I bet you're surprised to see an update on this blog. After all, it's been uiet in these parts for a year now.
BUT!
I can finally tell you the reason behind the silence.
I spent a lot of time studying and researching and working on the side so that I could save up enough money for a hosting server and my very own domain. (I've been also dealing with some family problems for a bit there during 2011)
You guys have been with me for a very long time and you've been incredibly supporting. So I'm pleased to announce that I'm moving homes. You'll be able to find me at Writing4Rent now. It's a website that I wanted to open ever since I started this blog. I hope it will grow to be one of the best sources for beginning writers out there.
Also: if any of you want to share your stories, advice and experience there, please let me know by commenting or emailing me.
Showing posts with label writing update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing update. Show all posts
16 January 2012
16 June 2010
Writer's Block
That's how I feel right now, staring at a blank page.
(Image made by me in Photoshop CS)
14 June 2010
Monday Update - What I've been up to
A lot happened lately in my writing life, so instead of a regular post, I decided to write an update.
Writing Interruptions
Unfortunately it's that time in the year and I have to study for the exams and write those papers. And maybe work on my thesis some more. Which makes it almost impossible to do any actual writing. I'm staying possitive, since I only have one semester left and then, I'll be defending my thesis. And I'll have a new, shiny degree.
Fiction Writing
Since my last update, most of my projects moved forward.
My editor finished correcting the first draft of my bigbang story, and right now I'm fixing the mistakes. It's a painful process, I admit, but I know that it will make my story even better. I need to finish the second draft and send it to another editor before the end of June, because I need to have the final story by the end of July. It's all very exciting, since the feedback so far was completely positive.
The Epic Collaboration Project kinda took over my life. In between what I've written and what my co-author added, we basically wrote almost the entire thing. We still have three chapters to write, with the big climax, and the dramatic reveal, but I'm estimating we should be done with the first draft in maybe two weeks. We already crossed the 30K in wordcount and I think we might reach 40K before we're done.
I completely change the concept of my third big project - the 20K story I need written by September. Mostly because the initial set-up, while dramatic, didn't work with the character development I wanted to have. The scenes I already planned out will probably still happen, and I'll try to rework them into a short story of maybe 5K, but I'll have to outline it to make sure it works.
I also signed up to a writing challenge called HC Bingo. Which is an interesting concept and definitely something of an inspiration. It'll be mostly short stories, but maybe one or two longer ones. We'll see where the muse takes me.
Non-Fiction Writing
Unfortuantely I didn't work on my articles or ebook ideas, due to school and exams. I'm getting slightly worried, because I have to complete 7 more articles for Suite101 by the end of July, and I'd like to add to my articles on Helium as well. And it's not even that I don't know what to write about, it's the lack of time that interrupts with the writing.
Once I'm done with exams, I'll have to really get back into the non-fiction world.
On a plus side, even though I had little time, I managed to keep up with my blogging, which is a huge success. I definitely deserve a cookie. It becomes a part of my weekly routine, writing and posting to this blog. I suspect I'll soon be able to modify that routine to include writing and posting at other places.
Twitter
A mix of writing and networking, I've been active on Twitter, and it's been great fun. Apart from three days when I went offline to study.
I switched from TweetDeck to HooteSuite, because the latter offered me option to schedule my Tweets, which turned out to be extremely helpful since I share a lot of links to writing resources and blog posts. Plus I can keep it in the background and write or work, and it doesn't interrupt me with constant sound effects when somebody update's their account.
I also ventured into the world of Sponsored Tweets. It was more of an experiment, but it turned out to be a very interesting experience. It's not a big thing, nor it's extremely big revenue stream. But I can choose things I want to advertise, I can write the tweets to match my other content and all in all, I'm very pleased with that site. You can check it out for yourself here.
Writing Interruptions
Unfortunately it's that time in the year and I have to study for the exams and write those papers. And maybe work on my thesis some more. Which makes it almost impossible to do any actual writing. I'm staying possitive, since I only have one semester left and then, I'll be defending my thesis. And I'll have a new, shiny degree.
