Vlog #21: Getcha' Head in the Game

#NaNoWriMo 2015: #NaNoMeet Blog Hop

NaNoWriMo 2015 is almost here! 

To give NaNo a great kickoff, I thought it would be fun for us NaNo-ers (did I just make that up?) to do a fun "About Me" blog hop. 
Here's how it works:
1. Here's some inspiration for your "About Me" (in whatever pizazzy layout you like). It's just a mental push to get the ball rolling. You never realize how hard it is to write about yourself until you stare at a blank page and realize you're wholly uninteresting.

Name (or pen name).
NaNo Book Title.
One Sentence Summary (or more if you're feeling over-zealous).
NaNo Goals.
Fun Facts About You.
Got a Social Media Presence? Give Links!
Link Back to This Post so others can join in the fun.
Click here for an example (it's mine!).
2. Share your post on Twitter with the hashtag #NaNoMeet. Let's get lots of writers connected!
3. Enter your post address and name into the little widget at the bottom of this page. Don't forget to check out other writers' posts. Show your support!
4. When November comes, write, write, write!

NaNo-er's Assemble!

November is Coming

It's that time of year again.
Well, almost.
The leaves are morphing into vibrant flame and feather-light gold. Temperatures are shifting to the 50-60 degree (fahrenheit) range. Pictures of people holding pumpkins litter every form of social media. Fall is most definitely here... with NaNoWriMo soon to follow. Not sure about what NaNoWriMo is? Or pondering if you should do it (or not)? Click here.
I've already got SECOND-HAND SCAVENGERS set up on NaNo's site and am *almost* ready to start writing. I just need to get a little more plotting done...

I've got a little less than a week, okay? I'll be fine!
This post is to serve as a reminder for you (while you've still got some time to prepare). NaNoWriMo is coming, and if you've got a story idea just waiting to be formed by words--now is the time!
Join me for 30 days of reckless abandon in the wonderful world of imagination. Here's my NaNo account! Shoot me a message or friend me. In this writing business, encouragement is worth more than diamonds!
I'll be vlogging each day of NaNo, keeping you updated of my progress (victories and pitfalls). Don't miss the adventure, even if you're not taking part. Make sure you follow my YouTube channel.
NaNoWriMo. Sunday, November 1st. Mark your calendars.
I hope to see you there.

5 Beauty Tips from a Writer

Writers are such beautifully mysterious creatures. With an idea in their head and a far-off look on their face, it's no surprise they turn heads as they walk down the street (and likely bump into someone, they're so busy imagining). 
Want to get that "writer" look coveted by fashion magazines and celebrities worldwide? Just follow these five steps:
1. Only get a few hours sleep--four at the most. Doing this will get you those dark circles and wan look writers showcase. Those undereye bags are an outward sign of a night spent tossing and turning while new book ideas pranced around in your head.
2. Make sure you rest your chin on your palm for at least thirty minutes a day. This process will guarantee a red mark on your face depicting time lost in thought while plotting. That red mark is the sign of work being done!
3. If you're going for an old-fashioned look, rubbing the sides of your fingers in ink is a must. If you've seen Little Women you know what I mean. If not, go see it! I recommend watching around Christmas-time.

4. Type as much as you can, at least until one of your hands is sore and you constantly have to massage it. One of the great experiences of writing--finger fatigue! By doing this exercise daily, you will join the elite ranks of writers who shake their hands and flirt with carpal tunnel.
5. Stare into space often--squinted eyes is a plus. Pre-mature wrinkles? Who cares! With your eyes like this you'll get the air of mystery and aloofness that causes people to whisper things like, "Who is that?", "Does she have something in her eye?", "Wonder what she's thinking about?" 
And there you have it! The five steps to unlock the hard-won beauty that is a writer. Enjoy.

Idea to Pages: Let the Plotting, Begin!

Emily Layne's Steps to Write a Book:
Step One: The Inspiration & Jewelry Step Two: Prepping My Muse Step Three: Building My World (Part 1 & Part 2) Step Four: Let the Plotting, Begin!

Ahh! At last! After starting this blog series on July 9, 2015, I've finally hit the all important stage of plotting. That statement should answer the question: Is Emily a plotter or a pantser? Not sure what a plotter or panster is? 
Click here.
Plotting is probably one of the most complex parts of the Idea to Pages process (other than actually writing). In this step I'm determining the direction of the story, the characters, and the plot. If a story moves too slowly or the action seems contrived, this is where I need to fix it. Because, if not?
70,000 words later, after my book is written, I'll have a lot of editing to do. I know this from experience. Though I can see the fun of pantsing, it results in way too much work for me down the road. Plotting gives me security, direction, and keeps me from having to tear my story to shreds.
Though my plotting time is very limited for SECOND-HAND SCAVENGERS. I've got until October 31st. Why is Halloween my deadline, you wonder. Well, this year I'm participating in NaNoWriMo a.k.a. National Novel Writing Month. It's going to make things a bit crunched for time, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Now if someone will just buy me NaNo's winner's t-shirt to give me even more motivation. My birthday is coming up, you know!

