Write in 2014 discussion

I have so many goals for writing that I tend to get a head of myself. My main goal is to just get writing EVERYDAY! I've been working on a first novel and one of my biggest things right now is trying to work on character development. So here goes a short list (to be added to/amended)

Working on my first novel in progress...Untitled (so far)
1. Write Everyday!
2. Commit to 500 words or 2 pages each day.
3. Spend an hour a day getting to know characters. Includes creating complete character sketches, answering Q&A, dialogue practice and even putting them in short stories/chapters. Also research, character family trees/connections, etc.
4. Work on modifying/adding detail to outline when and where needed. (? Hours a week?)
5. Participate in one monthly challenge. Example: Writer's Digest "Your Story" Flash Fiction contest w/ writing prompt (See details: http://www.writersdigest.com/YourStory/)
6. Finish First Draft of Untitled Book by the End of the Year. (Women's Fiction Genre)

Later...
7. Edit first draft of book.

New additions....
8. Work on plot development. "Show. Don't Tell!!" Edit out narration and replace with action in previous chapters written and continue in this format from here forward.

Feel free to let me know what you think! Good or bad:)

It is always good to set goals...i've heard people say they are dreams with timelines. Let me know how it goes. :)

So far I have...

- A brief outline of the whole book
- A one page synopsis of the book
- Chapter one - First Draft (2,876 words - 6 1/2 pages)
- Partial Character Analysis for Main Character (Emmaline or Em for short)
- Very Brief Beginning character analysis for Secondary Characters (Isabella (Izzy); Merilyn (Meri); Ramona (Rae), Karla, John, Abigail (Abby), Chris; Ethan)

That is where you are and you have your goals above. What end product are you reaching for?

I hope to finish a first draft of the full book by the end of the year..I don't know if that is too ambitious or what? but I'm gonna try

Go for it. I can now see where you are at right now, where you are going and how you plan on getting there. You are way further along than most people just by having these clear goals and deadlines in your head and also written down.

Thanks..that's really helpful...I don't know about you but I can get down on myself and insecure especially when it comes to things like being creative and writing...so that really helps me to stay focused on my goal and know that i"m right where I should be..thanks much!

Ugh..I'm such a slacker!! I worked for about 4 hours updating my main character's bio/profile/character sketch on Thursday and Friday for about an hour but I didn't get to my writing this weekend:( Bad I know!?

It's a new Day...time to get writing...

I worked on my writing today! Yay. That's the good news. THe bad news...I only got a paragraph done...ugh...but there is always more time in the day... and I'm adding a new goal to my writing in 2010...check out my first post #8...I"m going to edit it now..

You can definitely finish a first draft in one year! Just set your mind to it, and when in doubt, keep writing. Write descriptions or other general stuff until you know what comes next - those things can easily be deleted in the edits to come. To keep writing and only stop at enticing paragraphs is key, at least it's been so for me.

Malin wrote: "You can definitely finish a first draft in one year! Just set your mind to it, and when in doubt, keep writing. Write descriptions or other general stuff until you know what comes next - those thin..."
Thank u! That really means a lot to me...to get my ass in gear and just write through! Ill let u know how the progress goes

Good! I might just harass your ass if you don't ;)

Hey Cathy! Good work, and I like you're cubical name. :) Welcome!

♥ Tink ♥ (Paige) wrote: "Hey Cathy! Good work, and I like you're cubical name. :) Welcome!"

Thanks Tink!

Yesterday and Today I have been revising my first chapter of my Novel-To-Be to focus on "Showing instead of Telling"...I have a lot of work in front of me...but you know what? I'm having fun doing it! So I think that's more important than anything...

I put in a good hour yesterday and so far an hour today...

I've been fairly good today...I'm still working on a major edit of my first chapter...adding action where there is too much he said she said stuff..

To take a bit of a break from the block-inducing plot of my story; I started to work on a Flash Fiction piece using the main character of my novel as a way of practing my writing and extracting a small piece of my story - a chapter, a relationship, a conversation, etc. We'll see what transpires once I put the pen (keyboard) down...

Doing flash/short story with setting/character sounds like a clever idea. How did it turn out?

