Lauralynn Elliott's Blog, page 17

My Ending is Out of Control!

Okay, so I was working on my WIP Thursday night, and I was feeling like a crazy person. For one thing, I’m afraid my WIP is going to be too short, because the ending was coming too fast. I pretty much wrote the climax of my story last night. It needs a denouement, to bring it to a close and to explain a few things. But what is really disturbing me is that I felt kind of out of control while I was writing it. The words were coming and things were going like I wanted…but were those words interesting? Believable? Logical? Or were the words a big jumbled mess of incredible goofiness? I really don’t know! I’m sure my beta readers will tell me, but I like to have something halfway decent before they ever see it.

So here’s what I did. I didn’t write last night. I didn’t even look at my WIP. Because I think it needs to rest a bit before I go back and read that last chapter. I’m not sure what I will find when I do. Will it be the mess I am afraid it is? Or will it be a solid piece of writing? I’ve been told before (by reviewers) that sometimes my endings are too sappy. This one feels almost too much like “the world is saved, all is well, and I have such a warm feeling in my heart”. I kind of like those types of endings. But not everyone does. This is a horror story, after all. So I keep wondering if I should make the ending more angsty. Or maybe make the reader THINK the ending is happy, but then it’s really not. I’ve written the big climax of the horror part of the story. The denouement will wrap up the story, but also have kind of a climax to the romance. (No jokes about the word “climax”, please. You are all English students.) You know, I almost feel like my thoughts here are all over the place, just like my WIP. Anyway, I might go back to it today and see how it looks. Or I might wait until Monday. I just don’t know. I’m almost AFRAID to look at it. Also, I set a deadline for finishing on November 30. I’m afraid I won’t make that if I have to fix this story. We shall see!

ROW80 Update 11/13/13

I don’t update on Wednesdays very often, since I write Thursday-Saturday. I was going to possibly try to write a little on Monday or Tuesday, but this week I have been SICK. I went home from work Monday after only working two hours. I was miserable yesterday, but stuck it out all day. I’m better today, so I’m hoping to be practically well by tomorrow. Because tomorrow is writing day! And I’ve set a deadline to finish my WIP by November 30, so I have to get going.

By the way, I just gotta ask this. Do you find yourself writing a blog post and realize you’ve used a local colloquialism, so you change it to something else because you’re not sure anyone that’s not from your area will have a clue about what it means?

ROW80 Update 11/10/13

I feel really good about my progress last week. My word count goal has been 3,000 words per week, but since I set November 30 as the deadline for finishing my WIP, then I realized I had to write more like 5,000 words. The good news is that this week I wrote 5,777 words! I’m really close to finishing this book, and it’s getting exciting. I just wrote, Saturday, an action scene that I’m pretty pleased with. I’m really liking how this book is ending, but I’m almost afraid I’m going to end it a little too early. I need to flesh out some of the scenes, but that can be done during the editing process. I’m glad I’ve finally gotten excited about this book.

My other goal was to visit several of my fellow ROW80er’s blogs. I visited ten last week. I’m glad I got that goal done, too.

I’m really pleased with the way last week went.

The Book I’m Working On

I don’t think I’ve said a WHOLE lot about the book I’m working on. I don’t like to say too much about my WIPs until they’re released. Anya and I sat down at lunch yesterday and worked on some book cover ideas and book titles. Those are the two things that sell a book to me. Although most people look at the cover first. I always look at the title first, the cover second. If the title is catchy, I look further, but if it doesn’t interest me, I don’t usually even look at the cover. The cover is the second step in determining my interest, though, so it’s very important, too.

I think Anya and I have a general idea of what to do with the cover. I think it’s going to look great. But the title is still elusive. I have an idea, but someone else has a title ALMOST exactly like it. I know a lot of books share the same title, but I try not to duplicate unless the title just calls to me. So that’s where I am, thinking of a cover, trying to come up with a title, and about 8,000 words away from finished.

I still don’t know if this will be considered horror or not. We shall see. There’s murder, an evil spirit, and bad people in this book. And a little romance thrown in for good measure.

Deadlines

Today I was reading THIS blog post by my friend, L.S. Engler. She was talking about a quote concerning deadlines whooshing by. Her post made me start thinking about deadlines and how, as indies, we only have self-imposed deadlines. Although one of my favorite perks of being indie is that I don’t have to answer to anyone about deadlines, it also can cause me to be lazy about them. If I only have to answer to myself, what are the real consequences of not meeting them? Maybe this is part of the reason I haven’t published anything in a year (except a short story in an anthology). Because I don’t HAVE to. I’m not making even a quarter of the money I made when I first started, before this whole indie thing exploded, so THAT motivation isn’t there like it was. As long as I’m answering to only me, will I have the discipline to make myself meet deadlines? Wait…I haven’t even SET deadlines.

