Killing off “My Darlings,” #ROW80 Updates

ROW 80 is a friendly group that’s there to help writers focus on their writing goals.  Each writer decides what they would like to accomplish in the next 80 days.  We check in on Sundays and Wednesdays with their “linky tool” and are encouraged to adjust our goals as needed.  If you’re late getting started and would like to join, that’s OK.  Round 1 lasts from January 2, 2012 through March 22, 2012.

I took a mini-break from my book, but I’m back.  I was caught up in a Beta reading project.  What a great experience!  I feel inspired to hack away at my own novel.   Yay!!!  :)

I have a not-so- secret desire to see if I can finish my own book somewhere around my birthday, a gift to myself.  Reading another author’s work, an author that I admire, made me want this achievement even more!

A few weeks back, I split my first book in two books.   So far, it’s gone well.  I made the right decision.  I know that I’m green to all of this.   I’m not stupid.  I manage people, not words.  I suppose that’s why I look at my writing the way that I do.  I see it as a process.  EVERY writer HAS to pay their dues!  It’s the writer’s equivalent of scrubbing toilets and mopping floors when your new to the job.  I don’t assume I’m special, nor do I assume that I’m an exception to this.  In fact, I think I need to work harder because I HAVEN’T taken ANY creative writing classes, not ever.  I took a TON of literature classes, way back in high school, because I enjoy reading.  My editing has gotten better, but I’m mostly self-taught.  I read books on writing, grammar, etc. and pray that something sticks.  :)  It’s not always pretty, but I need all the advice I can get.

I came across this great link today:

Elizabeth May,  ”Self-Editing a Manuscript in Eight Steps.”    

Thanks to Elizabeth’s post, I spent the day “looking for my darlings,” my overused words, then killing them off.  ;)  I went to my manuscript, clicked on “Edit,” put in “ly” under “Find,” minus the quotation marks, and set to work.  Wow!  Holy adverbs!  Some of them stayed, but most got a rewrite.  I didn’t need most of them.  I needed better descriptions.  I can see significant improvements already.

Take care and Happy Writing!

Juli 

Friendships and Blessings: #ROW80 Updates

ROW 80 is a friendly group that’s there to help writers focus on their writing goals.  Each writer decides what they would like to accomplish in the next 80 days.  We check in on Sundays and Wednesdays with their “linky tool” and are welcome to adjust our goals as we need to.  If you’re late getting started, that’s OK.  Round 1 lasts from January 2, 2012 through March 22, 2012.

This week has been more about reading than writing, though I did get some of my own words written as well.  I planned on working on Chapter Twenty this week, but I had a thought while I was driving home from work, and I ended up working on that chapter instead.  I don’t even have a number for this chapter.  I know it will go into the second book, somewhere near the beginning.  I suppose this yet another side affect of pulling apart a book and turning it into two.  I’m going to have some ramifications that will pop up in the next book, based on events that occurred in Chapter Nineteen, but that’s life.  I feel like I’m doing writing algebra…yet again!  If this happens, plus that, what’s the square root of X?  Three?  I don’t know!  I’m thinking.  I’m plotting.  I’m planning.  Yada, yada, yada!!!

I had some fun playing editor this past week.  One of my friends/coworkers has recently gone back to school and asked if I would help proof her papers.  I’m NO expert, not by a long shot, but I think I did OK.  She got an A.  I’m so happy for her!  She deserved it.  She’s an AMAZING woman.  She speaks three different languages, English being the most recent.  I couldn’t imagine being in her shoes.  I think it takes a lot of courage to do what she’s doing, to go back to college after all of these years, in a different country than she was born in, speaking and writing in a different language.  I don’t think I could do what she’s done.  She’s such an inspiration to me.

I feel blessed everyday by the AMAZING people who’ve wandered into my life.  Actually, I’ve been blessed to overflowing in the friendships and family departments.  I’m a people watcher by nature and every new friendship has been a learning experience.  Recently, I had something pop up that I wasn’t sure how to handle.  It wasn’t about me, but it concerned someone I care about.  I asked handful of my diverse group of friends what they would do.  I was shocked by the show of solidarity, especially from my female friends.  As far as they were concerned, any friend of mine is a friend of theirs, and heaven help the person who upsets me!  I was stunned.  It’s good to be loved and feel that kind of support.  I’m not sure if all of their advice was appropriate for the situation, but it’s nice to have so many different points of view, to help keep things in prospective.

