Words & Wonders (32)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

Sorry about the late update! Completely slipped my mind, with Christmas and everything :)

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 4,006 words of PERSEYUA, my novel-in-verse and IT IS FINISHED!!! Please imagine me doing a very happy shuffle right now (my non-dancing version of a happy dance!) And since I'm so chuffed to be finished, here's an unedited snippet from the first draft:

- Planned several things I ought not to be planning

- Begun second drafting Wicked Song, a short story for release in an anthology next year.

In my life:

- Every time I read that little 'in my life' header my mind automatically goes 'there's been heartache and pain. I don't know if I can face it again...' Foreigner. Great song.

- I celebrated Christmas and it was EPIC.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- this post about the word when in showing vs telling
- this post on Amazon KDP + Smashwords

What have you written this week? And how was your Christmas/holidays???
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (31)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 15,755 words of PERSEYUA, my novel-in-verse. I'm AT THE END now, so it should be finished before long. By next week, fingers crossed.

- I'm in a planning mood, so I've plotted a bit more of my Fae HF and I've started fleshing out the plot of Ferocity, my spacey WIP-on-the-DL.

In my life:

- It's mostly Christmas prep and writing.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- Nada. Sorry, folks. Busy writing.

A book I've recently loved:

I love it so so so so so much. Incredible characters, insane emotions, and the species are written and imagined SO WELL. I will never stop raving about this book.

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (30)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 9,996 words of PERSEYUA, my novel-in-verse. I had a bad week so I haven't written as much as I'd like, but I have reached the end of another part of the book so that's something. Hopefully next week will be better.

- Planned my twelve volume Fae HF series. I absolutely should NOT be working on this, let alone plotting the stories and building the world, but when a story has taken root in my head there's little I can do... (It's still gonna be 3 years at least before anything is released in this series though - I need to prioritise finishing The Lux Guardians and The Legend Mirror!)

In my life:

- Stumbling through the month tbh. I'm excited for Christmas, and actually not too overwhelmed by everything there's left to do, but writing is going so slow lately and I want to be finished by the end of the year so it's STRESSING me out.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- This post on indie publishing by Emma L. Adams, which made me fee a fair deal better about my shitty sales :)

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (29)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 13,181 words of PERSEYUA, my Nanowrimo novel-in-verse, and I WON nano!! 50.2K written in November, my second best wordcount this year!

- I also started working on the first novella of a series of novels and novellas which won't be released for YEARS. But I love this series and these characters, and it's based on the first novel I ever wrote (all that remains of that long-ago first draft is the characters, and even some of those have changed in a big way.) All I can say is it's portal fantasy, features fae in a major way, and has twelve main characters. I'll refer to it as Fae HF, as I don't have, and won't have, a series title for a while.

In my life:

- Prepping for Christmas is so fun! I love doing crafts and wrapping presents and planning our menu!

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- Nothing I bookmarked unfortunately!

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (28)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 6,147 words of PERSEYUA, my Nanowrimo novel-in-verse. I had a bad week. I'm officially in the middle of this book though!!!! It's looking like it might be a little over my predicted word count but that's easily fixable, since I've rambled a lot in parts :)

In my life:

- I've had a very bad week, not just writing wise but health wise. Sleep is shitty, mood is shitty, and my eye is constantly twitching. If you have a trick to stop eyes twitching, TELL ME AND SAVE ME.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- Rise of The Gender Novel
- This whole twitter conversation on cis authors writing trans characters
- Love Lists, by Stephanie Perkins (this is a great idea and I'll 100% be doing this)
- Expanding Your Word Count
- This Isn't Complicated At All
(not writing advice but well worth the read for all involved in writing & publishing books)
- Opinion: Do We Honour Girls? (another must read)

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (27)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 15,352 words of PERSEYUA, my Nanowrimo novel-in-verse. And because I've only posted one snippet from this book, and it's been a loooooong while, here's an unedited stanza.

In my life:

- I've got to the part in my book where I'm slogging through a very deep bog that's made of quicksand instead of mud.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- Actions Speak Louder Than Dialogue Tags
- 3 Tips For Nanowrimo Success, An Agent's Perspective

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Writing Everyday, a post on perseverance.

I think this is probably my first real post about writing on WFS, possibly ever. Usually I'd chicken out before posting, since I'm not exactly the best authority on writing and very few people will be familiar with the books I've written, but what the heck - it's Nanowrimo, why not?

