https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Wed, 29 Apr 2026 19:23:31 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-932440 Tue, 14 May 2013 23:03:36 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 932440@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ How's it going - tomorrow is mid-May! (aaaaaargh!)<br /> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-926507 Tue, 07 May 2013 00:15:31 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 926507@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>How's it going, writers? I've been traveling a lot so have not been getting tons done, but I should be able to spend some time on some writing tasks tomorrow, yay. I hope May has started well for you all. My results from camp nanowrimo in April were underwhelming as far as word count but I did meet my research hours goal. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-915731 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:54:42 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 915731@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Nancylee, I'm putting that book on my to-get list, sounds interesting.<br /><br />Ana, I love the 1890s - I'm totally into history of technology stuff and the period between the Civil War and the first WW is my favorite to learn about. Such an interesting period, lots of change and the modern world emerging. There's a great book about the history of the invention of the zipper - maybe you've read it. <br /><br />You're so right, rachylou - what is it, some famous writer said he spent all morning putting in a comma and all afternoon taking it out? I'm not quite that bad, but sometimes I get fixated on the most inconsequential decisions. <br /> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-914603 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:47:54 +0000 rachylou 914603@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ That sounds like a really interesting book, nancylee. The hold storytelling has on humans is a theme that crops up every now and then in science fiction. It's interesting to me see someone writing a non-fiction book about it!<br /><br />One thing I've found out about, thru being a writer and editor, you really have to let go.&nbsp; Swallow the slashed and burned feeling the first time you're ever edited. People talk about their manuscripts being their babies... well, there's a time for that first day off to school alone...<br /> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-913521 Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:23:28 +0000 nancylee 913521@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Rachylou, I spent about 6 months (off and on)&nbsp;researching and plotting my novel before I tried to write a draft. &nbsp;At some point you have to cut yourself off from research or you'll never write the story! &nbsp;You don't need to be an expert on the period, but you do have to know certain things. &nbsp;For me it was especially important to know the chronology of certain historical events, so my plot would make sense. &nbsp;<br /><br />Ana, that's great that you were asked for a draft. &nbsp;It's an ambitious schedule you've set (like Laura said), but it's good to set some deadlines. &nbsp;<br /><br />Laura, I hear you on perfectionist tendencies getting in the way. &nbsp;I was a book editor (nonfiction) for years, and that desire to make every sentence perfect REALLY hampered my production when I started writing myself. &nbsp;I've mostly gotten past that now...but it still rears its ugly head from time to time.<br /><br />For everyone, I'm reading this great book right now called "Wired for Story" (Lisa Cron) that explains exactly what readers expect from a story and how to better hone your fiction. &nbsp;It's really great....a lot of stuff I've heard before, but the way she explains it is somehow fresher. &nbsp;And she throws in some neurological reasons for why humans crave story, which is really fascinating.&nbsp; https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-913452 Sun, 21 Apr 2013 14:35:47 +0000 Ana 913452@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Hi Laura! My series is set in&nbsp;the 1890s. I like that time period because a lot of the things we have around today were available back then (toothbrushes!) or were in the process of being invented and introduced (zippers!). Also, I just don't think I have the right voice for something like the Regency period.&nbsp;<br /><br />I think our brains need a little "breathing room" (not too much). It sounds like you come up with your best ideas when you're not putting too much pressure on yourself to come up with great ideas. It's a vicious cycle! I've found that sometimes I just have to force myself to move forward, even if I have no idea how to solve the problem. Many times, I find I can "write" myself out of the dilemma. I couldn't ever do it&nbsp;if I just sat and thought about it forever. You know what I mean?&nbsp; https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-913313 Sun, 21 Apr 2013 03:41:48 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 913313@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ana, that sounds like a tough but achievable deadline. I too have had agents ask me to send them proposals when I pitched at conferences, but so far I haven't gotten anything to that point yet. *shakes head at self* My perfectionist tendencies definitely get in the way sometimes. When is your romance set, if you don't mind me asking?</p> <p>I think I've had a conceptual breakthrough on how I'm framing my nonfiction project - why is it that when you give up, say you have no idea, and rant to someone about it that soon something pops up? Must be the stubbornness of the human brain. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-911587 Thu, 18 Apr 2013 21:53:03 +0000 Ana 911587@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Wow, great goals, Laura, Nancy and Rambling Ann!