The Final Step: Wading In!

Vlog #20: a BIG ANNOUCNEMENT--with goodies for you!

Looking Back

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." --Lao Tzu
This past week, while procrastinating from what I should've been doing (plotting SECOND-HAND SCAVENGERS), I rediscovered some old, cringe-worthy stories of mine. 
I, like many authors attest, started writing when I was little. Let's say as early as ten. Almost thirteen years later (I turn 23 on October 23rd!) I have a handful of completed, and a larger pool of unfinished, stories to my name.
Clicking through documents last opened in 2005, I couldn't help but smile (and wince).
Just for fun, I thought I'd share a couple lines from a few of the books I've written (novellas, really). Don't worry-- I'll spare you the Sailor Moon fanfiction devoid of proper punctuation and paragraph breaks.

"Kika found herself running to Tokyo Tower as the screaming became more audible.  She soon saw before her a small girl shrieking as she was being trapped by a large Oakwood tree.  Kika blinked, this is getting weirder and weirder." --Myst Princess, June 29, 2005
"Rei screamed a loud kiyap to distract Xander, which as she thought, it worked extremely well.  Xander froze like a deer in headlights and blinked." --Fairies, November 11, 2005
"Around me I only say ten remaining men from my ship.  Slowly the pirates were over-powering us, but I didn’t care.  If I was going to die, then I was going to die fighting." --The Black Dawn, April 27, 2006
"My swordstick lay where I had left it the previous night, behind the barrels of water.  I took it out, watching for any signs of my younger sisters.  They would die for a stick like this.  I reasoned with myself." --Times of War, July 4, 2006
Phew. That was painful. And these are just a select few of the stories I wrote. Some of them are even on paper--can you believe that? A time before computers were a common thing!
Well, now that I've eaten a large portion of humble pie, I'm going to go beg my little sister for some of her Layne Family Famous chocolate cookies.
Or cheesecake. I never turn down a good cheesecake. I hear they have pumpkin cheesecake out right now...

Who Are You?

This post is largely for my blog-reading-writers. That is, writers. Who read my blog.
WARNING. This is a long post. I got a little carried away...
I have a question for you. What do you want to get out of this "writing" thing?
Do you just want to pen stories and horde them to yourself? If so, then this post isn't for you. But I do have one thing to say--don't be selfish (or afraid!)! There's a voice inside you that can't be stilled. Hone it, improve it, and share it. That's the beauty of a story, sharing it.
Or, do you want to publish your book (self or traditional, doesn't matter) and release your precious story into the world? You, listen up.
Take a moment to think about your social media presence--the free advertising world of the 21st Century. Though Economics would disagree with it being "free." "No such thing as a free lunch," after all. But I'll come back to that later.
Do you have a website? Or at least a Facebook Author Page or Twitter? Maybe you've vowed to stay away from social media because it's the downfall of society?
If you want to be a successful writer, you may want to pause and consider the successful writers of today. The ones who connect with their fans and are on NYT Bestseller list (though this is not the pinnacle of writerly gifts, trust me). What do all of them--or at least most--have in common?
A website. At the very least.
And don't give the excuse of, I'll wait to have a website for when I'm published. 

By then, IT'S TOO LATE. Start now! Build your audience, your supporters, your comrades in arms! It's amazing what the word-of-mouth can do for a newborn book!
So, if you don't have a website and you're still hanging out on mine--get off! Make your own. Blogger, Wordpress, Wix... There's a bunch of "free" options to choose from. And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me.
Ah, back to that lovely concept of free "free." Well, you won't pay money to set up a "free" website, but you will pay time. But let's put it in perspective. How long did you spend writing your book?
Compared to that, building a website is a cinch--it's just a learning curve.
And for those of you who have websites... How does it look? Does it represent you and your works well? If not, better fix it! Trust me, I know the pains. I just did an entire website remodel. But I'm so tickled with the end result (hehehe). You will be too.
Once you've conquered the website, consider branching out. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and more, await...

Idea to Pages: Building My World (Part 2)

Emily Layne's Steps to Write a Book:
Step One: The Inspiration & Jewelry Step Two: Prepping My Muse Step Three: Building My World (Part 1 & Part 2)
Continuing my first half of Step Three in the series, Idea to Pages, I'm concluding the building of my world. 
Part 2 involved a less historical setting. Instead I shifted my focus to the present... and the future! To be honest, this part didn't require as much work as Part 1. Which makes sense, considering I'm particularly familiar with the present-day and the future is entirely up to my imagination.
The freedom in this part was a lot of fun. I got to place my setting somewhere in the U.S. I've always wanted to visit (won't spoil that--you'll have to read the book!). And I got to create a future society decades down the road. 

