Maybe a little too ambitious, but we'll see...

I currently have 7 of my favorite books listed below that together, make up my Project: Better Writing in Fiction.  I have not mentioned this project before because I just thought about doing this late last night and decided to get started right away.  (This is how most of my ideas come to me.  Late at night.  And I just go with them.)

My goal is to devour each book, one chapter at a time, and keep all of the info in one place.  Basically, I'll be outlining my favorite ideas into one notebook that I'll be able to refer back to during my writing career. 

I'm going to be an objective pessimist here and say that while this will take forEVER, I will emerge from these 7 dusty books (actually, they're not dusty at all) with an expanded knowledge-base of the fiction writing process. 

You'll find the books listed below, but if you're interested in doing this project yourself, please don't think you need to be confined to the books I choose.  You don't even have to do 7 of them.  But I encourage you to take notes while you read.  It really will help you in the long run. 

Note:  I will not be posting my notes on here because although I strive to write them in my own words, I do not wish to rehash everything these authors have worked really hard to share with the writing community.  I may occasionally expand on an idea here, on this blog, but if I do, I will cite the author and book accordingly. 

The books:
The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell
Conflict & Suspense by James Scott Bell
Characters, Emotion, and Viewpoint by Nancy Kress
Description and Setting by Ron Rozelle
Dialogue by Gloria Kempton
Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell
Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell

As I am reading these books, I am coming across other recommended authors and writing books to pick up.  I am highlighting all of these in my notes to check out at a later time.

If you have any books/authors you recommend I check out, please comment below.  I'm always open to looking at new writing books.

Spring quarter starts in about a week.  Until then, I'm on break, so I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished.  Since I'll be taking 20 credit hours once school starts up again, I will likely be scarce on this blog.  =(  But I will do my best to drop in from time to time.  Last night, it took me about 90 minutes to get through the first chapter of each of the 7 books I listed above, taking notes.  Depending on my homework-load while in school, I may not have time to do this each week, but I will make it my goal to do at least a chapter of each book each week.  That shouldn't be impossible (fingers crossed).

I hope you will take up some form of a commitment to your writing as well, if you haven't already.  Feel free to share your ideas and exercises on here any time!

Thank you for reading! ;)

Organization in Writing

Well, this will be embarrassing... I have not afforded the time for my story, and so, the examples for organization are going to look a bit empty.  I guess taking the Creative Writing classes that I'm taking are making me drag a bit on my own, personal stories.  (And I'm not allowed to submit chapters of my story for class until the entire project is at least 100 pages...  It's only 40).

All the same, I'm going to show you a couple of methods I use to keep myself organized while writing.  One, I've been using for several months.  The other, I just started implementing last month (you'll see what I mean).

I hope this helps!

 The first is an Excel Spreadsheet that helps me keep track of the number of words I am logging each day.  The days are down the left-hand side and color-coded (not just because it's pretty, but also because it helps me read it... and yea, it's pretty ;)).  I have "Goals" down the right-hand side.  Since I'm not sure when I have the most time to write, I want a daily log.  Also, with weekly goals, I can skip a day now and again and not feel so down about it.  (But, I've skipped about 14 days now, so I need to get re-motivated...)
Check out James Scott Bell's advice:  "Write every day."
(From YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8ixZJzrkZ2g)




  This next tool for organization is using Microsoft One Note, which is normally used by college students for taking notes in class.  I really love how I can personalize it for the type of notes I need to take.  In writing, I use it to quickly jot down ideas in an outline, or to just throw up different ideas in a "Random bits" section.  Everything stays together and organized, and I have each chapter at my fingertips.  I have goals for each chapter and then an "End of Chapter Notes" section where I put info on how this chapter leads into the next chapter and why it's important in the Big Picture. 

My best advice for organization is to try to find ways to simplify all of your scattered notes and ideas.  Getting everything in one spot is very important for those times when you just want to write.  You won't be wondering where everything is, or what happened to that one great idea you had but forgot to write down.

Feel free to share your own tips in the Comments section!

Random bits!

 I've decided to make these Random Bits my new goal on this blog.  Basically, I'll just be sharing information I come across online, or through school, that is helpful in the writing process.

Anyone is welcome to comment or add to the discussion. 

I feel that although I am not an established author, I am an established reader, and I know what I enjoy reading.  So, if you're out there and thinking that you have an idea, but you're not an "expert" on the topic, share it anyway!  One of the best ways to learn something is through experience, and you can't experience something by keeping it tucked away. 

My first topic will be Writing Organization.  It's a wonderful topic to begin with because I have found that when I become disorganized in my writing, I stop writing. 

I'll share a few tactics that I use in order to keep things together, and of course, if anyone has anything else to add, you can do so in the Comments =). 

I will also list the upcoming topics on my blog, so you can come back when a topic of interest is going to be posted, and if you have any suggestions on upcoming topics, please let me know. 

See in you in the next post!

Nadia

Book Blogging

I have decided to become a Book Blogger (Book Reviewer) in order to understand the plight of people who review books ;).

I am still working on my own novel, but I love the functional distraction of reading works by other aspiring authors, so Book Blogging, here I come!

So far, I am signing up at www.booksneeze.com and www.bethanyhouse.com.  I'm not sure if I'm guaranteed to be considered a Book Blogger upon signing up, or if I need to have a certain amount of followers on my blog...  Seeing as I don't have any followers yet, that may pose a problem =/.

Regardless, I will offer my services to the various people I've encountered in life and on Twitter in order to review books.

I must go for now... (Homework is calling me...)

Nadia