FRIDAY FORAGE – 2013/08/23

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The Forage Begins

TGIF, everyone. Thank goodness I’ve foraged! Two weeks left in August and come September my FRIDAY FORAGE series really kicks off. I’ll have a weekly round-up of writerly and/or other creative and inspiring sites and blog posts. I’ll also post some book reviews here, as well, the first being K.M. Weiland‘s forthcoming Structuring Your Novel. I’m excited for this series and look forward to the finds.

In the meantime, my YA Fantasy WIP, Aaralyn’s Song, is going well and the POV experiment is providing me with insight as to possible protagonists in upcoming books in the series, including novellas.

While my Uke won’t be playable until tomorrow, I’ve rekindled my bond with mi amigo Duolingo. Keeping my brain creative and my digits well-rested this month. All good things on the writerly front.

Have a splendiferous weekend!

#ROW80 Mid-Week Check-In 2013/08/21

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WRITING:

My WIP, Aaralyn’s Song, is a YA Fantasy. Some themes are of the darker variety, but this successful POV experiment has brought out edgier sides to my characters. I’d say AugNoWriMo is going superbly. 🙂

READING:

I’m swamped but getting through my reading:  K.M. Weiland‘s forthcoming Structuring Your Novel and the WIP excerpts from fellow SCBWI critique group members.

NETWORKING:

Accountability continues with #wipmadness check-ins on Candilynn Fite’s blog and #ROW80 check-ins, along with updates at Ali Luke’s Writers’ Huddle. Still, I should be held more accountable for my lag in reading. 😦

LEARNING:

SavvyAuthors‘ 2013 Summer Symposium started today. As if I wasn’t overwhelmed–in a good way–with my current workshops. The next five days are full of ace material to learn from.

My buddy Bilbo Watson is under the weather. I ran some errands yesterday only to come home to find one of his strings popped. Turns out the string wasn’t long enough and the knot unravelled. I made some phone calls and here are my options:

1) Take him back to the store where they’ll restring him for free (labor is free but I’m not sure about the string. Mind you, it didn’t break, it’s just short so the same thing might happen again). Pro: FREE Con: It’s an hour commute.

2) Take him to a music shop nearby (15mins away). Pro: much closer Con: They only sell packs of strings not individual, so that’s around $10 plus another $10 for labor.

Ugh. It’s been 36 hours since I last played. I’ll go grab my sister’s guitar but it won’t be the same. Do I opt for convenience at a higher price or go the cheaper route that makes for a more tiring day? I have some mulling over to do.

Other than that, things are going swell. Swelling, too. Like my arm from where I got my allergy shot yesterday. Oh, the summer drama continues! ;p

Week in Review – 2013/08/12 – 2013/08/18

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WRITING:

The POV experiment continues with Aaralyn’s Song, so far. AugNoWriMo is more than half over but the progress continues.

READING:

This week I’m continuing K.M. Weiland‘s forthcoming Structuring Your Novel and the WIP excerpts from fellow SCBWI critique group members. I fell behind on the reading but will try and get some of it done today and by midweek. Grrr.

NETWORKING:

Despite the Grrrs, #wipmadness check-ins on Candilynn Fite’s blog and #ROW80 check-ins, along with updates at Ali Luke’s Writers’ Huddle are keeping surprisingly sane and accountable.

LEARNING:

I have a couple of SavvyAuthors classes that shall help in characterization and subplots. While I continue to dig through my already purchased courses, there’s something to be said about real-time feedback. Huzzah.

Later in the Week Savvy is hosting its 2013 Summer Symposium and I’m super excited about that. So much info and it’s free to members! At $30 for non-members (the annual dues, by the by) there’s no excuse for you not to join this fantabulous group of writers and other lovelies in the industry.

As my calluses further develop, I had a lovely day out with the Sisterhood yesterday. Good company, good food and took home my new friend. His name is Bilbo Watson. I’ll give you three guesses as to how I came up with that name.

Once I’m all spiffy on the Uke, I plan on expanding my strumming horizons to the mandolin, lute, and eventually the cello. YUP. Incidentally, I got to play around with a U-Bass. That is SOOOOO cool. I love doing creative things when I’m not writing. Keeps the noggin’ full of ideas. 🙂

Play/Write on!

FRIDAY FORAGE – 2013/08/16

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WEEK EIGHT: WRITE YOUR NOVEL THIS SUMMER

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Aaralyn’s Song is transforming–and in a good way. The POV shift chapters are developing nicely, marinating, as it were. While I haven’t read things over yet, the experiment has been fun, so far.

Our writing challenge this week on Ali Luke‘s Writers’ Huddle involved a ten-minute writing session. I usually do free writing in short spurts. For this challenge I decided to take a scene and switch it to a different POV character just to see how the scene would unfold through their eyes. It’s a fun experiment and think I’ll give it a whirl on a regular basis. Even if I don’t use the words in my WIP, it sheds new light on my cast of characters. Good stuff.

This weekend, it’s  a day downtown with The Sisterhood for music, pedis, and a Japanese dinner. Awesometastic.

I’ve noticed that when I take a relaxing weekend to unwind, the following week yields creative output.

Here’s to a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious sort of weekend. 🙂

#ROW80 Mid-Week Check-In 2013/08/14

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WRITING:

AugNoWriMo is chugging along with my Multiple POV approach. I’m discovering things about my characters I hadn’t originally considered and it’s exciting to include these character layers in the WIP.

READING:

The Mothership’s birthday and Tots extra hyperactivity kept me busy the last few days so I’ll be diving into my reading tonight and for the rest of the week: more of K.M. Weiland‘s forthcoming Structuring Your Novel and the WIP excerpts from my SCBWI critique group.

NETWORKING:

I’m enjoying the check-in posts for #wipmadness on Candilynn Fite’s blog. Maybe she should come up with a series called ‘Yoga for Writers.’ I’ve never quite tried yoga but I think my back will thank me if I did.

LEARNING:

I’m digging the Udemy courses, so far:

Young Adult Novel Writing Workshop

Pain Free at Work

Learn Guitar in 21 Days

Next up, more digging with the recorded webinars and ebooks I bought at the Writer’s Digest Shop.

August is already halfway done. Before I know it, I’m going to start hearing Christmas carols everywhere.