Tag: Writing

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 7 | Are we there yet?

Mandy Webster
Cast of characters in The Big Bang Theory. Fro...
How can I be expected to write anything when The Big Bang Theory is on? | Cast of characters in The Big Bang Theory. From left: Howard Wolowitz, Leonard Hofstadter, Penny, Sheldon Cooper and Rajesh Koothrappali. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been on a writing roll this past week. I continued with the experiment I started last week and have managed to write one full chapter every single day!

I almost didn’t make it yesterday. I had suffered a bout of insomnia the night before and hadn’t fallen asleep until after 2 a.m. When I woke at 8:00 yesterday morning, I was so exhausted, I just couldn’t seem to function. I spent the first half of the day crashed out on the couch beating myself up over the fact that I hadn’t written my day’s chapter yet. Then I spent the afternoon thinking about it while hanging out with my kids, looking through old photo albums. Continue reading “Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 7 | Are we there yet?” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 6 | Breaking the rules, starting a new project

Mandy Webster
"Writing", 22 November 2008
I actually had a very productive writing week. | “Writing”, 22 November 2008 (Photo credit: ed_needs_a_bicycle)

This week, I am breaking one of those fundamental writing rules. You know the one about how you should finish one project before starting the next? Yeah, well, I totally broke it.

My existing work in progress (WIP) seems hopelessly stalled at the moment. I know what the problem is. My focus is too broad. I need to start cutting, but I can’t decide where to start. I decided to do some experimenting with a simplified story line to gain some perspective on my problem. Next thing I knew, I’d mapped out an entire new novel project and written a first chapter to go with it.

Yes, I broke the rule.

At least I am writing again. Continue reading “Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 6 | Breaking the rules, starting a new project” →

Blogging, Uncategorized

10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge: Day 4

Mandy Webster

Day 4 - 10-day-write-blog-challengeDay 4 Prompt: Profile 3 to 5 top writing craft books

The following are three of my favorite writing craft books:

  • Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Is it a memoir or a craft book? Well, it’s a little of both. Part I covers King’s early writing years, starting with the short stories he wrote in grade school and working his way through high school and college, and then on to his time as a struggling English teacher with a substance abuse problem. In the rest of the book, King discusses his own theories on the craft. It’s an easy read full of “ah-ha moments.” A must-read for every writer, from beginner to master. Continue reading “10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge: Day 4” →
Short Story

Love photography? Want to collaborate on a story? Join The 52.

Mandy Webster

Do you take a lot of pictures? If so, author Richard Wright is doing something over at his blog that I think you should check out and possibly help out with. He’s calling it The 52.

Here’s the deal. Richard is planning to write one short story per week in 2014. Each short story will be based on one of many pictures that he is asking his readers to submit. To join, all you have to do is send him a picture. He writes a story based on your image, then posts it to his blog sometime next year. You maintain the rights to your image, and he gives you full credit on his blog.

Sound like fun? I thought so. Here’s my entry:

The 52 - Image by Amanda L Webster - WriteOnTheWorld dot WordPress dot com
This is the image I submitted to Richard Wright for The 52.

Want to join in? Visit Richard Wright’s website for details.

Challenge: Write your own short story about Continue reading “Love photography? Want to collaborate on a story? Join The 52.” →

Blogging, Digital Marketing, Uncategorized

What’s in a (my) name?

Mandy Webster
July 2013 picture of me wearing explorer hat
My ex-husband’s father’s girlfriend took this picture of me recently. Do I look like an Amanda or a Mandy to you?

When my mom was pregnant with me, she wanted to name me Mandy. I think this was around the time Barry Manilow’s song, Mandy came out. My dad said there was no way he was naming his kid Mandy. So they settled for Amanda, which happens to also be a family name.

Then I was born, and my dad was the first person to call me Mandy rather than Amanda. The nickname stuck, and I have been Mandy my whole life to everyone but my grandmothers, some schoolteachers, and an ex-boyfriend who insisted on calling me Amanda despite the fact that it irritated the hell out of me (only special people get to call me Amanda, and he just wasn’t that special.)

When I set up my online portfolio and blog a couple of years ago, I set it up using the name Mandy because that’s what everyone calls me. Now that I am seriously considering actually getting something published, I think I want to publish under the more formal name, Amanda L. Webster.

Here’s the problem: Continue reading “What’s in a (my) name?” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 5 | I just don’t know how to say no

Mandy Webster
my new kitten lulu la gata
This is my new baby kitty. Her name is Lulu La Gata. (La Gata is Spanish for “the cat.)

I should consider changing my Friday Writing Challenge Check-in series to “This Week’s Excuse for Not Writing.” Seriously, people, if I keep this up, I’m going to have to stop calling myself a writer. Maybe I should change my title to “blogger” since I can at least manage that.

Anyway, last Friday I headed out to Illinois for a huge family campout (huge as in somewhere around 60 to 70 family members showed up.) Of course, I brought my notebooks. Of course, I was too busy camping and visiting with family to write in them.

We camped until Sunday morning, then went to my parents’ house for a couple of days. Then I made a stop at my sister’s house a couple of hours north of my parents. I was planning to come home Wednesday, but she begged me to stay another day since she was off Wednesday and we could actually hang out and see each other. Once school starts, I’ll hardly get to see any of my family at all until next summer, so I couldn’t say no. Continue reading “Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 5 | I just don’t know how to say no” →

Memoir, Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 4

Mandy Webster
word count work in progress
This is the actual word count for my work in progress.

I haven’t added many words to my novel this week, as I have spent much of this writing week engaged in weaving. It’s all because of this one very important character who suddenly popped up around page 150. I think he is important enough that he needs to show up sooner. So, I’ve been reading my way through my first 150 pages looking for opportunities to include him in the action.

On one hand, I think this could be a second draft activity, as it is keeping me from writing forward in my story. On the other hand, this character is important enough to the overall story that I think I need to spend some time getting to know him and seeing how he interacts with my protagonist. Thus, the time spent weaving him in. Continue reading “Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 4” →

Random Rants, Random Writing Rants

And this is why I should vary my headlines

Mandy Webster
Photo of newspaper headlines about polio vacci...
Perhaps I could put a bit more thought into my blog post headlines. | Photo of newspaper headlines about polio vaccine tests (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Random thought:

I just noticed my last two blog posts both ran with headlines that began with the words, “This is why…”

Should I write a whole series of “This is why” blog posts so it appears that I did it on purpose? Continue reading “And this is why I should vary my headlines” →

Memoir

I write what I read

Mandy Webster
let's pretend this never happened by jenny lawson
This is me taking a break from reading at the beach.

Do you ever find yourself urged to write in the same genre you happen to be reading at the moment? I got the idea for my current WIP while reading a fantasy novel. Since then, I have been on a quest to devour every novel I can find that is even remotely related to what I am writing in an effort to keep the writing pump primed.

If I stray too far beyond the sphere of what I am writing, it throws me off. For example, if I take a break to read some poetry, I find myself writing poetry instead of novel scenes. Now that I’m reading a memoir, guess what? I’ve decided to write a memoir.

The Bloggess, otherwise known as Jenny Lawson, writes one of the funniest blogs I have ever read in my entire life. I can always count on her to make me laugh out loud, literally, when I’m feeling my worst. For example, this post here. I didn’t just LOL. I totally snorted. Read it, I dare you. Continue reading “I write what I read” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 3 (I wrote something. I actually wrote something!)

Mandy Webster
The writing life - a stack of notebooks
My current stack of notebooks includes a pretty fairy journal. Follow me on Instagram for more pretty pictures.

We are now three full weeks into the Write Your Novel this Summer writing challenge, and I can finally report that I have written something! This week, I finally managed to break through my writer’s block and am gaining some momentum. Here’s a quick look at what I have accomplished: