WriMo Day 15

Once again, it was a productive writing day! And oddly enough (or not so oddly, knowing me) it wasn't for The Girl Book.

I did get 50 whole words down for The Girl Book! But since that's the equivalent of about three or four healthy sentences from me, I don't exactly see that as the "bestest" thing in the whole entire world.

I did, however, get about 1,500 words done for The Secret Project. I might have to add a tag for it now, because it's actually progressing quite nicely and, in time, this WILL be something I get to share with you completely instead of in random teaser tiny bits.

But until that day comes here's a pic of another MC for The Girl Book. And because you guys have been so great, I went past her eyes. Yay! I told you--- if I get any words down, treats will be given, and 50 words, Man! That's more than the average bear writes in his lifetime.

The quotes indicate that even though her full first name is "Mari-Elena," she prefers to (and really) go(es) by "Mari," a name I've grown quite fond of over time. Although she looks very sweet and innocent, Mari is a real trip when it comes to boys. And although you haven't met the last (or second to last--- not sure what to call the fifth girl, really) MC yet, I can tell you that the two of them clash because of Mari's boy issues. Ladies, do not be like that, PLEASE.

But despite that, Mari's talented and brilliant. She's the brainiest of the bunch and probably the most silly because of her lack of experience with boykind. But what shines beyond that is that she has a good heart, and although it's obvious that she doesn't always mean well, she still has a conscience that nags at her until she makes things right again.

So yes, she's very imperfect. As am I! You know, I've been thinking about what it means to participate in a "WriMo" and isn't the point of it all that you just, you know... write?! Well I've been doing that. Every stinkin' day! And yet statistically, I am 3,000 words behind where I should be at this point since today marks the halfway point of the month. Say it with me everybody:

Oops!

Love,
Deserae
P.S. This is one of my favorite Christmas songs and videos every. The original vid got taken down, but thank goodness for people who re-uploaded! Seriously. I can't spend Christmas without this version of the song. And speaking of, there are only two days until Christmas! What's on your wishlists for Santa?

Commenting on Comments

Maya: You guys will definitely be the first to know if The Secret Project gets anywhere beyond my computer screen. All I can say right now is that I've been belting it out and so far, I'm really loving it. Plus there are stick figures involved. Who doesn't love those?! I'm glad you liked the music, as well! That's always great to hear. And, again, I just wanted to say that I'm thrilled you liked the Daily Dose. I hope Alex Day's "Forever Yours" gets UK #1 and I love that all of the proceeds go to charity, so spread the word! 

WriMo Day 12

There are only five more days until Christmas. When the heck did that happen?!

Tonight was a pretty successful writing night. Not as successful as I wanted, but I plowed through it and the result was 1,350 words toward The Girl Book and me getting out of a Lynette scene that, for some freaking reason was killing me to write. But I owe you guys something big (or biggish) and so here is a scene from Faye's perspective. As usual, the scene will only be up for a limited time, so if you read it, be sure to tell me what you think! It's kind of hard to give you guys a Faye scene that's not very spoiler-y, so forgive the lack of exploding cars in the background--- I do try to keep the casualties in my contemporaries to a minimum (aka zero!).

Thanks for sticking with me this long guys! This WriMo thing is beating me up. And oh my goodness gracious, do I need the company.

With all my love!
Deserae

P.S. Charlie really is so cool like. Just thought you ought to know...

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Prerna: Thanks, Love! And yes, I like doing character profiles, too, but that's usually when I know I haven't quite figured out the plot yet... I obsess over characters until they drive me up a wall and I have to just begin. 

Maya: Glad you like Faye :), it's cool that you can jump right in (I tend to but end up pulling out and having to start again and again), and thanks for your Lynette support. We'll just stick with the one 'n.' Over thinking this spelling thing could result in disaster. I LOVE that song by Linkin Park! And just for the record, I say "eye"ther. Lol! 

