My Successes in 2017

Children’s author Julie Hedlund, challenged participants of her 12 Days of Christmas for Writers series to post SUCCESSES (rather than resolutions) on our blogs this year. She believes the way New Year’s resolutions are traditionally made come from a place of negativity – what DIDN’T get done or achieved in the previous year. Instead, she suggests we set goals for the New Year that BUILD on our achievements from the previous one. I decided to participate in this Anti-Resolution Revolution! Here is my list for 2017.

Since setting goals instead of making resolutions has been my way for many years now, sharing what I see as my successes feels much more positive. So, in 2017 I have surprised myself because I:

1. settled on my word for the year – PROGRESS – and set out to make it happen in my writing as much as I could manage, and grew in confidence as a writer;

2. celebrated my 7th year of blogging here on WordPress on January 9;

3. wrote 144 blog posts, including this one and one scheduled for Dec 31;

4. wrote reviews of 67 books on my blog, 42 of which were written by 12 x 12 members – past and present;

5. interviewed 3 authors here on my blog, and 2 illustrators – my first time to interview illustrators;

6. participated in Tara Lazar’s Storystorm challenge and came up with 30 ideas for stories;

7. entered Susanna Hill’s Valentiny writing contest (my entry);

8. entered Vivian Kirkfield’s #50 Precious Words challenge (my entry);

9. participated in ReFoReMo (Reading For Research Month) and read over 100 recommended picture books to learn more about writing picture books – and the reading continues;

10. read over 600 books during the year, all but about 60 were picture books;

11. wrote a 500-word story for a writing challenge through InScribe;

12. attended an information session with other local writers, put on by the writers federation of which I’m a member;

13. attended 15 (or more) webinars about different aspects of writing, mostly regarding picture books;

14. attended a full day online Picture Book Summit & won the big prize;

15. participated in all the 12×12 webinars – except for maybe one;

16. gained a picture book writer friend through 12×12 & we share about our writing life nearly every day;

17. earned a place on the 12×12 winners wall because of writing 25 new story drafts, 18 more than in 2016, (12 are required for the win);

18. wrote 6 revisions of stories;

19. got one story polished and submission-ready;

20. submitted story (point #19) to an agent – my first time to approach an agent;

21. received a reply from agent (point #20) with positive comments and helpful advice – a champagne rejection;

22. posted one of my stories in the 12×12 critique forum and received wonderful comments and helpful critiques, one by a critique ninja;

23. was gifted a helpful critique by author Marcie Colleen to further improve my story (point #19);

24. prepared, arranged, and published my dear mother’s children’s story as a photo flip book and had 8 copies printed for family in her honour;

25. believe more deeply I AM A WRITER!

What are YOUR 2017 successes? No matter how small or insignificant they might seem, they add up and fit together somehow. Please share with us in the comments.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂 ♥

A video for you by John Greene

Today I want to show you a video by John Greene. He is the author who wrote Fault in Our Stars that was published in January 2012. I have the book but haven’t read it yet, and … I might have seen the movie.

Anyway, I found this video that I thought you’d enjoy. He is quite hilarious in his presentation.

Have you read his book (or any of his books) or watched the movie? Does he make you feel better about your own writing?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

A champagne rejection

Hello my dear readers and friends!

Lately, I’ve been more absorbed in my own writing so haven’t been posting here on a regular basis. Gosh, it’s hard to do it all! I have an update for you today.

I’m still keeping up in the 12×12 challenge, having drafted a new story each month – January through October – a few of those drafts being very skimpy. A few months I’ve come up with more than one, and I have yet to write a new one for November.

Another part of 12×12 is revision. Each month we are to try to revise a manuscript as well, and they don’t have to be ones we’ve written during 12×12. As long as we are revising one of our stories it’s acceptable. I’ve not kept up in that department, although I have tackled a few.

An added bonus is that we receive badges when we write or revise, so I’ve kept up the monthly drafts for the fun of getting those.

Let me see … my count to date is 20 new drafts and 4 revisions! That’s better than what I did when I participated in 2012 and in 2016. When we reach the end of December we get a place on the winners’ wall if we’ve written 12 or more drafts over the twelve months, no matter in what month they were written. I’m so happy to know I’ll be on that wall this year. My thought right now is that I’ll join 12×12 in 2018 and spend much more time on the drafts I already have, working them into polished manuscripts ready for submitting.

