How Do You Do That? #MFRW

So, you know how I said I was debating about just using the bloghop prompts? I have this OCD issue . . . leaving things undone is like nails on a chalkboard to me.  There is no way I can go back and do over all of the weeks I’ve missed,  but I can still use the posts! 

One of the weeks that I missed was Week 11. Plot Away. . . My Writing Process. 

Oh boy, this is going to be difficult!

LE SIGH!

I definitely need to improve my process. I have numerous books that haven’t been published and I need to get on the ball!

THE PROCESS:

1. The Idea Garden – every great story starts with an ideal. Every idea doesn’t have to be great. You can have five writers use the same basic plot and write five different stories and one of them might be great. Take for instance romance- the basic plot of any romance is boy meets girl, they fall in love, *complications* they live happily ever after. The thing that makes each story unique is that *complications* bit. An inspiration for an idea can come from anywhere – prompts, pictures, people at Walmart.
2. Plotting or Pantsing – I’m a Planster. That is mostly a plotter with a bit of pantsing. I take my initial idea and make a rough outline. For the WIP that I’ve been working on and revising, this process has been a bit different than in the past. I’m trying to write a better book. The wonderful Karen Docter gave me a few pointers which I have taken to heart, revamped the plot which was weak leaning towards lame, scrapped most of what I had before and began earnestly writing in this new method that makes more sense to me. My new method is using the W Plot method. I am embarrassed to admit that I had to go through the course 3 times before I got it. Well, I think I got it. Time will tell. Making sure that I hit the nine major points,  I then begin to write. It takes me a while to get from one point to the next because there could be ten chapters between the two points. Or in later sections, it’s only five chapters between points. The W does not have to be symmetrical! Nobody told me the plot has to be symmetrical. You’re warned, so don’t be leaving some comment in the review that says the pacing isn’t the same when things start escalating and moving faster and faster until the climax. I’m just going to leave that.
3. Write the Words – Write LIke the Wind BullsEye! This is the nitty gritty day to day word count. I’ve only recently been able to get back into my author’s chair and have clear thoughts to be able to focus on my plot. Hey, don’t judge me! Chemo brain is a very real thing. Just another little thing cancer robs you of. There were days, it was like I was absolutely stoned out of my mind. Not that I would know what that was like. *Cough cough*  The point here is that I’ve been back to writing this week. My story sits at 52,764 words and I have about ten more chapters to add. I can’t tell you how long it will take me because it’s a new world for me. I don’t know what my new normal is. I don’t know which days are going to be good days and which are chemo brain days. Yesterday I got 1200 words down, then was sick the rest of the day including when we went out to celebrate our anniversary. JOY!
4. Revisions, Beta Feedback, and Editor woes! – To be honest, 50K of the words have already been revised. I will have to get new beta readers because I had asked my beta readers to read back in April before I got my diagnosis. *Hangs head* It’s been a long, long arduous four months and my journey isn’t over yet. AS soon as I can get the other chapters done, I’ll send it off to my betas and then make corrections before sending to my wonderful editor.
5. Covers! –While the editor is going over my book it’s time for cover creation! Unfortunately, what I had originally planned for this cover isn’t going to happen because medical expenses are astronomical. The out of pocket isn’t anywhere near the total charges which are over $100K, but still, I don’t know where we are going to come up with the thousands we need.
6. Correction Center – It takes me a while to go over the calls made by my editor. As an editor myself, you’d think the calls are easy to go through using Word, but it’s so easy to get confused and lose track of where you were, especially now with this brain fog!
7. Release the Kraken! Or erm, your baby – the project that you’ve toiled over, created the world for your characters to live, made your reader love them or hate them, all of the dirty deeds you’ve done to your characters in practice runs or in the final print, it’s finally ready for reader’s eyes. You pray, you chew your nails, you have a few drinks while laughing nervously and alternately crying, and have a few moments of “I finished a book!” before the “Get your butt in gear on the next one” hits.

Yeah, that about sums up the process. Of course, I’ve omitted the psychological process of going from the brilliant idea when you feel absolute genius to useless failure to chasing dreams to the determination to see this through to the end. But that’s a whole other post.

My process may be different from everyone else. I’m trying to focus on one project at a time. A quick update on progress – Roxy Sings the Blues is the current WIP that I have about ten chapters left to write. It was supposed to be finished in April then my world fell apart.  Valkyrie’s Curse: The Awakening is written. I’ve been holding off on that one until I get my major points in book 2 far enough to feel comfortable that I am not going to need to add that bit to book one or omit that other bit that foreshadows book 3.  Realm Wars series is basically waiting on me to finish book 1, which is a prequel to Passion’s Price and Faere Guardian. I got hung up on Egyptian gods and their system and fell into a research pit with that one and shelved it. Guess what? Soon I will dust them off and get them out there.

