12.6.13

 

 
What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk where writers post about what's up by answering four questions. If you want to participate go here.

WHAT I'M READING

I finished Faking It by Cora Carmack a few days ago and it was much better than Losing It so if you're looking for a well-written NA Contemporary Romance I highly recommend this book. I'll try to get a review up sometime soon.

I won Slammed in a contest along with a few other NA books so it looks like my summer is going to be NA-tastic. I also still have a lot of other books to read, so I think I'm going to be covered reading-wise for the rest of the year. I've never read anything by Colleen Hoover but I like her writing style. It's simplistic and even though I'm the kind of person who likes to read books with descriptive writing (because it's the way I write) it's nice to read different writing styles, you know? The main character Laken...well let's just say we have a love/hate relationship. I was about ready to throw my Kindle the other day because of something she said and...ugh.

This book is taking me a long time to read but that's mostly because I spend more time writing than reading. Speaking of which...

WHAT I'M WRITING

So the good news is: Starfall has a new beginning. I really like it and it's an improvement from the last one because things are happening and it's not boring. Bad news: The writing is not going as fast as I want it to. I know what I want to happen in this chapter but finding the words to write it is difficult at the moment.

Here is the new and improved beginning:

 
Seren

I notice two things when I pull up to my house: there’s a van parked in the driveway with Curly’s Carpet Cleaning Service printed on the side and the front door is wide open. None of this would be a problem if we had carpeting in any of the rooms in the house, and if my mother had been home to let them in.
Three weeks.
That’s how long it’s been since we spoke to each other. I have gone over our last conversation so many times in my head, trying to see if something she said would give me an idea of what could’ve happened to her, but there was nothing. We talked about the usual things. How sophomore year was coming along, whether I was seeing anyone, and if I remembered to take the taser with me whenever I went out at night with my friends. My mom wouldn’t care if I was failing all of my courses and thinking about dropping out of school to be with a drug dealer twice my age. Just as long as I had the stupid taser she made me promise to never leave the dorms without, everything would be okay.
I would be safe.
But now it seems as though she’s the one who’s in danger.

I decided to participate in Ready. Set. Write! so I can get some writing done this summer. If you want to know more about it go here and (if you're interested) sign up. I am excited about working on Starfall now that I have a shiny new beginning and know how the story is going to end. I even typed out the last line. It feels good having a starting and an ending place. It makes writing this a lot less scary and more hopeful...like I can actually do this.

I'm looking forward to having people to write with this summer. And since I haven't talked about goals, here are a few that I want to reach:

  • Daily Goal: Write 500-1,000 words every day. If I can write more than that, then that's fine but if not...that's also fine. Just as long as I'm writing.
  • Weekly goal: Try to churn out anywhere between 3,000-5,000 words a week. I'm approaching the 1K mark, and would like to have at least 4K written by Friday, and around 6K written by the next What's Up Wednesday post.
  • Summer Goal: Since Starfall is outlined in Acts/Blocks I want to finish half of Act 1 before I go back to school. I think that's around twelve chapters, but I'll have to double-check to make sure. If I somehow (magically) reach this goal early then my goal for the rest of the summer will be to finish Act 1.
I might add to these goals/revise them but as of now this is what I hope to get done this summer. (I also have a super secret side-project called Unfair. It's a darker retelling of Snow White and the only thing I'll say about it is that it's not about Snow White and...apples of the poisonous variety are involved. If you're curious, you can find Unfair's Pinterest board here. I'll work on it to keep myself writing whenever I need to take a mini break from Starfall or get stuck. I might tell you guys more about it if it ends up going anywhere.)


WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

My wip is actually what's inspiring me right now. I can't wait until I get to write the action scenes and when both of my MCs lives really start to change. I'm excited to see how both are going to react to the situations that I throw them in. Poor things...the next couple of chapters are going to be tough.

