Random Rambles- Success

What is success?

This question was posed in one of my final college classes a few weeks ago and it amazed me at the many different viewpoints with which people measure success by. 

For some, success means having all the money in the world and doing whatever the hell they want.

For others, it’s rising to the top of their career, or starting a family.

For me….for me, success is being happy in whatever I do. I could be the richest person in the world and if I wasn’t happy, I would feel like a success. To me, while money is extremely important and I’m no naive enough anymore to believe you can get on okay without it, I still don’t believe money is everything.

Success is relative. 

In its simplest form, it still means something completely different to the person sitting next to you than it does to yourself.

And that’s OKAY!

You can’t and shouldn’t measure your success against the success of others. That’s not fair to you. Measure your success by what YOU and YOU alone feel success is. 

I just finished my final college class. 

That’s it.

I’m done.

I now have a BSBA in Accounting.

And I’m ecstatic.

I’m HAPPY.

So to me, I have succeeded. 

I’ve spent all day long today looking up recipes to cook for my boyfriend when he gets home from work, and watching food network, and just RELAXING. 

I couldn’t be happier. 

This is how I measure my success.

Does it mean that I’m going to stop where I am at?

Hell no.

I’m going to pursue my dream of becoming a published author, and even if that never happens as long as I’m happy doing it, I am content. I’m going to pursue my CA CPA license because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I want to live my life the way I have been, the way that makes me happy, with a man who loves me, a family who loves me, with my heart and arms open to all of them. I want a family one day, not yet (I’m still only 21.)

I have a lot of goals, but I don’t measure my success by completing those goals just because I completed them, but because they made me happy. I set the goals by asking myself if pursuing it will make me happy no matter the outcome.

What is success to you?

Curious minds want to know.

Life Update-I Did It!

I’ve had a busy couple of weeks and still managed to make more time for my writing than i have in a long time. for the past couple of weeks i’ve managed to enter three more contests, get through editing chapter five of Thief, take several online workshops, critique my cp’s chapters, write 20 new pages of TVSG and still finish all my school work.

That’s a record I think lol.

The reason why i believe i was able to get so much done despite being busy was that i committed to it. I don’t know why it took me this long to just say, “I don’t care how much homework i have to do or what’s going on, i’m going to find the time to write, even if it’s only five new words.” and it worked. I think it was easier to start this committment now because i’m officially finished with school in three days.

Count them 1…2…3 days! and i’m a college graduate with a degree in accounting. CPA exam here I come.

I think the boost of energy from knowing that it is finally over with has helped me to focus on what i’ve been truly wanting to do for some time now. Also, the BF and I celebrated our three year anniversary last week and my 21.5 birthday was on Easter. Lots of stuff to celebrate for and it was all worth it. What better way to celebrate than to do something I love to do?

If writing is what you love, then make the time for it, even if it’s only five minutes. there is no reason you should forget about you and what you want just because life is crazy. If I can work full time, go to school full time, read three or four books a week, cook dinner every night, watch my favorite television shows and STILL find time to write then i know you guys can too!

An Interview with Presley Montgomery

Most of you are probably wondering why I missed writing in my blog last week. Well, I’ll tell you. It’s all Presley Montgomery’s fault. I wanted to get to know her better and do an interview with her, but she found out I’d posted some of her diary entries and she was more than a little peeved. So after almost two weeks of trying to convince her to do an interview I finally have it.

 

Without further ado….an interview with Presley Montgomery.

 

Hi Presley, Thanks for agreeing to meet with me

.

Yeah, well I’m still mad at you, but you’re just as capable of making my life a living hell as I am at making yours one.

 

Ha. So true. Let’s get started. Do you remember your first kiss?

 

I do. A loooong time ago when I was in high school and completely in love with James, the Student Body President.

 

How old were you when you lost your virginity? Who was it with?

 

Well, you get right down to the nitty gritty don’t you? Not that it’s any of your business, but it was with James towards the end of our senior year. I was still completely in love with him. He was careful with me, but it didn’t occur to me until recently how unmemorable it was and that my feeling towards him were what I imagined they should be.

 

So you weren’t in love with him?

 

I think I was in love with who I thought he was, who he was in my own mind.

 

I’m sorry. I think a lot of us go through that when we’re young. Do you believe in love at first sight?

 

I used to. Not anymore though, I think that life’s to hard and that things like that don’t just get handed to you on a silver platter.

 

That’s an interesting perspective. What is your ideal date?

 

God, that’s a tough one. I haven’t been on a date in a long time. I would actually prefer to not go on one ever again. I like my solitary life, it works for me, but if I had to choose I’d say a candlelight picnic on the beach followed by a moonlit walk down the shore.

