Eliza David's Blog, page 20
April 5, 2016
The NaNo Diaries: Day Five – Attack of the Subplots!
April 1, 2016
The NaNo Diaries: Day One – The New Girl
March 26, 2016
The NaNo Diaries: The Only Writing Prep You Need & Three Ways to Get It
It’s the final week before Camp NaNoWriMo begins on April 1st.
Only one question remains…
No? TOO BAD. It’s coming…but what if…
What if you don’t have a completed outline? Or your main character still doesn’t have a name? Or you haven’t decided on a word count? Or the geniuses behind the Camp NaNo site set you up in a cabin and you hate your mates? Or maybe YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL TO WRITE ABOUT FOR THE NEXT THIRTY DAYS? (This is a worst case scenario, natch.)
Don’t panic – Mama’s here to tell you the one thing you absolutely, positively, no doubt need to kick shit off the right way come Friday morning. One thing. Uno.
The will to write.
That’s it. Just get your butt in the seat each and every day during the month of April. Now I won’t wax poetically with a slew of ‘you can do it!’ inspirational messages. I’m a Planner so allow me to help you ‘plan what you can’ during these final days before NaNo Madness:
Schedule It: Commit yourself to a minimum of thirty minutes daily to pound the keys.
Sprint It: A Pantser by nature? No schedule? No problem. NaNoWriMo has an awesome Twitter account that holds sprints daily during NaNo events. Be sure to follow them and turn on your notifications so you’ll know when a sprint is on the horizon.
Say It: Self-accountability is essential during a writing challenge. Tell your parents, sig other, spouse, children, or anyone who is willing to hold your ass to the fire regarding your literary plans and make sure they keep you on task to do this thing.
Also, enjoy these final days of sanity: read that book, go for a walk, hug your family…because your world is about to be up-ended. People may hate you by the time this is over, but you’ll have produced words and that’s all that matters. Make up with your disgruntled loved ones in May – you know, before you become an insufferable asshole during the revision stage.
Share your last-minute prep advice for Camp NaNo in the comments below!
(c) Eliza David – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
March 24, 2016
NEW BLOG POST: Real Moms – Little Girl Glow
March 16, 2016
The NaNo Diaries: Three Creative Ways to Build Conflict
I know that I said last week that I would talk about plot mechanics this week in preparation for Camp NaNoWriMo in April, but I had a conversation with a fellow indie writer that sparked a different topic. The debate circled around one central question: How do you establish conflict?
Because – as you know, talented writer friend of mine – without conflict, you have no plot. So it’s probably fitting that I postpone our talk about the latter until we discuss the former. This is an especially important topic for me as a romance writer; you can only scribe so many hot sex scenes before something goes wrong.
Because something ALWAYS goes wrong when two characters start bumping uglies.
Hot sex withstanding, most fictional genres require conflict but how does one find it? Here are three sources I’ve used to inspire black moments in the seven novels I’ve written:
1) Personal Experience – It can be a scary moment for a writer to take a real-life negative memory and shape it into their writing. When I did this in a dialogue between Zoe and Stacey in BrewGirl, I second-guessed myself as I wrote it. My biggest worry was whether the readers who knew me personally (or, worse yet, may even be the inspiration behind it) will catch the reference. But in the end I thought, What the hell? So what if they do? Creating conflict based on your own life’s experiences – good or bad – can be cathartic and serve as a method of release. Besides…
TELL ‘EM, ANNE! (P.S. Read ‘Bird by Bird’ if you haven’t already, fellow writers.)
2) Observing Strangers – I am a nosy bitch, I own that. Growing up in Chicago provided me with ample opportunities to watch a diverse group of people be people. Now that I live in quiet (and not as diverse) Iowa, I miss having a myriad of unsuspecting individuals to gaze at as they go about life’s business. It sounds psychotic but I think every author has a little cray cray in them – which can be helpful when on the hunt for hurt feelings to use in your writing.
The next time you’re out and about, take a gander at the people around you. What do you see? A child having a tantrum with a stressed out parent. A woman gazing through an expensive boutique’s storefront window with a sorrowful expression. A disenfranchised man sitting on a park bench, covered in the grime of the city. Think about the stories behind these strangers. Use that as creative fuel and grow your conflict from it.
3) Favorite Books, Movies, and TV Shows – NOTE: In no way am I advocating plagiarism with this final tip. But if we’re honest with ourselves, artists certainly…borrow from other artists frequently. Nothing is ever truly original, especially when it comes to sources of conflict.
Example: Sex and the City is one of my favorite television shows of all-time. The romantic relationships in both the show and the book it was based on (also a fave of mine) inspired many of the entanglements I made CeeCee and Jay struggle with in the Cougarette Series: a botched engagement, cheating, pregnancy scares. Nothing about those situations is unique to the show or to my books; what makes it unique is the twist. Conflict is pliable in the hands of the artist. You can take a run-of-the-mill idea (wife cheats on husband) and turn it into a Battle Royale (wife cheats on husband with son’s history professor, who happens to married to the president of the PTA – scandalous!).
