What's Up Wednesday 8/14/13

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme for readers and writers to give updates on what's happening in their lives. If you want to find out to find out more check out Jamie Morrow's blog and sign up.

What I'm Reading: I finished two books this week Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins and Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger. Both gave me feels in their own special way. I'm currently reading The Lost Hero the first book in the Heroes of Olympus series. I read all the Percy Jackson books in high school and I'm glad I can visit Camp Half-Blood once again.

What I'm Writing: I'm over halfway through Suspension of Disbelief revisions and my timeline is all screwed up. Originally the book took place over the course of six months, but I ran into a road block when I realized that winter happens. My MC has earth powers, the cold defiantly affects her. So now I have to incorporate the weather. On the plus side it did allow me to add a Halloween dance scene, where a lot of their classmates were dressed like their superhero personas. All and all I'm having a lot of fun with it. Once WriteOnCon is over, I'm going to put the pedal to the metal. I go back to school soon and my free time will be limited.

What Inspires Me Right Now: No. Just no.

What Else and I've Been Up To: If you follow me on twitter (@laboyden) you already knowWriteOnCon has invaded my life. If you don't know what that is right now stop what you're doing and CHECK IT OUT! I'm all over the forums and tweeting like a madwoman. I enjoy reading everybody's work and giving feedback. I posted my first 250 words, the first 5 pages and a really rough query of Suspension of Disbelief. I didn't have a query until yesterday, but I wanted to get feedback so I can know which direction to take. No responses yet and right now it's buried deep in the forums. But I'm sure someone will get to it eventually. I got some positive feedback on my other post. It was the confidence boost I needed. If you're attending the conference and would like to take a look at my threads here are the links.

Query
1st 250 Words
1st 5 Pages

But Seriously...

Well that's what's up with me? How are you doing?

What's Up Wednesday 8/7/13

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme for readers and writers to give updates on what's happening in their lives. If you want to find out to find out more check out Jamie Morrow's blog and sign up.

What I'm Reading: Last week I read Anna and the French Kiss per your suggestion and I LOVED IT. I was a little hesitant at first because I'm not to biggest contemporary YA reader. But about a third of the way through I couldn't put it down. I finished it around one in the morning yesterday. I can't wait to read Lola and the Boy Next Door. What I'm reading right now is Transparent by Natalie Whipple. It's really good. The great thing about this is that I've been following Natalie for a couple years now and followed in real time her road to publication. I'm glad I finally got my hands on a copy..

What I'm Writing: I finished Suspension of Disbelief (for real this time). I don't know what type of draft to call it though. It was a second draft, but the ending was added so the ending is a first draft. I guess I should just call it a second draft. Well anyway, now I'm editing it again. This edit is more for adding details that I skipped. I'm also adding new scenes and cutting them so it could flow better. I think this will be my last lazy revision. When I'm finished I'll have to to print it out and give it a heavy duty face lift. My goals for this week is to finish the lazy revision. I'm positive I can do it in a week, because it's so low pressure. I'm exploring the story more and having a lot of fun doing it.

What Inspires Me Right Now: Oh God, that word again. Can I say myself or is that narcissistic? Okay let me explain. I have not finished a manuscript since 2008. I've had ideas and wrote parts of stories over the past five years but I couldn't finish anything. Even after I completed NaNo last November, the story wasn't complete. I needed a confidence booster. So I made a goal to finish this novel this summer no matter what. I guess it was that drive and determination that inspired me to finished. Since then I've had new ideas and ways to improve my story along the way. Does that answer the question?

What Else and I've Been Up To: WriteOnCon. WriteOnCon. WriteOnCon. Yes, it's that time of year again. WriteOnCon the online Kidlit conference is upon us. It officially starts next week, but the forums are open. I was worried about participating since I was so concentrated on finishing my novel. But now that the draft is completed I could relax a little and enjoy the conference. I'm kind of bummed that I can't enter contest judged by agents. I was hoping to have a polished manuscript and query for the Ninja Agents but that's not going to happen. I might post my first 250 words for a critique, but at this point I'm not comfortable enough. Last year I spent most of my time looking for a CP but all of them fell through. I don't know if I could go through with it again. I haven't had the best luck with CPs. I found a good one from a different site, but when my laptop broke we lost touch. I'm still debating whether or not I should seek one another one. It's such a delicate process, I really don't want to mess it up.

