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| Trouble in Texas Series by Mary Connealy (I'm the one on the right) |
Read All About Speedbo here--including great prizes: http://seekerville.blogspot.com/p/speedbo_7.html
While we talk I will entertain you with pictures of baby calves because, right now, baby calves are my LIFE!
Learning to drink
1) If you’re just figuring SPEEDBO out right now it’s NOT TOO LATE. You can still sign up.
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
CALF IN THE BASEMENT
On one of my old bedspreads,
covered by one of my old coats.
When you're born outside when it's ten below,
this is how we handle it.
The Red Calf
4) And speaking of me…I have very clear goals for this month.
a) Finish a novella…I’m almost done.
b) Revise book #2 of the Wild at Heart series, Now and Forever…TUCKER’S STORY! IT IS DUE APRIL 1ST AND IT’S DONE BUT IT NEEDS REVISION!
c) Finish book 3 in the Wild at Heart series…this one I suspect I’ll fail at but WHO KNOWS??? I’m at 40,000 words. If I just pushed hard all month on this one book I’d make it, but I’ve got to go through Tucker’s Story. No choice. And the novella, well, I could finish it fast and set it aside, it’s due a bit later.
So those are my goals. Revise 80,000 words, finish up 15,000 words (mostly done) and write 40,000 words.
If I do all that it’ll be one doozy of a productive month.Let’s talk about YOUR goals. Whether you’ve signed up for Speedbo or not, why don’t you set some goals for this month. Even if you’re a reader not a writer, let’s hear about some goals you have.
What do you hope to accomplish this month?CURIOUS CALVES- and me talking to them as if they are my only friends. ................ (sniffle)
REPORT IN!
And if you like the calf pictures go and LIKE me on Facebook because I talk about this everyday. http://www.facebook.com/maryconnealy
My cowboy saved a cow and calf's life the other night, that was pretty cool!
REPORT IN!
And if you like the calf pictures go and LIKE me on Facebook because I talk about this everyday. http://www.facebook.com/maryconnealy
My cowboy saved a cow and calf's life the other night, that was pretty cool!
I love calf pic #1! Too cute. :)
ReplyDeleteSpeedbo goal: I wish I could say it was a word count, but it's actually just to write a new and very detailed outline for the novel I've been working on forever...For months, my novel has been last priority, so even putting a new outline on paper will be a huge step forward for me. I'm making so many major revisions this time around though, it's almost like starting a whole new novel. :/ I believe it will be worth it in the end!
I know those calves aren't your only friends!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd OF COURSE your cowboy saved cows! That shocks no one!
My goals for the month?
A 70-75K rough draft of a manuscript. 80K would rock. But unlikely.
I had just over 2K Saturday and am nearing 2K today, but hope to hit 3K. My kids are home from school tomorrow. Two neighbor kids are coming over to hang out. This is a good thing for two reasons:
a. There will be less fighting because my kids are sick of each other
b. There will be money in my "I want to go on a writer's retreat in May and conference in September" fund
I'm LOVING these characters and the /shudder/ minor plotting I've done.
My inner editor? She's visiting Cathy West in the Bahamas. She plans a trip every March and November - and any other time I open a blank file.
We're looking at another up to 6" of snow tonight and bitter cold on top of the layer of ice, sleet, and bit of snow we already have.
Fun.
Not.
Coffee's brewing non-stop for Speedbo!
ReplyDeleteI've already stated my goal...BUT here it is again.
Write three chapters and a synopsis of book two of my new series.
Chapter one is moving along. Or more like crawling along.
AA's are looming.
steps to the microphone
ReplyDeleteHello! Hello!!! Is this thing on? Oh, yeah. My name is Marilyn, and so far I am a Speedbo failure.
I've been under the weather the last two days and on top of that a proofreading job hit my mailbox on Friday afternoon. It takes precedence over writing.
So... my goal is to proof that sucker ASAP and move right on to my writing.
We're under a winter weather advisory and it would not hurt my feelings one bit if they called off work tomorrow. ;-)
Remember what Jack Reacher said about the red calf????????
ReplyDeleteThat's all I want to say.
Marilyn, I haven't started on Speedbo, either! We'll form our own club :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a Monday through Friday writer, and over the weekend I let things simmer on the back of the stove while I spend time with my family.
But tomorrow morning, I'm hitting it!
My goal is 60,000 words - more than I've ever written in one month before (that I've counted). That will finish the first draft of my WIP - Bunk's story! All the prep work is done, proposal sent in (and revised, and sent in again), and I'm ready to finish it up.
But Ruthy told me blog posts count for my word count goal, and I wrote two blog posts on Saturday. So I'm 1K in already, right?
And I love those calves. So sweet. :)
So, Mary, have you had pink and blue calves? Just sayin' my goals for the month of Speedbo? Get as many books read and reviews written as possible. Got 2books read, 1review posted. (We had a humdinger of a rain yesterday! Felt cozy to sit, read and watch the rain)
ReplyDeleteHi.
ReplyDeleteI got my novella done.
Goal #1 CHECK
And the revisions on Tucker's Story are going really well.
It's a 134 page Word Document, about 81,000 words long and I hoped to do it in three days. 134/3 = 45 pages a day
I've been at it for two days now, and I'm on page 96!!! So I'm slightly ahead of schedule.
Hoping to finish tomorrow. I had no such plans for that, because I expected it to take longer, but it's rolling along well.
THEN, hopefully at the end of tomorrow, I begin the book I want to finish. It's book #3 in the Wild at Heart series.
Book #1 Tried and True, coming in September
Book #2 Now and Forever, Tucker's story
Book #3 Fire and Ice, my current WIP. Needs to be 80k and I checked today and found it was NOT 40k done it was 47k done.
I set it aside a couple of weeks ago to write this novella.
So I only have to do 33k in the SPEEDBO month. I may finish it and have time to do something else.
YAY! SPEEDBO
I have 3791 words so far today, going for 6k by tonight hopefully...and these aren't pretty words at all.
ReplyDeleteI want 15 chapters this month minimum which is about 55k, but I'd much rather finish the book, probably around 65k.
Mom's over to keep the kids alive for 3 days, hence why I have word count today!
5010 and bedtime :).
ReplyDeleteEnding the "day" on 5894 words and that's two finished chapters since starting Speedbo. 13 more to go.
ReplyDeleteMelissa Jagears, I'm so glad your mother's in town!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell done!
Moncado, ditto to you! I'm so inspired by this... really, you guys rock!
My goals:
ReplyDeleteFinish Christmas book working title Max and Tina's Excellent Christmas Adventure (at 33,000 words now, and absolutely delightful!)
Write new LI proposal (I CANNOT WAIT TO GET INTO THIS PROPOSAL, I'VE BEEN CHOMPING AT THE BIT FOR MONTHS BUT WANTED BOOKS DONE FIRST!!!)
9 Blog posts
So that's my vision! There is no deadline on the proposal, so book and blogs first.
Then proposal!
And Ash Wednesday this week, oh my stars a perfect chance to lose winter doldrums weight!!!
Well my weekend didn't start as I had planned...sick husband all weekend and it was his birthday yesterday too. Sad. I told him we would celebrate when he is feeling better.
ReplyDeleteI did get two book reviews written yesterday and some research done. I hate to set unrealistic goals for myself so I am starting low this year and setting a goal of a minimum of 25K words.
Write on everyone!
Smiles & Blessings,
Cindy W.
Hi Mary,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing with us today. I feel like a slug compared to your goals. I have two goals, enter a contest and write 30,000 words to finish The Bye Way Inn.
I've written 1500 words so far this month. And thanks to Tina, I've picked a contest. Now to enter it.
Love your pictures! Have a great day!
Cindy, that's a solid goal!!!! Sorry about hubby.... :( I'm always sad when they're sick.
ReplyDeleteWait, that sounds like I have more than one husband.
