Writing

Six-Sentence Sunday: NaNo Week 1

It’s been a full week since my last post.  Oops.  Well, what can I say? It’s November; NaNoWriMo has begun!

How’s it going?

It’s … going.  I’m a little behind. You can see my word count on the right. As of last night, I should have been up to 16,667.  But it’s all good. I could have a few really good days and catch up, right?

Right.

Anyway, I thought during November, I’d participate in Six-Sentence Sunday and share some of my NaNo story.  I had been planning to write a young adult novel involving a robotics competition.  Then 12:01 AM November 1st, after the magic of Halloween had come to an end, I suddenly decided I didn’t want to work on that story after all.

Instead, I decided to pick up on an old short story I had wanted to write a couple years ago and expand it into a short novel.  It’s an adult romance, not young adult.

(And remember, it’s NaNo — that means it’s fast-drafted and unedited!)

Jeremy knew what could have happened. He could still feel his hands being held behind his back, the sharp edge of the table cutting into his waist with every thrust. The skin burns. The pain. The grunts behind him.

And it could have all happened again, right here in his own home.

The cheesy, working title is Shots on Goal,  and the tentative summary is:

Brett has just weeks left on his contract with his minor league team to prove he deserves a spot in the NHL when a wrong move aggravates an old injury. When he learns the figure skater he’s admired from afar is also a skilled massage therapist, he sees a chance to save his dream.

Jeremy loves dancing on the ice, but his dream to be a professional figure skater died before it began.  To keep his massage therapy business alive, he’ll need to take on more clients, which leaves less time for preparing for the upcoming skating competition.  So when Brett offers to pay Jeremy double for his treatment, saying no is difficult even though Jeremy usually refuses to treat male athletes. Especially huge hockey players who sneer at gay figure skaters.

As Jeremy’s hands work their magic over Brett’s muscles, Brett must break through Jeremy’s walls and convince him  he’s not the homophobic jerk he appears to be…while also hiding his injury from his coach and his sexuality from everyone but Jeremy.

 

Hope you enjoyed the little snippet. Be sure to check out the other Six-Sentence Sunday participants!

 

christiespeich Leave a comment

Teaser Tuesday: Plot vs. Character (October 23, 2012)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 Plot vs. Character by Jeff Gerke

Plot Versus Character

I’ve actually already read this book, but I’m reading it again in preparation for NaNoWriMo.  I’m hoping it will help me with my plotting woes. I’ve got my characters, but what will they do? Who is the antagonist that will push the protagonist towards the change she needs?

The Holy Grail of fiction is to write the novel with the perfect balance of character and plot, of memorable people and a stirring story. The reader cares for these people and is desperately engaged in what they’ve been caught up in.

~ pg 17, Plot Versus Character by Jeff Gerke

 Summary from Goodreads

What’s more important to a story: a gripping plot or compelling characters? Literary-minded novelists argue in favor of character-based novels while commercial novelists argue in favor of plot-based stories, but the truth of the matter is this: The best fiction is rich in both.

Enter “Plot Versus Character.” This hands-on guide to creating a well-rounded novel embraces both of these crucial story components. You’ll learn to:

  • Create layered characters by considering personality traits, natural attributes, and backgrounds
  • Develop your character’s emotional journey and tie it to your plot’s inciting incident
  • Construct a three-act story structure that can complement and sustain your character arc
  • Expose character backstory in a manner that accentuates plot points
  • Seamlessly intertwine plot and character to create a compelling page-turner filled with characters to whom readers can’t help but relate
  • And much more

Filled with helpful examples and friendly instruction, “Plot Versus Character” takes the guesswork out of creating great fiction by giving you the tools you need to inject life into your characters and momentum into your plots.

christiespeich 1 Comment

Teaser Tuesday: The Plot Whisperer Workbook (October 16, 2012)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
The Plot Whisperer Workbook

Challenge yourself to shape your character to reflect unique feelings, ones perhaps that show life differently than those traditionally depicted in stories. Only she feels about her life the way she does.

~ pg 27, Plot Whisperer Workbook

I haven’t picked up a new fiction book since finishing Cinder and now I’m in frantic planning mode for NaNo, so I don’t think I’ll be starting one anytime soon.  Then comes NaNo itself, so I’m wondering if I’ll make my Fall Into Reading goal to read seven more books by December 21.

In preparing for NaNo, I’ve starting working through the Plot Whisperer Workbook. I’ve read The Plot Whisperer, and quite honestly was more confused than anything.  I watched the videos and that helped, but I’m hoping that working through the workbook along side The Plot Whisperer book will help me get at least the framework of a plot together for NaNo.  We’ll see.

 

Amazon links are affiliate links.

christiespeich 3 Comments

Need a Custom Design for Your Blog? Check Out Calimera Web!

So it’s been almost eight weeks since my new blog design went up, and I still absolutely love it.  Every time I see it, I have to smile.  Every. Single. Time.

I mean, just look at it! Pretty colors, sweet pictures, and bubbles…what more could you want?  It’s exactly how I feel when I read a good YA romance novel, and how I want my readers to feel when they read mine (ya know, someday.)

Linda Tieu of Calimera Web created this custom design, and I don’t think anyone could have done a better job capturing my tone.  When we started the process, I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but Linda knew the questions to ask to get the information she needed. I sent her my rambling answers, sure the whole exercise was going to be a waste of time. After all, if I didn’t know what I wanted, how could I possibly communicate it to someone else?

My jaw dropped when I saw the first mockups Linda sent me.  A few small revisions later, I had a blog design that truly felt like ME.  I hadn’t told Linda that purple was my favorite color because I didn’t want narrow the options of what she might create,  so it felt like magic when that was one of the colors she’d picked from the very beginning.

It didn’t even matter that Linda lived on the other side of the world because everything was done via e-mail. The entire process was simple and painless, only requiring a bit of thinking on my part.  Although I was primarily interested in her blog design services, Linda is very knowledgeable about WordPress and took the time to answer some questions I had.

I absolutely recommend Calimera Web for anyone looking to build a WordPress blog or just redesign their existing blog.  Linda is professional, easy to work with, and responds quickly. She can help you get set up, even if you’ve never used WordPress before.

 

christiespeich 1 Comment