Work In Progress Wednesday (errr, Friday)

How did it get to be Friday already. It has been one of those hectic weeks with lots of stuff going on, but just don't feel like much has gotten accomplished. I managed to write all of a 1000 words again during the week and have to figure out a better way to schedule my writing time.

My writing time in the morning disappeared due to Wii Mario Kart. Yes, let's blame it on the game and James wanting me to race him every morning. There goes an a hour and then it's time to start lessons. Or clean the bathrooms, do laundry, or help father decide on what color led light to go with for his blinky warning light on his preamp. Have I mentioned the difficulty of writing when your spouse works at home a couple days a week, rather than going into the office. And likes to use you as a sounding board. However today I managed to write more than I did all last week. Yeah! Of course, I've been at it, off and on since 9:00 with several interruptions. We had a brohaha over the Wii because of bad sportsmanship, so the game has been shelved for the next week. But, the muse has been flowing today, so powered through.

I picked up three new writing books and came across a wonderful website that hopefully will help me improve my writing, plus give me some incentive.











Interesting so far!











The Voice of the Muse by Mark David Gerson. I love the cover and it starts with

"Whatever you believe about your talent, your skill, your imagination or your creativity, if it contains one ounce of doubt, let it go. You are a writer -- of power, strength and substance. Repeat that. Aloud if you dare.

I am a writer of power, strength and substance.

Again:


I am a writer of power, strength and substance.

One more time:

I am a writer of power, strength and substance.


I'm going to write that out and tape it on my computer. Affirmations are wonderful, when you remember to use them. Also picked up "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss.

Discovered the website Writing Forward which has a great exercise called "Sensible Writing Exercise" an exercise to help you write with more sense -the 5 senses.

I'm finding I have a lot of beats in the story...The movement of the characters as they talk, but not totally engaging all five senses. There are some great writers out there who make it seem seamless. It's something I need to work on.

In one scene, Samantha is sitting in the park talking with Benjamin. She is sitting in the sunshine, observing life going on around them. So I sat outside on the patio, closed my eyes and opened up all my senses. I paid close attention to the feel of the sun on my face, the warmth sinking into my skin and bones. The sound of the breeze rustling through the bushes, birds singing, traffic off in the distance, the laughter of the neighbors next door. The smell of peppermint. The tickle of the cat's fur as she brush up against my leg. Now I just have to figure out how to get that all on paper as part of the story without it sounding contrived. I'm hoping the Sensible Writing Exercise will help. I'm going to try it right after I'm done with my homework. :)

If you'd like to see what progress others have made or want to participate in WIP Wednesday, head on over to Kate's.

5 comments:

  1. best of luck with your writing :)
    hope the writing exercises help.
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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  2. I really love "Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass. There's also a workbook that you can get to go with it that's very beneficial. I always go through the exercises after I have my first draft. Good luck with it all!

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  3. Glad you're finding The Voice of the Muse a powerful addition to your library of writing books!

    - Mark David Gerson
    author of The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write

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  4. I'm just in awe of how dedicated you are to your writing!!!

    We'd probably have lots of tiffs over the Wii too!!

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  5. Oooh, I love Eats, Shoots, and Leaves - it is the most hilarious grammar book ever written! Those other books sound great too - can't wait to hear more about them!

    Also LOL on Mario Cart eating into your writing time - my husband and I keep talking about how much we want a Wii, but maybe it is better that we don't have one!

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