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ROW80: Time flies when you’re busy as hell

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Jessica

Bless me writers, for I have sinned. It’s been over two weeks since my last check in. How is that even possible? I feel like I blinked and suddenly February is almost over.

The good news is that while I’ve been gone, I got some writing done. I’m a few thousand words into Drawn Together and I am having fun. I’m also writing a TON for work, so it has been hard to turn it back on once I’m home and relaxing. One small drawback of a writing-intensive day job—you aren’t always jazzed about spending your free time trying to make the muses behave. :-)

This week, however, I will be kicking it into high gear. Drawn is pretty perfect for an anthology call that’s been pointed out to me, which means I have to finish a draft pretty darn soon in order to have it edited, critiqued, and edited some more in time for the submission date. I may not make that, but I’d like to try. Eeek! My goals just get loftier. You’d think I would learn.

Outside of writing, we are just getting more and more ready to move. I can’t wait to be out of our apartment and into our house…especially because of the sweet writer’s den/craft room I’ll have! Do you have a special writing room or area? It will be so fun to set mine up.

So, here are this week’s goals:

  • Write at least 1,000 words a day on Drawn. More on Tuesday for sure at my writer hangout.
  • Set a plan to meet for writing and editing Drawn for the submission call.

I also want to do at least one chore a day that gets me inching closer to being packed and moved! What are your goals (writing and non-writing) for the week?

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Goal Setting for 2012

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Jessica

Fresh starts have been on my mind all month. I began an amazing new job right before Christmas that I am really excited about. My husband and I will start preparing in earnest for our move later this winter. And, with 2012 looming on the horizon, I am getting serious about writing goals for the coming year.

I am a part of a goals group with some of my writing friends that will help keep us accountable for what we want to accomplish throughout the year. The goals group is actually my first step toward actually meeting my goals–the accountability and encouragement from friends are both super important to me.

To start with, I broke my goals down into quarters. I am concentrating on three things for the first quarter, January-March:

  • Outline the contemporary romance idea I have been kicking around, tentatively titled Drawn Together
  • Continue research for my alternative historical fantasy, The Recollector
  • Figure out what to do with my novel Burn. It has two plot “iterations” and I cannot decide what rabbit trail to go down. Hopefully my group can help me with it!
  • Write one blog post a week.

I also plan on participating in ROW80 again (a lot more successfully this time) so that I can boil things down to weekly mini-goals, such as finishing a section of an outline or hitting a daily word count.

This seems like a lot when I write it down, but I have to remember that it is over the course of three months, and if I do a little bit every day, I will meet those goals easily. I know this first quarter will be busy, with a lot to do at my new job and preparing for a move, but if I want to fit fiction writing into my life I have to make it happen even when things are a little crazy.

What are your 2012 goals? Did you meet your goals for 2011? Happy New Year!

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When (Idea) Lightning Strikes

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Jessica

One of the most dangerous things about being a writer is dealing with ideas that strike like lightning. You’re focused on one project, and all of a sudden all you can think of is the shiny new plot that has forced itself to the forefront of your mind.

I had a bit of idea lightning hit me last night while watching television and doing some copyediting. It’s funny how something completely innocuous can trigger the weird plotting thought process, but before I knew it I had a text file with over 500 words of plot outline in it.

It would be fun to work on right now, even though my current writing plan involves focusing on my YA novel–a project that, quite frankly, I am having trouble with. The more I write, the more the key themes and ideas mirror those in a popular, already-published book (even though I started working on the idea long before that book came out, all that matters is that it came out first), and the twist is giving me fits. I really need to strip it back to basics and rework it so it no longer bears resemblance to another (fantastic) book, which fills me with dread but needs to happen before I can really take this thing to the finish line.

It is tempting to focus on this new, shiny idea and just let myself write. I need a project that isn’t so complex, that I can finish and feel good about, that is fun and easy to write. A writer friend of mine has a short story idea that she doesn’t even want to write down because she has so many other projects to work on. What do you do when a shiny new idea distracts you from your current project ? Do you shelve it, forget it, or do you let it carry you away, at least for a little while?

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My Writing Toolkit: iPad

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Jessica

I love seeing how writers apply technology to their writing lives. Part of what I enjoy reading about from other authors is their writing process, and I am always happy to stumble upon a fellow tech geek writer who successfully incorporates gadgets into their writing routine.

I got my iPad alongside a new Mac Mini that I share with my husband. The iPad’s intention was to replace my aging netbook as a mobile writing tool and couch web surfing machine. It not only met my expectations, but exceeded them. It has become one of the most useful things in my writer’s toolkit over the past year. So how do I use it as a writer?

