A to Z Challenge 2013 – B is for…

Posted on 2013/04/02 by Tonette dela Luna

~ (WRITING) BUG-OUT BAG ~

If I wait until the end of the month to talk about my Writing Toolkit or Survival Essentials, well, the writing trek would pretty much be over. So in the spirit of the great outdoors, today I’ll share with you some contents in my Writing “Bug-out Bag.”

1) MacBook Pro 13″. I’d prefer a Macbook Air 11” for true portability. Feel free to donate to the cause. 😉

2) iPad and iPhone. Quick on-the-run type of notes or a bit longer with the iPad and a bluetooth keyboard.

3) Storage. Back that *beep* up! Dropbox or any cloud-type storage. Folders on your laptop, computer, wherever. SD Cards. I have a case that holds up to 10 cards. It’s slim and I can use the cards for the laptop and my cameras. Thumb drives, external hard drives. You get the idea. Copy your WIPs to various folders in different locations and devices so your back ups have back ups of the back ups. You feel me?! Trust me, people, many a tear has been shed, many a hair has been pulled. Don’t let this happen to you. You’ll be left a saline-deprived, dehydrated, tear duct shriveling bald-spotted hot mess.

4) Software. Among the many I must highlight two that have served me well: a) Scrivener. I wrote my last three projects on it: two novels and a short story. Love the index card feature and the ability to move scenes around; and b ) Dragon Dictate. Back and wrist injuries make prolonged sitting painful. This way I can continue with the story while standing, lying down, exercising. (Don’t let your muscles atrophy, people. Writing might turn us to stone! haha)

5) Reference. Anything to do with craft and research in the form of physical books, ebooks, mp3s, podcasts, vlogs, and the like.

6) Music. I like classical music or OSTs from film and television. The track varies, depending on the scene I’m working on. I also have a playlist that serves a purpose similar to those used for running, driving, or an 80’s movie training montage. You know, anything to get you into the writing ‘zone’.

7) Believe it or not, mirrored closet doors. My apartment came with them. I figure, instant dry erase surface for mind mapping, checklists, etc.

8) Low-tech: Paper and writing implements. You do not have an excuse. Get those words out. When the tech dies–EGADS–you can and must keep going. Has JJ Abrams taught us nothing?

9) Sustenance. Is it sad that I put food so low on the list?

10) Sleep. Yes, I know that sleep and floor-to-ceiling mirrors don’t fit inside a Bug-out Bag. But in this case, the bag is a metaphor, much like the camp, itself. I’m not trying to be deep–too soon for that–but I should probably break it to ya. Camp NaNo is neither a camp nor a nano. Discuss.

This list is by no means exhaustive. What are your must-haves to get through writing challenges?

=8=

Today’s theme is brought to you by the letter

A to Z Challenge 2013 – A is for…

Posted on 2013/04/01 by Tonette dela Luna

The beginning of the alphabet. The first letter in April, a blogtastic month. What shall we discuss today, pray tell?

https://www.facebook.com/KidPresident

Originally, I wanted to post my favorite video courtesy of Kid President, but that can wait until we get to the letter “K”. 🙂

~ AWESOME ~

On this day, I will be more awesome.

From this day forward, I strive to be more awesome.

This month is a big writing month for me. As I posted previously, I started this blog to chronicle my journey towards two novel drafts in April. I’ll be tweeting word count updates daily, if possible, and of course, blogging about it all. Yes, the irony is not lost on me that all of this commences on the Day of Fools. I laugh at this day and reclaim it as the Day of Awesome!

This past week has been wonderfully awesome for me. I’m getting the hang of the blogging life. I’m excited of the stories waiting to come out this month. And I’m already building a following of people who appreciate me as much as I appreciate sharing my thoughts with them.

Much love to all of you for that.

Special shout out goes to Arlee Bird for founding such an awesome event. I look forward to many more blogging challenges to come.

So, fellow bloggers, how’s your first day of awesome going? Let me know your awesome goals for the month of April. 🙂

=8=

Today’s theme is brought to you by the letter

T-Minus… We’re on the Precipice, the Calm Before the Storm

Posted on 2013/03/31 by Tonette dela Luna

TWO STORIES, ONE MONTH, A BLOG, and ME.

STORY ONE: A Love Less Ordinary

The first is a contemporary piece about the Murphy’s Law of relationships. Protagonist’s best friend and roommate kicks her out of her own apartment because she and her deadbeat fiancée (the freeloader who never paid rent) are ready to take the next step. This on the same day she’s laid off from work. Dodging questions from her mother about her career and love life, she just wants out of her current situation. Unemployed, newly homeless, and desperate for work, she doesn’t realize how lost she is until she ends up working as a live-in nanny for a family that’s just moved to town. At least there’s the cute guy she sees at the deli every Tuesday. Their sandwich banter is something she looks forward to. On this Tuesday, however, after all that happens, she misses her deli run and ends up at some family’s dinner table, hired on the spot, after saving the young son when he ran into the street. Things start to look up until her new employer’s husband walks in, holding a big bag of sandwiches from the deli.

STORY TWO: Hamelin

This one’s a beast to get into. The gist is that it’s a YA Speculative Fiction piece, a riff on fairy tales, hopefully unlike what’s already out there. First off, I’m focusing on a fairy tale that isn’t saturated in the media, at the moment, the Pied Piper. In my story, the Piper is female. In this fairy tale universe, heroes are villains, and vice versa. Aside from characters you may know by name, circumstances are quite different as the story unfolds. Other notable fairy tale characters from classic and contemporary authors alike might make an appearance but in this land, nothing is what it seems.

