I needed this

I'm loving the "Pay it Forward Week" going on across the writer blog community this week. And I seriously love what Kiersten White says about editing, I needed that today. Seriously. You can see what she says Here.

I also cannot wait for Kiersten's book Paranormalcy to come out!

A friend brought me a book to read today, The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I'm very much looking forward to reading this one. The awesome Gatekeeper recommended it highly. I will give a full review once I am done devouring it. That may take a few days, considering I'm back in the editing trenches.

The re re edition

I'm hard at work editing my novel, for the umpteen gabillionth time. That's right, I had to make up a word to express the number of edits I've done. Truth is, I don't think I'll ever "be done" editing. I thought I was, until I joined another critique group. I'm glad I got their feedback, but man! I thought it was ready to go, obviously wrong. So, I sent it to my sister, to get an outside perspective, and told her, "I've re re re re re re re re edited, please read it and tell me what you think." Therefore, today we have the re re edition blog post to celebrate editing.
Yuck. I do have an excellent recommendation for that manuscript you're cleaving to so desperately. A book called The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman. All that random advice you see on blogs, agent websites, Twitter, and everywhere else is compiled and expounded on in this book. Seriously helped me to understand everything I was reading. It even has exercises at the end of each chapter. I know you're thinking, "But Holly, it's only the first five pages." You're right, that is what it focuses on, but you can apply every lesson to all parts of your MS. So go read it, now!

Pure Exhiliration

You know that feeling you get sometimes when you just know you've done something great? I'm there this morning, and it has me bouncing off the walls. No, not literally, they may call the men with the white coats if I did that at work.

My muse has struck once again, bless her. A new concept, a new book, another first chapter done. It feels SO GOOD!

Like this...
Hehe, he's pretty excited.

The Time to Write

With a toddler underfoot, a full time job, and no husband to help out I'm often left with the feeling of- well, where do I fit into the schedule? I'm sure most moms, even with lovely helpful husbands can relate to that feeling.

Truth is, it's hard as a mom to find any time to yourself, much less time enough to write a novel! Shoot, sometimes just a shower is a struggle! I know, I've been there.

The answer, you may not like. You just have to make time. I write on my lunch break and at night after my son is asleep. Those are the only times in the day I can really focus on my words. On weekends, I look forward to nap time because I know I'll get at least an hour if not two of undisturbed peace. Aaaaah, the sweet silence. That never inspires me. Eh, the muse likes the noise.

I write best in public, and places that are noisy. So, everywhere I go I carry a little notepad and pen. I even have my notepad in the bathroom while my little guy splashes merrily in the tub. It never fails to make me think of some crazy idea to move my story further.

All that being said, a goal can be the best way to keep momentum going. With my first novel I set a goal, I wanted to have the entire book written by March 2010. I'm an overachiever, I had it finished by early February. Rock on!

My goal for the project I've just started is five pages a day. I know that seems like nothing, but when you're faced with the challenges of motherhood on top of writing brilliantly...it's enough. And I don't want to set a goal so high I'll never meet it...I don't do failure. Like, at all.

What are your goals for your work in progress?