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September 10, 2009
I am almost done with the WIP! Just ooone mooore scene. And while I’m super excited to write the scene (and, let’s admit it, to be Done!) I am pretty much wriggling in my seat about what this means in terms of finally being freed up to write the sparkly new project I’ve been dreaming about for the past couple months! It’s been a while since I blank-page wrote a new manuscript start to finish, and I am eager to get started. (Of course, this time it will be punctuated with galleys for 2W2K and edits for 2S2D and turning in the as-yet-unrevised proposal for Book3… and that’s exciting, too!)
I’ve got a lot going on the next couple months, but I would love to have a draft done (preferably a polished draft!) by, say, Christmastime. Even with galleys and edits and whatnot, this should be an extremely achievable goal. At one scene a day, I should be done by Thanksgiving, leaving me an entire month to revise. We’ll see how it goes!
And you? What are your current goals, personally or professionally or otherwise? Any looming deadlines staring you in the face?
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December 31, 2008
Most of you know how I feel about goals. Last year around this time, I yammered on about how they must be specific, quantifiable, realistic, and attainable, and how above all, you (er… I) should be accountable for sticking to them.
Somewhere around mid-year, I fell off the write-every-day wagon.
How did this happen, given that I am the self-professed queen of making specific, quantifiable, realistic, attainable goals and sticking to them like bubble gum on shoes?
Because… I missed a bullet point. I should’ve added this tiny detail here:
Even a goal like “get out of bed by noon” won’t come to pass if it seems more important to lay in a sea of pillows with the TiVo remote and a plateful of comfort food.
So. My #1 goal for 2009 is:
Write/Revise/Plot/Daydream about my WIPs every single day, even if a few stolen moments is all I have.
1b: Because it matters.
You?
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January 11, 2008
(X-Posted from Romantic Inks)
I make New Years Resolutions every year. I’m an intrinsically motivated goal-oriented person, so I actually do daily, weekly, monthly goal-setting all year round, but I like the pomp and tradition of New Years Resolutions.
One of mine was to do a low carb diet for 2 weeks. FAIL. I lasted four and a half days. Partly because I’m vegetarian, and the joy of eating unlimited amounts of… well, cheese… paled after 72 hours. But I think the primary reason I failed was because other stuff came up that I wanted even more than less-snug jeans. For example, friends came in from out of state and wanted to go out to dinner. What should I have said, “No, I’ll be too busy at home eating low fat string cheese”? Not this girl. Off to Evos we went.
(And besides, the jean thing could be due to the excessive heat of my overly zealous dryer, right? Right???)
Last year, my 2007 New Years Resolutions included “blog once a week” and “do something writing-related every day”. (If you read the Manuscript Mavens blog, you already know I have strong feelings on the specificity, quantifiability, realism, and attainability of goals.)
This year, I did not make a comprehensive writerly list. Why? Because, pretty much my goal is: write. Write as much as humanly possible, given the obligatory things one must do each day (like earn enough $$ for the mortgage and trips to the grocery store for something to snack on other than cheese.)
Last year, I had a goal of reading an average of one book a week. I read 95 books. This year, so far I’ve read… one. Yes, a book. And if I don’t meet the book-a-week average, am I going to beat myself up over it? Absolutely not. Why? Because every moment of free time is spent writing. I am not whiling away the evenings watching TV or DVDs. I am not spending my afternoons playing the Sims or Spider Solitaire. I’m writing. And it makes me happy. =)
Now, some of you may be aware of the ill-kept secret that I do plan to take over the world in the near future, and when I do so, I shall be sure to tweak the space/time continuum to allow extra hours for reading and blogging in everyone’s day (and teleportation to replace long commutes and cross-country flights). But until then… here’s me wishing you all the best in 2008, and may each of the 24 hours in your day be filled with things that make you happy!
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December 21, 2007
Sorry I’ve been MIA all week, but I just hit THE END on Touched this morning! w00t! Yayayayayayay!!!