Fiction Writing
Since my last update, most of my projects moved forward.
My editor finished correcting the first draft of my bigbang story, and right now I'm fixing the mistakes. It's a painful process, I admit, but I know that it will make my story even better. I need to finish the second draft and send it to another editor before the end of June, because I need to have the final story by the end of July. It's all very exciting, since the feedback so far was completely positive.
The Epic Collaboration Project kinda took over my life. In between what I've written and what my co-author added, we basically wrote almost the entire thing. We still have three chapters to write, with the big climax, and the dramatic reveal, but I'm estimating we should be done with the first draft in maybe two weeks. We already crossed the 30K in wordcount and I think we might reach 40K before we're done.
I completely change the concept of my third big project - the 20K story I need written by September. Mostly because the initial set-up, while dramatic, didn't work with the character development I wanted to have. The scenes I already planned out will probably still happen, and I'll try to rework them into a short story of maybe 5K, but I'll have to outline it to make sure it works.
I also signed up to a writing challenge called HC Bingo. Which is an interesting concept and definitely something of an inspiration. It'll be mostly short stories, but maybe one or two longer ones. We'll see where the muse takes me.
Non-Fiction Writing
Unfortuantely I didn't work on my articles or ebook ideas, due to school and exams. I'm getting slightly worried, because I have to complete 7 more articles for Suite101 by the end of July, and I'd like to add to my articles on Helium as well. And it's not even that I don't know what to write about, it's the lack of time that interrupts with the writing.
Once I'm done with exams, I'll have to really get back into the non-fiction world.
On a plus side, even though I had little time, I managed to keep up with my blogging, which is a huge success. I definitely deserve a cookie. It becomes a part of my weekly routine, writing and posting to this blog. I suspect I'll soon be able to modify that routine to include writing and posting at other places.
A mix of writing and networking, I've been active on Twitter, and it's been great fun. Apart from three days when I went offline to study.
I switched from TweetDeck to HooteSuite, because the latter offered me option to schedule my Tweets, which turned out to be extremely helpful since I share a lot of links to writing resources and blog posts. Plus I can keep it in the background and write or work, and it doesn't interrupt me with constant sound effects when somebody update's their account.
I also ventured into the world of Sponsored Tweets. It was more of an experiment, but it turned out to be a very interesting experience. It's not a big thing, nor it's extremely big revenue stream. But I can choose things I want to advertise, I can write the tweets to match my other content and all in all, I'm very pleased with that site. You can check it out for yourself here.
28 May 2010
Travelling and Writing - How Did It Work Out for Me
When I posted my Writer on the Move blog post, I didn't really know how this whole travelling and writing gig would work out. With so much things on my plate, I didn't want to have my expectations high. Let's face it, it's better for your ego is you get a nice surprise than when you're disappointing yourself.
What I did manage to accomplish:
I wrote a quick little article for Helium about successful blogging. I used both the advice I've read online (at various sources) and the stuff I know worked for me. The topic just pushed the right buttons, because the moment I saw the title available, I knew what and how to write it. And so, even though I wasn't planning on writing any non-fiction during this trip... There you go.
I also wrote a flashfic (barely above 1000 words) that came to me while I was exchanging story ideas via Twitter. It was an unapologetic fun story that could also be described as crack. But people who saw it seemed to like it (demanding another story in that universe - the highest compliment, I suppose). All in all, I had major fun with it.
I worked on my thesis as well. Not much, but I managed to accomplished what I planned during my stay in Hague. So that's a success - not getting too distracted by the new surroundings to forget what I had to do.
What I didn't do:
Not everything got done though. I promised myself to study for the exams... Yeah, not so much. The city was too interesting, the plot bunnies simply needed to be written down. Hopefully, I'll find time to do some studying at some point and pass those two exams.
