Alisa M. Libby's Blog, page 22

pre-revision jitters

Now that the holidaying is winding down (though you wouldn't know it from the amount of cookies/chex mix/chocolates in our kitchen) I have my time off, dedicated to revising my Nano novel.

So why, you may ask, am I bit jittery, a bit twitchy? Aside from being the likely symptoms of a sugar overdose, I think there is another culprit: pre-revision jitters. I've got this book – or at least the semblance of a book, lots of words on lots of pages – and I have some ideas of what to add and remove...

Best. Gifts. Ever.

It's the holiday season for many of us. More high-minded values aside, let's face it, we're all thinking about gifts. If you have a childhood memory of that Christmas/Channukkah/Birthday gift that just rocked the house down, count yourself among the lucky ones. Here are some of the best gifts I received as a kid. No offense to anyone who gave me an awesome present that didn't make the list – the following gifts were chosen by my Dad. He had his finger on the pulse of what my dorkitude...

red pen, song musings, links

I've been reading my Nano book on my morning commute, covering the pages with little (and numerous) scribbles in red pen. It's sort of exciting. I just hope I can keep the excitement up throughout revision after the holidays are over. Must create a soundtrack for this book! If you have any suggestions – something dark, moody, rockish – I'm all ears. So far I'm thinking of Yoav's "Wake Up". I'll let you know what else I come up with.

Here are some links I've been meaning to share:

Blog review...

new idea pick-up lines

I'm looking forward to my time off with excitement and a healthy dose of trepidation. I've chosen a (very rough) first draft to read and revise.

Now that I'm looking down the long, dark tunnel of revision I'm realizing just how liberating and enjoyable it can be to write a first draft. It doesn't matter if a first draft is bad. But with revision, it matters a great deal. Everything takes on importance that didn't exist in my mad rush to get words on paper: structure, voice, character...

WWHGD?

So winter break is fast approaching, and I've got some time off scheduled right after it in early January. All told its three tidy weeks, the latter part of which should be spent writing. So what do I generally do when faced with this glorious bit of time? I over-extend and create an inhumane to-do list. Then when the time comes I quickly lose steam, get frustrated with my lack of productivity and get little done, frustrated by my own lack of focus.

I was pondering what I should do to combat...

winter wonder

I don't know about where you live, but winter has officially arrived in my little city of Boston. There is snow on the still-green Simmons campus and everyone is cozily scarved and capped and mittened. To get you in the mood for winter – reading a book beneath a blanket, sipping hot cocoa with marshmallows, you know all that good stuff and ignoring all of the bad parts – here is a beautiful painting by Dutch artist Hendrick Avercamp.

more books

Oh, gluttony! Tomorrow I'm picking up two vampire books from our branch library: Sunshine by Robin McKinley and Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block (more ILL requests). The fact that I can pick these up at my little branch library AND that these two fantastic authors have written YA vampire novels makes me supremely delighted…though overwhelmed with all the books waiting expectantly to be read. 

This morning I finished reading The Broken Citadel. I loved this book with a rare and special book...

library joy

So if you're like me you have a book problem. I'm greedy about books, not only reading them and buying them and taking them out from the library but also just hunting for them and thinking about what else I want to read in a way that many would deem obsessive. Alas, recently I went on an Interlibrary loan binge where I just kept coming across great books I wanted to read and I kept ordering them willy nilly through interlibrary loan and now – WHAM! – they've all arrived at the same time, at...

library love, etc.

I had every intention of picking up a book appropriate for the holiday season (I like seasonal reading, as you've probably noticed) but then I randomly picked up The Broken Citadel by Joyce Ballou Gregorian in the library, and it is wonderful! This is one of many things I love about the library (in addition to free access to information which is important for society): there is a random selection of books that you would never find in a big bookstore. Maybe in a used or independent bookstore...

What I learned from Nanowrimo

I have a lot to learn about writing books. I've written two of them, but that doesn't seem to matter. Each book has its own unique challenges, and learning how to write is an ongoing process. Speaking of which, I've learned a lot from this November writing journey. Some of it new, some of it familiar but easily ignored.

* Write Every Day. I don't usually write every day, but Nanowrimo is an exception. It helped me stay connected to my project and maintained my momentum. Even if you only get...