What other ways do you find conflict? Share them in the comments below.
(c) Eliza David – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
March 7, 2016
NEW BLOG POST: Real Moms – Comic Books and Cheat Codes
March 3, 2016
My First Workout in Thirty Days
You may have noticed from a previous post on my annoyingly sweet mommy blog that I turned 37 last month. As per tradition, I took my entire birthday month off from being an adult. Sure, I still performed basic functions to insure that my marriage, parental custody, and salary remained intact.
But everything else? Nope. Nada. Nothing doing.
I even have a cute name for the occasion: Fuck Effort February. This means fuck vegetables, exercise, alcohol intake maximums, and leisure spending limits. I went to wine tastings, spent hundreds of dollars on Amazon, in Sephora, and local bookstores, woke up to read Jackie Collins instead of to move my ass, and ended my month of laziness with a girls’ trip to Kansas City – a trip which resulted in pictures and videos that will never see the light of day.
In short, it was a glorious 29 days of Black History (Yay Leap Year!).
But then…it happened. March.
Come the first of the month, my unhealthy chickens came home to roost. I’d been living the life of a frat boy for four weeks, consuming copious amounts of wine, beer, and gin. Over the month, I had eaten five Angus cheeseburgers and an endless amount of fries. I don’t think there was a crumb of Red Velvet Anything left in the state of Iowa once I was done stuffing my face with cheesecake and cupcakes.
And being in my late thirties, it hit me HARD.
Example: I usually end my birthday month with a glass of wine to commemorate all the debauchery I participated in. But this year, it took me two whole days to recover from my massive Kansas City hangover so the last thing I wanted was alcohol. I toasted my husband’s beer with a tumbler of water – ice cold sparkling water.
Since it took me a while to get into the groove of March, I waited until the third to work out for the first time since January. I also decided to live-blog it in case I died (which, in all inevitability, was highly possible).
What you are about to read is an official timestamped recollection of my first 5:25 am (yes, AM!) Jazzercise workout, post-Fuck Effort February. I kept my phone nearby and recorded the following on my Notes app. Except for grammatical errors Voice Diction made (I kept a few because they made me LOL) & a name retraction, there have been NO additional edits.
(Trigger Warnings: Contains mentions of feces, nausea, and humiliation)
5:13 – Parked at Jazz and I’m the second one here. Instructor hasn’t even pulled up yet. Winning! Glad I got up.
5:22 – Checked in and placed myself in the second row. Not too close but not in the back where I can slack off.
5:24 – Class starts in one minute. Didn’t know [NAME REDACTED] was an instructor now. She has a nice butt. I hope I didn’t say that too loudly. Shit.
5:36 – Okay, so I started sweating after the warmup song. Yeezus Christ. This ain’t good.
5:41 – I so war the wrong bra today and the next song is Take Me Higher. It’s a lot of fucking jumping. I’m Ghana burn my nips off in this flimsy ass bra.
5:49 – I can taste every drink I’ve had in February. And I felt a gurgle below. Man listen.
5:56 – It’s official. I have to poop but I don’t want to peel off these pants. Sweat wicking fabric my ass.
6:02 – Time for strength. Thank God! Poop’s settled back for a bit so I think I’m good. I was lifting tens before so I’ll go down a pound.
6:14 – If I do one more squat, I’m gonna shit on this floor. And I put the nines away and got a pair of sixes mid song. I’m a mess. Never again.
6:20 – Cooldown. Finally. Still gotta number two but John mayor and I will get through this last song together, shit stain free.
6:32 – In my car exhausted. I’m convinced that fuck effort February has to be dialed back a bit. I’m not 25 anymore. Maybe I’ll call it decrease effort February. I’ll think about it while I’m dying in the shower when I get home.
(c) Eliza David – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
March 1, 2016
The NaNo Diaries: Planners vs. Pantsers – Who You Wit’?
So, it’s officially March and Camp NaNoWriMo begins in a month. Based on our discussion last week, you’ve wholeheartedly decided to jump in and take the fireside leap with me into this April writing challenge. Hush. Yes, you did.
YAY! YOU’RE CRAZY! HI FELLOW CRAZY WRITER PERSON!
That said, you have about thirty days to decide your story, develop your characters, and get the last of your leisure reading out before you fully devote yourself to the task…or do you?
Because in the world of NaNo, you are either a Planner or a Pantser.
Either one you choose to be on this journey is up to you. Some writers who are Planners during the November event look forward to forgoing plot structure during Camp NaNo and become Pantsers (I mean, it is camp, after all. Plot, Schmot!).
Others may be tackling an intense rewrite and need all of the focus (read: psychosis) being a Planner involves.
Or, maybe you are a hardcore Planner or Pantser, no matter what month of the year it is.
Since I’ll be chronicling my Camp NaNo journey, clearly I am Team Planner. My topic for next week (building plot sequence) may be of particular interest to you, regardless of your chosen method.
