When Your Writing Shocks..

At first it's hard to get past the self doubt, it's a disaster, the woe is me why did I write this, they hate it feelings..and then the light bulb moment hits and you realize that what they are saying is exactly the type of response that you are waiting for. Shock is an emotional feeling and that's good isn't it?
This is what happened when I was quizzing a 30 something friend the other day on her thoughts about Breathless. I knew she'd bought it and read it, and hadn't as yet given me any feedback. At first she said she hadn't read enough to comment, but as I pressed her for any response, and assured her that I could take it even if she thought it was crap, and that I'm okay with constructive criticism and that not everyone is going to like it, I wasn't prepared for this response;

                                                          I don't want to read anymore because I can't handle  being taken back to the painful days of my teen years, I'm sorry but it's just too much, it's like I can feel everything Charlie feels, the loneliness, the heartache of things happening out of my control, the sadness, the grief.. and I don't want to feel like that again, it took me too long to work through it..

But isn't this why we write to evoke an emotional response from the reader; to have them feel what we can hopefully have our characters convey to them? As it dawned on me that that is exactly what I'd hoped a reader would feel as they identified with Charlies (my main female protagonist) dealt hand in life; this transitional, often sad and lonely, often complex, often raging emotional period of life from deep despair one minute to conquer the world the next, called Adolescense.. maybe writing is not so bad after all..Except for the pay.. but that's for another post , another day.

The Curse of Repetition...

can surely be a pain in the butt for many a writer..we were talking about repetition in our writers group at our last meeting and I was thinking about the time when I was going through a 'word repeat' edit on one of my novels and found a total of 49 'justs' 30 'likes' and 15 'saids'...there were other words on repeat but these were the main offenders, and try as I might I couldn't understand how in the blazes I hadn't picked it up going through the 5 or so previous edits!! The reason we were talking about repetitive words was because one of the members of the group found, in the 1st paragraph of the manuscript we were critiquing, the word 'over' five times. Talking about insignificant words like over often slipping through unseen by the writer, we were able to identify a few words that seem to remain on the write, repeat, write challenge for each of us. It was a great exercise to not only identify the sneaky offenders, but I found it really helpful to fess up and speak them out loud to the group cementing them in my memory, which I'm hoping will probably make me more aware of the excess use of these words as I continue to write.

It's 4am in the morning..AGAIN

and suddenly my creative mind has blasted into gear and my computer is alive and running.. I'm thinking there is no way out of it if you are a writer..when your thoughts flash through your head and collide together in their rush to get out and onto your page there really is only one thing you can do about it and get up and start writing..and I guess that's the point isn't it of writing you just have to do it when it flows..but..what about the discipline of writing? Should the creative mind be disciplined? is it important to schedule writing time into your day? Isn't creative writing just that, creatively writing, waiting for the inspirational flow that comes with a flourish and then getting it down on the page..I don't know about you but I get a higher word count at times like these than when I sit and stare at the screen, waiting for something to come knowing it simply.. won't.. come..so until I figure out another idea,way, strategy, I guess I'll wait for the inevitable light bulb moment to wake me for another early morning session.. 

The Thing About Social Media is..

That you really do find some great people to chat with, follow, be inspired by and generally get to know..and if you are a reader like me, you get to find some really awesome books online that you might miss otherwise..I love the ease of pulling a book up that's been recommended on one or other of the social media platforms..like a few days ago on twitter I came across the fantastic first in a series of historical fiction novels - 'The Du Lac Chronicles'  by Mary Yarde, an epic saga of love, loyalty, betrayal that draws a reader in and keeps them with it till the end. A great read that takes you out of the ordinary everyday into a world gone by that is completely relatable. Hooked by the intrigue of the plot and the intimacy between the main protagonists I loved every minute of it and definitely would give this series a 5 star rating..

My Book Is Finally Here..

 

It's hard to believe but my book is finally published online.. the years/ hours writing, the structural edits, the angst over characters, the grammar and spelling edits, the plot changes, the deliberation over cover image, the indecision over marketing strategies, the copy edits and more edits etc have finished..and now it's out there flaws and all.
For one minute I thought the hard work is done...
When in reality the hard work ie how to get people to read it has just begun..
For those of you who want to take a look you will find it on Amazon.com:books mm carter 

It's time..

So at long last all edits have been done and re check after re check completed..I'm quite sure there are no spelling mistakes but have heard that even the best authors can miss a letter or two...so a couple more days and 'Breathless' will be in the eyes of the reader..a friend asked if I am scared? and I can confidently say not so much any more..it is what it is, hopefully a story that will appeal to its YA audience..and that it will be enough appeal to warrant its sequel 'Out of Darkness' to be read..  Ok so will keep you posted real soon..

This is a super great read..

As a prolific reader I'd often thought when I was a child that when I grow up I'd like to write like some of my favourite authors..Enid Blyton. Anna Sewel, John Marsden, LM Montgomery, the Bronte sisters etc.. Now of course I have grown up, well nearly..and 

I'm still a prolific reader but I no longer want to write like some of my favourite authors.. now the field is too wide to choose from, with new authors evolving year by year and tons of new books to discover like this fantastic example of YA writing.. now I want to write with my own writers voice, hold my own platform and share stories through my own eyes of experience..I can only hope and will be happy if I can write half as good as some of my favs from the past and some of the current writers I most admire...