THIS IS NOT THE CASE!!!!
One is plenty.
I love Mary's cows.
ReplyDeleteAnd that little puffy red one???
A-STINKIN'-DORABLE!!!!
Be still my heart, a burst of color. Yayayayaya!
Cutest pictures ever!
ReplyDeleteI'm going for 60k which, I think, is more than I've ever done before in one month. I had my whole year's worth of distractions last month so I'm praying this month is stress free and I can power through those words :)
Good luck to everyone else Speedbo-ing!
Awww MARY, You are great at sharing your calf pictures. They are tooo cute. And yay for your cowboy. What a hero.
ReplyDeleteGood points to keep in mind. I"m like you. Its tough to silence that internal editor. But I think CAROL had a great idea. Send her to the Bahamas. Or maybe I'll go to the Bahamas and let the editor work. lol
Okay TINA, I"ll bite. What did Jack Reacher say?
ReplyDeleteI love goals! I couldn't write without them!
ReplyDeleteMy Speedbo goal is to write 35,500words and finish the rough draft of my manuscript.
It's very doable, although I will admit that I've a had a slow start... only 150 words in the last two days because I was out of town this weekend.
Arg! I've got to get busy...
BTW Mary,
ReplyDeleteI have my word count spreadsheet all created and ready to go!
Good morning, Mary! Thank you for sharing photos of your new little sweethearts! They bring back memories of growing up in the rural Midwest--our dining room window looked out across a neighbor's pasture so meal time was so much fun to watch the little calves cavorting throughout the spring!
ReplyDeleteLike Jennifer S, I'm not going so much for word count this month as I am to make GMC and backstory decisions for my next WIPs and get 3 chapters and a synopsis drafted for the first one.
Wishing everyone a GREAT writing day!
Mary C. I loved the calf pictures and the video—and the snow!:-)
ReplyDeleteHow do you do everything????? I mean, it looks like you do everything...
My goal is to write 2,000 words on each of my free days—Monday, Tuesday, & Thursday. And any bits and pieces in between. That would about finish the novel I've got started.
I'm glad to hear you writers who say you can't turn off your internal editor. I find it impossible to do that when I'm writing. I thought something was wrong with me. Well, there is something...oh, you don't need to hear that.
And yeah, Tina, what did Jack Reacher say? :-)
Love the calves!!!! In all that snow!!!! Poor babies. Poor mamas...and the one in the basement! Really?
ReplyDeleteMy Speedbo goal is 1500 words a day. I'm hoping for more when I'm off next week but 1500 the days I work is going to be a challenge. As soon as I set a goal like that I seem to write as slow as molasses in January!
I'm just shy of 3000 after the weekend -- and my bad -- I really fussed over one scene and still don't have it right so I wasted time. I'll do better today -- though of course now I see what I should have done and want to go back and fix it which won't add to my word count much. Gah!
I love your cow pictures!!! I had a pet bull when I was growing up. He was like an overgrown dog. He would sit on the hillside and I'd walk up to him and he'd lay his head in my lap so I could scratch his neck.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first Speedbo. I'm 1600 words into my current project. My goal is 40,000 words.
It's snowing today! I hope we get at least 3 feet, but they aren't calling for near that much. It started as ice, so I'm glad it changed over to snow. I'll have to go out and make a snowman in a bit, but I have the rest of the day to write since I'm not going into work! Happy writing, everyone!
I forgot to share my good news!
ReplyDeleteI got notice yesterday that I had won the Jodi Thomas-Grant for free registration and hotel accommodations for two nights at the NTRWA Two-Step Conference in downtown Forth Worth, the end of of this month.
And I get to spend the three days with good friend NancyC!!
HOW FUN IS THAT!
Why are calves born in sub-zero weather? Poor things. Gives them an awful impression of the world. You keep talking to them, Mary. You're the good shepherd of the herd.
ReplyDeleteGoodness, look at all the goals folks have set! Words, words, words. I love it!
My goal for the month: complete preparation of the launch of Second Chance Ranch...
March 20 on Amazon--shameless plugs count as words, don't they?
...and then begin revisions on the last book of the series. It's written already, but revisions entail adding CONFLICT.
What can I say? I like my life nice, tidy, easy-going...but that doesn't work for novels.
Let's go, Speedbo!!!
Wow, Mary, I'm impressed with your goals but not surprised. You're a Speedbo-er all the time!
ReplyDeleteLove all the calf pictures! Especially that red beauty. Clairol should mimic that shade. It would sell!
My goal is to write 2k five days a week. A modest doable goal. And to finish my March blog post.
Janet
Mary Hicks, congratulations on winning the conference registration and hotel stay!! That's awesome!
ReplyDeleteJanet
Jennifer, you can do it! My novels have been last priority for years...and then my kids moved out.
ReplyDeleteHa, talk about freedom!
Well, for a while. My daughter is back, but she works for a ranch (see all of Mary's posts for an idea of that work schedule)
Gotta get the words out!!
Carol Moncado, your already on a Speedbo fast track. An average of 2K a day? You're my hero.
ReplyDeleteYes, keep kids occupied with friends. Works for me!!!
Wahoo, Audra! Can't wait to read Second Chance Ranch!!
ReplyDeleteCan't write conflict. The problem--you're too nice. :-) I love writing conflict.
Shh. Not say it!
Janet
Marilyn, I believe what you're experiencing is called LIFE. Don't let it get you down.
ReplyDeleteGet your proofreading done and out of the way. We'll be here for you.
Everyone under the winter storm advisory...stay safe and warm!!! My prayers are out for you.
I'm blown away by the 5k plus writing days, Melissa and Carol M! You gals rock!!
ReplyDeleteCarol, suppose this means you won't be making cookies?
Janet
Marianne, read and review words work well, too! You go, girlfriend!!
ReplyDeleteThree goals and I have met all of them as of 6:46 am before going on to teach little tikes! Goal 1: revise at least 15 pages per day for the month of book: goal 2: finish same book by end of month (still need to write several chapters). Goal 3: Read Seekerville to keep me motivated.
ReplyDeleteDAY 3: DONE AND DONE!
No 5K day for me [yet]. 5K total, but I'll take it ;).
ReplyDeleteI'll make cookies on Saturday most likely. We'll make a cake on Wednesday. Would have been my mom's 68th birthday. She was known for her cookies. We usually make cookies on the 8th [Sat] - it'll be 28 years since God decided He needed her more than we did :/.
Maybe by Saturday I'll be 30K in... Hey. It could happen ;).
Love your calf photos, but I'll see you and raise you with lamb photos in about a month!
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to completely map out - outline - plot - whatever you want to call it, my next book. I have the characters, I have the conflicts, but now I need to shape the framework around some pretty interesting history. So plotting and research all this month.
Loved this, Mary. And loved the pictures of your red calf. My boys were enchanted by them. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm probably not going to be ready to WRITE this month, but I'm polishing a scene for a couple contests, and then I need to re-get-to-know my heroine for my new story. She had the audacity to change on me at the writer's retreat I attended last week. :)
I hope to have my story plotted by the end of the month so I can hit it hard in April. :)
Speedbo Goal: I'm working on a memoir and need to add in a thread line about the relationship with my Dad. This involves a series of vignettes that I will be working on the first part of the month, the second part of the month, I'm working on revising the entire draft using the editing techniques I learned over at Savvy Authors in January on their EditaPooloza. Speedbo was just the thing I needed to commit to this project!
ReplyDeleteLove the calf pics! I hope to get a good start on my novel this month. I'm trying the beginner plan with 500 words a day for the first week. So Saturday through today I've written 1582 words. Going to try to add to today's count later on this afternoon...
ReplyDeletelove the calf pictures. love Mary's cowboy for his rescue of critters under his care. as a member of a family with Farming history, I believe I can appreciate/understand the pictures a little more than the average citified girl. *heh* should we call Mary the "calf whisperer" now?