Writing

The iPad wouldn’t be very useful to me at all if I couldn’t use it to create. A lot of people will argue that the iPad is strictly a consumption tool, but I disagree wholeheartedly, especially if much of what you create is text-based. I got my iPad with the intention of using it to write an I have not been disappointed. There are a number of writing apps available to meet almost any writer’s needs, from simple plain text editors to more complex word processors. I use a few different apps based on my writing task:

  • Elements – This is the app I use for all my fiction writing. It syncs very easily with Scrivener on my Mac via an Elements folder in Dropbox. It has a pleasant interface, an accurate word counter, TextExpander support for frequently typed phrases or names, and a scratchpad for keeping notes separate from my manuscript. I have tried similar apps, such as the excellent free app Plain Text, but I always come back to Elements.

  • Nebulous Notes – This is my all-purpose, Swiss Army knife text editing app. It gives me access to the contents of my entire Dropbox. I use Nebulous to write blog posts, take random notes, make lists, or edit text documents. It features support for writing in Markdown, which helps with easy formatting, various export options, TextExpander support, constant Dropbox syncing, a customizable keyboard bar for shortcuts, and numerous themes and fonts.

  • Notability – I use my iPad at the office as well as everywhere else. I was a copious notetaker all through school, and my professional life is no different. Detailed notes have been my saving grace far too many times, and they are a part of my learning process. However, I usually don’t take typed notes unless high speed capture is necessary, because I don’t absorb the information as well as when I handwrite. Notability is a great tool that lets me handwrite, type, draw, and record audio. I use a Targus stylus to take notes just as I would on paper, and Notability’s zoom function makes it easy to write normally. It syncs to Dropbox so I can easily pass the notes along to coworkers or review them at my computer when I am working. I really like using Notability when I am brainstorming for a story. Writing my notes versus typing them, or sketching out mind maps, gets me deeper into the details. Often, that helps me get unstuck on a plot point or character interaction.

Research

One of the best things about the iPad is that it makes surfing the web so easy. I love sitting on the couch with my husband, spending time next to him instead of chained to my desk. I have a pretty handy research process I’ve been using for a while and it is even further simplified on the iPad.

  • Instapaper – This is one of my all-time favorite web services. It allows you so save things to read later and strips out all the unnecessary junk, leaving only the text of the content for your reading pleasure. I have the Instapaper bookmarklet installed in all my browsers on both my computers and my mobile devices. You can organize things into folders, and I have entire folders of content, complete with originating URL, for my projects that require research. It is dead simple to use and helps me lessen my bookmark load.

  • iCab Mobile – I like Mobile Safari, but it is far from being a fully featured browser. When I heard about all the added features of iCab, such as the ability to download files (and upload them to Dropbox) and built-in support for Instapaper and other services, I had to give it a try. I really love it and it makes surfing the web on my iPad that much more like a desktop experience. I really don’t miss a thing now.

  • Nook, Stanza, GoodReader – I don’t use my iPad as my primary reading device; I have an eInk Nook for reading most books. But for highly visual books, PDFs, or material that I need to refer to at some point while writing, I have a handful of go-to apps. The Nook app syncs with my Barnes & Noble account, letting me access any of the books in my library. Stanza is a very flexible ebook reader that I have connected to my Calibre library at home. GoodReader is a PDF reader with annotation abilities that has proven invaluable when reading source PDFs or even when editing my own writing. I love marking up my manuscript with “real” editing marks as I read.

Form and Function

Apps aren’t all that make the iPad a joy to use. It is practically a feather compared to my old hefty netbook, which got surprisingly heavy to tote around (especially considering the fact that I had to carry the charging brick too). I can throw it in almost any bag or purse I have and not notice the extra weight. I love having my writing tools with me wherever I am!

The battery life is also excellent. I have the original iPad, which was reported to get around ten hours of use on one charge. I have actually exceeded that and see closer to 11-12 hours of use, including plenty of browsing online. That of course lowers with lots of video watching or other processor intensive app use, but on the whole I rarely need to worry about leaving the house with my iPad charger. The freedom of no longer being tethered to an outlet is awesome.

I write, blog, chat, Tweet, and more on my iPad. 90% of my computing takes place on my iPad (or iPhone) instead of in my office at the Mac Mini. All this may change when I am able to afford an 11″ MacBook Air, but who knows…I also plan on getting an iPad 3! Have you worked an iPad into your writing routine? What about another tablet? What is your favorite writing gadget?

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It’s that time of year…

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Jessica

It’s October. The air is getting crisper (and for Dallas, that means under 90), the leaves are turning (and for Dallas, that means dying and falling off the trees), and it’s time to prepare like crazy for writing 50,000 words in 30 days.

