Another break for the Holiday's

This holiday season I'm going to be very busy polishing my book to start querying in January, so I will be posting fewer until it is completed. I also have to give some feedback on the two beta readers books who I swapped with so that will take some time.

I will be back I promise, and I will still try to post, but if I don't it's because my life has become too chaotic with everything.

Take care.

WiP Wednesday

It's time, my current project is in the hands of Beta readers and now I have to the enviable task at writing a synopsis. The most dreaded thing of writers that most hate and make them want to run into a corner and cry. For me though, I don't mind it.

It's sort of like an outline after I've already written the book. I like to go back and summarize the entire project in about four - five pages. It helps me figure out if the plot arc works and if not, where it falls apart so that I can then go back and fix it. Thankfully, I usually don't have anything glaring that needs fixing, but sometimes I do notice some small pieces that need to be fixed like a character arc that doesn't make sense and such.

Also, writing a synopsis is something I've done a lot in both screenwriting as well as in novels. I find screenwriting easier, but some of the things that I do is when I go through my book/screenplay I try to summarize each chapter in these ways:
What happens:
Who does it:
Any new characters introduced:
Subplots:
Conflict:
Relationships:

Now with my current project that deals with a three sided conflict, my synopsis will mainly deal on the conflicts against the main character, with small hints at the other conflict. I will also try to build up and show the relationship triangle that goes on between the main character and two others. But other than that it will just be a break down of my story.

Synopsis? Why do you fear them? Why do you love them? What are some of your strategies with tackling them? Let me know in the comments.

Holidays in books

I've been thinking about this lately. What books aren't holiday books, however, they do deal with holidays in a new way. I can't recall many, but some do mention the holidays in passing. However, the one that really shows it is the Harry Potter series and they do a wonderful job using those holidays to really build the world. Different types of gifts, different types of food, heck they even have different types of beliefs around it.

It got me thinking in my one of my previous books, I had Christmas later in the story, it was a sad scene because of the recent loss of family members and such, but when I wrote it I found something out about my characters. They used the somber attitude and turned it into a great thing, lots of laughs, memories of the deceased and best of all it showed a way for the characters to solve their dilemma in the story.

So have you ever used the holidays in your stories to build the plot and characters? How did it work out for you and what were some of the interesting situations it put them in?

Holidays, writers block accomplice

The holidays, the wonderful time of the year where you get to stuff your face, spend time with family and sleep in. All good things, but with this busy schedule where do you find the time to write? Nano is a good option because it motivates you to get it done despite the hectic schedule.

What I do is keep with my schedule regardless. Spend the evenings writing after everyone is in bed or get up early before anyone and slip in a few words here and there. I've also started to use Evernote on my smartphone to jot notes down on breaks and lunches at work.

So what are some of your tips for the holidays, do you shut down around the time and focus on the important things outside of writing for a couple months? Do you have a secret place you hide away from the craziness to git in some useful writing?

A friend's Awesome contest

This Monday, a friend of mine posted a contest that I wanted to let everyone know about. It's from my blogging friend Shannon Whitney Messenger's blog : click here for more awesome information.

Besides that little big information, I also have my first cold of the season which is such a pain in the head. So enjoy the contest, and I'll be back on Friday, hopefully feeling a lot better.

Nano Time?

It's nearly that time again, Nanowrimo. I've participated two years in a row in different ways. One writing a new project and one using the time to edit a project. Both had differing results. The writing one I completed in the time frame, yet the editing one I didn't really complete. 

This year I decided I'm just going to sit out. Don't get me wrong, I love writing and the whole process, but right now I feel that my editing of my current project shouldn't be rushed, nor should I push myself to do it. 

I think my favorite part of Nano is the writer support and community that builds around it. I do enjoy talking writing, and really getting down to the nitty-gritty of it. I might look in my area where they are gathering and spend some of my time there to get that vibe.

So what are you guys planning on doing? Are you going to participate? What is your favorite thing about Nano?

My Anniversary

Today is my 6th wedding anniversary. So I'm taking the day off.

Everyone enjoy the weekend and I'll be back on Monday.

What happens with good news?

I have been reading a lot about writing/blogging friends gaining contracts and their books being published. It is completely awesome news for them and gets me excited just hearing their good news. I like the different things they are doing to promote themselves, promote their books and spread the word.

I have bought or will buy their books when they are released.

So my question for the day is, if you haven't been published or signed with an agent, what would you do to celebrate when that happens?

Me.... I would probably go out to dinner with the family to celebrate and that's about it. If I had some extra money, I would probably go through a bit of a celebratory shopping and buy some new toys to keep me busy while I wait on edits/revisions from said agent or editor.

So if you had some great news, how would you celebrate?

Schedules

As many of you know, my work schedule has changed to a night shift. Now some people like this because it gives them the mornings to accomplish things, however, me, I hate it.

Now I can understand the benefits for some people, but to me it's a horrible schedule for me. I get home around 10:15pm, and then eat something and then its like bedtime. I'm a nighttime writer, but writing at 11:00pm after trying to spend some time with the wife before bed makes it difficult to stay awake and create powerful prose.

So what should I do?

I've been thinking about writing during the day, however, my wife runs a daycare in the house so that's a negative aspect of lots of noise. Go the library? Good idea, and one that I'm thinking of trying soon.

The biggest thing is that I usually write at night, it's been my schedule for years now, but I guess as times change so should I.

Have any of you had changes in your schedule that modified when you had time to write? How did you deal with it? Did you adjust or just take a break until things returned to a normal schedule?

Greatest writing moment?

So I've been writing for almost 15 years now. I have quite a few moments that stand out for me, such as my first completed screenplay, or my first completed novel. Don't get me wrong both of those are great achievements, but I was thinking of something else.

The first time I wrote a short screenplay back in early 2000 for myself and on a whim decided to enter it in a contest. I've done it before for other writing things before and this was the first time that I actually was given a positive reaction and it made me feel proud. Made me feel qualified. I remember reading the letter saying that I made the top ten in the contest of about 15,000 entries.

Second would be when I got my first request for ky novel off of a partial request that was exciting because it gave ne hope that I know how to write which is a great motivator for all our future tasks.

Unfortunately both of turned into failures but they still remain very important steps in my writing careers. At least my screenplay might someday be produced by my director friend someday.

So my fellow awesome bloggers what was one or a couple of your favorite moments that either gave you hope or justification that you can do this?

The Great Beta Reader search

So for the past few days, I've been searching for some beta readers to read my current project. I've posted a post on Agent Query, as well as Querytracker.net, both places I frequent. I even used facebook and so far only have 2 interested people. Both are either friends or family, which is great, but I'm looking for other writers.

This got me thinking, maybe October is a rough month for writers, lots are deep in revisions of their own, some are planning their Nano novels, and some are maybe just getting back into the swing of things after school started and other daily things returned to normal last month.

What is everyone up to? I've been busy rewriting with my new night work schedule so my writing time has been a little hectic on my part. I've been still keeping up with my crit groups schedule no problem, and balancing life with all the other things. So my question is simple, what is everyone doing this fall? I hope to start querying in December/January if I can, but the lack of available beta readers is making it difficult to reach that goal.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a fun filled fall and talk to you Friday.

Football weekend

This weekend was football, and you all know how I love the game. 

I have recently joined a fantasy football league with some friends, which I think I've mentioned. I have to say that having the fantasy team makes me more inclined to watch other games closer and other players closer, which makes the Sunday's more enjoyable, however, I get less done around the house. 

I hope everyone had a good weekend, as it's very rainy and wet in Oregon right now.

What are some of the things that distract you from doing tasks around the house when you should be doing them?