Anyway, now you know my publishing goals for the next year. Three of those were supposed to go out this year, but CANCER. Anyone who feels the need to comment on my slow writing can suck it!

You can find previous posts in this series here:

• Raindrops on Roses
• They’ll Survive – I Guess
• Binge Watching #MFRWauthor
• Thank God for Grace in Editing!
• #MFRW Best Friends
• Crafty Author #MFRWauthor
• Musical Mayhem #MFRWauthor
• A Rose by Any Other Name . . . #MFRWauthor
• I’ll take What is Purple Prose for 50 Alex #MFRWauthor
• Ellie’s Guilty Pleasures #MFRWauthor

 

 

Write on my friends, write on!

 

Old School Reader

Hey, I’m back!

It has been a while. The radiation treatments were totally kicking my butt for a while there,   but I survived and am making my comeback.  This week has a been a learning curve in what my new normal is going to look like as my stamina is measured in micro bursts. It will increase, however slowly.

I debated about borrowing the prompts for this on my own schedule, or jump back in since I’ve missed so many weeks. A good friend said just go for it and jump in again so here I am.

Welcome to Week  30 of the 52-week MFRW blog challenge: Paper, e-book, or audio?

Quotidiandose does not own the rights to this image. All rights reserved to http://amysvintagethoughts.blogspot.com/2012/01/broken-resolutions-stack-of-books.html

I am old school, I prefer to have a hard-copy print book in my hands.  Whether it is hardbound or a paperback, I prefer the print copy to an e-reader. That isn’t to say however that I don’t own an e-reader because I do. It has nearly 300 books on it, many of which I have started but not finished. When I have a print book, I will read it through. I usually have a couple of books that I alternate between but lately, it is all I can do to focus on one.

I have been working my way through the digital material as I have been spending a lot of time in waiting rooms. *ROLLS EYES*  By mid-August, I should be able to leave a dozen reviews.

There’s just something about the smell of paper and the gratifying sense of touch to handle the print copies.  I own a shelf full of first edition books which are part of my treasure hoard. There are only a handful of authors that I care enough to get first editions. A couple of my prized first editions: Arabian Nights. YES, the 1704 edition! I don’t dare handle it too much, as it is delicate. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Then I have some more modern first editions by Karen Marie Moning and Clive Cussler.

One of my greatest thrills is going to author events and getting signed copies from other authors. Sometimes I trade my book for theirs, which is a complete thrill to me that they think my book is worth trading theirs for!

I’m not much on audio books other than when I am listening to them at the gym and since I haven’t been to the gym for a while. . . .  yeah, that’s a whole other story. I have listened to audio books during my cancer treatments. I got through 2 Clive Cussler books, a Stephen King, and Anne Rice.  I find though that if I am doing anything else, I lose my place in the story and have to rewind and listen to that part over whereas with a print book I am less likely to get lost.

We each have our own preferences! One thing I do like about ebooks though is the price. I can get three books for every one of my print copies!

You can find other author’s take on this top here:

1. Old School Reader	2. As Long as It’s A abook
3. What Your Eyes Can See~ Reading Formats	4. Books: Which Format Rules? – Robin Michaela
5. The More The Merrier	6. Books Are Delicious But I Wouldn’t Taste Them
7. My Favorite Holiday (?)	8. Hear, Read, or Hold #MFRWauthor
9. So Many Choices!	10. Choices, Choices
11. Paper, E, then Audio	12. Outside of a dog
13. Tell Me a Story, Any Story	14. Books, Books, and More Books
15. A Book by Any Other Name. . . Linda McLaughlin	16. As Long As It’s a Book

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do you read? Which format do you prefer for your books?

Here are some other posts in this series from yours truly:

1. Raindrops on Roses
2. They’ll Survive – I Guess
3. Binge Watching #MFRWauthor
4. Thank God for Grace in Editing!
5. #MFRW Best Friends
6. Crafty Author #MFRWauthor
7. Musical Mayhem #MFRWauthor
8. A Rose by Any Other Name . . . #MFRWauthor
9. I’ll take What is Purple Prose for 50 Alex #MFRWauthor
10. Ellie’s Guilty Pleasures #MFRWauthor
11. How Do You Do That? #MFRW

Write on my friends, write on!

 

Road to Recovery

Hey!

It’s been a while.

Surgery was a success! They removed the cancerous mass from my breast, about 8.5 cm in circumference with clean margins. That’s the part that made it worth it – clean margins and it had not spread to my lymph nodes! If I felt better, I would be doing the happy dance!

The incisions are healed, mostly. The one under my arm where they removed the lymph nodes opened back up during radiation treatments. I was assured that it is not a problem but it’s disconcerting that there is an opening in my skin under my arm! OK, it downright freaks me out.

