Aaaaaaaand it’s time for more THINGS I LOVE. Because you need to know. You really, really do.
1. Word Wars and Deadlines
Most of you know that I’ve been working on a complete re-write of Between–100% rewriting each and every scene, completely changing the ending, getting rid of a main character, etc. It’s basically an entirely new book now.
So yes, I’m a little insane, I guess. I mean, who does that??
Someone who loves her characters so much that she can’t bear the thought of giving up on them, that’s who. I just want to feel like my book is really and truly FINISHED. I’ve never felt as good about Between as I do right now. And you know what? It still may not go anywhere. But I am convinced that I have turned it into the book that it should be, and that makes me happy.
And I’m pretty sure I’d never be this close to having it finished if it weren’t for a few things:
- Word Wars. Grab a friend (or a few) to write with you, set a certain amount of time to write (I usually do 20-30 minutes) and see who writes the most words. This keeps me focused on writing during that time. Then we take a break, talk some smack, and go again. Thanks a BUNCH to Josh, Ravena, and Amanda for doing a few of these with me lately.
- Deadlines. I make self-imposed deadlines for myself all that time. And then I miss them. So THIS TIME- my friend and CP Maggie and I decided to set deadlines and then send each other what we’d written by that date. We started making deals to send each other 50 pages every few days. This was CRUCIAL to getting through the rewrite. There were so many times that I got stuck on a scene and wanted to quit. If Maggie hadn’t been waiting on me, I know I would’ve walked away from the computer and found something (ANYTHING) else to do. Thanks Mags. You’re the best.
2. Be Your Everything by Boys Like Girls
If you were on Twitter the day I heard this song for the first time, I apologize. I think I tweeted it 4 or 5 times. BUT I LOVE IT. It so perfectly fits Seth, one of my MCs in Between, and the way he is about Harper. He was in love with her long before she even knew about him, and he’s satisfied with being whatever he can be in her life–but thank goodness for all of us, she wants him too and they do lots and lots of kissing. His personality is a little bossy and overprotective, and he gets frustrated with the way Harper doesn’t take things as seriously as she should- so this line especially makes me think of him:
I definitely could not do a post every week of stuff I'm obsessed with, and for the exact same reason as you. I tend to move through obsessions slowly, methodically. And, I will put Vampire Diaries into my queue, just to remind me to start watching 🙂
OMG, you are the absolute cutest. You are, like, the OPPOSITE of boring.I have to admit, TVD failed to captivate me, despite Ian SOmerhalder. But I understand that that opinion is…UNPOPULAR. :)And OMG I'm obsessed with staying in hotels. Actually, I'm going to a work conference in ST. Louis this summer where we'll stay in dorms, and I'm freaking out just thinking of the QUIET and SOLITUDE. Ahhhhhhh.
GREAT blog!! Always good to see fellow KY bloggers.
I could stare at Ian all day…
When you start watching TVD. Stick with it past the first few episodes. I wasn't too crazy about it at first! But when in doubt, just mute it and look at Ian.
I think your fabulous in spite of your obviously poor taste in tv shows. ;-)I loooooooove hotels too. I don't even have to leave town. Just take me to a place with a nice comfy bed, where I don't have to clean up after myself, and where someone will bring food to my door. It's thrilling.
Kentucky FTW!! Thanks for stopping by. I love meeting other KY bloggers!
Exactly, Carrie. EXACTLY.
I'm obsessed with Call Me Maybe too! Not the video, just the song, although that star studded video is what got me into the song. Fun post =)
I'm so flattered!! I don 't know what to do with myself when people say such nice things about me and my work… so I just weep and say thank you!THANK YOU!!(And you can bet I'll be bragging on your behalf when it happens to you!)
You're welcome. You totally deserve it. ❤
I really really love the Kristen Bell sloth video, it makes me laugh every single time too!
I KNOW! Especially at the end when Ellen makes her think there's a sloth there. I laugh til I cry. 🙂
I AM LOVING MEGAN WHITMER LATELY.
I love you, Megan. *stares pointedly*
Whenever one of my favorite authors tweets me back I do what I like to call the 'fanboy flail'. So you're not alone. 😛
I mean, WHEN ARE WE GOING TO HANG OUT? It is quickly moving up on the list of things I absolutely must do in the near future in order to continue being a generally happy person.