 

That’s awfully romantic for someone who wants to live their life alone.

 

Yeah, well in a perfect world…

Do you want children?

 

Surprisingly, yes. I don’t want to so much be alone as to not have to deal with men again, but ever since Jasmine came into my life I found myself wanting to be a mom more than ever.

 

That’s sweet. What kind of relationship did your parents have?

 

I don’t know. My dad died right after I was born so I never knew him, but from what my mom told me their love was one of a kind. I thought it was nice to be able to find something like that, but typical that life steals away everyone’s happiness. My mom survived though, at least as long as she could. For as long as I could remember she battled cancer, constantly going into remission only to have it return. It killed me to see her like that, but I remember when she was healthy in between the cancerous phases of her life, she would teach me how to cook. I used to love it. She always looked so happy an peaceful like she could do it forever. But her sickness left to me to be the mother, I had to grow up fast. Ever since I was old enough to work the stove I took care of my own mother and handled my trouble making sisters messes. I looked forward to when my mom was healthy so I could be a kid. It didn’t happen that often though and she passed away a few years ago.

 

I’m sorry to hear that. That sounds like a pretty rough childhood. So did you have a good relationship with your mother then?

 

I don’t really want to talk about her anymore. It’s too hard.

 

Okay we’ll skip that topic for now. Tell me about your best friend.

 

Don’t have one. Never did really. In school there wasn’t any time and now I concentrate on work and living my life, and now Jasmine.

 

You really do like solitude don’t you? When was the last time you told your sister you loved her?

 

I stopped telling Lorraine I loved her the day I walked into my own home and found her in my bed with my husband. Needless to say, I cut her out of my life and divorced the asshole.

 

Did you have pets growing up?

 

No we couldn’t because of my mother.

 

Do you agree that money is the root of all evil?

 

Yes, which is another reason I don’t get along with my sister and am always cleaning up her messes.

 

What is more important to you? Money or love?

 

I used to think love and I think a small part of me still believes that but its hard when you’ve been alone for as long as I have and all you have is money.

 

Are you good with your money?

 

I’m very good with my money and I do my job well and I love it. It’s a good thing too otherwise I wouldn’t be able to support my niece.

 

Would you rather have a job that pays well or fulfills you creatively?

 

Can’t I have both? The truth is I do. I’m editor-in-chief of a well known magazine and I love it. But honestly, I don’t think I could do something that didn’t make me happy even if it did pay well.

 

Were your parents financially secure?

 

It was tough growing up because most of the money went to the Dr. bills. I picked up a part time job in high school and my mother received a small inheritance when my grandparents passed away and then again when my father passed away. Nothing big, but it was enough so that by combining our money we were able to make ends meet and then when she was “healthy” she would work a part time job from home to make some more. It was hard, but I think I’m stronger for it.

 

What was your most painful memory growing up? How about your happiest?

 

My most painful memory would be continually seeing my mother fight cancer, win, and then have it come back. I think that if Lorraine and I weren’t around she would have stopped fighting long before she did. My happiest would be when my mother and I would bake and cook together.

 

What is your greatest fear?

 

Losing my heart to another man like James. I don’t know if I could handle it again, the cheating, the degradation, isolation, and emotional abuse. I know it scarred me, but I’m not sure how to fix it or let myself take a chance on another man. Even if he deserves it.

 

What about Sam?

 

Don’t get me started on him. He’s an arrogant and stubborn man. He drives me crazy and I’m so utterly attracted to him that it pisses me off. But yes, I think he deserves a chance. I just don’t think I can give it to him.

 

What did you want to be when you grew up?

 

I know this sounds weird, especially after spending my entire childhood acting like a mother, but I wanted nothing more than to me a stay at home mom and have a family who I loved and loved me in return. Things don’t always work out the way you want them to though.

 

Have you ever considered suicide?

 

You’d think so after living through so much hurt and heartbreak, but no I haven’t.  Not even once. It’s the easy way out and life isn’t supposed to be easy. At least that’s my opinion.

 

If you could go back in time and change one decision you made, which one would you change?

 

Marrying James. I was so young and in love with being in love and in love with the man I thought he was that I jumped into it too fast and ended up hurt and scarred and too nervous and afraid to do anything about it. That is until I found him in bed with Lorraine. I’m choosing another one too…I wished I never got into the habit of cleaning up Lorraine’s messes because she used it to take advantage of me. She knew me and knew that despite how angry and upset I was with her, that I loved her and I would take care of her because she was my sister. Not anymore though, that night with James was my last straw.

 

Well, this has been a pretty intense interview. Thanks for taking the time to do it. I’m sure the readers will love it.

