Monthly Archives: March 2011

Oh hai! It’s FictionPress!

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I used to be a part of a virtual dog site, Furry-Paws.com, where you can raise, level-up, and breed sim canines. Either way, I utilized the ‘creativity’ forums to find readers for my then-WIP, WolfSong. I found a couple of readers…and one of them in particular really was the reason I even finished that novel (Fiyerain, wherever you are: ILU). Then I quit FP due to RL stuff…and lost contact with everyone, but still! Having a readership, albeit small, was nice (even if WolfSong needs a total rewrite…XD)

Later on down the line, I used FictionPress.com to get nibbles on some of my other stuff, nothing pertinent to my writing goals, nothing that ever got…well, finished. But still. Lately, I’ve been thinking: I want to get published, although if I’m going Trad or Indie, I’m unsure. I would like a small (or big, hey I’m not picky!) readership again, a couple of people to read and review my work. So, with my newest WIP, Sweet Dreams, I decided that hey, maybe I should throw it up on FictionPress and see what happens!

Here is my FictionPress. The summary for Sweet Dreams, a new adult paranormal romance,  is up. I’ve got two chapters up so far.  I plan to release new chapters as I write/edit them. (And, if you happen to read and see a blatant error, for the love of all that is Holy, TELL me!)

Outlining Accomplishment Part 1

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I’ve beaten the Procrastination Monster…at least for now. After two days of stalling, whining and moaning “please don’t make me do this”, I sat down and did it. Yayyyyy. Plugging in my earplugs, I picked one of the scenes that’s been definitely playing in my head, a scene somewhere smack-dab in the middle-of-nowhere, and taking a page out of Sadie Hart’s book, used Seven’s* Sticky Notes program to flesh out the outline for my WIP, Sweet Dreams.

Strangely enough, whenever I’d think of outlining via Sticky Notes…I’d do a little freak-out: “What if I can’t think up what happens next?!” …Did I have this issue? Not really. I picked a random scene, fleshed out a little where I’d like it to go, and pushed the little plus for a new Note. Just kept going. If I lost my way, I’d start a new note and pick a different place. I did this for a little over an hour and my desktop background is now littered in yellow notes.

I don’t really know how to connect Point A (ie: the last scene officially written) to Point B (ie: the first scene in my plot)…nor do I have the Notes arranged in any semblance of an order, BUT! I know the ending! I know the main issue! I have successfully integrated (is that the right word for it?) all charries introduced into the plot so that they weren’t introduced as a “Hi, my name is Charlee Flannagan and I have no freaking POINT in Sweet Dreams!” sorta characters. She has a point! They all have points! Yayyyy, go Kodiiiii! -pops a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne…or a pop works just about the same-

But not into the clear yet! I still have to rearrange them…figure out what goes where, what happens when, who’s POV each scene will be in and how the heck to connect points A and B. Still, feels damn good to be accomplished!

*Seven = the name of my new Dell, just fyi :D And Seven is most-definitely female!

Procrastination: I has it.

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I should really do something productive. Like, really. My blog needs a banner. I’ve got the images picked out; all I need to do now is put them together to make something pretty, something I’ll like and hopefully people will too! Do I want to open Photoshop? Hells no. I don’t feel like dealing with the lag it gives this poor old computer, or having to plug my tablet in to get sensitivity, or mincing photos together in a nice hearty manipulation.

On the other hand, I haven’t written my 1k words tonight, either. I meant to, several times today. Did I do it? Again, no, no I did not. Why? I dunno. Part of it’s laziness. Part of it’s the fact that I don’t have a clue where I’m going in my WIP, Sweet Dreams. Most of it’s good ol’ procrastination.

I procrastinate too much. It’s…oh, 11:48pm. I have a few hours before I’ll be ready for bed (I’m a natural night-owl). And even though I wanna go curl up with a book and read until I fall asleep…(because that’s the easy thing to do!) I know I need to work on either my banner or my novel. Just not sure which is lesser of the two evils xD

It’s gonna end up being Sweet Dreams. I want that 1k a day, darn it! And a shower. I need one of those! But maybe after I snuggle my kitty :)

New Beginnings

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Beginnings are the hardest part for me in…pretty much anything. Art, roleplay, writing a novel? Beginnings are tough. I worry (ie: obsess) over the perfect words to hook the reader, the perfect lines to start my next masterpiece of art or the perfect mood to set the scene for the entire RP. Sometimes, I worry so much that I put it off. Three days later, that’s the last thing I wanna do. Start something new? It’s strangely painful.

Then I go: “C’mon dork, just get it written (or, in art’s case, sketched). Even if you don’t like what comes out…you can always try again!” I mope, I bitch, I moan. I make a lot of noise as I procrastinate. I blare My Chemical Romance or Paramore and go: “OKAY. I CAN DO THIS. Right? Riiiight?”

And typically, my first try is pretty darn good. I go, “Wow, I should’ve done this three days ago, it really would’ve lifted my spirits!” Do I ever take my own advice? Heck no. I wait until the next project, cue procrastination, and do it all over again. So what if it’s a flawed system? I get it done eventually, don’t I? Someday I’ll learn to just suck it up and do it. Probably.

Still, beginnings are hard. But necessary. In order to finish something, I have to start it. And in this case, in order to get a readership, I should probably blog. Do I know how to blog? No. Not at all. I’ve never been the journal-y type (unless you count the pre-teen years where I signed a different name under each entry, trying out different personas because my name just didn’t fit me). The idea of keeping up with a blog, posting things that people (ie: future readers and fellow writers, I’d hope!) would like to read and relate to? I have no idea how I’m going to do it, but here we are. First blog post.

Look, Ma, I did it! :D