Kicking & Screaming

     Two scoops!  Double vision! Double dutch!

     I wrote six pages yesterday!  *bouncing off the walls*

     It's twice as much as Monday.  And bonus points for well written scenes? I think yes!
     It was amazing how a checkpoint list helped to get more words down.  It went like this:

     Point one, check.  Write, write, write.  Point two, check.  Write, write, write.  And so on and so forth.  (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it might help to visit Optimist & Pessimist.)
     Gotta watch where I step though.  I nearly got stuck in the net of rigidness.  I was checking off my points when I encountered a problem: a bid of scene structure was not working how I thought it would.  Instead of mentally kicking and screaming that I was caught in the net, I improvised, cut a few strands, and my shrieks and thrashes turned into a freedom fist pump.
     After I stopped writing last night, I lifted my arms and yelled, "I'm finished the manuscript!"  Of course, it was only my imagination spurring me on to say I had, but this is signifiant anyway.  Why?
     It was the first time I believed I could do it.

     I had the idea of a blog for a long time, but I didn't know how to go about it.  What would I write?  Advice?  Blah.
     Author Kiera Cass, who I found through Youtube of all places, gave me the idea of blogging about my writing journey.  She inspired me because her videos are a sort of diary of publishing her books.  She's also stupendously funny.  Even if I didn't want to read her new book, The Selection coming out April 24, I'd still watch her videos so I could continue rolling on the floor laughing and maybe even peeing myself.
     My favorite quote of hers is "This is probably the most awesome way your soul will ever be crushed."  She's talking about the seemingly endless notes her editor made throughout her manuscript.  She helped me see that criticism is not to tear you down; it's to make your book "the best version of itself it could possibly be."  To watch the video, visit: Behind the Book: The Editorial Letter.

    Today, I'm shooting for seven pages.

     Pencil unsheathed,

NA