Aria (from email): I finally surpassed 20K today! I am sort of on track for my WriMo. And you know how pleased I am that you like my sassy Sarah (I meant, Faye! Honest!). 

WriMo Day 5

I'm not doing a very good job at tracking how many words I've done compared to how many words I SHOULD have done, but today I finished (575 + 198...) 773 words for The Girl Book. And I'm still writing! So that's always a good thing, I think.

I told you I had some things I wanted to link you to so first! Here's the exclusive content I promised you--- it's another excerpt because, well, you saw one of The Boy Book so I think it's only fair you see one of The Girl Book, right? So click here to read a scene from Lynette's perspective after you check out all of these cool thingamabobbers. This excerpt will be taken down in about a week so read it and let me know if you like it before it... gets taken down in a week! Yeah!

Thingamabob #1: Prerna's blog, The Sands of Writing, always has really cool writerly type things. And it's actually encouraged me to talk more about writing, than to just talk about writing (if you visit her blog, you'll see what I mean). So click up above to just check out her blog or click here to read a post that I HAD to comment on because I loved it so much. I think as writers, it's good to support one another. ESPECIALLY if you meet a writer who not only has marvelous things to say, but also likes Once Upon a Time. Just. Saying.

Thingamabob #2: So speaking of encouraging and supporting fellow writers, Adam Heine just landed an agent. Now if you don't know who this guy is, don't worry--- I didn't, either, until I fell in love with Natalie Whipple. But he's been submitting for a couple of years, now, I think, and I just think it's very inspiring, epicanarious, and frickin' awesome to hear that he's finally got someone on his team. So yay for Adam! If you want to read that post of postiness, please click here.

Thingamabob #3: If you haven't decided you're going to see this movie, or this one, or even this one sometime in the near future, decide to do all of the above RIGHT now. Well... not RIGHT now, but, you know, as soon as you can, okay?

And that is all from me. I hope all of my links will edify you in some way or another. Edification is needed across this entire nation. And yes I just added that because it rhymed, and no I will not delete it, thank you very much.

Love!
Deserae
P.S. Sigh... I love OkGo's music videos... Do you guys even listen to the music I post here? I do from my phone because I don't have a great YouTube app. so I cheat by coming on here and playing these songs. Lol!

Commenting on Comments

Prerna: Gosh, I wish we could discuss it without spoilers, but let me just say that I think I said all I needed to in my comment to your post. Although, I have to admit, I really wasn't mad at them for going that route! Shocked, maybe, but not at all phased. I am going to--- agh! Spoilers! But I wish that the thing that was done didn't have to be done because I liked the thing that was happening before it was done and wanted to see more of that even though, now, it's impossible. I should stop ranting now.  

Maya: No worries, Love! I'm just happy you comment at all! I like responding to you guys. :) Thanks for saying you like Aiden's name! I was worried about it, at first. But yeah, it's starting to really grow on me. And I honestly think it's perfect for him the more and more I think about it. The thing about choosing boy names is to not over-think it. What I do is I think about my guy friends and their guy friends and pick out the names I like. And if one clicks, then I use it like it's nobody's business. Because it's not! And because I can. :) Charlie WAS my fave charrie in Alphas, but in the end, I think my favorite was... Allie... Maybe... Toward the end of the series, I found myself finding faults in all of them. But I THINK Allie came out my fave. I THINK... Thanks for the luck! I'll need it. 

Aria (from email): The Boy Book will return probably around Valentines Day. When you can't get a real date... write up your own! Lol! Thanks for your support of The Girl Book, though. That means a lot. And I didn't finish PW Ch. 13 tonight. I know... I'm a failure, like Larry!

WriMo Day 4

In which I type a report from my phone and therefore have no content to share..

I wrote about 300 words today. Not much, but not bad. Because I was able to edit and coment on a few chapters of Alex's baby as well as read Ch. 9 of TLOATH which I'll be commenting on tomorrow. The Girl Book has some pretty stiff competition vieing for my ateention, but no worries, Folk. All will be accomplished in time. I have links to things I wish I could show you. I'll just wait until tomorrow, I suppose. But I hope you still had a wonderful Monday. Who saw Once Upon a Time this week? Ohmagosh, ohmagosh, ohmagosh...

