the carozy pages

[carozy]

I've learned so much from this forum, MJ's book, and the writer threads here, so first I want to thank all you helpful writers who answer questions and post helpful links. I've been a lurker for a while and I've realized it's time to take more action and get started on my own writing journey. I plan to use this journal to keep me on track.

My Progress So Far

At the beginning of the year, I was in credit card debt to the tune of over $10K. This debt was from living for a little over a year with low to no employment and not being good with money. Around April I moved in with my parents to get a handle on my debt. I also changed my habits during that time and started throwing a lot of money at my debt. On July 18th, I paid off the last of my debt. Yay! Now I am saving up for my emergency fund and a laptop for writing.

Over the weekend I took a free online course with YNAB (You Need a Budget software program) and I won their software! So I am now able to see my budget regularly, and keep track of expenditures, which will really help keep me accountable toward my savings goals.

Lenovo Laptop

I am going to buy a Lenovo laptop which I plan to use for my writing. I want to put Scrivener on it. I'm really excited about this because I envision carrying it around and getting a lot of writing in. I have a netbook but unfortunately it bit the dust and freezes regularly now. I've decided to go with the following for whichever laptop I get in the future:

Intel i7 Processor (so it will be very fast)
at least 8 GB RAM
750 GB - 1TB hard drive
Photoshop or Photoshop Elements on it (so I can at least attempt my own covers)

I also have a mini mac but occasionally it gets slow due to memory issues. I plan to get the Lenovo once I've saved up for it and researched exactly which one I want, so probably in a month or two.

My Plan

My plan is to use my mini mac and notebooks to organize my ideas and create an outline for my next novel, and once I have the Lenovo, start writing it. I wrote a novel in 2012 for Nanowrimo which I consider practice. I have been concentrating on trying to learn more about craft and I can see flaws in my first novel that I wasn't aware of when I wrote it. For instance, I come from more of a script-writing background and I tend to lose the narration/character insight when I write dialogue. Another thing I am still learning is POV. I took a good character creation class by one of my favorite authors and she opened my eyes to POV and head-hopping. So for my next novel, I want to watch that.

Another thing I am doing is trying to read more novels. I am generally picky and like either gripping stories or a certain genre that I plan to write in. Unfortunately in that genre there is a lot of boring, wordy, or otherwise bad writing. OK, maybe not a lot, because there's also a lot of good writing in that genre. Anyway, I think it spells opportunity. I want my writing to be good. I know one thing that keeps me reading, that I have read about in my writing books also, is the idea that the writer keeps questions going in the reader's head, so the reader is always wondering what happens next. That is also something I want to work on, and I think that will come through if I am diligent in the outline stage of my novel.

This has gotten a bit long. I am going to buy a notebook today and use it to jot down ideas for characters, stories, names, etc. That is my first baby step toward getting more writing into my life. I will concentrate on idea-creation for the time being. Try to cut my inner critic out and let my muse free.

Happy writing everyone!

 

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[carozy]

I purchased my Lenovo today. Last day of their back to school sale and I feel I got a good deal. So now I'm waiting for my laptop to arrive.

I jotted down some favorite names for characters. I've been reading some of my favorite books to deconstruct them and figure out why I like them. I am trying to keep my eyes/ears open for ideas also.

 

[carozy]

I found some good writing books that I just bought for my Kindle. I'm going to study and use them while I wait for my Lenovo. I am also finishing up two novels in my genre. They are both very good, great writing and interesting plots and characters.

My Lenovo still hasn't shipped so I'm thinking I'll get it toward the end of the month, or maybe the start of next month. So I have some time and quite a lot to keep me busy now in the mean time.

 

[carozy]

Since I last wrote I received an email from Lenovo saying that they were sorry but they were out of stock and no longer manufacturing my laptop. I was disappointed at first but now I consider it a blessing. I cancelled my order (I had a choice to re-order a comparable laptop) and instead I ordered a 13" Macbook Air from Apple. I'm waiting for that to arrive and I'm pretty excited about it. I bike a lot and lugging a 2.? lb Macbook Air around will be a lot easier than lugging a 5.? lb Lenovo. I think it'll help with my writing to have the Macbook Air on me most of the time.