Now, here’s the really exciting part. This week I sent my very first query to an agent I admire. Within two hours I heard back. You may be thinking I’m excited because the agent answered positively wanting to represent me, but no. The reply was full of good advice and suggestions for the story I’d included. That, my friends, is called a “champagne rejection” – and I’d received one on my first agent query ever! I am not discouraged. I’ll try again later after applying myself to the rewrite and looking over my other manuscripts, too. And, a writer friend suggested to keep an open mind because there may be other agents with whom I could have a good working relationship. Oh alright. 😉

I’m also keeping up on reading books when I can. To see my total thus far you can check my “Books I read in 2017.” After adding a book to my list I write a brief review of it in Goodreads where I have surpassed my reading challenge goal of 200 long ago, doubling it, with mostly picture books. Yep! I love to read.

Are you taking writing challenges? Or reading challenges?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂 ♥

Update and Infographic: 28 boring words and what to use instead

It seems I’ve been absent too much lately from blogging. I’m still around, although not keeping up with everything. On Saturday last week – with hundreds of other writers from all over the world – I participated in an online Picture Book Summit which was amazing. Over 9 hours of amazing, in fact. It’s part of my education in learning about writing for children and I know I’m gradually learning some very good and helpful information.

Thanks to my local library I’ve been doing a lot more reading of picture books again – and other books, too, but mostly picture books. That’s part of the learning process, the really fun part. As a member of 12×12 the goal is to try to write a new story (rough draft) each month, and so far this year I have managed to do that. I’ve even drafted more than one a couple of months! Sometimes the story starts in my brain when I’m relaxed at bedtime and just lingers there long enough for me to scribble it down. One morning I wasn’t awake very long when I started hearing a story beginning, so I had to stay focused on it to capture the story before it went the way of my forgotten dreams. It’s fascinating to me how that happens.

Today I have some information to share with you that could be of help with your writing. It’s an infographic of 28 Boring Words and What to Use Instead, and was created by writer and blogger Jack Milgram. (Thanks, Jack!)

To go to the infographic CLICK HERE , but please come back to leave a comment.

Are there any words that bug you or you think are overused or boring?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂 ♥

5 Writing Tips from author Harlan Coben

Sometimes so much is going on that I have to step back a little from some things, and that’s what’s happened with blogging. I haven’t forgotten you, I’m still close by, and I’ll keep plodding along. I hope you’ll plod along with me.

Today I read helpful tips from bestselling mystery and thriller author Harlan Coben. Here they are for you:

Working off my Rule 3, I’m going to skip boring you with a long introductory paragraph and get straight to it:

1. You can always fix bad pages. You can’t fix no pages.

So write. Just write. Try to turn off that voice of doom that paralyzes you.

2. Never try to jump on a trend.

In part I say this because by the time you write it, the trend is over, but mostly I say it because you have to love what you’re writing and really believe in it.

3. Write like there is a knife against your throat.

The knife is right there and if you bore us, flick, you’re dead. Write with that kind of energy. Make every word count. The great Elmore Leonard said it best: “Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.”

4. The distance is nothing. It is only the first step that is difficult.

I don’t know who originally said this, but the first word you write each day is the hardest, the second word is the second hardest, and so on. Once you start, it does get easier.

5. There are days you just can’t write. Fill them with self-loathing.

What, snowflake, you wanted me to tell you it’s okay to feel this way? It’s not. On the days I’m not writing, I am wracked with guilt and self-hatred. If you’re not, try another profession.

I feel quite sure there are one or two points you won’t agree with, so tell me! What would you change about what he said? What works for you?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂 ♥

The Writer’s Diet test

Do you wonder about your writing, if it’s strong enough, if you’re over-using some words, if your grammatical usage is up to par?

Here is an automated feedback tool called The Writer’s Diet test that will give you immediate feedback about your writing. You simply insert a sample of your writing – 100 words up to 1000 words – and find out where you might have to improve. The categories of the report are: lean, fit & trim, needs toning, flabby, heart attack.

I tried the test with a sample of 233 words of a post I wrote in June. The result is that my verbs usage was in the heart attack range … (yikes!); my usage of nouns, prepositions, verbs/adverbs was in the lean range for all of them; my use of it, this, that, there was just into the fit/trim range. It seems I have to trim down my overuse of verbs, which will be challenging.

If you give it a try I hope you’ll come back and let me know … what did you discover about your writing?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂 ♥