M.D. Waters's Blog, page 9

2 Examples of Showing vs Telling

Because this subject never gets old…

You can say, “I enter the trashed attic…”

OR:

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I enter the attic that had long been abandoned to time. Sheetrock lay free and broken at the base of frames that used to separate the space into two rooms. A single metal chair sits beside a support beam, the grey legs rusting in the damp air. In the areas where I can see the hardwood, beneath torn-up remains of a mattress, broken toys, and discarded aerosol cans, rests at least an inch of dust. Not a single f...

Misty vs The Universe ~ Part 3

Welcome back, ya’ll!! Bet you’re excited to see the conclusion to my plane drama, yes?

To recap, I’m sitting between stale breath guy and creepy staring guy.

Couldn’t go without showing his face one more time.

Okay. Where was I? Oh.

My flight gets delayed.

One. Hour. That’s how long this delay lasted. On the plane. Between SBG and CSG. At one point, I couldn’t even get an SOS out to Twitter. I was cut off. Sadness.

And what’s CSG doing?

Throwing a hissy tantrum. Slamming his back into the...

Misty vs The Universe ~ Part 2

Welcome back! In cased you missed it, I posted the first part of this story yesterday, so go catch up!

Okay, where were we?

There was this guy:

Then I’m seated next to stale-breath guy in the middle seat of the teeny-tiny coach-class row tweeting my pain to anyone who will listen.

Now, you’re probably dying to know how in the hell the Universe could have made things worse for me? Can’t imagine it? Oh, come on. You’re WRITERS! If you were the Universe playing a practical joke, ha ha it’s so f...

Misty vs The Universe ~ Part 1

So I had quite the interesting weekend. I flew to Indiana so my amazing photog sis could take my jacket photo. (See my about me page!) They’re fabulous!

But that’s not what I want to talk about. GASP!

I know.

Raise your hand if you believe in Karma. *raises hand* Because I clearly did something bad recently. To someone.

I admit nothing.

Friday night at BWI, I’m click-clacking away on my laptop, waiting for my flight, when I look up and see creepylicious guy staring at me. We’re talking ave...

5 Things I Would Tell my Newbie Self

I am, by no means, an “expert” at this writing thing. I continue to make mistakes like it’s my job, and will probably continue to do so—much to the chagrin of my Jedi Agent.

That said, I read certain things on FB or Twitter that make me wince, while resisting the urge to pat their head and say, “I thought that was a good thing once, too.”

So what are these things I’d love to say to the newbie? The same things I would tell myself if I had to do it over again.

NUMBER ONE

Take your introvert s...

*eyes calendar* Wait… What?

It’s April.

Already.

Is it just me, or does the time go by faster as you get older? It’s stressing me out a little, to be honest. I’m facing my first deadline, which is months away, but it’s April already and I’m still not done with Prototype.

I expected to be finished weeks ago, because that’s what I do. I write drafts in a handful of weeks. Never mind that once I get going something new and exciting happens with Archetype. Distractions are everywhere I turn.

I’d like to say I’ll be distra...

Pass of the Pass Pages

You know how you read your manuscript a million times and at some point you’d rather toss it in a fire than read it again?
I reached that point with Archetype a while ago, so I wasn’t really looking forward to the first pass pages. I might have held on to them for roughly three weeks before finally breaking down to read them.
Then I started reading, and it was like seeing the novel in a whole new light. Reading Emma’s story in the new format with the chosen font, etc…was nothing short of awesom...

5 Things You Should Know About Me

I have a The Real Housewives of… addiction. And not just an addiction to one. To all of them. I tell my husband it’s my attempt to shut down my writer’s brain using mindless TV, but that’s a lie. I want to watch the fights, judge their recent plastic surgeries, watch them ugly cry so I can laugh, see what they’re wearing… All of it. Some people are addicted to alcohol and cigarettes, I’m addicted to drama. I will stop everything I’m doing to make all the little red numbers go away on my iPhon...