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  1. A to Z Reflections

    May 7, 2012 by Nicki

    Well, now, here I am again for the last A to Z post for the year. The challenge organizers have asked us to write about the experience, make suggestions, things of that sort, so aside from what I’ve already posted about in my Victory post, here’s what I think.

    In terms of the organizers, they did a great job. They emphasized everything I would have wanted them to as a participant, especially to the Blogger participants with the word verification, and having Name/URL turned on as a posting option. Now I have a Blogger account, but I don’t blog there. I blog here. (Thus, why you are seeing this post.) I didn’t always think to post my URL at the bottom of comments to those folks where I had to log in under my Google or Blogger account, so it was frustrating, as I’m sure those folks had a hard time finding my blog in return.

    In terms of blog posts, I think everyone who didn’t fall off right at the start did a great job, of the sites I visited. Unfortunately I didn’t always have something to say (because just commenting, “Hey, great blog, come visit mine,” seemed too fake for my tastes, especially if I wasn’t into the content), so I visited lots of blogs I didn’t actually say anything at. Which was okay, because I saw a lot of people do that to me, too.

    Of course, my posts were long. 500 word or less fiction isn’t my forte, apparently. Here are my word count stats:

    The only thing that disappointed me is how my comments fell off so sharply at the end, but this is a very minor disappointment. One, I know my theme of short stories not only want way off the recommended word count scale (already addressed), but also two, people don’t often read blogs for fiction, they read them for information. Heck, I find reading fiction on blogs disorienting, and often avoid it (although the Golden Rule works just as well for your writing as it does dictating how you should behave – do unto others, and all that). And three, my commenting also fell off sharply at the end, as did my enthusiasm for putting effort into writing my posts. I can only imagine the same happened to many, many others.

    As for recommendations? For next year, I’d like the organizers to talk about the word count guideline earlier. I seemed to miss it until after I’d scheduled a few posts, and by then, I wasn’t going to switch and shorten anything. I’d also like to see the code for the navigation buttons to be less likely to bust my layout. Perhaps those buttons could be formatted as regular links? Because I loved them once I found them, but I couldn’t add them to my site (or rather, once I saw how they looked on my site, I needed to remove them).

    It was a really great experience. I wish I had thought to do it last year, and I have great plans for my posts from this year.  Mainly because of the topic I chose to explore, I’ve discovered many, many good things about myself and my writing abilities, and I can’t wait to do it again next year.

    ===

    Oh, hai! I know you want to read all of my A to Z Challenge posts, now that you’ve heard what I wrote about. Enjoy the stories for free here on my blog. I’m preparing a collection with all of the stories included for consumption on your favorite e-reader, so you can always wait for that!

    Category Writing | Tags: , | 3 Comments

  2. Learning

    May 5, 2012 by Nicki

    It’s probably obvious to most folks that you never stop learning. There is always something new around the corner to be absorbed and sucked into your personal arsenal of weapons against life.

    It can be vastly interesting where you pick up your lessons, though. They may (and often) come from unusual corners, or at least ones you aren’t expecting.

    I had thought that although I know I’m nowhere near the top tier of writers out there right now, that my writing was solid. It’s not always grammatically perfect, but I have a solid voice to my work that would compensate for those errors. Especially with Esther Goes Outside (the working title for my 2011 NaNoWriMo novel), I felt like my writing was free, and more me than ever before.

    I was deluding myself a bit. I don’t like to admit it, but there you go. Esther needs a heck of a lot of work, more than I had expected, actually, and I learned that after letting a few people read about 1,500 words from the book.

    I think people know that when they ask for critiques of their work and they get people who aren’t their parents to read it, that they will run into opinions and criticisms that don’t make them happy. It can be harsh, because I at least can fall in love with my work. When you’re in love, it’s easy to overlook the things that are irritating the hell out of everyone else.

    I was ready for things that might hurt my feelings. I was ready for people to let me know about all the little things I’d done wrong and call me out about my weaknesses.

    I was not at all ready for someone to point out major issues I hadn’t even realized were problems until I looked at them through other people’s eyes.

    Oh, oh my.

    This is good, though, and before you think that perhaps I’m sitting here with red-rimmed eyes over the revelation, let me assure you that my eyes are red-rimmed for an entirely different reason. (Happy Cinco de Mayo, by the way!) I am very happy to have someone let me know the things that keep them from getting sucked into my writing so they forget everything else and just live the story, no matter how they told me.

    It was just a surprise, that’s all.

    I was very excited this year to think about publishing three novels, plus various short stories, plus a collection or two. I was, however, completely unprepared for how much work would have to happen before I could even publish one novel.

    Lesson learned. I may have to adjust my time lines a little bit to be more realistic.

    Or perhaps I’ll just have to work harder, now that I know the amount of work that has to be done.

    (P.S. I am quite happy to report I managed to write this post with only one conjunction starting a sentence. This is something I like to do quite a bit, but apparently is a no-no. For a writer, I sure didn’t pay nearly enough attention in grade school Language classes.)

    Category Writing | Tags: ,, | 2 Comments

  3. Whoopsies!

    May 4, 2012 by Nicki

    I wrote an awful lot of fiction during April, and in my glee at finally having a little free time back, I forgot that yesterday was a post day. Oops!

    To make up for it, here’s a progress report of everything that has happened in the last month.

    I started IVEYbooks

    Enough is enough. I did enough talking and thinking about it, so finally at the end of March, I took the plunge. I found the right form online, registered Ivey Books as a business name in Pennsylvania, and that was it. It’s real now, and since it’s real, it requires action.

