A Little Late...

I just realized that it's the first Thursday of this month and that means I missed the first Wednesday. And then I come to my lovely little neglected blog to see I haven't posted since June...Damn. I'm sorry about that.

(Make sure to go visit the Insecure Writer's Support Group website and the wonderful Alex J Cavanaugh as well.)

A couple of real quick things because unfortunately I don't really have more than a moment to post.

June and July flew right on by faster than ever before. This was the fastest, busiest, craziest summer I've had in all my 28 years. I've caught up, got behind, caught up, edited, worked a lot for free, worked a lot for not free, did a decent job of keeping my kids occupied, did a not so decent job of keeping my kids occupied, and did a barely decent job of not going crazy in all the madness.

Writing is happening, every once in a while. I've been reading a lot too, only as I've had time though. And I worked on crits, but then lost my internet for a bit and I've been behind since. But now I have to wait for AQC to come back up so I can get caught up again.

I think my biggest insecurity I've been feeling recently is that my current MS that I've been editing isn't really worth it and my other completed MS that I should just query or self pub is garbage even though I put a TON of effort into fixing it. I love both stories. And I really love the one I'm editing. But I've started posting it for critique and the crits (only chapter one...) on it have brought back old feelings from the first MS I had critted and I start worrying that I'm going to be in the same place I was. Mega editing and rewriting until I have a story that I love and hate all in one. Hopefully it's not going to end up like that and hopefully eventually I won't have anything but love for my first MS.

Last thing, I'm thinking I need to switch my blog. I'm not sure exactly what I want to do because I actually like blogger and Idk if I'll like something else as much. But I've had trouble with my blogger stuff ever since I got this laptop with Win 8. So, if anyone has any ideas/suggestions I'll gladly take 'em.

I hope everyone else is having a wonderful summer and I'll see you soon. (Hopefully sooner than a month or two.)

IWSG Real Quick...

Oh man, I've been so busy with end of the school year stuff and vacation planning that I didn't realize it was the first Wednesday.

So, happy Insecure Writers Support Group Wednesday, everyone. :)

(Check out the awesome IWSG creator, Alex J Cavanaugh. Then make sure to check out the IWSG website)

My days are extra packed lately, today is no exception. I'm going to just give a quick little what's happening and what not and then I'll be on my way for this time.

I've caught up on crits, group and one on one. I've been editing and started posting chapters for my crit group again. I've found time to do these things plus read, play, clean, and all the other crap I've got to get done every day. I'm going on a weekend vacation this weekend and then my kids have end of year stuff at their school next week all the way to the last day. But once all this craziness balances out a little (hopefully in a couple weeks), I'll be back to visiting blogs, posting more on my blog, and acknowledging those of you who come here and visit me.

So, it's safe to say I'm secure for the moment. I may crash, but fingers crossed that I've finally balanced out and everything will keep going this way. If nothing else, my crazy all over the place ups and downs give any other writers plenty of comparisons for whatever they're feeling at the moment, or at least almost anything. :P

Btw, I do see all the comments from everyone who stops by. I appreciate each one even though I haven't been able to really find the time to return them. I'm going to work on that soon.

Now I've got to run. Have an awesome week and weekend, I'll see y'all soon! :D

To Do List: Revise/Edit

Next up on the To Do:

Revise/Edit:


Some of us writers may think this is not on our everyday to do, you're wrong. Revising/editing is something we do daily. You revise your ideas for your next MS, you revise one of your MSs, you run through one of your current WIPs and edit, the blog post you just wrote-you revise/edit it. No matter what the task, editing is going to happen each day.

I myself have a hard time marking this off of my to do list, so I understand that it is definitely a difficult task to accomplish. However, it's not an impossible one. Just like with Write, you also have to automatically set a time for Revise the minute you put it on the to do. Pick what you want to edit for the day, pick when you want to edit, and then do it. Even if you say-I'm going to revise this paragraph, it may not be much, but you have to do it. Our MSs are our masterpieces, usually, and they should be treated as such. If you write something, you can't just think it's brilliant after the first draft, or even the second. My first MS has had so may drafts I lost count. Doesn't make any difference because I want it to be as polished as it can be.

When you are revising a MS, it can be even harder to actually mark this off the list. It's your baby, you are attached and don't want to change a thing. You need to. No one can write a perfect MS the first time round, it's impossible. So, how I said even if it's one paragraph? That's exactly what I mean. Or it could be a few sentences. If you are overwhelmed with just the thought of having to edit anything, it's easier to accomplish if you set your goal low. One paragraph may not be much, but in the end, it'll feel good that you can mark Revise of your to do. And that is the best advice I can give to anyone who struggles with getting this task off of their list-aim for a minimum revision, something you can get done. If you do more than your goal, you'll feel super fantastic, and if all you do is manage that one paragraph, or even those couple of sentences-you'll still feel accomplished because that was the goal for the day.

Make sure your goal is an obtainable one for you. Then set the time, and just do it. When you're feeling like the revisions are sucking you dry-go back to your group and vent or whine. But if you remember the importance of editing your work, it will help you work harder to check this off your list.

Happy Revising :)

When Does Your Opinion Cancel Out The Rest?

I am a member of a crit group on AQC and my group is fantastic-as is the site(writers-go check it out :) ) I also recently gained two crit partners from Query Tracker(another good site) and am swapping chapters with them. My purpose for wanting to have wonderful people to critique my MS is to make sure I have it polished as best I can.
I have been working with my group for a few months now and just recently began re-writing my beginning and adding more to my middle and end-based off feedback I got from my group. The re-write feels better then the way my MS was before, so I am glad I listened to them.