ReplyDeletemy humble goal for SPEEDBO is to get into the habit of writing each day - no matter the measly word count. also, to NOT compare myself to the writing savants in the Seekerville community *cough* Dames Moncado and Jagears *cough* God has obviously wired them for one speed: full throttle. me? not so much. so the plan is to write a bit each day and form a nice little writing habit that will get me somewhere (ala the Ruthy plan).
so far: only 250 words on saturday, but 1000 on sunday (with four year old play time thrown in). i think i might have a first page to sub to the Killer Voices contest over on the eHarl_LIS forum.
monday: at the day job now, but plan to write again when i get home until my boys (daddy and guppy) wake from their afternoon naps.
Seekerville is awesome. Just had to throw that in. Haven't said that in awhile...
Thanks Janet, I'm excited!:-)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Mary Hicks! That sounds like a great opportunity :)
ReplyDeleteMary - I'm a Kansas farm girl and I love the calf pictures. I also think its most hospitable of you to invite the cold little guys into your basement. I imagine their mamas don't like that idea much.
ReplyDeleteMy Speedbo goals are 1000 words each day except for the week of spring break when I don't have to go to work. I'll up those to 5000. At that rate I should finish my as yet untitled historical romance just in time for Tina's editing class in April.
Calf pix!!! Okay, very cute.
ReplyDeleteBUT NOT AS CUTE AS A NEW BABY GRANDDAUGHTER!!!!!!
We temporarily interrupt Speedbo to play Grammy to a sweet, sweet little girl!!! (And her big brother and sisters, naturally, because they also need lots of TLC with a new baby in the house.)
Enjoyed the calves. But then I'm a farm girl at heart.
ReplyDeleteBeen preparing for Speedbo with some research, plotting, and trying to improve WriteItNow skills in Feb.
Goal is to get that short, ugly first draft done on shiny new idea. No exact word count.
Nice Calves, Mary. I mean that in the bovine sense of course.
ReplyDelete;-}
Speedbo Goals -- I don't have a word count. I would like to finish a novella, Her Secret Garden. And get a novel finished. That will be roughly around 30+ words.
And since I got little, if any, accomplished over the weekend because of my anniversary outing with hubby, so I should probably get cracking.
Oh, Mary, LOVE this post -- the cows are ADORABLE, and the info very solid!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kick in the Speedbo butt -- SOOO good!!
Hugs,
Julie
10,000 total. So far. I got 6664 day one and....(I'm sinking low in my seat)... 1319 day two. I was too cold to write! All my creative juices had turned to ice pops.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'll do better today.
My goal is a word count of 5K a day. So far, I've hit it once.
Myra,
How wonderful for you!
I ADORE babies. Give that little girl an extra 'welcome to the world' hug from me.
Mary, cows and calves in Alabama aren't as fluffy as your cows in Nebraska. Maybe because it never gets 10 below here. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteMy goals are to write at least 40,000 words this month on my new book. I'm not off to a very good start, since I had a busy weekend. I only have three words and two of those are "Chapter One." The third word is the heroine's name, in case you're wondering. But I'm just about to go write those first few pages! I can do it! :-)
I love the little red cow. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm Speedboing and my goals for the first part of the month are to get some non-writing, writing stuff out of the way. I'm behind on my indie pubbing schedule, so I plan to get that up to speed. By the middle of the month. Then the remainder of the month is for word production. 1000 words a day.
Now, if only there wasn't such a thing as day jobs and real life...
Hi Mary,
ReplyDeleteI didn't start Speedbo until Mar. 2nd. Little busy on the first.
My 1st goal is to finish galleys for Book 2. NOTE: I have a RELEASE DATE for my first book! It's August 7, 2014. Whoo-hoo!
2nd goal: To fix the plot for my contemporary wip which isn't working right now AND write about 40,000 more words!!
Myra, Congratulations on your new granddaughter!! Do they have a name for her?
Trying to stay warm on this VERY cold day! Brrrr.
Cheers,
Sue
Wow I'm slow checking in. I'm so sorry.
ReplyDeleteI will post excuses when time allows!
Love the calves :)
ReplyDeleteI'm doing a rough draft. 50k words. Day one and two went well..Day three...well, the day ain't over yet.
Jennifer, I often used to get deep into a novel when something would click that changed everything. Then to go back and weave that in, well, it's work but it's a lot of fun too. And very satisfying. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know how life can get in the way, so I'm glad you're getting back to writing.
Carol I expect you to write two or three 80000 word books this month, isn't that your usual speed!? LOL
ReplyDeleteYou are amazingly productive.
Sorry the plotting is making you shudder! Been there! :)
Marilyn, you are NOT a failure.
ReplyDeleteAt least not yet! :)
Be kind to yourself.
I've got a cold which is the main reason I'm moving so slow this morning. Not the ONLY reason though.
Again. I'll talk about it later..
Ahhh, Mary, I love the cowlets. Especially the red one. Thanks for sharing the photos!
ReplyDeleteSpeedbo goals - 20,000 on new work and finish revising a WIP that has stumped me for two months.
But more than that, I am back to using my accountability timer - setting it for hour increments and really working during that time. It's easy to get away from the habit of using my little white kitchen beeper. I have no excuses as my son gave me one this Christmas specifically for use at my desk.
I've also quit Facebook, cold turkey, just for March. It was the only way to gain back a chunk of extra time that I really need for this month.
Olympic side-note for those interested - My grandfather-in-law, Olympian Ray Conger, was the only American to beat the 'Flying Finn' Paavo Nurmi, but Ray didn't win any metals in the Olympic finals. He did receive a metal of participation for making it to the finals. Sadly, in the late 1970s someone broke into the Conger's home and stole all his trophies and medals, including the Olympic medals. He never recovered from that offense. I keep hoping that if I get the word out, someday someone will find it.
SPEEDBO ON!
Tina I am in LOVE with Jack Reacher. I have read everything from Lee Childs on Jack Reacher.
ReplyDeleteThis is a secret dream of mine but I'll never figure out how to do it, to create a character like that and write book after book about him.
Kay Scarpetta
Dirk Pitt
Jack Reacher
Kinsey Milhone
I love them all but they mostly solve mysteries. And I have written a very few mysteries, though there are some mysteries in my books, I suppose.
I find them HARD.
They take (shudder ala Carol Moncado) PLOTTING.
PS TINA I remember no mention of a RED CALF in a JACK REACHER book.
ReplyDeleteWe used to raise bottle-fed dairy calves. I can't tell how you many times I'm glad we don't have to worry about them this winter. (We don't have a basement.)Dairy calves aren't quite as sturdy as beef, especially w/out their mamas. Anytime I get a hankering to go buy a few, my husband says no.
ReplyDeleteMy Speedbo goal is add 30k to my Killer Voices entry. I'd like to complete the whole thing,but I'm a SLOW writer and I think this is doable.
Also need to finish and polish my synopsis.
Bitter, bitter, bitter cold last night.
ReplyDeleteThat is also part of my excuse.
More on that later.
Keep in mind, Jack doesn't know Jesus.
ReplyDeleteRed Calf = End of the World.
So folks I suggest you write like it was the end of the world.
FAST.
Helen, you make it sound like a good time to be inside. :) You've got your work laid out for you this month. HOW COOL! The AAs the three chapters. So sweet that you're published. So many of us have crossed that finish line to publication to find......another race to run. But a race doing what we love! :D
ReplyDeleteJAN-Bunk's story! I am so in love with him!!!!
ReplyDeleteMarianne we ear tag them different if they're boys or girls. A red tag for one and a yellow tag for the other....I think. We might have run out of one color and given that up. I can't remember and I am NOT going out to check!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBut pink and blue? I can see My Cowboy's horror already.
KEEP READING GIRL! God bless you.
Melissa YAY FOR YOUR MOM! Wow what a great productive day!
