Category Archives: writing

31 Day Blog Challenge, Day 3: Quote-tastic

OK, let’s see, day three… carry the one, exponents before multiplication, and that makes… yep, still day three.

I have to check my work, you see.

blog challenge

My favourite quote.

Just one?! Guys, I have a book FULL of them somewhere, if I could just remember where I put it.

Here’s one of the ones I have hanging over my desk. It gets me through those moments when my inner perfectionist tells me that there’s no point trying if I can’t do it perfectly or better than anyone else:

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“The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those who sang best.” Ā -Henry Van Dyke

There’s more to it than that, but that’s the bit that my aching brain needs to be reminded of. Frequently.

Please share your own favourites in the comments, if you feel so inclined. šŸ™‚


31 Day Blog Challenge Day 2

Oh, look, here we are again! Day 2, day 2, what to do with you?

blog challenge

“20 Facts About You”

Oi.

Well, I did a post about this a while back. Would it be cheating to refer you there? Yes?

Dangit.

How about a theme? Creative endeavours for $400, Alex.

1. I don’t usually write poetry, but I once wrote a poem about meatloaf while I was drugged up in the hospital. The food, not the singer.

2. My creative spirit/muse/inspiration/whatever seems like an uncomfortably real entity at times. I know he’s not, but really, he’s the only person I have available to bounce ideas off of. I know that I’m talking to myself, but it works.

3. I customize dolls and My Little Pony, but I can’t do it while I’m writing. Like, I can’t do both in the same day, or even week. My brain can only handle one form of creativity at a time. This is sometimes a problem, as it takes forever for me to switch tracks.

4. I’m always surprised when I read over something I wrote and find that it’s actually good. To me, that’s the best feeling in the world. I don’t feel proud of myself often, but I do at those times. REALLY proud.

5. My dad introduced me to Fantasy novels by way of Xanth. I had fantasy movies and fairy tales in my life before that, but those were the first novels I read with magic and adventure on that scale.

6. I blame the aforementioned books for my fondness for terrible puns. I can’t help it, they make me laugh. I try to avoid them in my own writing, but sometimes I still catch them in edits. Sneaky little buggers.

7. I really started coming up with my current world when I was in bed with headaches. I needed something to do with my mind, and reading hurt too much. I knew before then that I was a writer, but this is how I learned to find my own stories.

8. I’ve developed scenes for my stories while I was lucid dreaming. I can’t do it anymore (not napping much, out of practice), but I’ve had a few plot breakthroughs that way. I found it both creepy and amazing. šŸ™‚

9. My husband won’t read anything I write. This used to piss me off, and then I stopped caring. It’s not personal, he just doesn’t like reading novels.

10. Yes, I married someone who doesn’t like reading novels. I love him anyway.

11. English was my best class in high school, followed by theatre, art, and history. I think all of those things help me as a writer.

12. I crave external validation, but I don’t trust it. Sometimes I wonder if I’m a terrible writer, but because of Some Reason (perhaps some mental difficulty, maybe a terrible accident, I don’t know), people act like I’m good at it because they want me to feel good about myself. So they pat me on the head, leave nice comments on my blog, hope I never find out the horrible truth.

13. I may be slightly paranoid.

14. I enjoy photography and would like to learn more about it, but I can’t afford a good camera, and I don’t have the time or the memory space (in my brain) needed to learn what I’d need to for me to do it well. I have a friend who’s a fantastic professional photographer, and I’m very envious of her skill. Seriously, I want to marry my husband again so we can get pictures like these.

15. Even if I did have the money for a great camera, I’d prefer to use it on laser vision correction. My eyes suck, yo.

16. Back to writing: I’m terrible at naming things. People, places, stories. It’s just bad.

17. I love writing short stories, but almost never seem to find time to do it.

18. I totally use writing as an escape from reality. I’m delighted when other people can use my stories for the same purpose.

19. I need to be caffeinated before I can write, but I have to be de-caffeinated before I can paint, because I get shaky hands.

