What's your colour?

At the moment we are redecorating. We have been wanting to do this since we moved in Feb 2010.
We started with the kids rooms which have been finished...well, except for the windows and doors! (we like to do things backwards)

Now, we are painting the hallway, lounge and dining (they are pretty much all linked up). This was stemmed from my son and I both being frustrated with the mess that his wardrobe is always in. We decided to build in shelves at either end, with one end having a short bar and a shelf for shoes, under which we will put a basket for his soccer ball etc.
As my husband wants to paint the inside the same as the rest of the house we have ended up choosing colours.

We started with 4 white colours - then i promptly discovered i actually hate white walls! In some houses it works but generally when i walk into a house with white walls i feel a bit uninspired. There's no personality.
I understand that white is clean and modern, but it's not me.
We love our colours. So after my scowling all afternoon husband went back to the paint shop for more samples and came back with 4 creams.
Now this is me! It feels warmer, not so stark or prestine. I am not a tidy person - though every now and then i hate mess and just have to have things organised. I have organised mess! (mostly)
And two young children, an 8 month puppy and a cat, so prestine is not our house!

This got me to thinking about how other people feel about colours, what makes them choose the colours they do, what colours would present my characters and why.
We are actually going to use the same colour in one of my favourite pictures that i used in a scene for my story The Price of Passion, it's the greeny brown on the walls. Resene Mondo! I'm very excited about this!

So, colours.
I love bold, bright colours that represent the personality of the people in the house. But then i do love autumn colours which to me are so warm and inviting. So earthy tones too.

What colours do you like for decorating? How do you choose?

Music that Inspires

I am absolutely in love with a song at the moment. When i saw the video clip it cemented that love.
Okay, so it features snips from Breaking Dawn part 1 but that is not the only reason i love it.

To me it inspires the best romantic feelings. Of having waited and finally possessing the one you love.
Of eternal love.
Of being afraid to give yourself to someone so completely, but then knowing, just knowing that this is the person who is meant for you.

Yep, it's  A Thousand Years by Christina Perry.
Enjoy!

There are lots of writers out there who create musical playlists the represent the mood or feelings of their WIP, have this playing as they write them.

For The Price of Passion i had Closer by Ne-Yo which represented my heroes feelings perfectly, and for Billie it was Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis.

A Thousand Years has so much scope for me at the moment - it is representing Emma and her motivation in Saying No.

What song has inspired you recently?

To critique or not critique...

I've sent Billie and Cooper's story to my writing friend for feedback and she has been picking it apart. Line by line she is telling me where, as a reader she is lost, confused or if something just doesn't work.
Is it helping? Um, yes!

The way she has done it, with constructive feedback and even with examples of rewording, she is showing me where my weaknesses are and how i need to strengthen my story.
Mostly, it has to do with my characters. At the end of chapter 3 she has said there is nothing to make her love either character. Like, yes, but love with the driving need to keeping reading. No.

And that is the point. Every story needs to have compelling characters, something about them that makes you the reader relate or want to root for them.

So, after a bit of a sulk, i've gone back to the beginning and picked apart my characters and the story to make them stronger.

The best part? By helping me she has told me it has made her more aware of her own writing. She is learning from helping.
I found that critiquing Nicole's story that it made me think more about mine, the structure, characters, conflict, even the choice of words about my own writing.
Critiquing teaches you so much about yourself, both as a reader and a writer.

The challenge for the writer is to take the feedback, either made by someone else or by themselves while giving feedback on other writers work, and make their writing better for it!

So, this post could really be a writing tip. Take the time to critique someone else's writing - preferrably in the same genre that you write, but that isn't essential. It will help you become a better writer.

Critiquers/ Editors wanted!

I have decided to post my story - The Price of Passion (see WIP's page) - on Amazon.
But, i need to get a few critiques and/or edits to make it sharper and less generic.
Is there anyone out there willing to do this for me?

It's 50,000 originally aimed at mills and boon. So it's a very internal conflict driven story, with hardly any plot. I like it, but it does need some work.

Let me know and once it's up on Amazon i will give critiquers/editors a free copy of the final work!

Send me an email and i'll wing the WIP your way for your much needed help!
Cheers

Searching the inbox

About 8 weeks ago i submitted The Price of Passion to Embrace books, an epublisher.
At the end of the allotted 6 weeks they informed me it would take to get back to me, i hummed and hahhed, bit my nails and sent a nice email asking about the status of my sub.
Got a very nice reply apologising for taking so long and to expect a reply by the end of the following week.