Love!
Deserae.

WriMo Day 3

So the good news: I wrote today!
The bad news: it wasn't for The Boy Book.

I'm not giving up on that project. Really, I'm not. I just... I'm not feeling it. And since it's so early in my WriMo, I figured I should change projects now, before I fell too far behind in this thing.

So I wrote 3,000 words. The project has been called GIP for as long as I can remember. But, because it's fitting in more ways than one, you and I can call it The Girl Book. I promise to give you more details tomorrow if I get some words down on the page. I told you! If I get words down on the paper, you get some exclusive content! Well, here's your content for today. It's a sneak peek of a drawing I did of one of the main characters many moons ago.

I hope that the fact that I attempted to draw these girls is enough to win you over for my abandoning The Boy Book. I just know that I'm not ready yet--- not for something THAT big, at least. I'd need more than a month to do Aiden's story justice. But these girls? Their story has been waiting to be told, and I'm pretty convinced that now is the time to tell it. Thank you all for your love, advice, and support. I will tuck it away and dig it out when I'm ready to start that project again. But for now... The Girl Book awaits!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. And have a wonderful Monday! How are you guys, anyway? I do love to hear good things.

Until tomorrow,
Deserae

Commenting on Comments

Maya: Third person FEELS like cheating because, you're right--- I want this to feel real. Not that third person eliminates a sense of reality, but it does separate readers from the direct thoughts, emotions, and feelings of the MC. And I know in my heart Aiden needs to tell this story. Not me as a narrator. Him, you know? I'm so glad you loved the excerpt. It's being printed out and put into a folder labeled THE BOY BOOK. I do this to all the ideas that I get. They get their own folders, you know? And they sit in there until they're ready. I'm glad you think I do well with dialogue! I love dialogue so I'll keep this in mind when I go back to it. Thanks, Love!

WriMo Day 2

Posting from your phone is not fun, but such is the way of a gal whose mom doesn't have wireless capability in her household. I'll make this brief: I didn't write today. But I don't have to start panicking yet... Do I? Should I cheat and make this a third person, or should I stick to my guns? Idk, Loves. Idk.

Love!
Deserae.

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Prerna: I do have someone who could help... But is it weird to admit that I'm kind of afraid to ask? Why do guys have to be such... guys?!
And Aria, thanks for reading and responding to my excerpt via email. Love ya much, Girly.

Every Good WIP Needs a Good Moniker

Every good WIP needs a good working title. And I have one! But the only people on the entire world who know it are me, Alex B., and my darling little sister.

I want to give it a good fake name, though. So far, I've just been using the first letters of every word to do the job (ex. Planet Weird= PW).

But Victoria Schwab has some pretty snazzy WIP names. VAGABOND PUPPIES is the fake name for her adult novel. ANGST KITTENS is the moniker of her Near Witch related project. So I want to give this project a random name. And that's why, from now on, whenever I refer to it, you'll hear me call it...

The Boy Book.

Yeah. I'm not very creative when I'm trying to be. When I'm not trying to be, I'm full of yummy names, ideas, and random details. I don't know what my brain wants from me.

In other news, I took my last final tonight. AND it was my friend Eva's birthday today so here's a happy birthday to her! And... oh! I'm going home tomorrow! Yay! Man. Good things are happening. Don't you love when that happens?

Wish me luck on my WriMo! It starts tomorrow!
~Deserae <3

Commenting on Comments

Maya: You're very welcome, Love! I loved your responses. And, thank you. I've never really read too many pure romances but I love the idea of a real one for teens. A real story of falling in love and falling out of it... I am ready to get over my fears of realistic relationships. Buh-ring it awn! And haha! Thank you kindly. you know I can't give up on anything or anyone. I just can't. Defeat is SO not in my vocabulary. Well... it wasn't until now. Lol! Love ya, Chickadee. Thanks for your love and support!

