Tag Archives: writers

Write the D@$! Manuscript Challenge

Posted on March 2, 2010 | Comments Off on Write the D@$! Manuscript Challenge

The FCRW (First Coast Romance Writers) sponsor a contest for members of the chapter each year.  It’s called Write the D@$! Manuscript Challenge.  Members are encouraged to just write the D@$! Manuscript.  We try to do fun things along the way to help keep participants encouraged.

So often the more we as writers know the less we are able to do.  We fill our time with all kinds of things.  After the basic rudiments of living, family, home, job, we find other time suckers to keep from writing the D@$! Manuscript. . . my space, face book, twitter, email, research, BLOGGING. oh my.  And frankly we let the Internal Editor from He(( shut us down way to often.

So the Write the D@$! Manuscript challenge is an opportunity to take the time to make writing your priority again.  Rather than the psychological suicide of NaMoWriMo in 30 days, our version gives you an entire year…ok ten months technically, to write a complete story arch accomplishing at least 40,000 words to a finish, the end.

We aren’t even so tough to expect the WIP to be finished and edited, polished and pretty.

So if you’re not convinced that this is a great activity for your writing group, here is what I got out of the D@$! Manuscript challenge of 2009.  I wrote my WIP Dragon’s Mark.  I finished the entire book in draft form between Feb and early October, some 100,000 words of the beast.

I had time to edit the first 30 pages and enter the Beacon Unpublished contest. I edited a little more and entered the Golden Heart.  Edited a little more and entered the Winter Rose.  Now a year later the work is finished, edited and polished pretty and I am beginning to Query and search for Agented Representation.

The entry in the Beacon 2009 won second place.  Still waiting to hear from the others.

The point is I wrote the D@$! Manuscript.  Didn’t matter that I didn’t win the grand prize drawing.  I wrote.

So, now I am beginning the D@$! Manuscript Challenge 2010.  I’m sitting here immersed in social networking and blogging.  I haven’t started work on my manuscript entry.  However, I know I have to have a word count for our meeting in two weeks to report with the other Challenge Participants.  I sure don’t want to be standing there saying well I haven’t really started yet….  So, I’m going to get busy and Write the D@$! Manuscript.

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Dragon’s Mark 2009 Beacon Unpub – 2nd Place Finish

Posted on February 22, 2010 | 5 comments

Okay kiddies, Results are in as the title of this blog outs, Dragon’s Mark came in Second to Bad Girl.  Congrats to Bad Girl author for her win.  Those of you who have followed this blog know we struck up a conversation cheering each other on to the finish.  When I said I was hoping for a one two finish I was more thinking me one, you two?? **grin**  Next time babe’  lol.

One of my judges shared that if she picked up a book and found that it had a me’nage theme she would put it down.  What can I say?  This is not the book for you.  I have two heroes and one heroine.  There’s no cliff hanger on how this is going to turn out. At least she/he didn’t say she/he would throw it at the wall.

No judge bashing here.  For the most part judges work very hard to make their comments relevant and educational.  And in all fairness, just because our tastes in literature differ she/he had some important helpful things to say in her specific comments.

So Yeah, Dragon’s Mark 2nd Place.  First contest for this book.  Second contest for me.  I’ve put this piece two more contests with more up to date edited versions.  We’ll see how it goes!

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Hoggetowne Medieval Faire

Posted on January 31, 2010 | 4 comments

Dressed for the Faire

Sabra and I attended the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire.  Her birthday is early and February and this is our second year enjoying the tradition of the fair.  Last year we were simple tourists.  This year we DRESSED UP.  I borrowed a lovely gown from Killian the story teller.  Sabra, not wanting to be left out of the “Adult Dress-up Day”, ran me all around thrift stores on Saturday to find her a dress.  We ended up armed with the soft taupe lacy dress for her under dress and two drapery panels.

Scarlet O’Hare, Carol Burnette and Julie Andrews eat your heart out.  We made her tapestry overdress out of the drapes.  It was going to be pretty chilly so she layered a stretchy taupe turtleneck under the whole thing.  She looked sensational.  We had a lot of fun Saturday night laying Killian’s dress out on the drapes to use as a pattern.  We laughed as we sewed with plans to do more bigger better next year.

This morning dawned for the faire, clear and C.o.l.d.  We met Madeline and her husband at  the faire.  Aren’t their costumes fantastic?  A group of their friends made us welcome but soon we all lost each other in the packed Sunday crowds.

