Good Wednesday, friends. Are we all healthy? Happy? Warm or cool as is seasonally appropriate in our parts of the world? Good. Have a seat, and let’s see what we have to share today.
*flips through imaginary papers*
First up: WIPpet Wednesday, and today I’ll be sharing from the first draft (sorry!) of my NaNoWriMo project, which will be further work on the second novel in a planned trilogy. This isn’t your first look at this story; this scene takes place not long after this one, which I posted way back in June.
Let’s have some mood music:
WIPpet math: October 23 = 2+3 = 5 paragraphs from Aren’s perspective.
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She slipped the chain over her head and rubbed her thumb over the pendant’s surface, admiring it before she let it settle against the skin over her heart. “What do you think?”
“Perfect,” I whispered. I think she knew I wasn’t talking about the necklace.
“The story’s not over, though, is it?”
“Not remotely.”
She left the necklace on all night. Maybe it was all a mistake. Maybe her coming to my room only made it harder for me to leave the next morning. I needed sleep before I started a long journey, but I needed her more. She didn’t have to use words to tell me she felt the same way.
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*sniffle*
To see what the other WIPpeteers are up to, head on over to the ever-convenient linkie-poo and give them all of your clicks and comment love, and say hi to our host K.L. Schwengel on the way by. To join in, choose a sample of your own work in progress that relates to today’s date, whether it be the chapter or page number, or something more creative. Because, you know.
OK, ROW80 update!
I… I missed my Sunday update again. Oops.
Still not much progress in the writing department, but I did read another non-fiction book. I gave Rise of the Machines: Human Authors in a Digital World, by Kristen Lamb, five glittery unicorn stickers out of five. It’s a fascinating look at the dynamics of how we interact with people on social media, and it answered a lot of the questions I’ve had about Twitter and other sites. She explains why it’s more important than ever to make a personal connection with people, and how to do that without going crazy. I learned a ton about marketing, and I was entertained the whole time. It’s NOT a book about how to sell books by blasting people away with automated tweets and having a million Facebook fans, and it’s NOT a list of marketing techniques that will be outdated next week. It’s about being real, and I think (based on some of the accounts I follow on Twitter) that this is something we all need. These are tips and techniques that will apply long after we’ve all moved on to whatever the next social media juggernaut turns out to be.*
The chapters on blogging are valuable, too. I was happy to learn that it’s okay that my blog’s not all about writing. In fact, Ms Lamb recommends that we share our other passions and reach out to a wide variety of readers, since they’re the people who might just (perhaps, maybe, some day) decide to check out our books. So if you’ve been wishing I’d quit posting about ponies, Newfoundland, and my failed attempts at gardening… well, I’m sorry.
So yes, highly recommended read for anyone with a book coming out, however you’re publishing. It’s about so much more than just social media, but I’d say it’s worth the purchase price just for the section on “Twitequette,” which should be required reading for everyone on Twitter.
As for writing… well, I made some notes while I was waiting (FOREVER) at the doctor’s office yesterday, so… yay? Maybe this afternoon, when I’ll finally have the house to myself for a few hours… I hope.
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*Also, tweeting about how much I was enjoying the book got me two twitter responses from the author herself, which was really fun. She walks the talk, guys. 🙂
disregard the prologue 
October 23rd, 2013 at 8:59 am
Argh! I think my hard, ol’ heart is breaking. *sigh*
October 23rd, 2013 at 11:29 am
Great excerpt! Man, that hit me in the gut!!!
Thanks for recommending that Lamb book. I need to order it.
October 23rd, 2013 at 1:09 pm
Oh wow! Fabulous and emotional stuff.
October 23rd, 2013 at 2:34 pm
I’m not even bothering with the Sunday update, so don’t feel bad. Great excerpt, very visual. And a little bit sad. 😥
October 23rd, 2013 at 3:17 pm
I’m not sniffling…nope…*chokes* not at all.
October 23rd, 2013 at 3:26 pm
Tissue?
October 24th, 2013 at 4:36 am
Good luck with your writing this week and thanks for the book recommendation!
October 24th, 2013 at 9:04 am
*flails* Oh, I do love me some tragic romance.
October 24th, 2013 at 10:19 am
great excerpt.
I have that book on my list to buy too. Glad to hear it’s a good one.
October 24th, 2013 at 2:50 pm
Sad, sweet… I want to not like this because I want things to be happy, but… I like it…. because I like me some tragedy too.
And yes, Kristen Lamb does walk the walk, talk the talk. She’s awesome. I don’t participate nearly as much as I’d like with the WANAs lately, but I miss them. They are a wonderful bunch of people. So glad you enjoyed the book…. I’ve been thinking of getting it myself.
October 24th, 2013 at 8:39 pm
Very poignant scene! Man oh man the *FEELS*!
October 25th, 2013 at 5:02 pm
I like the pendant. It’s a nice touch. 🙂
All the advice about blogging out there gets pretty confusing. I know of at least one really successful guru who warns against anything but your writing and things that pertain to it. He even recommends starting a whole separate blog that isn’t connected to your author blog to get the personal passion writing out of your system.
October 25th, 2013 at 5:23 pm
Yeah, I’ve seen that advice, too. The only problem is that EVERY author who’s building a platform is doing that, and only other writers want to read it. If we’re all just selling to each other, it’s kind of counter-productive, so we need other points of contact, sharing personal things that ring true on a larger level.
I don’t think either method is right or wrong, but I know I feel more comfortable when I’m doing things this way, being real and (I hope) relatable. I feel like a big fraud offering advice or how-to stuff when I have no proof I know what I’m talking about, but sharing experiences and things that excite me is fun. And honestly, the odds of making it in this business are long enough that if it’s not fun, it’s not worth it to me. 🙂
The book is worth a read. I’m an introvert who enjoys connecting with people and would rather quit than auto-tweet “buy my book” 12 times a day, so it was perfect for me.
October 25th, 2013 at 6:25 pm
Oh gosh! Auto-tweeting “buy my book” is so irritating. I don’t engage with many authors who do that, and when I do, it lasts briefly.
The guru I read doesn’t advocate sharing writing advice. He believes in sharing work (like the WIPpets) and things that pertain to your work (in my case, it might be something like the latest research on blood diseases or studies on lyncanthropy or the origin of dragon/werewolf/fairy myths).
But, yeah. If it’s not fun, there’s not much point in this business. At least, not until it’s clear that people will actually pay for the books. 🙂
October 25th, 2013 at 6:37 pm
Exactly. And at that point, I might separate it all out (post things relevant to the books on my author site, etc), but I like getting to know authors in their personal lives. Look at Chuck Wendig. Seriously, look at him. That beard is magnificent. He posts a TON of amazing writing advice and promotes other authors, but he also talks about travelling and shares story about his kid, “B-Dub.” It’s a fantastic mix, really entertaining. Also, the man works in profanity like some artists do in oils. It’s beautiful.
And yes, I totally mute or unfollow authors who only post stuff about their books (RT positive comments from readers, post short excerpts and log lines, advertise price drops, etc) and do nothing else. Some big names do it, which is disappointing. I don’t mind that stuff sometimes, but it gets boring when that’s all there is. Throw something original in there!
December 4th, 2013 at 8:58 am
[…] from the beginning of chapter 4. This follows a previous WIPet snippet, conveniently linked here for anyone curious enough to venture back in time, but we’re switching from Aren’s POV […]