20. If I could change one thing about myself and my creativity, it would be to increase my ability to focus. I love having so many stories and characters buzzing around in my head, and I wouldn’t change the way I see the world, but I do wish I could just sit and work without my mind wandering so much.

Whew! There, twenty more things about myself, and with an impressively low number of off-topic points. Feel free to comment, but I know you’re just doing it to be nice. Stop lying to me! *sob* šŸ˜‰


31 Day Blog Challenge, Day 1

…because, as we’ve discussed before, I’m not the brightest crayon in the box, and I may be a few piccolos short of an orchestra.

Really, though, I need quick blog posts to get through July, when I’m REALLY ACTUALLY SERIOUSLY going to finish this whole editing thing.

Feel free to laugh, I’ll wait.

You back? OK, then. This is a personal challenge, in which I’ll be revealing things about myself that are sure to not surprise anyone at all, and may only be of interest to no one. And that’s OK! But if you want to read along or join in, I’ll be here. Thanks to Kristen Hope Mazzola for saying “you should do this.” Today seems to be one of those “hey, if it helps me procrastinate, I’m there!” days.

So, what do we have here?

blog challenge

Day 1: Introduction and recent photo.

Um… hi. *shuffles feet, looks at something over your shoulder* I’m Kate. You knew that already. I was born in February of 1981 in Hamilton, Ontario, at a hospital that now has a name that I can neither pronounce nor remember. I was a shy child, but have since blossomed into a socially awkward adult. WHEW, that was close!

I’m a writer, a blogger, a mom, a wife, a rub-o-matic for several cats and walker for one dog. I’m easily distracted and often can’t seem to focus on anything; I can’t watch a whole movie without having something else to do, and sitting on the floor to play with the kids is pretty much beyond me. My brain almost always has something cooking on the back burner, whether it’s a story or random conversations that result in lovely dialogue that I’ll probably never use. I speak out of turn, I’m not good at cleaning up after myself, and I frequently have the sense of humour of a 12-year-old boy.

Writing is often the only thing I can focus on, and even then I need word sprints or something to keep me going for longer than 5 minutes without wandering off to do something else. I’ll read anything but tend to write only speculative fiction. OK, so really all fiction is speculative; you know what I mean. I like magic, I like adventure, I like danger and dragons and having wide, wild worlds to explore, even if those new worlds sometimes look a lot like our own.

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^This is me yesterday. No make-up, no fancy anything, but I did have Lucy giving me love, so that was a good moment. šŸ˜‰


Discovery of the Day

Do you struggle with your procrastination skills? Feel like they’re not up to par, feel like you’re not maximizing your procrastination potential? I may be able to help. You see, I once felt that way, myself. Then I discovered the magic of Writing Sex Scenes. Yes, my friends, there’s nothing to stall my creative output like having to wrangle words to create sexual tension and bring characters together in a way that’s both moving and genre-appropriate, giving readers what they want without grossing anyone out or making things awkward.

Since I started writing this morning, I’ve found more ways to procrastinate than I ever thought possible! Sweeping the floors, making more coffee, oops too much sugar need new coffee, Cracked.com, Facebook, abusing hashtags on twitter, composing a blog entry for Memorial Day (tomorrow, in Newfoundland), hey that couch cushion is crooked again… guys, I could put this shit off FOREVER.

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So take it from me. If you feel your procrastination is just not what it could be, find a scene like mine to work on*, and you will discover skills you never knew you had!

*could be something different for you: fight scenes, emotional crap, whatever. YMMV.


Writing and Reading and ROWing, Oh My!

Hey, look at me, being ready to get in on something at the beginning!

Since I already have two posts scheduled for tomorrow (the actual start date for this round of “A Round of Words in 80 Days”), I’m going to post this today. It’s Sunday, right? Regular update day.

GOALS

Writing:

Bound: finish editing this draft and have it out to readers by August 1. This should leave time for the fine-toothed comb treatment if I use my time wisely, but will depend on what I can get done before we go on holidays at the end of the month.

