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Writing Goals: December

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Last month I only had one goal:

😎Participate in National Write a Novel in a Month Challenge – and I clocked up over 56k words (yes, fifty six thousand words). My plan at the start was to write 2k a day for 6 days, having Sundays off – they are usually my PJ and off screen days – and I obviously wrote a little more than my target. The first half of the month I wrote longhand, with a pencil and notebook. A staved middle finger on my writing hand made that a little difficult as well as a pulled back muscle!  I reverted to transcribing scenes and character development via the keyboard. I’m still working on transcribing and still have a lot of decisions to make, as things changed, as always, as the story fell out of my head.

How did you get on?

For the month of December I’m going to be realistic. We go away in our van on 15th December to spend the festive season and the New Year in Spain and I don’t plan on doing much, other than walking with the dogs, cycling and sight seeing. 🙂 So for the next two weeks my goals are:

  1. Continue to transcribe my NaNo project five days a week
  2. Complete the authorschallenge2019plus on Instagram (I can plan these posts ahead)
  3. Draft out my Social Media plans for 2020
  4. Finalise Wolf Moon for publication – hard copy proof has arrived!

Let me know what you’re planning to work on and what plans you have over the silly season – you may have guessed I don’t particularly enjoy this time of the year 🙄

 

Writing Toolbox

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I’ve had my nose stuck in NaNoWriMo for this month so have been desperately trying to ignore all distractions… but here are three things that I tripped across during November…

A List – A Complete Glossary of Terms for Fantasy Writers. Whether it’s complete or not I don’t know but it sure has been useful reading and one list that I’m sure I’ll come back to!

A Word – thought it would be a bit of fun to think about words that I could add to my vocabulary toolbox. Though with caution, I hate having to look up words mid read so you need to give some clues to the reader. This month the word is MORDANT – biting or sarcastic in word or manner

A Blog Post – you know last month I shared some random generators? Well Jami Gold has gone one step further and dedicated whole post to them. Great for when things get tough and sticky.

Wolf Moon: Cover Reveal

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No, it’s not the cat, but it’s a good way to get your attention. 😉

This is the current choice of cover for the publication of my first fantasy novella, Wolf Moon. I do have others but a decision has to be made and as I’m knee deep in NaNoWriMo words at the moment working on my second fantasy series, I had to post something…

I changed my mind twice in the space of creating this post! But I believe this one represents the story most. Thoughts, comments are welcome and now I must bury myself in the words once more… Ciao!

 

On My Reading Table

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It’s been busy reading month in many ways… I’m trying to make up for this month, where it’s unlikely I’ll be getting engrossed in other people’s stories. I’ll be watching The Dark Materials instead 😉

The Faerie Games By Michelle Madow – with more than a nod to Hunger Games and Harry Potter, this had me hooked after a shaky start. I knew it felt familiar but didn’t quite get it then. Love the simple style and the nods to some things based in reality which helps to ground things for the reader. Selena, the wannabe fairy really takes up the challenge. She has written loads and I will definitely read more.

Wolf Moon (Violet of Ravenwood) by J.M Taylor – I chose to read this story because it has the same title, Wolf Moon, as my first fantasy novella! I hadn’t known that of course and as mine is a series I probably need to define it as such. But this was a great easy read and written in first person, which is the Point of View I’m hoping to use for my next project 🙂 Looking forward to the next book in the series, but have just downloaded another book from this author, so that’s a good sign!

The Familiars by Stacey Halls – Just loved this tale. Came across it from an episode of Pointless would you believe? It’s a tale of women and witchcraft and is beautifully written. I really connected with the main character, Fleetwood (what a great name!) and her midwife, Alice Gray. Set in the time when women gifted with the skills of nature and childbirth were seen as evil, by the patriarchal society, it provided intriguing insight. And written in the first person, so we see everything through Fleetwood.

Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) by Jay Kristoff – This is one of the books that I put down before I finished. I usually try and persevere for at least a third of the book. The biggest problem were the footnotes which were so distracting. They weren’t additional clarification but part of the story so why not write them in the text? It was soooo annoying and this is a book with rave reviews and star ratings which can only back up my views about reviews. Very subjective. The story might have been a good one but I’ll never know and life is too short too waste.

Secrets of the Mechanical Heart by J M Taylor – yes, a second book by this author this month. It’s short and sweet, I’m sure the story could have been longer but it was well written and intriguing. I’m sure that there will be more with this character, Amelia and the legacy left to her by her father of using machines to help animals and humans… kind of steam punk, I think. Really enjoyed the lightness of it.

What have you been reading? Should I add it to my TBR list?

 

Writing Goals: November

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It’s that time of the month again…planning goals for the next four months ahead. November is an easy month, in terms of choosing my goals. But first, lets see how I got on last month *takes a deep breath*

 😉 Sketch out two more Wolf Moon sequels – for development as NaNo project #1 – I decided early on in the month only to concentrate on one NaNo project. As usual, I set myself up to fail before I’ve begun. But I have given some thought to the sequel of Wolf Moon, made a third edit following a Beta Read and planning it’s publication.

 😎 Revisit snowflake for Rainbow Chronicles – this will be my NaNo project and I’ve spent most of the month getting to know my characters, sketching out the world they occupy and having too many ideas!

😛 Schedule responses to #FantasyWiPOctober – the first time I’ve ever completed one of these Instagram challenges and I’ve met some wonderful people along the way, and increased my followers by 200!

So can you tell what my intended goals for this month are yet? There is just one.

✔ Participate in National Write A Novel in a Month Challenge – my umpteenth year and I don’t think I’ve ever been so prepared. So the idea is to write 50k – or more – within the month. I might also use the Flash NaNo Competition as a bit of inspiration but we’ll see.

Writing isn’t about the end product, not always anyway. If you’ve ever dream of writing but think you can’t do it… I say you can. Dare to dream big. All you need is a pen and paper or laptop, a sprinkling of inspiration and a bucketful of motivation and you’ll do it. I know, because I have. Follow your dreams.

And if you are taking part in NaNo and have registered on their site, let me know your username, or send me a buddy request – I’m ‘The Duchessa’. See you on the other side!