Writing Progress

I don't' really have much to say about my writing this week. I've been working pretty steadily on Alana and have made it to the fifth chapter, so that's good. My online writing workshop is going well too, but since it's only the second week, I don't have much to say other than the instructor liked my first assignment.

So that's pretty much it for now. I'm actually going to take a break on posts for the rest of the week since I'm sort of out of ideas for lists at the moment and my hands have been bothering me a lot. I'll be back next week.

Until then.

30 Things: Questions 5

5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?

1. My faith.
2. My writing.
3. My church.
4. My friends.
5. My husband.

Listy Wednesday: Activities I Enjoy

Today I'll list all the things I like to do besides writing. Most of these I don't get to do too often, since my time is super limited, but I still really enjoy them when I can get to them.

1. Reading
2. Doodling
3. Jewelry making
4. Crafting
5. Researching stuff
6. Watching TV
7. Watching movies
8. Baking
9. Learning Spanish
10. Horseback Riding
11. Walking dogs
12. Going on mission trips
13. Volunteering at church
14. Yoga
15. Drawing
16. Gaming
17. Daydreaming
18. Word puzzles
19. Playing cards/board games
20. Hanging out with friends

On Friday, I'll continue 30 Things.

Until then.

Writing Progress

I've been working on the next draft of Alana some more. I've managed to get to the middle of chapter three.

This draft is harder because I'm not just flat out writing stuff. Instead, I'm reading through my previous draft and reworking stuff that needs to be redone. I'm really focusing on descriptions and trying to be more purposeful in them. I'm trying to make them feel more real and less detached. Not an easy task, but I like to think I'm having some success with it.

In other news, I started taking an online writing workshop offered through Writer's Digest University. It covers the basics of fiction writing, so I probably know most of what's going to be covered, but I wanted to take it cause I've not taken many creative writing classes in my life. I figure it might be good to do one on the basics and see what happens. Hopefully it'll be a good experience. And who knows, I might meet some other writers. If it goes well, I might try to take another one next year.

This first week is about description, so I have to turn in a 250 description by Wednesday. Should be fun.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Wednesday, I'll post a list of something. Not sure what yet.

Until then.

30 Things: Question 4

4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.

1. You are beautiful, no matter what you might think now.
2. You will meet people who truly cherish and care about you, so don’t stop looking.
3. You won’t have to deal with the health problems for ever.
4. Storms are coming. Cling to Christ and you will make it through, even when it seems like you won’t.
5. It’s okay to be who you are. The people who matter will love you for it.
6. It’s okay to be girly, when you want to be. It’s also okay to be a tomboy.
7. Don’t be so anxious to grow up. Someday you’ll look back and wish that you’d appreciated being a kid more.
8. Don’t push Tim away. He loves you more than you know and he always will.
9. Remember that despite all the arguments and pain your parents cause, they do love you, even if they don’t know how to show you.
10. Pay more attention to your school work. You’ll regret it later if you don’t.

Listy Wednesday: Pets

I decided that today I'm going to list all the pets I've had over my lifetime. I'll list their names and species, but they won't be in any particular order. Enjoy.

1. Bernadette (Bernie), Guinea Pig
2. Amy, Guinea Pig
3. Parker, Guinea Pig
4. Black Suede (Suede), Rabbit
5. Penny, Dog
6. Honey, Gerbil
7. Raphael (Raphi), Gerbil
8. Slate, Gerbil

And that's it. Friday continues 30 Things.

Until then.

Writing Update: Success

Sorry for the long delay in posts. We had a holiday and then I got sick, so I didn't have time to get all my posts written like I normally do. But I'm back now, so yea!

I bet you're wondering how First Sight is going. Well, good news: I finished the second draft just before Labor Day! The new draft comes in at just over 50k words, which is great since that was part of my goal with this draft. I'm still not super thrilled with the story as a whole, but I think I made real progress on improving it, so that's good.

Since I finished that draft, I've decided to get back to work on Alana. I started working on revising it into a fifth draft. This time, my focus is on really upping the description and wording so it feels more vibrant and alive. I've been rereading a particular series of books and I've found that it's really helped me think about describing things in new ways. Because of this, I feel like I'm doing a lot better at making my description pop. At least I hope so.

More exciting writing news. I have decided that I'm going to take an online writing workshop to help me really hone my novel writing. I only took two creative writing classes in college and neither of them really focused on novels, so I'm going to do that now. I figure it can just help improve my writing. And that's something I really want to do. So I'm gonna get signed up for those shortly.

All right, that's all I've got for today. On Wednesday I'll post some kind of list. Not sure what it'll be about yet.

Until then.