Michele Venne's Blog, page 13

Time Crunch

Sometimes wishes come true! I wished for more clients, and I got a lot of hours this week! I wished for Holly’s leg to heal, and after ten days, she’s doing really well! I wished for the beta reader to return my manuscript early, and she did! I wished for the narrator I really liked to return my email, and she did! What does this mean when everything comes together at once? A lot of tasks and not...

Source

Chasing Details

Ever had one of those days where something isn’t quite right, you can’t find answers on the Internet or the help page of the thing that’s a little wonky, so you send a message to customer service? And after a couple of days, they get back to you, but want all kinds of details? And you realize you don’t have most of those details? So then you’re back online searching for end arounds?

Source

Ready, Set…

Beginnings and endings roll after each other like waves on the ocean. I worked more on adding details to SG today. I did some research, which usually entails me losing a few hours chasing down specific facts. Names of roads, national forests, hierarchy of command, emblems, how snowmobiles work, etc. Am I satisfied with the story? Not really. I keep thinking of more details to add.

Source

New Release Coming Soon

It has been about ten months since my last fiction book was released. I have a publication date set for July 2023, for this novella. When I’m in the editing stage (where I’m at now), I vacillate between surprise at some really well-written sentences, and annoyance at some not so well-written sentences. Overall, I think The Secret Gift will fit in very well with my other romantic suspense titles.

Source

It’s Often Not What I Think It Is

I just finished typing The Secret Gift. While writing, I’m so immersed in the story that I’m rarely a good judge for what is showing up on the page. My myopic view of the story, one scene or one description or one dialogue conversation at a time, means I rarely have an overall view. If I’m rolling with the momentum, then I write until the story is done. I take no days off, as I’m driven to the...

Source

Rediscovered Joy

When I started writing, I was awed by the feeling of joy at being in the flow as the words spilled easily onto the page. Forty titles later, I can say that each project had its ups and downs. No two were the same. And at times, I didn’t feel the joy that comes with creativity. Being distracted by how things “should” be, what I “should” be concentrating on, what parts of the craft I “needed” to...

Source

Knowing Your Process

How long do we do a thing before we know our process? Running a meeting, training a dog, planting/harvesting a garden, making a pie, writing a book? This isn’t to say that once we know our process, we stop learning or trying something new. But how much “doing” has to happen before the confidence that comes from experience allows us to slip into flow? And once we understand the order of the steps...

Source

A Myopic View

Every artist creates differently. I wonder how many writers feel as if they can’t see the forest for the trees. Maybe that is something that plaques discovery writers more than plotters. For those writers who plot out their story, have notes for each chapter and/or each scene, it makes sense that they see the story from a macro perspective. And since I’m a discovery writer who records what she...

Source

Another Title!

As long as I feel excitement when a title is published, I’ll keep doing it! I started on this in October. It wasn’t on my production list until January. Once I started, I kept going. For me, working on a nonfiction title such as this math workbook allowed me to make progress when so many other tasks didn’t get done. I needed to clean out old papers I had from when I was in the classroom.

Source

Change is One Thing We Can Count On

Sometimes I think I’m from an earlier generation. I started my career in one school district and happily stayed for 21 years. I then was asked to come back and do Homebound. I did and found another place that I loved. It took over 3 years, but that job shifted, changed, and eventually evaporated. I’m blessed and very grateful to have found my next “home” working for my current company. Change isn’...

Source