Amazing!!!

So I have heard time and time again that many authors write better with music. At first I wrote with no music. Then I started listening to Ben Folds, now I LOVE Ben Folds. Apparently though, I write much better while listening to Bernadette Peters, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra. Go figures.

Love all of them and am very excited that they are my muses.

-MJ

Good times

So I am a big Ben Folds fan, handed down from my brother. My brother is going to two or three concerts of his this week and my husband and I hope to go to one on the 21st. He has a song called Effington, IL and my parents are currently traveling across the country in a van. They left CT yesterday morning and just stopped for some sleep in Effingham, IL. Both my Brother and I got huge laughs out of this.
Took my cat Bunsen to the vet. Oh my goodness. I think I should start writing more about him on here, because honestly he is more interesting then me talking about my writing. Haha. Long story short, he is fine, but he left half of his fur on my shirt and ripped a hole right on the left boob. It was interesting walking out of the store! (He tends to try and climb onto your head at the vet's office.)
Happy 4th of July! My Hubby is working till noon or so today and then I think we are just BBQ-ing for ourselves and then joining friends for fireworks.
As of right now I am writing: 23,760. Not sure what my goal for the day is. But hitting at least 25,000 seems do-able.
Peace,
MJ

AHHHHHHHH

I have made progress!!! 17,500 words!!! However, I see it being impossible keeping u that pace. Because my classes have massive amounts of reading. I first set a goal of 333 words a day and then a goal of 1,000 words a day, and now I am at whatever I get down as long as I write SOMETHING everyday. I am also getting into the meat of the story so it is really hard to not write all the time!!!!!!!

gah

So I told you I was bad at updating! :) Today I am hoping to get a lot done on my novel. I am at 12,000 words which is not much further than I was 2 months ago. Unfortunately three jobs and two classes while juggling married life is not quite conducive to writing a novel.

While dining with my husband last night we decided I need to write at least 300 words a day in order to finish my novel by the end of the year. We also discussed the editing process and having to find an impartial editor. Not quite sure how that will work, but I will get to that once I have novel to be edited. haha

Alright enough writing in here, time to write my novel!!!

Woah!

So Summer is meant for relaxing, to unwind and gear up for the next school year. Well, maybe if you are younger. I have a husband and am already 26, there are no breaks for me.
I have three jobs this Summer. Now two of them are only a few hours a week, but three jobs is three jobs.
I am taking two classes each summer session. The sessions are 6 weeks each, and by everyone's reactions, 2 classes each session is a big load, oh well!
I am also trying to finish my novel. I have to finish it, because I never finish anything. I have just over 11,000 words, now that is a start isn't? Now lets just finish it by September. That will give me time to edit the crap out of it, and get it out into the world of publishers and agents before I graduate.
I also want to finish a play I have started. I have an opportunity to perhaps get it produced at the school before I graduate, so I must take advantage of that.
Oy vey!!!!

Peace out,
MJ

Research

So I took a break from homework and looked up research for my story. I found a huge book on trees. Fabulous! It looks like it goes into far more detail then I will need, but it is better to have more than not enough!

I am excited to have the Summer to work on my writing. Yes, I will be taking classes, but the Summer Sessions are much easier.

Now I am off to watch "Glee", yes I am THAT person.

I love musicals.

-MJ

Classes

So the semester is coming to a close, which means time to sign up for classes for next semester. At first I was not too excited about my prospects, but they added new choices this past weekend. Which includes some AWESOME choices! Including Writing for Advertising and Reviewing for the Arts! I am so excited for these. The first will give me knowledge in a probable field and the latter is a dream come true since I have such a history in the theater! Now lets hope all of those classes are still open on Friday!!

-MJ

Bad News/Good News

So bad news is... I have not written on my story in a week. UGH!

Good news is... my Father took a bunch of pictures of trees around their house and they are wonderful inspiration! I love it, now... just to find the time to write!!!

-MJ

The thing about school...

So I originally went back to college so I could hone my writing skills, get more knowledge. I wanted to make myself a better writer. The thing I did not think through was that if I get inspiration and want to write for myself while in school I may not have that chance...
I have this killer idea, and I have been working on it, but I have wasted this whole weekend! Okay, maybe not the wasted... I just spent the whole time doing a lot of homework. I have three different papers due soon, so I have been writing and researching my butt off.
I gave myself a goal of 10,000 words for each month, I started the idea in March so I was hoping to hit that first 10,000 by Thursday. However, I have not even hit 7,000 yet. Yikes!!!!
Oy...

Authenticity

When you set your story in a particular place how well should you know that place? I spent 5 years in Connecticut so it is not like I am a stranger to the place. Yet, when I am talking about particular streets or even areas how much can I rely on my memory?
Another problem I am dealing with is being able to portray my character's vast knowledge of trees. I have gotten some help from friends, telling me what resources to look at, but how much can I rely on those resources?

