It's WIP WeWriWa Time!

For this month, I am doing something I've never done before: snippets of an unpublished WIP. Up to this point, I've done samples of my work that are completed and available for purchase. For the month of November, I am giving you a sneak peek into a raw, unedited, incomplete piece. To boot, this is my first jab at a fantasy story.

So without further ado, let's WeWriWa!

Click www.wewriwa.com for more information and to see other 8 Sentence Sunday posts.

This post is part of an ongoing blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors. Every Sunday, participating authors post eight sentences from a published work or even a WIP (work in progress). Then we hop to our fellow warriors’ blogs and check out all the fabulous fiction that’s happening! It's a great way to meet readers, writers, and your next favorite book!  :)

The Tale of the Good Pirate, Robert (working title) is a story about a bird named Robert who fancies himself a pirate; he lives in a land called Locreya. It is the land of infinity: infinite possibilities, infinite opportunities, infinite positivity. Just as there is darkness in our world, there is darkness in Robert's world. It is a land called Mulrad. It is the land of misery, built on the tears of children. When three of his crew men are kidnapped and sent to Mulrad, Robert must find a way to save them, and to bring peace to both lands.

Background on the snippet: Three of Robert's crew have been kidnapped and sent to Mulrad. Robert and his crew overtook another ship (but they guided that captain and crew to safety first); they tore it apart. Now, are on the Purple River (the body of water separating Locreya from Mulrad), placing a large, wooden, vertical post (from the mast of the other ship) of some sort. 

Snippet in 9:

Robert flew above Pegleg Pete guiding him. He was telling him to place a vertical post.

I couldn’t understand why we’d sink the mast of the boat in the water vertically to be used as a post. What kind of post? What for? My curiosity got the best of me. “What are you doing?”

Robert turned his little head. “Making our way in and out of Mulrad.”

I hope you liked it!

NaNoWriMo: Quality AND Quantity

Happy November, everyone! For many people November equals NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. It's a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. I want to take this opportunity to go through NaNo with you, and to look at the writing process in great detail.

Today, we're discussing both quality and quantity. To some extent, this is a continuation from last week's post which addressed word counts.

As we established last week, you want to target around 50,000 words if you are going to write a full-length novel.

So we have quantity, but we also need to discuss quality.

NaNo makes no bones about focusing on quantity rather than quality. When I first heard that (when I did my first NaNo), I was appalled. How could you focus on quantity rather than quality?! I didn't want to churn out some second-rate book.

My perception has changed, though. NaNo is a challenge to get it on paper. That's the focus. It's more about laying down the foundation so you can go back and polish your piece, rather than having a perfectly stellar novel ready for publication in only a month's time. 

In order to write a story, you have to start somewhere. NaNo is the perfect vehicle to get you started.

Could anyone achieve both quantity and quality in only 30 days? I suppose it is plausible, but I don't think it's realistic. If I was to wager money on anyone accomplishing that, it would be Stephen King. 

I don't even think that he would say that he could or would do that. Far better than most of us, he understands the importance of the entire writing process. That process includes editing and revision so that once the quantity is there, the quality follows suit.

It's not easy to have both. It takes time and dedication. Believe you me, I would love to just wake up, type away, and have both quantity and quality. To have a fairy godmother tap her wand on my laptop and boom! There's a perfect novel! If only it were that simple!

You can have quantity and quality, and you really should strive for them both. Just be patient with yourself and the process. It'll be worth it in the end!

More WIP WeWriWa fun!

For this month, I am doing something I've never done before: snippets of an unpublished WIP. Up to this point, I've done samples of my work that are completed and available for purchase. For the month of November, I am giving you a sneak peek into a raw, unedited, incomplete piece. To boot, this is my first jab at a fantasy story.

So without further ado, let's WeWriWa!

Click www.wewriwa.com for more information and to see other 8 Sentence Sunday posts.

This post is part of an ongoing blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors. Every Sunday, participating authors post eight sentences from a published work or even a WIP (work in progress). Then we hop to our fellow warriors’ blogs and check out all the fabulous fiction that’s happening! It's a great way to meet readers, writers, and your next favorite book!  :)

The Tale of the Good Pirate, Robert (working title) is a story about a bird named Robert who fancies himself a pirate; he lives in a land called Locreya. It is the land of infinity: infinite possibilities, infinite opportunities, infinite positivity. Just as there is darkness in our world, there is darkness in Robert's world. It is a land called Mulrad. It is the land of misery, built on the tears of children. When three of his crew men are kidnapped and sent to Mulrad, Robert must find a way to save them, and to bring peace to both lands.

