Wednesday, November 30, 2011

What do you feel when

you come up with the perfect title for your manuscript?

Glee?

Elation?

Relief?

Me, well, I feel all of those. Especially because coming up with the perfect title* for my current project has been a long road, and I don't feel like I can really work on something unless it has a name beyond WIP1 or @)(*&Q#$)(*%)@#(*!!!!! (<---This is a common stand in.)

No title is like not naming your children until they are 18 and headed out the door.** Too late. I try and make my titles capture the essence of the book in question, so once I find a fitting one I hang onto it for dear life. It's my fall back when I lose my theme or core of my story.

So, yeah. Call me a big bundle of Gleelation (that's really happeh, people.) I found the one.

Relieved? You bet. Which is probably what Wendy Corsi Staub felt when her work finally got the go-ahead title:



along with Mr. Green


and George Pelecanos



The HELL TO PAY by Wendy Corsi Staub was the book that brought about this blog post. Hot off the gleelation of finding a title for my WIP, I was perusing the book aisle at walmart when I saw it. The sight prompted me to first burst out laughing and then to do a quick search on Amazon, which is what led me to the others. There's even a Hillary Clinton book with Hell to Pay in the title. Needless to say, this just reinforces the belief that creativity is unlimited, but ideas aren't.

Just when you go a'thinking you're somethin' speshul.... Yeah. Not so much.

Consolation: None of those books are anywhere near mine in terms of theme or plot. Hell, none of them are even the same genre. So no harm, no foul.

Have a great one, everybody :).


*Yes, I know that titles usually get changed, but com'on--this one's perfect. (because I'm the only one with a perfect title...LOL.)

**This is a bad metaphor, I know. Books aren't children. And the writers who treat them as such generally end up never getting them out the door. That's right, those bookbabies become 40 year-old stay-at-home children who crow about the glory days of high school and wipe potato chip grease on your recliners.

Monday, November 28, 2011

NaNo Update, Day #it'stoolatenow

For all you Wrimos frantically writing away, I applaud your wherewithal.

As far as how my NaNo went, well. Eh.

I stopped around 22k. I believe I hit that mark on about day 13, but then that pesky life happened. *le sigh* I haven't been writing much lately, but I've been making up for it by reading.

I have stinkin' missed reading, y'all. I raced through The Hunger Games trilogy in two days over Thanksgiving, and I'm still thinking about the series today, so Suzanne Collins wins. LOL. (And I'm still not sure how I feel about some parts of that series. It's most perplexing.) I've got a little everything in my to-be-read pile, from contemporary thrillers to YA fantasy to paranormal romance to documentary-style prose.

And I absolutely can't wait.

What're you guys reading? Still NaNo-ing?

Saturday, November 12, 2011

NaNo Update, Day 12

I'm at 17, 281 right now. Technically, I should be at around 18k, but life happened in the middle of the week and I was unable to get any writing time in. At one point, in fact, I was behind by about 5k--I've narrowed it down to only about a thousand words behind, which makes me pretty happy. Or atleast lessens the drowing feeling...kinda.

Hopefully I can catch up today.

As far as yesterday, I really struggled to get going. I wasn't sure what I wanted to throw at my characters next (read: I'm pantsing the hell out of this WIP) and was generally feeling pretty blah. Being ~5k behind schedule isn't a fun feeling and can be more than a little overwhelming. Thankfully I got in a groove a couple hundred words in and went on from there, finishing with a few thousand that I'm okay with.

Try as I might, I can't seem to get ahead for anything. But I'll settle for being close, for now. Maybe, once I sit down to write today, I can get on a roll.

How's your NaNo going?

Currently listening to: the tv blaring and Wednesday the MonsterCat meowing.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Nano-ing-ness. Day 10.

11,210.

I know, I know, I'm behind. I've got all day to try and catch up though, so that's what I'll be doing.

Favorite lines from the last day's work:
“We do well for ourselves,” it preened. “These communities are like the richest meals. You can really taste the full-bodied flavor of desperation.”
So, yeah. That's it.

Hope y'all are managing better than I am!

Currently listening to Alone With You--Jake Owen (<--sexy.)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

NaNo Update, day 6ish.

Currently listening to: Monster You Made--Pop Evil.


Hell to Pay Wordage: 8,222. A little behind quota, but I'm not worried. I love where this thing is going. It's creepy and fantastic*. And creepy.

Did I mention creepy?

The Painted Queen Wordage: 70,400. I've got more story than I thought *coughcough* (or a beginning that goes on a long time before anything happens). I meant to finish the rough draft around 70k, but that's not going to happen. Probably will be around 90k before it's all said and done. Christmas break, oh where art thou?

That's all for now--hope you other WriMos are rocking it :)

*I think it's fantastic. Let's hope that's consensus, anyways.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Day 2 of NaNo

November 2nd. Day 2 of NaNoWriMo.

Progress?--Meh. Debatable.

I'm at 1,724, which is basically a daily goal. Not as much as I'd hoped to get done, but that's life. I did, however, find a blog background that fits the theme of my current WIP. (Somewhere on this blog I mentioned that I try to pick a fitting background and leave it for the duration of whatever project I'm working on. The last one was Cliffs of Moher-ish, which worked with the celtic-theme WIP I had going. As you can see, this WIP is a little darker.)

Favorite lines thus far: 
She let out a sigh and punched the radio dial off. Dad hated that song, and if he hadn’t of been a folded up flag riding shotgun, he’d of told her to change it.
So, how'd you other WriMos do?