In the last 3 months I've written 130,000 words. A whole 130K, and I was pretty darn shocked when I looked back and made that calculation. I have been writing a lot, but I didn't think it was that much, and for a while I couldn't work out why. And then it clicked - that bit of writing advice I'd seen from dozen of authors, the one that says writing everyday is essential, is actually true. And to think I'd scorned it, because I'd been writing for the past few years and had never written more than 25K in a month. I thought it was the age old thing - one man's advice is another man's nightmare. I assumed it was just one of those things that only work for some people. Nope. Nu-uh.

The thing with writing everyday, I've found out, is it takes time. You can write everyday for a month (Nanowrimo, anyone?) and produce a tonne of words, and slack off and write only a couple thousand the next month. You have to keep up the writing everyday, week after week, month after month. Writing everyday is a HUGE commitment, but it really does, eventually, pay off. It's taken me months of full time, everyday writing for it to kick in and for the words to come at the rate all those writing advice posts promised.

I say I write every day ... but I do take a few days off. I've found if I force myself to write on days where it feels like pulling teeth it just doesn't happen at all. My mood suffers, my writing is horrendous, it all goes to crap. But overall, looking at the overview of the month, I write 80-90% of the time. Maybe three or four days off, but those other twenty seven days? Racking those up, month after month, really really works. It just takes time, for the routine to settle. Maybe at the beginning you'll write 200 words a day. Maybe by the end you'll write 5,000. I've gone from taking 5 or 6 months to write a 100K+ novel to taking half that time.

So keep at it. I bet at some point it'll all kick in for you too, and you'll look back and be like 'I wrote HOW many words?'

~Saruuh

(Keeping track of progress on a spreadsheet is pretty great for this, as it lets you see your progress at a glance. Maybe at some point I'll write a post about my spreadsheet set up!)

Words & Wonders (26)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 11,001 words of PERSEYUA, my Nanowrimo novel-in-verse. I've settled into writing this book now, but I still had a pretty crappy two days and got nothing done.

In my life:

- Tipping between feeling totally awesome and REALLY KINDA STRESSED about writing this book. I'm sure building my agents spreadsheet and writing queries and thinking too far ahead isn't helping.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- This post on voice by Kody Keplinger.
- This post on theme by Chuck Wendig. (which I 100% knew nothing about before reading this) (also warnings for swears and references to sexual acts.)

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (25)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

25th W&W!! Feels monumental.

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 11,543 words of PERSEYUA, my Nanowrimo novel-in-verse. It's is WAY slower to write free verse than prose, and it's taking me three times as long to write 1,000 words than usual, even accepting everything technical about it is going to be terrible D: (not great considering I want to write a full 50,000 this month!!!) But I love the characters and the story so I'm pushing on.

- Prepped my Ghastly story, now called Wicked Song, for second drafting.

- Prepped a story about selkies I wrote last year for second drafting + entirely replotted because it needs an complete, extensive rewrite.

In my life:

- I have no time to read blog posts and keep up with what everyone's been posting, which I'm sad about, but that's the price of writing a novel in two months.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- No time for reading blogs this week :(

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (24)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

Super link-heavy post this week. For writers looking for Nano resources scroll down!!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Continued plotting PERSEYUA, which is now ready for writing!! Bring on Nov 1st!

- Written 6,243 words of the demon girl short story I mentioned last week (in the anthology called Ghastly.) Hoping I won't have to leave this unfinished for months while working on Perseyua but I only have TODAY to finish it. Gah!

In my life:

- It's technically my week off but I'm pushing to finish a short story as well as planning PERSEYUA and reading a handful of books. I literally don't know the meaning of the words 'time off.'

On the internet, this week I found useful:
A BUNCH of stuff. Seriously, can you tell I have time to lurk on the internet again or what? Also, I'm actively seeking them out since I like to stuff my brain with advice from knowledgable folks when beginning a new book!

- 7 Lessons I've Learned, by Erin Bowman
- This amazing webinar about prepping a novel.
(Good advice for planning, plotting, & character building from Kami Garcia, Ellen Hopkins, Jonathan Mayberry, & Danielle Paige. It's technically for Nanowrimo but applies to all starting a new draft!)
- Barriers to Love, by Colleen Houck
- Kami Garcia's planning pinterest board, which is FULL of links
- 10 things to do before editing a first draft
- How to nail your novel pacing
- This 30 day author challenge. 
(I HAVE TO FIND TIME FOR THIS!! Looks uh-mazing. Maybe in January, with the new year?)
- Balancing Setting and Plot by Susan Dennard
- Sarah J. Maas and Susan Dennard on world building + books recs with fab world building
- Filter words 
(something I never realised I used until I read this post and was like ... oh ... yeah...)