Torn: finish a full draft by the end of this round. This is a challenge for me, as this is another thing that was lost when I my own computer broke, so I’ve been starting from scratch. Big changes were coming, anyway, but it would have been nice to have my road-map…

Super Secret Project: Remember when I had those vampires bouncing around in my head, and I used them to take a break from my fantasy world? I have the beginnings of another world rattling around in my brain, and it all started to come together when I was walking the dog yesterday. No promises or goals, except to say that if I need a break, I’ll be working on this, and possibly offering an opening scene some time for WIPpet Wednesday. It’s not a genre I’ve had anything to do with in the past, so this could be interesting…

Disregard the Prologue: Yes, blog goals! I’m going a 31 day challenge in July, to keep me going through vacation and to allow me to schedule posts (because everything else is just going to be going SO WELL that I won’t need the distraction of this blog. HA!). So for July, I’ll make it a goal to post every day. After that… Well, I’ll readjust, and stop bombarding y’all with myself.

Other Stuff:

Art: I need to do a couple of custom My Little Ponies by the end of the summer, so I’m throwing that goal in here, because they’ll never get done otherwise. Two by the end of August, for sure, and if I can find time, there’s a personal project I’ve been itching to get to. This is what happens when you have a friend who sells doll hair, and you can’t stop yourself from buying all the pretty colours.

Family: Throwing a few more personal goals in here. Meal planning every week, one big, fun outing with the kids every week of vacation, reading one book (or chapter of a book) with each of the kids every day. Yes, we’re sometimes bad about that, especially when they forget to remind be until it’s quarter-past bedtime.

Reading: A book a week. Shouldn’t be too hard, but sometimes I get off-track when nothing’s grabbing me. I’ve got a ton of books waiting, though, so it should be fine. I have one book I’m alpha reading for someone this summer (I didn’t even know that term until she asked me… I’ve only used beta readers. You learn something new every day, don’t you?), I have my new paperbacks, I have a few books to finish on my kobo, and a bunch stranded in the Kindle app on my computer… plus the library. This should be doable, especially if I sit outside and read when the kids are playing.

So that’s the big, overarching goals. As far as time spent/word count, those goals will have to be broken down as I go along. My word count goal for July’s Camp NaNoWriMo session is only 25,000 words, and I’m cheating (editing/partial rewrites), so my goal should be 1,000 words a day… unless you account for vacation… so still 2,000 words a day. Ā After that, who knows? Maybe I’ll go easy on myself in August, or maybe I’ll have to write my poor little heart out to distract me from the torment of hearing back from beta readers (who I love. Have I mentioned that I love you all?).

Wish me luck… and let me know if you’re participating so I can be sure to stop by and offer encouragement as the round goes on! I don’t always get updates on the blogs I’ve signed up to follow…


Cleverness Has an Expiration Date

Great post from Jae at Lit and Scribbles, if you missed it earlier in the week.
I started reading Frankenstein a while ago and thought, “Wow, you can’t get away with that kind of exposition these days” before I gave up completely because I found it boring. Classics are classics for a reason, and they have great value; that doesn’t mean that because something has worked in the past (whether that’s 100 or 5 years ago), we can or should try to emulate it. Yes, Mary Shelley got away with starting with letters that had nothing to do with monsters. That doesn’t mean you should try it with a modern audience that has a thousand other (more compelling) books in your genre to choose from. Know why the old things work, and try something new.

(Yes, I know I just revealed something horrible about myself as a reader and as a person. I don’t have the attention span for many of the classics. I don’t need a book to start with explosions, and John Steinbeck can hook me with pages and pages of descriptions… but a lot of the old writing and the old gimmicks don’t grab me, and I have a lot of other books to read)

*runs and hides in the closet before the Classics Zealots can start hurling heavy, dusty volumes*

Jae's avatarLit and Scribbles with Jae

I’ve been watching a lot of stuff on Hulu lately (especially FMA, thanks a lot Gloria!), so I see way more commercials than I have in a long time—especially since I gave up cable.

