31 Day Challenge ~ Blog Everyday in January

I'm the type of person that usually does well when I have goals and/or due dates. When I don't have anything to strive for, I do things all willy nilly or not at all. That's why I like to take on challenges to give myself swift kicks in the pants whenever needed. Like now...

image from Babylon Search Engine

I'm going to start the new year off right by blogging everyday in January. I always have issues trying to come up with blog topics so I did a search for ideas on Pinterest and found all kinds of things to talk about.

To make things a little easier on myself, I'm going to attempt to write two to three posts a day and just schedule them. Since I already have a list of things I want to talk about, fleshing out a few ideas a day shouldn't be too hard to do.

image from ndigo.com

This blog started off as what I guess is called a lifestyle blog so I'll return to that for a while. Fear not, I'll still create writing related posts whenever I have something helpful or informative to talk about but for the most part I'll return to my roots--RANDOMNESS!

Do you like taking on challenges? What are some things you've done to make yourself more productive?

Playtime is almost over ~ Writing Plans for the New Year

photo from erincondren.com

I'm not much for resolutions but I set all kinds of goals for myself from fitness to budgeting and all other things in between.  With the end of December and my self-imposed break approaching quicker than I anticipated, I've been thinking about my upcoming writing goals.

One of the last courses I'm taking this month is called Scrivener for Beats on Udemy.com by Sean Platt, a writer whom I've mentioned in a previous post. Beats are Sean's version of outlining stories, with pictures of actors that could portray the characters in a movie. He also includes pictures of locations that the story could possibly take place.

I attempted this a few years ago when I first encountered Scrivener but I lost all of my pictures and notes when my PC started acting crazy.  I was forced to practically wipe my whole system clean, which made me cry like a new born baby for about 2 days (Don't judge me).

The notes I made were nowhere near as detailed as the ones in Sean's video. I can't wait to get started working on my failed NaNoWriMo 2014 project again. It's a good story, I guess it wasn't time for me to write it then. Once I apply Sean's tips, I'll be in a much better place than I am now.

Have you set any goals or resolutions for 2015? Tell me about them.

As always, happy writing.
I'll Holler!!!

Writer's Digest Blogging Course

The third course that I am taking this month is called Blog Your Way to Success.  I downloaded the bundle of videos and ebooks from the Writer's Digest Shop.

This blog writing course includes the following items

• 50 Ways to Increase Your Blog Traffic
• How to Blog a Book
• Build Your Author Platform Through Blogging OnDemand
• From Blog to Agent to Book Deal: Writer's Digest Conference Session
• Is Your Blog a Book:  When, How, Why (and Why Not)Your Social Media Could Become a Traditionally Published Book
• Author Blogs: How to Get Started with This Platform Essential - and Use It To Snag An Agent

I've watched a couple of the videos which are in PowerPoint presentation form.  Some of the tip are techniques that I already use in this blog but I want to improve this space so I can be on point when I start my next one.

It may seem like I have a lot going on in the midst of the holidays but hey, I still have to make a living when the festivities are over and done with.  

Is your blog the best it can be?  How do you plan to increase your views? 

As always, happy writing.

I'll holler!  

Udemy Writing Course

Another writing course that I am taking is in video form, which makes it easier to take simultaneously with the other course that I mentioned in my previous post.

The name of the class is Write. Publish. Repeat. Conversations.  The course is part 2 of a book of the same name minus the "Conversations".  Johnny B. Truant, Sean Platt and David W. Wright are the instructors of the class as well as the authors of the book.  These full-time, self-published storytellers are currently my heroes.  They are primarily fiction authors of so many books I can't keep up with the number.  They write across pretty much all of the genres at break neck speed.  I think they wrote a million words last year.

Johnny, Sean and Dave also share their writing journey in non-fiction work with readers of their books and listeners of their podcasts.  Which is what they've done in the Udemy.com class mentioned above. There are a total of 30 videos and I am half way through them.

I'm sure I'll learn a lot from these guys because they write their butts off and their fans love them (myself included). To learn more about this writing team, go to SterlingandStone.net (not .com~that's jewelry and whatnot.)

When I am done with this course, I will move on to Planning & Outlining Novels Using Scrivener. Sean Platt is the instructor of that class.