In the past, I’ve had to work a LOT harder at my friendships with women than with men.  I’ve had some bad experiences with women in the past, a LOT of cattiness.  I don’t tolerate that kind of negative behavior.  A couple of years ago, I went through some changes at work, and ended up working in a town on the outskirts of Detroit.  I wasn’t sure if I would like it there or not, but it was the women in the group who made me feel the most welcome.  I’ve never met a group of women as loyal and protective as these lovely ladies of Detroit and her surrounding suburbs.  I’ve learned so much about friendships and trustworthiness in the past few years, thanks to these women.  They’ve helped me so much.  I’ve done a lot of healing, emotionally, thanks to them.  Maybe it’s a cultural thing, I’m not sure.  There’s a LOT of different cultures in this area.  If you only considered what’s on the outside, I’d often be looked at as a minority at my workplace.  Lucky for me I need glasses!  ;)  Different is beautiful.  Family doesn’t have ANYTHING to do with genetics.

Someday, I’d like to write a book that revolves around Detroit and the type of women I’ve been fortunate enough to meet.  I’m just not sure if I have the skills to do it justice…yet.  I have the idea plotted out in my head, but I think this story is too near to me to write at this time.  When I’m ready, I’ll write it.  I keep it in the back of my mind.  I think Detroit has a bad reputation, some of it is deserved, but most of it is not.  I may be a white girl from the sticks, but the people of Detroit and her surrounding cities have been good to me.  Someday, I hope I can write a story that’s true to the area, without all the negative clichés I keep encountering.  We’ll see what happens.

Have a great day and happy writing!

Juli

Chapter Nineteen is Finished! #ROW80 Updates

ROW 80 is a friendly group that’s there to help writers focus on their writing goals.  Each writer decides what they would like to accomplish in the next 80 days.  We check in on Sundays and Wednesdays with their “linky tool” and are welcome to adjust our goals as we need to.  If you’re late getting started, that’s OK.  Round 1 lasts from January 2, 2012 through March 22, 2012.

Chapter Nineteen is rewritten!  It’s done!  YAY!!!

When I made the decision to divide Book 1 into two separate books, I knew was making the right call, but it has also brought out some issues that I hadn’t anticipated.  It’s a good problem, in retrospect.  I had some plot threads that I’d planned on drawing out longer than I probably should have.  It was nice to have the characters confront each other, rather than allow them to wallow longer than necessary in ignorance.

I’ve been thinking of a conversation I had.  Last summer, an old friend of mine made a comment to me about some of his pet peeves concerning female writers.  He said, that he could ALWAYS tell when a woman wrote a male character.  He said it was obvious.  At first, I was annoyed with this buddy of mine, but then he went into more detail.  He claimed that women like to make male characters do things that real men would NEVER do.  For example, he claimed that men don’t “gaze longingly.”  They don’t gaze at all!  They stare.  They don’t over-analyze relationships.  They make decisions.  They react to situations.  They don’t sit around having conversations about their relationships.  Women do that, not men.  They don’t normally notice details about what a woman is wearing, etc.  They may notice a favorite body part, but that part is NOT a woman’s eyes.  ;)  LOL

I tend to agree with all of these statements, especially after talking with my hubby.  Even though I tend to think my audience will mostly be women, I’ve tried to be conscious of any men that might read my work.  I’ve tried my best to make realistic male characters.  I don’t how successful I’ve been, but most of my revisions seem to revolve around my male characters.

Chapter Nineteen was an especially difficult chapter for me, even worse than “The Lost Chapter,” for a number of reasons.  I have one character in particular, that tends to give me grief.  He’s essential to this chapter and a nice guy.  I married a really great man, so I assumed that writing a “nice guy” would be easy.  WRONG!  Every time I write a scene with this character in it, he starts out looking like a wimp.  My female characters would walk all over him if I let them.  Poor guy!  It’s actually become a running gag at Ye Old Hoffman Haus.  I write a chapter with this guy in it, and later I have to go through his scenes shouting, “Give him back his balls!”  Yup!  I have had to the sound the charge a number of times.  Gesh!

So…I’m geeked!  I think I finally was able to find the balance I was looking for in this chapter.  My male and female characters were able to talk to one another, to say what they needed to say to each other.  I actually cried a little as I finished writing this chapter.  My female character was able to stay strong.  My nice guy wasn’t a doormat or a jerk.  Yay!  I feel good!!!

Things are wrapping up.  Chapter Twenty is my next victim.  It’s going to need some major revisions, but I’m excited.  It’s a reaction chapter, but I’m working it differently than I was before.  It will be better than the original.  Another “Yay!” moment!  Woo Hoo!!!  :)

I’m SOOO close to finishing this book.  I’m so happy with the amount of support I’ve been given.  I couldn’t have gotten this far without the encouragement I’ve been receiving from my family, my friends, and the support of fellow writers and readers.

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

Juli

Loose Ends: #ROW80 Updates

We started a new unofficial “theme” this past week at work.  February is the start of the fiscal year, so it’s the work equivalent of New Year’s resolutions.  ;)  My all-time favorite theme is still, “Don’t be a fun-sucker!”  I don’t think ANY theme can beat that year!  OMG!  I’m still using the term “fun-sucker.” Most FANTASTIC meeting…ever!  Picture a group of people, all in their nice clothes, all saying “fun-sucker” repeatedly, too fast, and it starts to sound like something VERY inappropriate for the workplace.  Good times!  ;)

This year’s theme is all about “loose ends.”  Finishing projects, not starting new projects until the old ones are complete, it’s all sane advice, but I’m starting to become “loose ends” obsessed!  My life is FILLED with “loose ends,” both at work and at home.  My hubby refers to it as “shiny object syndrome.”  We’re fine until something shiny catches our eye!

So…in the spirit of this year’s theme, I’m tweaking my ROW 80, round one goals, just a smidge.  I’m no longer as obsessed with word count, but I AM moving steadily forward.  I’m approaching the finish line of my book.  FINALLY!  It feels good to be tying up this  MAJOR loose end in my life.  I’d like to have everything set by my birthday.  I think that would be fun and somehow appropriate.  In the end, no matter what, I want my writing to be FUN!

By the way,  ROW 80 is a friendly group that’s there to help writers focus on their writing goals.  Each writer decides what they would like to accomplish in the next 80 days.  We check in on Sundays and Wednesdays with their “linky tool” and are welcome to adjust our goals as we need to.  If you’re late getting started, that’s OK.  Round 1 lasts from January 2, 2012 through March 22, 2012.

I did a Blogophilia post this week.  I’d skipped a couple of weeks, and I REALLY did miss doing them.  I’m so happy that my buddy Sue, figuratively gave me a kick in the tushie!  Why?  Because Blogophilia is fun!  Writing short stories are fun.  Writing, in genereal, is fun!  Did I mention this already?  Yeah, well I sometimes need to remind myself and make sure that it sticks.  It’s so easy to forget, especially when I get too caught up in the technical stuff.  Goals are great!  I’m a huge fan of goals, but I never want to forget why I got into writing again.  I NEVER want writing to feel like a job.  That’s NOT…me.  I don’t want to get into that mindset.  I HAVE a job.  It pays the bills.  Most days, I LIKE my job.  It’s not perfect, but what job is?  Writing is NOT my job.  If my life was a cup,  then I’d see my job as something that empties my cup, a little at a time.  Writing fills the cup back up again.  It keeps me in balance.  Too much obsessing over either work or writing, and I’m an unhappy Juli!  Nobody wants that.  ;)

My "life coach" agrees with the whole, "keeping balance in my life," thing. He also thinks I need more sleep!

I do a LOT of reading.  I’m on my fifth or sixth book written by a new-to-me author.  His novels aren’t the stuff that classics are made of, but they’re REALLY entertaining.  I’m sure they could be picked apart and poo-pooed on, but I like them.  When I read them, I get the impression that the author doesn’t take himself too seriously.  There’s a lot of joy and silliness in his novels.  I hope that I’m able to convey a similar vibe in my own books and short stories.  Tragic comedy seems to be my writing style.

Amy Kennedy wrote an interesting post for ROW 80, about being true to your own voice.  Make sure that you click on the link.  I’m not very good at writing dark and brooding.  I’ve tried, but I can’t do it.  I enjoy reading stories that are dark.  I think that writers who CAN do this are AMAZING, but for good or for bad, I know that my characters are NEVER going to have any bloody battle scenes of their own.  I do have a bloody microwave scene, but that’s been pushed to Book Two!  LOL

Take care everyone!

Juli

#Blogophilia 49.4 Topic: “Interruption of Destiny”

What is Blogophilia?  It’s a highly addictive blogging group where once a week, fellow writers submit topics, link their posts via Facebook or Myspace, and incorporate the weekly prompts into a blog post using whatever style or format they wish.  It’s a great way to clear out the mental cobwebs.

