Chick Lit Goddess

...because every author wants to feel like a goddess!

Romance Books

What Am I?

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When I began this blog, it was merely to connect with other bloggers and authors, and to meet some friends.  I never in a million years thought that Chick Lit Goddess would be where it is today!

The more I blogged and read other people’s websites, the more I noticed a trend.  People were reviewing books!  When I received my first “Will you review this book?” question, my heart melted!  I was overjoyed that someone had taken the time to ask me, a non-professional, to read their book.  After I read, wrote and posted my review, I’ve had quite a few people wonder if I would read their book and write a review too, especially within the past few weeks.  This leads me to wonder…

Who am I?  Am I a blogger?  Am I a writer?  Am I a reviewer?  Another question I have is, how do I manage it all?  When do I read?  How do I edit my first book?  When I do I have time to work on self-publishing my second book?  As a New Year’s resolution, I’d like to take this all into consideration, and even make a somewhat of a calendar.

I’d love to hear your comments/questions/ideas, so let me know!

 

A Love Letter To My Hero

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In honor of it being my second anniversary with my husband, I thought I’d write him a love letter:

My Dear Sweet Hubby,

Happy 2nd Anniversary, my love!  As a writer, I want to thank you for your constant love and support.  You are by my side when I have everything, and nothing to write.   You’re there to help form my characters and thoughts into a reality.  Having you be there for me during NaNoWriMo to wipe away my tears, cheer me on when it had been a good writing day, or massage my back and hands, and of course your pep talks of encouragement, meant everything to me — more than you’ll ever know.

You are the Hero that I wish I could write about, but you’re more than that…you’re my love, always and forever.

Love,

~~Me~~

My 1st NaNoWriMo Experience

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When I set out to partake in NaNoWriMo I thought it would be a great idea to add a little chaos in my life.  On November 1st I wrote over 5,000 words, and did so again on the 2nd day.  I felt pretty good about how strong I started, and even so by the end of the week.  Week one was pretty good.  I was hopeful that I might win, and might even finish before the 30th.

Week #2 was not as great as the first, I still wrote at least 1,667 words a day (the word count in order to finish 50,000 in 30 days).  By the end of the week I was behind on the words for my own personal count, but still 1,000 or so ahead.

I began to panic during Week #3!  I was going out of town for the weekend to see my sister, and Thanksgiving was coming.  I wrote as much as I could during preparing for my trip to see my sister, while still giving my husband, cat, and other wifely duties attention.  During my flight to Orland, I wrote the entire time, but not enough to be all caught up.  CRAP!  My sister understood that while we could still have our good times (which we did), she knew that I had to write every single day–and I did.  Even though I wrote on the plane home, by the time I got back home, I was still behind.  The next day I dove headlong into my story and made finishing my second book my goal.  My thoughts were that if I was going to participate in NaNoWriMo, I would win!

Thanksgiving was the last weekend in NaNoWriMo and there were only a couple of days until the month was over.  It was the most memorable holiday, and for this I was-no, I am thankful!  I can’t remember a holiday (especially a Thanksgiving) where I was so focused on family and my book!  Everyone in my family, all seventeen of them, saw me writing, but I don’t think that some knew what I was in the process of doing, the pressure I was under, or what I was going through.  I wrote in the mornings, during lunches, and after dinner, some even between cooking meals-which I did quite a lot of, but it was all worth it.  I love my family, and I love to write.

On the next to last day of NaNoWriMo, I wrote my heart, and my fingers and hands out.  I wrote like there was no tomorrow.  That night I went to bed just shy of 2,000 words to go.

November 30th had finally arrived.  My husband had gone to work, the cat was fed, and our house was a mess.  I sat at my laptop for about forty-five minutes thinking of how to end it, but I couldn’t bring myself to write the ending.  I didn’t know my emotions then, but looking back on it now, I was sad to let my characters go.  Once I began to write, I found it hard to stop…but then the last two hundred words were the most difficult.  How did I want my characters to be known, and how did I want my readers to feel/think/say when they read the last word?  I finished NaNoWriMo that day around two o’clock in the afternoon.  When I called my husband to let him know, he asked me how I felt.  I couldn’t answer him, because I really didn’t know how to respond.  I was sweating, and I was nervous, happy, excited, and sad to see my time with the characters that I created had ended.