Also, have you ever dreamed about your wip as a movie? Sometimes I just sit and daydream about what Starfall would be like on the big screen. I want it to have the same feel as Alias with a dash of Men In Black and Falling Skies thrown into the mix. If Starfall ever gets published and someone decides to turn it into a film, he might be a little too old by then but Jesse Williams from Grey's Anatomy is what Nico looks like in my head (especially in this picture and this one) and he would be perfect for the role.

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

Nothing much. My birthday is on the 21st (which is next week Eep!!!) though and I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do. I'm thinking about going to go see Monsters University (I'm a big kid...I know) since it comes out that day and then out to dinner with my mom. Hehe, can you tell I'm not that big on birthdays?

How about you guys? What are you up to this week?

25 comments

Happy early BIRTHDAY!!! And I'm in my forties and the only movies I really care about seeing this summer are Despicable Me 2, Monsters University, and Sea of Monsters.

Your goals sound awesome (and very similar to mine!) Good luck on your WIP writing this week (LOVED the snippet!) and can't wait to see how you did! Go YOU!

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I can totally imagine some of my books as films, esp. since I write historical sagas. In the early days with my Atlantic City characters in the early Nineties, I actually had this fantasy of my stories being made into a preteen/teen soap of sorts.

Good luck with your writing goals.

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Birthdays have never been a big deal around our place, so you're not alone. I think going to see Monsters University sounds AWESOME! MONSTERS INC. is by far my favourite Pixar film. :)

I love the snippet you shared! Great suspense right up front, and I also find myself wondering about this taser. I really like how you've structured your goals--daily, weekly, summer. I think that's a fantastic idea! I need to set some long-term goals for myself (long being the summer).

Happy Wednesday, Raven! :)

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it's awesome when your own WIP inspires you! Love your writing goals, you can do it!

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Wow--intriguing beginning! Those look like really good goals, and I like how you've split them into short/medium/long-term.
And it's your birthday--you get to do whatever you want! (For the record, Monsters University sounds like a great idea. :)

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Oooh, that is a good beginning. The final line of the opening paragraph REALLY pulled me in. Nice touch!

Good luck with Ready. Set. WRITE! and have a very lovely birthday!

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Ooh, Jesse Williams...he is so very pretty :) My goals for RSW are not drafting-related, but when I am drafting I have the same approach as you: 500-1000 words a day is fine. More is good, but less can be good too, since it's all moving in the right direction. I think you've set some pretty good goals :)

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Seeing Monsters U for your birthday sounds like a FAB plan! I'm so excited for it (talk about being a big kid)! Happy early birthday, by the way!

I am so impressed by your goals for Ready.Set.Write! and can only hope to reach your level of ambition at some point during these 2 months. I'm also quite intrigued by Starfall (like I'm excited to hear more about it), and I am doubly intrigued by Unfair. I adore fairy tale retellings, and your pinterest board is making me super curious. Oh and Jesse Williams has such stunning eyes (more pics, please, lol).

Good luck! I love it when the WIP is practically urging you to write! :)

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I love your excerpt-- very intriguing! Happy early birthday. I'm so looking forward to following everyone's progress on R.S.W!

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Thank you so much! And I want to watch Despicable Me 2, too. It looks so cute. Of course I need to watch Despicable Me (because I've never seen it before) and every time I tell someone that they give me a look, so don't judge me lol.

I'm hoping I can stick with these goals. I think I can because the daily word count is small enough for me not to have an excuse for not writing. Good luck with your WIP as well. :)

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Ooh, I like historical films/tv shows. Also, a teen soap set in the 90s would be really awesome, mostly because I really liked that time period (even though I was born in 94 and don't rememeber most of it).

And thank you! I hope you meet all of your goals. Happy writing!

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Yeah, I've never really done anything super big for my birthday. I had one birthday party growing up and...that's about it. I prefer hanging out with my mom (especially since she considers it her day as much as mine) than being around a lot of people. I'm excited for Monsters University. I only wish Pixar didn't take such a long time coming out with a part two like they did with Toy Story 3.