 

Yeah, well don’t think it’s going to become a habit or anything.

 

No, I think once is enough. I’ll see you around.

 

Yeah. See ya.

The Many Unexpected Twists of a Writer’s Life

Writing has been hard enough to get done lately with my last four classes getting close to finals, but I’ve made some progress. I’ve just received back some info from my critique partners so that I can adjust the first four chapters of everything on To Catch a Thief, so I’ll put off writing new stuff for The Vampire’s Saving Grace until I get that stuff caught up, and I’m going to try to enter another contest too.

As if having a busy life wasn’t enough to keep me from my writing, but it seems life in general does as well. Last Friday March 20, my boyfriend went riding at the Perris Race Track where they overwatered the clay so that when my boyfriend landed he may as well have landed on ice. The result?

A broken collar bone nearly sticking out of the skin.

A separated shoulder.

A possible broken rib.

And the need for surgery to repair the collar bone.

My boyfriend definitely comes before writing though and I have to say that I’m soooo not even bothered that it put a damper on my writing time because now he’s okay. His surgery was on Thursday and we were gone from 6 am to 1am and needless to say I was exhausted at work the next day. But I enjoy taking care of him because I love him and don’t want him to be hurt and as long as I worry about him nothing else will get done, so I take care of him because I need to.

Now though, I’m seriously behind on school work this week, so I’ve spent my entire weekend catching up on said homework to turn in tonight and got NO writing done. Oh well. It’s okay, there’s only three weeks of school left now with classes ending toward mid april and graduation in mid June. I’m so excited to just be done and get my BSBA in accounting.

On another note, I registered for the January 2010-May 2010 Becker CPA review course that will lead up to the CPA exam which I plan on taking in June and July of 2010. Then, I plan on studying under my boss who is an actively licensed cpa and obtaining my CA CPA License, all the while pursuing my dream of publishing. Gotta have goals. Once I finish with these last set of classes I plan to try to join one of my local RWA groups. I’m in the center of three of them lol.. I’m also attending Nicole North’s online Love Scene Workshop in April and I’m very excited to start it.

So that’s been my life in a nutshell for the past couple of weeks. Also, I’m going to try to start doing a book review 2-4 times a month on my blog. I’m an avid reader so I figured why not review the books I read and let everyone know how much I loved it! Stay tuned for more updates regarding this feature and for up to date information on me and my life follow me on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/agoddess4lyfe

 

Escape from Reality, Succumb to Temptation,

Kaycee

To Catch a Thief- Samuel Harding

It’s a crisp Summer day as I sit in the sun sipping at my Iced Chai Tea Latte. The breeze plays with tendrils of my hair and brushes across my skin like that of a lover. I never do grow tired of Southern California, I enjoy the sun too much.

I have reason to celebrate as I’ve managed to nail down the Private Investigator that’s been wrecking havoc with my imagination. Samual Harding. I’ve managed to finally convince him to sit down and talk to me, to let you, the readers, meet him.

Finally, I look over and see the red Corvette steer into a parking spot outside the coffee shop. I watch as he unfolds his incredible length from the car, and saunters over to me, ever the confident alpha male. His light green eyes are striking and in perfect contract to that unruly brown hair. He lounges in the chair across from me a smirk on his face.

Here we go…

“Sam, I’m so glad you could find the time to join me today.”

He crosses his legs and leans back a little. “It’s not a problem. Just had to rearrange a few things on my list.”

It amazes me how confident he is with himself. I should have known he would be of course, but seeing it here in person is a whole nother matter. I clear my throat. “How have you been? Work been keeping you busy?”

He rolls his eyes and lets out a laugh that comes from so deep within, i find myself leaning toward him intrigued by it.  “Oh that’s right, you’ve been working on that jewel heist. I forgot. How is coming along?”

“As good as can be expected. Could be better.”

Ah. I hit a nerve, I see that now. He’s seems rather frustrated with the case. His fingers begin to drum across his thighs and I can tell he’s rethinking this meeting. “That’s right. Presley isn’t helping as much as you had hoped.”

“The woman is stubborn. She doesn’t understand how dangerous this whole situation is.”

Interesting that he cares so much. “Have you tried to tell her?”

“She doesn’t listen.”

“You care for her.”

His eyes cloud over as he blocks the emotions from showing, but I notice how tight his jaw gets and I nod. It’s answer enough for me.

“It’s okay to care, Sam. It doesn’t mean it will end up like last time.”

“There aren’t any gurantees that it won’t. I won’t take the chance.”  I watch as he struggles to keep his anger and frustration under control. So many emotions play across his face it amazes me.

“Maybe you should. Maybe she’ll open to you then if you show that you care.”

