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Discord For Writing Sprints

9/26/2018

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While I was waxing poetic about my critique partner yesterday, I mentioned that we learned a new technology to connect with for our sprints. 

After watching my friendly neighborhood teen connect through Discord, I was intrigued by the app for use with writing partners. It could do video, audio, and text chat on both a computer, and a phone app. And the ability to separate convos by chat room made it very appealing to me. 

Skype may do all of these things too, I'm honestly not sure, but I've had so damn many skype calls dropped that I wanted to check into something else. While I and my critique partner stumbled around on the site until we figured out how to make it work for us, here is a video that walks you through the basics quickly.

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Now that I've been using the platform for a couple weeks, I can tell you there are a few things I love about it.

1. Ease of connecting and disconnecting voice chat.

During our writing sprints, my CP and I can pop on and off with a mouse click. We report in on what we did. Decide on a time to start the next sprint and click back off. There's no weird dialing or waiting for someone to answer to connect. We pop on when we're done and we can see if the other person is there with us.

2. Integrated chat and voice. 

We can send each other links, pictures, and although we haven't used the feature yet, we can share our screens. All of this we can do with the audio live. We did video too, but honestly, we're writing at the end of the day, and no one wants to see me sans makeup glaring down at the computer.

3. The ability to shut off social media. 

​I already turned off most notification pushes to help me with my productivity. And this extra step allows me to completely shut down my browser and focus on the task at hand. No more little red numbers telling me there's been activity on my Twitter or Facebook to pull me away from what I'm doing.


I'm not going to jinx what's been an awesome run so far, so I'm saying this knocking on wood, but this has made voice chat as easy as texting for me, and I'm excited about all the different ways I can use this platform in the future. 

Usually I have a Facebook group to do my cheerleading on during NaNoWriMo, but I'm thinking this year, we might also have a Discord server. In fact...I'm gonna go ahead and start one just to see if anyone wants to pop on there. So if you want to give it a try and connect with me come November use this Invite

https://discord.gg/ftZE94x​

I'm super excited about using this platform for connecting with writers and readers. If you're on Discord, do you use it just for gaming? Or are you using it for something else as well? Are there any servers you spend all your time on? Tell me how you use the app.

I'd love to hear all about it.

~Roxy


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Reunited and it feels so good

9/25/2018

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PictureThe book where I bonded with my CP....
I know I've chatted about critique partners in the past, and what I've said about getting to know specifics about your potential partner's schedule and writing habits is still something I think every person needs to address before signing on to devote a significant amount of time on someone else's work.

However, even if you interview a prospect within an inch of their lives, there's something you have to find out that's just not able to be quantified. They have to make you better. They have to make you write. They have to have a connection with you that you can't fake, and you definitely can't force.

My critique partner from my Samhain Publishing days and I recently reconnected on the realization that we both needed to write despite real life kicking us in the ass on a daily basis. We are starting our second week of writing sprints every night during the week, and I'm shocked at the amount of words that have been flying from my fingers just by chatting with her nightly. As a side note, Angela, we are a hundred percent finishing these drafts before NaNo. ;)

And while I've done writing sprints with other people, and worked on stories with others, there is something magical when you connect with the right partner. I'm using the role of sprinting buddy and critique partner interchangeably here, because for me the lines blur.  

More intangible things I implore you to look for in these writing connections....

1. Finding a connection outside of the writing world. 
My CP and I both share some similar real life struggles. And while we definitely chit chat before we jump into writing, we still work. The work ends up being better because we know the other will hold us accountable, but understand when we're not on top of our game.

Chatting with a friend (not just a colleague) on a daily basis goes a long way toward making you show up and practice the all important butt in chair writing that we all need.

2. Brainstorming sparks.
Sometimes people just make your muse stand up and pay attention. There's no real reason or explanation, but there is just something magical when it happens. When I chat with certain folks, the ideas come easier. That's a connection I'm not willing to let go of, no matter what life throws at us.

3. Productivity heightens.
Sometimes I'll get together with a group, and I can't concentrate. I went to a writing boot camp, and although I had a fantastic time, I only got a couple hundred words written. I was inspired to talk more about strategy, marketing, and other items with the folks there. When my CP and I sit down and bring up our WIPs, we write. And the words fly. We race, we keep moving forward, and we're both getting higher word count in less time than ever before.

4. Screwing up in front of them is A-Okay.
I had an idea that we should try out Discord to connect to each other instead of the shiny social media chat options. Only problem with this is neither of us knew how to use it. We spent the first hours going back and forth figuring things out. We're old. It was work. But we looked like idiots for a moment until we asked a 14-year-old for help and got our bearings. Thank goodness for teenagers.

My point is, we laughed about it. We weren't embarrassed. We worked together, and learned something new.

5. Desire to do it all again flares.
The biggest hurdle to a CP relationship is consistency. Lots of writers are prone to letting "creativity" take center stage. They want to only do things when they feel like they're in the zone. Whatever the hell that means. But when you find your connection and the stars line up, there is something in your body that pulls you toward your computer and work time with your CP.


​Now you might be asking yourself..."That's all well and good, Roxy. But how the everloving fuck do I find that type of connection?"

You put yourself out there again and again and again. I've worked with quite a few different people, and we're all busy. When a professional relationship isn't working we go our separate ways. There are plenty of women I respect, and who I've read for or who have read for me. Many of those relationships didn't go beyond one manuscript. Why? Because we didn't have the connection. It's a bummer, but it's reality. And those women and I still chat. We still promote each other's projects, and we will still go out to the bars together given the opportunity. That's part of being an adult. And a part of this business. 

Of all the things I've learned as I come up on my authorversary next month, I think being a true adult has been the biggest lesson. No editor, (at least no good one), is going to shit all over your career if you decide to go with another editor for a different project. No agent is going to blacklist you if you decide to part with their representation. Not all working relationships pan out, and this business is about working your way toward finding your tribe and who brings out the best in you.

Sometimes relationships end or go on hiatus for no fault of the parties involved. Sickness, moving, life changes, lots of stuff can throw us off track. But when you've got a CP like mine, you find your way back. Because magic happens when you get together. 

I hope all of you find your magic squad. I'm so stoked to be finding my way back to mine.

~Roxy

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Do Something Scary

9/15/2018

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I don't know about you, but I've been seeing Halloween stuff all over the place and I couldn't be more freaking excited. I'm not in a financial place to buy any and everything I want, but come Halloween time, you best believe I'll have a new costume for the year, some new dramatic makeup to play with, and something fun and spooky for the house. My dog already has two costumes and she will have a third this year.

With all the different craft stores and department stores packing their shelves with "scary" decor, I've realized two things. First, I'd rock ninety percent of this shit as my everyday home decor. Like, as in, I still haven't decorated my office, and I'm damn tempted to make it Halloween themed. Then I could have my decorations up year round without people looking at me weird. Well, they'd still look at me weird, but I'd at least have a happy place to write.

The second thing I've realized is that I don't do enough things that scare me. One of my favorite quotes is from Eleanor Roosevelt. "Do one thing everyday that scares you." 
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And in my everyday life I've been working so damn hard to find my routine and feel comfortable and get all the things on my To Do lists done, that I've forgotten how wonderful it is to do something scary. 

​No, it doesn't always pan out the way I'd like, but not trying at all is way way worse. There are so many things that are scary. Having a heart-to-heart with someone when a tough conversation needs to happen...plunking down cash on supplies for a project you don't know if you'll sell...putting out a new format...or even opening that edits document that has been sitting on your computer for the better part of a year, and oh my god, has it really been that long?!?!?

I read a book a while back called "Eat That Frog" (which now that I look has multiple newer additions, so I might grab that. Damn you, Amazon!) 

Anyway, in the book the main premise is that you should do the thing you're dreading the most, first. So whatever is on your To Do list that makes you want to cover it up and put it off to tomorrow, that's the thing you should start with. Because, according to the author, if you have to "eat a frog", after that everything else will seem easy. Obviously this author is not a fan of frog legs, but you get the idea.

I've been noticing my book work keeps getting shoved down on my list because I've been out of the game so long, I've built it up in my head to a huge task. Because it's been so long, unless I am exceptionally productive for hours upon hours, it's not good enough. 

Remember yesterday's post, where I realized I need to start calling myself on my bullshit? Yup. This falls right in line.

I can't edit a blank page. I can't fix a document while hiding from the edit letter. And I can't get a publishing deal if I don't query. 

This whole author gig is hard, but perhaps the biggest challenge is crafting a career and how you want it to look. Do I want to query? Or do I want to self-publish? Or do I want to try KU? (Hint, I don't. But I know lots of people who do very well with the platform, so power to you!)

You get the point. Sometimes the hardest thing is picking a direction in which to take the first step. I'm off to do something that terrifies me. I'm going to plot out the rest of a story I'm working on. Not a huge uber detailed plot. Just a direction. My main goal for today? Make it to the writing. Because this story has me so damn excited.

Plotting terrifies this pantser. So that's what I'm heading toward next. What are you going to do that scares you today? Let's turn some dreams into plans and take baby steps together. We've totally got this.

​~Roxy

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Rescheduled

9/14/2018

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I've been binge listening to a podcast recommended to me called "UnF*ck Your Brain". With multiple episodes under my belt, I've thoroughly enjoyed a different view point from others I've encountered. And despite the fact that I don't agree with everything the coach is preaching, all of it makes me think.

And I have a feeling that's why an Instagram story posted by Anne Samoilov hit me right in the brain today. I was letting the IG feed play while I did my chores and she talked about asking ourselves "Why am I rescheduling?" Because unless someone is in the hospital, or a kid is missing, or you're being evicted, or some other literal life and death situation is in the process, most of the time, we "reschedule" for reasons we can totally avoid, correct, or alter.

My last project was "rescheduled" because I didn't "have time". Which, looking back, is complete and utter bullshit. And it's time I start calling myself on it.

Deadlines are only as effective for us as we make them. Looking back a couple years ago, I had a new release, edits, and was prepping for a vacation all in the same week. Was my schedule any different then than it is now? Nope. The only difference was me. That I didn't allow any of it to be rescheduled. Would I recommend working at that pace for more than a short term period of time? Fuck no. That week was exhausting. But I did it. And I felt awesome afterward and enjoyed the shit out of my vacation. Sure I spent a few hours the first couple days working, but I had the time of my life knowing all that shit was done when I wrapped it in a pretty bow and sent the book off to my editor.

I found the time. I didn't reschedule. 

It's time to take a hard look at my calendar and realize I'm worth writing in non-negotiable time blocks for. Because there are a few common lies I tell myself over and over again. It took me 5 minutes to turn those lies around. Some of my lies might sound suspiciously familiar to you...


LIE: I'm not in a creative headspace. What I write/plot/edit wouldn't be good anyway. 

TRUTH:
I'm dragging my feet because I'm in a bad mood. True, it's easier to put this off until tomorrow instead of dealing with my own bullshit now, but I know once I get started, I'll find my way.


LIE:
I'm too tired.

TRUTH:
I'm always tired. The only way to get myself untired is to get moving. Mentally and physically I need to get my ass up and working. All I need to do is turn on some music and talk to myself out loud. The energy will come.


LIE: My kids/spouse/pets/parents interrupted me during my scheduled time. It's all over and I should just give up for the day because I'm out of time.

TRUTH:
Reworking my schedule isn't ideal, and makes me feel off kilter, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. My top 3 things need to get accomplished, and the rest can wait. My time is important.



What about you? Where are you penciled in on your calendar? What time is yours? And how are you fighting to make sure there is no rescheduling? 

Not to sound too much like L'Oreal commercial, but you're totally worth it.

Just some food for thought on a busy day. I'm off to work on a book plot, and a schedule revamp. What are you going to change today?

​~Roxy

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Current Book PlayList

9/5/2018

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I've never been the one to curate a playlist for a book or series, but sometimes, songs pop up and I listen to those bad boys on repeat for days until a book starts to pour out.

For any of you who were around for my Hybrids, you know Shelly's song was "Crazy Bitch" by Buckcherry. But that was the closest thing I ever had to inspiration music.

This new world I'm working on has hit me hard and for the first time a playlist has started forming itself. So I though I'd share. I don't listen to the censored versions of songs either, so if you're not one for curse words, this isn't going to be your jam. Although if you're not into curse words, I can guarantee, my books aren't for you either. LOL!

For my writer friends who might be looking for songs to feed your muse, take a listen. And for any of my readers out there, see if you can guess the themes you might be seeing in the future.


The last song here, "Honestly" by Gabbie Hanna is the one that started it all. The beat and the emotion combine for something that I can't get out of my head.

What are you listening to on repeat right now? I'd love to hear it!

~Roxy

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Why I can no longer call myself a pantser...

9/2/2018

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That's it, you guys. I have to confess something. I've cheated on my pantser brethren. Yesterday, I finished up my first ever plot.

I know. I'll give you a few moments. Anyone who has been with me for the long term knows the vast majority of my plot lines are developed on the fly. My characters tell me the story and I go with it. They yelled so loud at points that I practically needed ear plugs to shut off the storylines. 

Which was awesome. It was. But then when writer's block came knocking, I wasn't prepared for it. I could start. No problem. Because there's something exciting and inspiring for me about a blank page no matter what my brain is going through. But when I'd get to that first beat where stuff would need to go wrong...all that inspiration and character driven story line was just gone.

Call it writer's block, or just a general muting of the HEA's in my mind because of the way the world is, whatever caused it, I was completely unable to finish a story. As in...there are at least 3 manuscripts over 50k on my computer right now that need an end. I had to put them aside.

Last month I decided I needed to get myself excited about something again. So I looked back and tried to remember the last time (sales or not) I had fun. It was when I worked on my April Fools For Love collection. (All the books are still available if you need a smile too.)

We wrote books that were funny, and had all kinds of pranks and misdirection surrounding April Fools Day. Every damn book I read by the talented people I worked with made me smile. So we're doing it again. (Look for an expanded collection in 2020, folks. *shameless plug*)

But all of that happy brings me back around to my very real fear of not being able to get to the end of a book. So I decided I'd give myself a month to plot out a novella-length story. My due date was yesterday, so of course I was still working on it yesterday. That's exactly why I need deadlines.

I had some basic notes and a premise for the story, but I didn't have a big moment or an ending. Which...are kind of important. 

This pantser then got on her ice-dancing Bambi baby legs, and skated around the internet to figure out what plotting meant to her. Her is me, by the way. I need to stop talking in third person. It's weird. But this moment was so epic for me that the drama kind of called for it.

So right now you're probably saying, "Get to it, Roxy. How did you plot?"

Alright, alright. Geez. I needed to set the scene, okay?

I made an excel spreadsheet. Because spreadsheets are awesome. I made 7 columns, after a little fiddling and adding some when I found I needed them. And I filled out the form.

The 7 pieces of information I gathered were...

1. Scene Number. 
This is just your basic 1,2,3...etc to show me the order, and when I need to be at the halfway point word count wise.

2. Characters.
Who is in each scene? And if I have a few characters that come into play later, I altered earlier scenes so they didn't pop up out of nowhere. This also let me tally how many players I was putting in this thing. With a novella, I need to keep the team slim.

3. Main Event.
This was a one sentence fragment description of what the scene was really about. Each scene has something important that happens, and this way, I'd know what the end goal was.

4. Setting.
Where is everyone for this scene? What place will they be interacting inside of? Just like the characters, I wanted to keep the settings to as few places as possible. That way I have familiarity and I don't have to spend as many words placing people in the world. 

5. POV (Point of View).
This was one of the columns that got added in, and became important when I was looking at how the story was progressing. I didn't want to spend five scenes with my hero and then bump over to my heroine for a single scene before bopping back to my hero again. So I put the name of whose point of view the scene would take place in.

6. Timeline.
Because the book I was plotting had a specific holiday it needed to take place around, the timeline was extra important, and I put the specific date (MM/DD) in for each scene. It let me figure out where the bulk of the action needed to take place, and gave me some scope of how long ago important events happened. 

7. Why it Matters.
This was one of the first things I wrote down along with the Main Event column. Because there is no point in having a scene if it doesn't add something to the story. If the Main Event is filler, or just gets a character from point A to point B, it's not worth writing down. I know I need this book to be a novella, and extraneous scenes have to get the ax. If I can see that something isn't worth having in, it gets cut.

So even before I had everything down in note form, I started filling in what I did have into my handy dandy spreadsheet. And the end practically wrote itself. You could have knocked this pantser over with a feather. 

My other worry about plotting was that I'd never want to write the story if I already knew what happened. But I was more excited than ever to get started, and had to force my feet to carry me away to get the chores done I'd been putting off all morning. And I think that was all because I didn't do what everyone else told me to. I didn't have an epic ten page synopsis detailing every scene. I didn't have a beats page lined up that broke each section down into the standardized beats of a story. Nope. I had my little old spreadsheet. 

And while I thought it might be interesting for some people to see how I broke my story down, I'm not at all saying you should totally do this my way. I'm saying explore what's out there, and explore how other people work. Try some things out. If they don't work, it's not because you failed, it's because you haven't found the right fit yet. 

I think I found my plotting glass slipper, and I'm about to rock that bitch on a killer night out. 

Or I'm heading into work and already thinking about the next book on my list to plug into my new template. 

Either way, I hope you find something that works well for you. Or just ride the pantser wave. I'll be writing this story, and another, since they are both novellas during NaNoWriMo this year. So make sure you add me as a buddy. I'm over there as Roxy Mews. Just look for the purple hair. Let's see together what happens in November when a pantser plots.

~Roxy

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PloTember #NaNoWriMo

9/1/2018

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I have been told in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) circles, that October is called "Preptober", but I'm too excited about the projects I'm working on this year, and I want to get started now.

I scoured the internet...okay...I typed a few things into google and gave up. But I couldn't find if there were any official terms for September in the NaNoverse, so I'm dubbing my September as "Plotember". This pantser right here has been struggling with plotting and I'm going to change that this year. My goal is to have a basic, really really basic, outline of the major plot points, scenes, and the ending, along with the theme of the book done ahead of time.

Okay, soooooo my goal is to have it done today. Yeah. I'm on deadline. What better reason to be online typing up a blog post, am I right? 

I am working on a story that needs to tap out at the 30k words range, but I know myself and I want to "win" NaNo. So during my Plotember I'm not only going to fiddle with the plot I WILL finish up today, but also work out another story plot to keep me busy after I hit my first "The End" of the month.

And because I always seem to do better when I pile more things on my plate, I thought I'd add in an IG photo challenge. 
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You can find info about NaNoWriMo's challenge on their blog (blog.nanowrimo.org) or just follow their instagram @NaNoWriMo. 

I'm following along and playing too, because I want something to keep my eye on the prize this year.

Are you already thinking about NaNoWriMo? Or are you cursing me reminding you how close this challenge and the holidays are?

I'm personally getting excited for Halloween and the pop up costume stores that have already started sneaking into my town, that may or may not have a feature in my project.

If you're playing along with NaNoWriMo's photo challenge, let me know so I can follow you. And if you want to follow me on Instagram, just search for @RoxyMews. I'll be (attempting to) post pictures all month. First challenge is a selfie. Anyone who follows me knows I've got that one in the bag. 

Let's get ready to kick Plotember's ass, and be ahead of schedule for Preptober. First things first...I need to log off and figure out how my story ends!

~Roxy

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