ROW80: Check-In #6!

Today was a great day!

A few minutes after writing my last check-in post on Monday I decided to browse on my Kindle to see if I could find any useful books on plotting and lo and behold...I found one! It's called PLOTTING SIMPLIFIED: STORY STRUCTURE TIPS FOR THE BREAK-OUT NOVELIST by Eddie Jones and I highly recommend it! It's short and sweet and I was able to read it all in one sitting and most importantly...I understood what it said! In a lot of other books that I've read that include information on plotting they're like an information overload, but after reading this book I just get it, you know? This is the first book where I've gone "Oh, so that's what plotting is and what it's all about!" It was a great feeling! Now, since reading the book I catch myself watching T.V. shows and movies with a fresh eye and thinking things like, "oh, look! There's the 'inciting incident'!" or "Uh-oh, hello 'dark moment'..."

After falling totally in love with this book I decided to take some serious notes and ended up spending all day (while neglecting school, food, personal hygiene :P) writing ten pages worth of notes to use during NaNo and beyond and soon I'm going to use what I've learned about plotting and apply it to my NaNoNovel!

So thanks Eddie Jones, thank you so much for schooling me in the area of plot while making the process short and sweet and easy enough for even me, Ms. Plotting Impaired, to understand! :)

Happy writing!
~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #5

Sadly, nothing much to report today, except:

1. I still haven't finished reading WRITE YOUR BOOK NOW! Hope to fix that SOON!
2. I realized that plotting a 50,000 word novel is hella HARD.
3. I'm ashamed (and also a little giddy if I'm being honest!) to say that I was seduced by a NEW SNI earlier tonight. I'm giving myself till October 31st to choose between four WIPs and decide once and for all which one I am going to devote my time to during NaNo...
4. Right after I do some serious plotting...ewww.
5. To get inspired while writing, I made a collage of some of my favorite book covers! :)


Happy writing and wish me luck (also, if you have any advice on plotting I would be forever grateful!)

~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #4!

Today's check-in'll be a short one since I don't have much to report. I'm still chugging away at reading WRITE YOUR BOOK NOW! I'm hoping to finish reading it by Sunday and then start applying the book's program to my SNI I'm calling THE MADNESS WITHIN. Dang, November 1st will be here before we know it! Visual inspiration post coming soon! :)

Happy writing!
~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #3!

So I wasn't sure if I should do this, but I've decided that from now until November 1st (aka the start of NaNoWriMo!) I'm going to temporarily change my goals for ROW80. I've decided to change them because I've become obsessed with reading WRITE YOUR BOOK NOW!: A PROVEN SYSTEM to START AND FINISH THE BOOK YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE by Gene Perret (the book that I mentioned in my last check-in post) and I really want to finish it soon so that I can apply what I've learned from it to my SNI. Then, once I have a solid outline for my SNI and a flexible writing schedule written up, hopefully in time for the start of NaNo, I'm going to participate in NaNo...but in ROW80 style.

The goal of NaNo is to write a 50, 000 word manuscript in 30 days (November 1-30) by writing 1,167 words everyday. Now I've participated in NaNo three times already and failed miserably each time. This time around though, I'm hoping that by applying what I've learned from WRITE YOUR BOOK NOW and by writing everyday in November like NaNo says but also pulling a ROW80 at the same time and coming up with my own word count goal each day, I can finally be successful and reach THE END while also snagging a WINNER badge at the end of NaNo!

Here are my temporary new goals for ROW80 from now until November 1st:

*Finish reading WRITE YOUR BOOK NOW!
*Apply what I've learned from WYBN to my Shiny New Idea
*Have a plan and be ready to write like a madwoman by November 1st

Sounds easy, right? Ha, I wish! :P

Wish me luck and happy writing!
~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #2!

OK, I'll admit it-I didn't do any writing today.
I was totally planning to though, I swear! I did exactly what I did last time, separated myself from real life distractions, booted up Pandora and...notta.

I just wasn't feeling it, so instead I spent that hour messing around online and daydreaming about my SNI (Shiny New Idea). All I've got so far on it is some notes, some visual inspiration, and the beginnings of a playlist to inspire me while I write.

