Monday, August 17, 2015

Ready. Set. WRITE! Week 11


Ready. Set. WRITE! is a summer writing intensive that encourages goal-setting and accountability, and provides an opportunity for us to cheer each other on wherever we’re at with our writing projects—planning, drafting, revising, or polishing.  This year, your RSW hosts are Alison MillerJaime MorrowErin FunkElodie Nowodazkij, and Katy Upperman.

How I did on last week's goals: I wrote 4,100 words, which helped me cross the 50K mark! That means I have less than 10K to go before I hit my RSW goal of adding 60,000 words to my draft. I've started using the goal-setting site MyWriteClub to track my goal (it gives you one of those percentage bars like the GoodReads challenge, which means endless obsessing on my part).  

I also finished both WE SHOULD HANG OUT SOMETIME by Josh Sundquist and KISSING IN AMERICA by Margo Rabb.

My goals for this week: Another 4K. Sticking with what works. I also started reading BEAUTY QUEENS by Libba Bray over the weekend (beauty queens crash on a mysterious island, part LOST, part Lord of the Flies with tons of feminist critique!) so I'd like to finish it this week. 
Over the past month I've sort of unofficially given up my secondary RSW goal of revising 2 stories and submitting them to 5 literary magazines each. When I set my goals, I underestimated how obsessed I'd be with writing my current manuscript. And submitting stories to lit mags takes almost as much effort as full-out querying, so I think I need to set that aside and focus on it later. One I finish my draft and am sick of writing, I'll revise/submit.  

A favorite line from my story OR one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: My narrator's best friend has just been elected next year's show choir captain by her peers and "suffers" through some honorary hazing at a party.
“They made me stand on the roof of the toolshed and sing Legally Blonde: The Musical,” she told me once we were back inside.   
I burst out laughing. “So nothing you couldn’t handle?”
“Yeah, but I wish I’d been a little more intoxicated first.” 

Biggest challenge this week: I wrote a tricky argument/disagreement between my best friend characters, and I spent a lot of time staring at my screen, trying to work it all out in my head first. (This is why I rarely write around other people, especially non-writers. I probably look like a space case half the time.) 

Something I love about my WiP: I figured out a new layer of my protagonist. She's very distrustful of her friend's fiancĂ©, and I FINALLY know why. It's been an issue since (literally) page one, and I worried it made her unlikeable. I even got annoyed with her sometimes, but now I understand her.
RSW is coming to a close soon (*tears*)...how's everyone doing with their goals?

8 comments:

  1. Oh sigh, if only I'd known about the RSW challenge earlier, I'd have taken it. It sounds worth it. Love that excerpt!

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    1. It's been a great motivator! Usually the hosts do a similar accountability challenge in the winter, too, so keep your eye out for the next one! :)

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  2. Screen staring? I know nothing about this. :) And I LOVED Beauty Queens! Hope you enjoy it as well. Have a great week!

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    1. I'm LOVING it so far! It took me a few chapters to get used to the satirical style, but now that I'm in that mindset...it's GOLD! So clever. :D

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  3. Don't you love when you figure out that thing that's been bothering you! Let us know how you like BEAUTY QUEENS when you finish it. It's been on our TBR piles forever. Good luck with your goals this week.

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    1. I'll definitely post a review once I finish. Loving it so far!

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  4. Figuring out those character layers is one of the most rewarding parts of writing, I think. It makes you feel that much more invested in the story. So glad to hear something clicked to make you understand your mc better. Love the excerpt! I can just picture it. Congrats on passing the 50k mark and good luck getting in that final 10k to reach your summer goal!

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    1. Thanks Erin! It's exciting when those pieces finally start coming together. I took the pantser approach for this draft, so I hadn't worked out much of the character motivations when I started. Hope you have a great week too!

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