What will you do in 2015?

2015 is knocking on our door.  Every year seems to move faster and faster.  I remember when I was little, and my parents used to say things like, "This year went by so fast," and I thought they were so ridiculous because the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed like an eternity, and the time between New Year's and the summer seemed even longer.  Now, I get it. As your perception changes, life seems to move faster.  Only yesterday, I had one newborn son, and now I have three kids and the oldest is 10.  Time keeps moving, and you can't stop it no matter how hard you try.

Every year, I set out to make goals for the new year.  Sometimes, I manage to achieve these goals and other times the year flies by and I've done nothing (well not nothing, but just nothing in the way of achieving my goals).  This year, my goals are going to be mostly writing oriented, because at this point in my life it's the most important thing to me.  Plus, if I don't set the goals I'll never get anywhere.  You never know what you can achieve if you don't try.

Here are my goals for 2015:

• In 2015, I will publish "No Turning Back."  I'm working, slowly, but surely on editing it right now.  I am also finding a cover, then I will format it for e-publishing.  I'll have a soft open and then a promotion period on Amazon.  Self-publishing is about a lot of self-marketing too.  So, I'll be on Twitter, Facebook, here (my blog), and Google+ doing giveaways.  Stay tuned for that, as well as some teasers from the book.  I'll be posting the first few chapters on #Wattpad the first week of January, then the book should be out on Amazon by mid-January 2015.  
• Polish "The Devil Within," and re-write certain sections.  I'm releasing a chapter every three days of this book on #Wattpad.  You can read it here:  http://www.wattpad.com/story/26698809-the-devil-within
• Finish my work-in-progress.  Find a suitable name. Edit. 
• Query one agent a month 
• Write at least 1,000 words a day.
• Blog twice a week

And now for non-writing goals

• Exercise at least three times a week
• Read one book a month (I tend to put down books while I'm writing, and this is not good). 
• Lose 10 pounds
• Start a professional blog. I'll keep this blog for personal blogging, but I'd like to separate out my writing blog. 

That's all folks!

Make sure to check me out on Facebook and on Twitter:

Check me out on Wattpad. 

Follow @laurenegreene

Practice Makes Permanent

I woke up super early this morning, because Number 2, my precious middle guy is sick. 102.5 fever and cough.  He must have come down with what his sister had last week.  This poor kid has missed out on Trick-or-Treating this year, a Pumpkin/Playground Field Trip and now his Christmas party at school.  I feel sorry for my sweet little guy.

I need to take a note from this kid in learning how to roll with the punches though.  He is so laid back.  He moaned for a minute, and he cried about not being able to go to his party, but then he was over it.  He deals with things as they come, and he has the sweetest disposition.  Love the kid.

Because of my 4:30 AM wake-up call, I finished a basic edit of Chapter 11 of "The Devil Within" and published it.  You can find that on #Wattpad.  I wrote about 2,000 words on my no-name WIP.  I needed to edit a little bit of "No Turning Back." I'm going through my feedback from my beta readers, and I'm trying to figure out what advice I need to take and leave.  I'm polishing, and then I'm going to self-publish in January.  I know I've said I would be self-publishing before, but this time I actually have a timeline and it will happen.  When you procrastinate, nothing happens. True story.

Then after I finished actually working on my writing, I played with Social Media for awhile.  I'm a little overwhelmed with all this social media.  I have accounts on Twitter, Google+, Facebook (of course), Instagram, and now Tsu. (I don't know how to make the special u that goes on Tsu).  Social media is the way for an indie writer to get noticed.  Twitter, I think, is one of the most important social media outlets, even though just a few months ago I thought Twitter was the stupidest thing that ever existed. I still don't "get" all the things I need to be doing.  It's a learning curve, for sure, and I spend so much time trying to keep up with all the tweets and retweets that I barely have time to write, or clean, or cook, or take care of kids.  Being an indie writer needs to be a full time job, but unfortunately for most indie writers it has to be done on the side. A second job, because that is what writing is to me.  It's not a hobby: it's a job.

I love writing. I want to do it for the rest of my life.  Self-promotion is hard.  Getting noticed is hard. Being published traditionally would be my dream, but in the meantime, I'll keep plugging on with what I have, and I'll try to keep promoting myself the way the rest of the indie writers do.  I heard the other day, instead of "practice makes perfect," which is not true, "practice makes permanent." And boy is that ever true.  I've put myself in a routine to write every morning, and now if I don't I feel like I'm missing a vital part of my life.

Now if I could only get everyone in my family well and make it to the gym.  That would be an accomplishment, for sure.



Check me out on Wattpad. 

Follow @laurenegreene

Inspiraton

Have you ever had a moment of pure inspiration?  Yesterday, I did.  I was in Insanity at the YMCA, and these guys in the front were doing tucks, donkey kicks, and frog jumps almost up to the ceiling.  Meanwhile, I was in the back of the class, raising my knees up and down because anything that involves jumping makes me want to vomit. Well, watching them, I thought, "How hard can that be?"  They inspired me to try it, and when I did it HURT.  It was hard, not something that comes easily, but I was proud for having tried.  After all, if I hadn't tried I would never know if I could do it or not.

I don't know exactly when my moment of inspiration came for me, in regards to my writing.  I have been doing it since I was seven years old; jotting stories down on paper. When I was little, I was obsessed with the Civil War, with boy babies, and with triplets.  You can imagine how my stories read.  But even if something comes so easily for you, it doesn't mean it's easy to get where you want with it.  For the longest time, I wouldn't let anyone read my work. I had a phobia of criticism.  I still feel feel that way. I have this need to know whether the work is good or not, but I'm at the point where I know I need the criticism in order to make myself a better writer.  If my audience doesn't like something, then they may just stop reading, and I don't want that.

Yesterday, I was surfing the net, and I came across this article: 25 Steps to Being a Traditionally Published Author. I laughed as I read this, but part of it made me want to cry.  Writing stops at number 5 or 6, and the rest is about how to land an agent, how to edit, what to do with your work.  There is so much to do after the ink stops flowing, it can be overwhelming or it could be inspiring.  Okay, so maybe inspiring is taking it a little bit far.  I mean, "Can a rejection be inspiring?" It could, if it pushes you to send your work to 50 more agents until you finally get a yes.  It could if the agent writes you a personal note, inspiring you to keep writing, or to change it up, or to toss your current book and start on another.  Inspiration comes in the funniest of ways.

Until then, I'm going to keep editing, keep writing, and keep sending out to agents.  One day I'll be discovered if I'm persistent. I'll follow the rules above, and I'll keep reading and writing: making myself a better writer.


Check me out on Wattpad. 

Follow @laurenegreene

To Pen or Not to Pen?

I had a productive week.  I did my first beta read for another aspiring author, and I found I really enjoyed the process of reading someone else's work and sharing my input. I do worry about hurting feelings, as I've always had a hard time with criticism, but at some point you do have to move on from that, and learn how to accept constructive criticism.  Otherwise, you'll never get better as a writer or fill in the blank____________, whatever you want to achieve.

Now that I'm done beta reading, I'm turning my attention back to my work.  I received input from two betas on my work, and they both liked it! YAY!  They had suggestions, and so I'm going to work on rewriting the first couple of chapters, working on a few minor errors, and then I'm going to send it out for more beta readers.  My goal is to publish it, even if it is self publishing, by the end of 2014 or early 2015.

Speaking of that: Follow Me!  I'm on twitter: @laurenegreene, and I'm going to start actually taking advantage of my twitter account, my Google+ accounts, and my Facebook accounts and using them as a way to market my material.  Since, I'm going to self publish I will need to market myself.  I still don't get twitter.  Does anyone understand this?  I'm going to have to have my teenage nieces and nephews show me what you do, and what the hashtags are for.  Apparently, I'm not with the times, but I know you need social media to market yourself as a writer in this world.  Technology is such a huge part of life these days: there's no use fighting it!

Speaking of writing: pen name or no?  I'm debating staying with my regular name, or going to my pen name Ellie Greene.  I have a writer's page for my pen name, but my twitter account is my name. I like Ellie Greene, because it's a play on my name, but I like my name too, because...you know...it's my name!

Who would have thought there are so many details when you're trying to get published?  I have been out to Amazon and read several books on there, and there are people who have not even edited their material. I can't imagine that, because I've been working on my book for two years. I feel like I have poured so much of myself into this project. In an ideal world, one of my queries would land me a real life publishing package, and I wouldn't have to self-publish, market myself, and try to add more hours to a day that I know is only going to last 24!  In an ideal world, I'd also immediately land a movie deal and instantly be a millionaire.  One can dream, right?

