2013 Goals + Early Birds

Photo Credit: Kristin Nador

It’s good to return to the blogosphere! I’ve missed connecting with my readers, though I did visit a few of you during my hiatus. I noticed many of you are setting goals for the new year, some more challenging than others. 2013 promises to be a busy, and hopefully exciting, year for me.

With that in mind, here are some of my 2013 goals:

• Blog revamp. I like the look of my blog, but I’m ready to take it up a notch. Luckily, my critique group is right there with me, and we all plan to create new websites. We will learn together.
• Interviews & Guest Posts. As part of the revamping, I plan to interview my readers and host guest posts by people in various stages of the writing journey – newbie, experienced, published, etc. I’ll have more details later. If you think you might be interested, I’m starting an early bird interview & guest post sign up list. 
• Writer’s Retreat. Every year, my group takes a time out from family, friends, cyberspace, etc. and focuses solely on writing. I always look forward to this bonding opportunity.
• Join the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I can already put a check mark by this one (I’m #292). The first Wednesday of every month IWSG creates a safe haven where writers can express their doubts and concerns, as well as offer support and guidance to each other. I have a feeling I’m going to need this group.
• Book release Blog Tour. I’m both excited and nervous about the upcoming (06.06.13) release of Edge Of Truth. Thanks again to everyone who participated in the cover reveal. Now, I’m recruiting a team to help with the book blog tour from June 6 to June 27. If you’re interested, here’s the early bird Edge of Truth blog tour sign up form.
• Start a Newsletter so readers can stay up to date on contest, giveaways, tours, appearances, my next book etc. If you’re interested, please fill in the early bird Newsletter sign up form.
• Last, but not least, something my critique group calls a pleasure goal. This is something that has nothing to do with writing. I plan to master baking gooseberry pie between now and December 2013. This was one of my mama’s favorite pies. I baked one for Christmas 2012. My siblings were kind enough to eat it and not make faces. I’m determined to do better next year, and welcome any tips.

How about you? What are some of your goals for 2013?

The Voices Told Me To Write It

 

If other writers are anything like me, they write what characters tell them to write and don’t always immediately understand why things unfold the way they do. This happened with my current adult paranormal WIP, which is 87% complete. I knew my human heroine possessed otherworldly abilities, yet I didn’t know where those powers stemmed from, only the cost she paid for using them. I also knew her fate was tied to the immortal hero’s and that their first encounter would change both of them fundamentally.

It wasn’t until my critique partners (CPs) Dawn Allen and L.L. McKinney sent a tidal wave through my WIP that I fully understood how deep the characters’ connection ran. Immortals have a lot of history to sift through. Sometimes, its tough to decide which part of their past is pertinent to the current plot. I knew something major in my hero’s past was coming back for him and that it was somehow connected to the heroine. My CPs helped me dig deeper with the hero to learn how his actions in the past could affect the heroine centuries later.

The fun part? The foundation for our discovery was there all along. The new information we uncovered fell into place like lost puzzle pieces.

I LOVE my CPs, which includes Nicole MacLaughlin who meets with us once a month. They are my girls and without them, I don’t know where my writing would be. They challenge me to push harder, dig deeper, stay true to my characters, etc.  We don’t always agree with one another, but when we do…magic! And goosebumps.

Have you experienced and “AH!” moment in your writing? Do you push yourself to dig deeper? How do you know when you’ve gone deep enough? Do you have awesome CPs you want to give a shout out to?

 

The Ripple Effect

It’s been a while since I started a blog chain and what more appropriate post than this one about the ripple effect to start one. I’m kicking off this chain with the following question:

Has your manuscript (WIP or completed) experienced a ripple effect, where one change affected the manuscript from beginning to end? If so, how?

The premise behind the blog chain idea is for you to write this question at the top of a post, link it back to the person whose blog you read it on, answer the question, and invite others (consider this your formal invitation) to participate. Last, post a link to participant(s) who link back to your blog to complete the chain.

Photo Credit: jeuxsansfrontieres

The other day during my critique group, we discussed how making changes to a story can have ripple effects. Sometimes, those ripples are small. For example, during one of many revisions to my YA dark paranormal EDGE OF TRUTH, where I’ve created a futuristic, dystopian world I realized my characters spent a lot of time outside without eye protection from their too bright sun. Everyone running around with sunglasses was too Agent Smith from the Matrix so instead, I added something more durable and literally flexible: sun hats. OMG, Rena’s (the MC) love interest Nevan looks so hot in a his hat.

As I moved through the manuscript finding scenes where hats were needed, I discovered how much something so simple enriched the world building. It gave my characters something to hide their face behind when embarrassed or angry, it gave them something to hold for comfort, it gave them something to wring in worry. Plus, something so normal helped make them feel real.

I’ve had stronger ripples as well, especially when I brought in a new character who I had to seamlessly work throughout the entire manuscript.

The movie Butterfly Effect is an extreme example of how one change can affect the future.

I’m interested in hearing whether you’ve experienced the ripple effect in your work and if so, how? If you decide to participate in this blog chain, please let me know so I can include a link. If you just want to leave your comments below, that works for me, too. Note: There’s no timeline on this, so link whenever you want.

Please visit these blogger(s) too to see how they answered the question:

∞ Dawn Allen at Write On
Consider yourself linked: