Saturday, February 9, 2008
February 2008 archive
For one, no posting this weekend (even though I’m here now).
It’s crunch time for the book. THe book itself is done. I just have to go through the last 40K words and clean up the editorial comments and add my last 25K words, as far as the book book part.
I have to finish the worksheet section (my favorite thing, really) and add in the interviews. Not tedious, just time-consuming. Seeing it come together is just really cool. I’m crossing my fingers I don’t have to ask for an extension, but I know without a doubt I can have it done by next Monday if it comes to that.
Ok, enough of that. I should be writing.
And for those of you who’ve asked, I am planning a February contest but might not get to it. Hoping to, after next week, but since February is so blessed short, it just might have to wait til March. In that case, I’ll make it something worthwhile 
Off to create worksheets (my love of making worksheets qualifies me as an official geek!)Hope to be back Monday.
In the meantime, catch up on your reading here or do a bit of writing yourself.
Beth
Thursday, February 7, 2008
February 7th, 2008: It’s My Blog and I’ll Feng Shui….
…if I want to…
That may possibly be the worst blog title I’ve come up with in a long time. Maybe ever.
My dears, today we’re taking a slightly off-the-writing-career path field trip (without a sack lunch or permission form) In celebration of the pending Chinese New Year (and the fact that I have been absolutely obsessed with reading feng shui books these last few weeks), today’s resources are about the joy of feng-shui’ing your home, office and life.
I don’t want to overwhelm you so we’ll start small. A little definition then you can read more for yourself: Feng Shui is, simply, a way of arranging and rearranging the areas in your home, office, and life to bring you more happiness, bigger successes, better health and, of course, money. (Knew I’d get you with that).
Feng Shui, literally, means “wind-water”, and, if you know anything about the Chinese, elements (wind, water, fire & the like) are very elemental to their cultural beliefs. Feng Shui (pronounced “fung shway”) believes that placing certain items of certain compositions (metal, water, etc) in certain places (even if symbolically), you will energize the flow of positive energy (chi) in your life, then reap the benefits.
I have a little story that illustrates this but I’ll save it for later. It’s very cool, and the reason I think a little feng shui can do us all good.
Now, before you get gung-ho, you have to do a little studying. Check out this link at about.com (I know, their ads drive me crazy too but these articles are pretty good) and try just one change. Since we’re writers, one good place to start is the main place in your home where you do most of your writing. Just an idea….
Feng Shui and the Chinese New Year at about.com.
Tell me what you think!
Happy Feng Shui’ing,
Beth
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
February 6th: Articles at FictionFactor.com
Because my brain is scattered this morning, so too will be the direction of my post.
I know, I wanted to focus everything on the romantic storyline this month, but here’s a great conglomeration of writing articles on every imaginable topic:
Articles at FictionFactor.com
There’s gotta be something there to get you going!
Happy writing,
Beth
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
January 5th: Character Motivation by Alicia Rasley
I had the pleasure of attending an Alicia Rasley workshop a few years ago and came away with one overriding impression: I would never, ever miss another chance to attend any of her workshops or presentations on any topic. She could talk about how to incorporate turtles into the hero’s journey and I’d be there.
Alicia is gifted in that she understands story in a way that’s deep, meaningful and beyond the page–yet she has the ability to translate that to all of us through interactive workshops, books and that treasure trove of articles I’ve read a million times on her site.
Today’s little gem is advice on the details of character motivation in your story. If you haven’t thought through the creation of your characters to know how and what motivates them, run over to her site and start reading immediately.
Character Motivation by Alicia Rasley.
No turtles, I promise. Only good, solid, insightful advice no romance writer should be without.
Happy turtle-free writing,
Beth
Monday, February 4, 2008
February 4th: Character Building Workshop
February is all that mushy lovey stuff and, despite already being on lace-heart-and-stuffed-animal overload, I’m dedicating the posts in February to creating melt-your-heart fictional characters.
Anyone who knows me knows I can’t get enough of worksheets and interactive quizzes, so today’s post makes me smile! It’s calle the Character Building Workshop for a reason: three fun quizzes, archetype information and other character-building background info…what’s not to love?