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (23)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 6,932 words of POWERS (TLM3) AND IT'S FINISHED!!!! 125K words later... I estimate another summer release for this.

- Begun hastily plotting my next project (Hades/Persephone WIP) for real, instead of the mess of notes and ideas I had as of Monday. Its working title is now Queen of The Halfworld but that's probably gonna change at least 3 times so I'll just call it PERSEYUA, the name of the main character. (Pronounced per.say.wa.)

- Returned to a gothic short story anthology I've been writing on and off for a year called Ghastly. I've been reading halloween-y books so they've had an effect on my writing mood. Currently writing a story about a demon girl who gets kidnapped and carted off to heaven because of a grudge between her father and an angel. The love interest is gender fluid!

In my life:

- I'm feeling pretty darn accomplished. Finished the first POWERS draft, working on the short story, and discovered my Etsy shop was featured in a Cosmopolitan web article last year about Harry Potter Christmas gifts (it's the Gryffindor bracelet!)

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- Been busy busy and haven't had much time on the internets,

A book I've loved lately:

This week I actually have TWO books I've loved, The Casquette Girls, which is atmospheric and romantic and a gothic delight; and Blood Magic, another tense, heartfelt gothic YA that I felt in my bones. Loved both of them and recommend them v much!!

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (22)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 13,802 words of POWERS (TLM3)!!!! So damn close to being finished.

- Begun hastily plotting my next project (Hades/Persephone WIP) for real, instead of the mess of notes and ideas I had as of Monday. Its working title is now Queen of The Halfworld but that's probably gonna change at least 3 times.

In my life:

- I'm mostly stressed this week. Help.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- nothing? again? what?

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (21)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 18,823 words of POWERS (TLM3)!!!! That's a lot of words for me, and it's even better because I haven't got stressed or anxious and my health hasn't suffered for it like the last time I wrote this much :D

And since I fancied posting a quote, here's an unedited excerpt of POWERS:

Neither of us is exactly alright at the moment, and I don’t want to feel bad for indulging in something I want. I hold him close and I feel like I can protect him from anything—bear, Numen, horrifying pathway, whatever. Except I have no balance, zero hand-eye coordination, minimal skill with a weapon, and I tend to freeze or squeak or stare in terror when faced with something fearsome and intimidating. But I’d do it, without a doubt, for Ran.

Which is more terrifying than the idea of facing a bear.

“How is this making me feel better?” Ran asks, his fingers running through my hair. “Are you actually magic? Like, old school fairy tale magic?”

“Definitely. I’m your fairy godmother.”

“I knew it.”

In my life:

- Nothing to report, other than writing like mad.

- Oh, and I changed my Nanowrimo novel, which means I changed the novel I'm writing with a view to sending out on submission. (AND I think it'll be more difficult to sell than my other one would have been. BUT this is the book I love and want to write RN.)

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- Apparently nada. Huh. Weird.

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (20)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 8,262 words of POWERS (TLM3) I've finished Yasmin's POVs and now I'm onto the second.

In my life:

- I'm in a more do-y mood than write-y, which isn't great when I have a deadline at the end of the month!!!

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- Genre Jumping - Yes You Can, by Mindy McGinnis

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (19)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 17,028 words of POWERS (TLM3.) I'm happy with my output this week but I'm having to sacrifice a LOT to get there (reading time, happiness, sleep, physical and mental health, all those non-essential things.)

On the internet, this week I found useful:


- This post on writing action
- Relying on Old Tropes (+ ideas for subverting them!!)

In my life:

- I have about half as much time to read as I used to have, since I'm spending so much time writing, and it's making me pretty sad. I have so many books to read, and none of them are getting read.

A book I've loved lately:

Don't even get me started on how much angst this gave me. It was horrible, but I loved every minute of it. By far one of my favourite series of all time. Perfect, wonderful, torturous romance and a unique story I won't soon forget. I cried at least 3 times.

What have you written this week?

~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (18)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 12,057 words of POWERS (TLM3), and I'm pushing myself damn hard so I have time to finish this before moving onto my next project.

- Written a random 244 words of Siorai, my NA high fantasy.

- Chosen to postpone POWERS's release for a season so I can work on a book to send out on submission by next April. I hate to do it but I have to prioritize, and I really need to do this now if I'm going to write it at all. I hope you'll all understand and bear the wait.

