Zee’s Comments (group member since Feb 22, 2017)

Zee’s comments from the Bisky's Twitterling's Scribbles! group.

I think reading across the spectrum shows you different styles, different ways, how it's done/not done.If you want to write literature, you need to read literature, BUT you should also, once or twice, read its opposite, aka popular fiction, to see what NOT to be done in your type of stories. Same goes vice versa for popular fiction v/s literature.

I have a basic formula I follow for all my books, derived from the 'trashiest' of them all - Harlequin category romances. Here's how it goes for me; all my books follow this layout:

Characters meet - External Conflict - Internal Conflict - Black Moment - Resolution.

As simple as that! If I'm writing a shorter, say 15-30K story, I dial down the external conflict to just them meeting and then focus on Internal Conflict (GMC comes into play here) and so on.
If I'm doing a longer book (80-100K), then I will find ways to multiply the External Conflicts leading to a slow burn of the Internal Conflict.

Clear as mud, right? *wink*

I'm like G.G. - not a morning person per se, but I find I write better in the mornings. Could be that I have the house to myself (so quiet and uninterrupted time) then as the hubby and kid are out to work and school. I've also written during the day (an uninterrupted block of time works for me), but I can never conjure words up in the evening or at night. It's like my brain is on strike then, LOL!

I build mine, but it mostly stays in my head. Once I get to 'know' a character, it feels like I know a person and I go with that

My Goals:

Complete remaining 17K on 35K story in my Daimsbury Chronicles series & publish that.
Translate said 35K story into French & publish.

Re-publish 2 50K stand alones reverting to me this year
Translate said 2 50K books in French and publish.

Write other 40K spin-off from above Daimsbury book & publish
Translate said book to French & publish

Start on 80K Book2 in my Havisham Park series

Finish 2 60K books co-written with my bestie in our UF series

Bisky wrote: "I use the excuse of being in my early twenties when I wrote my first novel and that's why it's so bad. But I'm sure I can hear Christopher Paolini laughing at me somewhere in the distance :p"

LOL! I use the excuse I was self-taught...and I keep learning every day/week/month/year :)

There's definitely growth, made more visible when years pass between your books. I look at the stuff I wrote in, say, 2012 now and I cringe at times, LOL

I can't write every day. Short bursts and flares for me, a bit like NaNo sessions. I also need to have a 'free' period in between my work schedule (I'm a freelance editor) so I know I don't have any client's deadline on me and I can then focus on my work.

I sometimes for months between writing bursts. Last one was 4 months - I'd written in October 2016 and I picked up again in February 2017. It helps that I have an outline that I can just follow when I get back to it. Never been a pantster, so no idea if I would've been able to wing it that way.