Eleven, Eleven, Eleven

1. Am I the only person who's noticed that we've been having these blank-blank-blank dates since 2001? They happen at the beginning of every century and my family (okay... little sister) and I have gotten excited about each and every one. But for some reason, the whole freaking world is bugging out about 11-11-11. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood or something. But if you miss your chance to make a wish at 11:11 tonight, don't fret! 12-12-12 is only 1 year, 1 month, and 1 day away, plus an hour and a minute if you plan on making wishes then, too.

2. Blogging has taken a backseat to my hectic schedule (wake up, eat, study, sleep). I plan on getting all the blogs back on track, so please send in contributions to My Ticket Home and My Ticket Elsewhere so that love and inspiration can be spread all across the land.

3. In the meantime, feel free to check out what I've been lollying around with:
-Sonal's blog where inspiration and book recommendations abound.
-Arianna's current project which shows that superheroes are just super human.
-Maya's blog where I go to chat with one of my girlies from the Blah-g.
-Author and agent sites like Daphne Unfeasible's blog, Natalie Whipple's blog, Evil Editor's blog, etc.

4. Hmm... what else has happened? Well, I've been listening to music, as usual. You guys already know of my love for The Civil Wars and The Kings of Convenience, but maybe you don't know that One Night Only has a new song out. Check it out, ya'll. I love George, and you will, too.

5. Oh! NaNoWriMo is nearing its halfway point. I decided to push my WriMo to December, but I've been revising a project I think is coming along nicely. Thanks to Lisi's Blah-g, I've made some writing friends my age and they're a pretty supportive group. Together, we're whipping PW into shape. I hope to be able to share it with all of you one day! But until then, good luck on your own WriMos. Don't let age stop you from pursuing your dreams. Start now because you'll only get better with time. I guarantee it.

6. My Twitter has been sorely neglected, but don't worry; I'm finding more contests for you guys and am making more free time to read the things everyone's buzzing about.

7. Speaking of buzz, I pretty much hate it. Because, in my opinion, half of the books people buzz about aren't all the spectacular folks make them out to be. But I appreciate buzz, too, because word of mouth is how people find out about books and start to read them. So take Sonal's lead and RECOMMEND books! Take Talia's example and show us what you're reading! There are few of us who actually read consistently, so we've got to spread the word. Don't keep quiet about the books you love and dislike, okay?

8. I haven't had ice-cream all week and it's pouring out here in the woods. Due was going to get some ice-cream today. I am sad, Clouds, and it's all your fault.

9. Greek verbs suck. Hebrew vocab sucks even more. But both languages are beautiful and worth learning. I don't know what to do. Definitely can't continue with both next semester, though, because they're killing me softly.

10. Happy Veterans Day. Yeah... that's right... I didn't leave this one until number eleven. I'm laughing at you right now because I knew you'd think I would. Ha! And double ha!

11. My tummy is rumbling which means lunch is upon us. Reread numbers 2, 3, 5, and 7 so you know your homework for this week (i.e. checking out blogs, contributing to blogs, recommending things, etc.). I love you all mucho. Have a blessed week and an awesome three-day weekend.

Love,
Deserae

It's My Birthday and I'll Write If I Want To

So today, I turned 18.
And today I took a midterm.
And today I might've failed that midterm.
But since it's the second day of NaNoWriMo, I'll probably get my 1,000 words in to take me Elsewhere--- my favorite place in the world.

Love,
Deserae

P.S. Thanks to all of you who've shown me birthday love! Kia and Gabby and Mom and everyone--- te amo mucho!

Snapshot Saturday #1

Yes, yes... it's Sunday. BUT you still get the snapshot, don'tcha know? Here is a snap of my current WIP. It's the first part of chapter one. Lucky you!

