It seems every time I write a new post here, I say something about how it's been forever and how I promise I'm going to be more consistent. It's the thought that counts?
Anyway, let's get to a few updates...
1. Life Updates
I am still teaching and loving it. I just finished my second year teaching high school English and it is such a rewarding job for me. I truly love my students and my subject matter.
New news! I have been officially accepted into graduate school! I've already taken a few classes, but in the fall, I will officially be pursuing a Master's of English Rhetoric. I'm pretty stoked about it. If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you'll know this has been a goal of mine for a long time and that many people (read: ACTUAL COLLEGE ADVISORS WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HELPFUL AND SUPPORTIVE) have told me that I wouldn't be able to do so. I'm happy not just to prove them wrong (though that's fun, I won't lie), but above all, I'm happy to finally follow through on a long-time ambition. I will still be teaching and will be going to school part-time.
2. Writing Updates (the best kind...)
Manuscript #2 has been complete for some time as many of you know. Many moons ago, I had some writer friends read it and give me feedback. Their feedback was fantastic, but due to time constraints, busyness, and general confusion about where I wanted the manuscript to go led to a stall in progress. I started by making the simple, mechanical edits. Then I didn't look at it for months. I tried fixing some major sequencing problems but just got frustrated. Then I started writing a sequel (because that's helpful, right?). Then a friend asked me to read their manuscript and how could I resist (It was fabulous, in case you were wondering...)? After a while, I finally figured out what I was doing. I began closing a major plot hole to which my friends had drawn attention. Then I improved the surrounding writing. Then I made a few other smaller improvements.
And now?
IT IS PRINTED.
Yep, I reached that critical moment. I printed it. I squealed over it a little and then got down to business.
And then what happened?
Exam season started at school 😓 It's impossible to get anything creative done when you have to write exams, clean your classroom, help students review, wrap up other end-of-the-year stuff, get gifts for a retirement party, and try to get enough sleep.
But now, it is summer, and for the first time since I started college in 2012, I am not taking any classes of any kind over the summer, so I actually have quite a bit of free time this summer.
So I will now read through it and make some final edits and then I will have some different friends read it. Some will be writers, some not. I want a lot of perspectives. Hopefully (she said ambitiously) I will really have something by the end of the summer and will feel comfortable querying in the fall.
WHEW
(giphy.com)
Other writing updates:
Every November, there is an event called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). If you haven't heard of it, basically it's an event for novel writers. These ambitious souls set out to write a novel in a month (writing about 1,667 words a day, give or take). It has always sounded like so much fun to me, but November is possibly the worst month of the year as a teacher AND a student because that is the busiest time of the academic calendar, so I've never participated.
I've decided to throw convention to the wind. Who says I have to participate during November? Why can't I do it in another month? Sure, I won't actually be participating in the official NaNoWriMo event, but who says I can't follow the 1667 guideline in another month when I have time?
As the non-conformist that I am, I have decided to do just that. This June, I will attempt to finish that sequel I started (I currently have about 5,000 words). Sure, it will probably be pretty terrible, but it will be written, which is the very important first step. Plus, it'll be a fun experience and a way to keep busy this summer as well as flex my creative muscles. I'm looking forward to it!
Also, I am always submitting short stories to magazines in the hopes of getting one of them published. Fingers crossed!
(giphy.com)
So those are all of my updates. Let me know your thoughts and have a wonderful summer! Maybe I'll actually post within a year this time! 😏
If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you know I studied creative writing in college. Well, when I graduated, several of my former classmates found me on facebook and asked to stay in touch. We have a massive facebook group where we just post stuff we're working on and ask for feedback.
It. is. awesome.
So last fall, I posted on there asking if any poor soul would be willing to read completed manuscript #2. I know it is a little short and it needs more detail, but I didn't know what to add. I was too close to the work and I needed perspective that wasn't mine.
Now, I didn't actually think anyone would take me up on that offer. It's long, we're all busy, and I was asking my friends who had only ever read maybe 14 pages at most from me to suddenly sit down and read 230 pages. However, two lovely friends accepted!
After they finished reading, we met up during spring break and discussed the book. We sat there for hours talking about just about everything. Here are some reasons that this was a great experience:
1. Hearing other people discuss your work is FUN.
No one had ever laid eyes on this work before (other than me, obviously). It was all still in my head, even though it was recorded on a computer screen. But hearing other people talk about my characters, my setting, the plot, and so on was really fun. Watching them geek out over the romantic scenes, vent over the irritating characters, and laugh over the funny moments was fun. It made the whole thing feel real.
2. Writing friends have a unique perspective.
I've discussed this before, but writing friends are totally different kinds of friends. They understand the convoluted process in your brain. They know the struggle, the persistence, the frustration, the self-hatred, the excitement, and the nerves that are a part of writing. In this particular case, these were also friends that knew my writing style because I took several classes with them. There's nothing like friends who understand exactly how you feel and what you're trying to do.