But it feels good to live your dreams.  It feels good when I write.  Even if no one is going to read it, and even if it's a huge flop, it's what I love to do and that makes all the work worth it.  I would love to get to the point where my work does well.  I'd love to self-publish one book after another and make my living through the written words.  In the meantime, I'll take doing it part time.  I'll use my hour in the morning to edit my work, to blog, and to research how to become a successful writer.  I'll use my hour at night to read, so I can get better and better at the art of writing.  And maybe one day, I'll make a name for myself.  Until then, I'll be content with what I have and with the simple fact that I can write when I want to and do what I love, and no one can take that away from me.

*Follow me on twitter @laurenegreene and like my Facebook page:   https://www.facebook.com/elliegreenewrites -- Have your friends and family follow me too!!!

Fear: Just Another Four Letter Word

I didn't run this morning.  I woke up, and Skippy looked up at me with his big blue puppy dog eyes so I decided to take him for a walk instead.   He's not the best walker.  He stops and sniffs, then he runs, then he barks.  We're working on it.  He's in doggy discipline class.  I forgot the treats though, so I knew there was no way I was going to get anything close to 3 miles in.  I decided to just do a short walk, and I'll go running tonight after work.  I have to make myself accountable. 

Plus, I woke up wanting to work on my story.  Yesterday, I resurrected a Dystopian fantasy I'd started about six months ago.  I'd written almost 20,000 words on the thing and then just stopped.  I don't know why I stopped, because I think it has potential.  Sometimes I stop, because I realize what I've just written is crap, but sometimes I stop because life happens.  I found a short story contest I want to enter, so I'm in the process of paring down the 20,000 words to 5,000 and beefing up the beginning of the story to get it in shape.

I've decided, in order to become a full time writer, I have to be proactive.  I have to be okay sending out my work and getting rejections.  I have to enter contests.  I have to write articles.  In essence, I have to put myself out there.  If you've met me, you know I'm outgoing and you wouldn't think I'd have any problem with self-promotion.  In fact, you could say I am sometimes my own biggest fan.  But for some reason, letting others read my writing has always been SCARY to me, like I'm allowing them to peer inside and see my deepest darkest secrets.  I've broken out of the shell in the last few years, and I've been sending out my work.  I EVEN let my Dad read my unpublished novel.  I never thought in a million years I'd let my Dad read anything, because I worried about his criticism.  He was; however, very supportive and proud of me once I let him see the work shattering all of my unfounded fears. In the back of my mind, I think I knew he would be that way but I was basing my judgment of him on one random incident from childhood and holding onto a fear that I should have overcome a long time ago.   

I'm afraid of heights  I always have been.  And sometimes when you have a huge fear, the best thing you can do is take steps to overcome it.  As a child, I used to push myself to ride roller coasters.  I went zip-lining.  I even tried to rappel once (it did not happen!).  I would climb to the top of mountains and peer over the edge, ignoring the feeling of my heart beating out of my chest.  And that's the same thing I need to do with my writing.  I need to get over this irrational fear of being criticized and being rejected.  Both have already happened, and what happened to me?  Absolutely nothing! I'm still writing.  I'm still pushing forward, and the only way I'm going to get there is to know I can do it and to empower myself.   Send out my work.  Read each rejection and learn something from it, and keep pushing forward--keep promoting myself until I eventually get there.  That's what successful people do.  They propel themselves forward, and they act like they're not afraid even when they're terrified. 

The World of Writing

Yesterday, I finally downloaded iTunes to my new computer.  I need the music for writing, but instead I played the Sims and blogged about the past.  I've had a problem with procrastination this week.  I attribute it to the fact, that mostly, I've been feeling under the weather.

I had an asthma attack yesterday morning.  I hadn't had one in almost five years.  I sort of knew it was coming.  I keep waking up to cough at night, and I cough almost every time I exercise.  All of these are signs of asthma.  I felt puny from it until about noon, and then I sort of rebounded and felt better. 

I think the lack of exercise is getting to me, and due to the asthma attack yesterday, I didn't ride the bike at all.  I'm feeling like I'm getting out of my routine exercise-wise, and it's driving me nuts.  I like the outlet.  And speaking of outlets: let's talk about writing for a bit...

I've been slowly submitting my first work to agents.  I am also almost constantly editing. I've added a few more aspects to my character, tried to make her real, three dimensional.  I had a lot of feedback that she seemed cold, out-of-touch, heartless in her relationship...so I changed that.  I didn't want her to come across like some heartless person.  I wanted her to come across as a person who needed to make a tough decision in her life to see where she needed to go next.  We've all been through that right? Tough decisions.