I have been reading www.novel-writing-help.com to learn more about what goes into a novel. I think I need to work on characters. I have some ideas for my main character but I haven't picked her occupation yet. I am a little scared of picking an occupation that's exciting to me but that I know little about. So I'll probably pick something that's more on the mundane side, but that I know more of. I have her name and an image of her in my head, and some other attributes for her. I think I should draw up a character profile and get a bit more concrete about her personality, goals, motivation, and conflict, occupation, etc. I do think I will set the book in the modern time and where I live now, the SF Bay Area, since I know the area so well. I want to pick out the other main character, her romantic interest, and start putting together her attributes, etc. Then I want there to be a good external conflict between the two character's main goals. Which would make it more interesting and probably give me more fodder for writing. I have a structure that I'm working from that I learned from one of my favorite authors, when I took a class about creating unforgettable characters from her. The rest I am picking up from writing books and websites.

I feel I am still a beginner and I want to practice being really easy on myself so I'll celebrate whatever little progress I make toward my novel. I'm not telling anyone in my life that I'm planning on writing or when I start writing, that I am writing. Less pressure.

I thought of a short story idea (or maybe it could be expanded to a longer novella) when I was dozing recently. I woke right up and wrote it down in my notebook. Unfortunately it has nothing to do with the genre I want to write in, but I found it interesting anyways, and maybe I'll write it out someday.

That is about the extent of my progress.

Happy writing!

 

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[MayaMagpie]

You will love your MacBook. I switched last year and never looked back - It's just awesome, and so thin and light. Good on ya!

 

[carozy]

Thanks MayaMagpie! I'm super excited because my Macbook Air is ready for me to pick up today! Also, a friend of mine had surgery today and it has gone well, and another friend had her baby today! What a day!

I'm also taking a POV class which started today, from the same author that offered the unforgettable characters class. I am in the middle of another novel too.

I have not made too much progress on developing my main character, but I have been thinking about her a lot. I am in the thinking stage of writing.

 

[chrischapman]

good job paying back your debt.

 

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[carozy]

Thanks ChrisChapman!

Boy, they are right, I love this Macbook Air. I'm still learning it but I couldn't be happier!

There is a free webinar to learn how to use Scrivener quickly. This Thursday, August 28th at 4pm EST. I plan to take a late lunch that day, bring my Macbook Air, and do the webinar at a cafe around the corner from my work.

All the info and registration stuff is here: https://learnscrivenerfast.leadpages.net/k-m-weiland-webinar/

It's put on my Kim Weiland, who wrote an outlining book, and someone else I don't know.

I have used Scrivener a little bit but definitely could do to learn how to really take advantage of all it offers. I used Celtx for my first novel, which was fine, but Scrivener does more. I'm really looking forward to this and hopefully I'll learn a lot.

 

[carozy]

Hello again. Here's an update.

~ the POV class is pretty difficult, but I'm enjoying it. It's really opened my eyes about what makes smooth writing shifts when you change POV in the middle of a chapter, and how to avoid confusing the reader. Also, how to decide whose POV to be in is a whole 'nother ball of wax. I have learned some nifty tricks for getting deeper into a character's POV in a non-jarring way. For my genre I most likely will be writing in third-person limited.

~ LisaK recommended a Great Courses course called Great Sentences. I investigated and it looks like it would teach some awesome stuff for writers, so I went out and bought an ipod nano just for the course. (I slept on my old one and broke it a few years ago and have been meaning to replace it for quite a while.) I haven't had the chance to begin listening to the course but plan to when I walk for my commute to work (as opposed to bicycle). It's an hour walk so a good time to study. Might be able to fit in a walk this weekend and listen to some of it.

~ I also have a book called Immediate Fiction which I'm going to use to self-study writing. It has writing exercises so at least I'll begin actual writing soon.

~ I have gotten a little further in developing my two main characters. Still have not decided on an occupation for my hero, but I think I've got the occupation for the other one. I have some ideas now for the occupation for the hero. I'm just calling her hero, that's how I think of her. I decided that I'll just pick what most excites me and try to do enough research so the book works well. I've heard reading first-hand accounts of people in the occupation is a good way to research a career or profession. I hope so. I'd really like to write about someone who's really smart with a demanding job, and I want to write it believably.