Well that's what's up with me? How are you doing?

What's Up Wednesday 7/31

Due to my seven month absence, I totally missed the What's Up Wednesday boat. Lucky for me I rowed out in the middle of the sea, waved my absent blogger flag and hopped right on. What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme for readers and writers to give updates on what's happening in their lives. If you want to find out to find out more check out Jamie Morrow's blog and sign up.

What I'm Reading: I just finished Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood. I loved it. I requested the sequel to to come to my library, but it won't get here for another couple days. Right now I'm torn between reading Anna and the French Kiss or The Diviners next. Both are two completely different books, but it might be nice to get out of the paranormal world every once and a while.

What I'm Writing: I recently finished my slight revision of my NaNo novel Suspension of Disbelief. I mentioned last year that I had to stop and go over it because I didn't like where the ending was going. Well life came along and punched me in the face, so I didn't get started until two weeks ago. Anywho the first 3/4 of the book is fixed. Now I have to tackle the ending. Endings are hard. I've always envisioned how I wanted the novel to end, but getting there is the challenge. It's like one decision the main character or any character makes affects the entire ending. And right now I'm at a crossroad. When you think about that, it's a lot of power. I need to choose wisely. My goals for this week is to finish this draft. I'm getting myself in NaNo mode, because frankly this is the only way it's going to happen.

What Inspires Me Right Now: I've been reading a lot this week for inspiration, but nothing has been sparking. Since Suspension of Disbelief is a superhero novel I've been watching lots of clips from Smallville and other superhero shows. But really nothing is popping out screaming INSPIRATION!  But I've been working through it. Lately I've been trying to write with music. I put my headphones in and listen to the John Williams Station on Pandora. It's kind of nice to listen to movie scores, except most of the time the music does not fit the scene and draws me out of the story. I think I just need to make my own playlist.

What Else and I've Been Up To: Since I've been back home not much. I've been

reading a lot and trying to write like I've said above. I haven't left the house much in two weeks. My only freedoms is when my mom doesn't want to dive/pick up my brother from work or band camp. I don't know. I'm kind of dull I guess. Whatever.

Well that's it. What have you guys been up too?

Happy Reading!

Resurfacing

     So it seems like I disappeared off the face of the earth. Well I did for a while. And then I came back. But then life happened, finals, then I got sick, then theatre happened. So that pretty much sums up my disappearance for the past...seven months...oops.

     I made a lot of progress with the blog last year and I really got into a groove. When I didn't have my laptop for three months, I just lost it. Four months later and here we are. I've literally had this post in my draft folder for months and I've changed the numbers multiple times. Yeah.

     I wrote a long time ago that I didn't believe in writer's block, just procrastination and laziness. But for the past few months I've been stuck. I just keep opening the file and...nothing. I have to admit that I was wrong. I keep telling myself that Creative Writing ruined me, that I lost my confidence after that whole ordeal, but that's not it. It's been over two months since I got out of school. There should be no more excuses. But here I am. Blocked.

     I've had a pretty active school year and summer. I've been working in the theatre nonstop. I have about two months before I work on my next show. This should be the time for relaxing and getting back on track, but instead it's filled with laziness and procrastination. I go back to school in a month and I really want to get back into the habit of blogging. First semester I did a really good job of balancing blogging, school and theatre. I just have to start fresh.

Reading: To help with my writer's block I've been reading a lot lately. I finished the first two books in the Divergent trilogy and the first three installment Mortal Instruments series. The books were fabulous I just didn't feel as inspired. Usually reading sparks inspiration and motivates me to work. This time it didn't. Maybe I need to just read more since I haven't been reading all year. Who knows? I'm going to the library soon so I'll get my fill of books for the summer.
Writing: Well this writer's block sucks. My goal was to have Suspension of Disbelief edited and polished in time for WriteOnCon but that's less than a month away. Unless I get over this writer's block and work really hard that's not going to happen. As for new ideas I got nothing. Sometimes a good way to get rid of writer's block is to start something new, but I have no new ideas. I really just want to focus on my current projects. Unremarkable hasn't been touched in almost a year. I'm going to try to look at that, but it's one of those projects that midway through I wanted to go in a new direction. I'm planning on getting back to it eventually, but Suspension of Disbelief is my top priority.
Chocolate: Milkshakes. That is all.

