Writing groups

Hello writers,

Today is the day the writing group, I am part of, meets. It's been going for several years now and seems to work for our six members. We all met in various writing classes. We write wildly different types of things from fairy tales to science fiction to literary to horror, and more. We have a set structure to our group. And we tend to like each other as people.

What do we do? We start each session with weekly goals and updates on previous goals. We have a vocabulary word of the week and then do something fun when we get a list of them. We do a short (10-15 minute) hot write based on some type of prompt. Sometimes, we read things we are working on or request feedback or suggestions around a specific piece of writing. We share successes.

We also share information about upcoming classes, workshops, and author visits. We share recommendations for great stories in books and films. We maintain a library of writing books with lots of tools. We also occasionally share paper, pens, and power cords.

We try to avoid being critical or negative. We support each other's writing process. We don't write each other's stories. We don't write by committee. We tend to value each member's unique creative wackiness. We drink lots of caffeinated beverages and occasionally indulge in chocolate.

Until next time,
Write on!

Starting up the blog again.

Hello fellow writers,

I've decided to start up the blog again. I've decided to reformat the blog to make it more useful to myself and hopefully to you. I'm including some info on how I'm consuming story, learning, and writing. Hope you find it useful.

I just got back from a terrific workshop on cliffhangers. Now, I have to practice them!

As for story consumption, I'm reading Unbound, a collection of short stories by Kim Harrison, Jeaniene Frost, Melissa Marr, and others. I'm listening to James Marsters read the Jim Butcher novels in my car, and to Nora Robert's Black Rose on the MP3 while running. On the telly, I'm catching Bones, and I just saw Get Him to the Greek on the big screen.

Until next time,
Write on!

New Story!

Hello writers,

Another story idea is making that critical leap from my brain to paper! It's so exciting when that happens and words begin to flow onto the page. This one's a love story. I love love stories.

Until next time,

Write on!

Nanowrimo is over!

Hi Folks,

Nanowrimo is over! And I'm still writing up a storm! I finished Nano with over 185,000 words on my latest story for November! Since then, I wrote 120,000 more and broke the saga into 4 stories. Wahoo!

And as often happens when I finish the first draft, I begin to think about the next story. So off, I went to my favorite Irish Pub, the Wilde Rover, to hear my favorite Celtic style band, Geoffrey Castle's, with mini-me, my netbook, and a brand new ideas journal. The Rover was cozy. My netbook battery was completely dead! Out came the handy compostion notebook. The band was awesome, I think they're my muses, and I left with 40 new story ideas. Double wahoo!

Until next time,

Write on!

Nanowrimo

Hi folks,

And the word count is 105,000! Now, I get to make it pretty.

Until next time,

Write On!

Nanowrimo

Hi folks,

We're at the halfway point for nanowrimo. My goal was 50,000 words on my new story for the month. I reached that goal last week! Yipee! Now I can relax a bit and just write. Double Yipee!

Nanowrimo

Hi folks,

This month I'm participating in Nanowrimo, the national novel writing month. It started last night at midnight with a local kickoff party (after all the Halloween festivities!) at a restaurant. We typed away on our laptops until 1:30am! I got 2500 words on my new story.

Today, its up to 5000 words!

Stay tuned for further progress!

Until next time,
Write on!