Ready. Set. WRITE! Week 10
Ready. Set. WRITE! is a summer accountability series that is hosted by Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miler, Erin Funk, and Elodie Nowodazkij. We set goals for the summer and check in weekly.
Whelp, We’re fully entrenched in August. I’m not sure how this happened. And now that I hauled through one of the major, major goals for the summer, I’m a little bit lost as to what needs to be done next. I still think there’s something wrong with this WIP, but I can’t articulate the problem. Like, people love dialogue heavy things, amiright?
How I Did Last Week
Continue SCENES FROM LAST NIGHT revisions.DONE. Now I just need to send it to betas.Get up at 5 AM Tuesday-Friday so I can walk to work before it gets way too hot.ACHIEVED, sort of. I woke up at 5 every day, but only walked 4 days because I carpooled with a coworker.- Walk every day. Nope. I only managed 5 days.
- Beta a friend’s manuscript. In progress. My revisions took too long so this isn’t complete.
Stretch goal–>Get at least halfway through final workshop of PLANNING YOUR NOVEL.DONE. This is a massive workshop and I’m not as prepared to do the exercises in it for The SNI but I’m reading.
My Goal(s) For This Week
- Complete the beta I started last week.
- Walk every day.
- Complete reading final workshop of PLANNING YOUR NOVEL.
- Stretch goal–>Think about the Assassin Project and the Boy Band books and formulate a rough revision plan.
Favorite Line From My Story
“It’s a low-rent clown. I hate clowns.”
Biggest Challenge I Faced This Week
The revision itself. SFLN is terrifyingly short for a contemporary YA and for some reason this book doesn’t like the concepts “exposition” and “narration” at all. This was a hard won revision round. Hopefully my beta readers won’t hate me when we’re done.
Something I Love About My WIP
How the mimes have taken on a life of their own. In the WIP and in real life. In the WIP, they have multiplied like rabbits so now there is a mime horde. Bestie Danielle and I randomly incorporate mimes in our conversation. She even commented that a show her son watched dealt with a mime. Then there are all the YouTube videos I found on miming, and of course there’s this mime meme.
Hope everyone has a fantastic week!
"Like, people love dialogue heavy things, amiright?"
I know your pain! My first several drafts all read like plays.
Hope you and the mimes have a good week!
Walking five days is not an "only." That's some good work, gurl! Also, woo hoo on completing the revisions! We are tossing confetti for you. Doesn't that always happen, btw? As soon as you start looking into something you start seeing it EVERYWHERE?! Good luck with the mimes and everything else this week.
I love dialogue heavy stories. And I write them so I'm hoping others like them too! And mimes and that clown line? I am so intrigued! Hope you have a great week, Alicia!
Hubby read my draft and told me it was great; it read like a teen movie. *headdesk*
That is true. I wonder if I start writing about a lottery winner, I'll start seeing cash everywhere?
I feel better knowing I'm not the only one who is dialogue heavy. They just read so much quicker, don't they?
I agree with Pam and Quita — walking five of seven days is excellent! Also, I think a well-executed YA that's on the short side is much, MUCH better than an unnecessarily wordy story. I say: embrace the succinctness! Have a great week, Alicia!
Congrats on finishing a round of revisions! That's awesome and I hope you get some great beta feedback now that you're sending your WIP out. As for walking 5 out of 7 days, you're doing much better than me. I've been glued to my laptop waaaay too much lately. Also, clowns are creepy, so I laughed at the line you shared. Good luck with your goals this week!
Thanks for the validation, Katy!
I'm trying to stay active somehow. My walk to work is the only guaranteed exercise these days. If I didn't have to go anywhere, I'd be tied to this laptop too. So glad you liked my line. (Clowns are wicked creepy, aren't they?)
Sounds like a great week to me! 5 of 7 days is amazing! You deserve a rest day or 2 to keep it fresh! Keep up the momentum going for another great week!
Thanks. Give my much sedentary lifestyle, I need to figure out a way to incorporate more activity. And going, "Ooh, look at *that* bird!" while exciting isn't being the correct kind of active.
I don't think I've ever read a story with mimes in it, so that's a totally neat element. And has the potential to be SO CREEPY. =) Good luck this week!