Wow...this is my 100th post here on this blog. That's really sort of outstanding. I started this blog in February 2012, to try and start getting into the habit of blogging, both about books I've read and my own writing projects. My hope has always been that someday I'll have books published and this will be an easy place to keep readers up to date on what is going on. Of course, I also have my Twitter account, Facebook profile, and Google+ account, so I think I'm fairly accessible.
Anyway, the idea for today's post comes from one of my writer friends. I was trying to figure out what to blog about today, because I've spent a lot of time talking about Project Death: Resurrection while I'm working through the editing progress, and I am also waiting until next week to further discuss Souls Unknowing, which is to be my project for Camp NaNoWriMo. My friend, who I've called Owl since shortly after meeting her in university, asked me if I had discussed CPs yet. No, but I will remedy that now.
There are so many who think of writing as a lonely solitary pursuit, but in my experience that is so far from the truth. Writing has introduced me to some of my absolute best friends, and they all help with my writing process in different ways. I am one of the MLs for my NaNoWriMo region. What that means is that I schedule gatherings so we can hang out, write, or both. My region felt that just hanging out in November wasn't enough, so we've formed a year-round gathering of nerds, which is awesome. One of the members of our group is not a writer, per se, but I tell you what, she is always there to listen if you are having issues, and ...this is a little scary, but she is really good at concocting torture and death scenes. She is a sounding board, and sometimes you really just need to explain what you are trying to do in order to see what will work and what will end in disaster.
My next big help in the writing process comes from so many different people, and that is participating in a Word War. Basically, two people (or a group...really there are no rules) set a time limit and see how many words you can write within that time. Now, it isn't meant to be a competition, but instead a way to help boost your word count. However, I am a competitive person by nature. It doesn't matter though because Word Wars really do help me write without thinking. It's like a 15 or 30 minute session of NaNoWriMo. Most of the time I find that I can pound out roughly 1,000-1,200 words in a half-hour, and by doing a few Word Wars in a day, I have found that I can push through most blocks and issues I have with my characters and plot.
Then there are the people who help after the first draft has been finished: Betas and CPs. They can be the same people or different ones, and you can have one or two up to a larger group, depending on what sort of response you are after. I myself have 3 different people who I would consider to be my Beta/CPs. Oh, for those who don't know, CP = Critique Partner. The way I look at the difference is that Critique Partners are the people you go to for the nitty-gritty details: grammar, characterization, plot holes, etc. They will look through everything with a critical eye in the hopes of making your story the best it can be. Betas I see more as people looking over the manuscript in a broad sense, making sure that things flow and make sense. I almost see them as my first reviewers, the ones who see what I'm working on after I've tortured myself over dialogue and wording and all the details. Of course these people are also my cheerleaders, the ones I talk to whenever I'm having a block or another issue with my story and it usually helps me clear up whatever is going wrong.
My friend who has been my Beta/CP the longest (I'm talking since high school) is also the one who regularly gives me a kick in the pants when I start to procrastinate on a story, and I am extremely grateful for that.
I know my friends want to see me achieve my goals, and so I'm extremely glad to have their opinions about what works and what doesn't in my stories. They also help me when I'm torturing myself about book cover designs and back cover blurbs.
Update: Project Death: Resurrection is improving daily and I hope to have my editing done by the end of the month. I hope to be able to have publication details up in the next month or two.
Also, next week I will be writing up my Introduction to Souls Unknowing post, just in time for the start of Camp NaNoWriMo session #1. It's going to be a blast.
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