ReplyDeleteI've got grandkids. I'll bet your mom is in heaven!!! :D
CAROL WAY TO GO!!! What a terrific day.
ReplyDeleteTina and Max's Excellent Christmas Adventure.
ReplyDeleteI hope they keep that title. Seriously.
Cindy W, sorry about the sick husband.
ReplyDeleteWhen My Cowboy gets sick...
1) He never quits working
2) When he's really sick he never complains
3) I can tell he's getting well by the whining. The closer he is to well, the more I gotta listen to it.
This is all saved by 1) He never quits working. He and his pneumonia or broken bones or missing wisdom teeth or whatever....and his whining go out to the cow yard and I don't have to hear it!
Jackie 1500 is GREAT! YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!
ReplyDeleteANNIE Wow 60,000 words, that's 2000 a day. Very solid ambitious goal. YAY!
ReplyDeleteROSE You are soooo organized. I can't believe you will even hang around with me!!!!
ReplyDeletePS ROSE when I hear the word SPREADSHEET I'm immediately curious, trying to remember if I made my bed this morning.
ReplyDeleteI adore your baby calf pictures on facebook! thanks so much for sharing their cuteness with us! :)
ReplyDeleteHeidi Reads...
MARY HICKS this is what I know...
ReplyDeleteNever let anyone tell you there is one right way to write your story.
INCLUDING ME!
If something works for you then that is good. The longer I'm at this, the more ways I learn.
I talked to a lady recently who writes the beginning, the ending, then all her crisis points.
She knows exactly how she wants those to be before she starts writing.
Then, when she'd done all that, she writes to connect those scenes.
??????????????
I'd never heard of anyone doing that, and yet she's very successful and multi-published and it works for her. It's a great reminder that there IS NO ONE RIGHT WAY!
However one of the good things that can come out of turning off your internal editor is SOME WRITERS spend far to much time revising. It can bog them down so they NEVER get a book finished.
I have times, with hard-to-write scenes like action scenes, with many moving parts, dialogue, running, diving, shooting, whatever, that I just know I can't get it right the first time and because of that I find myself avoiding those scenes. I'll be going back, revising earlier parts of the book (which isn't bad) making tea, phoning my mom, whatever to avoid those hard scenes. I recognize that in myself.
So I just WRITE THE SCENE. I do it BADLY. I hate doing it badly which is why I avoid it, but I have to just FORCE myself to get through it.
Then I start fixing it. It's not unusual to rewrite it ten times getting all the logistics, cutting out things that stop the action, adding comedy if possible.
But I can't fix it until I write it. And that's when I turn off my internal editor.
I don't know if any of you have read Calico Canyon. But the WEDDING scene in that book is one of my favorite writing endeavors of all time.
Five little kids trying to stop the wedding of their hated school marm to their father. An insanely reluctant bride and groom caught in a perfectly innocent compromising situation. an outraged parson and his wife who, along with the whole town, have been searching for their missing school marm all night...to find her sleeping with a man in the morning (and his five sons)
This scene started out as ONE SENTENCE. Seriously, the first time I wrote it, I just put one sentence in and went on. Fixing that, with the little boys interrupting and the parson storming around and the misunderstandings because Grace, the heroine just thought the parson would give her a ride back to town and Daniel trying to get everyone to stop talking and get this woman out of here!!!
I can't even really believe how many times I rewrote that trying to get it to move.
Well, it's just a good example of turning off your internal editor for a time...to get words on the page.
Well, that was a ridiculously long comment. Sorry. Hard to believe I could ever write ONE SENTENCE about anything!
ReplyDeleteKAV all I'd ask about going back and fixing it is....do you catch yourself doing this a lot. Revising and revising and revising instead of going forward.
ReplyDeleteIf you do that then you should FORGE ONWARD!
But if you DON'T do that, then I'd say it's a good idea to fix that scene.
SALLY SHUPE!!! This is important, I hope you check back.
ReplyDeleteWHAT KIND OF BULL!!!??? So many of them are dangerous. Clearly you had one that wasn't but YIKES!!!
We had a bull once who chased my grandma up the side of a shed. She was up there FOREVER. Like maybe hours before someone found her, the bull down below snorting and pawing the earth.
Poor lady.
My grandma was tough, too. Not much scared her!
That was a Holstein and they are particularly known for mean-ness.
ReplyDeleteMARY HICKS!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! COOL!
ReplyDeleteAUDRA The reason the calves are born in the cold is because sometimes it takes the cows a few months to breed back.
ReplyDeleteSo you HAVE to start early if you want them all born in the spring. In case it takes you a month or two or three.
There are other reasons, too. But every year My Cowboy talks about moving them to later. Then Later comes with spring work and he's just too busy to think about calves and he's glad they're all born already.
EILEEN! You do this before work everyday?
ReplyDeleteWow, that sounds like RUTHY level productivity!
GOOD FOR YOU!
CAROL M I have those 'this is the week my dad died' weeks every year.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're remembering what was wonderful about her. God bless you.
PEGG I would love to see your lamb photos. DON'T TOY WITH ME!!!
ReplyDeleteIf you really post them make sure I know. I'm kinda Facebook dork sometimes and don't see all I should see.
REMIND ME! mary@maryconnealy.com
Jeanne It sounds like you're setting great goals. You get to decide your goals. So you are succeeding!
ReplyDeleteMINDY you mean like the whole 'DAD' thread is something you came up with after the book was done?
ReplyDeleteYou know, I've done this, realized somewhere deep in the book I needed something extra, or thought of a great plot twist that had to be set up from the beginning.
Sounds great.
Jennifer, for years...before I was published...my goal was 300 words a day, seven days a week.
ReplyDeleteI called it a FAST 300.
I often wrote more and I rarely wrote less. That adds up to a book faster than you'd think.
DebH, My Cowboy really does save lives. He comes in and tells me what he did that day and I say, "That calf would have died if you hadn't done that."
ReplyDeleteAnd he kind of shrugs like, "Why wouldn't I have done that? I always do that."
But that's not the point. Finding a cow in labor who's having trouble, that he'd moved up close to the house a few days before because he knew she was close to calving...that's routine. But once in a while one sneaks past him and has her baby unexpectedly out in the huge pasture they run in. And so far when that's happened the cow and calf have been fine. But three times this last weekend something happened and he intervened and he saved the calf and maybe the cow.
It's heroic and routine at the same time. Sort of a fun way to live, like Superman with a camouflage parka instead of bright blue a cape.
Wow Mary, congrats on completing goal number one.
ReplyDeleteMary Hicks - congrats on your win for the writing retreat. Sounds like so much fun.
Myra - so thrilled about your new grandaughter!
My goal for the month is 23,000 words. I'm writing a novella.
My goals for this month is first to see if I can write my first book at least the first draft. I have a fear that I am not a good enough writer, My other goals are to learn all I can from all the authors in this group. I am setting a goal of writing 1,000 words each day Monday through Friday. I will also write on weekends as I am able but since my weekends are so hectic I won't add to the stress on the weekends. I love my story and really want to get it written.
ReplyDeleteI love the calf pictures!
ReplyDeleteCINDY REGNIER we have a neighbor who puts the calf in a bathtub full of warm water.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine that mess?
Good grief. If My Cowboy said 'We're doing it.' Then we'd do it but so far the basement is enough!
And you're right, getting the freezing calf away from overly protective mama cows is sometime very risky.
FINISHING THE BOOK!!!!! Yay! Cindy! Great goals!
Mary, I love those sweet calf photos! And wow...you're goals are ambitious!! You go!!
ReplyDeleteAll those little calves remind me of our ranching days...whew...we even experimented with changing our calving schedule to fall, skipped the freezes (mostly), but had other issues!! Never seem to be a good time to be born on our little ranch! Except for the goats and mules...those were hardy little critters!
I had a nice goal list in January...but don't ya love how speed bumps magically appear on life's road?