IIIIIAAAAAAANNNNNN. 🙂 Hello dear. And good, I feel like less of a dork, then. I have little squee fits to my husband but he's pretty unimpressed by it all.
*beams* All of the interwebs are well aware of my super love and adoration for you as well, darling.
I love Buttermilk right now. And also the edits I'm doing on my MS. They are a giant pain in the nether regions, but are making the MS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better! 😀
I love you Megan! This post makes me smile! And it makes me miss you even more than usual! P.S. Great song! ❤
Well, let's see… I love, um, YOU, and your new opening for BETWEEN, and your determination to whip into the most kickass story it can possibly be. Because that is awesome.I love real ice cream like whoa, not this imitation crap made out of coconut milk that I *thought* was delicious until I started eating real ice cream again. There is no substitute.Also, I love that I'm finally working on SP again after a 3-1/2 day lull. Weee!
Things I love this week…….I wrote about it on my blog today 😉 Good luck rewriting and revising! Deadlines are smart. I used to have a deadline for revising this novel by September. Now it's not on a deadline because I am STILL revising. LOL – definitely not close to being done! And these revs are for an R+R! :p
I'm glad your rewrite is going so well! I agree, word wars are definitely an effective way to increase productivity in terms of writing. I haven't tried the fifty-page-deadline thing, but I DO send whatever I finish every day to one of my betas, which I think helps as well. I'm just letting you know that you are going to be my inspiration when I start rewriting MM (after I finish my WIP). ❤ And LOL, I can definitely relate with the character-song-love. It's just so AWESOME when you find a song that fits your MC so closely.Twitter is AWESOME. And lol,Ian Somerhalder. Love him.I'm really loving the Olympics right now. And word-warring every day of course. 🙂 Woot, progress!
Loving this post! You're fabulous. I decided to do a similar rewrite on one of my sequels. Eliminated a character and everything. I hated him and he made my MC unlikeable. If I don't like my MC, how can I expect readers to??
Buttermilk IS pretty fantastic. I'll need to remember to include him on the next list!
Love you, Ang!
EEEEK! I love that you love the new opening. I mean, really. You have no idea. And I love YOU also. I'm so glad you get to have real ice cream again. And I can't WAIT for SP.
Ha! Yeah, self-imposed deadlines do nothing for me. I can very easily convince myself- \”Oh, I'll work on that tomorrow.\” And that never happens! Revising is tough!
So, a week ago I would've been like- NO. Do not let me be your inspiration.But I'm on a writer's high right now, so I'm gonna say- HELL YEAH I AM SO INSPIRING!! ;)Really- when I first started the rewrite, I had days where I would just stop and stare and wonder if I was wasting my time. At this point, it still COULD be a waste of time, I guess, depending on how you judge that- but again, I'm at least satisfied that I've done all I can.So- whenever you start rewriting, let me know. I'll cheer you through the tough parts!
YOU are fabulous.Yeah, I got rid of a character because she was just so…blah. So it was either- develop her more, or scrap her. And I didn't really like her enough to get to know her better, so we had to part ways!But changes like that (and also changing the tense of my book) really forced me to seriously rewrite every single word. I can't cut and paste anything. And that helps a lot- I think. So I'm rethinking every single thing, you know?
Yes word wars yesssssss! That was actually my most productive day this week, which is SAD. So, I'm always up for a rematch :DAnd awesome job on the rewrite!! So impressed you started from scratch. That's serious dedication. Nothing better than knowing you wrote the story you meant to write.
*Her
Thank you for introducing me to word warring 🙂 I'm ultra competitive, and it worked really well for me! I've had one famous author respond to an email I sent her and I saved the email and squee-ed into the the small hours of the morning 😀
I've learned that I get very little done if I'm not word warring, honestly. It's sad. I'm so easily distracted.
Ha! Well, I'm proof that you'll probably never outgrow the squee-ing. And that's a good thing, I think!
I'm so bad at self imposed deadlines. I need your secret!
Cute blog. Nice ideas. I totally agree about imposing deadlines with a CP. Just started doing this and now my WIP is actually getting written! Go figure. lol! Must get on spotify. 🙂