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dyockman


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Hey everyone,

As promised, I'm doing a mid-week blog to ask all the challengers how they are making out on their goals.

I'm doing well. Of course, I'd like to do better! LOL

Sitting just under 41K. I'd like to hit 45K by Friday, then get close to 50K by Sunday night.

I will do another blog Saturday for everyone to give their progress report.

Happy writing...

Hey everyone,

As promised, I'm doing a mid-week blog to ask all the challengers how they are making out on their goals.

I'm doing well. Of course, I'd like to do better! LOL

Sitting just under 41K. I'd like to hit 45K by Friday, then get close to 50K by Sunday night.

I will do another blog Saturday for everyone to give their progress report.

Happy writing...

Hello everyone!

As of last Tuesday's blog... we've got a bit of a challenge/support group happening for wordage/pagedom :)

Post your word and page goals here. And come back often. I may even post a mid-week challenge page for you to tell us what you've accomplished. This isn't just a one time wonder. That wouldn't be much of a 'challenge.'

Please note... everyone works at a different speed. So, it's not about competing against each other, but more about accomplishing the goals we've set for ourselves!

Good luck everyone and anyone who would like to comment and join in a little bit of a challenge to their creativity!

My goal this weekend--to hit 40K.
My current word count--33,299

And we are off...

Do us proud participants!

I don't know where my ideas come from, but they always strike me in the midst of the project I'm working on... especially when I should be focusing on said current project.

I'm on my tightest deadline to date. I imagine, when I'm a pro at this, I'll better be able to deal with these tight deadlines (yes, you can stop laughing now). I have 60K+ to write in the next 2.5 months. I'm not sure how I'll do it. I can't imagine there will be much sleep as my deadline approaches.

While I should be solely focused on my current characters, and just getting their story down, I have other ideas bombarding me. I wonder if it's my subconscious trying to procrastinate? I already have my next five books mapped out in my head... but then out of nowhere (actually, while I was having a sucky writing day) I get another story idea. Sigh...

What I need is a challenge. A public challenge, 'cause I'm a gal of my word. Who wants to do a word challenge with me? Or a page challenge? I must finish this book sooner than my deadline, because I do not write the cleanest of first drafts.... I wish I was better at vomiting out the first draft! But it's just not my thing.

I love first lines. They either grab me or they don't. And if they grab me, I might just be sold on the whole story. I can think of a number of books that have sold me on first lines. Can you?

Speaking of first lines, let's give you a teaser for my debut release, The Surrender of a Lady coming October 2010: “What do you mean, you’ll work this out? You’ve gambled me away! I’m your wife, for heaven’s sake!”

I have a habit of starting in the middle of the scene and with dialogue. Not sure why. Just always made the most sense with me. Mind you, the book I'm working on now starts in the head of my lovely hero. More about him another time.

Do you want the first line to be enough to make you wonder what's next? Can you guess how a story is going to unfold, or what the theme might be by an opening line (or paragraph)? First lines are so important for setting the tone and mood that sometimes writers labor over them for months (sometimes even with the book is done).

Do you like the opening lines most? Or cherish the final lines of the book? Do you prefer an author who starts a story with narrative or dialogue? In the middle of a scene or at the beginning of a scene? Where do you other writers start your opening scenes?