Just the facts ma'am

Writing is so hard.

Everyday I struggle with getting a line on my characters and everyday I'm finding more and more things that I like or don't like about them. Is this normal? Maass says that we should write about characters we like but how are you supposed to like the bad guy? I'm mean, he's the bad guy, the villain, the bane of our fearless hero or heroine's existence.

So now I'm going back through my lists, looking at my characters, changing them to suit the needs that Maass suggests so that they are breakout characters. It's so darn hard though.

**I should add a note here that I started writing about my characters and then went off on a soul searching tangent about them. Enough of a tangent that I have finally managed to pin down the plot a little. That's definitely progress in my book.**

Currently our workbook assignment has us looking through our current WIP. Well, I really don't have one. I mean for this assignment, I have to count all the dimensions of my characters. Kind of hard for me to do since I haven't even outlined the book, much less written anything.

I was initially feeling like maybe I was in over my head with this class but actually it's kind of good that I don't have anything to go by. This will save me time in the end by knowing what I need to do upfront, rather than finding out about it after the fact. I'm already implementing some of the ideas I've learned in my character creation process.

Now I just need a viable way to keep track of everything.

Dream BIG!!

That's right! According to Donald Maass, if we want our novels to stand out and be noticed we can't just dream (write) that our characters in danger. We need to put them in situations that makes the reader say, "Oh no! He's just being lowered into a vat of boiling oil with no hope of escape" or "Oh no! The main character is trapped in a well with an electric eel and a homicidal maniac". Of course those are just ridiculous examples off the top of my head but you see where I'm going with this.

I went back through my summary and realized that I was not taking it up a notch (or even getting a tiny spark). It was at mediocre level and that's just being kind to myself. No one was going to read this drivel. Hell, even I was kind of bored with it when I was writing it and then it struck me. Aha! This is why I can't finish anything!

Everything that I've attempted to write up until now has been dry, plain and just dusty (ie sawdust). There was nothing that held my attention so I wasn't inspired to finish it. Oh the horror, oh the humanity, yadda yadda.

Now I can't wait to jump in and start torturing... I mean giving my characters some difficulties that would make the reader want to turn the page and stay up late trying to finish the book.

(I want them to suffer so much that I'm almost drooling with anticipation.)

I don't know if I should be happy about this turn of events or not. Anyway, I can only hope that this will help me push my novel from the starter stage that I've been plagued with for years. Wish me luck with this new tactic.

Another day...

I'm back on track with writing again. I kind of took the day off yesterday and decided to get my reading fix on so I spent the whole day re-reading Midnight Secretary, a manga that I had a couple of years ago. I still enjoyed it the second time around.

I also updated my Twitter account. Hadn't used it in months. It was nice to see some familiar faces and purge the not familiar ones. I really hate when people follow me just to up their readership. I don't think I indicated anywhere that I was interested in buying my linens online.

So for today's writing update: I'm writing my characters out and doing my candy bar scenes. Not sure how many I'm going to end up with but I think fifty is a good number. I'll have to check my notes from Holly on what the starting number is since it's been a while. I did actually do some on my netbook last night but I didn't have my character sheet with me and couldn't remember the names I needed for each scene.

I guess that's about it for today. Once I get my scenes down I might print them out later and work on the order a little. My writing class starts tomorrow and I'm looking forward to the challenge but at the same time I'm nervous that things are not going to go my way. Let's just keep the fingers crossed.

Moving forward

I spent a lot of time Wednesday writing (and cooking). I didn't get to do any writing Thursday because I worked later than I expected but I'm hoping to get something done today.

Also, I ran a tally of costs for attending the RWA convention this year. My guesstimate was around $4000. I know this seems rather high but that was what I calculated on my high-end. If I get my book finished by April then I can get a better idea of expenses and such but for now...4K...wow, that's a lot.

I also found out about RomCon which is in late June and being held in Colorado. Never been there either but I don't think I'll be going, although you never know. I want the convention that will give me the most bang for my buck. I won't be attending MWG conference because I won't have enough time to arrange things for my mom. Same goes for RT in Chicago (so close...). Oh well.

On a happier note, I found out that since I was one of the first twelve to sign up for my writing class and so I was going to get a copy of the books for class. Too bad I already had them. I just told the instructor to offer mine to number thirteen. She thought I was being generous. I was kind of shocked by that, I mean why would I take the books if I already had them? Better for someone else who could use them, right?

Well, that's enough for now. Writer's Digest is sponsoring a short essay (2K words or less) contest and I have an idea of a little story. Need to get it down before it disappears into the ether.

