What's Up Wednesday (#4)

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with our blog friends and let them know what's up. Should you wish to join us, you will find the link widget at the bottom of Jaime or Erin's blog.


What I'm Reading


I've actually done quite a bit of reading lately. I finished ORIGIN (finally!). I also read THE MAZE RUNNER, finished reading my CPs manuscript, and then I started THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson. Of course, THE ONE by Kiera Cass came out yesterday, so I had to read that. Now I'm back into THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS.


What I'm Writing

I'm back at revising with a vengeance. I'm outlining chapter revisions and then writing them as I go. Even as I'm revising, I can see ways to tighten my previous revisions, but I'm not acting on those impulses yet. I'm going to go through this first round and see how that goes.


What Inspires Me Right Now

Last weekend, I went to the DFW Writers' Conference. It was amazing, overwhelming, and very inspiring - specifically the keynote speech by Jonathan Maberry and the closing comments by Donald Maass.

I wish I could remember everything that Jonathan Maberry said. It was THAT good. There are a couple of nuggets I did take away that really resonated with me though. First, he said that first drafts always suck. Period. He encouraged us to embrace the bad as part of the process. Basically, embrace the suckitude of the first draft because really, it can only get better from there. He even gave some great examples. I believe he said he read the first draft of one of Stephen King's novels and told us promptly afterward that it sucked. The second thing he said that I found really important was, "Put a value on your writing and your writing time." I think that's really important because I know I don't do it. For him, it was a monetary value. Each day he met his goal, he put money into a jar or an account, and regardless of whether bills were paid or not, that money was only to be used for fun. His philosophy behind that was that writing was a job, and if he got paid for a corporate job, then he was going to get paid for writing (even if he paid himself). And that money could only be used for fun. That was the stipulation. I thought that was really cool, and it challenged me to think of ways I could attach a value to my writing.

Donald Maass's speech nearly had me in tears. I remember sitting there, most likely with a goofy grin on my face, listening raptly as he spoke about his views of the industry. That man is BRILLIANT! He really knows his stuff. In one story he shared, he told us about a conversation he had with his wife one morning during the conference. She called him to tell him that their son had read his first picture book while he was away. And he asked us all, "What kinds of books are you going to write for my son as he gets older?" Cue the waterworks. Of course I thought about my own son, and what I wanted to write for him as he grew up.

So yeah, it was a pretty inspiring weekend.


What Else I've Been Up To

DFW Con last weekend, closing out soccer this week. I'm planning a couple of parties - my own birthday party and a friend's daughter's graduation party. Other than that, it's been writing, writing, writing.

Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to see what you've been up to. :)

Ciao kittens!