I think if you clickity click on the picture, you can enlarge it. BUT, just in case that wasn't possible, I blew it up as large as I possibly could. :) And oh gosh... thanks to this snapshot, I just saw something I need to change. See?... You guys are helping me. Amanda's middle name is not really Natalia. What the freezing heck? Anywho, here is a picture of something that inspired me this week. Actually, I found this picture a while ago on Maya's blog, and I TOTALLY needed to share it with you. Because Anna kind of feels like the subject of this photo and the caption provides the LOL! moment that is her life. Love you guys mucho. Have an amazing rest of your weekend!

Hehe!
Deserae <3

Anna, Revisited

A lot of times, I take myself for granted. I forget that I need to exercise to stay fit, eat to stay well, sleep to stay awake the next morning, and enjoy life to keep my perspective whole. But I mean, sometimes I really take my mind for granted. I get so bogged down by what I "can't" do, I forget there's a lot of stuff I can do while I'm learning and growing and developing mentally. 

For example, I can write a darn good summary of events, but I often tell myself I "can't" come up with good dynamic plots. Today, though, I had to look at something I hadn't looked at in a while, and figure out how to make the plot more dynamic. So what did I do? I wrote a (fictional, but darn good) summary. And now I know where I'm going with this new version of this manuscript.

I've often told myself I'm not good at starting over. That I'm not good at editing for diddles or for squat. But I know that I can finish a project. I know that I can get from point A to inciting incident B to plot twist C to climax D to resolution E no problem. So although this manuscript needs to be done from scratch, it's building off of its predecessor, because no duh, Sherlock! If we finished it once, we can finish it again!

So dear project that's currently untitled but has to do with Anna, I'm not going to take myself for granted. I know that I can finish you, make you better, make you presentable. I've had faith in you since grade four when we first met, and I have faith in you, now, two weeks before I leave for college to start my so-called life. I love you, Annabee... And I'm not taking myself for granted this time, because we need to get 'er done.

And for those of you who want to get to know my MC, stop back by on Saturday where I'll be taking a pic of my screen for you. It's a first person narrative so I'm sure you'll get a sense of her no matter where I snap the pic. BUT! If you just can't wait 'til then, here's a lyrics video of the song "My Mirror Speaks" by Death Cab for Cutie. I think Anna feels like this about herself a lot through the story, so if you can relate to the song, you've already got something in common with the girl I'm about to spend the next two weeks of my life with uncensored.

Until we meet again!

<3
Deserae

Teaser Tuesday #1

Real quick blog to show you what progress looks like... The document is finally OPEN.

Yep. My prompt for tomorrow's Quick-Write has to do with men and caves. Manly caves for men, you know? You will see the official prompt somewhere above the excerpt I provide for you tomorrow as well as linkage to the other (two) participants' blogs and projects. Remember! YOU can join in simply by leaving a comment on tomorrow's post feigning interest! Love you guys millions, and I wish you luck in your current writing endeavors!
Happy Writing,
Deserae McGlothen

The Writing Independence Project--- Another WIP

Crazily, people assume that a writer is free to do whatever he or she wants to, and what they don't realize include the following:

-Getting words on paper is not the same thing as getting the right words on paper.
-Revising is about 70% of the process. There is writing (yay!) and then there's revising (aww!). Writing (woot!)... and then revising (shoot!).
-Our strengths don't often outshine our weaknesses, and we are fighting, continually, to grow while trying to move forward, too.
-We have characters who are trying to take over our brains, lives, and plot, even though we keep telling them, "You crazy Fool! I'm the writer!!!"

So the truth is, finding some independence is kind of hard. At least, it is for me. I mean, the day I say writing feels like a job, I promise, I'll throw in the towel, but what I'm saying is, the most freedom I have when it comes to any one manuscript is the creative license of coming up with the idea that sparks the story and gets a book from point A (the start) to point B (the finish). I know it sounds stupid to say that what comes in between is a result of fervish first drafts and cooky characters, but that's kind of how it works. Sorry if that doesn't make sense, but I had to flesh that out before I got to the point.