We'll be taking over an antique mall business April 1st...yeah...big April Fools joke!! NOT...anyway...so I've revised my goals.
1.Write 1500 words a day on new romantic suspense.
2.Write a synopsis for romantic suspense
3.Finish rough outline for wip
4.Edit other wip
5.Start blogging again
I did order more tea, so I know I'm set! Just wish I could find someone to bake some good scones!! Happy writing everyone!
YIKES!!! How did I miss SPEEDBO??? Is it too late to enter? I have several blog posts I need to get written, as well as needing to finish my currenT WIP. How do I get added to the list?
ReplyDeleteAnd oh mercy such a precious new baby granddaughter.
ReplyDeleteYou wanta see a really adorably baby go LIKE Myra on FACEBOOK.
Myra and her new granddaughter on Facebook!
Ellen Parker great goal to get a first draft done.
ReplyDeleteI love these references to other blogs and other ways you're setting goals.
Write It Now...what a great name.
Not as cool as SPEEDBO of course.
I named it. And honestly I haven't heard the end of it. I was just GOOFING AROUND and named it and somehow it stuck. The other Seekers are still growling at me (cyberly of course!) I live far beyond their reach thank heavens.
Speedbo welcomes participant #154 Jodi Janz!!! WELCOME!!
ReplyDeleteThe red calf is soooo cute!
ReplyDeleteI entered Speedbo, a couple days late but ready to go!
My goal - to have an awesome and perfectly crafted entry for My Book Therapy's Frasier contest due at the end of the month.
I have to start from scratch because my current WIP has a prologue which messes with the Frasier guidelines. So her I go to write something new ... and hopefully good.
Thanks for the jumpstart Mary!
Please enter me in for the prizes!
jodi(dot)janz(at)gmail(dot)com
Jodi:)
TINA, my own personal 'calves' probably aren't fit for viewing. I'll setting for the bovine kind.
ReplyDeleteHAPPY ANNIVERSARY, that's worth waiting on the writing for!
Mary, it was the dirty uranium book set in Despair, Colorado.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I am running out of toes and fingers.
ReplyDeleteJodi is # 156.
Crystal! Wow! You really get the words down, girl.
ReplyDeleteI'm really impressed!!!
Thanks for the warm welcome Tina!
ReplyDeleteJodi
MELANIE terrific goals and I've heard cows grow shorter, thinner hair down south. Which makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that's true of people. I wouldn't have to shave my legs maybe if I lived ... oh forget it.
LIFE. Oh yeah. I really dislike when it interferes with what I enjoy doing. But on the other hand, LIFE pays the bills.
ReplyDeleteWe managed to avoid any precipitation but it's colder than a brass commode seat outside. At least it's cold to us (27*). That's probably balmy to some of you. Wherever you are and however cold it may be and whatever the depth of your precipitation, stay warm and safe.
HI lizzie
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about getting non-writing writing things done before you can write.
I've been there! And things have to be done in order sometimes. Good luck!
SUSAN ANNE MASON!!! YOUR FIRST GALLEYS!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAll those firsts are so so so so sweet!
Great, ambitious goals, Susan, well, unless you're Crystal Ridgeway or Carol Moncado or Melissa Jagears.
But for writers of normal production level 40,000 words is HUGE!
SHERRI 50,000 words is a great goal, go for it and if you have a bad day, you just pick yourself up and do it the next day.
ReplyDeleteAwwww! Those calfies are precious!!! We don't have any new ones in our pasture yet, (except the ones still in their mommies' tummies). :) They're so adorable.
ReplyDeleteGoals:
1. Revise 85,000 words--get ready to sub
2. Finish synopsis (bleghh)
3. Finish getting Genesis entry ready--since I didn't get it all done on Saturday...
4. Scratch together an outline for book #2
Keep going, Carol!!! :)
Melissa, I'm jealous of your word count, but want you to keep it up because I'm so excited to find out what this new book is about! :)
Mary, revising 80,000 in 3 days??? I would pass out! Your success makes me want to try, though. :)))) Are these just "polishing up" revisions or "rewrite a whole scene" type revisions? I would love to knock out mine this month and start book #2, but not sure.
Congrats, Sue Anne Mason and Mary Hicks!!! So exciting!
Have I mentioned how much I love Speedbo?? Praying for everyone about your goals!!! You can do it! :)
Great goals LYNDEE, you do know your Great Grandfather Ray's story is the stuff of NOVELs right?
ReplyDeleteA pretty young woman inherits her her grandfather's home and moves in. While tearing off wallpaper, she finds a stash of stolen money and metals and such, and contacts the true owner. Only Ray is ailing, he's never recovered from having his metals stolen and has receded into a quiet, reclusive life. However his hunky great grandson, an FBI agent, is alive and well and accuses our heroine of being connected to the thievery.
Then of course, someone tries to kill her.
Mary - I'm planning 4 80K books this month thankyouverymuch.
ReplyDeleteAnd isn't Superman's cape red? We watched Thor 2 last night. His cape is red.
Superman in a camo parka sounds much more realistic than either one of those, though.
What I really want is a nap. But I need 146 words to hit a k for the day...
Praying my kids are in school tomorrow. Or my kids can be out but only if I am too. I'm expecting my school to be in and my kids' out. Figuring that out will be fun. Not.
I have a goal to write at least 1500 fiction words a day, in addition to my non-fiction projects!
ReplyDeleteSo far I am up to 3026 words and am still working on today's wordcount.
By the end of Speedbo I want to have a rough draft of my manuscript completed!
AS for my inner editor, very easy to switch her off in the first draft, but she comes back with vengeance in the revision stage!
Every month I chart out my list of goals, and every month for the last THREE years, that list has included "work on novel". No more of that nonsense. I am going to forget the other goals this month and am going to finish that novel.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love the pictures of your calves, here and on Facebook too!
Carol M, being known for her cookies is a good thing. And you're taking up where your mom left off.
ReplyDeleteKnow how hard it is to lose a mom. You lost yours way too young.
Hugs, Janet
Myra, your granddaughter is beautiful!! I love looking at her picture. Hope she's sleeping a good bit during the night.
ReplyDeleteJanet
Thanks for all the baby congrats! Evangeline is such a sweetie!
ReplyDeleteI just posted a couple of photos on my Facebook Page.
Mary, I will remember you with my lamb photos, I promise!
ReplyDeleteAnd I forgot to say, that's one chunk-butt red calf you have. Is he staying a bull? Because I like how he's put together from these photos. :)
MARY, Thanks for the storyline! What kind of gun should the bad guy use? LOL, JK.
ReplyDeleteOff to read the wedding scene in Calico Canyon which is on my Kindle.
Oh Mary Connealy, I laughed about your grandmother. I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. I'm glad she was found safe and sound. I don't know what kind of bull he was. He was red and not so big! I named him Mr Big lol. I have a picture somewhere. I'll put it on facebook. My grandmother, who had the cows and bull, had a neighbor who had a big, black, ugly, mean bull. He would cross over the fence and get on her land. I was told never to mess with him. I saw him once on the other hill from where I was. I snuck back down to the house. I'll bet I looked funny hiding behind trees hoping he didn't see me!
ReplyDeleteNow, my grandmother did at one time have a cow with horns. It caught me out by the outhouse. I never liked that cow. I miss my grandmother's cows, other than that one. She had one that would let me feed it apples from an apple tree. When I'm driving around and we pass cows in a field, I stop and talk. The special cows are the ones who look up and listen. I always feel better after talking to cows lol.
Mary
ReplyDeleteyour Cowboy sounds like how my Grandpa Mitzel was (this is a good thing) and also like my younger brother (although since your Cowboy is older than my brother - that'd mean my brother is like your Cowboy). Either way, your camo-clad hero is number 1 in my book.