NaNoWriMo (otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month) is the 30 days out of the year that I go momentarily insane and decide that even though it’s the start of what always turns out to be the busiest time of year, both personally and professionally, it’s a GREAT idea to write at least 1,667 words per day. This year it’s going to be compounded by the fact that my husband and I are moving into a house in January and we have a LOT of wallpaper stripping and painting to do (and an estate sale to have) as well as an entire apartment to pack. Crazy? Yeah, that’s me.

Writing on a novel can be really hard for me to do every day because, well, I do it every day. A large part of my job involves writing and being creative. I have been feeling creatively numb the last few months and not inspired. I have to be rigid about making myself write regularly and, quite frankly, I have failed miserably.

All this makes it sound like NaNo is a terrible idea for me, but it is actually great. NaNo holds me accountable and makes me re-form my habits of writing every day OUTSIDE the office. NaNo pushes me and challenges me. It can be a chore sometimes, but if I am unmotivated it completely reinvigorates my creativity and my writing. I am looking forward to that.

I am trying to write on an idea that I have been messing with since 2005. Its current incarnation is a YA fantasy. I’ve tried more than once to write it for NaNo and failed–both at getting to 50K and at completing the story. This year will be the year I tackle it head on and make it work. I am really excited about the plot right now because I feel like I have worked out some of the issues that made it not work before.

Another reason I really enjoy NaNo is that it gives me the perfect excuse to hang out with the friends I made LAST NaNo. My husband has a crazy school and work schedule that keeps him out until around 11 every night now, so I need something to do to keep me occupied other than packing and stripping floral wallpaper off my future library room walls.

I will be spending the next 20 days fleshing out the main plot points of my novel and working on an outline. I am not a pantster, though sometimes I play one at work. I write best and easiest when I have a plan in front of me (or at least really, really good notes). I wouldn’t have gotten to 50K the last couple of years without my super detailed outlines. If I discover anything as I write, it is the characters and their personalities. The plot has to be planned out pretty well for me to churn through the required wordcount. I want to be ready to start pounding out words on November 1.

Who else is doing NaNoWriMo? Are you getting ready?

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ROW80 Check-In: Cart and Horse

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Jessica

So, I appear to have put the cart before the horse (as usual).

Last week felt like a really good, productive week from a writing perspective, even though I didn’t get more written than a couple thousand words on a semi-detailed, high-level plot outline. I did quite a bit of reading and research for my novel, which I really need to do in order to get it right. I set a writing goal of 1,000 words a day; for the days I wrote, I met my goal. But I set my goal without really hitching my cart up to my horse first. Research comes BEFORE writing. Logically, I know this, but I am so excited about writing this story I almost forgot.

Some people might tell you to just jump right in on the first draft, get the bones of the story down, and worry about making it truly realistic in your edits. For certain kinds of stories I might agree with them, but not for a story like this. One thing I appreciate as a reader is a detailed, clearly well-researched historically based novel. Even though I am twisting history, I want to get the details right. I also need to get the details of Victorian life just right or the plot isn’t going to come together. I know that from my first draft this story for NaNoWriMo 2010…my character’s backstory was all wrong for the timeline. I got so frustrated during NaNo that the last 25,000 words (everything after I realized it wasn’t working) are probably nothing but fluff. I’ve changed her family and background up so that she has the proper freedoms and constraints for a woman of her time period.

My research is also leading me to setting the story during a different period of the 1800s. Originally I had my eye set on 1897, to take advantage of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, but now I’m leaning toward 1851 and the Crystal Palace. This gives me more opportunity with the Queen, Albert is still alive, and more of her enemies (or sensible ones to create) are available to me. Now I just have to figure out why these historical jerks want to take down the Queen and destroy London!

So, my goals are going to be adjusted slightly: I’m going to write when it makes sense to write during this research period, and when I do, I’m going to write 1,000 words during each session. That’s going to be mostly outlining and notes right now. I’m going to either write or research every day…I managed to do that every day last week and I’m going to keep it up. My goal is to have the research and outline finished out by the end of the month so that I can write in August.

How are you doing so far? Have you already changed your goals?

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ROW80 Check-In: Slow, But Progress

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Jessica

This week has been going pretty well so far, though I didn’t actually start feeling better until today. I am very grateful that I can breathe again and no longer have that “sick” feeling, though last night I really thought I was going through a second wave of whatever is infecting me. Imagine my surprise when I got a decent night of sleep and actually woke up feeling pretty good!

I am both happy and frustrated with my project right now. I have made some good progress on my wordcount, managing a little over 4,000 on Monday. I took last night off so I could go to bed early and rest, and tonight I had all the best intentions in the world but my story is not cooperating very well. I am trying to create better tension between my heroine and the stuffy-but-hot FBI guy who is both helping on the case and hindering things with his distrust of magic (or anyone who deals with it).