&nbsp;<br /><br />We live and die by the wordcount, don't we? :)<br /><br />I am trying to finish the rough draft of my historical romance by June 1. I had an agent request a full at the conference I went to last JULY and I haven't sent it yet&nbsp;(*covers face in shame*). Of course, as soon as I pitched it,&nbsp;I realized the entire thing needed to be rewritten.&nbsp;<br /><br />So, this draft&nbsp;I'm aiming for 75K-85K total, because I'll probably go in and add another 10K in revision. I'm only 25K in so far though. I'm going to have to write like crazy to make it, since I sometimes have to stop and do research when a question arises. Luckily I have two writer friends that I meet with Monday through&nbsp;Friday that are unabashed whip crackers.&nbsp;<br /><br />I figure revisions will take about 2-3 months, maybe? That's all I'm giving myself because I really need to start querying this book and move on to the next one by the end of the summer.&nbsp; https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-910638 Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:10:15 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 910638@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I read The Artist's Way a few years ago and enjoyed it, although I never really got into "morning pages" as much as I did the general principles and the idea of artist dates, etc. I think it's important for creative people to take time to 'fill the well' intentionally, not just as a side effect of other things in our lives. We all get so busy these days it's hard to make it a priority. My transformational moment, as far as creative writing goes as opposed to technical writing or the scientific stuff I did in school, was doing National Novel Writing Month a few years ago - the idea is to write a first draft of 50,000 of a novel in a month, if you guys haven't heard of it. Of course on that sort of deadline there's no time for the inner editor or to get blocked, you just have to write. Plenty of it ends up being unusable but it is a very freeing experience. <br /><br />A, I hear ya re the illogical time pressures - sometimes it seems like deadlines are an excuse for someone to do low-quality work and excuse it. Yeah, we all have to get stuff done, but do we really need to be in quite as much of a hurry as we supposedly are? Rachylou, you should come to Silicon Valley - plenty of 'visionaries' here but lots of them have no practical boots on the ground experience on how to run a business or keep employees productive and happy - drives me nuts sometimes. <br /><br />Nancylee, that's exciting news about your story, congrats! Both of my local critique partners are working on novels, in fact on multi-novel series and sometimes I feel left out because they're planning these huge story arcs. Since I'm into history I've thought of trying to write historical fiction but I haven't tried it yet, too used to the factual approach. I am trying for a more novelistic approach with this current project, more like creative nonfiction than a dissertation. <br /><br />A, it never occurred to me to think of being a writer when I was younger, even though I was always good at compositions in school and loved to read. I think being a writer was something fancy that artistic people did, not regular folks like me. I had a bit of an early mid-life crisis a few years ago when I realized I hated my job (and there were a lot of other things out of whack in my life too). I realized that what I really wanted to do was to explore ideas for a living, and so that's what I'm trying to do (stumblingly, with intermittent success) now. <br /> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-910348 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:42:35 +0000 rachylou 910348@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I looked Julia Cameron up on the web. Very interesting (including a translation of her principles for Atheists)(that was weird, I got to tell you). What are the exercises like?<br /><br />NancyLee - what is research like for a historical novel?<br /><br />re. my major - But first a digression: My high school head mistress tried to get me to go to Oberlin and major in creative writing. It has just occurred to me the universe has been wanting me to go to Ohio and I keep not listening. Ohio is like a theme in my life. Anyways, no, I have nothing to say. So no creative writing for me. I didn't ever want to write; however, I could and did so went with it. I actually majored in <i>technical writing</i> (focus in ecology). A rare sort of degree that I think may disappear as quickly as it appeared. Or become a straight up computer science job.<br /><br /><br /> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-909743 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 01:29:49 +0000 nancylee 909743@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I didn't major in English, A. Both of my degrees&nbsp;are in&nbsp;International Relations, and I&nbsp;worked as a research writer/editor (foreign relations journals, etc.)&nbsp;in the early days of my career. &nbsp;Then, while working as a freelance editor,&nbsp;I sort of took baby steps toward writing fiction over time, attending workshops in the summer and reading a lot of how-to books. &nbsp;I started out writing books reviews, doing author interviews, and writing a lot of stuff&nbsp;that didn't get&nbsp;published until.....finally....my&nbsp;first story was accepted for publication. &nbsp;<br /><br />As for always wanting to write.....I didn't even consider being a writer until I was in my early to mid-30's. &nbsp;Although I'd always loved reading fiction, I didn't grow up around writers or artists... so the idea of doing that for a career didn't even occur to me until much later.<br /> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-909692 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 01:08:10 +0000 Anonymous 909692@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Fantastic nancylee</p> <p>All other writers: is your education in journalism or English ?</p> <p>I'm curious how everyone got started? Did you always want to write? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-909689 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 01:03:50 +0000 nancylee 909689@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Ugh. &nbsp;Tough subject.