But this time, before I even write a word, I'm starting with a different battle plan in mind and reading a great book called WRITE YOUR BOOK NOW!: A PROVEN SYSTEM TO START AND FINISH THE BOOK YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE by Gene Perret. Here's the summery from Goodreads:
Ideal for aspiring authors who only dream of actually finishing their works in progress, this guide features proven, field-tested tools guaranteed to successfully complete that romance, expert guide to business success, or great American novel. The chapters simplify the writing process by breaking it down into a series of discrete tasks, from creating a schedule in order to finish within a reasonable time, brainstorming sections of the book, and organizing ideas into chapters to rewriting, editing, submitting for publication, and even marketing. This reference is tailored to help writers avoid distractions and delays by establishing and maintaining a powerful writing momentum, thereby carrying their projects to completion. The psychological blocks that prevent writers from completing their manuscripts as well as how to combat them are also explored.

So far, the book is really good and is slowly teaching me that instead of just diving right into my story as soon as I get a new idea like I always do, I need to take time to plan, schedule, and not go in blind. I'm enjoying Gene's step-by-step approach to writing am going to finish reading this book and then apply its tools and advice to my current and not-so-current projects in order to have a successful journey toward THE END! I totally recommend this book to any writer whose having trouble reaching the end of thier WIP like me! :)

Happy writing!
~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #1!

So Wednesday would have been my first official Check-In, but I didn't get around to writing anything that day, so we'll just call today my first official Check-In, K? K. :P

Anywho, today was a good day! After finishing my homework I forced myself to separate from my everyday life and responsibilities for a while and went to my room, turned on Pandora Radio and just wrote! Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy and fun as I hoped it would be. For awhile it felt like pulling teeth and then there were times where I would know what to write next and it would just burst from my fingers and then I would stop...start...stop...start...etc. and it kinda went like that the whole entire time, but in the end I manged to write 407 words (a little over one page) on my Sekrit Project, bringing the total word count up to 1,564 words!

So, all in all, not bad, I'd say, but now I know what happens when I don't write hardly anything for weeks, blah, gotta work on that!

Happy writing!
~Ella

ROW80 Round 4: Goals!

The final round of A Round of Words in 80 Days has begun! Now, as some of you may have noticed, I petered out about halfway through Round 3 and I wasn't sure if I wanted to commit to another round, but I loved the camaraderie the participants shared, the twice a week updates, and especially the fact that this challenge is much longer then NaNo AND you can set (and change if need be) your own goals!

So, because of these reasons, here I am! Back again for another round! And now, without further ado, my goals!

*Write 1 page a day (or at least twice a week)
*Make writing a priority in my life again
*Reward myself when writing goals are met
*Try not to be so hard on myself when writing goals are not met, tomorrow is a new day!
*In the wise words of YA author Maureen Johnson, "Dare to suck!" Remind myself that it's ok NOT to be so perfect all the time
*Experiment in my writing, don't be afraid to try new things
*And, of course, don't forget to have FUN, duh! :P

I'm so glad to be back, happy goal setting!
~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #15

Well, yesterday I didn't get any writing done, but today I managed to get 112 words written on my Shitty First Draft, which brought me 40% of the way to reaching 5,ooo words total! I was going to work on my Sekrit Project next, but only managed to do a little editing on stuff I had already written before my computer threatened to die, so hopefully I'll be able to get some real writing done on that project this weekend! This will be the last weekend before college classes start and while I'm bummed about having to do homework again and will have to start setting a schedule again to keep it all straight, I'm actually pretty excited about my classes (Psychology of Stress and Coping and Introduction to Philosophy) starting! I think the Psychology class will really improve my poor time management skills! :)

Happy writing!
~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #14!

I got nothing done on 8/14 (check-in #12) or on 8/17 (check-in #13) but yesterday I sat in my room with the door closed and the volume up on my ipod and ended writing 222 words by hand on Sekrit Project, which brings the total word count up to 809 words! I'm this close to hitting the 1k mark, woot! :) The last few weeks have been blah writing wise, but hopefully I can pick up more speed this week!