THE POINT is this: I'm trying something out. As you know, I'm working on my latest WIP and, right now, I'm in love. I say that because I have the habitual habit of falling out of love when I think the project's getting hard, and that usually happens when I'm getting to something that's theoretically "the good part." What I LOVE about first drafts is that none of it is permanent. What I HATE about first drafts is that it never comes out right the first time! So me and writing?... we're something of a paradox. I'm learning to break those walls (my writing blocks. Get it?! Ha! I'm so unfunny!), and this thing I'm trying out is giving myself some independence when I write. Letting my story know that, for the first draft at least, I'm the boss.

It's hard because of two things. The first is, I'm afraid I'm going to be hindering a certain fluid-like something in my manuscript. Honestly, when the story writes itself, that's when you know the world has taken shape and your characters have gotten a chance at a life in it. What I'm hoping, though, is that getting the words down to just shape the dang thing will be enough to give the characters some ideas. If they don't like mine, they can change them in revisions, but at least we'll have a backbone, you know? You don't know? You might know?

The second thing I'm afraid of is the Disney effect. Don't get me wrong. I love Disney (the channel and the Walt!). But they have this mechanic way of setting up jokes, movement, and plot progression. I don't want to play puppet master as I go through the first draft, just for the sake of getting words on the page, but what I'm hoping is that knowing that's something I want to avoid will, you know, help me avoid it. And if it doesn't, I'm thinking positively of revisions. This manuscript CAN be resurrected if I screw up, I tell you! Yeah!

I just realized my biggest fear is that I'm going to mess everything up, and need to rely on revisions to pull me out of a hole. Revising, as you may have guessed, is a bittersweet part of the process for me. Bitter because it's the hardest bit of work I have to do--- analyzing, judging, and reevaluating every word I've written makes me a little self-conscious, I'll admit it. But it's also sweet because I can literally see improvement happening as I go. So as I work on letting go, I'm also going to be learning to trust myself to mess up. Remind me this: You can always fix it later.

Gah!
Deserae McGlothen

I'm Writing a Book

Hello, Lovelies!

Long time no see. It's been longer than I wanted it to be (and ohemgee! I have a mini blog series I TOTALLY wanted to finish and must finish some time soon!), but I thought I'd come by and share something I read today.

You see, there's a lovely lady called Rachel Vail (author of IF WE KISS, and the LUCKY, GORGEOUS, BRILLIANT books) and she's put up a post about a trick she uses to overcome writer's block. Although I won't go into the logistics of it, I thought I'd share about my recent ventures into editing my latest WIP because I feel that maybe, just maybe, it'll be theraputic to talk about.

I've been working with this project for at least a gillion (eight) years, so I know the characters, the plot, and the flaws inside-out. In this draft, the rough edges have been smoothed, the humor has been amplified, and it's good--- that is until we hit chapter eight. Chapter eight is where I've gone dark. Where the elusive (imaginary) writer's block has reared its ugly head. Up until this point, it's been all about rearranging, subtractions, multiplications, a little bit of division and some slight additions but CHAPTER EIGHT is kicking my butt. Why? Because now, it doesn't exist. There's chapter seven. There's chapter nine. And in between there is this hole the size of Jupiter, saying, "What now?" and I'm staring at it wondering the exact same thing.

But then I read Rachel's post, and, to some, that simple exercise may not mean much, but it was like the light in the darkness that made me say, "I know what to do" and my manuscript answered, "Whoopee! Let's do it!" Short exercise, nothing much to it, but the right something to get me motivated.

It's nothing secial but I'm writing a book, and what I've learned on the blogosphere is that to do so, one must actually WRITE. So here is my word of encouragement to you: write, Baby, write; you won't ever regret it (and can always edit it later).

BTW, that video up there is not for the faint of heart. Watch it at your own risk. :)

TTYS,
Deserae McGlothen