Overall, my first experience with NaNoWriMo was amazing.  It taught me to how be a writer, and it taught me how to trust what I write, but most of all it taught me to believe in myself as a writer.  It’s because of NaNoWriMo that I can officially call myself a writer.

I have decided to participate in NaNoWriMo 2012, and am thinking of picking up from where I left off from my second fully completed book.

 

 

Bartlett’s Roget’s Thesaurus

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A few months ago I was at the library and asked for a thesaurus.  The librarian said that she didn’t know if they had one because everyone uses the internet, but that she would look.  Minutes later she came back with their “only” thesaurus that they had.  How can a library only have one?  While I understood how and why this could be true in my generation, especially with the growth and advances in technology.

As a writer, this really bugged me.  How can one of the most beloved type of resource for writers be not in use (print) anymore?  Aren’t libraries supposed to have books in print?  (I know that they are now carrying audio books now, but would you really listen to a resource book like that?)  Most of the time when I flip through a thesaurus or even a dictionary, it can give me inspiration and help me learn more new words.  Anyway, HERE is the thesaurus that I was handed.  At first I was confused at the layout of this book, but once I got that down, I was in love with such a brilliant book.  While I was there that day I was so amazed with this book that I didn’t want to leave, but I couldn’t check it out (you can’t check out resources).  Weeks later I was still thinking about that book and couldn’t find it at my local library, so I bought it online.  Below are some pictures that I took to show you how much I love this book:

Bartlett's Roget's Thesaurus

Index 1
Index 2

 

Categories

Definitions

Extra tidbits

Back cover

Your Memoir Character & Your Fiction Characters

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Yesterday I started my Memoir class.  After reading the introduction, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it’s okay to exaggerate some.  The advice that was given was to write it how you saw and/or remembered everything about it, even if it wasn’t exactly true, (ex: stretching the truth in a conversation).

Like fiction, memoirs can be short or long.  They both have to have some kind of plot, with a beginning, middle, and end, but the most important part, especially in memoirs, are the main character.  You stories in either genre, have to make the reader want to turn the pages.  We the writers, want you, the reader, to connect with the story or characters that have been created.

HERE is a blog that I wrote awhile back and I’d like to revisit the following question: When writing, how much are your characters like or unlike you?

To My Readers, Thank You

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As a blogger and unpublished author I’d like to thank the readers.  Recently I made the 5,000+ hits on my blog and I couldn’t have done it without y’all!  When I started this blog I didn’t think that it would be something that I would keep up with, nor anyone would read.  I was very wrong!  Yay, someone’s reading my stuff!  Now it’s, I wonder what my faithful readers/subscribers will say about this!  While it has been a struggle at times to come up with topics to write about, I thrive on the anticipation of the day-to-day topics!  This leads me to a new though, Why do we blog?

For most people there might be many reasons (keeping family and friends up to date, publicize your project(s), give your opinions and/or reviews, and to use your blog somewhat of a journal).  My blog is about all the above, but mainly it’s for my readers.  I write for the people who read my blog and take something away from it and  I write for the people who come across my blog and are generous enough to comment.  I write for the readers because without them, the writing wouldn’t be nearly as rewarding.

Here’s to another great year of blogging!

Preparing for NaNoWriMo

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Like I announced on my LAST POST I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month.  I have a little over a month to prepare for this monthlong journey and I’m already panicking with preparation, so I’ve decided to make a list on what I need to do:

  • GET ALL THE NECESSARY ITEMS: Notepads for scratching down notes: legal-sized is best because it allows you more space to get creative.  Get a Mobile File Folding Cart.  This filing cabinet if wonderful!  It’s light and very portable.  (If all goes well I am planning on beginning my filing system soon).  Get a mini-notebook to keep with you at all times so if an idea pops in your mind all you have to do is write it down.  File Jackets have saved my life as far as keeping things organized.  These large folders are big enough (depending on if you get the large size) to put your legal-sized notepad in.  Of course you’ll need pens, but you will need an eraser.  Since I’m in the editing process, you will need an eraser, on you love.  HERE is a link to the eraser that I have.  Sticky Notes are my favorite item to use when writing, editing or jotting down reminders about your characters to place on your computer screen.  Write an outline for your novel.  If you’re like me, you probably are beginning to wonder what to write.  Using an outline will prevent you for completely stressing out and might help writer’s block stay away…or postpone his visit until you write your next book.
  • MAKE GOALS: Writing 50,000 words seems like a lot, but it averages to be around 1,650 words a day.  It doesn’t seem that bad once you see the number, right?  I’m not saying that there won’t be days when you can’t even write 500 because there will, and that’s okay.  You can create a writing schedule for yourself, similar to a To Do List.  Say you write 500 words a day at the least and if you don’t make it, make it up during the weekends.  Don’t worry, you can do it!
  • GET A SUPPORT GROUP: Having a friend or a writing support group during the month of November, can be a wonderful thing.  If you’re up for it, have them read what you’ve written and talk things over.  If you bounce thought between each other, most of the time you’ll be lucky enough to get a burst of inspiration.
  • PUMP YOURSELF UP: Get excited!  If you’ve never taken part in NaNoWriMo before but have always wanted to write a novel, this is your chance.  You can do it!  If you have, then remember how it felt when you finished writing your first book.
  • WAIT FOR IT TO BE 12:00:01 ON NOVEMBER 1st of 2011: Now that you’re ready, all you have to do is wait for time to pass.  Remember to breathe to calm your nerves.  It’s important to not stress before you get going.
  • WRITE: It’s time to start writing and by then end of the month, you’ll be able to say, “I wrote a book in a month!”

Don’t You Just Want To Be Published Already?!

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Books aren’t written – they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it. — Michael Crichton 

As I look at parts of the edited second draft of my first book, I’m beginning to think that being published is just another dream that will never happen.  Honestly I know that’s not true, but the process is long and grueling, which is why I’ve heard of some “wanna’ be writers” give up.  Two years ago I would’ve given up.  I would not be able to say that I have written a book, I would not have been able to say that am a ChickLit Goddes, and I would not have had the confidence in myself to continue on this amazing journey.

I have to say that since March of this year, right after I wrote the end in my book, I have become more stubborn, (Kathryn Stockett’s word for being rejected).  I want to be a writer, I will be a writer and I will not give up!

I’ll leave you with a message, from me to you:

If you’re down in the dumps and think that your story will never get told or are struggling with rejection(s), turn the page to your life and make a new plan.  Make your dream of being a writer into a reality and create the life you want!  Good luck!

Write This Way…

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You must write this way...no, this way! BOTH ARE WRONG!

Most writers want to learn how to be a writer, right?  With all the books and websites that are accessible, shouldn’t every book that is written be published by now?  Shouldn’t the wanna’ be writers be famously known like Shakespeare, Poe, Salinger, Blume, Steel, King, just to name a few?  My bookshelves are filled with “how to” books on writing, but am I published?  No.  One thing that I’ve noticed with all of these are the title of the books; they grab you right away!  Yes, that’s the point of them, but shouldn’t what’s behind the flaps be the main selling point of an instructional or guide?  Every author or co-author has their own style of saying how to write and get published.  I have read and tried my best to follow their advice but nothing has helped.

YOUR WAY IS THE RIGHT WAY TO WRITE

On Saturday night I started Stephen King’s book “On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft,” a book that has been recommended for emerging and current writers.  After reading only a few chapters, I was hooked on this book.  THIS is the book that will teach you how to be a writer.  “Why,” you ask?  Because he’s not saying do this or do that, no.  He’s simply telling you his story and how he began writing.  Currently I’m only on chapter nineteen (each chapter very short, 3-4 pages at the most), but I am truly in love with this book.  His story gives me inspiration and confidence to write…MY WAY!  That’s what I’ve learned, to write one way, MY WAY!  

The following are some tips that I want to share with you.  Some of these have been given to me (thank you to my writer friends) or I had to learn (sometimes the hard way):

  • WRITE WITHOUT EDITING!  Write a lot!  It doesn’t matter what you write or how amazing or horrible it might be, just do it!  You can always go back and edit or get an editor
  • Share you work!  Don’t be afraid to have people (friends, family and/or writing pals) read over your work.  Often times they will suggest something that will click and will give you insight or advice, sometimes that you didn’t even know you needed
  • It’s okay to have Writer’s Block — I did when I was writing my 1st book, and quite often!  I would write day after day and I would be on a roll, and the next thing I knew the cursor would be staring back at me asking, “Where’d you go, lady?  Come on, write!”
  • If you use a computer, click “save” a lot!  Just trust me on this one!
To close, I encourage you to learn to be a writer, your way.  🙂