What about you? Do you or have you taken a writing course? If so, which one? Was it helpful?

This is all for today. Happy Writing.

I'll holler!

AWAI Copywriting Course

What I'm up to...

I mentioned in the last post that I was going to be taking some online writing classes.  The first of several classes that I have on my list is called The Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting.

Six Figure??? That's what caught my attention.

The program was created by a group of writers from American Writers & Artists Inc. most widely known as AWAI.  This community is made up of a number of successful copywriters that share their knowledge of marketing with people that are interested in writing for a living.

From direct mail letters to online sales pages, copywriters write all forms of marking for companies. Copywriters can specialize in certain areas from nutrition to finance.  You can learn more about this group of writers and instructors at www.awaionline.com.

What I Hope to Accomplish...

Those of you that followed my blog during NaNoWriMo may be wondering why a fiction writer is interested in writing non-fiction.  Well, I love writing, all kinds of writing.  I plan to write for a living one day and I do not want to limit myself and my earning potential.

I'm pretty sure being a storyteller can help me relate to the customers that I'll be writing to.  The skills obtained from being a copywriter will be very helpful when it comes time to market my novels and also to help when I create my author website/blog.  So it's a win/win situation.

In all honesty, I get bored doing the same thing for a long period of time so I will feel good about having different projects to work on to break up the monotony.

Don't get it twisted, I'm a stickler for schedules and timeliness so I don't think I will ever have a problem completing tasks.  Now I'm a realist and I do realize that things will come up that are outside of my control but I don't anticipate that happening very often (figures crossed).

How About You?

What kind of writing life are you trying to lead? Do you want to write for a living or just for fun?

No matter what...Happy Writing.

I'll holler.

NaNoWriMo 2014 is almost over ~ Now what?

Today is the last day of NaNoWriMo and as I mentioned before, I have not reached the goal of 50,000.  I am not sad about it because it will be a great novella once I finish it so it's all good.  Now what?

Reading...

December is going to be my resting phase, well for writing but I plan to do a lot of reading by the end of the year.  Novels are my favorite of course but I have number of non fiction books on my list. Plus I'm going to be taking a writing class or two.  I will get into more detail about the classes at a later date.

Writing...

In January, I will be back to writing or at least editing my works in progress.  It's my plan to have the first book in my Sassy Johnson series ready for publication by April 2015. It's going to take a couple of rewrites and professional edits to get to that point but I think it will be down by then.

Blogging…

I do plan to keep blogging. As a matter of fact I may challenge myself to write at least 100 posts in 2015.  I think the best way for me to do that would be to write a few posts at a time and schedule them to upload once or twice a week.

I thought about starting a new blog as well. Blogger has been good to me but I want to have my own domain.  When I decide on a theme or niche I'll work on creating the new site but in the mean time, I will be here.

What about you?

Congrats to those that met or exceeded the goal and good luck to those who fell short because you can always continue the story at a later time.  I hope you all had a great time during NaNo regardless of your status. 

Happy Writing. I'll holler.

NaNoWriMo 2014 ~ Day 13

I haven't had this hard of a time writing since 2009.  The story premise is great but I just can't seem to flesh it out.  My muse has been telling me to finish editing the stories that I have already done.

Fine time to tell me but I was probably ignoring him anyway.  I was doing my own thing. Now I need him, but he won't help me.

When I ask for some ideas or inspiration, he pretends that he doesn't hear me at first. Then he's like, "You talking to me?  I thought you knew what you were doing."  God, I hate that guy sometimes.

I'm thinking he may be right though.

Some people may say that this is nothing but self doubt creeping in but honey boom (not boo boo), if you saw all the works in progress that I have you would slap me.

It just occurred to me that maybe this story is supposed to be a short story but I'm trying to make it be something it's not meant to be.  That may sound crazy but hey it's just a thought.

Now I don't want to be labeled as a quitter so...

• I will continue to work on this year's NaNo as much as possible.  
• I will not continue to beat myself up over missing word count goals.  
• I will start rewriting one of my other novels so I will feel productive.

Hey, you don't have to be like me.  Keep doing your thing and good luck.

Happy NaNo-ing!
I'll holler.