Last night i checked my email and there it was.... . I spent a good ten seconds considering not opening it until morning but then curiosity got the better of me.
With one part fear (If it was an acceptance i knew i'd have a whole lot of work ahead of me! If an R, what if there was no feedback for why?), and one part excitement (If it was accepted, my dream would be partially coming true - would still prefer to be published in book form), i opened it.

I got a very nice R.
It was full of constructive feedback such as that i didn't use enough dialogue (something i struggle with!); i had resorted to a cliche with my heroines actions; i have good punchy writing but at the wrong times - i need to slow the pace down at crucial moments, not gloss over the important stuff!
But, the editor said i am readable have a good voice, i just used the wrong conventions.

Now i can take this two ways (there are probably more but i'm trying to keep it simple :D):

1. Use the feedback and re-write Billie and Cooper's story, or
2. Use the feedback and apply it to a different set of characters

I think i'm tending towards the second as i have done all i could (at the moment) for Billie and Cooper, and i have other stories on the go. So i'll plod on with those, with the feedback in mind and submit something else when i'm done!

What do you do with your feedback?

Patience and a Writing tip

Um, okay. So i submitted The Price of Passion to embrace books and have patiently (read checked emails every day!) for the allotted 4-6 weeks for a reply. Yesterday was the end of 6 weeks....
Do i send an email and ask how they are going, will this garner an instant R? And if i do send an email WHAT DO I SAY?
I've always heard back within time frames so have never had this happen before! I'd love some advice.


Writing tip: Keep detailed notes.
Have you ever come across a story you are really enjoying and halfway through the hero has different coloured eyes?

I find it hard to keep track of small details like that, though not usually for the MC's!
On my christmas present laptop my husband installed microsoft office which has onenote. It has awesome pages and tabs great for organising my study notes, so i thought....why not use it for writing?
And it is fantastic! A new page for characters, plot etc, each with tabs within the page for different characters, key scenes....
It is making it so much easier to find things at a quick glance, rather than having to read through an entire word document for the bit I want!

So the tip this week, is to keep detailed notes that are quick to find!
Have a great day :)

I've hit send, again!

Not wanting to give up on Billie and Cooper i have just hit send to Embrace Books, an e-publisher, set up by Jane Holland, author.

Man, now i'm nervous! Counting down for six weeks now!!

Giving it another go!

So, despite getting that form R from SYTYCW, i am charging ahead and editing Billie and Cooper's story to try and make it "stronger". I may even consider either submitting it to Embrace Books, or Carina Press, two ebook publishers for consideration.
Or do as my friend Nicole did, and upload it to Amazon.

I just can't let this story go, and would love to have it out there for all to read!
Do you think i should just give it up?
I am working on two other ideas as well, so it's not like it's the only story in my gambit.

What would you do?

Submission result

Well, i opened my email this morning and there was an email from ucanwrite.
My heart stopped then sped up and i waited for oh, a whole five seconds before opening the email with bated breath - just maybe they'll have said they like it, or if not they like my voice and want to see something else...

but no:

Thanks so much for submitting the first chapter and synopsis of your story.  Our editors reviewed the submission with care.  Unfortunately your story was not strong enough for us to consider further.  Good luck with your future writing endeavors and thanks for entering our challenge!


:( It would have been nice to have gotten a bit of feedback on WHY it wasn't strong enough.
Maybe they don't  do that, but it is frustrating that i don't know what i did wrong so how can i stop from doing it again with another story?


Well, to any of you out there lucky enough to get a "we love it", congratulations!


I shall not give up, no siree. One rejection can not stop the need to write!

Points of View

Which character do you find the easiest to write?
Is it from the perspective of the leading lady, or the hero?

It occurred to me this morning, that i seem to find the hero's perspective easier to write from.
Could it be because their feelings and conflicts, aren't simple, but less complicated than a woman's?

Or it could be, i'm remembering a conversation i had with a friend and fellow writer, that we know, as women, what we want in our ideal hero, and it's easier to write him based on that? Throwing him roadblocks and watching how he deals with them, in the way we would want our ideal hero to cope and overcome any obstacles.

I've also found it easier, when first constructing my character's conflicts, to construct the hero.
The female always ends up being too complicated or her conflict unclear and murky.
I hadn't even figured out what Billie's true conflict was until i'd completed the first draft! And that was even after character interviews and countless pages on figuring out personality and background.