Got send home because of weather. Hoping to get a 2K word count today... I'm also laughing at Pegg's comment. Only in Seekerville would the phrase "I like how he's put together..." be referring to an animal and not a book's hero.
OK...my little monsters...um, I mean kindergarteners are at specials, which leaves me about 10 minutes of my own time to comment and check my email before I have to go wait in line for the copy machine!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, loved you calf pictures and stories. I grew up on a sheep farm and raised many lambs on a bottle. I loved the lambs, but the calves are cute too.
My speed-bo got off to a slow start. My son's computer went kaput so he needed my computer for a school project most of the weekend. I did manage to squeeze out about 1500 words over the weekend.
My goal for the month is: write/edit the last 20k words for my manuscript. I've written the book, but my poor computer has about 3 jillion different versions of each scene because I'm one of those horrible over-editors. I've redone this story so many times I don't know which end is up and often repeat scenes. I've had a request for the full manuscript from an editor at Harlequin's LI, but I don't want to send it until it gets polished up a bit. I've found that there is sooo much I didn't know about writing when I first began this journey and I now find myself chunking whole scenes and starting from scratch. So that's pretty much it. My goal is to cut/edit or rewrite the 20k words I have left in the book so that I can submit it soon....before the poor lady forgets who I am and no longer wants my manuscript!
Myra, congrats on your new granddaughter. There is nothing more precious than a new baby! I'm a Grammy too. Well at least until my grandson starts talking and chooses his own name for me lol.
ReplyDeleteMy goals for this month are to finish outlining and plotting the rest of my book as well as to write 500 words a day. That's not much. So far this month I have exceeded that but I know there will be days I will do good to write 5 words a day.
Mary, love the red calf. Our little farming community is slowing turning into a dairy community. Our neighbor raises cattle (not dairy) so I get to watch them play. They're fun to watch when they're calves.
Oh those calves are so cute!
ReplyDeleteMy Speedbo goal is to finish the first draft of this novel. I'm 12K in, so probably 70K. I've never written this much in a month before, but I need to have a complete draft before I register for RWA ;)
My 15 month old has a fever and needs lots of extra snuggles today. Nothing written yet today, but here's hoping!
Ah! "Baby cows" are a promise that spring really is coming, even when it doesn't look like it!
ReplyDeleteSpeedbo goal: Consistency! To write at least 500 words per day, every day, no matter what!
Niki I am with you - consistency is the key.... at least 500 words daily.
ReplyDeleteJenna Victoria
I like calves, but that like depreciates in direct relation to their inrease in size. Had those big, curiousity-filled heads thrust into the pick-up truck's cab one too many times when I was little and joined my great-grandfather on his daily visit to the pasture to check on their well-being. Sometimes I think they thought they were more PawPaw's pets than his livestock.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's neither here nor there. What you guys want to know is 'what s this cray girl's goals for SPEEDBO?', am I right? So here they are:
First, complete a rough draft. Don't care if it's 750 words or 75,000 words. The first scene has been languishing onmy hard drive for at least a year's worth of months, ad it is time to fish or cut bait...
Which leads to goal number two: GET SERIOUS ABOUT WRITING! I've played around long enough and it is time to get off my lazy, wide backside and do something besides THINK about it. I need to start submittng to contest, researching publishers, and practicing those pesky query letters. If this is something I can't do more than play with, then perhaos it is tme to give up.
And there you have it. Kim Payne's goals for SPEEDBO 2014!
Myra, congratulations on that beautiful grandbaby!
ReplyDeleteMary, I saw a calf over the weekend that I would have loved to have gotten a picture of. It was white with a half black face and black dots like a Dalmatian. The rest of them were all black. But hubby was driving too fast...
Goals. I have goals. Finish a WW magazine story. Start a contemporary MS (and no editing).
Oh my gosh, getting to Seekerville late and look at all the comments.
ReplyDeleteIs the photos of the cows or Mary Connealy that's drawing everyone today?
Maybe both!!!
My goal...write the majority of my next LIS! Hoping for 40-50,000 words, rough, this month.
My goal is 1500 words a day. I need to finish this manuscript an agent requested. Somehow it's easier to write just to write than to write cause someone wants to read it...
ReplyDeleteOne of my earliest childhood memories involves a cow and a calf. We lived in the city back then and each summer would visit our country cousins. I must have been three or four that year. My mom and aunt took all the little kids for a walk and we came to a cattle guard with a momma cow on one side and her baby on the other side. Don't know how they got separated but the calf was crying for her mother and the cow looked like nothing was going to stop her from reaching her baby.
I didn't understand what was happening at the time but could sense the fear coming from my mom and aunt as they scrambled to get us all away from the mother cow's view. We had to hide in the woods full of chiggers and ticks cause that was better than letting momma cow think we wanted to hurt her baby.
Unfortunately, certain circumstances killed every bit of my creativity over the weekend. In my head, I want to write, but my heart hasn't been up to it.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to force myself this evening to write something, even if it's only a paragraph.
Life isn't going to pause for me--got to keep moving
Anyway, I'm in for any drawings, critiques, etc.
Glad to read y'all are being productive!
Speedbo goal: Finish first draft of current WIP (7 chapters to go) then make serious progress on the revisions. In a perfect world, I'll have a decent version complete at the end of the month, but we have this little thing called state basketball playoffs that we must go cheer at.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'll be entering a couple writing contests in my free time so I need to spit-polish those as well. Could really use that 10-page critique prize ... or the Amazon gift card as a reward. ;-)
Thanks for the motivation!
Thanks for the
Mary,
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to revise about 85,000 words. For me, that's about much as I can do for SpeedBo.
Mary, I too have to echo everyone's sentiments. I love the cow pictures (and your sense of humor stating that you are in the picture on the right).
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to work on my WIP and write at least 1000 words per day to become more consistent in writing on a daily basis. I am also editing the first draft of my recently completed WIP, but now I am trying to write new words first and then put on my editing hat. I have updated my spreadsheet and have loved that I started around 8800 words and just crossed the 14000 word mark.
Thank you, Mary, for today's blog. I'd also like to thank everyone else for the encouragement.
Hi been running errands. I'm back.
ReplyDeleteMary Connealy on SPEEDbo - "Oh, I think I'll write a dozen or so books, edit them while I sleep and then whip off a novella or two as I wait in line at the grocery store. (LOL)
ReplyDeleteWish I were as prolific as you and Carol Moncado. I'm not, but I'm glad you two are. :)
I'm doing well with Speedbo. Not working on a novel, but a devotional. Does that make me a Speedbo Rebel? I certainly hope so, because I love being a rebel.
Praying for your week to get better, Courtney! Love your keep-on-keeping-on spirit. You can do it!!
ReplyDeleteI HAVE HAD A DAY YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE!!!
ReplyDeleteAND IT'S NOT MY FAULT!!!
MY COWBOY KEEPS MAKING ME DO CHORES!!!
But I'm back now.
Laughing with Jan C. Mary is Speedbo personified!
ReplyDeleteWilani, you know what? You say you're afraid you're 'not a good enough writer' well......join the club girl. We're all trying to improve all the time.
ReplyDeleteNone of us a probably a good enough writer. I know I am never satisfied with myself. :(
Don't let that fear stop you!
Kathryn, seriously, you're taking over an antique mall? Wow, like you own it (or operate it) and rent out stalls to antique dealers? Like that? I LOVE THOSE PLACES!!!
ReplyDeletePS Kathryn, very ambitious goals and also, I love how you spell your name. I might name a heroine Kathryn spelled like that.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Jodi and good luck on your awesome and perfect book. I want to write one of those!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMARILYNMARILYNMARILYNMARILYNMARILYN
ReplyDeleteIt was THIRTEEN DEGREES BELOW ZERO HERE LAST NIGHT! AND WE HAD TWO BABY CALVES BORN INTO THAT WEATHER!!! AND MY COWBOY DIDN'T BRING EITHER ONE INSIDE BECAUSE THEY WERE DOING FINE!!!