Also, it’s been one year this week since I first brainstormed the wacky tooth fairy story over on Miss Snark’s blog that turned into 400 pages now known as Hi-Jinxed two title changes, four character tweaks, and a major plot change later. (full story here)
2007 rocked—here’s to 2008!!!
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December 17, 2007
I have the (pleasure? horror?) of being snowed in 1,000+ miles away from home, as I flew north this weekend to visit family for the holidays. Internet is sketchy because there’s no wifi (what kind of Neanderthal house is this?!) but I’m scrambling like crazy to finish Touched.
Two things about that: Realism vs Procrastination.
As you may know, I’m a long-standing advocate of setting specific, quantifiable, realistic, attainable goals and holding yourself accountable to them.
I did not make my (internally-motivated) goal of finishing Touched by Thanksgiving. In fact, I’m in danger of seeing Christmas before my agent sees the manuscript.
Why? I think it was my old nemesis “realistic”. Finishing by Thanksgiving (an arbitrary deadline, to be sure) may have been theoretically possible, but possible != realistic.
And so… and so, once the deadline came and went–and, granted, Life reared its hectic head in the form of germs and cross-country plane trips and omnipresent client work and so on–once making the deadline was an impossibility because the date had already passed, so too went a big chunk of my drive.
I mean, partly I was rewriting because I love to write and I love this story, and partly I was rewriting because if I want my agent to lay eyes on it, then (duh) I have to send it to her, but also partly I was revising because I’m self-competitive by nature. Ain’t never seen a goal I didn’t want to meet or beat. I work for what I want, and in general I tend to succeed. But when I woke up Thanksgiving morning with the new goal of making it out of bed without coughing my lungs onto the floor, well… it was all too easy for justifiable delay to slip into that insidious beast Procrastination.
Now, as mentioned, I’m scrambling to finish, despite being snowed in a house with more family members than beds and a single non-wifi Internet connection. Because it’s almost time for that end-of-year standby, New Years Resolutions, and I am determined to begin my super-secret new project on January 1. I will start it then.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of this post!
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August 13, 2007
Today I posted a giant essay on GOALS (how to make good ones and how to achieve them) over on the Manuscript Mavens blog. I won’t regurgitate myself here, but I’ll wait for you if you want to go read it.
(No really–go take a peek)
Back? OK. (Did you really go? I hope you left a comment over there. I’ve got my eye on you. *g)
I wanted to do a New Year’s Resolution reality check at the halfway point through the year, but with one thing or another, I ended up a month behind. Better late then never, though, so here we go.
The Top 10 Goals for 2007 I posted on January 1 are as follows:
10) Attend the national conference in August
09) Attend all local monthly chapter meetings
08) Meet with my local CPs at least once a month
07) Be more active (and interactive) with my online CPs
06) Query and/or pitch at least 5 agents
05) Query and/or pitch at least 3 editors/publishers
04) Enter at least 4 contests
03) Blog at least once a week
02) Write two novel-length stories
01) Do something writing-related every single day
Now, to be good goals, they must be specific, quantifiable, realistic, and attainable. Let’s see.
10) Attend the national conference in August
Check. I did in fact achieve this goal. Although I achieved it in July, since that’s when the national conference was. Next year I’ll add “learn how to read a calendar” to the list.
09) Attend all local monthly chapter meetings
Fail. I missed a couple meetings due to being out of the country. Although this goal was specific and quantifiable, in retrospect it may not have been particularly realistic or even attainable, given my schedule. I will reword this when I update. This item belongs on an ideal-world Wish List, not a checklist of goals.
08) Meet with my local CPs at least once a month
Fail. Being out of the country for six weeks at a stretch kind of killed this one for the same reasons as above, but also my local CPs had their own life issues tangle up our potential together-time. Therefore, this goal was neither realistic nor attainable, right from the start. Again, this is an ideal-world Wish List item, not an achievable goal.
07) Be more active (and interactive) with my online CPs
Check. We met up at the National conference, started the Manuscript Mavens blog, and email almost daily.