So, whose point of view do you find it easier to write from?

I've hit send!

For the final SYTYCW challenge, that is!
Man, i feel a tad sick and whole lotta nervous!! :D  Guaranteed to get a reply by Jan 31 2011.

Good luck to anyone out there with a submission. It is so nerve wracking. I've checked and re checked both synopsis and chapter 1 at least 10 times for spelling, missing words etc. But i bet i'll find more - so guess what? I'm not going to read those bits until i hear back!

And yep, it's for Billie and Cooper's story.

I've finished my draft!

Yay, i wrote the final words for Billie and Cooper's HEA yesterday!

It's a bit under 50,000 but i'm sure this will come up with edits and rewrites. I'm actually looking forward to this part, i have something to work with as opposed to having a blank screen for the what happens next!

Well, i'm going to draft my synopsis - yes you can shudder! - and get the first chapter polished, because i think it needs tweaking even though i had polished it already for the NV comp!
Then sub, Ahh!

Any advice or encouragement for the editing and rewrite stage, even the synopsis is greatly appreciated!

Nano is awesome for encouraging you to write - i've written the most in two weeks that i have EVER written. Bring on next year!

Drained and a realisation

I've just written 2,900 words. That is the most i've written in a sitting ever!
Of course it helps that it is a highly charged, emotional scene, where Billie and Cooper confront their conflicts and realisation dawns. But at a price.
Man am i drained! I am leaving Cooper on the cusp of his realisation of Billie's true conflict - which i only just discovered in this scene and now have to rewrite parts of the story to tighten what had been a rather weak conflict! - as i have nothing left.
For my nano count today is awesome:
day 11 total: 2,897
first word: As
Last word: what?"
Fav line: Before he could respond she stepped forward and he caught that scent, so intoxicating to his senses, like a visible drug, he was forced to pause, inhale deeply, involuntarily.


I actually have more fav lines but as i will probably edit them, this is the one that stands out for me, shows the impact billie has on Cooper and his unwillingness at this stage in the story to deny it. I'm now at 44,567 words and am right on the finish line. I'm so excited!
Hope you are all doing well, your muse has struck and your fingers are flying on the keyboard as mine has tonight! If not, i hope it comes to you soon :)
Good night.

And it's on!

The heat, the desire, the passion, we all know where it leads. I finally have my characters in the master bedroom, one screaming for release the other determined to make it last....
Oh and the results are going to be hot and bothersome, in more ways than one ;)  Have to torture these poor people before they get their HEA!

Oh and i'm going to have to realign my goal. I was hoping to finish this draft by the end of this month, but that was with the expectation i would have three afternoons without my daughter, but she isn't starting public kindy until January.
So new goal if to finish draft by end of november.

My process is painfully slow. I seem to need everything to be perfect, well as perfect as it can be!, straight away. I do the layering, the senses, the dialogue, EVERYTHING, on the first run then tweak it later. (I've done the first three chapters, ready for submission)
Also when it isn't working i take a break until the problem fixes in my subconsious or i suddenly figure out what to do to fix it! This draft has taken me since the beginning of April! a 7 month draft?!!
Well i know i am going to have to be MUCH faster if i ever want to be published - and i do, i really really do! I think i just need more discipline.

How do you write? Bare bones first then layering and editing or are you a perfectionist? How long does it take you to write that first draft?

Standing out from the crowd

Well the list is up on the NV site and sadly i didn't stand out from the crowd as one they wanted to see more of.
What do you think makes someone's writing stand out from the crowd, what does it for you?
But that is not going to stop me from submitting. I think persistance is the key and also, the next two chapters show some really good character development and plot so they may change their minds once they have it and the Synopsis.

Argh. The Synopsis.
Off to write that one, but i am dreading it as i have changed my writing style and have become a Pantser. I'd found once i'd plotted everything out i was then bored and didn't want to write the story anymore!
Maybe if i make the synopsis a little vague...i do know how it will end and i have written 65% of the story, so surely that will be enough without ruining it for me!

First three chapters

That is what i'm working on.
Billie and Cooper's beginning. Re-titled The Price of Passion. I'm polishing and rewriting the start to submit to Harlequin.
I wasn't going to do this until i'd finished writing the entire ms. But prompted by the New Voices comp when i polished the first chapter, i decided why not do the first 3?!
Now i'm just waiting on the list on the NV site to see if i'm one of the ones they are going to be following up before i submit :)
What are you all up to?