Background on the snippet: This is the main character (Desiree)'s first encounter with Robert.
Snippet in 9:

I looked down, and before me stood a small bird. He boasted a little green body, with a bright yellow face. He was small – not a tropical parrot. Nor did he resemble any wild birds I had ever seen. He was bigger than a parakeet. He was so unique, and so adorable. Then I noticed he wore an eye patch over his right eye. Like a pirate, but he had no hat or peg leg. He was an interesting, if not comical sight.


I hope you liked it!

NaNoWriMo: Why word counts count

Happy November, everyone! For many people November equals NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. It's a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. I want to take this opportunity to go through NaNo with you, and to look at the writing process in great detail.

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This week, I want to discuss word counts.

To start off, we need to look at the breakdown of word counts. As a general rule, they go as follows:

Short Stories: 20,000 words or less

Novellas: 20,000-40,000 words

Novels: 50,000 words or more.

NaNo sets the goal at 50,000 words, which is a good goal. At 50,000, you should have a very well rounded story, and good foundation for the novel itself.

50,000 is a lot of words! Yes it is. Any writer will tell you that there are times when 50,000 feels more like 5,000,000,000. It's not always easy, but word counts are important to keep in mind.

Why?

First and foremost, if you're seeking publication, publishers watch word counts carefully. If the word count is low, they see an emaciated story that will need lots of editing to beef it up. That's time and money that they're not willing to spend. On the flip side of that, if the word count is too high, the piece is too long and no one will read it. So you need to watch your count if you want to get published.

What if you're not seeking publication? What's the point of watching your word count?

Well, those of us who are die-hard grammar policemen/-women will tell you that you need to follow the rules. 

For those of you who are rebellious and don't like rules, look at a word count as a challenge. It's a goal to meet. It's a good frame to help you beef up and trim off sections of your story. It will show you what sections of your novel require more attention and editing. 

I personally find word counts to be a great guide in my story writing.

A good word count is not necessarily indicative of good quality, per se. However, a good word count is indicative of the fact that the writer has been paying attention. If they're paying attention, chances are they're paying attention to the quality and the quantity.

So yes, word counts count.

November WeWriWa: My first time doing a WIP

Hello, fellow bibliophiles!

For this month, I am doing something I've never done before: snippets of an unpublished WIP. Up to this point, I've done samples of my work that are completed and available for purchase. For the month of November, I am giving you a sneak peek into a raw, unedited, incomplete piece. To boot, this is my first jab at a fantasy story.

So without further ado, let's WeWriWa!

Click www.wewriwa.com for more information and to see other 8 Sentence Sunday posts.

This post is part of an ongoing blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors. Every Sunday, participating authors post eight sentences from a published work or even a WIP (work in progress). Then we hop to our fellow warriors’ blogs and check out all the fabulous fiction that’s happening! It's a great way to meet readers, writers, and your next favorite book!  :)

The Tale of the Good Pirate, Robert (working title) is a story about a bird named Robert who fancies himself a pirate; he lives in a land called Locreya. It is the land of infinity: infinite possibilities, infinite opportunities, infinite positivity. Just as there is darkness in our world, there is darkness in Robert's world. It is a land called Mulrad. It is the land of misery, built on the tears of children. When three of his crew men are kidnapped and sent to Mulrad, Robert must find a way to save them, and to bring peace to both lands.

Background on the snippet: this is the introduction, where we get our first taste for life in Locreya.
Snippet in 9 sentences:

Somewhere in the highlands of Scotland, tucked between the rocky crags, and the curving rivers lies a small, dense little forest. Should you enter that forest, it won’t take you long to find Locreya. The sun drizzles in through the trees illuminating the lush, green path. And suddenly, something catches your eye. You see a small sparkle on the ground out of the corner of your eye. By the time you turn to see it, it’s gone. If you wait, though, if you are patient enough and take a big, deep breath in, you’ll see it again. You kneel down to see what this little sparkle could be. When it blinks for the third time, you see that it is simply a little fairy skipping her way down the path. 

I hope you liked it!