I’ve noticed an interesting movement between two competitors, namely Geico and Progressive. They want your money, folks, and they don’t mind bombarding us with ads in the process. Let’s face it, now Hulu is a good chunk of their age range.

Now before you start to *yawn* and click to another page, understand there’s a lesson about cleverness here. And that lesson is, cleverness always has an expiration date. It just may last a little longer for some things than others.

PROGRESSIVE

I don’t even remember the days of Progressive before Flo. According to Wikipedia, she started making her appearance in 2008—and she’s still here 5 years later folks. (Though some are speculating she may…

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Motivation Tip of the Day

There’s nothing that lights a fire under your typing fingers like the realization that the printed-out draft you’re working from and making improvements on is the only copy of that draft.

THE ONLY COPY.

Please don’t ask how this happened. I usually e-mail drafts to myself, but I must have fallen behind. I back up on a USB drive… but that got damaged this winter and is completely corrupted. I had it in my computer, but it seems that when my netbook broke and the guys at the store transferred my files for me, that one got lost in the move.

I know, dropbox. I have it now, and I pray that I’m doing it right. Do you have to open the file through dropbox in order for it to update, or is it linked automatically?

I also have a new USB drive, and I’m e-mailing files to myself.

Still… until I get this thing done, all I have of my best draft so far is PAPER. Flimsy, flammable, blown-by-the-breezable paper.

My word count is SOARING.

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^ Just this much to go…


Nine Days of Newfoundland – Day 4

OK, guys, if you’re interested at all in Newfoundland, here’s a blog for you to check out. I’m just re-blogging this one post, but have a look back through. There’s a hilarious post on the Great Moose Conspiracy (I commented, b’ys), and some lovely information on speaking Newfinese. Lovely photos, too!

nomaddness's avatarTrailer Trash

Oh geez, by, not da map again!

Oh c’mon, be honest, you were missing my beautiful map, I know you were.

Map

On Day 4, we meandered from Point C, Gros Morne, to Point D, which is….I’d better show you – you’ll never believe me if I just say it.

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Now, I know what you’re thinking – you’re wondering if I’m alphabetically challenged because there appears to be a Point F in between Points C and D on that amazingly glorious map. Ā As it happens, the F-stop (little photog humour there – heh heh) comes later, after we’d been to E and back (that woulda been a lot cornier if I’d said L instead of E…). Ā But I’m getting ahead of myself. Ā First, we went to Dildo Run.

We chose this spot to camp for two days not only because the name made us giggle, but because it’s close to Twillingate…

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WIPpet Wednesday 6/26/2013

Welcome, welcome to WIPpet Wednesday, wherein we WIPpeteers wage war on world-weariness with wild, wanton or wonderful works of writerly wit and wisdom (and once in a while a whale of a whopper will wing its way, from whence we know not where).

Also, some of us abuse the thesaurus horribly.

We share a small portion of a WIP (work in progress) that relates in some way to the day’s date, be it page number or chapter, number or words, lines, paragraphs, etc.

Today is the 26th. I’ll give you words: 26+6+2+0+13 for the date (and another for good luck.)

This is from Bound, the last section I worked on. Rowan is narrating and speaking.

ā€œRight. I’m sure you’re always a perfect gentleman.ā€ Aren’s grin widened, and I wondered what he was like with women when he was at home. Powerful, a king’s son, handsome in his own way, and terribly charming when he wanted to be? God help the women of Luid.

That’s it, that’s all. Stop by and visit the other WIPpeteers here, and if you’d like to join in the fun, just follow the rules as stated above (or if you have nothing to share from a current WIP, start a new one!), and add your own link. Thanks to KL Schwengel for hosting this shindig. šŸ™‚

Ā 


Will You Please Go Get My Teeth Out of the Dashboard?

There were a lot of touching Father’s day posts last weekend. Melissa Janda just posted hers… she wins. I don’t even really understand why I’m crying, but… just read, OK?


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