Skip to main content

Growing as a Writer and an Update

First of all, sorry for no gifs or graphics of any kind. Our wifi is being very sketchy and I'm surprised it's even allowed me to be on Blogger. It won't let me on Google or my email or even my own pictures to pull gifs or anything from there, so I hope you still enjoy this post... even if it doesn't have any gifs or anything in it.

So, it's nearing the end of September and I've barely written anything on this blog! The Teen Wolf season finale was on Sunday night and I was honestly kind of worried that it wouldn't end well, but it surpassed my expectations. It was really amazing and ended perfectly. There were some pretty epic scenes. Some heart-wrenching scenes and plenty of laughs. It was a breath of fresh air compared to the last two seasons that have progressed from dark to pitch black. There will be a Goodbye Teen Wolf post on Friday... it'll be a bit rushed, but I hope it conveys how much Teen Wolf means to me and how much I'll miss it.

A few things have happened since I last wrote on here. First of all, I got a job... I may have written about that already, but it's official now since I'm on my second week. It's major part time, but that's OK with me. I don't think I could handle any more than that in this season of my life. A signed copy of Of Magic and Mayhem will be given away by the middle of October. Check back here tomorrow for the post about the Goodreads giveaway! This is my first ever giveaway, so I am pretty excited. I'm also figuring out a way to give away more e-book copies and have joined a Facebook group of authors and readers for ARCS, so that's exciting.

Ummm... let's see... what else has been going on... I am still writing Silver, but I feel like I'm finally in the middle. Like middle, middle. In the middle of the Big Middle Scene as I call it. So that's exciting. It's so different than how I thought it would be! I've delved so much deeper into the world and culture and religion of the Celests than I thought it would, but it's honestly been a lot of fun. I've never made my own alien race before, so it's exciting. Nanowrimo is in a month and I'm stressing a little, not because of Nanowrimo, but because at the beginning of this year I had really planned for Project Khione to be out by December! And... it just doesn't look like that's going to happen. This year has felt like it's one by way too quickly. I'm still trying to catch my breath. But my plan is to finish Silver by the end/beginning of October and work on Project Khone throughout October and Nanowrimo and then, if it doesn't happen in December, than hopefully publish it by January. My head feels like it's going to explode, thinking that far ahead... Plus Project Khione has been so difficult! I mean, for real difficult. When I wrote Weapon Icean, I had a whole, giant series planned. Now I feel like I might just write the sequel and wrap it up then and maybe leave a few loose ends or something for potential other books in the series.

Don't get me wrong, I love Delphi and the world of Weapon Icean. It was the first book that I felt was worthy of being published. But, to be honest, I feel like my writing has grown so much in the past year. I feel like I've sort of outgrown Delphi, if that makes sense? And I'm ready to move on to other ideas that I have more passion for and that will allow me to grow my writing even more and grow as a writer. But don't worry, there will be a sequel to Weapon Icean either December or January.

I was just messaging and a seasoned self-published author from the group I recently joined and she was saying how there's always something to learn. As a writer, we are always learning. You can't be a writer and not learn and grow in your writing. Yes, you will always have that same, distinctive voice, but you will also grow and become better and better with plot and characters and worldbuilding and sentence structure and just writing in general. I think that's why I have a hard time with authors who just live their entire careers in the same genre and in the same world. J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan (don't kill me! I adore Percy and his world, but there comes a time when things need to end before it crashes and burns into the ground), Cassandra Clare (I couldn't get into her books to begin with. They... aren't good. Her writing isn't good at all), and even Stephanie Meyer even though I adore the Twilight series. She hasn't really... done anything else. And I feel like none of these writers have grown in their writing. If anything the Heroes of Olympus series was a little shaky to me. Rick really picked himself back up and redeemed himself in the Trials of Apollo series, but I feel like I've outgrown his writing. I think that's the real test to you're series and writing. If you're readers don't feel like they've outgrown you writing and is unashamed to walk into the middle grade section of Barnes and Nobles at 19 or 20 years old to pick up your book, then you're doing something right (which is one of the many reasons I love Shannon Messenger). I started her Keep of the Lost Cities series at fourteen. I'm nineteen now and pre-ordered her next book in the series. I joke sometimes that I'll be twenty-five and still head to the middle grade section to get her next book in the series.

As a writer I want to grow. I want to strengthen my writing, make it better. I cringe now at Weapon Icean even though I know, that at that time in my life that was the best writing I could do. Now though? I am insanely proud of my Of Magic and Mayhem stories. I feel like those are some of my best writing. Next year around this time I'll probably look back and cringe at Of Magic and Mayhem. I'm still in love with both books and I don't regret publishing either of them, but I acknowledge that my writing has grown and become better and that it will continue to grow and strengthen as the years go on. I feel like my job as a writer is to outdo myself with each book and I think every author should feel that way. Don't put pressure on yourself, but let yourself grow organically and strive with each book to do better than the last.

So, I guess that's just a really long excuse as to why I sort of want to cut the Weapon Icean series short. I'm working on Golden and Silver and I feel like Golden especially is some of my best writing. It's still messy and especially after all of the components I've added into Silver I'll have to go back and change some stuff in Golden, but I'm really in love with these books and these characters. I can see myself going across the galaxy with them (get it... cuz it's sci-fi??;)) and sticking with them for a while. Of course, I could be completely wrong, but I'm willing to take that chance with Golden. That's why, even though self-publishing is a hard, long road to be on, I'm sticking to it because I give myself creative license to go with my gut instinct and follow where my muse leads me. Even those who are striving for traditional publishing should keep that in mind. Follow your writerly instincts because more often than not that is where the gold is.

But, so yeah, that's what's been going on in my life and my brain. Also, I'm going to a Skillet/Colton Dixon concert with my mom and brother on Saturday night and I am psyched!!! Plus, I can't wait for October and cold weather and Halloween. I'm excited for Halloween!! :D Hopefully, there will be a Teen Wolf post on Friday and hopefully more to come once I get into a stable routine with work and class and stuff.

Have a great rest of the week everyone! 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to Revise like a Pantser ft. Big Hero 6 Gifs

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope you've had a great week so far and that you have a great Easter weekend ahead! We plan on going to my grandparent's on Friday to celebrate Easter with family and spending the night there so that'll be a fun time. :) Alright, so I contemplated doing an Easter-y post on here but I wasn't even sure what that would look like... So instead, I thought I'd do something fun and happy in honor of the celebration of Easter on Sunday. Without further ado, here is your Big Hero 6 gif filled revising process from a real life pantser: The end of your first draft is in sight! You type like crazy, stay up past your normal bedtime until it is finished. When you type The End, the satisfaction that you actually did this thing sets in. Guys, it is the sweetest feeling ever. Knowing you worked so hard to complete this draft and came out on the other side. Unscathed? Perhaps not. But triumphant? Definitely! That first draft is a total disast

How to Write a Negative Character Arc

Anyone else love reading a train wreck? I find negative character arcs refreshing and fun to read and watch because not a lot of people do them. Like I'm a sucker for a redemption arc. I love characters that start out horrible and bad and "irredeemable" and then slowly redeem themselves and become the good guy. But from time to time I just love watching a good character go bad. Call me evil but I hope I'm not the only one who enjoys this. I've actually wanted to write this post for a while after rewatching Merlin last year and then over the past month me and a friend were rewatching Star Wars and I've always enjoyed the prequels because of Anakin's downward spiral. Also the last season of The 100, you watch as Octavia completes her journey to becoming one of the meanest, worst antagonists in the show. And that's saying something. The other day I really thought about what other characters who have negative arcs there are but I honestly couldn't th

Friday in Review: May Monthly Wrap-Up

Happy Wednesday once more everyone! I hope you've all had a great May. May has been full of lots of life stuff and writerly stuff and reading. I am so excited to share it with you all (along with an awesome new thing I'm doing for next month on here)! May Writing: May was full of lots of writing... Like lots. I finished draft four of The Lost Ones, came up with the name The Lost Ones and finished editing draft five. Now comes the hard work of plugging in all those changes and edits into my Word doc. Oh the joys of writing... ;) But for real, I am so excited that I finished the read through for TLO and I am even more excited to finish this draft so I can get it ready for betas. This month I also planned out the series... I've never planned out a series ever. I'm a pantser so what do I do? I make life hard for myself by winging not only my novels but entire series too. That whole not planning thing? It didn't work for me and since I'm wanting to take myself m