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My Four Stages of Revision

Dec 9, 2011 | | 5 Comments

The other day someone asked me how many times I revise my novels. I had to laugh because I tend to lose track around draft 8.

Then she went on to ask me what my revision process involved. Now for that, I have four distinct stages I take my novels through. Each of those stages takes time and I might have to repeat all 4 stages after my critique partners review the project.

Basically, the four stages are:

1. First draft (where I just write the story down)- This is the stage I just finished. And believe me, the novel is a complete disaster. I liken it to a tsunami. I suppose it’s because I’m the kind of writer who needs to lay it all down and then sift through the rubble. And I like to write this draft as fast as possible while I’m in my character’s head.


2. Plot development draft– This is where I work the kinks out of the plot and weave the disjointed events so my readers get their “ah ha” moments. I think of this stage as a giant puzzle.


3. Character development draft– In this draft I focus on fine tuning my characters. This is where I bring them to life and hone out their internal and external conflicts.


4. World building and making all those words look pretty draft- I’m a sucker for pretty language. Not too much that it distracts from the story, but enough that it captures the mood and atmosphere of the world I’m building. This is the draft where I have to focus on details.

5. Grammar and spelling (groan)- yep, I hate spelling. I know I’m a teacher and I’ve got spell check but I still hate it.
 
But the most important part of all is… the chocolate. That’s the key to everything. *smile*
 
How about you? What part of the revision process do you really focus on?

First Draft is FINISHED!!!!!

Dec 4, 2011 | | 23 Comments

I did it! I finished the first draft of my current project. Thank you very much NaNo!

I’m so so so relieved. If you were to ask me last July if I would even have written this book, I would have told you NO WAY. It’s beyond me. Too hard to write. Too different than what I’ve written before.

But then one of my crit partners said a very interesting thing after I told her my reasons. She said, “Then you need to write it.”

So I did.

Wow. Now, I don’t know if it will sell. I don’t even know if my agent is going to like it! But that doesn’t matter right now. Because I wrote a book that I needed to write and I was able to grow as a writer.

As a teacher, I’m continually pushing my students to step out of their comfort zones saying things like, “You can write five sentences, okay, let’s make it 8.” Or I might say, “You can write 8 sentences, let’s spice it up with adjectives.”

I pushed hard this past month using NaNo as my excuse. I wrote 35,000 words in November which was probably one of my busiest months ever (like as in my-entire-life ever). It made me realize how important time management was and how critical goal setting can be.

But it doesn’t stop there. I still have a long ways to go before I’m ready to send it off.

I opened the document today after giving myself a couple of days ‘off’ and groaned. The first chapter sucks. The last chapter is horrendous. My only consolation is the middle is pretty intense and at least I’m feeling good about that.

I’ve made a plan of action (yes, I’m a sucker for deadlines- I know, I’m weird) and I feel empowered now. I’ll blog more on that later this week.

And YES! As promised, I’ll be giving away BOOKS to celebrate. More on those details later in the week too.

So for those of you who did NaNo, how did your progress go? And if you didn’t, what do you do to motivate yourself?

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE Giveaway!

Nov 29, 2011 | | 67 Comments

Today I want to celebrate the paperback release of Beth Revis’ ACROSS THE UNIVERSE! I’ve known Beth for a long time now and not only is she a fantastic writer who isn’t afraid to delve into deep issues, but she’s been a great friend to me over the years. She was such a support to me when I moved from Korea to the States and dealing with the adjustments. Beth truly is a beautiful person. It’s evident in how she treats people and the heart she has for her readers. I can only say wonderful things about her.
If you haven’t heard about her awesome science fiction set in space, here’s a little blurb:

A murder mystery in space…

Romance set in the future…

Dystopian with a fresh twist…

Thought provoking and introspective…

Action-packed page turner…

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, written by Beth Revis, takes the reader on an adventure set in a spaceship bound for a new planet. Seventeen year-old Amy, frozen with her parents to be part of the group to land on this new planet, wakes up 50 years too early. And it’s not a computer glitch. It was done on purpose. As Amy deals with the culture shock of being on a spaceship with very different rules, she also is on the hunt to discover who is unplugging—and killing—the frozens. Because her parents might be next.

 

I know. It’s full of awesomeness. And I’m giving away two paperback copies! But that’s not all. Because January 10, 2012, the sequel, A MILLION SUNS, will be released. So I will be giving away a preordered hardcopy too! And I think it’s even better than ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. Ohhhhh!!!!!

Comment below to enter. You can get 1 extra point if you recommend the book to your local librarian, 1 extra point if you tweet the contest, and 1 extra point if you blog about the contest.



The three winners will be announced on Dec. 11th!
Good luck!





So Thankful for My Crit Partners

Nov 25, 2011 | | 14 Comments

I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. But this year I am thankful for my writing partners.

The longer I write and the longer these girls have been a part of my life, the more I appreciate them. They have been with me through hard times in my writing career when I wanted to give up, to the successes along the way and have been there celebrating with me. They have pushed me (and still are!) to be a better writer. To think about where I’ve come from to now, I can only see my writing continue to grow.

And it’s because of them.

I don’t think they really know how much they mean to me, but I hope they can see a glimpse of the truth in my heart of hearts when I say:

I HEART YOU GUYS!

Two Cool Chicks– Beth Revis and Casey McCormick

My Face-to-Face Group– Larissa Hardesty and Jessica Souders

The MiGs – Andrea Mack, Debbie Ridpath Ohi, Carmella Van Vleet, Susan Laidlaw, Kate Fall 

Making Progress

Nov 20, 2011 | | 11 Comments

Hey guys! *waving* Yes! I’m still alive. I know some of you have been worried about me. 🙂 This has been my most busiest month (EVER!) as I predicted and I can’t even believe I was crazy enough to sign up for NANO.

