Bootlegging and Outlining

What's Up Wednesday time!  For more information about this blog hop created by Jaime and Erin visit their blogs.  It just a fun way for writers to stay connected!

What I'm Reading:  I am about half way through MOONSHINER's GOLD by John R. Erickson .  I am trying to read a bunch of books set during prohibition before I start my nano project.  Even though the story is not close to mine, I think it's a good way to get those kind of voices in your head.

What I'm Writing:  I am outling my nano project which I think I have titled THE BOOTLEGGER'S LETTERS.  The hook is "Breaking Bad meets You've Got Mail set in the Prohibition".  My word count goal is 70K for this one, as it is YA, and I am a little bit intimidated by that number.  That's a lot of scenes folks!  I am not one of those people who "overwrites" and has to cut my word count by half.  Not. At. All.  So this will be a challenge for me.  I also joined an online modern day moonshiner's forum this week with a profile and everything hoping to meet some "expert consultants".  The things we do as research...

What Works for Me:  I am trying a new thing with my outline this time where I include a column in the spreadsheet for Conflict and Goodies.  Conflict is exactly how it sounds.  I want to make sure there is tension in every scene.  Goodies are just the little bits that make a scene exciting to read (and write).  I want to make sure there is something interesting and fun or exciting in every scene as well.

What Else I've Been Up To:  I had a near nervous breakdown with my two year old this week and after throwing a teensy tiny fit to my husband, I convinced him that Mama needs a break.  Two mornings a week of Parents Day Out?  Yes please!  I am so excited!  I will actually get to go to the dentist, or go get my eyebrows waxed.  I love my son, but gosh it will be great to drop him off!  LOL

FANGIRL's Biggest Fangirl

Hello, My Wednesday Writerly Friends!  It's time for another episode of "What's Up Wednesday", the blog hop that keeps us writers connected.  To find out more, or to see how you can play along, check out Jaime's Blog.

What I'm Reading:  I am about halfway through with Rainbow Rowell's FANGIRL.  I am probably the only YA writer in the world that hasn't read this one, am I not?  Well I am loving it.  Rowell nails voice.  Period.  Her characters pop off the page when they talk, and I dig that.

What I'm Writing:  More queries for COMMITTED this week, and even a few requests (YAY!)  I am almost done with third-round edits of my MG Sci-Fi story, UNDER THE BLUE, and I am getting ready to pass it on to Betas.  And I have started researching for Nano in November.  I will give you more details on that when I have them.  Haha.

NEW QUESTION:  What Works for Me:  Well, I have written four novels now, and my method has definitely evolved.  In my first attempted I believe I googled "How to Write a Novel" and found beat sheets.  Those might work well for other people, but I had trouble getting from beat to beat.  In my next attempt, I made an outline which I ran out of about 20K into the story... ooops.  Had to improvise after that.  By my third book I at least knew that my average scene length was 1,500 words and that I could comfortably write that in one setting.  So that gave me a better idea of how many scenes I needed.  How long are your scenes usually?  Is there an industry standard?

What Else is Going On:  My two year old is driving me up a wall.  One minute he is ridiculously cute, the next minute I want to beat him within an inch of his life.  Someone please tell me that a disobedient/defiant child can grow into a healthy member of society?!?  I need success stories in the comments.  Like, "My child was horrible, but then he turned four and started to listen to everything I said..."

With a Pitch-Pitch Here and a Pitch-Pitch There...

It's what day of the week now?  Wednesday you say?  Well then, it's time for... "What's up Wednesday," a blog hop for cool writers such as myself.  If you want to know more about WUW or how you can join in the fun visit Jaime Morrow's blog.

What I'm Reading:  I am about half way through ABOVEWORLD by Jenn Reece.  I found it on a list of MG Sci-Fi, and I may end up using it as a comp for UNDER THE BLUE.  Does anyone have any other good recommendation for a middle grade sci-fi story?

What I'm Writing:  A whole lot of query letters!  It is actually making my brain hurt a little.  Especially the right side, which longs to write something more creative than "I look forward to hearing from you."

What's Inspiring Me Right Now:  I got really nice comments from my non-mentors for Pitch Wars, and they all pretty much said to just keep going.  Which I plan on doing.  I also got two requests from PitMad yesterday, so fingers crossed!

What Else is Going On:  My Kindergartener has lost two teeth in the last two weeks!  Tooth fairy has been working overtime!