&nbsp;I've been away from my historical novel for over a year due to disruptions from&nbsp;DH's ongoing medical issues. &nbsp;But I'm hoping to get back to it soon. &nbsp;I was just about to start a second draft a year ago when all the craziness started. &nbsp;:(<br /><br />On a brighter note, my fifth short story was just published two weeks ago. &nbsp;:)<br /><br />I read The Artist's Way when I was just getting started...and it was very inspiring.<br /><br />Good luck on your projects, Laura and RamblingAnn. &nbsp;Setting goals helps ...even when we don't meet them! https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-909644 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:33:42 +0000 Anonymous 909644@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm a technical writer too, for a large Canadian financial institution. It lacks creativity but is very liberal with hours and location. </p> <p>I kind of fell into it as a contract role in my company during one of my husband's transfers ( they obviously find him a job but not me lol)</p> <p>My bone of contention is that during re-writing of policy, my clients don't have the knowledge to answer my questions but expect everything published on time, even if content is incorrect. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-909504 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 21:40:43 +0000 Rambling Ann 909504@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ @rachylou Julia Cameron's work on creativity, esp in her first book The Artist's Way. It's not for everybody, but I did all the work she suggested and it changed my life in ways I couldn't have dreamed of. 10 years later and I'm still doing the daily writing exercise. https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-909414 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:19:21 +0000 rachylou 909414@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ What's Artist Way, Ann?<br /><br />Re. the passivity: I think some of it is due to the bad economy and just keeping a low profile. But also high tech has matured a lot more, market-wise. All around, it's a time for maintenance mode, movers and shakers need not apply.&nbsp; I need to find out where they all went...<br /> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-909335 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:14:20 +0000 Rambling Ann 909335@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Great idea for a thread. I write and photograph. Sometimes one more than the other, it goes back and forth.<br /><br />I'm going for 1K per day for April, trying to develop the habit, not necessarily the product. I have a non-fiction book I want to be working on, but I seem to be working mostly on my blog and a photography&nbsp;ebook project instead. For April, if I hit the word count, I'm letting it go and will analyze in May. Words is words!&nbsp;<br /><br />Any Artist Way practitioners? https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-909320 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:56:43 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 909320@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Sorry, 20k = 20 thousand words, in my quirky shorthand.</p> <p>I used to be a technical writer myself, actually. Fell into it after college when I moved to Silicon Valley and wasn't a coder but understood computers well enough to explain them to other people. When I left my last tech writing job the trend of trying to reduce actual words was definitely already starting. Everything was contextual help and leaning toward visual explanations rather than text. I can definitely see how that would be frustrating for you, rachylou. When its done well, with good instructional design, it can work for the end user, but often it's done poorly and it's more confusing than a bad manual would be.</p> <p>Do you think that the passiveness is due to fears about jobs and the economy? Perhaps people would rather do nothing than do something and get fired if it doesn't work out perfectly... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-908672 Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:27:38 +0000 rachylou 908672@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ What's 20k? <br /><br />I'm the wrong kind of writer - a technical writer. I mean, for example, my current project consists of doing everything I can to reduce the amount of writing as much as possible - getting it to none would be the big preference. I comb the archives looking for any excuse to cross a topic off the list. Lol. It worries me a little because success means I won't have anything to show.<br /><br />Also, I'd like to gripe a little bit: I find all the companies I've worked for in the last few year... everyone is so extraordinarily passive. People used to be revving to go, get things done. Now they all sort of drift and hide.<br /> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/hows-it-going-writers#post-908535 Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:58:36 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 908535@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I know that there are several of us who are writers on the forum, whether for a living or as an avocation, so I thought it might be fun to have a thread where we could commiserate, talk about what we're working on, etc. </p> <p>I am currently (among other things) working on a nonfiction history project, hoping to shape it into a book. I have a self imposed deadline of the end of May to have a proposal ready to send out, including two completed chapters. I had aimed for writing 20k and doing 20 hours of research during April, but so far I am only on track with the research. With something so research heavy I'm not sure if researching and writing at the same time really makes sense. I haven't finished a book length work of this type yet, so I am feeling my way as I go. </p> <p>I'd love to hear about how other people's projects are going. Hope your week is productive and creative! </p>