It frustrates me that I haven’t been able to write every day as planned, but I am glad that I am taking the time to take care of myself. I know that if I don’t, I will never get any better. I also know that when I try to do too much when I am sick, my mindset is all wrong and I end up rewriting anything I put on paper. So really, I suppose I am just saving myself some work.

While I was winding down between work and writing, I finished an interesting alt-historical novel by Marie Brennan, Midnight Never Come. It’s about the Faery Court existing alongside the court of Queen Elizabeth. I’m a sucker for historical novels during the Tudor time period, and I thought it would be good to read right now since I will be working on my alt-historical piece next. The first half didn’t hook me, but the story really picked up after that. It was a really enjoyable read and I look forward to reading the next books in the series. It’s always nice to recharge the writing muscles with a little reading. It’s just too bad it didn’t actually energize the scene I’m writing right now.

Friday, Saturday afternoon and Sunday I intend to bank some real progress. Saturday night is my husband’s birthday party, so I doubt I’ll be doing much work then. :-)

Overall, despite scene frustrations and lingering coughs, I am feeling really positive right now. How is your week going, my ROW80 friends?

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Scrivener, a love affair

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Jessica

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that Apple owns my tech-loving soul. The Apple ][ was my very first computer, and despite an almost decade long foray into the PC world, the Mac remains my one true computer soulmate.

When I made the switch back to Mac in 2004, I was writing a lot, including a few (failed) attempts at full-length novels. I had files all over the place for various stories, so I can only imagine that I typed in a Google search for “novel organization software” or something similar. Truthfully, I can’t remember how Scrivener came into my life. I only know that once I found it, I never ever wanted to let go.

Basically, Scrivener is the way my brain works made into a program. It is extremely flexible and can be as complex or simple as you want it to be. It lets youorganize your projects however you want, be it in chapters, scenes, acts, or any other way you can come up with. It gathers all your information together in one big file, no matter what it is. You can throw in research, links to pertinent websites, character photos, maps, inspirational images, character files, outlines, working files, archives…you get the point. Everything is all in one place, ready for you to reference to your heart’s content as you write.

There are a lot of programs out there that do the same or similar things. I am not going to pretend that Scrivener is the One True Writing Program. My PC-using writer friends Suzan and Cid are OneNote devotees and it works fantastically well for them. If it was available on the Mac, I might be sorely tempted. It has some great features and seems like a great organizational tool. But I don’t need another organizational tool. Scrivener is the one that works for me and I have made it part and parcel of my workflow. These are the reasons Scrivener is my one and only:

  • The organization of everything. I am somewhat of a digital hoarder, especially when it comes to things I feel might be useful for this writing project, that craft project I’d like to start, what I’d like to do to the walls of my living room when I finally buy a house…it could go on forever. Scrivener really helps me cut down on that digital “clutter” when I am working on a big writing project. There is no more scrambling through a file folder on my hard drive for that PDF on Victorian England or that perfect stock image of my heroine because it’s right there in my Scrivener document, accessible via just a few clicks.
  • The flexibility. I can organize my novels one way and my blog articles another. I’m not locked in to a process at all–if I need to make changes, I can. Some people are intimidated by Scrivener from the get go, or think it’s too fussy, but I say it doesn’t have to be. When I first started using it, I just set a few things up and dove right in. My organization and Scrivener processes have grown with use as I perfect the way I like to set up my working files.
  • The syncing. Oh, my goodness, the syncing. This is my FAVORITE feature in the 2.0 release because it meant that I could ditch my aging netbook at home and use my sleek, light iPad (with its 10+ hour battery) to write on the go. I use the iPad to write a LOT, even when I’m at home. I also use my iPhone to capture ideas or bits of work. It’s the digital equivalent of me pulling out a notebook and scrawling a few lines down when an idea hits me. But now, instead of emailing myself the notes or finding some other way to upload them to my computer, Scrivener has sync capabilities that grab those documents for me and pull them into my project file. Scrivener syncs both with external folders and the Simplenote service, but I find that I prefer to sync with an external folder within my Dropbox because I can access the file anywhere–on my iPad, iPhone, or in a simple text editor on any computer. I can even add new text files to that folder and Scrivener knows that it should import them into my current project. When I go write, I only sync the things I need (scenes, chapters, notes) and then sync back any work I’ve done when I’m at my computer again. The extra added bonus is that everything is doubly backed up on Dropbox. I love the security of knowing that my files are safe.

Everyone has their one true writing software love. Scrivener and I are in it for the long haul, but I love reading about other people’s setups and processes. How do you write?