06) Query and/or pitch at least 5 agents
Check. This is a good goal. It’s specific, quantifiable, realistic, and attainable. “Get an agent” is not a good goal, because getting an agent is as much a function of luck and perseverance as it is skill and talent. I pitched a total of three agents and queried a good dozen before I ended up signing with Lauren Abramo of the Dystel & Goderich literary agency.
05) Query and/or pitch at least 3 editors/publishers
Fail. For multiple reasons. I did pitch one editor at National, but did not otherwise pursue this goal. I decided it was much smarter to get an agent, instead, and let her submit proposals to editors at publishing houses. If that process happens this year, I guess I will indirectly achieve this goal.
04) Enter at least 4 contests
Check. Jury’s still out on one contest I entered, but I ended up triple-finaling in the TARA Contest. Which, I’d like to point out, is a nice accolade, but did not lead to the agent, directly or indirectly. Goal #6 led to the agent.
03) Blog at least once a week
*maniacal laughter* Er, check. Clearly, I have an addiction. I blog here at least once per weekday, even when I’m not in the country. I blog over in Mavenland every Monday. And I have the non-guest Friday slot over on Romantic Inks. So, yeah. At least once a week.
02) Write two novel-length stories
Not yet. I wrote and got agent representation for one story, and am 2/3 through the second Nether-Netherland book, although I may revise a previous story before finishing that one. I am still hoping to make this goal this year.
01) Do something writing-related every single day
Fail. Like #s 9 and 8, this goal simply isn’t realistic or attainable given a) my erratic schedule and b) life.
So.
It’s time to revamp the goals for the rest of the year. They are now:
10) Schedule a writing retreat for sometime within the next 6 months
09) Attend all local monthly chapter meetings if in town to do so
08) Attend weekly Maven chats if Internet access is available
07) Polish TATTF and send to agent
06) Finish first draft of DATD
05) Revise Touched
04) Read an average of 1 book per week
03) Blog at least once per weekday
02) Visit my blogroll at least once per week
01) Do something writing-related every workday with Internet access
What changes did I make?
Well, some of the goals are completely different, as I removed those I’d already achieved and those that were impossible. And some of the goals now have more sense-making caveats, such as attending all chapter meetings if I’m in town, as it’s dreadfully difficult to make them from out of the country.
Some of the goals are harder than others and some are more time consuming than others, but writing is a profession, and success isn’t for the lazy.
If I want to be an author, I have to work at being an author.
That said, all goals are not created equal! You have to make the goals that are right for you. You do not need to attend retreats or conferences or chapter meetings in order to be an author. You do not need to blog or enter conferences or even get an agent in order to be an author. Only you can determine the goals that are right for you.
YOUR TURN: I hope you *have* determined the goals that are right for you! Care to share any of them with me? Are you a goal maker or a goal breaker? If you made New Year’s resolutions back in January, how’s that going for you?
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August 3, 2007
Right after the new year, my agent Lauren Abramo posted a blog called 10 Things Every Aspiring Author Should Try This Year over on the Dystel & Goderich blog site.
She had some great advice, and I decided to run through her top 10 list to see how I compared. In case you’d like to do the same, please check out the link where she goes into detail on each of the line items I mention below.
1. Write an amazing query letter.
PASS
I did, I did! *g
Getting agent representation was one of my top career goals for this year (we can peek at the rest of them some other time) and I pursued it with single-minded determination. (*pause while I see if anyone buys the latter portion of that statement*) Okay, maybe not single-minded. I also had to work and read and write and angst over various aspects of my life.
But getting an agent was a top goal and I made it a point to do my best to see that happen. (In case you missed it, my post on how I rose from the slush is over on the Manuscript Mavens blog.)
2. Read Publisher’s Weekly, industry blogs, and the New York Times Book Review.
FAIL
But, I bookmarked those sites this very day, and will make a concerted effort to hit them at least once in a while.
I maybe didn’t *completely* fail this item, as I do read other industry blogs, such as the D&G blog, Miss Snark, various other agent/editor/library/bookseller blogs, and of course the blogs of my writer pals, whether published or not. (Does that get me half a point?)