Sabra and I loved to see the jousting and sword fighting.  I could sit on a bench and watch other costumed fair goers walk by.  We listened to beautiful music through out the fair and interesting shopping at the merchants.

And What about those fantastic Scottish drummers and bag pipe player.  Woo Whee.  They sounded great and what a show.  You can never go wrong with men in plaid kilts and dark muscle shirts playing bag pipes and several varieties of drums.   We were on the side of the chess board where the apparent leader of the group entertained with emphatic drum beats and occasional celtic kicks that were tastefully not quite high enough to confirm what those young men wear under their kilts.

Albannach

Didn’t you just want to run your fingers through his long hair.  Be calm my inner cougar.  We had the fun of standing behind several of his inebriated fan girl groupies.  Their reaction was almost as entertaining as the music.  Strong tribal beats had the crowd clapping, dancing and kicking up their own feet.

Ah the faire.

http://www.gvlculturalaffairs.org/website/programs_events/HMF/medieval_index.html

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From Organic Pantser to Etherical Plotter

Posted on January 21, 2010 | Comments Off on From Organic Pantser to Etherical Plotter

I am beginning my fourth WIP while wrapping up edits on my third.  I am the rookie writer with training wheels.  The process has been a journey fraught with highs and lows like a manic depressive on steroids.  My work is brilliant, my work is crap.  I’ve just decided that, writers, we’re all neurotic as hell.

The first book I wrote was totally organic.  Of course, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.  I can write a book.  I speak English.  I can read.  Of course I can write a book.  Delusional child.

Okay, so I wrote a book.  I wrote and wrote and wrote.  This monster was an epic fantasy romance with a plot and characters so wierd it would never NEVER find a sympathetic market.  Think of the most outrageous wall banger you’ve ever read double it for ick factor and you aren’t even in the same neighborhood

Book two came along a little better.  I’m even considering letting the hero out from under my bed if he promises to be a dream weaver and let me turn his suspense contemporary into a paranormal.  I’ve shown him a few cool skills I can write for him and I think he’s down with it.

Okay, Okay, cut to the chase right?

I wrote that book two over the course of  eight months.  I re-wrote it with three different kinds of plots, four endings and six beginnings over the course of the next two years.  I’m getting ready for the next go round with the paranormal/suspense/romance plot.

Wouldn’t it have been easier if I had actually plotted the thing from the beginning?  Ya think!

Okay, book three.  I tried to plot.  I really wanted to plot.  By now I was extremely weary of writing myself into blind alley’s.   I used colored stickies and a way of plotting that Roxy StClaire suggested.  I felt like I was really getting a grasp on it.  Then my stickies fell off the poster and I wasn’t sure where they all went.  Ah me.

I used power point and sorta plotted after I wrote.  It gave me a chance to plan ahead a little bit, to the end of the head lights.  I could search out pictures to inspire me and put them on slides.   I found my hero’s their cars, their house.  Pretty cool.  I could research for hours.  But that’s not getting the book written.

I participated in our chapter’s “Write the D*&M Book Manuscript Challenge.”  I did finish the book.  I love the whole thing.  It needs tightened and edited.  I’ve been tightening and editing since….oh October.  Insanity.

I wrote the query and suckyoposis.  I guess I should say I am writing the query and synopsis.

I sat down this past week with my bestest buddy and CP.  She gently showed me the error of my organic ways.  The synopsis I wrote isn’t necessarily reflective of the book.  Oh, it is what I want the book to be.  However,  I have any number of threads that didn’t quite get pulled together at the end.  I had a very willful secondary character take over the last third of the book.  I have a collection of loverly scenes that do absolutely nothing to advance the plot, develop characterization or build the world.

WAAA I don’t want to cut them because they are soooo lover-ly.  Sorry, got to go.  I know. I know.

We got out a slew of colored stickies and started weaving, cutting, and listing scene need.  We moved things around.  Dug deeper.  A few scenes to write but mostly tweaking here and there and some cutting.  I am psyched.  I finally see the book I wanted to write.  I can do this.

I have stickies taped to 4 X 6 index cards and notes all through the manuscript.  Yet, this WIP is more real, my dream is more alive than ever before.  I think I can actually write a novel.

Book four?  Well I’ve made some notes.  I wrote plot points on index cards.  I think I’ll try to write the synopsis first to get the big picture figured out.  Then back to stickies and index cards.  Now if I can only get the characters to cooperate.  Book four will give Kiernan a chance to tell his story now that I’ve convinced him he can’t hi-jack book three.

Plotting for survival

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