3. They see things in a new light.
I've also discussed this before, but new perspective definitely helps. One of them suggested completely restructuring my novel format to better tell the story and avoid lag time. Her suggestion made me bristle initially, but the more I thought about it, the more ideas I got for exactly how to do it. While I'm still not sure exactly how I'm going to do it, she gave me a lot to think about. They also point out your weaknesses that you know are there, but they offer suggestions for how to fix them. They even point out weaknesses you didn't know were there. I thought the time setting was clear, but they were confused. This is invaluable information.
I haven't actually started revisions on this yet because I'm a teacher and the end of the year was CRAZY (yes, that is my excuse), but I am so excited to start. I know the manuscript will only get better with this feedback. Consult writing friends! They are the best!
Hello all!
So last month I attended a writer's conference at a local university.
Let me be honest here: This was my first writers conference. I know, I know, I've heard all the advice from literally everyone in the writing/publishing world about how you should go to writers conferences, but I never really thought it was necessary. I didn't see what I could possibly gain from going.
But then the school I work for offered to let me go and take students with me (side note: I run a creative writing club and they thought it would be a cool field trip). So I did. I took students with me and we went. It was a two day conference and let me tell you something:
It was worth it.
I say that as possibly the biggest skeptic of those kinds of things. I couldn't see spending hundreds of dollars on a two day event to hear everything I've already learned from research. And I did hear a lot of repeated information, but I also heard a lot of new things.
It was fun, first of all, just to talk with other writers. It's very affirming to feel like what you love matters (because it does) and getting to share that excitement with people who feel the same way. It's also cool because you get writing prompts and learn new tricks for writing. I met some pretty cool professors and local authors who are "living the dream," so to speak. I made contacts I didn't think I could ever make until after I was published.
And I had fun.
This conference was modestly priced and I don't think I would attend one of the pricier ones simply because I don't make enough to throw money at stuff like that. But I would definitely go again. I got so much inspiration about my completed novel, my WIP, and some new ideas. I heard some things that I had learned be reinforced. I chatted with groups of people who gave me new insight on old problems. I got to watch my students soak up every minute and talk excitedly about it afterward. I also felt affirmed as a writer.
As a result, I can now add to my creds that I attended a writers conference. I joined a writers organization during the conference (also on my creds). And the major breakthrough I had with edits for my completed novel cannot be understated.
So as a major skeptic of writers conferences, let me tell you:
Go to a writers conference.
You know, I used to secretly criticize people in my head when they didn't continuously update their blogs. I always thought they were such slackers. Then I became one of them.
The truth is that life happens. So, this is my attempt to get back to updating more regularly.
The reason I've been MIA is that I just graduated from college, got a job about a week later, and went full speed ahead into preparing. I am teaching high school English, which is super exciting. As soon as I got the job, I started taking education classes, attending seminars, lesson planning, and so on. So it's been super busy on my end. Being a first year teacher is hard work!
BUT that doesn't mean I've neglected writing. I've been a little slower lately, but I'm still writing. I have currently sent completed manuscript #2 to a couple of beta readers. It's still a little short and I've reached the point where someone else's eyes need to see it because mine are no longer helpful. I'm excited for that feedback!
I'm also still working on finishing my current WIP, but because I'm me, I couldn't resist starting a new project. It just seems weird to me to only be writing one thing at a time. So I actually got a pretty good idea for a sequel to completed manuscript #2, so I've started writing that too. Obviously it's still in the early stages, but I'm excited to see where it'll go. I may even get more ideas from the beta feedback.
These two projects are very special to me. The first manuscript I wrote was exactly that: the first. It's rough, full of plot holes, inconsistent, and not my best writing. But it was the first and it will always hold a special place in my heart. Plus the experience I gained from writing it made these other two projects possible. Maybe one day (after a LOT of editing) it'll see publication.
But for now, I'm excited about these two. I can totally see the potential they have. Although my wonderful job has slowed me down a little, I'm still fully dedicated to making one (or both!) of these a reality.
So that's my life update. Keep writing, people. Even if it's hard. Even if you're busy. If you really love it, you'll still love working on it.
More updates to come (I promise).
Wow, so it's been approximately a million years since I added to this blog. Sorry about that! The last five months or so have been a little crazy. First of all, it was my last semester of college, so... yeah. That was busy. Three cheers for graduating though!
Also, I completed my second novel (that deserves several more cheers!). My second novel is very different from my first. Though both are YA, the first was an angsty fantasy while this one is a romantic coming-of-age. The two protagonists from these two novels couldn't have been more different (see my earlier post "Pushy Protagonists" for more on that), but they are both very near and dear to my heart. I'm very excited about this newest project. I'm currently in the process of editing and seeking out beta readers... more on that to come!