=8=

That’s what I’m writing about in April. Well, the major writing projects for April, that is. Since the Blogging Challenge is thematic, I’ll try to keep it writing related, as much as possible, and hopefully slip in some word count updates. Otherwise, I’ll be keeping everyone apprised of my story progress each Sunday (the day we have off from the blogging challenge).

So, today was a lovely sunny day. Since I live in the vicinity of Raincouver, I don’t trust it. I bet there’s a rain cloud waiting to leap out from behind a tree.

Tomorrow it begins. To borrow from a phrase of an awesometastic program premiering its third season tonight,

“WORDS ARE COMING.”

And plenty of them, if I can help it.

I suppose this is where I make the choice. Do I stay the course or head back to shore? Heck, I didn’t even know I was on a boat, but here we are. [cue JAWS score]

Was this how Neo felt when given the choice of the red pill or the blue pill?

“You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
— Morpheus, The Matrix

As writers, do we not tread the fine line between reality and the real world on a daily basis? Neo was The One. That meant squat in the end… oops. SPOILERS. I will speak of this no more.

What’s my choice?

I swallowed that red pill, bitter taste and all, back when I decided to do this trifecta of writing awesomeness: Camp NaNoWriMo, Savvy Authors April Boot Camp, and the Blogging A to Z Challenge. That pill swirled around my gut and my hand did the T-1000 morph the moment I Tweeted my declaration of the write-a-palooza.

I’m not doing this because I’m a masochist–writers are inherently so. I’m doing this because I know I can. Hundreds of thousands of creative folks know they can, too, or at least they’ll give it a try. We’ll support each other. I’m doing it for the global frenzied encouragement as much as I’m doing it for my own writerly goals. It’s just a matter of how far I’m willing to push my creative self down the rabbit hole.

Care to join me?

(via yassimanga)

THE PERKS OF BEING A SAVVY AUTHOR

Posted on 2013/03/29 by Tonette dela Luna

I dove into the world of Savvy Authors last November, where their NaNo Boot Camp gave me double the reason to hammer out my YA Thriller. A great added dose of accountability, twice the intensity, and the benefits of global cheerleading. Yesterday, I declared my love for all things NaNoWriMo. In case you missed it, you can read about it here. My love is also strong for Savvy Authors. Here are just a few reasons why YOU NEED TO JOIN THIS AMAZING WRITING COMMUNITY.

1) IT’S AN AMAZING WRITING COMMUNITY. Yes. It bears repeating. I haven’t met any of them in person yet, but we all support each other like we’ve been friends for years. Constant feedback and encouragement fill the warm atmosphere. Come on, it’s in their tagline: writers helping writers. That’s what we do everyday. Regardless of genre, we all come together to show our love for storytelling.

2) IMPRESSIVE EDUCATION. I’ve learned a lot more as a writer in the past six months than I have all my life. I appreciate traditional education. I love and have several books on writing craft. But there’s something to be said about the innovation of an online course. You have the flexibility to cater to your own busy schedule and still be accountable for your deadlines. Everything is there to help your writing go further. How many times have you bookmarked an article or purchased reference material but never actually got around to reading it? *GASP* I’ll admit, shamefully, I am guilty of this. The interactive community keeps my interest and I’m networking at the same time. Bonus. And if I fall behind in my schedule, the instructor and class are there to support me. What’s great is that these instructors know their stuff because they, too, are writers. We all appreciate the struggle. We all appreciate the art form.

3) VALUE. The basic membership is free and already you have a treasure trove of craft resources, networking opportunities. Wednesday night chats offer a revolving door of guest speakers from the industry. Real-time education, Q&A, and overall great conversation. I file that under INFOTAINMENT. Premium memberships are worth it, too, because the already amazingly low price on workshops gets even cheaper. It truly pays off because you receive hands-on instruction, peer and instructor feedback, and guidance towards meeting your writing goals. Because I dare to push myself, I tend to enrol in more workshops than a normal human should take at one time. Doesn’t stop me. I’ve learned so much and my writing’s come a long way because of Savvy Authors. Took my first class in November and I’ve been going strong ever since.

4) BOOT CAMP. My second Boot Camp since NaNo last November. Had such a great experience, I had to say yes. You have teams, you encourage each other to reach daily goals. There are even prizes and other great incentives to keep the momentum going. I must be clear, Boot Camp is not for the lightweights. We’ve been told there’s no whining in Boot Camp. But from last year’s amazing results, there’s definitely a lot of writing in Boot Camp. SAVVY AUTHORS APRIL BOOT CAMP is sure to keep my writing goals in check next month.

5) PITCH PERFECT. Now, one downfall of having several completed drafts but none of them fully revised yet? Missing out on April’s other awesometastic event at Savvy Authors. If you go and check out at least one thing on their site, do yourself a favor and get in on this FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY. Take your novel to new heights and join! I know I’ll have pitches ready the next time this rolls around. Agents and Editors from various publications ready to hear your pitches all month. APRIL’S PITCH PERFECT. It’s the Disneyland of pitch opportunities.

So many good things to say. So excited to be a member of this writing community. This is just a taste of what they’ve got. If you’re serious about your writing and want to publish your work, check out Savvy Authors. You’ll be glad you did.

http://www.savvyauthors.com/