This week’s post is dedicated to Ms. Sassy Sue!  You need to check out her post.  It’s hilarious!!!  :)  Thanks Sue!!!!  

Blogophilia 49.4 Topic: ”Interruption of Destiny”

Bonus Points:

(Hard, 2pts): include a Monty Python quote

(Easy, 1pt): mention widget

Sabrina squinted at the laptop screen with distain.  Juli had been sitting for hours, her fingers teasing and clicking against the keyboard.  Even though it didn’t look as though Juli had accomplished much, she had done a lot of staring off into nothingness.  That was progress.  Sabrina yawned and stretched before she repositioned  herself on Juli’s lap, the prime spot for editing purposes.

“Sabrina!  Move!”  Juli said, without any respect in her voice, as if she’d forgotten to whom she was speaking to.

Sabrina didn’t want to appear as if she were acknowledging Juli, but she did stick a claw into Juli’s thigh, a subtle warning that they both could be doing other things with their time.  Editors never seemed to get the respect that they deserved.

“Who?  What?  What’s going on?  What’s going on?”  Juli’s life coach came bounding into the room and ran under her chair.

“Diesel!  Go lay down!” Juli said.  She sounded grumpy.

“Is she done yet?  Is she done yet?”  Diesel was always an optimist.

 “Of course not, you mutt!  She’s looking intently into space.  Now she’s lost her concentration, thanks to you.  She’ll have to start all over again.”  Sabrina licked her paw daintily.  It had taken her years to teach Juli how to stare in one direction for hours.  She gave Juli’s wrist a lick, to show her that she cared.

“Eww!!!  Don’t lick!  That’s so gross.  I don’t need cat spit on me.”  Juli rubbed her hand against the knee of her jeans.  Not to be left out, Diesel used this opportunity to give her his own wet kisses on her hand.

“Guys!  Enough!”  Juli got up from her chair, sending Sabrina to the floor.  “It’s like Monty Python’s Flying Circus in here,” she grumbled under her breath.  She collected her empty coffee bowl, and headed towards the kitchen for a refill.

Diesel vacillated between his options.  Sabrina WAS down on the floor, always a good thing, but how could Juli retrieve her coffee without his personal supervision?  Decisions!  Decisions!  He gave Sabrina a quick kiss on the ear before racing towards Juli’s feet.

“Diesel!  Go lay down!”

Diesel’s heart was crushed.  Didn’t Juli understand how much he loved her?  He only wanted to help!  He hung his head down low.  There was a rumbling sound outside.  “Hey!  What’s that noise?” Diesel called out.  His hurt feelings were soon forgotten.  Did anyone else notice how noisy that truck was outside?  Thank goodness Juli had Diesel there to announce it!  What would she do without him?  He was sure that she hadn’t noticed it go by.  He wiggled all over, happy that he had been so observant when it came to important life events!  Nothing got by him.

“Must you be so loud?”  Sabrina hopped onto the still warm chair that Juli had abandoned.

Diesel skidded across the kitchen floor.  “Did you hear it?  Did you hear it?”  Diesel called out as he ran towards Sabrina’s perch.

“Of course, I heard it!”  Sabrina snapped.

“Sorry.”  Diesel hung his head down again.  He really did feel bad.  He didn’t like anyone to ever be upset with him, but then he noticed the “big, big, bone” he’d hidden under Juli’s desk.  He sure did love his treasures.

Sabrina gave him a look of disgust.  “It’s always ‘sorry this’ and ‘forgive me that’ and ‘I’m not worthy’,” Sabrina sneered.  “You’re supposed to be Juli’s life coach, not an interruption of destiny!”

Diesel felt terrible, though he had no idea what she was talking about.  He was doing the best that he could, but being a life coach wasn’t always easy.

Juli sighed as she came back to her desk.  “That’s my chair,” she reminded Sabrina, though they both knew differently.  She picked Sabrina up by one hand, sat back down on her chair, and positioned Sabrina so that she could sit in her usual spot on Juli’s lap.  After all, what was a writer without their editor?  Somebody needed to make sure that the “whats-it’s,” and “widgets,” and “who-ha’s” were in the right place!  Juli reached down and rubbed Diesel’s belly.  He grunted with pleasure.

Juli had always heard that writing was a solitary thing, but thank goodness, that wasn’t the case for her.  She had an entire staff at her disposal, day or night, and even on holidays.  What more could a writer want or need?  For a few moments, all was well at the Hoffman Haus.  Juli gave a slight stretch, and then got back to her novel.  She still had lots of work to do.