3. Head down to a bookstore or surf over to one online and check out what’s going on in your category.
PASS
I actually do pay close attention to this. Not just in browsing, but I regularly quiz my friends on things they’ve read or new titles/authors they’ve heard of. I discovered Stephanie Rowe thanks to Maven Darcy, Sherry Thomas thanks to my CP Kel, Scott Westerfeld thanks to my pal Diana, Elizabeth Hoyt thanks to Maven Lacey, Orson Scott Card thanks to my brother Rob, Stephanie Meyer thanks to Dionne Galace, Colleen Gleason thanks to her t-shirt at last year’s national, and so on.
Not all of those are representative of my genre per se, but every time I read a popular and/or well written and/or good book, I learn something, either about craft, or about what readers want. (Or what publishers think readers want.)
4. Attend a writers’ conference.
PASS
In fact, I attended not one but three writers’ conferences. The Miami Fun in the Sun conference in February, the STAR Super Saturday conference in May, and the RWA National conference in July.
My primary goal at all three of these conferences was pitching to agents (see line item #1 above) and scored a request from almost every agent I pitched to. How ironic that I actually ended up scoring representation via slush pile???
5. Stop over thinking.
FAIL
I freaked out so many times this year. I don’t know why. I am usually a ridiculously calm, easy going person (and still am, even in the bizarrest or most dangerous of situations) but for some reason, this year I was hyper-sensitive about my writing career, or lack thereof.
I think I felt like I needed to achieve something that unequivocally proved forward momentum, in order to justify all the time and blood and heartache spent writing, critiquing, revising, plotstorming, driving/flying to conferences, mailing out 400 page manuscripts, etc.
This is not a cheap or easy process, and I came reeeeally close one time to making a Bad Mistake, for which I am now ever grateful I didn’t pursue. I’m not going to go into details on that, as I don’t want to burn any bridges and may pursue that particular path at some point in the future, but for now my current goals lie in agent representation (check!) and print publication (…still waiting.)
6. Write something, anything——daily or weekly or whenever you can fit it in your schedule.
PASS
Well, pass mostly. (Another half point?)
I tumbled off the writing wagon about a month ago when I was in Costa Rica, and for one reason or another never got back on with that particular WIP. I have been blogging almost every day, and commenting regularly on other people’s blogs, and critiquing my CP’s fabulous manuscripts (shout out to Lacey and Carrie, whose stories rock, and to Darcy, whose story is in my Inbox as I type, and I simply can’t wait to dive in!) and attending the national conference, and pursuing agent representation, etc, so it’s not like I’ve been ignoring my career.
I’ll get my very first revision letter sometime next week, and from that moment on, it’ll be full steam ahead on that project until it’s polished enough to be shopped in NYC. Not sure that counts as “writing” per se, but I’m counting it as “being a writer”.
7. Be honest with yourself.
PASS
Well, pass mostly. (Yet another half point. *sigh*)
Lauren’s main point with this was to be honest with yourself about the industry and your chances in it. If your book sucks, know this, shelve it, and write something else. If your book rocks, but is unsalable, know this, shelve it, and write something else. If your book is totally publishable, and you think you will retire on your advance money, check out Brenda Hiatt’s Show Me The Money breakdown and get thee a reality check.
I’ve been really honest about myself with all of these things (which is why I shelved my first two stories and they will soon be disappearing from my writer web site) but the thing I’ve maybe not been so honest with myself on is the amount of time all of this takes, and the fact that it may never happen, agent representation or not.
Although I’ve been writing off and on my whole life, I’ve been seriously pursuing publication for much less time than most of my writing pals, and yet I feel this horrendous pressure to hurry up and make something of myself already. Getting an agent totally took the edge off of that one, and I’m feeling myself again.
For now.
If years go by and I’m still in the same boat, no doubt those old ugly feelings will creep back in, and I’ll just have to remind myself yet again that there are no guarantees in this business, regardless of how well you may write or how awesome your story/characters/high concept may be. All we can do is do our best and keep trying.