    I took a little action right away. I registered the domain (before the business bit with the state, actually), got the blog started, and the site up and running. During April I added bits and pieces to it as I had time, which wasn’t always a lot.

    I posted a story a day

    That brings me to my second activity. I decided to take on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge April 2012, and I decided my theme was going to be posting flash fiction of around 1,000 words every day. I didn’t write every day, but I wrote enough to feel like it consumed my entire month. Rather like NaNoWriMo, actually, which I love, and so I loved the challenge of this as well.

    I finished with about 30,000 new words under my belt, and a bunch of stories that need editing before I will pull them into a collection to self-publish before the end of the year.

    I published my first work!

    (There’s a post about it over on IVEYbooks!)

    Not the first thing I’ve ever written, of course, but I had a publishing company. I needed to learn how to use it.

    It was not easy. It wasn’t super hard, but it has a curve, which is why I’ve heard it suggested to practice with short stories first.

    I also managed to sell 2 copies! I didn’t do much marketing, as most of my time in April was sucked up with writing and a website design job. That’s my bad, but I’ll work harder on it as I have more time.

    I joined Scribophile

    Have any of you heard of this? I really want people to help proof my work, but I feel so awkward asking my friends in writing because I know how busy we all are. There’s a site I stumbled on through another publishing house that is comprised of people who are out there to review your work, earn points, and then submit their own work for review. I just posted the first chapter of my NaNoWriMo ’11 novel, and am getting some really good feedback.

    The hard part, of course, is not losing my voice in someone else’s head. I’m going to work on that.

    And that’s about it! I was really, really busy, but it was good. And now that I don’t have any projects to do with other people or deadlines other than my own, I find I’m relaxing almost too much. I have some personal goals for the year, and the year is ticking away. I need to get a move on!

    Wish me luck!

    Category Writing | Tags: | 3 Comments

  4. Victory!

    May 1, 2012 by Nicki

    No, not another A to Z Challenge post, I swear! Actually, those are all done now, and I have to say. WHEW!

    Remember when you were in high school? I realize some readers may actually be still in high school (hi, kids!), but stay with me here. In high school I had to write a paper, and it wasn’t a research paper, it was called an I-search paper. We couldn’t turn to books for our information, we had to contact people, make phone calls, and do all the learning first-hand.

    I recall the absolutely hardest part for me was deciding on a topic. I came up with an idea right off the bat, but do you know who shot me down?

    Both my parents, and my teachers. *thbpt*

    Unbelievable, I thought. How am I going to come up with anything now? I had no more ideas.

    Just like in Field of Dreams, I heard a voice. Make a list, it said.

    I’m kidding. It was my teacher, or my dad. Someone. I don’t even like Field of Dreams as a movie, and I’m especially not fond of Kevin Costner. Although I did enjoy both Waterworld and The Postman. But, I digress. (By the way, do you know how annoying it is that the only joke that people ever tell when you say you’re from Iowa is related to Field of Dreams, unless they’re asking you about potatoes of all things? True story.)

    The trick when you’re out of ideas is to make two lists. The first list will consist of the first ten to twenty ideas that first occur to you. That list, when you’re done, you throw away.

    The second list will consist of the next ten to twenty ideas. Those are the ones you pick your I-search paper topic from.

    I wrote my paper on how words make it into the dictionary. Many, many people who answer the phones at schools of higher learning will then mistake “etymology” for “anthropology”, even if you spell it and explain what it means, and you will end up talking to one very confused professor. Eventually you’ll make a phone call to Miriam-Webster, or another suitable dictionary publishing company, and get a letter that details the process, and then you can write your paper.
    The A to Z Challenge is a lot like those two lists I just mentioned. When I forced myself to come up with a new idea for very nearly every day of the week, I ran out of the top-of-the-mind ideas very quickly. The ideas that came after those first ideas were popped off…those were the good ones. The interesting ones. Not all of them, of course, but now that I’ve had a chance to write about the “easy” ideas, I get a chance to explore a mystical handbag that always has what you need, a pencil that creates reality from ones wishes, and a woman whose personality changes based on the drinks she consumes.And where was I going with all this, you ask?

    Can you imagine what I haven’t thought of yet? How much more I’ll think of if I keep this pace up?

    My plans for the rest of the year include publishing three novel-length stories (NaNoWriMo 2011, Camp NaNo 2012 June session, and Camp NaNo 2012 August session), the edited and updated A to Z Challenge works that have appeared on my blog (read them here for free, folks!), and now…

    Well. Now I know I can churn out a flash fiction a night, give or take.

    I might not win any awards for writing, but wouldn’t it be amazing to be the most prolific new writer of 2012?

    I can do that.

    (And I’ve lied about this being another A to Z Challenge post. Well, it wasn’t a challenge post…but it was. You get the idea.)

    Category Writing | Tags: ,,,,, | 5 Comments

  5. Write This 033012

    March 30, 2012 by Nicki

    Hello, neighbors! Well, earlier this morning I posted my response to last week’s prompt, and actually it was very helpful for me, at least. I have been struggling with how to get started with a short I need to write for April, and that little blurb got me at least going a bit in the right direction.

    So on to today’s prompt! I don’t know of anyone but me who did last week, but if you’re hanging around out there, be sure to drop a line in the comments (or your whole bit in the comments!) so I know where to find you. Thanks!

    It’s your birthday! A grand, surprise birthday party is planned, and you’ve gotten wind of it. But just before you walk in your home, you get a phone call with the worst news of your life. What is it, and how do you deal?

    Category Writing | Tags: ,, | 4 Comments

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