 Though, while imagining the world past the 21st Century, I couldn't help think of SciFi movies and books before me. Like Edward Balmy's Looking Backward. Balmy's book imagined a society of "universal credit." People in this futuristic world used cards to purchase goods on "credit." Sound familiar? 

Or George Orwell's 1984. In Orwell's society people were monitored by an interconnected web of security cameras. Surveillance. Absurd, right?
Not.
Then, of course, there's the well-known movies, Back to the Future. We're still waiting for some of the tech in that movie. But we're getting there (you won't see me on a hoverboard anytime soon though!).

All of these technology concepts came from Balmy and Orwell's imagination, but today they're in common use! It's crazy to think, far down the road, that some of my imagined tech could be real--even used by people!
Though 2965, my futuristic world, is awfully far away, and it's doubtful I'll live to see my imaginings become real. And, to be honest, I think that's a good thing.
Soon to come, Step Four: Let the Plotting, Begin!

Query Critique #6: ILLUSION

My thoughts are added in red. Every comment is my own opinion. Readers, feel free to leave your own comments below and help a fellow writer out!

If you're interested in a Free Query Critique, follow the link for more information.

Original Version (with comments):

Sixteen-year-old Kate Stillwell has her summer organized into a tidy list of bullet points and subheaders (I don’t think you need the details. By “tidy list” I can assume the bullet points and subheaders. Also, kudos, you let me know a bit about your character in the first line. Always hard to do!)—until she’s abducted by Idina, her closest (Maybe substitute “best”? Just an idea. “Best” friend gives me a closer feeling than “closest”) friend.

Kate is taken to the headquarters of the Celestian Guard, an organization of magicians from another world (Before we get into this part, could you explain why Kate’s friend kidnapped her?). While at the Guard, Kate learns that she is the daughter of a Celestian and a human (Consider a rewording like this: There, Kate learns she is a half-breed—a daughter of a human and a Celestian—which gifts her…), which gifts her with a rare form of magic: her words can become reality (Has she ever had problems with this before, prior to her arrival at the Celestial Guard?).

She also discovers that the magicians were commissioned to protect the delicate balance between humanity’s magic—creativity—and real magic, a task the magicians fulfilled effectively until an enemy band of magicians called Berserkers severed the pathway to Celestus (Lots of world building here—cool world building—and world building is always hard to do in a query letter! You leave me a little confused about the “pathway to Celestus” and what the band of magicians’ motives are. Why did they break away from the “good guys”? Also, love the name Berserkers. Very cool!).

Now the Berserkers are hunting for a lost sword that could be used to free their leader from his prison in the center of the earth (Why was he imprisoned?). Intent on protecting creativity, Kate volunteers to join a hunt to find and destroy the sword—but if they can’t, then creativity will fall (This can probably be assumed. Could you brainstorm a punchier ending? What’s so bad about creativity falling? The world will be bleak and dark—which really would be terrible).

ILLUSION (Lovely title!) is a YA contemporary fantasy complete at 54,000 words (Hmm. It’s a little short for a YA fantasy. Might give agents pause, just to warn you in advance. But everyone is so iffy about YA word counts, so if your story is strong, don’t worry!) that could be pitched as National Treasure meets The Kane Chronicles. ILLUSION does have series potential, but can stand on its own.

I am a member of the Florida Writers Association (Cool! I wish I had a writers’ association. There’s a lot of mixed opinion here, about giving information. A lot of people say to only say things that relate to your book, like experience. Or to only put in if you’ve been published before. But I’ll leave that up to you to decide!). ILLUSION is currently a finalist for their Royal Palm Literary Award (winners to be announced in October) (Congratulations!!!).

Closing Thoughts:

Wow! This sounds like such a cool fantasy! I’ve never read anything like it before. Love how creativity is a stake. I can’t imagine that this would have a hard time selling! I think the main thing you need to focus on with your letter is the world building. There are parts that are a little confusing. Since your query in total comes to 219 words, and the sweet spot is 250-300, you could stand to add a little more information. Other than that, I didn’t notice much else. Good luck! This is a story I would love to read.

Vlog #19: Don't Settle: Querying

Put the "Pro" in PROcrastinate

I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year. In fact, I'm planning on writing the entirety of SECOND-HAND SCAVENGER in November. Only one problem.
I'm a plotter. 
Okay, maybe two problems.
One: I'm a plotter.
Two: I haven't plotted anything.
This issue is in part due to laziness, but also procrastination, plain and simple. I suffer terribly from a lack of butt-to-chair syndrome. At least, in the beginning. Once I'm rolling, it takes a lot to pry me away. Like that time I wrote a book in two weeks...
It's just the whole getting started business that laughs in my face.

Are you in the same boat? Do you have an awesome idea, but you can't quite force yourself to work on it?
Sign up for NaNoWriMo. Trust me. Though November seems like light years away--today is the first day of October. Time is of the essence. You and I better get to work!
The race...is on!