Writing – Page 9 – Write on the World

How to self-publish your novel

September 26, 2013 Mandy Webster

Yesterday I attended a seminar on self-publishing with author/publisher Cornel Rosario at my local technical college. I have been doing a lot of research on publishing recently and wanted to see if there was anything new he could teach me that I hadn’t figured out yet on my own. I am glad I did. Prior to the class, I had learned a lot about ebook publishing, but the process of publishing actual books had been a bit of a mystery to me.

Much of the information Rosario covered in this three-hour session was old news to me, as far as ebooks go. But when it comes to printing actual books, he was a wealth of knowledge on both old-fashioned printing and print-on-demand. I also learned a lot about the costs associated with publishing your own book. Continue reading “How to self-publish your novel” →

Setting, Writers on Writing

Writing the second draft

September 22, 2013September 20, 2013 Mandy Webster

Happy first day of autumn!

I am currently working my way through draft #2 of the novel I wrote for the Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge. What goes into a second draft probably varies from one writer to the next. Dialog and action come easy for me. Description? Not so much. I can do description, but it simply does not pour out of me as dialog does. For me, description takes a lot of work.

When writing my first draft, I literally listen to the voices in my head and write down what they say. I am nothing more than a glorified court reporter. The result is what I think is an exciting story that is set in the empty expanse of Vagueland. While the dialog thrills me, the average reader would be lost in an attempt to determine where and when, exactly, this story takes place. I can picture it, but I haven’t yet built it on the page. Continue reading “Writing the second draft” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

It’s time to wrap up our summer writing challenge!

September 21, 2013September 20, 2013 Mandy Webster

a picture of an apple pie — As summer draws to a close, it’s time to start thinking about apple pies and second drafts. Time to harvest the fruits of our labor!

Today is the official last day of summer. The time has come to wrap up the Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge. I don’t know about you, but I am feeling *super* productive after completing this challenge.

For those of you who did not complete your first draft, that’s okay. Did you keep writing anyway? That’s the important thing. As long as you keep writing, you will get there eventually. Keep at it!

A few of you have contacted me to let me know when you did complete the first drafts of your novels. Congratulations on a job well finished!

If you are like me, Anne Lamott, Stephen King, and a myriad of lesser-known writers, your first draft is probably… WELL… “Shitty.” Continue reading “It’s time to wrap up our summer writing challenge!” →

Book Reviews, Novel Writing, Random Writing Rants

When it is bad to get feedback on your writing

September 15, 2013September 14, 2013 Mandy Webster

Stolen A Letter to My Captor by author Lucy Christopher — I recommend this book for any writer who would like to study the art of taking a reader on a journey without the reader knowing where she is going until she arrives.

I have said it before, and I will say it again. I do not believe that you should share the first draft of your novel with anyone – ANYONE — until it is complete. The more I learn, the more I believe this to be true.

I just finished reading Stolen: A Letter to My Captor by Lucy Christopher. I can’t help but picture myself in a writer’s critique group with the author, bashing her work and ensuring this novel never comes to fruition. I wouldn’t kill her darling for her on purpose. But not being able to read through to the end of her story, there is no way I could possibly understand what she was attempting to do as she wrote this novel. Continue reading “When it is bad to get feedback on your writing” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 12, Time to revise!

September 13, 2013 Mandy Webster

black walnut tree — Have you looked outside lately? Mother Nature keeps reminding me that summer is almost over. These black walnuts will be on the ground soon.

September 21^st is the last day of summer, as well as the official last day of our Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge. I don’t know about you, but I feel good knowing I have written an entire story from start to finish. Now, on to revisions!

After letting my first draft simmer for a couple of weeks, I finally sat down this week and started working on my second draft. Many famous authors (Stephen King comes to mind) say your second draft should always be shorter than your first. They advise cutting out unnecessary words, which is great advice. But I don’t think that is going to work for me. Continue reading “Summer Writing Challenge Check-in: Week 12, Time to revise!” →

Writer's Block

Try this new motivational strategy next time you’re stuck in an unproductive day from writing hell.

September 8, 2013September 6, 2013 Mandy Webster

Want a rush? Try this little motivational strategy I just stumbled upon. I was having one of those really productive days where I had so much I wanted to do I ended up taking a nap instead. I needed to do a read-through of my current novel draft, but I was SO sick of looking at it on my computer screen. I considered printing it out, but my printer can’t handle such a large job. And I wasn’t in the mood for an expensive trip to the library printer. So yeah, I took a nap.

I woke up groggy and continued to accomplish nothing for the rest of the afternoon while I watched cruddy daytime television and the minutes crawling by on the wall clock. My kids were going to return from school soon. After 3:00, my chances of accomplishing anything for the day would drop to around 0%. Continue reading “Try this new motivational strategy next time you’re stuck in an unproductive day from writing hell.” →

Novel Writing

It is time to get back to the writing

September 7, 2013September 6, 2013 Mandy Webster

It’s time to write a book! | Books (Photo credit: vasta)

Last week was my first week back to teaching after having the summer off. I needed to take a little break from writing to get my sh*t together so I can make a living. I have now made it through week two of classes and am about as settled in as I am going to get. Sure, I still have lesson planning to accomplish each week, and soon I will have composition papers to grade as well. However, all of my front-end preparation is complete, and I am ready to get back to writing.

These past few weeks, I have felt as if I was holding back a dam of words. I tried to squeeze in a few minutes of writing here and there, but life was pretty busy. It’s like, once I had gotten into the habit of writing every day, it was hard to stop. Now I am faced with the fact that I have written little for two weeks, and now I have to get back in the habit. Continue reading “It is time to get back to the writing” →

Blogging

And here’s my boring blog post for the day

August 28, 2013August 28, 2013 Mandy Webster

I’ve been busy with work lately and haven’t had much time for blogging. I’ll be back next week once I’ve settled into this new semester a bit. Until then, I am piggy-backing off The Bloggess today and showcasing pictures of my office, which is way more messy than hers is!

Here’s where the magic happens. Yes, that is the obligatory cat sitting in my office chair. There’s another cat around here someplace, but who knows where. She’ll jump out and attack my feet after I sit down.

Continue reading “And here’s my boring blog post for the day” →

Novel Writing

You need to write a cheap, crappy novel. No, seriously. I mean it.

August 19, 2013 Mandy Webster

Writers write. It’s that simple. | English: penulis = writer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lately, I have been feeling hopelessly stuck on the *Great American Novel* I have been writing for the past year. I wasn’t getting anywhere, and I wasn’t writing much of anything. I was feeling like I should stop referring to myself as a writer since I wasn’t writing anything. Then I decided to take a break from my *real* novel and knock out a cheap piece of crud just for the fun of it. I needed to write SOMETHING.

And so, I spit out a 16 chapter teen/dystopian story in 16 days and called it a finished first draft. As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s only 22,935 words, so it’s full of holes and pretty crappy. But I think I can pound it into something worth reading at the beach. It may not be the Great American Novel, but it feels like a win to me. Continue reading “You need to write a cheap, crappy novel. No, seriously. I mean it.” →