What's Up Wednesday- October 15th


Fall Writing Bootcamp, Halloween Madness Continues & my Water Lilies are blooming again


What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what's up.  Should you wish to join, check out Jaime's or Erin's lovely blogs and sign up with the link widget at the bottom of the post.

WHAT I'M READING
I downloaded BEAUTIFUL CREATURES as a bit of a reward for getting A LOT of work done this week.(Seemed fitting for October) We're also listening to the audiobook of DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE to relax before bed. I have ulterior motives for this as well related to Boy Chris' Halloween Costume quandary. (More on that below.)

WHAT I'M WRITING

I actually got some words down this week. I hosted a couple of Word Sprints/Writing Parties as part of the YA Buccaneers Fall Writing Bootcamp. It forced me to take a break from the madness and actually get my butt in the chair...er hammock. But it resulted in new words! Hooray! And it was so fun to write with such an awesome group of writers. We're doing it again tomorrow, Thurs. at 2pm EST. Join us on Twitter under the hashtag #FallWritingBootcamp 


WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO 

The Halloween madness continues. Had a bottling party for our custom Halloween Bad Wolf Brown Ale. So in case anyone's counting, that's now 3 parties prior to our actual Halloween party. *facepalm* At least it's forcing me to keep the house clean.

However, I'm spending so much time making other people's costumes that I will be lucky to finish my own. Plus, trying to get Boy Chris to nail down his costume idea is like pulling teeth. He wanted to go as Pseudoscience! 
Him: "What?, Pseudoscience is SCARY. It pretends to be SCIENCE!" 
Me: "No one is going to get your costume." (again)

However, cunning little me miiiight just have decided to listen to DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE with him in the hopes that he will decide he really wants to be a Chimera. I really want to make him a Chimera costume. *crossing my fingers for Ziri* 


WHAT WORKS FOR ME

This is kind of a simple trick, but it's been really useful for me so I thought I'd share. I found that I spend a lot of time reading what I've already written to figure out where I left off and what I need to write next. I also jump around a lot and write sections out of order. So I've come up with a system of searchable symbols. I have a symbol for where I left off writing, as well as symbols for things that need more research, etc. I put them in bold so they are easier to remove afterwards. And I put any notes I might have between the symbols. That way with a simple "find and/or find and replace", I can find all the spots in my MS that still need work, all the spots that need research, etc. & so forth. Simple, but it saves me a ton of time rereading and scrolling through pages.



11 comments:

  1. Ooooh, nice trick. I am trying something new with this MS that I am actually writing some scenes out of order...it feels a bit crazy but also oh so good :) We´ll see how that will affect the revision stage.

    And I love the Pseudoscience costume idea...I have to share with my hubby who will definitely crack up at this exchange.

    Your costume idea is great, if he agrees to it, would love to see the result!

    Congrats on getting words in...Oh and I´ll join you tomorrow afternoon, I am in need of a sprint :) Thanks!

    Have a lovely Wednesday!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I LOVE what you shared in What Works for You. I am thinking I may need to steal that. ;)

    Also, yay for word sprints! Good luck with all the costume making and have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  3. A chimera costume would be SO cool! Sounds like you're having a lot of fun with costumes. :)

    That symbol idea is awesome! *takes notes*

    Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love your symbol system in your drafts. I think we have a similar way of writing (jumping all over, rereading, etc.), so this symbol system might just work for me too. I'll have to remember that when I get to the drafting stage again. Thanks!

    So I saw the lily picture you shared (GORGEOUS, by the way) and immediately thought of this: http://tinyurl.com/kbrjryh Did you find any of those lilies in your pond? :-)

    I hope Boy Chris goes for the Kiri idea! Kiri kind of stole the show in that series. Loved him! That party of yours sounds fantastic. I know I said that when you mentioned it before, but I'm saying it again. Hope you share lots of pics! Have a great week, Kris! :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow symbols sound like a great idea. I might have to give that a shot when I start working on revisions again.

    Pseudoscience is scary! It would make a clever, if obscure, costume idea.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oy! I'm wishing you sanity around all the parties. I think a chimera costume would be epic as well, but that's totally awesome that you make costumes! I did that the first couple years my kids were little and it almost killed me. Then again, when you're making 5 costumes all at once, it can be a bit overwhelming, right?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! You know how to party in October!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good luck with the sprints and enjoy all the Halloween prep :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Boy Chris HAS TO be Ziri because then you could make a cool costume and take lots of pics and I want to see pics!!!

    But pseudoscience...that is a pretty kickass idea.

    Have a fantastic week!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Okay, I think Pseudoscience is officially the nerdiest Halloween costume suggestion ever! I laughed so hard when I read that. I'm not even sure what that would look like. A Ziri costume, though? Awesome idea! You should put your foot down on that one for sure. I think Ziri was my favourite character in Laini Taylor's series. That twist at the end of book 2? Wow.

    We haven't had any brewing or bottling parties lately, but my husband wants to know what recipe you used for your Bad Wolf Brown Ale. He should've been a scientist like you guys because he's crazy into the science aspect of brewing. It's like Snape mixing potions, I tell you. Did you come up with the recipe yourself or find it somewhere?

    Love your symbol system! That sounds like an excellent way to stay organized. Might have to give that a try some time. Good luck with the costume making and the word sprints! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. So, it's Sunday and I'm just now reading this. But....I love, love, love the whole 3 parties before the real party. Uh, yeah. Why waste time on boring things?? Have a party instead!!! Yay!

    And pictures. Definitely pictures once the big decision has been made. (I'll admit....I'm doing a crazy Halloween Circus theme at the library this year.....going to check out your old posts.....*not stealing*....*kinda*

    ReplyDelete