a healthy, wealthy archive of awesome posts. Many of her posts don't interest me, but she has posted so many great things in the mix that I can't not keep an eye on her blog.

And of course, I have to mention Miss Snark, who no longer actively posts, but has a huge, plentiful archive of knowledge that is definitely worth digging through when you have the time.

Okay, so yes, that is probably most of the blogs I have listed under that section but they really are great. I hope you take the time to check out some of them and garner some free, valuable knowledge! I sure have learned a lot from all of these blogs combined and I gain even more by actively following them. Now if only I could finish a manuscript and put my knowledge of the publishing business to good use!

Time IS Flying

Where have the last four days gone?

I've been running around like crazy since that last Wednesday post. Berlin's actual Birthday was on Thursday. I had a ton of errands to run on Thursday and Friday before Berlin's party on Saturday. My mom flew in on Thursday. I had to pick my dad up at the airport on Friday (he was gone visiting his mother who just had surgery) and pick up more stuff with him. Then we had the actual party on Saturday, which was a blast but exhausting. Sunday I spent the day with my mom because it had been nine months since we'd last seen her (moved to Arizona in January) and she has to fly back today.

Boy! You'd think I could finally relax today but that's just not going to happen. I'm now faced with seeing my mom off, getting some work done, sending out thank you notes, sending out our professional pictures we had taken a couple weeks ago, a house that is freshly covered with new toys, a pile of new clothes to wash and put away, and upcoming appointments for both me and my daughter (I know they are coming up fast but I don't remember when!)

I'm definitely in need of a list! I'm a serial lister - need to have one going all the time to function. Now that the party is over I can finally get rid of the monster list I had going for that and deal with something smaller. Whew!

I'm hoping I'll have enough time to write today and tomorrow to catch up but so far my word count for the week isn't where it should be. How is everyone else doing?

And, before I conclude this, one of my favorite pictures from the party. My dad got her this.



Love the retro tricycle!

My Baby...

Turns two today! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Where does the time go?

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweetheart!

Wednesday's Word Count

Alright writers, last Friday we decided it would be beneficial to do a Wednesday Word Count day each week. We'll have to smooth out some details but here is what I'm thinking.

Every Wednesday I'll make a post stating the following:

• How many words I wrote during the week versus my goal for that week.
  
• My new or recurrent goal for the new week.
  
• Any extenuating circumstances (read: excuses) I may have to make me feel better if I've done horribly and/or comments I may have.
  

Since we're all at different phases of writing, feel free to adjust these prompts to suit you if you're doing revisions, outlining, etc. It doesn't matter what you're working on or what your goals are for. The goal is to try to make ourselves accountable to each other but not in a negative way, so don't give yourself more than you can handle!

A couple more things before we begin. This will obviously be considered a short week since we conceived this idea as of last Friday and it was a holiday weekend, which may or may not have effected our writing time. Also, please make any comments and or suggestions on what I've posted here. I'm going to be looking for some different title ideas since Wednesday Word Count is focused more on just word count goals but I know some of us are bound to have other writing-related goals such as revisions, querying, etc. So give me your suggestions!

I think that's everything! Here we go.

• Words written versus goal: 2828 / 3000
• Goal for new week: 4000
• Excuses/comments: I usually don't write on the weekends and did not write at all this holiday weekend. My new goal is for a five-day writing week including today, excluding the weekend, and ending next Tuesday.
  

Now post yours in the comments if you'd like to participate! If you'd rather post your actual word count so you can keep track of your progress that way, that's fine too!

Snowflake Method

Thanks to Mary Danielson over at First Edition (awesome blog, by the way) I've discovered a new outlining process: The Snowflake Method.

See Mary's post here.

So far I'm really liking it. It's given me a lot more direction than my previous attempts at staying organized with numbers, letters, bullets, and questions that led me in circles (organization that was not very organized, let me tell ya.) It does get extremely tedious by step 4 (at least for me) and I pretty much gave up by Step 6. Even so, I've come away with a lot more from this process than I had before and there is always the option of tailoring the method to suit my attention span, which I plan to do.