Happy writing!
~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #11

No comment. :(

~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #10

Two words: Epic. FAIL! Blah. :(

~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #9!

So I didn't write anything yesterday but TODAY I ended up writing a total of 587 words on my Sekrit Project, which I just started writing today! YAY! It took me a while to get started writing and procrastinated for a while, but once I found some awesome tunes (I'm In Here by Sia and Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People) and listen to them both again and again as I wrote, I got really into it and didn't want to stop! It was thrilling! I love that feeling of not being able to stop, I haven't felt that way in sooo long and I loved it! :))) <333

Happy writing!
~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #8!

I didn't get any writing done today (I know, I know, FAIL!) but I did make a collage as visual inspiration for my Sekrit Project!Happy writing!

~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #7!

So, to be totally honest, I didn't do any writing yesterday, but today I manged to get something written. Here are today's stats:

1st 25 Min. Session: Wrote 251 words on Shitty First Draft
2nd 25 Min. Session: Wrote 103 words on Shitty First Draft

Those two writing sessions brought my total wordcount up to 1,824 words!

In other news, I'm getting ready to start work on a side project to keep myself entertained that I'm calling Sekrit Project! I'm pretty excited about it and hopefully it'll do its job and give me something else to have fun with when things with SFD get tough (like they have been practically everyday!) and vise versa!

Happy writing and thank you sooo much to the people that commented on my last check-in post! Your enthusiasm and encouragement are what makes me keep going! :) <3

~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #6!

Hello, my fellow ROW80er's!

Luckily, things have changed since the last check-in post! Today I was able to get 281
new words written on my Shitty First Draft, making my total wordcount rise to 1,470 words! Getting to this point wasn't easy though, lemme tell you! Each word I wrote felt like pulling teeth-utter torture. And all through my writing session I kept stopping and thinking things like, "Man, this sucks! I really wish I could trash it and work on something else!" I hate getting to this point. With every new story idea I have it starts out as this thing I have, need to write about and it feels all fun and exciting and new...

And then, after a few days of working on Shiny New Idea, the doubts start to creep in that maybe this story isn't as good as I originally thought, and I absolutely hate feeling like that! I wish I could just keep that giddy, "Oooo, I have a shiny new idea and I love it!" feeling all the way to the END of a first draft and then maybe I wouldn't keep having these feelings of wanting to trash my current WIP and work on something else to be able to keep feeling excited and motivated to write. Has anyone else ever felt this way? Any advice?

Happy writing!
~Ella

P.S. I think to keep myself from going insane and trashing yet another WIP, I'm going to have to start a side project, even if it's just short stories. That way, it'll keep things fresh every time I sit down to write!

ROW80: Check-In #5

I'm sad to report that I got no writing done whatsoever today. Been feeling worn out, physically and mentally, blah. Better luck next time!

Happy writing!
~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #4!

Today was a GOOD day! After some procrastinating, I finally decided to just force myself to sit down and write for 25 minutes, but by the end of that first 25 minutes I wanted to keep going and so, I ended up writing for two more 25 minute sessions! Here are my stats for today:

1st 25 Min. Session: Wrote 297 new words on Shitty First Draft!
2nd 25 Min. Session: Wrote 271 more new words on SFD!
3rd 25 Min. Session: Wrote 273 more new words on SFD!

So, obviously, timing myself while I write turned out to be very beneficial and I have mytomatoes.com (an online timer), Pandora Radio and the promise of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups as a reward to thank for it! :) I love progress!

How have your writing goals been going? Let me know in the comments!

Happy writing!
~Ella

P.S. Oh, and I almost forgot! Today's progress finally got me to (and past) the 1,000 word mark on SFD, which is now sitting pretty at 1,129 words! YAY! :)

ROW80: Check-In #3!