The really awesome part:
What I'm really proud of is that I managed to keep the regular posting schedule here. Even though this post is being written from the airport as I'm waiting to check-in, it'll still go online on the day I planned. That's a huge victory for me, as establishing routines is usually a very painful process for me.
Have a good weekend everybody. I have a plane to catch :)
What I did manage to accomplish:
I wrote a quick little article for Helium about successful blogging. I used both the advice I've read online (at various sources) and the stuff I know worked for me. The topic just pushed the right buttons, because the moment I saw the title available, I knew what and how to write it. And so, even though I wasn't planning on writing any non-fiction during this trip... There you go.
I also wrote a flashfic (barely above 1000 words) that came to me while I was exchanging story ideas via Twitter. It was an unapologetic fun story that could also be described as crack. But people who saw it seemed to like it (demanding another story in that universe - the highest compliment, I suppose). All in all, I had major fun with it.
I worked on my thesis as well. Not much, but I managed to accomplished what I planned during my stay in Hague. So that's a success - not getting too distracted by the new surroundings to forget what I had to do.
What I didn't do:
Not everything got done though. I promised myself to study for the exams... Yeah, not so much. The city was too interesting, the plot bunnies simply needed to be written down. Hopefully, I'll find time to do some studying at some point and pass those two exams.
The really awesome part:
What I'm really proud of is that I managed to keep the regular posting schedule here. Even though this post is being written from the airport as I'm waiting to check-in, it'll still go online on the day I planned. That's a huge victory for me, as establishing routines is usually a very painful process for me.
Have a good weekend everybody. I have a plane to catch :)
19 May 2010
Wednesday Update: The Writing Adventure continues
I decided to round up all that happened to me writing-wise. You can call it a stress relief tactic as the constant rains had put my city (and half of my country) on an emergency level, with bridges being closed and people being evacuated from the small villages near the river.
The World of Non-Fiction
I remain fascinated with the inner workings of Suite101. True, writing SEO rich articles isn't my very favorite past-time, and I prefer to be provided keywords to work into the article, but it's been a great training. I wrote another article about Studying Abroad; this time concentrating on how studying abroad can cost less than studying in the US. I was quite surprised to do the calculations, but Europe does seem like a cheaper option.
It's my second article, after tips on choosing good study abroad programs, in this area to be published on Suite101. Mostly because it's a topic I know a lot about and I'm seriously considering writing more in this niche. After all, I already wrote extensively on the subject while on Helium (going as far as creating a Zone exclusively about Studying Abroad).
I also decided to branch out into Entertainment and took on the phenomena that is the Vampire Diaries and explored reasons why it's such a popular show. I did extensive research on the subject, which may or may not consisted of spending 20 minutes looking at pictures of Ian Somerhalder... You have nothing to prove it! (but he's very good for inspiration, if you were wondering)
Writing Fiction
I found an editor for my bigbang story. I haven't looked at the corrected file yet. Mostly because I'm a bit afraid of what I might find there. So far I got two very positive feedback comments from two people, but they weren't reading the story to correct it... And we all know how writers are about admitting their story might not be perfect... Well, I know my story isn't perfect. I'd just prefer not to hear it from somebody else.
Yes, yes, I know editors are usually right and we should listen to them and appreciate them for they only have our best interest at heart.
The Epic Collaboration Project is currently on hold (though we're still excited). It's because we both have other, more urgent projects (as in projects with actual deadlines set by somebody else). But we started on the outline so it's going to happen.
Another story I've mentioned before is the other 20k story I have to write by September. I decided to dub it The War Angst as it's describing the story itself rather nicely. I need to do some serious research into the Marine Corps, but because it's more about an emotional turmoil than actual fighting, I think I can hand wave some more problematic facts. The ideas of what's going to happen in this one are floating around in my brain, I just need to write them down and see if I can come up with a coherent outline.
Other Stuff Happens Too
I kept playing nice with other kids, which I suppose counts for something. But seriously, I started to comment a bit more to other people's posts. It's mostly due to the fact that I'm meeting more and more people via Twitter and the #amwriting chat, and various RSS recommendations. And it's... Well, it doesn't feel right not to get involved in the conversations there.
I also wrote down some ideas and projects I'd like to start/get involved in. I could see myself getting passionate about several of them (like expanding and making use of my knowledge regarding Study Abroad programs), but I don't want to take on any more projects with what I have on my plate at the moment. Graduation, getting my degree and finally having more time to pursue those projects, I'm basically daydreaming about that moment.
The plans for next week/more immediate future?
Getting rid of the distractions and completing part of my thesis. At the same time I'd like to write two more articles. One for Helium about my trip to Ostrava (similar to what I wrote about Madrid back in September) and perhaps one more article for Suite101 - the subject of that one is still pending.
Wow. Once I wrote down everything that happened and what I have in store... I'm quite a busy little writer! That's a great feeling!
The World of Non-Fiction
I remain fascinated with the inner workings of Suite101. True, writing SEO rich articles isn't my very favorite past-time, and I prefer to be provided keywords to work into the article, but it's been a great training. I wrote another article about Studying Abroad; this time concentrating on how studying abroad can cost less than studying in the US. I was quite surprised to do the calculations, but Europe does seem like a cheaper option.
It's my second article, after tips on choosing good study abroad programs, in this area to be published on Suite101. Mostly because it's a topic I know a lot about and I'm seriously considering writing more in this niche. After all, I already wrote extensively on the subject while on Helium (going as far as creating a Zone exclusively about Studying Abroad).
I also decided to branch out into Entertainment and took on the phenomena that is the Vampire Diaries and explored reasons why it's such a popular show. I did extensive research on the subject, which may or may not consisted of spending 20 minutes looking at pictures of Ian Somerhalder... You have nothing to prove it! (but he's very good for inspiration, if you were wondering)
Writing Fiction
I found an editor for my bigbang story. I haven't looked at the corrected file yet. Mostly because I'm a bit afraid of what I might find there. So far I got two very positive feedback comments from two people, but they weren't reading the story to correct it... And we all know how writers are about admitting their story might not be perfect... Well, I know my story isn't perfect. I'd just prefer not to hear it from somebody else.
Yes, yes, I know editors are usually right and we should listen to them and appreciate them for they only have our best interest at heart.
The Epic Collaboration Project is currently on hold (though we're still excited). It's because we both have other, more urgent projects (as in projects with actual deadlines set by somebody else). But we started on the outline so it's going to happen.
Another story I've mentioned before is the other 20k story I have to write by September. I decided to dub it The War Angst as it's describing the story itself rather nicely. I need to do some serious research into the Marine Corps, but because it's more about an emotional turmoil than actual fighting, I think I can hand wave some more problematic facts. The ideas of what's going to happen in this one are floating around in my brain, I just need to write them down and see if I can come up with a coherent outline.
Other Stuff Happens Too
I kept playing nice with other kids, which I suppose counts for something. But seriously, I started to comment a bit more to other people's posts. It's mostly due to the fact that I'm meeting more and more people via Twitter and the #amwriting chat, and various RSS recommendations. And it's... Well, it doesn't feel right not to get involved in the conversations there.
I also wrote down some ideas and projects I'd like to start/get involved in. I could see myself getting passionate about several of them (like expanding and making use of my knowledge regarding Study Abroad programs), but I don't want to take on any more projects with what I have on my plate at the moment. Graduation, getting my degree and finally having more time to pursue those projects, I'm basically daydreaming about that moment.
The plans for next week/more immediate future?
Getting rid of the distractions and completing part of my thesis. At the same time I'd like to write two more articles. One for Helium about my trip to Ostrava (similar to what I wrote about Madrid back in September) and perhaps one more article for Suite101 - the subject of that one is still pending.
Wow. Once I wrote down everything that happened and what I have in store... I'm quite a busy little writer! That's a great feeling!
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