In my life:

- Nothing much is happening beyond writing like mad and trying to make my mad schedule work.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- This interview with Sarah J. Maas, in which she talks about inspiration and her characters growing throughout a series.

A book I've loved lately:

It killed me but I loved every minute of it. Sarah J. Maas can never fail. (And Throne of Glass has been optioned for TV!!!! Aaaaahhhh. Please give me regular episodes of my darling Aelin.)

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (17)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 6,143 words of The Powers of Callaire, which I will refer to in the same vein as the other books (POWERS.) I hit a stumbling block at the beginning of the week but I think I've come over that now, so we should be back on for my finish date of Nov 1. (*is foolishly optimistic*)

In my life:

- I'm reading Queen of Shadows & it's KILLING me
- Art journalling and scrapbooking are my new thing. I'm in a craft phase right now.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- Elizabeth Bear's How To Title Your Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel or Series: A Tutorial in Three Parts

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (16)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

This is my fiftieth post on this blog!!! I'm celebrating by announcing the (definite, final, absolute) title of the next Legend Mirror novel!!

You might have seen this on the 'other books' pages in DRYAD and BEAST if you were looking closely. The title plays into the two different story arcs of this book, one that was hinted at in the first two books, which is Yasmin making a bargain with Pluto to find his lost power in return for Fray's life. While this is happening, the Red take on their own quest to find a group of powerful lost artefacts that might give them a defense against the Numina who want them dead. Fun, happy stuff :|

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 12,647 words. I think I've finally settled into this book now. Thank gods. 

In my life:

- I discovered the app Pacifica, which is really keeping my stress levels down. I like their soundscape, where I can listen to calming forest sounds for literal hours.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- Sleeping With The Enemy: Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone
- Moving Forward: Writing Smooth Transitions
 - Writing Emotional Wounds
- How To Write A Sequel That's Better Than The First Book

A Book I've Enjoyed Recently:

Awesome historical world, cool witchy concept, and heartfelt characters who I absolutely fell in love with. John has my heart, and the best thing is the romance between him and Elizabeth is the slow burn kind. I adore this book.

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (15)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

THE BEAST OF CALLAIRE is finally free on Amazon. Find links on the sidebar! If you've been looking for a YA fantasy inclusive of POC and queer characters, grab a copy and read it.

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Gotten into a sort of slump with TLM3, which I'm forcing my way through. I don't want to get stalled and not write anything for a month or three (like I did with The Wandering...) and now I think I've avoided that. Here's hoping, anyway. I want to keep to my schedule and get this book out at the very beginning of next year, with The Revelation and another (YA fantasy stand alone) book making up the rest of my 2016 plan.

- Written 2,923 words. Disappointing word count again, but at least it's some words - my mood and productivity has been so low that I almost ground to a halt.

In my life:

- I got a TONNE of craft supplies for my birthday so I'm making cards and art journalling a lot lately.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- Weapenry, a publisher of nonfiction who write helpful books for indie authors (and, I'd say, all authors!) I/m looking to get both their books when the next one comes out.
- Cheap villain killin'
- Tangents and Subplots, by Jami Gold
- 5 Tips For Making Any Scene In Your Novel More Tense by Martina Boone

A Book I've Enjoyed Recently:

Awesome historical world, cool witchy concept, and heartfelt characters who I absolutely fell in love with. John has my heart, and the best thing is the romance between him and Elizabeth is the slow burn kind. I adore this book.
You can find my full review over at Syntax Reviews.

What have you written this week?
~Saruuh

Words & Wonders (14)

Welcome to Words & Wonders, a weekly journal of writing updates, links I've found useful or interesting, and book recommendations. I hope W&W will prove to be useful to you writers out there as well as offering an insight into my writing progress for my readers. Don't forget to leave a comment with your own writing progress!

In the Writing Cave, this week I have:

- Written 2,588 words. I'm failing at this writing thing this month, and I'm pretty annoyed about it. I'll just have to make myself write a lot more in the next few weeks and hope I output more words. :/

In my life:

- My fourth novel released this week. I should feel pretty darn accomplished but I keep thinking about how little I've done for my next book :(

- It's my birthday tomorrow!!! I've gonna have the biggest haul of books, get caught up on some awesome new releases, and go to Scarborough for a 2-day trip. I'm hella excited.

On the internet, this week I found useful:

- Nothing. Sorry, folks. I've been really counterproductive this week.

What have you written this week? Hopefully more than me!!
~Saruuh