Basically the big question I am trying to ask is can I write this story accurately and realistically without taking a trip to Connecticut? I know my parents are pushing for the trip since they live there. But can I write the book without it?

Now time for some homework and hopefully a little writing.
Happy words!
-MJ

Excitement

Just when I thought I would be stuck in the writing of my story, many new ideas have come flooding to me. Brilliant ideas, I hope, well maybe not brilliant but I think they fit in with my story perfectly. The most successful way of coming up with new ideas is actually brainstorming with my parents. Yesterday in a 30 minute conversation I came up with many new story lines. Perfection.

I have decided that I should probably add a little more of a personal note in my blog. That way it is just not the monotony of me hashing out my writing process. As of right now I am sitting in my robe, pajama pants and slippers drinking a beer after eating a bacon grilled cheese. My husband is on the couch behind me in his robe and we are watching the 2nd Harry Potter movie. It is 1:30pm in the afternoon. Lazy you say? Perhaps, but I have already done some house work, homework and planned out my day. Plus it is Saturday, so sue me.

Happy writing,
MJ

A Side Step

There has been a lot of tragedy around me lately, around everyone really. First of all I would like to take a moment and send my thoughts to all those affected by the terrible events in Japan last Friday. I hope those missing come out safely and those who have lost homes and/or loved ones will find a way to carry on.
A woman who works at my school lost her husband very tragically and suddenly last week, he was in his late 30's and died of a heart attack. My thoughts are with her and her 13-year-old twins.
Earlier this week my husband's Uncle died. Though we were not close to him it is a lost felt throughout his entire family.
Let us all take a little side step, a brief moment to hug those near and dear to us, for honestly you never know what will happen tomorrow, or if tomorrow will even come. Love and strength to you all.
-MJ

Writing Contests

So I am currently searching the internet for good writing contests. I am trying to find one for each month of this year. This is not a problem as much as having enough material for all of those contests will be. In the process I discovered Writer's Digest a few months ago. After months of loving the website my Husband bought me a subscription to the magazine for my birthday. My first issue came in a few days ago and I LOVE it. It just seems so relevant to everything I am thinking about and researching lately. I also love their "Your Story" contests. Great writing exercises and if I ever win one what a great bonus that would be. Anyway, if you are a writer and are not subscribed to their magazine then you should be! #Writer'sDigest

So far so good

Hello!
Ever since I got this new idea for a story I have been really inspired to write. However, I do know myself, and I am not very good with follow through. I am, however, VERY good at achieving goals I set for myself. Therefore I have set myself a goal of writing one page a day. I realize that to write an entire novel this goal will have me writing for a very long time. I do plan on upping the goal, to lets say maybe 1,000 words a day? The further I get in my story the more I may write in one sitting. And as all of my fellow writers might know, once writing sometimes it is hard to stop if you have a really good idea and just need to get it down as quickly as possible.
I have also set a possible finish goal for myself, which is the end of the summer. This would the be the first novel I fully finish (if you do not count the semi-autobiographical piece of crap I wrote 5 years ago, that I am too afraid to go back to). So I do not know if setting a finish deadline is a good idea, but seeing that I do not have a great record of actually finishing things I figured it migth be a good idea.
Anyway, so far I have kept to my page a day goal, however it has only been four days, so I still have a long ways to go.

Inspiration

I love inspiration. I love that it can come from anywhere. It is one reason if not the main reason I know I am meant to be a writer. I can be inspired by the smallest thing and then BOOM, the entire story develops in my head. Last night I started to laugh at myself, I was working on my newest idea, based off a recent inspiration, and my fingers could not keep up with my brain. Isn't that always the case?
I always feel that if I do not write it down right that instant it will vanish from my head and I will never again think of it. I think this is a major flaw in the way that I write. I write out of order a lot, which I think can be okay, but I am horrible at re-arranging it. Therefore I never really get my true point across.
Anyway, I really love inspiration, it truly is everywhere, and for that reason I will never be out of new ideas. *knocks on wood*

an idea

So once again my blog goes neglected. My writing has also gone neglected, well my writing for my own sake has gone neglected. With 5 college course under way I do have a lot of paper writing and book reading going on. However that is really no excuse. What I need is the urge. I get it every once in a while when a really great story idea heads my way. An idea that lights your brain on fire and make you want to stop everything to write down this perfect idea before it flutters away, never to bee seen again in all the glory that it now possesses. I love the feeling when you have an idea, a simple maybe one sentence even one word idea and you begin to let it flow. You set it free streaming from your brain down into your fingertips and it comes to life on a page. Characters, places, stories come out of nowhere and you are the only one who can truly capture its true beauty. It is a feeling like no other.
Now if I could get to the other side of that feeling which is finishing a full story and getting it out into the world... oy.