#amwritingparty

Recently I've been asked a lot of questions about the #amwritingparty hashtag on twitter. And I thought I'd tell you a little bit about it.

Here's how it began:

One night I was really struggling with motivation while working on Shattered. I hopped on twitter and started chatting with other writers on #amwriting. (One of the three best twitter hashtags for writers, in my opinion, along with #yalitchat and #askagent.)

Usually, #amwriting really helps to spark motivation - there are SO many other writers to converse with! But on that particular night, everyone seemed to be struggling the same way that I was. Instead of motivating each other, we all were procrastinating (complaining even).  But you see, I had a self-imposed deadline to meet. I needed to be writing!

So spur of the moment, I suggested we take it up a notch, for the evening, and have an #amwritingparty! And it WORKED! For some reason, the little twist helped me and the others who participated to find our writing grooves.  We gave progress updates every half hour, cheered each other on, and even handed out rounds of ficticious shots. Time flew by - and so did the word counts. It was great!

I only meant for it to be a one night thing - because #amwriting is a fun place to hang out, believe me! But the party kind of took on a mind of its own. The next night it flared up again. And the next. And then the next. And it's been going strong ever since. And it's wonderful! There aren't really any "hosts" per se because people hop on and off as they please, but there are some really fun regulars--so be sure to check it out!

Here's what it's all about:

• #amwritingparty is a place for writers at any part of the writing process. Writing, planning, editing, querying, etc. (even just taking a break!)
• #amwritingparty is a 24/7 party! Though it really picks up in the evenings.
• Sometimes we share lines from our works in progress (WIPs). The other night we played #WIPFire every half hour where you'd scroll randomly to a place in your WIP and share that line. It was fun, and frequently hysterical.
• We have "Internet cocktails" pretty much every night - and Carol even sprinkles sparkly word dust out for writers who need motivation!
• We often make word count pledges (#pledge4k etc) or page edit pledges. Very beneficial to the whole writing process, I promise!
• #amwritingparty is a crew of really, really supportive writers - and anyone is invited to participate at any time!

Any of my blog reading #amwritingparty crew - feel free to add any of the fun things that I've missed!!

Here are a few examples of the fun #amwritingparty comments made in recent days:

@cvaldezmiller: @_rachelsimon Let me offer you some sparkly wordy dust. Will help you write! *sprinkle sprinkle* Happy writing! #amwritingparty

@Danisidhe: Thansk to #amwritingparty I did really well yesterday so I'm committing to you guys that I will do another 1000 words of plot again today :D

@a_shostak: @cvaldezmiller How far are you in your writing goal today? I just finished the 4k ;) #amwritingparty

@lkgg: If I'm watching the antics of #amwritingparty I'm usually laughing my head off.

@WritingAgain: #amwritingparty Drinking is optional (for most people). Fun, however, is not. Call it a writing support group.

@kidswap: So I have a question. Do you edit or go back and edit right away or do you just motor through to the end then start edits? #amwritingparty

@AngelaButts: ain't no party like an #amwritingparty party. Is it just as jumping tonight?

@frankiediane: Thank you! So what are you working on? #amwritingparty I feel like I need to meet everybody. What's everyone writing?

@ThePreyers: @lkgg Nearly 900 when I started the chop-chop! "Thats" I will destroy you! Aaaaaaaa.... #amwritingparty

@lkgg: @ThePreyers "That" is one of my all time pitfalls. While during creation, I let them fall where they may & cut later. #amwritingparty

@jkoyanagi: @cvaldezmiller You can do it! It's going well. Still in the thick of edits. #amwritingparty

Okay - so that's #amwritingparty, in a nutshell! Hope you drop by - but either way... Cheers to happy writing :-)

♥ me

Twilight Contest and Ninjadillo and a Cute Link, Oh My!

Okay. I'm blogging this even though I DON'T WANT TO. Because it means my chances of winning get lower. Ugh. But it also gives me more points so my chances get higher. Stupid double-edged sword. (grumble grumble)

The absolutely fabulous Shannon over on Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe is having an EPIC contest. She's giving away a signed copy of TWILIGHT!  And anyone who knows me knows that I. Love. Twilight.  I love it. Love it. (Do you get it yet?)

So if you hop over to her blog (link above) you can find the contest and its rules. But what I'd prefer is that you hop over to her blog and become a follower (because you're seriously missing out on fantastic writing tips and anecdotes if you don't) and then just conveniently forget to enter the contest.  K? Thanks ;-)

Oh and on a separate note - Shannon has agreed to lend me Ninjadillo.  Because I love him and also because I need someone to stick it to me to keep up with my Shattered revision!! So that's what I'll be up to all weekend! (If you haven't yet been introduced to Ninjadillo, he's an adverb-attacking, editing whip-cracking, armadillo. He's got a wicked Kung Fu death grip and he's on the look out for bad prose.)

Happy Friday :-)

Oh, and if you need something REALLY awesome to kick your weekend off on the right foot?  You must CLICK HERE.

♥ me

Giving Feedback

In yesterday's post, I mentioned how nervous I get about giving feedback to other writers' work. And in my comments section, I found an absolute piece of gold. I didn't want anyone else to miss it! Because it really is good advice.

Even better - the advice is from an award winning author. So you KNOW she knows what she's talking about!  (And now she knows we know she knows... Friends, anyone?)

Thanks so much to LK Gardner-Griffie, author of the Misfit McCabe series. Her website can be found here. And if you're in revision stages - I highly suggest you check out her editing tips found in her Young Writers Series.

Here is what LK commented on the matter:

...When I hand over my work to be critiqued that's exactly what I want - someone to tell me where I've gone wrong - even if it is the smallest detail. You don't want to be mean, but unless you provide an honest, frank assessment you are not doing the author any favors. Even if you absolutely loved the work & it did its job, there is always something you can comment on to help the author improve either the work in question or future works. In reading my own stuff - even after being "done" I always find things that need to be changed.

When providing feedback, you are one voice, one opinion that provides YOUR perspective. The author then chooses whether to act on your feedback or not. I have received contradictory feedback from different people, and then decide which feedback best applies to my work. Any feedback is good - even when negative - or maybe I should say - especially when negative.

I started off with a writing teacher who didn't believe in sugar coating, & I learned that lesson well. My husband frequently refers to me as Mrs. Simon Cowell (now aren't you all clamoring to have ME read your WIP's? he he)

See? Brilliant, right? I mean - it's something we all probably knew, but to see it in writing makes it really sink in! So for those of you who have asked me to look at your work - I promise to try not to be so nervous after hitting send on the docs back to ya!

Thanks for your words LK! Now they'll help more than just me :-)



♥ me

Honesty is the Best Policy

A big thank you to Shannon who gave me the Honest Scrap blog award!

So fun! I get to pass the Honest Scrap award on to 10 other blogs - all worth following... trust me! (Also, these are in no particular order!)

1. Chasing Dreams

2. Carol's Prints

3. Just Jemi

4. Constant Revision

5. Jenni Bailey

6. Anne Riley

7. Hilary Wagner

8. Words and Coffee

9. On the Write Foot

10. The WriteRunner

And now the moment I'm you've been holding your breath for... (Or pretty much I suggest duck and run because the blogs listed above probably have way more interesting - and more applicable content today...) I also have to list 10 more facts about me!  So. I kind of think I've already run out of interesting ones, but let's see what I can come up with. 

#10. My one year wedding anniversary is this month on the 13th! Yep, we had a Christmas wedding... I mean, it wasn't totally decked out with Christmas stuff - but here are some pics to show you what I mean:

#9 I could eat sushi (rolls) every single day of every single week. I love it. LOVE IT (them).

#8 I've always searched for diets (I know, I know... healthy lifestyles are the way to go - blah blah) but I found the perfect one! WRITING A NOVEL. I forgot to eat sometimes and lost like 8 pounds during the process. Too bad I'll probably gain that much if not more in the next month!

#7 My husband and I are signed up to run the ING half marathon at the end of January in Miami. He signed up because he wanted to stay in shape. I signed up because... hello - Miami in the winter? Yes please. I haven't run in months. Woops.

#6 I come across as extra bubbly online because I know how hard it is to read tone through e-mail so I naturally use a lot more explanation marks and smiley faces. I'm bubbly in real life - but absolutely not to the extent that you probably think I am.  In fact, ask my husband and he'll definitely tell you there are times in which I'm the exact opposite of bubbly... (Snarky. Bitchy... Frustrated for no reason - believe me, it happens!)

#5 I get really really nervous giving feedback on other people's writing. (Like sweaty palms nervous) For two reasons: I know how much heart and soul gets poured into writing and, even though everyone needs constructive remarks, I hate tearing into it.  Also, sometimes what I read is so good that on the parts I remark on I end up doubting my own knowledge! Once I've published (if I do) I'll probably feel more confident with this part of it. But for now? I bite my nails.

#4 I was on the dance team in college! And every year the alumni get to go back and dance at a men's basketball game. I look forward to it for months! And then am completely terrified when we go out to perform.