The revision process is hard.  I actually really hate it.  I hate reading through and trying to act like I have new eyes.  I hate adding and cutting, and trying to add feeling that wasn't there in the first place.  In fact, I found a great cartoon that shows exactly the way I feel when I revise, except for I do my revisions on the computer, not on paper.  Don't kill all those trees!

From: http://secondary-writing-instruction.wikispaces.com/The+Writing+Process

I received three rejections in a span of two days.  I've made a spreadsheet to catalog who I've sent out to, who has sent me rejections and who I haven't heard from.  I still have four out there I haven't heard from.  I haven't submitted at all this week, because mostly I've been working on a new piece.

I was taking a different route and working on a piece of historical fiction from the 1920's, but I haven't had time to research.  I had some inspiration from the Boston bombings recently, and I spun another story, which is surprisingly easy to write.  In fact, the words just roll out, and much less research is involved (although still some--there is always some).  I actually am feeling pretty good about this new work, and I've already written about 10,000 words.  I work on it every day, and it seems to be coming together. 

I'm reading Rust Hills, "Writing in General and The Short Story In Particular," and so far it's ok.  I tend to question how much an actual book or actual class can teach you about writing.  I'm sure I could learn something about structure, flow, plot, character sketches, but I tend to write without an outline.  The story is just drawn out of me like coal from a mine, somewhere deep inside where it's stored, and then it pours out onto the paper.  I think most natural writers have this tendency, and maybe there is something to learn from the plotters and planners, but I haven't found it yet.  I've never been a plotter.  Still, I'll gleam some hint of new information from this book and others that I read, even if it just propels me to write and to submit more, then it is useful. 

That's where I am in the world of writing.  I'm getting organized, finding out how to submit, where to submit, and what to do.  Eventually I will get published, even if it takes the rest of my life.

Form Letter Rejection

Lately I've been writing.  I've been editing.  I've been attempting to write a "good" (by whose standards?) query letter.  I've started querying agents.  This process seems to be: a) long, b) tedious and c) totally, utterly frustrating. 

I think one of the hardest things for an author is to try to have their work published.  I may be a superb writer (I'm not--I'm still learning every single day!) and have no chance of getting my work published if an agent doesn't look at it and feel it will sell in the world of what everyone wants to read.  Plus now there is self-publishing.  Is it even worth it to go the route of traditional publishing? 

I say, yes, because the publishers can market your book, get the word out.  The fact is, most first time authors do not even see any royalties off of their books.  They sell a few copies, and most of that money goes straight to pay for the editing, the print job, and to pay all the people who helped by not giving you a BIG FAT REJECTION!!!

As you can tell, I received two rejections yesterday.  I know in the scheme of things this is not a big deal.  I've just started out and rejections are part of the business.  Plus, the rejections came so quickly it told me my query letter was really not up to par.  I worked on the letter, and I think I have a bit of a better format.  Some people query 50 agents at a time, but I'm doing about 5 at a time, because honestly I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING!  I wish I was in the publishing or editing business and knew even an inkling of the information about how the publishing world works. 

I have read a lot of blogs lately, including the blogs of the agents I've queried.  These blogs contain great tips for writing query letters, getting recognition, and not giving up when you receive those little rejection slips.  Agents are bombarded with query letters, and if yours does not grab their attention right away, or stand out as totally amazing, then it will go in the Slush pile and receive the automatic REJECT notice.  Rejection is part of life, and I'm getting used to it.  I just have to polish and make it better.

Here are a few of the websites I've been reading about query letters.  I received rejections from both of these ladies, who were probably way out of my league anyway:

Bent on Books: Jenny Bent of the Bent Agency.  I'd loved to be signed with her, as I've read on Writer's Forum she is simply amazing to work with.  On to the next project!

Pub Rants: The Nelson Agency.  I queried Kristin Nelson. 

Back to the chopping block....

An Update for the Weary

This week has been busy and hectic, and I haven't been writing.  Writing at all is better than no writing at all. I've been slowly editing my first draft of my book.  I'm not ready to send it anywhere yet.  I've been slowly working on my second work, plus a short story that seems to be going nowhere fast.  The key word this week: slow. I'm thinking about entering some writing contests too, but I haven't quite gotten there.  I receive emails almost daily from Writer's Digest about some contest or other, and I think maybe it would be a good way to get some recognition making it easier to be published in the long run. So what have I been up to if I haven't been writing or working out or blogging:

Mostly I've been reading.  I'm trying to finish Cloud Atlas.  I absolutely love this book.  Second great book I've read in a row, after finishing Heart of Darkness last week.  Apparently the movie, Apocalypse Now, is based on Heart of Darkness (Oh how I love Wikipedia!).  I'd like to see it, as I never have.  I spent some time with a friend from Taekwondo trying to pull it up on his Netflix, but alas Wi-fi failed us.  There's so much riding on technology these days: such as your next good flick! 