Okay, this has got to stop, right? So I went to my trusty Google calendar and I entered November 30 as the deadline for finishing my WIP. That gives me about 17 days to finish. I’m already about 80% done (see my nifty little word count widget over to the right), so that should NOT be a problem. This will make me have to up my word count per week a bit, but it CAN be done. If I finish by November 30, then I should be able to get it published before Christmas. My beta readers are super fast and they are also great editors and proofreaders. This should be NO PROBLEM. The only obstacle is me. I’m going to start treating this like a real job again with deadlines. And you guys out there need to kick me in the behind if I don’t do this. When I said the only person I have to answer to is myself…well, that should be the most important person!

Thanks, L.S.!

Haunted Lake in Audio!

I’m too excited to post anything else! I’ve finally published my first audio book! Haunted Lake is available at Audible here: Haunted Lake.

Squeeeee! That is all.

ROW80 Update 11/3/13

My goal is to write 3,000 word per week. I did it this week. I wrote 3,875 on my current WIP. It’s getting really complicated and twisty, but I think I’ve got it under control. I think I’m just within a few chapters of finishing this thing, so I’m really hoping I’ll have a release before Christmas. It’s going to depend on beta readers.

My other goal is to visit several of my fellow ROW80ers each week. If any of you saw my apology post recently, you’ll know I’ve been very neglectful of that lately. I don’t know when I’ll get those visits done because I have a full day tomorrow after church. We’re going to a baby shower and to visit our son and his wife, and we’re going to church with them tomorrow night. They live about an hour away, so it will be kind of late when I get back. But I’m going to try to pop in on some people’s blogs Monday while I’m at work.

So how are the rest of you doing? Who’s doing NaNo? Not me!

Fall is in the Air

The leaves that I thought would NEVER turn, finally did. It happened in, like, two days. It was so windy last night, and all my windows were open. It seemed like perfect Halloween weather. And I’m feeling a renewed motivation for writing. I want to go into my office, close the door (if I can get the cats in there with me because that’s where their litter box is), and sit down with a cup of hot tea and some snacks, and write, write, write. Maybe iced tea, if it’s too warm in there. But tea. And snacks.

I might run into a small snag because someone might want me to go eat dinner with them. But that’s no excuse. It won’t be all night. And I can stay up late since it’s Friday night. I must write!

Do any of you feel renewed at the change of seasons? What season makes you feel rejuvenated?

Stories for Halloween Anthology

I was invited to participate in an anthology for Halloween, and the proceeds all go to benefit UNICEF. The anthology is only $1.00, and most people would give that much to charity without receiving anything in return. However, in this case, you get stories and excerpts from 13 different authors. My short story, The Third Wish, is the first story in the anthology. Joy Kamen worked very hard to put this together. So if you’re interested, go to the “Joy Kamen” link in the previous sentence (or click on the book cover to the right) and download your copy for a dollar. This is a pdf file, which will disappear after today, just like the ghosts and goblins that visit on Halloween. Today is your last chance!

Happy Halloween!

My Apologies

“What are you apologizing for?”, you might ask. Well, for not visiting more of my ROW80 friends’ blogs. I used to sponsor almost every round in the beginning of ROW80. But Kait has been getting plenty of sponsors lately, so I’ve not been needed. This has caused me to be kind of lax in visiting blogs. Because I don’t HAVE to. And I feel bad about that. The reason I don’t? Mostly it’s a time thing. I have so much going on with my full time job, plus the writing, and the reading, I just run out of time. Really, do I? What about those times I get addicted to a Big Fish game on my computer and can’t stop playing? Or that movie I just HAVE to watch?

Okay, I’m not going to count the time I’ve starting spending on Facebook as a waste. I’m connecting with people there and getting my name out there. I’ve got to do SOMETHING about promoting. I’ve tried ads in various places, and other paid promotions. It seems like interacting with people on FB works better. So that’s taking up a lot of time.

Then there’s the house to clean, the hubby to pay attention to, the friends to spend time with. But no more excuses. I’m going to MAKE the time to visit more ROW80 check in posts. Probably not on Wednesday, but on Sunday. Because we are supposed to encourage each other. Lift each other up. Laugh and cry with each other. So I’m adding blog reading and commenting to my goals. And I ALWAYS respond to comments on MY blog. Always. That’s the courteous thing to do, in my opinion. (If I don’t respond, I’ve somehow missed the comment.)

I can’t visit everyone every week. And there are some blogs that won’t ALLOW me to comment. But I’m going to try my best to visit as many as often as I possibly can. I want to interact with you. And I’m sorry I haven’t been.