Radiation therapy was completed on July 7th – with a celebratory dinner out! In all honesty, it was the first social outing since before my diagnosis. It seems that any “outing” has been to doctors, medical appointments, treatment, picking up prescriptions, or obtaining necessary food stuff. That last week of treatment, the burns started getting pretty bad. I had four days of intense pain – and little to take the edge off.

For those four days, it was how do I get through the next few minutes? Then the next hour? It wasn’t a day to day thing,  it was intensely minute by minute. I spent a lot of those four days in tears. The skin had begun to peel away in the area of the burn which extends from the top of the breastbone to just below the breastbone, and around my side up to the underarm area. For those four days, the area was flaming red, skin gone, several spots of open sores and weeping blisters. not pleasant! Oh the joys of being a white girl!

If you know someone who is going through radiation – do something nice for them! Maybe not hug them, because it hurts. The treatments themselves are painless. Just lay on the metal table, get into the exact location, and let the machine do its thing. Simple – it takes all of about fifteen minutes from donning the hospital gown to redressing.

But later, the after effects of radiation are cumulative. In the digital age of Google and WebMD, I can honestly say my burns were not the worst I’ve seen. I am thankful for that! They were/are painful never the less. What I wouldn’t have given for a morphine IV drip for that week!

I smell like burned flesh – gee, I wonder why?! My husband tries to say he can’t smell it but I catch him cringing on occasion as he brushes by in the kitchen, or if I move my arm in bed. He is trying so hard to not make me feel bad about it. He’s been my champion. I am very thankful for his support.

So, why am I telling you all of this?  I’m not looking for your pity. I’m not even looking for sympathy. This is where I am. I’m not sharing to lament and whine. I’ve had numerous friends call me or say to me that I need to stay positive. A positive outlook is a key tool to fighting cancer. I have a positive outlook. I have a positive view on the whole overall deal.

Let’s be honest though, life isn’t all sunshine and lollipops. Sometimes we have to go through the hard times. I could have opted not to have treatment and then live with the constant fear that it may come back. It might anyway,  but I am doing everything I can to win this battle.

Just because I am being real and honest doesn’t mean I am depressed. It doesn’t mean I feel hopeless. If I felt it was hopeless, then it would be moronic to endure the radiation! There are parts of this that absolutely suck! There is no way to pretty it up.

You can hang streamers on an IV pole all you want but it doesn’t change the fact that the IV is there. You can laugh and joke about all the crazy things people say when they come out of anesthesia but then there are people like me who can’t say a single funny thing because of the violent vomiting post surgery. It’s hard to be happy when you burst a blood vessel in your eyeball from straining because of the vomiting. These things do not make me happy! But, being happy isn’t really the goal, is it?

Isn’t the goal to fight to live another day? To live a better day in the future?

I think part of that 8.5 cm mass they removed also held my tolerance for stupid people. Not that I had much of it to begin with, but my tolerance for things are at an all time low.

1. Pretentious people – Just don’t. For all of the effort in trying to appear to be something they are not, it’s blatantly obvious to everyone but the most obtuse that they do not possess such skill.  Or those who try to act like caring individuals but in reality  are mentally checked out as soon as they say “how are you doing?” They don’t really care, they don’t want to know. They really didn’t plan on seeing you. It’s much easier to post a smiley face on your social media page.
2. Perpetually happy people – AKA PLastic Barbie world. Seriously, life isn’t always happy. The day your puppy got run over is not a happy day. The day your fiancee’ breaks up is not a happy day. My guess is they are either in denial because they believe the lies that if you admit that you aren’t 100% happy then you are depressed and may need to take medication.  I’ve got a news flash – you may need it anyway. Seriously, life has some pretty crappy days. The fact that you can dry your eyes and move beyond them to see the bigger picture and a future sunrise is an absolute miracle. I rejoice that they found this cancer early I rejoice that they got all of it in surgery, and I rejoice that I am through the treatments! I still feel like crap. I still am recovering from radiation burns. I have to take this medicine for the next 5 years – but I can make the most of today. And tomorrow. And many tomorrows to come.
3. Rude people that say rude comments about anyone who is not one of the pretty people. This stems from a couple of experiences I’ve had. The first was an incredibly rude woman dressed like white trash waving her arms around in line at the pharmacy. She elbowed me post surgery in her demonstration of her actions to the other person on the phone – yeah, I don’t get it either. Then yesterday, while waiting yet again at the pharmacy – I got to hear the whispers of people, pointing, whispering, commenting on the horrible burns that I dared to expose to their sight.  I mean the nerve, right? How dare I expose people to an uncomfortable “condition”. Shame on me!

Yes, I’m sarcastic.

So here’s the deal: some days suck. Most days rock. I  plan to have the percentage of good days far exceed the sucky days from this point on. I’m still not up to 100% but I may have to find what the new 100% will be.

I see better days ahead! OH! and writing days as well!

Write on my freinds, write on!