BUT I’m so excited. I’ve been writing. A lot. Every morning dragging myself out of bed, gulping down coffee, and writing 1ks before I race out the door to school. Then every night after I tuck in my adorable and endless energy machines (my boys) into bed, I’m back at work, typing away.

This project has been difficult for me to write as I mentioned before because I’m trying out some new styles. And even though I plotted the novel, the characters seem to have a whole different agenda going on. They really have caused havoc to my outline. So I threw the outline out last night and came up with a whole different ending.

It’s hard. Sometimes I think it’s impossible. And even though I haven’t made it to the end yet, already I’m loving the results. The outcome is worth it.

Now speaking of great results, you MUST head over to Jessica Souders’ blog. She’s celebrating her book contract for RENEGADE and having a blow out contest. She’s giving away a writer’s pack and a reader’s pack. RENEGADE is a book you have to read. Between the creepy underwater setting, a kick-butt heroine and Gavin who is all hotness, you don’t want to miss out. 

So head over and win something awesome!

NaNo Project

Oct 29, 2011 | | 18 Comments

I’ve never done NaNoWriMo in the past because November is one of my busiest months of the year. My busiest is actually August and September with school starting. And then it’s November. But this year, I’m so determined to get my current writing project done. I’m half way through and I think NaNo can push me over the edge.

On top of doing NaNo, I’m going to be giving out prizes at the end of the month to celebrate my success! (If you’re an Orange County public school teacher, I know you’re laughing over that one right now).

So after I pass my 25% mark, I’ll be giving away a book, then at the 50% mark, then the 75% mark. If I make it to the 100% mark, I’ll give away 5 books total. So we’ll see what happens by Dec. 1st and how many books I’ll be giving away to my amazing blogger buddies!

You can check my side bar on the right to see how I’m progressing. Yeah, right now I’m at the big fat ZERO mark.

I probably won’t be posting much since I’ll be writing my butt off. But if you get a chance, send me good wishes, cyber chocolate and coffee. I’ll need them. 

Happy Diwali!

Oct 26, 2011 | | 4 Comments

One of my students brought me a bag of yummy treat this morning, happily telling me, “Happy New Year!”

My student is Indian and his family celebrates the Festival of Lights holiday by handing out presents and treats to friends and family members.

The Diwali holiday received it’s name because it’s literal translation is “row of lamps”. People light small clay lamps with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. Firecrackers are often sent off to drive away evil spirits.


So wishing you all a Happy Diwali!

Made Me Smile

Oct 26, 2011 | | 7 Comments

Today when I came home from work and opened my mailbox, I discovered my contributor copy of FUN FOR KIDZ magazine. I had totally forgotten I’d even wrote those articles for that issue! Thinking back, my oldest wasn’t reading when I wrote them three years ago. So it was an unexpected surprise to find him sitting on the couch, reading the magazine and learning from something that I wrote.

It made me smile.

Last week I had a friend I’d met in Korea (she’s now working in the Netherlands) come visit me. We had thought her trip wouldn’t work out but in the end it did! The next thing I knew, she was flying out to Orlando to visit! We had a blast together catching up and riding all the roller coasters at Disney.

Another unexpected surprise.

Then tonight, I kind of had a big breakthrough on my current writing project. I’m trying out some new things with this book and it’s kind of scary and overwhelming, but at the same time I’m learning so much from the process. And I love creating a new and fresh story.

So how about you? What brings a smile to your face today?

Overcome the Impossible

Sep 28, 2011 | | 18 Comments

So I’m knee deep in my current WIP and depending on the day, I’ll tell you a totally different story about how I feel about it.

An except from my writing journal over the past few days:

Sunday– This plot is too difficult to write. Too many characters and they all have their own agenda. Need to ditch the story.

Monday– Forget what I said yesterday, I LOVE this book. It’s amazing. It’s brilliant. It’s my best writing EVER!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday am– What was I thinking? This is all crap, crap, crap.

Tuesday pm– (after rereading supposed horrible last scene) So maybe this is workable. Give me about 257 more drafts and kill off a few characters, I might be able to pull this baby off. 

Sound familiar?

We all have that internal critic telling us how horrible our writing is. (Okay so maybe YOU don’t, but I sure do) But if you ask me, that’s really not such a bad thing. Because that critic is what makes me a stronger writer.
The important component is balance. It’s being able to identify my weaknesses while at the same time believing in the beauty of my story.

Overcoming the impossible takes one word at a time, one revision at a time. Until that book is sitting on the bookshelf in its shiny new cover waiting, dying to be read.

That Secret Place

Sep 22, 2011 | | 10 Comments

One of my favorite songs is “Sail Away” by Enya. I can totally picture myself jumping on board a random sailboat and slipping away into the sunset, my hair flying behind me like the movies.

Okay, so that’s totally cheesy, but sometimes I do have that urge to get away and escape. Do you ever feel this way? Like when the kids are throwing fits over their homework, or when I get too many emails from work, or when the cats have shattered my favorite bowl from Bali, or when FIRE ANTS invade my house.

That’s one of the things I love about writing. I can find that escape in my stories. After I put the boys to bed, I slip away to the front room, curl up on the couch with a million pillows, laptop tucked into my lap, and I start typing away. All the problems vanish and it’s just me and my own little world. I call it my Secret Place.

Tonight I told my youngest it was time to start working on his homework. He said, “Maybe later, Mommy. Right now I’m taking a break and relaxing in Bora Bora.”

I laughed so hard. I couldn’t deny that Bora Bora sounded perfect right about then.

Sometimes we as writers need to have that Secret Place where no one can find us and we can escape.

Do any of you have a Secret Place, too?

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