NaNoWriMo 2014 ~ Day 8

I am more than 2000 words behind on my word count and feeling kind of sad about it.  It's not like my ideas aren't continuously flowing it's just that I am having a hard time getting an hour to myself to really flesh out my ides.  I mean, I'm writing a paragraph here and a sentence there but not enough to meet my daily word count and it's driving me insane.  Family, friends and life in general keep begging for my attention and even though I try to tell them that I need a little time to myself, they pretty much ignore me.

During times like this I sit around and try to image how my life will be as a full time writer and I keep coming back to the fact that I will--

a) Always have to wait until everyone leaves the house or goes to sleep to write. 

b) Have to leave the house myself and post up at the library or in a freaking parking lot to get some privacy and a piece of mind.

I hope the rest of you are doing well with your word counts. If not just keep going like I plan to. Even if we don't reach 50,000 by November 30, it will be more than we had November 1.

Happy NaNo-ing...
I'll holler

NaNoWriMo 2014 ~ Day 4

I love NaNoWriMo with all my heart, to the moon and back as they say. But, it's driving me crazy all ready.  It's my fault though, cause I wasn't as prepared as I should have been.

Note to self and other writers--

If you are writing a series, be sure to re-read the previous book or books in the series so you won't make stupid mistakes.

Man, I was bringing folks back from the dead, calling folks by the wrong name and not remembering if  the character had 6 siblings or 9. 

Another good idea to do is have what I'm going to call a post outline. I have an outline that gives me a route that I could go in while I'm writing but I need an outline that documents where I really did take the story.  Basically a chapter summary. 

This may seem like common sense and I would have said that myself before I saw all of the ooops moments I had.  

Whew! End rant...

My total word count is 6050.  I was hoping to be at 8000 but crap happens.  If (or when) I'm too lazy to let you guys know my status, there is a little box to the left that will show you my total word count. Now sometimes the NaNoWriMo site "be in his feelings" but as soon as I'm able, I do update the total.

I hope that you are doing well with your novel. Happy NaNo-ing! 

I'll holler...

NaNoWriMo 2014 ~ Day 1

I thought about it but I couldn't make myself start writing at Midnight.  My outline wasn't done (it's still not done) so I wanted to milk as much time as possible.

My personal goal was between 2000 and 3000 although the official goal is 1667. Guess what I hit 2050 words.  It took me all freaking day to do it but it got done by 8:00 pm CST.  It feels good because if I stay at this pace, I will finish NaNoWriMo by November 25, which would feel really good.

I believe I did a no no today.  I started my novel with the character waking up. Now she was dreaming about sexy men and woke up in the arms of her even sexier boyfriend. That's a good thing, right?

How was your first day? Let me know.  And also, is there a such thing as too much tea? Really? I didn't think so.

NaNoWriMo 2014 ~ Sneak Peek

I am continuing my Sassy Johnson private detective series so part of my preparation is already done.  However, I do have to work on what happens in her main case as well as any minor cases she will have going simultaneously.  As usual, I also need to look in on her love life periodically to make sure she's not trying to run that sweet young Jason Quince away.

The working title for this year's novel is Motherly Love.  I decided to get kind of creative and made a book cover for it.

 Lord knows I don't know anything about cover design but doesn't this cover pique your curiosity?  You know the story has to do with a mother and her child.  You also know that the mother either is or was in prison. Who's that baby's daddy? Now you'll find that out soon enough. What is Sassy's role in all this? Snooping around duh, that's what she does best. Well, besides making a mean margarita.

Stay tuned if you want to find out more.  Later good people, I'll holler!

Let's Do This NaNoWriMo Again

   

     It's really a shame that I haven't blogged since last year during NaNoWriMo. And what's even sadder is that I didn't even let you guys know if I won or not.  Well...

     I wrote over 51,000 words of the second novel in the Sassy Johnson series.  This year I'll be doing number three.  My plan is to write 75,000 words this year, which means I have to do around 2,666 words a day.  Now if I do that for the entire 30 days, I will have a whopping 79,980 by the end of the month. 

     This goal is pretty ambitious but I think I can do it, or get pretty damn close.

     I've drafted a working outline, that I'm pretty happy with but I'm sure will get tweaked here and there as the story unfolds.

Well that's enough messing around, let's get to work planning these magnificent novels we are going to write next month.

Until later, I'll holler.