What better place for a thank you, than on my blog? I want to send a huge thank you out to two dear friends, Brandy and Daniel. Without your input, feedback and constantly encouraging me in my writing, I would not be as far along as I am, and my books would not be nearly as good. Thanks to your honesty, openness, willingness to tell me where I am going wrong and can improve as well as where I'm getting it right, I feel like my books will be pretty fantastic by the time they get to the right publisher. Thanks again to you both. I'm extremely blessed to have friends like you.
A personal thank you to Daniel, who inspired me with the idea in the first place. You have also been a fantastic brain stormer, with many an idea that had never occurred to me before. Without you I would miss out in great opportunities to truly develop my characters from all angles. It takes several pairs of eyes to catch the varying sections of a character's psyche and I appreciate your insight.
A personal thank you to Brandy for loving my books and telling me how a character does or does not resonate with you. You're a really great friend and I respect your thoughts on all aspects of my book.
When I get published, you're both going into the acknowledgments, but I thought I should really put out a big thank you now as well.
You are incredible friends and I thank you for believing in me.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Revisions, revisions, revisions
Hello again,
So, for anyone who is interested in becoming a pro bono (because I can't afford to pay somebody...so don't ask. ~L~) proofreader and commenter on my stories, please let me know. I'll send you the story in PDF format so you can read, but I don't want comments right on the manuscript (gets too messy).
Thank you to a couple friends who have given me some really valuable feedback on each book in my trilogy. I have begun revisions on various sections that apparently needed it and am learning more about my characters as I go. I used to think that if I wrote a story that was it. I would close the book on the last page, say 'The End' and never look at it again. That works fine for a story I write only for myself, but if I want to be published and have others read and enjoy my stories as much as I have enjoyed writing them, clearly I cannot just close the book and leave it. I used to think revising my work would be hard and tedious and even somewhat painful. I'm actually enjoying it thoroughly. Who knew I liked to manipulate my story and characters so much?
Part of the reason I may be enjoying revising so much, is the fact that, after just over a year, my trilogy is coming to a close. I dread saying goodbye to characters I have actually begun to love. I know that their story must end for other characters' stories to begin, but I have become very attached.
Who knew I had such a passion for writing? I'm discovering a whole new world that was apparently trapped in my imagination and watching it unfold is an adventure in itself. I love looking at the page and going, "I have no idea what's going to happen next!" and then writing. I've caught myself laughing out loud or crying as I write and been amused at myself. How I love to write!
Back to revisions, I am working on that now. I am really, truly loving it! Anyone want to be a proofreader, drop me a note. I can always use the input.
Signing off for now.
So, for anyone who is interested in becoming a pro bono (because I can't afford to pay somebody...so don't ask. ~L~) proofreader and commenter on my stories, please let me know. I'll send you the story in PDF format so you can read, but I don't want comments right on the manuscript (gets too messy).
Thank you to a couple friends who have given me some really valuable feedback on each book in my trilogy. I have begun revisions on various sections that apparently needed it and am learning more about my characters as I go. I used to think that if I wrote a story that was it. I would close the book on the last page, say 'The End' and never look at it again. That works fine for a story I write only for myself, but if I want to be published and have others read and enjoy my stories as much as I have enjoyed writing them, clearly I cannot just close the book and leave it. I used to think revising my work would be hard and tedious and even somewhat painful. I'm actually enjoying it thoroughly. Who knew I liked to manipulate my story and characters so much?
Part of the reason I may be enjoying revising so much, is the fact that, after just over a year, my trilogy is coming to a close. I dread saying goodbye to characters I have actually begun to love. I know that their story must end for other characters' stories to begin, but I have become very attached.
Who knew I had such a passion for writing? I'm discovering a whole new world that was apparently trapped in my imagination and watching it unfold is an adventure in itself. I love looking at the page and going, "I have no idea what's going to happen next!" and then writing. I've caught myself laughing out loud or crying as I write and been amused at myself. How I love to write!
Back to revisions, I am working on that now. I am really, truly loving it! Anyone want to be a proofreader, drop me a note. I can always use the input.
Signing off for now.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
A Phil Collins song
As I work on the rewrite for my Charity and Tom chapter in book two, I am listening to this song. I love the lyrics so much, I wanted to share them. I know this is a love song between a man and woman, but the more I listened to the lyrics, the more it can refer to the Christian relationship with God, I think. From that perspective, the words take on a new, special meaning. So, here they are:
Phil Collins - Always
Dreams will all come true,
Bein' here with you
And time will fly
Caring each day more
Than the day before
Till Spring rolls by
When the Springtime has gone
Will my love linger on?
I'll be loving you...always
With a love that's true...always
When the things that you planned
Need a helping hand
I will understand...always. Always
Days may not be fair...always
That's when I'll be there...always
Not for just an hour
No, no not for just a day
No, not for just a year...but always
Days may not be fair...always
That's when I'll be there...always
Not for just an hour
No, no not for just a day
No, not for just a year...but always
Until forever is through
Until there's just me and you
Always
Phil Collins - Always
Dreams will all come true,
Bein' here with you
And time will fly
Caring each day more
Than the day before
Till Spring rolls by
When the Springtime has gone
Will my love linger on?
