In all honesty, I’ve thought about blogging for a couple weeks, but really had nothing to say. I haven’t worked on my writing, read blogs, or done anything writerly since the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers conference in June. I decided that I needed to get blogging though, because it gives me some accountability.

I just moved back to Georgia, so I’ve been in this transition period. But now, even though I have the time to write, I have trouble finding motivation. My writers group is now across the country and I have nothing keeping me accountable for me writing except for me.

While I should be enough, I’m obviously not. So now I’m going to blog once a week. And if I don’t write, where will I find my topics for posts? I won’t. So I have to write. See my logic?

Anyone else have good suggestions for ways to motivate yourself to write?

So for the four people who actually read my blog, I am sorry to say that I’m taking a break. I hope to be able to write regularly again starting in August, though I may post a few things during Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers in June.

Thanks to my readers for being so great.

But then my genius-and-wonderfully-organized friend Chersti posted how she makes and keeps her writing schedule. So I am trying it.

My life is too unpredictable to make out a very long term, day-to-day plan, but I do know that I’d love to have my current draft finished by next week so I can print it out and read it out loud, make more changes, etc. I want that all finished by the WIFYR conference on June 13. So I took Chersti’s advice about keeping a writing log, and planned out the things I need to do this week. It looks something like this:

I’ve scheduled in all the writerly things that I need to do that day, color coded (see Chersti? you’re not the only one) by which task it is. I also took Chersti’s advice on keeping track of how long it takes me. I hope in the future, it’ll help me figure out just how long it takes me to do things so I can schedule better.

As you can see, I’ve already had to change things around. I didn’t finish revisions on Chapter 28, so I went through and edited my plan. Things come up, so even having a plan means flexibility. But this way I feel more accountable for the things I need to do. And somehow, it seems more doable seeing everything right there in front of me. (Good for excitement too–look! I’ll have a finished draft by Friday!)

Do you have another way you keep yourself on track with your writing goals?

Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith

“I know you miss him. But Joy, Zan didn’t die.”
(Smith, Emily Wing. Back When You Were Easier to Love [uncorrected galley]. New York: Dutton, 2011.)

Reading Stars:  * * * *
Writing Stars:  * * * *
(For an explanation of my rating stars, check out my Book Review page.)

Joy’s boyfriend Zan is gone and things just aren’t the same without him. She and Zan’s ex-best friend Noah take a road trip to find Zan and get some closure, which for Joy means winning him back.

I really loved this book. It was a fun, clean read with a fabulous voice. And I think I really enjoyed reading a book with a main character who is a Mormon growing up in Mormon Utah. The culture is really a world all its own, and Emily Wing Smith did a great job at painting that picture. Another thing I enjoyed about that aspect was that the Mormonism wasn’t the key focus of the story. It was just the setting. Joy’s beliefs reflected the fact that she was Mormon (like she plans on waiting until marriage to have sex), but it wasn’t beating me over the head the whole time. It wasn’t preachy.

Another thing that was well done in this book is that it captured the “woe is me, my boyfriend is gone and I miss him” teenage thing without being too annoying or obnoxious.

This was a fun chick lit book, and I totally recommend it. Finally one of us Mormon YA authors writing about a Mormon main character in mainstream fiction. And Emily Wing Smith does it perfectly.

*news about back when you were easier to love*

Author connect: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook |
Sequels: None
Similar books: The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith

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*for writers*

Agent: Michael Bourret from Dystel & Goderich

A Page from Emily Wing Smith’s Book: She does a fabulous job writing a character who has religious morals/beliefs that are a part of the character but that don’t come off sounding preachy.

Filed under: Books & Reading Tagged: agents, authors, characters, chick lit, four reading stars****, four writing stars****, reviews, WIFYR, writing advice ]]> http://karenmkrueger.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/book-review-back-when-you-were-easier-to-love-by-emily-wing-smith/feed/ 3 Karen back when you were easier to love cover http://karenmkrueger.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/the-friday-that-was-a-thursday/ http://karenmkrueger.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/the-friday-that-was-a-thursday/#comments Sat, 07 May 2011 15:53:53 +0000 Karen Krueger http://karenmkrueger.wordpress.com/?p=1011 Continue reading →]]> Yesterday, I honestly thought it was Thursday. When my husband came home and told me it was Friday, I didn’t believe him. I checked my phone. Yep. Friday.

It’s rather discombobulating to be so convinced that it’s one day when it’s not. Even today, I keep doubting it’s Saturday. But when I check the calendar down at the bottom of my computer screen, it reassures me that it is indeed the weekend.

I feel like I’m in some weird sci-fi book. Someone’s messing with my memories and trying to cover it up. Well I’m on to them.

And poof–a book idea is born!

I wondered if this post would have a point. Now it does. One of the most common questions authors are asked is how they come up with ideas for books, like there’s some magic formula. But I think more often than not, the idea comes from life. Something we see as writers sets off a chain of questions or a thought. And then we wonder–what if??

When I came up with the idea for WITHOUT A SONG (formerly “Melisma”), it was a gradual thing. I’d been trying for years to put into words how I feel about music. Since I suck at poetry, it wasn’t going so well. The one image that I always had with good music though is that I was flying. That sparked the question–what if you could fly with music? What if music was magic?

I have a notebook where I write down my ideas. There’s never once been a time I’ve just magically come up with a premise for a book. There’s always something I see or hear or experience that sparks it. I just have that crazy writer brain that turns it into an idea for a novel.

What’s your story behind your story? What sparked the idea for your current WIP?