Twenty Seven? Seriously?
Natalie, the reason I hope to do it so fast was because it was really done. Done fini set-aside-while-I-wrote-something-else.
ReplyDeleteI like to do that if possible. The theory being...I can forget what I meant to say and only read what I really said.
Melony HI! You're a new visitor aren't you?
ReplyDeleteA rough first draft is absolutely a PERFECT goal for SPEEDBO!!!!
CHRIS good for you. If what you've been doing toward your writing dream isn't working then you need to do something DIFFERENT!!!
ReplyDeleteRight?
PEGG we keep NO BULLS. We've done it before and they are just a NUISANCE. They take a lot of special care to raise.
ReplyDeleteSo no...he is now a steer. His fate is sealed!
Sally mean bulls aren't fooling around.
ReplyDeleteWe've had some truly dangerous ones. My Cowboy is always mindful of them even if they're calm.
The cows are trickier because they can be big old pets and then, when a baby is born, they go mad for a while. Must be hormones I suppose. And just have to be treated with extreme caution.
LeAnne Bristow PROMISE ME YOU WILL GET VERY SERIOUS ABOUT GETTING THIS DONE AND IN TO LI!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying you don't have to do all that polishing but DO IT!! And do it with fast, relentless focus and get that book turned in.
PAT W 500 words a day is GREAT! Do NOT say it's not.
ReplyDeleteIt's forward progress, and in writing slow and steady wins the race. I suppose so can fast and unsteady because there can be lots of winners. :)
The thing about writing 500 or 300 or 1000 or 2000 is...it's very often the FIRST SENTENCE that is the tough one. It's starting. It's putting your backside in that chair, opening that document and figuring out the first word to type. So do NOT feel bad about 500 words, FEEL VICTORIOUS!!!!!
BROOKE I hope your little one is feeling better. I really admire you, you know. I never started writing until my baby went to Kindergarten. Of course they hadn't invented computers yet, so maybe I would have done some writing with the kids underfoot if I'd had a computer!!!
ReplyDelete(I know, they'd invented them, I just didn't have one!)
GO NIKKI
ReplyDeleteGO JENNA
everyday, get in the habit. With all of us here to cheer you on!!!!
And if you have a day you fail, then you just start right back in the next day.
OK, I was trying to read through all the comments, but decided I needed to make my own comment and then go get busy on some writing, or I will never get anywhere on it today. My goal is to write 500 per day, 5 days a week, for a starter, because I'm a beginner. I have two WIP that are both at the beginning stage--one is a Memoir of my breast cancer story (I want it to coincide with my 20 year anniversary the end of the year), and the other is a fiction story of a young girl who was molested, with the goal of reaching out to those girls who have had to live through the horrors of molestation. I know, that is a tough one to be starting out with, but it is the direction that God has led me, after finding out that a granddaughter had experienced this, and finding out there is NOTHING out there for these girls. I think I have a good start, and I have my granddaughters permission to write this and I'm hoping she will be able to help me. However, I was asked by a friend, who is a book reviewer on Carrie Fancett Pagels blog site (OWG), to write my testimony of "Overcoming Breast Cancer", so it set a fire under me to get started on 'the rest of the story', and my husband has asked me to zoom in on that for now. I travel a lot with my hubby, and we tend to go out 'exploring the land' where we are over the weekends, so that is why I decided to go with the week days, however, today was spent visiting Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, before we leave later this week to go home. I figured that if i want to be a writer, I needed to check out Ms. Alcott's home and learn more about this classic writer--and I'm very glad I did. NOW--time to go write! This is just what I need for an extra push to get things moving. THANKS! (This is an example of turning off the inner editor--hopefully it is readable, despite no paragraphs. LOL)
ReplyDelete\
Serious Goals, Kim...but I'd add one thing...no one ever really STOPS being a writer.
ReplyDeleteSometimes people lay it aside for a while but the love of writing is probably just WHO YOU ARE, more than what you do. Does that make sense?
So when you say 'fish or cut bait' just remember, you can always rebait that hook at a later date and in fact, you probably won't be able to stop yourself from drowning that worm. :)
DONNA I wonder if it was a baby longhorn. They have what is called 'Wild Color' and your description sounds like a longhorn that lives not far from us. They come in many colors but the speckles and splatters, that is a long horn trait.
ReplyDeleteLook for a BIG SCARY LONG HORNED BULL next time you go by. They sometimes use a longhorn bull with a different breed of cattle, because the babies are small, tough and easily born.
But also you sometimes buy cattle that are already bred and you get what you get. Sometimes the calf is born and TADA SURPRISE!!!!
JAMIE I love that this is one of your earliest memories.
ReplyDeleteHere's something to consider. The cow and calf had been separated ON PURPOSE by a farmer or rancher who was weaning the calf.
It might have been very deliberate.
Sorry about the chiggers.
Courtney I hope your life is settling down and giving you a break.
ReplyDeleteI know how distracting it can be.
I got sent on a two hour drive to run and errand for My Cowboy.
I thought he could go but blah, blah, blah baby calves. blah blah blah freeze to death. blah blah blah starve to death.
he was just FULL of excuses why I had to go!!!!
Calves = Cuteness (especially in the snow, but that one on an old bedspread wrapped in an old coat is adorbs all the way)
ReplyDeleteMy Speedbo goal is to plug away at two WIPs. (ugh. possibly a dumb idea to split this Swiss cheese brain) Once the scene outline is complete for WIP #2, I'd love to hit at least 1000 words per day on weekdays and 3000 per day on Sat/Sun (on either one). Soooo that's a total of 48,000 words by midnight on the 31st. Let's a-go!!!!!
Cute calves, Mary!
ReplyDeleteYour SpeedBo goals are amazing, certainly beyond my wildest expectations for myself! Go to it, girl!
Candee State Basketball Tourney? Have you got someone going to state? That's super cool.
ReplyDeleteI'm from a town that never had to worry much about State Tournaments. LOL
Walt My revisions are turning out to not be hard so when I say I can do 80k in three days that's of a fairly finished and polished manuscript. So don't feel like you taking a month on it is a bad thing. PROGRESS is the point.
ReplyDeleteTanya, way to go, girl.
ReplyDeleteThere's that word spread sheet again.
And I just checked and no, I didn't make my bed but NOW I HAVE. Thank you!
I like to see all these comments about people working on their manuscripts. I follow your cow pictures on FB and really enjoy them. When I was a little girl I had an experience like your grandma. We visited my uncle's farm and I saw this cute calf so I crawled under the wooden fence to pet it. Let's just say I never want to get that close to a cow again. But I'm glad you and your cowboy raise the critters. I love a good steak.
ReplyDeleteHaven't counted up my words today but have written pages and the evening is still young.
Wow my bed really looks great now!
ReplyDeleteJAN you do understand that I have NO LIFE.
ReplyDeleteI sit by myself, makin' stuff up. All day everyday, late into the night.
It makes for a lot of books but not much of a social life...which is the BEST part of being a writer, having all those conversations without another person involved. SWEET!!!
VICKI have you ever commented here before? I hope you come back and read this so you can answer.
ReplyDeleteSuch powerful work to be doing.
Both books. God bless you. You are writing something that can really touch lives.
You should read Ruthy Logan Hernes book that involves a woman dealing with sexual abuse when she was young.
Running on Empty
Very wise and beautiful story.
I'm proud of you for tackling such important and difficult issues.
DIANE DART you're a name I don't recognize either. I may have missed you before but I am so thrilled to see so many new names and faces here.
ReplyDeleteSPEEDBO IS LURING YOU ALL OUT TO PLAY WITH ME TODAY!!!!!!!!!
Elaine, I'm glad you lived to tell the tale!!! Yikes!