Character Building Workshop at Writers’ Village University
Have fun discovering your characters….
Beth
Sunday, February 3, 2008
OK, so I lied about posting….
Truthfully, I didn’t intend to post a resource but this one is way too good and on a topic so near and dear to me that I can’t resist.
I was just catching up at Martha Alderson’s blog, Plot Whisperer for a bit of pre-typing inspiration. If you were a reader of Fountain Pen, Inc, you may recall my mentioning how much I liked her Blockbuster Plots, Pure and Simple book:
Her insight helped me realize that my own fiction writing style…a little plotter, a little pantser…is OK and not something I need to worry about “fixing”.
Anyway…imagine my happiness to find she’s added a quiz to her blog to help determine if you’re a pantser or plotter! I think it’s the teacher in me that loves, loves, loves worksheets and anything designed to get stuff out of my head and onto paper, so this is great stuff. Even though I know what I am (besides slightly crazy), I’m going to spend some time with the quiz in the near future (read: after this nonfiction book is done!).
Martha Alderson’s Test: Are You a Character-Driven Writer or A Dramatic Action Driven Writer?
In the meantime, go check it out for yourself and let me know: what are you? A pantser? A plotter? A little from column a…a little from column b…? I’d love to find out! Add a comment and let’s see how many pantsers and plotters we have among us.
Happy pantsing and/or plotting,
Beth
Sunday, February 3, 2008
January’s Contest Winner: Lewis Routh
Yeah, a few days late, but you should be used to that from me by now!
The 100 word contest was a fun one. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was suprised by the tone of most entries–much more serious than I’d anticipated.
Lewis Routh came away as the winner, and Eric Maisel’s book will be on its way to him shortly. Congrats, Lewis! Great work!
If 100 words isn’t your thing, stay tuend for the February contest, which I hope to have up by this evening. I know, I know…a day late and a dollar short…(or …three days late…), but I’m still working on details.
It’s doubtful I’ll post any resources today. Three notebooks full of nonfiction to type…(that’s why I’m here…!)
Happy writing & reading,
Beth
Saturday, February 2, 2008
the last leg…or..
last chapter, as it is.
Yes, that’s right: I’m smack-dab in the middle of writing the final chapter for the business book. (that’s why I’m here blogging..of course!)
It’s actually chapter five: all the fun financial, tax and money stuff for starting the business. I skipped it initially because my brain just couldn’t wrap around all this stuff without lots more research. Through the course of writing all the rest of the book (12 chapters…some 240 odd pages), I finally found the pieces and parts of the financial stuff I needed to know (hey, cut me some slack–I’m an english teacher and creative type, not an accountant/math chick).
The chapter was outlined this AM and I’ve probably spent two solid hours writing. I have a bit to finish, but it isn’t hard, just that same old BICHOK. Taking a quick break and will be back at it. Want to finish by three or four, take another yoga break and get going with creating all the handouts, samples and worksheets that go into the book. I’m so freaking excited I can’t begin to tell you!
So, this post was my way of guiltily admitting that I don’t have a daily resource yet to post. My theme from January was “getting started” and February will focus on the romance/character development part of fiction writing, but I’ve not quite gotten to map out *all* of my resources just yet. Bear with me!
Oh, yeah, and I do have a cool new contest to share (and January winners to announce). That will be my Sunday goal…among other things!
Ok, back to the writing. You & me both….
Friday, February 1, 2008
February 1st: Write That Novel by Becky Martinez & Sue Viders
Now that you’ve got a month of motivational posts behind you, let’s take a gander at the basic steps of creating a novel (or story, same premise).
Write that Novel by Becky Martinez & Sue Viders is a six-part article series that will guide your thoughts in the write..erm…right…direction.
Happy, happy novel writing,
Beth
It's pretty simple, really. I'm a writer who loves writing about writing, and sharing all the tricks of the trade with other writers. And when I'm not writing, I'm thinking about writing. I have a hunch you know what I mean :)