8. Calm down.
FAIL
As mentioned in line item #5, I went from Calm Erica to Roller Coaster Erica over the last 2-5 months. Thankfully, my CPs and writer pals have no problem with fish-slapping me back to normalcy whenever insanity creeps in. As mentioned before, I’m hoping I’m over that and can get back to my normal self very soon. (In my defense, my personal life has been less than calm between February and now, which no doubt leaked into my professional life.)
9. Find your place to write.
PASS
I bought a new house (new to me, anyway *g) and converted a spare bedroom into an office. I had an office room in my apartment previously, but it was shared with my boyfriend, and was not All Mine. No more. I now have a room to call my own, with a computer and desk and bookshelves and filing cabinets and a love seat slash hide-a-bed and I can close the door and stow away inside any time I please. (Ah, bliss!)
10. Read.
PASS
As exemplified in the thumbnail cover links to the right of this post, I have been reading like crazy. As of today, total book count for this year is 57, which means I’ve been reading almost two per week. The books range from 200 pages to 600+ pages, from non-fiction craft books to literary fiction to popular novels, from books read to better ground myself in a particular genre to books read for pleasure, but all in all, I’ve been reading, and plan to continue doing so.
Every book I read helps me to be a better writer. If I enjoy a book (or an aspect of a book), I ask myself why, and if I can identify that magic spark, perhaps I can put my own spin on it in my own writing. If I do not enjoy a book, I try to analyze where it went wrong for me, so that I don’t make that same mistake myself.
Looks like I scored a 6.5 (for the record, Lauren said nothing about scoring your progress on her original blog post–I’m making it up because I grew up a Cosmo girl at heart and can’t resist a good quiz) out of a possible 10. But the year is not yet over! I still have time to ground myself more in the industry, calm my crazy butt down, and write, write, write!
YOUR TURN: Where you at? Have you done (or are you doing) any of the items on this list? Do you have suggestions of your own for other aspiring authors? Inquiring Ericas want to know!
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June 26, 2007
As promised, today is Day One in the workblog series on Writing Conferences. But since it’s Good Karma Tuesday, the first thing I want to do is award some prizes!
Good Karma Tuesday winner: Aurora St James
Reciprocal Pimp award: Vicki Lane
Speaking of Good Karma, check out my pal Carrie’s blog. She’s giving away free books in honor of today’s release of Diana Peterfreund’s Under The Rose. Go win!
(As you know, the Good Karma Tuesday prize goes to a random reader who commented on a post during the previous week. The Reciprocal pimp award is a non-random totally subjective honor bestowed upon someone who has graced me with link love during the previous week. Vicki’s blog links to this site, as well as the Manuscript Mavens blog. Go Vicki!)
Aurora and Vicki: Send me your addresses and I will send your prizes when I get back to the States next week!
Writing Conferences
First of all, lets back up a second and talk about professional writing organizations. I am a member of Romance Writers of America as well as Mystery Writers of America. Within those two national organizations, I am a member of several smaller chapters. Some are regional (such as the MWA Florida Chapter and the Tampa Area Romance Authors, and some of them are topical, such as the Kiss of Death mystery/suspense chapter and the Beau Monde Regency England chapter for writers of historicals.
Depending on where you live and what you write, other groups that may interest you include:
* Professional Writers Association of Canada
* Horror Writers Association
* Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
* American Screenwriters Association
* The Authors Guild
* More United States organizations: [General] [Romance]
* More Canadian organizations: [General] [Romance]
* Romance Writing Chapters: [General] [RWA-Approved Special-Interest Chapters]
Some of the advantages to joining a professional writing organization are:
* camaraderie
* research email loops
* personal email loops
* inspiration
* networking
* access to members-only web sites
* workshops, speakers & newsletters
* new friends
and of course:
* conferences (and discounted rates!)
So. If you’re like me (which I’m not saying you are, but let’s face it–that’s my frame of reference) the primary concern when it comes to attending writing conferences is ROI. (Return on Investment)
You plan to spend your time, effort, and money, and you want to get something of value in return. Before we deal with the former, let’s talk about the latter.