OKAY. Now that the update is out of the way, let's actually get to the matter at hand (aka the title of this post). Because I am determined to never take a break, I also have a third WIP (work in progress, for those new to the writing acronym world). I've had this third WIP for a while. I started writing it long ago, but I gave up on it after a couple thousand words because I decided it just wasn't the right story for me (you can read more about this one too in my post "Never Delete Anything and Never Give Up" where the WIP is dubbed manuscript #2. Apparently this is the part of the program where I plug my own blog on my blog). But I went back to it and alternated between that one and the one I just completed. I am now more than halfway through it and I'm feeling really good. It's coming together. I know where I'm going with the story (which is a first for me), and I like how it's turning out.
So here comes the twist: this manuscript features a dual timeline.
Okay, so let's pause right there. For those who don't know, a dual timeline novel is a novel in which the timeline of the story is split into two different segments. Sometimes the two segments meet at some point,and sometimes they are a little more distanced, but they are very interesting to read.
The first dual timeline I ever read was Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver of the Delirium series.
(Okay, I know I talk about Delirium a lot, but for real guys, if you haven't read that series, read it. You won't regret it.)
Pandemonium is the second book of the series. Without giving anything away, I can tell you that Delirium ends with some unanswered questions in the best way. I was eager to know what happened in the rest of the series, so I immediately grabbed Pandemonium, started skimming, and realized I was reading a totally different story.
Except I wasn't.
Oliver chose to divide the book into two timelines, dubbing them "Now" and "Then." The book begins in a "Now" chapter, but what I really wanted to know was what happened "Then"? "Then" picks up right after the end of Delirium, whereas "Now" picks up some time later. The two stories eventually meet in the end.
I tore through the first few chapters of the book and quickly realized I was fully invested in both timelines. As each chapter ended, I was sad to have to wait to see what happened in one timeline, but was eager to get back to the other. It was fascinating. I have since read several dual timeline novels and I love them. They are really cool to read.
That's actually how I broke writer's block on this current WIP. I realized that traditional storytelling format didn't fit this story (pretty typical of the protagonist, if you ask me. He's a little bit of a nonconformist troublemaker). So I switched the formatting to a dual timeline and ohmygoodness it is sooo much better. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite formats and I'm definitely planning on using it in the future.
But I've discovered some inherent difficulties that come with trying to write in this format that I hadn't expected. Here's what I learned about writing a dual timeline:
1. Keeping little details straight is SO much harder.
This particular story is a magical realism (with a little bit of dystopian type stuff thrown in) so it's a little complicated. Trying to keep the dynamics of a story with fantastical elements straight is already hard enough. Trying to keep them straight when you're writing in two different timelines? SO hard!
Even trying to keep little things straight like which scene came before which becomes much harder. I constantly have to go back and check what happened when. It's not a huge roadblock, but be aware of it if you choose to write a dual timeline.
2. You can still write a dual timeline chronologically.
I don't usually write in chronological order, so I wasn't concerned with the fact that this chronology was going to be totally crazy. However, writing a dual timeline as the reader would read it is kind of impossible. If that's how Lauren Oliver and others did it, then I have crazy levels of respect for them. I can't do it.
Here's what I did. I use Scrivener, which is a software program designed for writers. It is literally the best (side note: I am not getting paid to say this. I just love Scrivener that much). Scrivener lets you split your novel into individual chapters and scenes. When I first started writing, I tried to alternate between Now and Then but it got super confusing. So what I did was create two chapter folders in Scrivener. One is titled "THEN" and the other is titled "NOW." See where I'm going with this? I have two master lists of scenes, one for each timeline. When the novel is complete, I will splice them together the way I want them, adjusting as necessary. But having them split like this makes it so much easier for now. Basically, the story is in chronological order right now. I still write out of order, but when I scroll through the scenes, they are in order. It makes keeping things straight a whole lot easier.
3. Trying a new technique makes you feel so awesome.
I like to think I'm a fairly good writer, but nothing makes you feel like a legit writer like trying something new and liking it. Writing in a format I'd never tried before was a very daunting undertaking (and still is at times), but when a scene comes out really well, or you make the perfect connection between the two timelines, it feels really good. I know I'm far from knowing everything about writing, but successfully writing a dual timeline kind of feels like mastering it. I am currently doing it successfully, so surely I can do it again. Or try something else and master that. It's fun.
It also breaks up the monotony. I love writing, but the first two manuscripts were similar in a lot of ways. Both YA, both first person, both young, female protagonists, both traditional storytelling, and so on. But this one is different. Not only is this one different because even though it's YA, the protagonist is a teenage guy (which is a topic for a whole other blog post... help me...), but it is super different because the storytelling is totally different. It distinguishes it from my other works in a really cool way.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that venturing out of your writing comfort zone is fun.
I've really enjoyed writing this WIP and I'm still enjoying it. I'm very excited to see how it turns out. In the future, I'll definitely be up for more dual timelines and for trying new things. I have always wanted to do a dual perspective..... hmm.....
KMG