April 1, 2012

I have until this date to finish my novel. It will be my first novel and I am hell-bound and determined to finish this novel, even if it kills me. I have several reasons for wanting this done but the most important is that I will be 40 on my birthday I want to say that I have finished something by then. Since I won't be returning to college anytime in the near future, this is the next best thing: my novel. I now have a pretty good idea (or two) about what I want to write.

My thoughts so far are that it is a romantic suspense novel centering around the lives of three brothers and the death of their mother twenty years earlier. Actually, I think I even have that little detail planned out and since it's burning a hole in my head I think I better get to work on that. I will update later.

750words.com

I really can't say enough about this site. Everyday I get up and make the vain attempt to work on my book. Every day I feel like I'm taking one step forward and two steps back. But, everyday I write. Some of it might just be pure crap. Some of it might be pure gold. Regardless of the outcome, I've gotten words down on paper, I mean on the computer.

I'm still working with the Scrivener beta and finding it to be most useful. Right now I need to layout my scenes, again. I find that process so difficult. I can't write and keep track of it since my thoughts are always jumbled around. I outlined the epilogue last night. A few days ago I wrote a scene that takes place in the middle of the book. This is just too unorganized, even for me. I'm trying to come up with a better alternative but so far nothing is working.

For now I'll just keep writing. Eventually it will all come together in time for me to get my fifty pages together for my Savvy U course, I hope. In the meantime I'm off to work on a fight scene.

Laterz!

I wrote a review...

A couple of months ago I took a Savvy Authors workshop on writing reviews. I actually enjoyed it and learned a lot from it. I decided then that if I didn't really have anything nice to say about a book, I wouldn't write a review. Well, unless I felt really strongly about the book.

At the end of the workshop, we were offered an opportunity to submit our own review to be viewed and voted on and then possibly posted on the Savvy Authors website. Well, I waited until the week before the deadline and finally submitted my review. The day before the contest was to end only one other person submitted their review. In totally, we only had four people submit. I know we had more than that in the class but I guess people forgot or got busy with other things. It happens.

So, I decided to post my review here. I'm got to say that it's not a traditional novel. It's an m/m (male/male) romance that deals with BDSM. If that's not your cup of tea I wouldn't recommend reading it. I happened to enjoy the story a lot and even fangirled the author after I finished. Yes, I gushed.

If you have any comments on the review, like how to make it better or you notice any mistakes, feel free to let me know. Like I said, this is my first one and I would like to do more. I've read quite a few books since this one and have actually stared a rough draft file for when I can get around to editing them.

So, without further ado...

Finders Keepers by Jaime Samms
A Review by Kay Britton

A sadist finds the perfect tool for his revenge in book two of the Jaime Samms’ Tales from Rainbow Alley series, Finders Keepers.

Rory Sanders had gone looking for answers, but what he found was pain, abuse and confusion at the hands of Kane, a supposed Dominant, or Dom, who should have been teaching the eager young submissive instead of terrorizing him. Their last session leaves Rory battered, bruised and quite possibly broken.

Gabriel Sanders is the private detective, and professional Dom, hired to track down Kane and put a stop to the crimes that he has committed in the gay community’s BDSM scene. He has found his first true lead in Rory, the only man Kane has “kept” for more than a few weeks.

Working to not only stop a madman but also to teach Rory the correct ways of a submissive are just a few of the obstacles these two face as they try to discover the whys to Kane’s behavior as well as figuring out the attraction that has been drawing them together since their first meeting.

I love the instant connection both men feel when meeting each other. It truly is a simple case of love at first sight, but while Rory is more than willing to go along with it, past mistakes and losses make Gabriel a little more hesitant to follow where his heart is leading him.

The story is told not only from the two main characters point of view, but also Jimmy’s, a submissive who has worked with Gabriel in the past. As the story unfolds, the reader finds out more about Gabriel’s teaching methods as well as his reasons for helping Rory, who is a prime candidate for his services.

Jimmy’s relationship with Gabriel and his interactions with Rory are what give you a little more insight into the main characters and their backgrounds. When Jimmy calls Rory out over his wavering between submissive and defiant behavior, Rory admits that if he needs to “…give up speaking my mind to be a submissive, then maybe this isn’t what I want after all.” This is actually the first time he has admitted what he wants from a Dom, something he hadn’t been able to do when asked by Gabriel.

Earlier, when Gabriel complains about his physical attraction to Rory and how he’s having a hard time saying no, it’s Jimmy who reminds him “You’re the Dom here. Act like it.” Jimmy is the one of the few people who makes both men see what it is they truly want from the other even though it puts him in the awkward position of being the odd man out, especially since he still has unresolved feelings for Gabriel.

At its core, Finders Keepers is a romantic suspense novel with elements of Dominance/submission, also known as D/s, throughout. While some of the descriptions of violence might be a little too much for some, I still found it to be a highly enjoyable read and would definitely recommend it to others.