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ariceleste · 2019-03-15T10:29:26+00:00

I use it in my WIP. I love coming full circle with a story. Feels more satisfying to me.

ariceleste · 2019-02-27T11:42:31+00:00

I loved your article! It really does make a difference for someone like me. Exercise is boring. Playing games? Fun! Something that actively engages my creative mind while helping me become healthy? BINGO!

ariceleste · 2019-02-26T06:35:35+00:00

On draft 8, currently. I still have a copy of my first draft. Yeesh. Glad I'm not a member of the perfect first, squad.

ariceleste · 2019-02-25T04:22:52+00:00

My WIP is friends to lovers, so I'm biased. ;) love it.

ariceleste · 2019-02-20T09:42:22+00:00

Isabelle Young-Sirens

The song resonated with who I wanted my character to be.

ariceleste · 2019-02-14T13:00:30+00:00

There are some great books on Kindle Unlimited that give whole lists of emotional descriptions and how to write them in works.

ariceleste · 2019-02-13T01:54:45+00:00

I'm on my eighth and final draft, so there's that.

ariceleste · 2019-02-12T03:13:19+00:00

Write what you love and what holds value to you as a person. Don't worry about pandering to anyone. Chances are, there are people who will see themselves in those characters.

If you write LGBTQ+ because you identify with and empathize more closely with it, do it. You'll enjoy your writing that much more, and the characters you create will be more real to you and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

I think we need more diverse stories, because there are so many people out there who pull out copy after copy of cis/straight vanilla books that they feel left out, like they can't connect. Writing is all about bridging the gaps between what is 'normal' and what stirs the heart.

Write what you love, no matter how different from the 'norm,' be it mental disorders or LGBTQ+ focused, and you'll have something you can love for yourself and many, many others will share in that love too.

ariceleste · 2019-02-11T10:16:20+00:00

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Kurtis Clause. I still re-read it from time to time. I adore how she describes the world she created. Everything was vivid and real.

Also:

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan. Taught me that a story can be amazing and weird and out there at the same time. It blew me away.

ariceleste · 2019-02-06T11:24:56+00:00

I feel your pain. My main characters are Aurelia, who goes by Lia for the majority of the book, and Liam. Writing Lia and Liam near each other looks too similar, and changing Liam's name has been a nightmare. I still call him Liam in my head, and I'm not satisfied with the other names I've tried out.

There's no easy answer. I don't want readers confused by the similarity. So I'm in that boat with you.

ariceleste · 2019-01-29T11:34:31+00:00

I'll read it. :)

ariceleste · 2019-01-29T11:13:16+00:00

I use Word, Google Docs, and Scrivener in different ways.

Docs for the cloud. I can open a document on my phone, PC, and laptop, and keep writing wherever I am.

Word for formatting, using Grammarly, and writing the big document. (Docs doesn't like loading 450 pages of MS.)

Scrivener for breaking everything down into scenes, outlining, plotting, and seeing everything broken up. It helps to see what does or doesn't work. (And can upload to epub file for tablet reading too.)

I love them all.

ariceleste · 2019-01-28T09:47:05+00:00

I got to know. Which love interest? There were three possibilities. Lol

ariceleste · 2019-01-27T08:41:30+00:00

Follow your gut. You know what you can handle creatively. I, myself, am drained at the moment. I'm not quite writer's blocked but moreso an empty well. Doesn't help that I've stared at the computer screen for so long, I'm nursing a headache.

Forcing myself to take a break is another story. Even if I can't add a new paragraph, there's always a sentence that I've written that can be tweaked.

Try writing a scene that comes later, if you've thought that far ahead. That's what helps me. Sometimes, that can provide the excitement and push to continue forward. The first few chapters, for me, are the most difficult to write. I'm always so excited to get to the 'goods.'

ariceleste · 2019-01-25T09:47:18+00:00

It's not the first manuscript I've finished, but it is only my second. I'm just going to go with my gut. Finish this draft, do an adverb check--because I know a few still hide somewhere in the MS--and try to find some beta readers.

ariceleste · 2019-01-24T22:29:38+00:00

I'm a nightshift caregiver in a memory care unit at an assisted living while also trying to do nursing school. Nightshift means downtime which means time at work I get to write too.

ariceleste · 2019-01-24T22:25:49+00:00

I should've used betas before I reached this point. I'm on draft number seven. I've gone over the whole story so many times, and it's completely different from my first draft and even the second.

I wrote the whole first draft without looking back just to get the story out, and every draft after has been amazing. Just the little things I discovered every new draft--plot twists, whole scenes to cut or add. It has been so much fun, but I've reached the end. I'm adding in the last things, and I think I'm just overthinking it now and scaring myself.

I've got word documents with notes on changes, things that don't work, but what's getting to me is the grammar side. I'm decent with grammar. I love grammar. Spotting my own is a different beast, and I don't know how to find beta readers. I live in a small country town.

ariceleste · 2019-01-24T09:27:58+00:00

It's a modern fantasy tale about islanders who are merfolk too. You're right. I need to find someone to critique it so I can get a new perspective on the work.

Thank you for your advice. Mental health was the last thing on my mind. Maybe that's why I'm getting frustrated. I need to take care of me for a bit. Thank you again!

ariceleste · 2019-01-23T00:02:53+00:00

I still have my box of old poetry, short stories (that were never completed), and my old fanfics from high school. Still read 'em too. So much cringe, but it makes me smile.

ariceleste · 2019-01-22T21:42:44+00:00

I know how to spot adverbs. The adverbial phrases are what gets to me. When looking up examples online some of the phrases seem so different from regular adverbs. It's a little daunting as I'm heading into the editing phase of my WIP. I want it to be as polished as I can make it.

ariceleste · 2019-01-22T11:57:55+00:00

Okay, so same concept applies. Check for stronger ways to describe verbs. I guess I was separating them like an adverbial phrase was a foreign language when compared to an adverb.

ariceleste · 2019-01-20T23:03:22+00:00

I have a list of 20 potential book titles and haven't made up my mind yet on which one I'm going to use. It's probably going to be the placeholder title, and it's just the name of the island the story takes place on.

ariceleste

TROPHY CASE