#3 Yesterday, I wrote a guest post about being a NaNo Rebel on K. C. Collins' blog - you should check it out! (And follow - because his posts are always interesting!)

#2 I have two half-siamese kitties named Piper and Lilah. I love them as much as my own life. Hence the next 6 pictures (out of about a zillion on my computer). They alternate back and forth starting with Lilah.
Call me a cat lady. I don't even care ;-)

#1 I'm leaving this open ended! Ask me anything you want to know in the comments section and I'll answer it!



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Me! Me!

The lovely Ms. Alexandra Shostak tagged me in this "meme" survey thing. I so love surveys :-)
Before I begin, I tag Quillfeather and Melane!


1. What’s the last thing you wrote? What’s the first thing you wrote that you still have?
The last thing I wrote was a piece of flash fiction for Shannon's contest.

The first thing I wrote that I still have is a story called "For the Fear of Death". I wrote it in 5th or 6th grade and found a copy of it a few Thanksgivings ago. (My husband - then boyfriend - was the one to find it, actually, and then decided to read it outloud at the HUGE Thanksgiving gathering that year. I about died, haha.)

2. Write poetry?
I do actually! Not a ton, but my professor seems to think I have some talent in it... (I submit poems for critique in my creative writing workshop.)

3. Angsty poetry?
Not really. I did write a poem about a conch shell being washed away by the sea without anyone noticing... But I don't think that really counts as angsty.

4. Favorite genre of writing?
FANTASY! Specifically magical realism... Love it.

5. Most annoying character you’ve ever created?
A selfish daughter in a short story I wrote a year ago... Otherwise I really do love my characters :-)  (So far at least!)

6. Best plot you’ve ever created?
Um. I think it's the one for Shattered. I love the plot beneath the plot! (But I'm pretty biased.) I can also tell you about the lamest plot I ever created - but I may just save that for a future blog post...

7. Coolest plot twist you’ve ever created?
If I tell ya, I'd have to kill ya ;-)

8. How often do you get writer’s block?
Not that often. (Ask me that same question tomorrow and I could give an entirely different answer!)
But Procrastination Block stikes quite frequently.

9. Write fan fiction?
Nope.

10. Do you type or write by hand?
I type. (I do have composition notebooks full of notes though.)

11. Do you save everything you write?
Oh goodness YES.  My computer died after college and I lost a LOT of things. I learned my lesson.

12. Do you ever go back to an idea after you’ve abandoned it?
Sometimes. I don't abandon much though. I hate giving up on creative things that I put effort in to!

13. What’s your favorite thing you’ve written?
Shattered!! Hands down. (I have two poems I'm quite proud of, but they don't hold a candle to my novel!)

14. What’s everyone else’s favourite story that you’ve written?
My professor loved a poem I wrote about windshield wipers (random, I know). My husband's is the Fear of Death story from elementary school - but it's the only thing he's read yet and he's really, really excited to read Shattered when it's ready. 

15. Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?
Ditto to what Alexandra said: Everything I write has a romantic sub-plot.
Also, Shattered is a teen drama... I'm not sure about the angsty part though!

16. What’s your favorite setting for your characters?
The real world! Particularly places by the water...

17. How many writing projects are you working on right now?
I'm editing Shattered and about to start my new idea!

18. Have you ever won an award for your writing?
Does it count that in first grade I wrote a story about a groundhog that was printed in the school publication? It was chosen out of entries from students in grades 1-6 and my class won an ice cream party for it...

19. What are your five favorite words?
I suck at picking favorite things because they ALWAYS change. Here are 5 that I really like right now:

grace, lithe, demure, lilt, ethereal

20. What character have you created that is most like yourself?
Niko. But only some parts and it was completely unintentional. She's a brat.

21. Where do you get ideas for your characters?
Ditto Alexandra: They sort of just walk into my head.

22. Do you ever write based on your dreams?
Not very often. Though Shattered came to me right as I opened my eyes one morning in Annapolis...

23. Do you favor happy endings, sad endings or cliff-hangers?
I hate cliff-hangers! I mean, I love them but I hate them because I am NOT good at waiting until a sequel comes out. I really hate cliff-hangers that are never answered. (I also don't write them.)

I lean towards happy but am not opposed to sad as long as story leads me in that direction.

24. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Yep.

25. Does music help you write?
Absolutely! I never write without music. I could, but I prefer not to!

26. Quote something you’ve written. Whatever pops into your head.

It’s swallowed completely by the sea, perhaps

lost forever, but

to the rest of the world nothing has changed.

(A stanza from The Conch)


Have your fill of me yet? If so too bad bc tomorrow you get TEN MORE FACTS! dun dun DUNNN

♥ me