Good news! I reached my first goal for this week! My goal was to finish and submit a short story to a writing challenge called A Love that Overcomes: A Need So Beautiful Writing Challenge and...I did it! It was extremely painful and I almost threw in the towel, I'll admit and I waited until the last second to get it done, but, lo and behold, I did! Now, it's out of my hands and into the judge's (aka Suzanne Young! EEK!) so all I can do now is...wait. Wish me luck! :)

And while I wait, I thought I'd share my contest entry with you!

I knew it was coming, that it was bound to happen sometime, I just didn’t realize how soon.
Sweat pours down my face and my body convulses in quick, jerking movements.
“Hang on baby, it’s going to be ok!”
My mother’s frantic, terrified voice penetrates my muddled thoughts as the thing that lives inside me fights to break free of my weak, useless human body, threatening to destroy me and claim my body as its own.
My mother sets me down on the bed, the scratchy wool of the blanket feeling like a thousand nails raking my skin.
I thrash and moan, the creature inside me becoming more restless as time passes, more deadly.
“Hang on baby, hang on!”
I hear my mother hurry around the room, gathering the supplies. And then I hear her begin the chant, her voice sounding muffled and far away as she recites the Latin phrases that slide off her tongue as effortlessly and as smoothly as water.
I feel droplets of water hit my skin, holy water.
Then my mother rips the wooden cross that hangs above the bed off the wall and the combination of chanting, holy water and the cross begin to work their magic…a demon’s kryptonite.
The demon rages from deep inside me, enraged at being attacked, threatened. My hands grip the sides of the bed until my fingers begin to ache and I scream in agony as the demon becomes more incensed.
“Just kill me…please! Just kill me now!” I scream at my mother, my voice choked with sobs.
“No, I won’t, I can’t! You’re my baby!” My mother is crying now too, pleading with me to be reasonable.
“You did it for Daddy…now-now do it for me, please!” I beg, my insides threatening to explode from the pain, the invasion, the violation.
I hear my mother inhale sharply at the mention of my father. “No, Holly, no, I won’t let you give up!” her chanting becomes louder, more rapid.
I scream and writhe in pain, the convulsions coming in waves. The sound that escapes my throat however is not the sound of my own voice but of its…the demon’s, unearthly and unhinged.
Then, just when the scream becomes so loud and the chanting so rapid that I feel as if I might split in two, the demon is released…and I am free.

Happy writing!
~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #2!

So, as much as I want to, I won't fib and say that I reached 1,000 words by today. As a matter of fact, I got nowhere close to that number. I've been feeling a lack of motivation and excitement to work on my story and that sucks. Big time. I want to be motivated and excited, but right now I'm just...not.

Hopefully the feeling will pass soon, but until then I've decided to enter a writing challenge called A Love That Overcomes: A Need So Beautiful Writing Challenge (judged by the fabulous YA author Suzanne Young!) and write a short story! That way, I can take my mind off my current story for a while but also keep writing at the same time, even if it's on a different project.

Overall, the rest of the week was kind of a bust, but at least I still have a goal to work toward for this week!

Happy writing!
~Ella

ROW80: Check-In #1!

"I hate writing, I love having written." — Dorothy Parker

The above quote comes to mind on this, the first official check-in for ROW80. The process of writing is so hard and time-consuming and a lot of times just makes me want to rip my hair out and makes me wonder (not for the first time) whether what I'm doing is a waste of time, if my story really is as good as I want to think it is, and so on.

But after I'm done writing for the day? I feel a total sense of accomplishment and excitement, relief that I got through another session alive. Those feelings (along with a renewed love for my story) are what keeps me coming back to the keyboard everyday (well, not everyday, far from it, actually, but you get the idea, lol)!

Anywho, enough with the dramatics, on to my progress! There's not much to report yet, except for, as of right now, I'm sitting at 289 words total for my Shitty First Draft. Could be better, but it could also be much worse, like 2 words or *shudder* 0. So, all things considered, I'd say it's not completely horrible! It's still progress afterall, no matter how small, and progress is always something to celebrate!

Now I just have to keep plugging away, writing one scene at a time and hopefully get to 1,ooo words total before (or at least by) the next check-in! :)

Happy writing!

~Ella