Wednesday, December 17, 2014

What's Up Wednesday



What's up Wednesday is a blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers keep in touch with each other. If you'd like to participate, sign up on the linky at one of their blogs, and use one of the cute WUW buttons provided. Thanks!

WHAT I'M READING

I finished Blue Lily, Lily Blue, and I feel rewarded for persevering through. I never loved this series, but always liked it just barely enough to read the next book. The language and the drug overtones in the second book were very off putting to me, and I've been frustrated by what I saw as a lack of compelling reasons for the dogged way they were pursuing their goals. But I really liked BLLB. It solved all my problems. I will never love it with the devotion so many people feel, but the third book was far and away my favorite.

WHAT I'M WRITING (+ ONE WRITING GOAL)

My mind has been whirling with all the things going on in my real world--the kind of whirling where I can't even figure out what I'm thinking about because there is just so MUCH. I'm slowly learning that the cure for that is to sit down with a pencil and paper and see what comes out. Usually I end up with a lengthy list, but this time, to my surprise, I outlined an entire novel. It's a rough outline, to be sure, but I hadn't even realized it was in there! I'm pretty psyched about it.

My goal for this week is to see if I can flesh that outline out some. This isn't supposed to be my next project. So maybe I should work on the outline for my next project too, and see which one catches my passion.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME

Trusting my intuition. Some people write down extensive rules for their world, and because of that, they can verbalize why something works or doesn't work. But while that is nice, I find my subconscious does a much better job at it than my conscious mind ever could. I just have to trust it.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

I really wanted to participate in the Superlatives Blog Hop, and maybe I'll end up doing some kind of shortened version, but I am really enjoying going to all the blogs and seeing all the incredible books that came out in 2014. Keep it up, bloggers! I'm a fan!

12 comments:

  1. Awesome about your outline! Keep it up!

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  2. Congratulations on making your outline! That's always a helpful thing to have when heading into a new project.

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  3. I think the problem with The Dream Thieves is after the first book, it really lacked a solid plot that felt as driven and compelling as the original book. I am looking forward to the fourth, but I'm not a devotee, either.

    Good luck with that outline ^_^

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  4. I haven't gotten around to reading Blue Lily, Lily Blue yet, but I really enjoyed the first two books in the Raven Cycle series. So I'll definitely have to read it soon.

    Have a great week and a great holiday season!

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  5. Great job on the outline! Enjoy the holidays! :)

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  6. Congrats on the unexpected outline! It's great when new projects pop up unexpectedly...sometimes they are the best ones, =)

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  7. I can just see the future interviews:

    "How did you come to write this novel?"
    "I was trying to make a list of all the things inside my head, and a novel popped out."

    Don't you love it when stuff like that happens? :)

    Have a wonderful Christmas, Melanie!

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  8. That's awesome that you outlined a whole book unexpectedly! Woohoo! :-) Have lots of fun fleshing it out this week. Have a Merry Christmas, Melanie!

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  9. Isn't it nice when your brain entertains you with fun stories?!? Hope you find a shiny new project that you are passionate about.

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  10. Your thoughts on the RAVEN BOYS books are interesting, and I can see where you're coming from. While I love Maggie Stiefvater's prose, I've always thought the plot of the series could've been more involved. After hearing what you said about BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE, I'm even more eager to read it.

    Nicely done on spontaneously outlining an entire novel! It's the best when inspiration hits that hard. Have a great week! :)

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  11. I get what you mean about having too much in your head at one time. My brain is my worst enemy sometimes. But congrats on genning up a new outline! Best of luck fleshing it out this week!

    Happy, Happy Holidays! :)

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  12. Sitting down and writing or plotting long hand works for me as well! Congrats on all your outlining!

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