I only got a chance to start it yesterday but so far so good...I think it may be a good tactoic for me to work on writing and description and action in my story in bits...it can seem kind of overwhelming when I look at this massive outline for a novel I'v e got:)

I got the idea cause I have the outline and character sketch dowqn prety well and saw on wow-womenonwriting.com there is an open ended flash ficiton contest due May 31st. I know I won't win but it brings out my competitve side to get her done...you know?

I'm the same! I finished my first ms for a contest! Don't think I ever would have finished one without that competitiveness.

Wow Cathy, you're so much more organized than I am. I find that kind of planning stifling, but hey, different strokes for different folks. Good luck, and thanks for stopping by my thread.

Despite having a small case of writers block yesteraday, I worked on my short story as well as the edits (yes, still editing) of my first chapter....

and after finsihing some great women's fiction recently, today I had an epiphany of sorts about how I want to rework my novel to make it into something I love rather than something I like...I'm working on reframing the outline now to see if I can transfer my vision to paper....hopefully I will be writing later this afternoon...

Hey Cathy,

Sorry I have not been over to greet you sooner. Excellent writing goals. Keep up the great work :]

Thanks Dee! I"m really enjoying your site and it keeps me motivated to know I"ve got to report my progress though i"m not too good about getting into any kind of writing groove over the weekend yet....ugh...but today is a new day...I feel like I always say that:)

Yesterday, I finally finished my second rough draft of my first chapter of my Untitled novel so that it shows more action and tells less detail..it ended up being about double the word count, 3,955 words, but I guess that's what tends to happen when you Show more of what's going on fully...

I'm sure there's still much more editing that needs to be done but at least I can move on and work on a draft of the next chapter or so and see where it takes me...

Hey everyone, Check out my first writing credits at: www.chicklitclub.com/audio-books.html

I love this site! It's a great resource for authors, interveiws, top ten lists, book ideas and of course, book reviews.

I have been making some really good progress getting in the habit of writing everyday. I have been writing audio book reviews at http://www.chicklitclub.com/audio-boo...

and I just created my own blog at
http://whereyouwishuponastar.blogspot...

In fact, yesterday I applied to write a column a month on suite 101.com. Unfortunately, my application wasn't fact-based enough for them so they didn't accept it at this time. Maybe i should email thme my 12-page research paper. There is sure to be plenty of references and citations in that:)

Oh peeps! I've been slacking:( I wrote a new blog yesterday (maybe the day before...time is going by too fast!!) but between school and work it's been too easy to put my writing off...very bad...will try to get back into the routine today and this wkd...jsut have to finish one last presentation for work...

Wow! I have not been here in a long time..I"m so sorry for neglecting this group, friends!!!

I have finally secured na internship for my finaly year of grad school, and work is taking a turn for sloweert imes for me (whew) so I'm hoping to increase my writing activity. Last week was the first time in maybe a month (eek!) that I worked on my story. My poor characters prob thought I"d deserted them...sorrry guys!

I've still been posting in my blog at least once a week and writing reviews for the Chick Lit Club, but it's time to get those fingers cranking at a more rapid pace again! December 31 is really not that far away in terms of my book goal.

Thanks for letting me vent. Hope to see more of everyone soon.

What kind of internship have you found?

And yay for more writing time! ;)

Malin wrote: "What kind of internship have you found?

And yay for more writing time! ;)"

I'm in a Counseling Psychology program so the internship I got is at a Women's Resource Center, mainly dealing with survivors of domestic violence and rape crisis...but they seem like they get a diverse group of clients and tackle a broad range of issues besides the main two so I'm pretty excited about it! We'll see...it'll be my first expereince working in the psych atmosphere...I"m used to doing my own thing at an office...hiding behind my email and computer, in general:)

Wow, that sounds like a great internship - you'll learn loads and really get an insight in your work field. Such a sad thing that such a centre is even needed though :(

Hi Everyone!

In school for the weekend...discussing All Souls: A Family Story from Southie - Excellent book about trauma in SOuth Boston - highly recommended. Also shows great writing skill in framework and character description...

Maybe I can sneak some of my own charaacter writing in:)