I've seen a few other writers do a post about the thirteen things they learned this year, so I decided that I would try to post one as well. I'm not sure if I can think of thirteen things, but here we go.
1. I have way too many ideas and not enough time to write them. Outside of the Prophesized Series, I've started five others books and four of them are the first book in a series. I want to finish writing all of them, but I know that I won't be able to finish all of them as fast as I want to.
2. I absolutely hate editing. With a passion. I feel my life essence is being sucked out of me every time I open up my own book and have to read it to search for ALL the errors. Editing is like a Dementor sucking out a piece of my soul. That's a little dramatic, but I really don't like editing.
3. Synopsis writing is the devil. It's almost as bad as editing. I didn't write the synopsis for Reaching Retribution until like two minutes before I published the book. That synopsis was literally the first draft. I read it and had my roommate read it to make sure there weren't a ton of errors in it and then went "Eh, sounds okay," and submitted it. Writing the synopsis is one of the hardest parts of the whole publishing process for me.
4. Publishing a book is very scary. I go crazy right before I publish a book. I start pacing and talking to myself. I want to curl into a corner and rock back and forth, crying. It's terrifying. I'm always afraid that everyone is going to hate the book or something like that. I thought it would get easier after the first book, but it didn't. At all.
5. Commas are my enemy. Like Daleks to a Time Lord, commas are the bane of my existence. I've been watching a lot of Doctor Who recently. Sorry. Anyway, after I published BlackMoon Beginnings, I learned that I didn't really know comma rules. I still have to go back and fix all the commas in that book. Commas are stupid. I want to put a note in the beginning of all my books and warn readers to pause at their own whim.
6. I'm not a very good writer. I know that. I tell instead of show. I repeat too many sentences. I end sentences with prepositions. I use adjectives and adverbs far too often. My characters are sometimes flat. I use words improperly. Sometimes I use words that I didn't realize weren't actually words.
7. I can't write in third person to save my life. I tried starting a new book in the third person and I wrote the first paragraph and got stuck. It just felt wrong. I love being in my character's mind. I like thinking like them, and I just can't do that when I write in third person. It's easier to connect with my characters in first person.
8. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Really, none whatsoever. I just pretend like I do.
9. I can't please everyone. When I first started writing, I thought that I had to create a book that everyone would like. That's not possible. At all. People will definitely hate your book and they will tell you. It's going to hurt, but it comes with the job. I've learned that writing is way more enjoyable when I'm writing for me. When I write the story the way the characters tell me to write it instead of the way I know readers will want. I have to do what's best for the characters in the book and hope that readers will realize that.
10. I didn't realize this when I first start writing, but I put a lot of myself in my characters. Especially Ryanne. I didn't know that I basically wrote myself as Ryanne until my friends started pointing all these characteristics out to me and I was like..."No...I don't do that. You're wrong." and then I'd do exactly that. When I was little, I was in gymnastics and took piano lessons. I love drawing and doodling. I love hiking and spending time in the woods. I hum the alphabet when I'm bored. I'm incredibly stubborn and will take a lot of things as a challenge. I used to play pranks on people who called me short in school. I'm only 5'2", so Ryanne is taller than me! Ha. I know you don't know Lainey yet, but I wrote a lot of my stubbornness and weird humor in her character.
However, I also write about what I wish I was like into my characters.
11. READERS ARE THE BEST. Seriously, my readers continue to amaze me. They buy these books and read them in one sitting and they then tell all their friends to read it. I can't believe it. I've done no promotion on my books and yet people are reading them because of the readers. It's so strange to me.
All I did was write a book and some are claiming that they are readers for life. That is crazy. I don't know what I did to earn that, but I hope that my future books continue to be worthy of that support.
12. Writing is hard. Sometimes I felt like quitting. Growing up, I was in so many sports and I quit all of them. I started this writing process with that mind-set. I could quit whenever I wanted to. Whenever I was having a moment where I thought I couldn't go any farther, I'd get a message from a reader that completely changed everything. I think all my readers are psychic or have intuition or something. Like I said in number 11, my readers are the best.
13. I absolutely love writing. Like I really love it. It feels wrong when I'm not writing. I complain a lot, but I wouldn't want to be do anything else right now. I love this. I love all the people I've met because of these books. I love all the characters I've made. I love the worlds I've created. I love everything that comes with writing. The negative reviews. The positive reviews. The staying up really late to finish a scene. The writers block. The light-bulb moment when I get a new idea. The emails and comments from readers. The slightly delirious caffeine high I get when I know I have to finish a book by a certain deadline. I love it all.
For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. This feels right. I learned in 2013 that I have to focus on what I love doing instead of what others think I should do. I discovered a new love all because I refused to listen to a few early nay-sayers.
Also, I learned that I love using GIFs in my blog posts...if you couldn't tell from the three in this post.
Those are just a few of things I've learned in 2013. What are some things you learned this year?
Thanks for visiting my blog! I hope you have a fantastic day. :)
1. I have way too many ideas and not enough time to write them. Outside of the Prophesized Series, I've started five others books and four of them are the first book in a series. I want to finish writing all of them, but I know that I won't be able to finish all of them as fast as I want to.
2. I absolutely hate editing. With a passion. I feel my life essence is being sucked out of me every time I open up my own book and have to read it to search for ALL the errors. Editing is like a Dementor sucking out a piece of my soul. That's a little dramatic, but I really don't like editing.
3. Synopsis writing is the devil. It's almost as bad as editing. I didn't write the synopsis for Reaching Retribution until like two minutes before I published the book. That synopsis was literally the first draft. I read it and had my roommate read it to make sure there weren't a ton of errors in it and then went "Eh, sounds okay," and submitted it. Writing the synopsis is one of the hardest parts of the whole publishing process for me.
4. Publishing a book is very scary. I go crazy right before I publish a book. I start pacing and talking to myself. I want to curl into a corner and rock back and forth, crying. It's terrifying. I'm always afraid that everyone is going to hate the book or something like that. I thought it would get easier after the first book, but it didn't. At all.
5. Commas are my enemy. Like Daleks to a Time Lord, commas are the bane of my existence. I've been watching a lot of Doctor Who recently. Sorry. Anyway, after I published BlackMoon Beginnings, I learned that I didn't really know comma rules. I still have to go back and fix all the commas in that book. Commas are stupid. I want to put a note in the beginning of all my books and warn readers to pause at their own whim.
6. I'm not a very good writer. I know that. I tell instead of show. I repeat too many sentences. I end sentences with prepositions. I use adjectives and adverbs far too often. My characters are sometimes flat. I use words improperly. Sometimes I use words that I didn't realize weren't actually words.
7. I can't write in third person to save my life. I tried starting a new book in the third person and I wrote the first paragraph and got stuck. It just felt wrong. I love being in my character's mind. I like thinking like them, and I just can't do that when I write in third person. It's easier to connect with my characters in first person.
8. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Really, none whatsoever. I just pretend like I do.
9. I can't please everyone. When I first started writing, I thought that I had to create a book that everyone would like. That's not possible. At all. People will definitely hate your book and they will tell you. It's going to hurt, but it comes with the job. I've learned that writing is way more enjoyable when I'm writing for me. When I write the story the way the characters tell me to write it instead of the way I know readers will want. I have to do what's best for the characters in the book and hope that readers will realize that.
10. I didn't realize this when I first start writing, but I put a lot of myself in my characters. Especially Ryanne. I didn't know that I basically wrote myself as Ryanne until my friends started pointing all these characteristics out to me and I was like..."No...I don't do that. You're wrong." and then I'd do exactly that. When I was little, I was in gymnastics and took piano lessons. I love drawing and doodling. I love hiking and spending time in the woods. I hum the alphabet when I'm bored. I'm incredibly stubborn and will take a lot of things as a challenge. I used to play pranks on people who called me short in school. I'm only 5'2", so Ryanne is taller than me! Ha. I know you don't know Lainey yet, but I wrote a lot of my stubbornness and weird humor in her character.
However, I also write about what I wish I was like into my characters.
11. READERS ARE THE BEST. Seriously, my readers continue to amaze me. They buy these books and read them in one sitting and they then tell all their friends to read it. I can't believe it. I've done no promotion on my books and yet people are reading them because of the readers. It's so strange to me.
All I did was write a book and some are claiming that they are readers for life. That is crazy. I don't know what I did to earn that, but I hope that my future books continue to be worthy of that support.
12. Writing is hard. Sometimes I felt like quitting. Growing up, I was in so many sports and I quit all of them. I started this writing process with that mind-set. I could quit whenever I wanted to. Whenever I was having a moment where I thought I couldn't go any farther, I'd get a message from a reader that completely changed everything. I think all my readers are psychic or have intuition or something. Like I said in number 11, my readers are the best.
13. I absolutely love writing. Like I really love it. It feels wrong when I'm not writing. I complain a lot, but I wouldn't want to be do anything else right now. I love this. I love all the people I've met because of these books. I love all the characters I've made. I love the worlds I've created. I love everything that comes with writing. The negative reviews. The positive reviews. The staying up really late to finish a scene. The writers block. The light-bulb moment when I get a new idea. The emails and comments from readers. The slightly delirious caffeine high I get when I know I have to finish a book by a certain deadline. I love it all.
For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. This feels right. I learned in 2013 that I have to focus on what I love doing instead of what others think I should do. I discovered a new love all because I refused to listen to a few early nay-sayers.
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| I'm going to see Frozen tonight. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited. |
Also, I learned that I love using GIFs in my blog posts...if you couldn't tell from the three in this post.
Those are just a few of things I've learned in 2013. What are some things you learned this year?
Thanks for visiting my blog! I hope you have a fantastic day. :)
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