ReplyDeleteFriday I didn't have much more than a tagline, blurb, and concept for a new story. Today I have 6300 words and will begin the scenes on Tuesday. My goal is to write at least 35,00 words of an unedited draft before returning to edit and layer in details. I have yet to do that -- I'm crazy when it comes to proofreading and editing.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to read all the comments.
Mary, I'm laughing so hard at your first photo--of your covers and YOU (as if we couldn't tell). :)
ReplyDeleteAnd then the calves as if they're your only friends. hahaha So cute.
I've had a good day doing line edits! Got about a hundred pages done.
Can't wait to see how everyone else is doing!
OK Mary, so your saying beat my inner editor that looks for bo bo's and just get the words and such on there...
ReplyDeleteToday I read what I wrote so far to my daughter and found the error of my ways. lol
Goals
1. To Get Mary to send me books to influence for her !!! Julie vouch for me here..smile please
2. To write at least a novella, as Murray Pura said to do that if I didn't think I could do a whole novel.
3. to try to write 1,000 words a day if not more.
4. Stay sane....can I come hug the calfys...
5. To Live to Tell, I made it through Speedbo...
6. To write a book that brings honor to the Lord and helps others.
7. to write a book that makes you all cry, including Jules...smile
To make it till spring, this is Upstate Central NY and well I am wondering if it is going to reach the high 30's like they said, its still snowing out there.
Thank you Mary for your encouragement and dedication to us who are brave enough to try...
I do so want to read/influence for you , so can I do that...Jules keeps saying she needs to put me on payroll...smile
Hugs
Linda
Faithful Acres Books
http://www.faithfulacresbooks.wordpress.com
Congrats, Mary Hicks! That's a great prize!
ReplyDeleteWilani, good for you for jumping in to write!! :)
ReplyDeleteLeAnne, I'm sorry for the computer frustrations!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to see how everyone is doing! Also loving seeing lots of new faces. We're so glad you're all here with us doing Speedbo!!
ReplyDeleteMary, Thank you for your kind comments, and I just checked and I already have the book you mentioned on my Kindle app--need to move it to the top of my TBR list...as research. ;-) BTW, when I said, there is nothing out there, I was referring to nothing for the young girl. There are books for adults, and there are books for counselors of children, but nothing for the children--well, I guess i shouldn't say nothing, but very little and I don't think there is anything that has a Christian perspective to it. While I don't want my book to be preachy, I want it to come from a Christian perspective. As to the gd that this happened to--she was only about 5 when it first occurred and then after no contact with the guy for several years, it happened again at age 12. She is now 13 and the guy was sentenced to 8 years in prison--long enough for her to be an adult, before he gets out. She is now on the path of healing, including PTSD.
ReplyDeleteVicki
LoRee, wow, girl. that's a fantastic kick off to SPEEDBO!!!
ReplyDeleteVicki I am so impressed with that girls courage to let you write about this and talk about it. Very wise and very very difficult.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to #157 LINNETTE MULLIN.
ReplyDeleteCOME ON DOWN!!!
Oh! Linda Marie Finn's first one for me too!!!!
ReplyDelete2K in today. Hoping to double it before bedtime.
My h/h are surprising me [and them] with a not-a-date.
3,733 words today, and i'll be working for an hour more. I never write (or look at screens of any kind) after 8:00 P.M. it stimulates the brain, making it difficult to fall asleep.
ReplyDeleteAnd sleep is so, so important. My creative juices just don't flow if i'm too tired.
DEB H.!!!!!!! DID I JUST SEE THAT YOU'RE THINKING ON SUBBING TO THE KILLER VOICES?????
ReplyDeleteOH BE STILL MY HEART!!!!
I love when the good Lord above just plants things on sweet, gentle, abiding hearts!!!! Laughing with you and cheering for you!
Mary Hicks, congrats on that!!!!! I love the stockyards in Fort Worth, I had so much fun going there and fell in love with the old-fashioned western wear store there. Oh, if there'd been more money in my pocket, I'd have waltzed out of the place with a pretty, 19th century shirtwaist dress that was just beautiful...
And I'd be weird enough to wear it, too!!!!
With my fedora! :)
Love the pics:0)
ReplyDeleteMy goal this month is to finish the rough draft of my first novel!
I hope to write 500-1K a day.
May God bless all of you in your writing endeavors.
I added 1K tonight, but too tired to keep going. But that gets me to 2500 for the day, and I'm delighted with that.
ReplyDeleteLook at these comments, how much fun is this?????
LoRee that's wonderful! Oh my stars, you're rockin' it, girlfriend! Awesome!!!!
KAREN LELAND!
ReplyDeleteHI THERE!
Great goals. You Can Do It!!!
Welcome to SPEEDBO!!!!!
CRYSTAL HONEY!!!! Whatever rules you have KEEP THEM! You are being incredibly productive!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Ruthy! Aren't you something. :)
ReplyDeleteI need to stop playing in Seekerville and do some more work!
Vicki, I love that you're willing to tackle tough topics. I love that kind of writing, well, maybe I love it because I do it, or maybe I do it because I love it, or maybe the chicken came before the egg or vice versa, but deep, emotional stories are what I love to read and write...
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm not making fun of Mary and Tina, of course. I mean, first things first, right????
Hey, it's after 8:00 here and I here a pillow calling my name. And I want a snack but I'm getting ready for Lent and shrugging off sweets... and a hunk of cheese doesn't sound good.
:(
What to nibble on?????
I'll rejoin youse in the morning!
Whoa 188 comments!
ReplyDeleteAre people using comments to build word count or is Mary just THAT entertaining? ;)
My goal is simply to continue on pace with 1k a day. That goal has netted me 70,000 words already this year. I may push it up on weekends, but March is a rough month for me in the day job so I know not to demand I do more on a daily basis or I'm setting myself up to fail.
Happy Speedboing all.
Mary Curry that's really smart of you. 70k is fantastic. And the wisdom to know your job is all consuming right now.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe not ALL consuming.
Vicki in my Romantic Comedy with Cowboys (and other books) I've tackled some tough subjects too.
ReplyDeleteIt can all be done.
Battered wife, battered child, enablers, emotional abuse, PTSD, Post Partum Depression.
Seekerville welcomes number #158. EMILY NEYER!!!!
ReplyDeleteWOOOT!!!
I'm checking in late, because I was working hard on my Speedbo goals :)
ReplyDeleteMary, there's a dairy farm near us that opens up to the public once a year and that is usually the only time we get to enjoy them, so I love the photos and things you share about your cows! And so does my daughter :)
3990 words today; 5033 Speedbo total. Goal: 45K to finish my historical romance. Waving to Jackie Layton!
ReplyDeleteUpdate:
ReplyDeleteWrote another 2,945 words for a total on day 3 of 6,348 words ! Took me two hours to write them but I am on my way !
Blessings
Linda
Faithful Acres Books
http://www.faithfulacresbooks.wordpress.com
BTW--for anyone interested, I found out some interesting things about Louisa May Alcott. Loisa would generally spend 14 hours a day writing...and I'm talking about writing by hand. When one hand got tired, she would switch to the other hand. Her first writings were published in magazines under the name L.M. Alcott, until one time one went through with her full name Loisa May Alcott--of which her pay decreased significantly because she was a woman. Later when she had become more well known this same publishing house asked her for another story, but when Loisa asked if they intended to change their policies about paying women less than men, Louisa chose to NOT write another story for them. In the story, 'Little Women' the father of the girls went to war, but in RL Louisa's father did not go to war, but Louisa DID. She went as a nurse, but only was able to stay for about 6 weeks, because she contracted typhoid and had to return home for recovery and she continued to have many aches and pains that stayed with her the rest of her life, making her writing even more difficult (because of the pain from writing). Some think that it may have been partially caused from the medication that was given to her--it contained mercury.
ReplyDeleteVicki
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EMILY'S IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI was hoping she would be!!!!
I didn't have to twist her arm too much ;).