So what's next? More Road Trip Wednesdays? More random updates on my writing goals? Who knows? I'm not going to make any promises. Not right now at least. Right now I need to focus on me. Try to remember why I love writing. If anybody (who is not my mother) can give me some advice it would be most appreciated. Leave something in the comments or tweet @laboyden.
Also, I'm glad to be back.
Happy Reading!

I haven't forgotten about you

Laptop's down. It might be another month or so to get it fixed. Boo, I know. I will be back I promise.

Happy Reading!

YA Highway RTW: 2013 Goals

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This Week's Topic: What are your goals for the new year---for reading, writing, or other?

I touched on my some of goals for the year in my last post, but I wanted to talk about a personal goal for me as a writer.

I'm taking a creative writing course for the first time in about two years. Yeah I know I'm a junior and it's my minor, what's wrong with me? Anyway, when I got there on the first day I was really excited to be in a class with other writers my own age. And I was right, it was actually a lot of fun. But at the end of class my professor gave us a prompt and we had about seven minutes to write. I froze up. I had no idea what I was going to write. Everyone else was writing furiously while I was crossing out every few sentences and changing the story all together. By the end of the seven minutes I had two paragraphs of complete crap. I closed my notebook and didn't volunteer to read it to the class. When my classmates read their stories they were actually good for the seven minutes we had. I hate to say this but I felt a little inferior because I couldn't crank out a semi decent story in seven minutes. 

For 2013 my goal is not let this stuff bother me. I know my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. I can't write a story in seven minutes even if it's semi decent. I've always hated writing prompts in school and apparently that hasn't changed since college. When I get an idea it has to fester in my head for a while before  I finally write it down. That's just the way I've always been. My writing may not have as much imagery and detail in the first or second draft. It may have way too much dialogue and not enough action, but that's just the way I work. All of that stuff comes later once I have a clear idea of what I'm writing. Maybe by the end of the semester I will be able to write something semi decent in seven minutes. I know for sure that if this ever happens again I will not let my insecurities get in the way. Sure my stories won't be descriptive and with some deep emotional undertone and hidden meaning. I just need to stay true to myself and my style and I will be fine.

This translates to my personal writing. I can't let all of my fears and insecurities stop me from doing what I love to do. I keep seeing announcements for 2015 debuts already and I keep thinking to myself "That could be me. If only I'd finished blah blah." Well, 2013 is a year of change for me as a writer. I want to have two decent manuscripts by the end of the year. I want to at least begin to query in the later months as well. It will take be a lot of work on top of school, theatre and jobs. If I have the drive and determination I'm sure I can do it.

2013 is going to be an excellent year. I can just feel it. What are your goals for the year?

Happy Reading!

Hello 2013

Happy New Year! Yeah I know is's a couple days later, but this is my first post of the new year. 2013 has already started off amazing and I have a feeling it's going to get even better.

2013 in reading: My goal is to read at least two books a month during the school year. A small goal but I think it could be accomplished. I want to finish all the books I own before getting new ones, but that's probably not going to happen. :P

2013 in writing: Revise. Revise. Revise. I'm revising. I'm not sure how long it's going to take to get my novel to my liking. I still kind of don't have an ending... yeah. On top of that I want to finish my WIP I started last year. I might just try to NaNo it and see if I can finish the rest of it in a month.

2013 in chocolate: I made cake balls...kind of. My friend and I winged it and hilarity ensued. They're edible.

As for blog stuff I'm playing around with setting a schedule so the posts will be a little more consistent. Also I can't promise you anything but March will be my third year blog anniversary and also my birthday month. I'm going to try to do something big to celebrate. 

To everyone who has stuck with me through the years thank you. Without your support I would have given up a long time ago.

Happy Reading!