Revis and Research Placement

What's Up Wednesday is a blog hop created by Jamie Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers stay connected and encouraged.  Click here to find out more!

What I'm Reading:  Um... this is embarrassing, but still A MILLION SUNS by Beth Revis.  Heavens, have I been reading this thing for like a month now?  In my defense, it is really long, and it is only just now getting interesting!  Ha!

What I'm Writing:

The Bootlegger's Letters:

I had some tricky scenes to write this week, as my MC is actually in the process of making her moonshine.   I had to keep double checking my research and solving all kinds of time-period problems, but I think I might have managed something plausible.   Incidentally, I totally know how to make booze now, so maybe we should have a party...
Goal for next week... Let's get this puppy to 30K.  Oh wait, is Christmas in there somewhere?  Well, that might not happen, but I like to aim high.

What Works for Me:
This is probably so dumb that all of you thought of it a million years ago, but I have started cutting and pasting the relevant research for the scene right into the "notes" part of the Scivener scene.  That way I don't have to flip back and forth between the "research" and the scene.  Plus I can never find anything in the research file anyway, and usually have to re-look it up, which wastes time, so this is a much better system for me.  Duh, right?

What Else is Going On:
Tonight I get to go out with some of my best girls and stuff our faces with cheese and chocolate at The Melting Pot!  I am pretty dang excited about it.  Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A Million Suns and Santa

It's time for What's Up Wednesday, a writerly blog hop started by Erin Funk and Jamie Marrow.  Find out more here.

What I'm Reading:  Still trudging through A MILLION SUNS by Beth Revis.  Hasn't picked up much since last week, I am sorry to say.  And I am still reading my CP's Contemp YA.  Good stuff there.

What I'm Writing:  I managed to bang out a few more scenes in my WIP which is called THE BOOTLEGGER'S LETTERS.  I am almost to 20K again- which is where I was when I hacked out the boy POV chapters!  But it is going much better now.  My goal for the next week would be to add another 6K.

What Works for Me:  I recently took an online class from the University of Iowa called "How Writers Write Fiction".  That particular class wasn't all that amazing, but I'd love to take another one- with specific aspects of writing covered.  Has anyone taken one that they found very helpful?  Preferably FREE???

What Else is Going on:  We are in full swing Christmas mode around here.  I took the kiddos to see Santa this week.  They were so cute.  It's always a huge curveball what they ask Santa for, though.  This year my daughter wanted a cookbook and a REAL MasterChef Junior apron.  My son asked for a snowman.  I don't really know what to do with that.  Lol.

Starting from Scratch (almost)

Welcome to What's Up Wednesday, a blog hop created by Erin Funk and Jaimie Morrow.  You can read all about it here!

What I've Been Reading:  I have been reading my CP's manuscript lately, and I am really enjoying her edits.  And in my spare time I have been reading A MILLION SUNS, which I am actually having a hard time getting into.  It is the sequel to ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, which I thought was awesome, so I am going to press on.

What I've Been Writing:  Well, that is the real question.  My WIP and I had a bit of a stand off.  I was trying to do DPOV, and found myself hating every blasted page.  I finally thrust it at my CP 20K words in, and she confirmed what I already knew.  His chapters were blah, her chapters were amaze balls.  That may not be a direct quote.  Anyway, I had to basically cut my word count in half by carefully removing his scenes, and then I had to re-write a few important scenes in my girl's perspective but I think it was well worth it.  The chapters flow now, and the voice is spot on, if I do say so myself.  And the best part is... I am not dreading heading to my computer each day.

What works for Me:  This month, just allowing myself to get behind in my word count goal, but to hopefully end up with a better product when I'm finished.  When it's not working, you know.  You feel it.  I'm not talking about that self doubt that we all have mid-way through our manuscripts (you know what I'm talking about, right?  Right?)  I mean serious THIS IS NOT WORKING feelings.  You gotta listen to those.  If it's not fun to write it, it's not gonna be fun to read it.

What Else is Happening:  I am still deep in the query trenches for my first novel COMMITTED.  I have had lots of interest, but I am still in waiting limbo.  Dear Agent, wherever you are, I AM WAITING FOR YOU AND I ALREADY LOVE YOU.  Love, ME