What I'm Reading
I'm 1/4 of the way through The 5th Wave. Not sure how I feel about it yet. And just over 100 pages into City of Bones which I am loving! Also, I've FINALLY got pages from not one CP, but two! I went all summer with nothing from any of my CPs and two of them send me pages on the same day. Oh well, more fun reading for me!
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What I'm Writing
So...this was a freaking CRAZY writing week. It all started last Thursday. I stalled out around 6K words. I jokingly asked my CP Jessica to plot my story for me. I'm very fortunate that we've become best of friends and she gets not only my writing but me, too. She was talking about how she was stuck in one of her WIPs as well. I suggested swapping summaries and planning a few plot suggestions And she was game! Her's helped me get back on track with my story but it required cutting 2700 words. That was almost half of what I'd written. That hurt. But...my story is now just over 8K! So...I wrote almost 5K in a week. I didn't even use any of the material I cut. Now why can't every week be like this? I'm hoping to crank out another 2K by end of today so that I meet my (revised) Camp Nano word goal of 10K. It's not the 25K I was going for but after this month 10K sounds like 100K!
What Inspires Me Right NowMy friend (and CP) Jessica. After a little planning she set a daily word goal for herself and she keeps meeting it every day. While raising two kids. I don't know how she does it. I have trouble keeping up and I only have one child.
What Else I've Been Up To
Got a call from kiddos new soccer coach. Practice starts Thursday. O.O I thought I had a few more weeks of nightly freedom. Other than that not much planned. I tend not to do a lot during summer because one, I'm not a fan of heat, and two, my allergies act up the more I'm outdoors. Oh, and the bug bites. But once cooler weather hits the outdoor activities begin. Trips to the park, bike rides in the neighborhood, and maybe even Geocaching! I've heard of it but have never gone. Sounds like a lot of fun.
City of Bones is a ton of fun!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on getting your story back on track. My CP's have talked me off a ledge several times, so I know first-hand the wonderful wonder of awesome CP's. :)
I'll admit - I had a tough time getting into THE FIFTH WAVE, but I was definitely hooked once I got into part 2. So keep with it! I hope you end up enjoying it as much as I did. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd aren't CPs who get you WONDERFUL? I cherish every one of mine. And they are very inspiring. SO glad you've found such a wonderful partnership!
Good luck with your goals this week!
Just think if you didn't have any writing goals at all you might only have half (or less) of what you ended up with. So even if it's short of your oeverall goal, it sounds like you have quite a bit to work with.
ReplyDeleteYay for good CPs. It sounds like you had a very productive writing week.
ReplyDeleteYour CP relationship sounds awesome! How cool is it that you were able to get each other back on track? Very cool. My sister is one of my CPs and we spend hours on the phone and over Google Hangouts discussing our stories and helping each other out of plot snags. We've also given each other great new ideas to work into our stories. Basically, it's invaluable. You made AWESOME progress on your story, especially after cutting so many words. Good job!
ReplyDeleteYou're making me want to start reading THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS from the beginning so I can get caught up. I've been thinking about it lately and you're giving me a bit of a nudge. Hmmm....
Have a great week, Mandie! :-)
City of Bones is a wonderful read :) Can't wait until the movie!
ReplyDeleteAnd a huge congrats on your writing so far, it's the best feeling when you can get unstuck and accomplish a lot. Best of luck on your upcoming goals!
Your CP sounds lovely. It's horrible to cut words but it's always for the best.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week!
I find it encouraging to hear about blog friends who have great CPs. I hope whoever ends up as my beta readers will be as brutal but encouraging as yours. And given I'll be asking folks from within my blog friends, the chances are they'll be awesome. :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't read THE 5TH WAVE yet, but I would like to soon. I wasn't a fan of CITY OF BONES, so perhaps your enthusiasm for that and your uncertainty over 5TH WAVE bodes well for me liking 5TH WAVE! :) To each their own...
I finished the first three books in the Mortal Instruments books in a week. They're so good. Swapping stories is an interesting idea. I'm glad it worked out for you. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLOVED the Mortal Instruments series. You should check out The Infernal Devices series by her as well. It's awesome that you and your CP are so close, glad to hear you guys helped each other out of your writer's blocks.
ReplyDeleteWith the movie for CITY OF BONES coming out soon, I'm almost tempted to reread the book. I enjoyed THE 5TH WAVE but found it took me a little while to get into it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to switch summaries and suggest some plot points to each other! My sister Jaime and I video chat a lot and we're always discussing plot issues, so that feedback is super helpful. And you had an amazing writing week! I hope there are more weeks like that in store for you!
Also, I totally hear you on not doing a lot outdoors in summer. I absolutely can not handle the heat either and my allergies hit an all time high during the spring and summer months. I always feel like such an indoor girl, but unless I'm slathered in sunscreen and doped up on allergy meds, outside is not my friend. Fortunately, our summer hasn't been unbearable hot here this year.
Good luck on your writing this week!
I love the idea of swapping summaries with a trusted friend... What a great way to get a fresh perspective! Congrats on all your progress!
ReplyDeleteWould you believe I've never read a Cassandra Clare book? And I call myself a YA writer... ;-)
The first quarter of The Fifth Wave was tough for me, too. I liked it okay, but it was so dark and violent and sad that I had trouble reading it for very long stretches. Once I got to the second half, though, I had trouble putting it down. Hope you start loving it soon!
ReplyDeleteGreat CPs are *so* worth their weight in gold, aren't they? So glad that you broke through that challenge! Good luck with the rest of the week!
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