I'll be loving you...always
With a love that's true...always
When the things that you planned
Need a helping hand
I will understand...always. Always
Days may not be fair...always
That's when I'll be there...always
Not for just an hour
No, no not for just a day
No, not for just a year...but always
Days may not be fair...always
That's when I'll be there...always
Not for just an hour
No, no not for just a day
No, not for just a year...but always
Until forever is through
Until there's just me and you
Always
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The dreaded rewrite
Hello again,
Just to get you up to speed, I am working on editing book one to send off to a contest (wish me luck!) with Word Alive Press, and at the same time working on rewriting different sections in both books two and three. At the same time, ideas for books four and five keep popping into my head and I have to write them down before I forget them. What a crazy process writing is! I find the more I write, the more I want to write, and the more ideas just seem to flow out of me. The only annoying thing with trying to get one's work published is the dreaded rewrite.
Correction, that's the second most annoying thing. The first is doing a brief outline of every chapter in each book and then coming up with a short and long synopsis. I've been procrastinating on those and want to get to them, but then my story ideas keep getting in the way. :) I have had friends who offer me useful feedback, and that has helped a bunch in trying to polish up my works. I am of course nervous as I begin the process of putting myself out there once again, and being vulnerable. It's true that when a person writes for their enjoyment, and then tries to market it, it feels almost wrong. I feel like I'm cutting off an arm when I delete a section in my book, or trying to dye my skin a different colour when I do a rewrite of a section or in some cases, an entire chapter.
Well, it's a process, I know that. Someday I will look back at all my stumblings and bumblings and laugh. Someday, Lord-willing, I will be a household name and will have this legacy to leave my daughter. As a teenager and young adult, she will read my works, and if she has daughters, they will read it too. Big dreams, I know. But what's the point of dreaming, if you can't dream big, right?
Well, that's all for me for now. It's late and I need to have my rest for tomorrow's long day. My daughter has stopped napping and so I am finding I need to keep her very busy through the day so she will sleep well at night (and not be cranky by 6pm because she's bored).
Off to try and get the sleep I need!
Just to get you up to speed, I am working on editing book one to send off to a contest (wish me luck!) with Word Alive Press, and at the same time working on rewriting different sections in both books two and three. At the same time, ideas for books four and five keep popping into my head and I have to write them down before I forget them. What a crazy process writing is! I find the more I write, the more I want to write, and the more ideas just seem to flow out of me. The only annoying thing with trying to get one's work published is the dreaded rewrite.
Correction, that's the second most annoying thing. The first is doing a brief outline of every chapter in each book and then coming up with a short and long synopsis. I've been procrastinating on those and want to get to them, but then my story ideas keep getting in the way. :) I have had friends who offer me useful feedback, and that has helped a bunch in trying to polish up my works. I am of course nervous as I begin the process of putting myself out there once again, and being vulnerable. It's true that when a person writes for their enjoyment, and then tries to market it, it feels almost wrong. I feel like I'm cutting off an arm when I delete a section in my book, or trying to dye my skin a different colour when I do a rewrite of a section or in some cases, an entire chapter.
Well, it's a process, I know that. Someday I will look back at all my stumblings and bumblings and laugh. Someday, Lord-willing, I will be a household name and will have this legacy to leave my daughter. As a teenager and young adult, she will read my works, and if she has daughters, they will read it too. Big dreams, I know. But what's the point of dreaming, if you can't dream big, right?
Well, that's all for me for now. It's late and I need to have my rest for tomorrow's long day. My daughter has stopped napping and so I am finding I need to keep her very busy through the day so she will sleep well at night (and not be cranky by 6pm because she's bored).
Off to try and get the sleep I need!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Getting my books posted
So here I am on day two of blogging. I want to create links to my stories, but I don't know if I should use the sites they're already on, or make my own, as the format is not that great. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make my own links, just for my stories, in the format I want them, please let me know.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
My very first entry
Hello everyone and welcome to my first blog ever.
I have been told that if one wants to get noticed, a good way to do it, is to have a blog. Now, why do I want to get noticed? Well, mostly because if I'm ever going to get my stories into a publisher's hands, they need to know that people are actually interested in reading them. So, I will be putting them up here and hoping to get feedback. And yes, I know there will be some negative, but hopefully a lot of positive. If you must criticize, please 'speak the truth in love' as much as possible and temper it with some positivity, okay? Anyways, so this is the end of entry one. Day I don't know what of my writing journey. Will post my work soon.
Amy Mitchell Virgin
I have been told that if one wants to get noticed, a good way to do it, is to have a blog. Now, why do I want to get noticed? Well, mostly because if I'm ever going to get my stories into a publisher's hands, they need to know that people are actually interested in reading them. So, I will be putting them up here and hoping to get feedback. And yes, I know there will be some negative, but hopefully a lot of positive. If you must criticize, please 'speak the truth in love' as much as possible and temper it with some positivity, okay? Anyways, so this is the end of entry one. Day I don't know what of my writing journey. Will post my work soon.
Amy Mitchell Virgin
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