editing

30 September, 2015

End of September Update

It’s Writing Wednesday again, and today we’re all about the good news.

What I’m Writing

I finally finished Draft five of my Machines VS Monsters project on the 26th of September, removing or rewriting 24,000 words and adding 31,344 new words. By the end of it was basically a new book.

Today’s agenda Finish 5th draft ✔ Send to betas ✔ Roast a chicken ✔ 🐔 Time to bury myself in my queue of awesome beta reads. 📚

— Emma Maree (@EMaree) September 27, 2015

I started it on the 16th of July, thought there was about three weeks in July and August where no writing happened because I was busy panicking about the driving test and then enjoying the freedom afterwards.

Celebratory end-of-edit Funko (with necklace of +5 editing skills made by @Rockwell_JB) . A wendigo joins the crew! pic.twitter.com/5fTJElh5vx — Emma Maree (@EMaree) September 27, 2015

It’s a good feeling. I’m basking it in while it lasts, before my beta readers bring me back down to reality.

Next week’s agenda: the focus is on catching up with my beta reading, but let’s say 5,000 new words? Aye, let’s go for that.

What I’m Reading

My head’s been firmly in the beta-reading game over the last few weeks, with nothing new to report on the book front. I’m still keeping up on various news and advice articles though, so let’s share a few of those.

If you’re going to read anything today, make it this gorgeous article about why you shouldn’t give up on your writing. Why you should stop focusing on success and instead work on what you love. “Be a lovely odd duck instead, one who hardly notices if people are booing or cheering.”

Recognize that it is a privilege to be a poorly-selling author nobody knows of and who’s barely making it. YOU GET TO WRITE FUCKING BOOKS. — Bad Boy Raeder (@LeahRaeder) September 17, 2015

Author and illustrator Jackie Morris had a gorgeous article about why powerful heroines star in her fairytale retellings.

V.E. Schwab, author of A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC, blogged a day in the life of eighteen different authors. I love how different all the schedules are! Adam Christopher’s was the most intruiging, to me — lots of things there I’d like to try.

There was the article “Dear Self-Published Author: Do NOT Write Four Books a Year“, which (despite the clickbaity title) had some really interest points about quality vs speed. Then Chuck Wendig responded with a great article about how you *can* write fast while still writing quality work, and his bibliography is definitely proof of that.

In the end, you do you, writer friends. Everyone has their own system, and all these ‘you should’ and ‘you shouldn’t’ posts do nothing but muddy the water.

Kameron Hurley had an eye-opening look at the business numbers behind her writing. That lady is an inspiration. Chuck Wendig responded with another post about the financial peaks and valleys of the writer life.

Delilah S Dawson had some interesting posts about writing endings, and writing a series. It was interesting advice, though Miss Cole’s recent blogging about the opposite was also inspirational.

Every writer is different! That’s one thing I love about this community.

I also revisited Chuck Wendig’s post on endings, because that’s where I am right now, and he and I see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. 10 of his points are here, with the full 25 available in his book.

That’s ten articles I really enjoyed this week, and highly recommend to others.

What Else I’ve Been Up To

The end of the year is coming up damn fast. I’ve got a roundup post for the end of September that’ll go up tomorrow, and I’m setting my sights now on the YA Buccaneer’s Fall Writing Boot Camp, a chance to get stuck into a new project.

September’s been a whirlwind of a month, going SO MUCH faster than I ever expected it to go. But in the end, I achieved my goals for the month, and that’s a damn good feeling (and a rare one!).

How’ve you done this month? What are you looking forward to in October?

11 June, 2014

Hayfever-y Road Trip Wednesday

*SNEEZES MORE THAN ANY HUMAN BEING SHOULD SNEEZE*

sneezingsimba

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what’s up. It was created by created by Jaime and Erin. Want to join the party? Go right ahead, and remember to leave a link to your What’s Up Wednesday post in the widget on Jaime´s blog.

What I’m Reading

the-snake-charm-cover (1) If you’ve been following my Twitter, where I am infinitely more interesting and witty than here, you might have seen me fangirlnig about Laura Lam‘s new novella, THE SNAKE CHARM.