Also, I encourage writers to buddy up with someone with a different method. One of my writer buddies is a notorious Pantser. She simply sits at the computer on Day One of any writing challenge and….like, types with abandon. Writing with her is intriguing because she’s taught me how to let go of the literary blueprint in my head and allow my imagination to float – if only for a moment. Likewise, when it’s time to edit, she seeks counsel from me – a slightly neurotic Planner – on how to best pull together her first draft into a cohesive narrative.
So Planners and Pantsers UNITE and let’s get through Camp NaNo together. Creativity strikes best when collective minds come together!
(c) Eliza David – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
February 24, 2016
The NaNo Diaries: Camp NaNoWriMo is Coming!
Writers. We’re an interesting bunch. Whether it’s blogging, books, or a lethal combination of both, we tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves to deliver content and characters.
Then NaNoWriMo rears its word-stalking head and we’re all like…
AND WITH GOOD REASON, BOOKGEEK/POP SINGER JESSIE SPANO!
The November challenge of NaNo charges you with the task of producing 50,000 words in 30 days. It’s exhilarating and insane simultaneously. It makes you scream with glee and cry with fear. It makes Thanksgiving a darker hell than it already is because all your family want to do is eat and talk. Meanwhile, all you want to do during the last week of the competition is go back to the couch and hit your word count goal before Uncle Frank unzips his pants and falls asleep there. GAH! (Silver Lining: His fat belly can serve as a surface for your laptop. Ergonomics!)
I know how crazy this time of year can be – I wrote The Cougarette and BrewGirl during NaNo 2014 and 2015 respectively. It’s akin to the emotion of giving birth: you don’t remember the pain in detail but you know it existed…yet, like a Duggar wife, you go back for more (book) babies.
Or you don’t, because ZOMG – NaNo sucks the life out of you.
November – when the art of addition takes on a different meaning.
It’s a scary fun time. But fear not, lovelies…Camp NaNoWriMo is coming – the alternative to utter craziness.
Some benefits of Camp NaNo over the standard November Nonsense:
The first round of camp is during the warmer month of April. Springtime. You can take your laptop outdoors (unless you live in the unpredictable weather of the Midwest like me – bring a down coat and flipflops.).
No universal word count goal. That’s write (see what I did there?). You set your goal. Whether it’s 10K words or 500K words (if you are the latter: Duuuude.), you set your own pace for writing greatness.
Customization – my personal favorite benefit. Do you want to kickstart a first draft? Rewrite a second draft? Set a blog post challenge? Edit an existing work? You can accomplish any and all of that during Camp NaNo.
So, where do you start? Hell, do you even want to start? And it’s barely the end of February – why are we talking about April now?
Well, much like the November event, prep is best. To help us both get revving for this journey (because, reluctant writer, I am officially recruiting you. Ain’t I a doll? ), I’ll be blogging my NaNo Diaries with fun tips and best practices to get ready for camp and beyond. We’ll talk about catching plot bunnies, story structure, character development, and how to get through Camp NaNo without stabbing someone. And be forewarned – I’ll be looking to you to fill up the comments section with ideas that work for you and your writing.
So where to start, you ask? Visit the Camp NaNo site and set up your profile. Easy enough, am I right? And don’t worry – we’ll help navigate each other on our literary missions this spring. Pack a notebook and a sleeping bag. I’ll bring S’Mores and toilet paper.
February 20, 2016
HAPPY RELEASE DAY: BrewGirl is HERE!
BrewGirl is finally here! BRAD PITT HAPPY DANCE TIME!
Thanks to all of you that preordered like good boys and girls. You actually clicked the link and spent money on a book, sight unseen – God love ya! You must really think I know what I’m doing. (SPOILER ALERT: I truly don’t, but thanks for the support.)
Also, a special shoutout to all of my social media peeps that reposted and retweeted all of my shameless sales pitches. Being an indie writer is not a job one does alone so for all of you who even commented on a post or a blog entry, THANK YOU! It feels cray cray to have Zoe Taylor out in the open after hiding in my brain for months, so I’m glad the bitch is free. She’s your problem now, dear reader. (And trust me – girlie’s a handful!)
Starting at 12pm ET/11am CT today (February 20th), my good friends at Double Trouble Book Promotions will be hosting the BrewGirl Release Party. Some of my fave indie author buddies (Phoenix Williams, Winter Travers, SC Daiko, Kaden Matthews, and MORE!) will be in the building, so be sure to RSVP and join us at this link to qualify to win all types of freebies!
One of my favorite parts of my writing process is vibing out to music that fits the theme of the narrative. BrewGirl is a sexy read, for sure…but the story is also about family, choices, and that tricky thing called trust. The tunes on my inspired playlist (which you can follow via your Spotify account HERE) include what I think embodies the passion and the funk of the novel. From Zoe’s favorite artists (Parliament and The Roots) to the rocker who screams sex much like Nick Webster (the oh so FINE Lenny Kravitz), you’ll find a little bit of everything on this soundtrack!
Again, I cannot thank you – the readers – enough for your support! Whether this is your first time reading my scribbles or you’ve devoured the Cougarette Series, you hold a dear place in my heart. I really hope you enjoy reading BrewGirl as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Happy Reading (and Happy Release Day to me!)
(c) Eliza David – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