Also, at work I've been quite busy the last couple of days.  I didn't get home until almost 6:00 last night.  All hopes I had of an evening run were squashed, when I sat on the couch with an Amber Ale and I could not force my body to move.  It took all I had to walk up the stairs and read to the kids, much less eat, although Hubby did make some incredible enchiladas.

Speaking of kids, Number One was allergy tested yesterday.  It's about time!  He has dust mite allergies, tree pollen and grass.  Dust mites!  This is bad news for Hubby and me who are notoriously bad cleaners.  Have you ever looked at how much dust mite covers cost?  Gees!  So now Number One is on Flonase and a daily pill for his allergies.  Maybe this will rid him of his almost constant sore throats and headaches.  Here's hoping.  We'll probably wait to invest in dust mite covers until Number Two has been tested (next week).  We already know from experience that Number Two is allergic to cats and dogs, so we'll just wait for his back to light up like a Christmas Tree!!!

Running, I didn't have a good, witty lead in to this subject as it is getting me down.  My running days might be numbered. I want to do a 5K in April, and in fact I've already commited to doing one.  Taekwondo is on a short break this weekend, so I'll see how a few good runs feel on my leg.  I haven't run since last week, and my leg feels great.  I just keep reinjurying it every.time.I.run, and I've had some people (MY DAD) tell me that I should quit running and start cycling.  My answer to that, oh so maturely, is, "I don't wann!"  I love the way running makes me feel.  I love the accomplishment.  I've done the cycling thing before (in college), and I liked it but running just makes me feel different: liberated, free, like I'm flying.  I can't exactly explain the feeling, but it's wonderful. 

I'm sorry if there are misspellings in this edition.  For some reason Blogger Spellcheck has decided it's time to quit, even though I'm not done writing.  Not thinking there will be a weight loss or exercise edition this week, as I've been too busy eating Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, thus not following my own advice!!!

Writing: The Next Step

So I finished my novel.  I sent it out to a few close people in my life.  I received feedback from some, mostly good, but as my Dad says that could be because they're close to me.  I've received two sets of revisions (thanks Aubrey and Mike!).  I'm waiting on more.  I did read through Aubrey and Mike's revisions, and I've thought of a few changes I could make to the novel before sending it off.  I'm in the waiting period between completion and revision though.  I'm letting it sit and ferment, like a fine wine. 

Sending it off: Scary!  This is the process I know absolutely nothing about.  I need to attend some writer's conferences or something.  I need to figure out where to go from here.  I need to find a dart set to hang my rejection letters on.  Yes, I need to revise the book once or twice before that point, but research is always a good place to start.

I began last week by joining Writer's Market.  Stephen King recommended this site to me, and when Stephen King talks you listen (Okay, yeah, you're right it was not a personal recommendation!).  And one of the best authors of our time was discovered through Writer's Market: Stephanie Meyers the author of the Twilight Series.  See, I probably do have a chance. 

With Writer's Market comes all these email advertisements for Writer's Digest, and because of my crazy busy schedule I  haven't had the time to actually peruse Writer's Market.  I've just had the time to become annoyed with the junk mail filling my inbox.  I need to take the next step and start researching agents. 

The thing is: I love to write.  I would love to become published and make millions of dollars becoming the next Louisa May Alcott or Joyce Carol Oates or Jodi Piccoult, but let's face it, that's not the reason I do it.  I do it for myself, to release thoughts that have nowhere to go, to scribble down on paper the ideas that fill my head, to give a home to the characters who live inside of me.  I have a deep seated desire to write.  Sure, it would be nice to become the next best thing, but that's not why I do it.  I do it because I love it, and you should always try to do what you love to to do. 

It would be completely amazing to become a total sensation and to be able to live off doing something that I love to do.  Something I consider a hobby.  Something I consider totally cathartic.  Something I consider as part of myself.  Amazing, but probably not so realistic.

We'll just have to see where to go from here. I'm going to keep on writing.