The first thing to ask yourself is what you desire (and reasonably expect) to get out of a conference. For some, it’s a chance to pitch a story to an agent or editor. For some, it’s networking with other writers and those in the publishing industry. For some, it’s attending workshops and learning more about the craft of writing. For some, it’s about promoing the newest release in the Goody Room and getting their name/face/cover out there for the world to see. For some, it’s about walking on stage and accepting a writing award, or getting away from the spouse and kids to be amongst people who “get” what it means to be a writer, or meeting critique partners or plot buddies face to face, or going home at the end of the conference with a suitcase full of books.
Even if you answered “all (most) of the above”, try to determine your primary goal. The number one thing that makes it worth the time, effort, and money.
For example, the first conference I went to, I was all about the craft. I did have two agent appointments (who requested partials of my first manuscript but luckily for all of us, passed on the story) but I spent every waking moment in various workshops and didn’t network with anyone except my roommate (if that counts).
(Speaking of roommates, a big shout-out to USA Today best-seller and RITA award winner Karen Rose, a talented romantic suspense writer and my very first conference roomie. Go buy her books!)
I left that first conference with my head spinning, exorcist-style. It’s so unutterably exhausting to have your brain “on” from 8 am to midnight several days in a row. (But I learned TONS.)
Most RWA National conference workshops are taped, so my plan there was to attend all of them that weren’t taped, and then buy the CDs. And then I discovered publisher parties and book signings… More on that later this week.
Lately, my primary goal has been pitching. I flew to San Jose, CA last year for the Prepare to Pitch conference and came home with something like 8-10 requests. Totally worth the plane ticket, for a goal of “find agent”. I’ve also road tripped to two in-state conferences in the past few months, also with a “find agent” goal. Those conference only offered one agent appointment, but were well worth the drive time.
So. Step one is to research professional organizations and see which, if any, mesh with your goals as a writer. Step two is to check out their conferences: when they are, where they are, who will be there, what they offer, how much they cost, how long they last. Step three is to decide what meeting those goals is worth to you, and choose a conference accordingly.
Don’t attend a conference just to attend a conference–pick one that meets your needs. If you’re targeting a particular agent or publishing house, pay attention to the workshop presenters and the people offering pitch appointments. If you’re hoping to learn more about craft, read the workshop descriptions and presenter bios online before you sign up. If you are on a limited budget (and remember–if you are pursuing a professional career, chances are good that dues/fees will be tax deductible!) or have a limited number of consecutive days you can be absent from home while still keeping your job/spouse/sanity, pay attention to that as well.
Once you choose a conference, the next phase of fun begins… More on this tomorrow!
YOUR TURN: Are you a member of any professional writing organizations? What conferences (if any) have you attended? What were/are your primary goals when it comes to attending writing conferences?
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June 25, 2007
First, just a friendly reminder that we are now celebrating Wednesday Update on Mondays. You haven’t accidently slept through the first half of the week. =)
Speaking of the days of the week, we’re going to try something new and have a theme this week. As requested by Vicki, this week’s series is on conferences.
Tomorrow I’ll chat a little about when it’s good to go, where to find out about them, and how to pick a good one. (Please be sure to stop by and share your suggestions and anecdotes!)
Wednesday will be self-promotion (aka Pitching for aspiring writers, and Goody Rooms etc for publishined writers).
Thurday will be about workshops (attending and presenting) and conference extras.
Friday will be all about networking–how to, when you should, when you shouldn’t, and more.
(Please leave suggestions for future workblogs on this post. Thanks!)
On with the accountability show:
 DATD Running Totals:
Number of Scenes: 36
Number of Pages: 201
Number of Words: 61,460
Current Status: 61%
Synopsis: Intro & Character Arcs done
TATTF Current Stats:
Requested Fulls out: 2
Requested Partials out: 2
Unsent Requests: 0
Website/Blog Statistics
* Highest number of unique visitors: 66 (Wednesday)
* Lowest number of unique visitors: 28 (Saturday)
* Most popular keywords to find site:
– erica
– erica ridley
– trevor masterson
– writer erica ridley
– shannon aviles
– romance novel writer blog
– ericaridley.com
– christine feehan fake book (???)