Here’s my Amazon review:

Oh, man, I loved this little story. It reads a lot like a smaller scale version of “Pantomime”: a quick read (maybe 2 hours, depending on your reading speed) but with the same twists, turns, atmosphere and fight scenes.

It’s also completely standalone, and if you haven’t read Laura’s “Pantomime” I’d read this first — it adds even more depth to the circus members.

I’m now reading J.B. Rockwell’s BREAKSHIELD, and I’ll fangirl more about that this time next week. But I want you to know that it contains adorable foxes.

foxgif

What I’m Writing

Still revising. In that odd little point of space and time where ideas take shape about of absolutely nowhere, and plot issues seem to just unknot themselves in the moments when I’m doing nothing much at all.

It’s a strange and magical part of the process, though it’s all frustrating as all hell because there’s no way to predict it and no way to speed it up.

What Inspires Me

Procrastination, for all its faults, seems to be inspiring me at the moment. Brain down-time is important.

Also, this comic should strike a chord with all writers:

writingpanel1 writingpanel2

writingpanel3

writingcomic

Source is this artist. (Page autoplays music.)

What Else I’ve Been Up To

On a running break to recover from some minor ailments, and I’m on a driving lesson break while my instructor goes on holiday, so there’s not much to talk about here.

I’ve been posting little dairies of my running training so far, and you can read PART ONE and PART TWO if you’re interested in the foibles of a newbie runner.

Just writing and reading. And sneezing.

7 May, 2014

Carry On, Wayward Learner Driver

THERE’LL BE PEACE WHEN YOU ARE DOOOOONNNEEEEEE.
LAY YOUR WEARY HEAD TO REEESSSTTT.
DON’T YOU CRY NO MORE.

(I almost forgot to title this post. Aren’t you glad I remembered and just got that song stuck in your head?)

What’s Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what’s up. It was created by created by Jaime and Erin. Want to join the party? Go right ahead, and remember to leave a link to your What’s Up Wednesday post in the widget on Jaime´s blog.

What I’m Reading

I’m still powering my way through the beta reading queue, and feeling lucky to know so many talented writers.

What I’m Writing

I finished my CampNaNo deadline last week with hopes of just collapsing in a pile of worn-out Emmaness, I have done a lot of collapsing in worn-out heaps, mostly due to my recent acquisition of a chest cold, but I’ve still been writing at a steady pace.

This month’s goal is a relaxed 20k, and I’m at 6k so far.

Right now I’m rewriting the ending of ALL THE BROKEN THINGS. Ending rewrites are simultaneously the hardest thing and the most rewarding thing.

I’m looking forward to getting back to work just after I hit ‘publish’ on this post!

What Inspires Me

Sleep. Sleep inspires me.

I LOVE SLEEP, you guys. And I will never get enough of it.

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Driving is still going well! I babble about it over on Twitter on the actual driving days, but in short: nobody has died. This is the most important thing. And my driving confidence is slowly but steadily rising. I can now do things that would previously seem unthinkable: driving at 60mph! Tackling roundabouts! Traffic lights! Fixing problems like the wrong gear choice without panicking and stalling!

impala

Dave and I also took Mac swimming by the beach last night, so have some gratuitous photos of our Labrador enjoying a nice evening.

macswimming macswimming2

I hope your week has been going well and continues going awesomely. I’m looking forward to hopping around everyone’s blogs today!

1 May, 2014

Camp NaNoWriMo is over!

Happy May Day, and Blessed Baltane if you celebrate it.

After a very rushed, very sleepy 3,340 word day of 35,020 words in a month, Camp NaNoWriMo’s April wordcount challenge is over.

35,020 words in a month. There were challenges tackled, illnesses struggled through, sleep deprived, and lions fought in epic gladiatorial wrestling matches until the lions got bored and went for a catnap.

I’ll chat more about this challenge over the month, once things wrap up properly, but in brief: I got most of the wordcount in as part of a rewrite to BROKEN THINGS, and it was a nice flipside to the 50,000 words in 21 days first draft that birthed it back in November 2012.

Like the November challenge, it made it clear to me than I’m not a write-every-day writer. I tend to write a ton in one day, then take a day off. Writing every day burns me out fast.