Mainly, it's helped me drill down the seperate story lines I have going for each character. It also helped me realize I have too many minor characters being introduced that I don't know what to do with. I have five teenage foster kids living at the mansion (the main setting of my story) and I can't find a way to make them all pertinent to the story, so now I'm debating between two or three or if I even really need them at all. I think I do but I'm still weighing it out.

As fabulous as this all is, well, I've run across a problem that we all face as writers - I now have scenes that need rewriting. This seems so tedious to me since I've been appreciating every added character of my word count lately. Certainly I'm being being saved a lot of trouble in the long run and a lot of the story will probably end up rewritten anyways, but now I'm faced with a choice: Do I rewrite the scenes now or mark them for later and continue with my new train of thought?

It's really another question that relies heavily on habits and personal preference but I'm curious what other writers generally do. Do you leave a note and forge ahead or do sacrifice the time to stop and set the story straight again?

**Added** I just realized today is Wednesday! Wow. Gotta love these short weeks. The Weekly Wednesday Word Count is to follow!

Writing Goals

I used to always set writing goals for myself, but lately I've been so up and down that I've pretty much abandoned them. Now, after watching my friend Heather's amusing but informative guest vlog on revisions (something I'm far, far from) featured on Lip Gloss Lit, I've decided to give them another go.

Amidst her great advice on revisions she talked about goals and I was reminded that goals and deadlines are hugely important in writing, especially when we have to be our own taskmasters. I should know this since I'm self-employed and struggle with the exact same problem in my other work - self-motivation.

So... what is my writing goal going to be? Hm.... Normally it would be at least 1000 words a day (which used to be cake) but I'm almost afraid to commit to that right now since my daily word count has been all over the place. On the other hand, it might be exactly what I need and 500 words seems too little.

Okay, I'll commit to 750 words a day and see how it goes for awhile. If I can stick to that then I'll keep challenging myself and up my goal count. I'm thinking about doing a Wednesday Word Count post each week too so I can track my weekly progress. We'll see! I'm hoping to get back up to the 2500+ daily word count I used to keep.

Feel free to add your own writing goals in the comments and we can try to keep each other going!

In other non-writing related news, we found out on Monday that we're expecting a little boy! Now I'll have one of each and I couldn't be more thrilled. This should be the last one for us so I'm trying to soak up my final pregnancy (which isn't always easy) and can't wait to have an infant again (which certainly isn't easy.) I just wish they didn't grow so fast. My daughter is turning two next week!

**Update** I have 1200 words written so far for today! I might write more later but now I have some cleaning to do, yuck.

Realizations on Reality

I’m one of those people that is good or mediocre at a little of everything. I’ve tried a lot of different hobbies hoping to find something I’m immediately genius at. It’s ridiculous, I know, but it’s something I haven’t been able to shake. Maybe it’s the era of instant gratification I’ve grown up in, but I always give up on things before I’ve even had a chance to get really good at them – all because I want to be immediately fabulous at something and find my place (as it were) in the world.

Writing has been my one constant, which is why I hold on to it so tightly. I’ve been writing since I was rather little but it’s always been pretty directionless. Because of this, I don’t think I’ve come very far. The main improvements I see in my writing are things like grammar and sentence structure and, mainly, I have college to thank for that (and they still need improving.) It’s only been this past year that I’ve really set out to learn the art of creating and shaping a novel, but it’s certainly not easy. I feel like there is entirely too much to learn and it’s even harder learning how to spot and implement these gems into my writing.

I was pondering this little annoying tidbit about myself this morning and decided it probably explains my occasional, recurring desire to give up. In reality though, given how long I’ve been writing without really giving up on it, I think it’s essentially “my thing.” It’s just that I need to put the time and effort into learning the craft, to shape my love of writing into something other people find worth their time to read. So what if I’m not naturally genius at it? If it means enough to me, I can succeed despite this unrealistic standard I have for myself, right? I think so, and I think I really needed to come to this realization.

So, now a question for my writer readers: What method of learning caused the highest level of improvement in your writing? What would you suggest I do to improve? I already read and write a lot, so where is the next best place to focus my desire to learn?