– author erica
– manuscript mavens blogspot
– julia quinn
– writer blog romance
– manuscript mavens
– erica writes
– aspiring writers
– a lady binds and gags the other one (!!!)
BTW, the Manuscript Mavens blog is totally spanking this site’s stats. The blog just started last week, and already the number of unique visitors in one day has gone three digits. Wow.
Goals Achieved Since Last Check-In
* Catch up on critiques
* Write Every Day
* Write > 100 words/day
* Announce Manuscript Maven Launch Party Prize Winners
* Write Monday Maven blog post on Conflict, Humor, Sexual Tension and the importance of details
Goals NOT Achieved As Planned
* Write a complete scene every day
* Make progress with DATD synopsis
* Become world-famous travel writer
Goals for this week:
* Continue 100 Day Challenge
* Write every day (ideally a whole scene)
* Write my first Friday post for Romantic Inks
100DC Teammates: 100+ Words per day for 100 days
P.S.
Since I’m the Monday Maven, I’ve got a post over on the Manuscript Mavens blog today. Please drop by and say hi!
YOUR TURN: Make any writing progress this past week? Those of you in the 100DC, are you making your goals? Since this week’s topic is Conferences, this is the time to ask any burning questions you may have about professional writing organizations, pitching, networking, self-promotion, giving workshops, choosing workshops to attend, the usefulness of Annual Meetings, etc. Also, if you’re a conference veteran, I hope you drop by each week to share your thoughts and experiences, too!
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June 20, 2007
Breaking News
My application was accepted and I am the newest member of Romantic Inks. Look for my first post on Friday, June 29!
AND… (drumroll please…)
The Manuscript Mavens have finally launched a blog! It’s so exciting! My test post is here, my first REAL post is here (please comment so I know you dropped by!) and Maven Darcy’s very first blog post ever in her whole life is here. Even if you don’t comment on my post (whaaahhh?!?) you HAVE to give Darcy a warm welcome into the blogosphere. No, seriously. Show her some comment-love. Go now! I’ll wait!
Back? Okay. That was good practice, because on Friday, June 22 (yes, THIS Friday) we will be having a comment contest on the Manuscript Maven blog. (Hint: there will be additional prizes for link love–check the Manuscript Maven blog for more details on Friday)
Back to your regularly scheduled Wednesday Update…
DATD Running Totals:
Number of Scenes: 32
Number of Pages: 175
Number of Words: 53,243
Current Status: 53%
Synopsis: Intro & Character Arcs done
TATTF Current Stats:
Requested Fulls out: 2
Requested Partials out: 2
Unsent Requests: 0
Website/Blog Statistics
* Highest number of unique visitors: 89 (Friday)
* Lowest number of unique visitors: 30 (Saturday)
* Most popular keywords to find site:
– erica
– erica ridley
– writer erica ridley
– erica davidson blog (???)
– romance novel writer blog
– ericaridley.com
– author erica
– writer blog romance
– blogger emoticon mystified
– erica writes
– girl sexy and romance (!!!)
Goals Achieved Since Last Check-In
* Catch up on critiques
* Write Every Day
* Write > 100 words/day
* Be accepted into Romantic Inks
* Launch new Manuscript Maven blog
* Write first ever Manuscript Maven blog
* Comment on Darcy’s first blog post EVER
Goals NOT Achieved As Planned
* Write a complete scene every day
* Finish beta-reading CP’s awesome WIP
* World Domination
Goals for next week:
* Continue 100 Day Challenge
* Write every day (ideally a whole scene)
* Work on DATD Synopsis
* Finish beta-reading CP’s *fabtastic* WIP
100DC Teammates: 100+ Words per day for 100 days
Your turn: Where you at? Made any progress on any goals? What your goals/plans are for the upcoming week? Did you visit the new Manuscript Maven blog? What did you think? Did you comment on my post(s)? Did you comment on Darcy’s post? Whassup! =)
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