~ I hope to have an outline complete in time to start writing in November for Nanowrimo. I know I can write off an outline just fine, as I've done that in the past, but creating the outline and all the prep work for the novel is the harder work for me.

~ I'm going to start focusing on both of my main character's (conflicting) goals to give myself direction for the work. I don't know where to begin with that honestly though. Gotta work on the character profiles some more to start I guess. My POV teacher in the character class said this part is what's really hard. How do all these other writers on here do it?

 

[carozy]

Made some progress. I bought a book that I'm going to use as research for one of my character's professions. It should be interesting and I'm waiting for it to arrive so I can delve into it. Also, I wrote a first scene. I might scrap it later but it felt good to write after so long. It's short but at least I did something! It reminded me that, yes, I do enjoy writing. It's just easier when I'm already all planned-up and roaring to go.

I am still working on the character profiles. I have some attributes, professions, and a general sense of where the story might go, but nothing feels very "deep" yet. I think it'll help to read the book I ordered. Too bad it wasn't available for Kindle. It was also pricey, but I used my Discover card reward cash to buy it, so there.

The POV class continues to be hard, but I'm enjoying it. The teacher recommended a good book for POV called The Power of POV by Alicia Rasley. I have started reading it and can also recommend it.

I also found another showing vs. telling book called Mastering Showing and Telling in Your Fiction by Marcy Kennedy. I like this book also. It gives examples and spells things out concisely, including exercises to use with your WIP.

My goal now is to work more on the characters so that I understand them at a deep level. I need to work on some basic but important things, like their goals, conflicts, and motivations.

 

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[COSenior]

Have you done any writing at all? Admittedly, I skimmed the thread, so I could have missed it. The best way to learn to write is to practice writing. Speaking strictly for myself, I've read a few how-to books, and it's improved my writing, but I could never remember everything in all of them. I write, put it out there, and then read. I pick one, at most two, aspects to improve upon after I've established the habits of the last improvements. Yes, it means my early work now embarrasses me, but it's earning money and I'm improving as I go. Unless you're planning to write a literary novel, I'd highly recommend you just start writing.

 

[carozy]

Thanks for your input and I do think you make a good point. I guess I am skittish because of my first novel. The character class and POV class I'm in now I feel are helping me, and I also want to improve on my telling vs. showing problem. I think I have the perfectionist problem of not wanting my next work to be bad (or, at least, not as bad as my first), and that is causing me to write slowly. Also, I'm working on what exactly to write. I have a general idea and the book I ordered for research arrived, so I'm reading that. I am fine with waiting until November to start writing though (for Nanowrimo). This gives me time to finish the class, finish the research book, and work on an outline. As I've said before, I can write off an outline and did that even for my first novel (albeit it was written at the same time I wrote the novel). I also wrote a puppet show in college off an outline and that worked out well.

So far I have written the opening scene and some free writes for the characters. As I know more about the characters and stories I'll be able to write more out. Until then, I'll continue the POV class and finish up the writing books I have.

But thank you. I do appreciate the "kick in the butt" as I know I need it!

 

[carozy]

I joined a writing meet up called Shut Up and Write. It's definitely helping me to get writing. My schedule's been kinda crazy lately but I'm going to try to make some more meet ups soon. The research book is very interesting too.

 

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[LightHouse]

I just happened across this thread, but you are living an event. Your entire thread here is about buying a laptop as if that will magically make you a writer. Buying a laptop is easy, and in reality, the old laptops you had would work just fine just using a word processor, or even forgoing the laptop period and writing on paper.

If you want to actually write and finish a book, write for a minimum of 1 hour a day, everyday. Do not break the chain by skipping a day. If you don't want to be a real writer and just want to dream about it, i guess just keep talking about laptops.... because everything in this thread is borderline worthless to your pursuit of success in writing.

 

[carozy]

Good advice. I write well in the Shut Up and Write group.

I went to a presentation today by 3 indie authors. It was interesting and gave me some ideas for promotion and publishing, once I get to that point.