And yay! I was going for suspenseful, so I'm glad I got that right at least. I'm also glad that you're wondering about the taser. I'll just say that some things aren't what they appear to be. ;)

Hehe. I also really just only thought up these goals this morning, but I've had an idea of what I wanted to accomplish this summer for a few days now. Plus, the daily goals seem like they're easier to achieve especially since I have been writing extra slow lately.

Good luck with your goals/ I can't wait to see what you accomplish this summer. :)

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Isn't it the best feeling in the world? And thanks! If you're participating in Ready. Set. Write! good luck with meeting your writing goals as well.

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Thanks! And I think splitting goals up into short/medium/long-term make it easier to see progress.

If you're working on anything this summer good luck!

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Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'm glad you liked the beginning. Good luck with RSW too! I hope you own this summer and get a lot of writing summer done. And thank you for the birthday wishes. :)

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Jesse Williams IS pretty. His eyes are just so gorgeous and...*swoon* And thanks! As long as I try to write every day I'll be satisfied because progress is progress. Good luck with your RSW goals for this summer. :)

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Thanks for the birthday wishes! And I'm glad you're excited about Monsters University, too. It looks like it's going to be really funny and cute and the fact that so many years has passed probably has something to do with why I want to see it so much. Pixar needs to stop making us wait so long for sequels!

I hope you're able to reach the goals you set this summer. And I hope I'm able to stay motivated. This is what I like most about RSW. We're all here to motivate each other and cheer each other on...so you can do it! I can't wait to see what you get done in the next two months.

I'll try to talk a little more about Starfall sometime soon, and thanks for checking out Unfair's Pinterest board. I love fairy tale retellings/this idea came out of nowhere really. Well, I was thinking about the number 7 a lot the other day so there's that but I also started to think what if Snow White was told from someone else's POV and what if Snow White isn't really the victim in the story and that's how I got the idea. I hope to share a bit more about it soon.

Also, Jessie Williams' eyes are really stunning. I don't think I could ever meet him in person because I'd just stare into them instead of actually listening to him and...that would make things extremely awkward. But eye color plays a big role in Starfall and his are perfect.

Thanks for reading! :)

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I'm glad you loved the excerpt and thanks for the early birthday wishes. Good luck meeting your goals for RSW for this summer. :)

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First, Happy Early Birthday! Oh, I really loved your excerpt, it sounds really good. I went and looked at your Pinterest Board for your WIP, very intriguing! I never thought about making a board on Pinterest for a WIP, I'll have to do that for mine!

I so want to go see Monsters University too!

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I love that you have the last line of your WIP all typed out! I like knowing the end point of my stories too, because it provides a lot of motivation to finish. I also like that you gave yourself a range for your writing goals. That's a smart idea! Thanks for sharing this excerpt from your story. I especially enjoyed the bit about the taser! Good luck with your goals this week!

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Happy Early Birthday! And best of luck with your writing goals for the summer. :)

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You had me at Jesse Williams.

I don't really do much for my birthdays. When I turned 21, instead of going out like most people do, my friend and I watched Mulan and drank at home. Because we're really cool.

Good luck with your goals this summer! Your beginning has me hooked already :)

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Faking It was better than Losing It? Hmm, I have it. I might read it soonish then ;)
Slammed is sooooo good!
Great excerpt!

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I really enjoyed FAKING IT! and I also liked it more than LOSING IT :-) I haven't read SLAMMED yet so can't wait to hear your thoughts on that one :-)

Loved the snippet you shared and would definitely read on :-) I love the way you shared your goals and I think you're totally going to rock them :-)

Happy Early Birthday!!!

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Ah, NA...thanks for the recommendations, I really want to read more NA since it's technically made for people in my age range.

Your wip sounds really interesting; I love it when my wip inspires me like mine is now, it's great hearing the characters talking in your head & envisioning what your wip would look like on the big screen! Best writing wishes to you :)

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