What’s Ready. Set. WRITE!, you ask? It’s a summer-long writing intensive that encourages goal setting and accountability, and provides an opportunity for writers to cheer each other on at any point in the process—be it planning, drafting, revising, and/or polishing. The event is hosted by Alison Miller, Jaime Morrow, Erin Funk, and Katy Upperman.
I’ll be checking in weekly to share my progress, and if you’re contemplating joining the fun, there’s still time! Full event details HERE.
How I did on last week’s goals
Revise at least 25% of SHUTDOWN — I revised 19k of the 76k manuscript, which comes out to exactly 25%. Go me!
Finish reading TIGER LILY — This retelling of Peter Pan destroyed me in the best way possible. It was beautiful and tragic and bittersweet and if you haven’t read it yet, you’re missing out.
My goals for this week
- Revise another 25% of SHUTDOWN
- Read another YA contemporary
A favorite line from my project OR a word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised
Here’s a snippet from SHUTDOWN, my speculative fiction ms set in a near future. (This ms is told in dual POVs, so this is Lola narrating):
Once, when I was younger, I had asked Dad why he loved my mother so much. We were eating breakfast, and Dad had simply said that they belonged together, that they melted into one. He held out the bread he was eating at that moment and said, “Like butter on toast.” I thought that was sort of magical until he hastily bit a giant chunk from the bread. But it became a thing, that saying. How badly do you want to read that new book? If we repaint the kitchen, do you think this color will work? Do you love your dear old Dad?
Like butter on toast.
The biggest challenge I faced this week
Motivation. I’m never as focused with self-imposed deadlines as I am with contract deadlines, and it’s been hard to buckle down with all the lovely summer weather. (Luckily, it’s pouring today, so maybe I’ll be super productive.)
Something I love about my WIP
The underlying themes. Fate vs chance. Free will vs Destiny. If ignorance truly is bliss…
I didn’t set out to discuss these topics when I first started drafting SHUTDOWN, but they’ve become the backbone of the story over time, and I sort of love that.
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That’s all I’ve got til next check-in. How was your week of writing/revising?