In fact, I can’t even think of a decent topic for today’s post.

Have you been watching Dr. Who? I just watched the second episode (or is it third? Don’t count the Christmas special and it’s 2nd). This season is amazing.

This post is boring.

Here’s a better one. Shallee, from my critique group, posted some lovely illustrations that perfectly demonstrate how I feel about my writing at the moment. I fit in the depressing ones. Except with brown hair.

Beyonders: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull

Over the centuries individuals have crossed from our world to Lyrian in a variety of ways. . . .But nobody has ever passed from Earth to Lyrian in a less likely way than Jason Walker.
Mull, Brandon. A World Without Heroes. New York: Aladdin, 2011.

Reading Stars:  * * * *
Writing Stars:  * * *
(For an explanation of my rating stars, check out my Book Review page.)

Fourteen-year-old Jason Walker is transported to a strange world called Lyrian, where he joins Rachel, who was also drawn there from our world, and a few rebels, to piece together the Word that can destroy the malicious wizard emperor, Maldor. (from the book’s copyright page)

Brandon Mull has a great imagination. When I attended the launch party for his final Fablehaven book, he talked about how excited he was for his Beyonders series because he was able to make up his own world with his own creatures. I have to hand it to him–he came up with some awesome creatures, places, and events. Lyrian was a unique world.

There was a great mix of humor. My favorite scene was one that made me laugh out loud. (I won’t give it away.) Jason, the main character, is a funny guy. The humor and the adventure and the creatures make this a perfect book for boys, but also can appeal to girls, much the same as Mull’s Fablehaven series.

The one issue I had with the book is probably because I’m a writer and I notice these things. The vocabulary in the book is way advanced, which I don’t have a problem with. (I was learning tons of words myself!) But often the vocabulary made the dialogue unnatural. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Jason was a fourteen-year-old kid because he talked and thought like a very educated thirty-year-old. However, even though his words were older, I felt like he had genuine teenage thoughts for the most part. He didn’t act like a thirty-year-old.

Like the Fablehaven books, A World Without Heroes is humorous, exciting, and full of imagination. I won’t be surprised if it makes it onto the New York Times Best Seller’s list as well.

*news about a world without heroes*

Author connect: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook |
Sequels: Beyonders #2 (Spring 2012), Beyonders #3 (Spring 2013)
Similar books: Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

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*for writers*

Agent: Simon Lipskar from Writer’s House

A Page from Brandon Mull’s Book: This book is a great example of other-world fiction (when the MC goes from our world to a new one). The reader is often reminded that the world is different than ours by the MC’s uncertainty about customs, etc. This not only gives it an authentic feel, but also opens up opportunities for world building.

He did. And he reviews his plan and alters it every few days when things change, whether it be something taking less time or more time or if he thinks of one more thing he needs to add toward his goal of finishing his thesis. The result? The stress is practically gone. He knows what he’ll be doing every day, every week, until the day he has to defend.

Yesterday he asked me if making a plan like his is something that I can do with my writing. I wasn’t so sure. Unlike my husband, I can’t “go to the office” and write all day long until I finish my goal for the day. I’m sure this is the case for most of us aspiring writers. For me, I have my daughter’s nap time. That is the only time that I am guaranteed to get some writing done. And even that is variable, because I never know how long she’ll sleep (it changes every couple weeks it seems), and any number of things can come up that interrupt that time. So giving myself a set, “This has to get done today,” seems a little impossible.

However, I am starting to wonder if there is more I can do to reach my goals. My ultimate goal right now is to get WITHOUT A SONG revised and ready so I can query agents. I have an idea in my head about the things I need to do to accomplish this, but I’ve never written down what my “plan” is to get ‘er done. I think I might try formulating something that’s not as rigid as my husband’s thesis plan, but that will help me have smaller goals for each week.

Do you make smaller writing goals to reach your bigger ones?

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

They say that just before you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that’s not how it happened for me.
(Oliver, Lauren. Before I Fall. New York: Harper Collins, 2010.)
Read an excerpt

Reading Stars:  * * * *
Writing Stars:  * * * *
(For an explanation of my rating stars, check out my Book Review page.)

Popular Samantha Kingston has it all–a hot boyfriend, fabulous best friends, and the best of everything at her high school. Until February 12th. Her last day to live. “Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.” (fm Goodreads)

A Groundhog Day for teens, this book took me from disliking Sam to absolutely loving her. I didn’t know too much about the premise of this story when I began, so I was skeptical when I read the first chapter. Sam was not the kind of girl I wanted to follow through an entire book, even knowing from the first line that she was going to die in the end. She reminded me of all the girls I disliked in high school. But like in Groundhog Day, as she relives the one day over and over, she grows in huge ways and becomes a likable character.

I’m a huge fan of books like this–the books that help the reader to open his or her eyes to how one persons actions can affect other people’s lives. A fact of being a teenager: sometimes they can’t see past themselves. And I love that there are so many books that are promoting looking past oneself.

Really, the best part of this book is Sam’s progression. She turns into a strong young woman who makes her own decisions independent of her friends and peers. She also comes to realize the relationships that really matter. This is a great book for teens–both entertaining and insightful.

*news about BEFORE I FALL*

Author connect: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook |
Sequels: None
Similar books: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

——–***——–

*for writers*

Agent: Stephen Barbara from Foundry Literary + Media

A Page from Lauren Oliver’s Book: She does a fabulous job with character progression, taking Sam from an unlikable character to one that you really love at the end. Even if you’re not writing an unlikable character, this is a great one to read just to study up on successful character arcs.