I’m not quite done with this rewrite yet — I’m going to take some time off to catch up on housework, sleep, and try to recover from a cold.

Once I’m back to health I’ll finish the rewrite, send it out to betas and disappear into a pile of books for the rest of May.

23 April, 2014

Eastercon Withdrawal Starts Now

This is the second CampNaNoWrimo edition of this weekly blog.

What I’m Reading

amonstercalls This has been a week of powering through beta reading, but since I can’t talk about all those awesome projects, I’ll talk about the one published book I did read: A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness.

It’s THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE meets THE FAULT IN OUR STARS meets WONDER with snarky tree monsters and so many, many feelings. So many.

It’s a true gem of a book. Read it.

(I read the ebook, which was great, but I’ve heard the illustrated physical book is even better.)

What I’m Writing

I’m currently at 15,000 words written this month.

My CampNaNo goal of 35k is looking like it’s going to be tricky to meet. aNo surprise there, since it was over-optimistic back when I first set it. Still, I’ll try to hit it. I’ve got about 30 notebook pages scribbled down over Eastercon to type up, so that’ll give me a good boost forwards.

Anyway, the wordcount isn’t the most important thing. The important thing is that the work I’m doing (a rewrite of BROKEN THINGS) seems to be fitting together much better and making a lot more sense. I’m getting more and more excited about this project the closer it gets to being ready for beta readers.

I’m cautiously optimistic that this edit might actually be DONE by the end of April. That would’ve seen impossible back at the start of the month.

What Inspires Me

I was at Eastercon this weekend, a sci-fi/fantasy convention running in Glasgow over the long weekend, and it was a nice break where I could focus on reading and writing. Seeing writer-friends in the flesh as well as various new faces and industry professionals is an energizing experience, and it’s definitely spurring me on this week!

What Else I’ve Been Up To

Eastercon adventures! It was great to see Rob and Jenny Haines, Laura Lam (who has a great con recap here), Andrew Reid and his partner @Miyulinka, @CamJohnston, Lisa, Den Patrick, Juliet Mushens and many others.

The weekend was really, unseasonably sunny, which confused the heck out of me and my rucksack full of jumpers. But I survived, and also discovered the wonders of Bier Halle, everyone’s favorite Glaswegian restaurant (and post-apocalyptic hangout spot, since it’s deep underground and could withstand almost anything).

Look at this tastiness: bierhalle

Also, shout out to the lady dragging a cross through St George’s square on Saturday. You confused the living daylights out of me, but it was an interesting march.

crossglasgow

How has your Easter weekend been?

9 April, 2014

Update from the Campsite

Today’s update is a CampNaNoWriMo edition because this challenge is entirely consuming my life.

What I’m Reading

No books read this week! I did get a bit of beta reading done but I’m still behind on that. I’m going to try and squeeze in more beta reading time in-between Camp NaNo, but it looks like it’s going to be a hectic month.

What I’m Writing

I’m 6.5k done with a 35k goal, so things are ticking along nicely. I’ve got a children’s fantasy WIP in the first draft stage and BROKEN THINGS in a second revision (30% done!), and both are motoring along nicely.

My CampNaNo goal is 35k which is… probably an over-optimistic goal for me most months. I should be able to manage it this month but I won’t be trying 35k-a-month again in a hurry. Especially not when I’m editing a project as well as drafting one.

What Inspires Me

All the other #CampNaNo writers (and those who aren’t taking part but are just writing away as normal) are keeping me motivated. Rock on, you guys.

What Else I’ve Been Up To

I came down with the lurgy on Monday night so I’m just recover from that. Again. Sickness has basically been a second job for me lately.

Aside from that, I’ve just been continuing with the driving lessons, doing a bit of baking, and sharing some awesome meals with Dave.

Bacon and egg bagels -- cooked by Dave, put in naan bread by me because we ran out of bagels — Bacon and egg bagels — cooked by Dave, put in naan bread by me because we ran out of bagels. (This one was a joke meal, but I still ate it! Don’t waste food, kids.)

Pancakes by the Co-Op, arranged and cooked by Dave, sauce by me. TEAMWORK!

And with that spree of food photos, I wish you well for the rest of the week. I hope it’s a productive one for us all!