“She doesn’t trust me or anyone. Only herself.”   He sighs and shakes his head.

“I’m sure there are reasons for that.”

“She should feel comfortable with me damn it. Can’t she see how I feel?”   He slams his fist on the table, and I jump a little.

“Perhaps she feels the same, but is afraid like you.”

“Well then she needs to stop.”   Poor Sam, I hadn’t realized how attached to her he’d become after such a short period. Perhaps I should have been more careful throwing him back into the field after his fiance died.

“Maybe you should listen to your own advice. You’re just as stubborn as she, I made you both that way so you’d have to overcome it and work together.”

“Thanks for that by the way.”  A ghost of a smile played across his lips and his eyes lost their shield briefly.

“Welcome. Didn’t I hear Presley’s house was broken into?”

His eyes grew dark, his fists clenched.

“I’ll kill whoever did that to her.”

“I’m sure justice will be served.”

“Will it?” He looked at me quizzingly.

I smile. “My lips are sealed, you’ll have to wait and find out for yourself. Just don’t be afraid to fall in love, if you have to be the one who shows her how it can be first then so be it.”

He stood up and stretched. “I should be going, got a case to solve.”

I nod. “Thank you for meeting with me, Sam.”

“Thanks for torturing my heart, Kaycee.” I laughed loud at that one.

“I’m sure you’ll mean that thank you eventually. Goodbye for now.”

He inclined his head, and I watched as he walked away, his hands shoved in his pockets.  The roar of his Corvette fades in the distance as he speeds away.

He’ll lock himself in his office as he always does when he needs to thinks. I want to tell him not to worry, that they’ll find the diamonds, that both Presely and her niece will be safe, but there are no guarantees, just as he said earlier. I want him to be able to understand that it’s okay to move on, that Presley won’t end up like his fiance. But I can’t, I may be the author, but it’s his story, and he needs to experience the journey and find happiness with Presley and Jasmine on his own.

 

 

 

 

Craft: Editing

Many of the writing groups I belong to are touching on the topic of editing this week so I thought I would too.

I don’t really have an editing process myself because, well…I HATE editing lol. I’d much rather write new stuff. BUT if I want to stand a chance of getting my book published then it’s a must. Luckily for me, I have seven wonderful Critique Partners who help me make my work the best it can be.

I used to have a problem with my internal editor to the point where I would spend all my time fixing the stuff I’d already written then writing new stuff and I’d find myself in a rut and not able to get past chapter one. Then, I was introduced to Nanowrimo and boy, if you want to learn to turn off your internal editor try finishing a 50000 word novel in just 30 days lol. 

I’d say nano both helped me and hurt me. It helped me to ignore my internal editor and get my work on the paper first, but it hurt me in that now I don’t want to edit the story I’ve already written because it’s soooo much to edit. So I’ve decided that I’m going to try to create my own method of doing things and I’ll let you all know if it works.

A lot of people write the entire first draft first and then go back and edit, other people start their writing day off by reviewing the last chapter they wrote and then flowing into the new writing. Some people send their finished chapter to their CP’s or Crit Groups and wait to get feedback on it before moving on. Some people write their entire first draft in long hand and then type out the entire thing. All of these are great, especially if they work for you, unfortunately for me, none of them work for ME. What I am going to try to do is combine a few of these techniques into my own technique which I fully intend to name after myself lol. 

What I’m going to try is write a chapter in long hand in a spiral bound notebook, then the next time I sit down to write I will transcribe what I wrote in long hand onto my macbook so I can edit as I go and get back into the flow of the story. Once I finish typing out the previous days work I’ll return to my spiral bound book and write another chapter in it, and once again type it out the next day.

I think by allowing myself to let me creative juices flow without interruption is good for my story, then I have to eventually put it on the computer or no one can read it so why not edit that as i go along, and then start the process over? 

So now I’m off to go start this and see if it works for me. I’ll let you all know how it pans out. Until next time, inquiring minds want to know what your editing method is?

You know you love me,

Kaycee

Random Rambles- the synopsis

This week I conquered that bitch of a synopsis and if you’ve been following me on twitter you’d know that. I conquered the one page synopsis and now am ready for anything.

That Bitch thought she could take me?

HA! 

I don’t think so. 

I’m not going to be conquered by something as dreaded as the synopsis. I’m not going to let it stop my writing career.

Well, whatever my writing is at the moment isn’t a career really.

But I hope it will be soon!

In writing that damned thing though it made me think….

If publishers and agents want us to quit so bad then why don’t they just say “Sorry we are no longer and never will again be accepting submission.”

I mean seriously, this thing really is a pain in the ass, but i guess it makes us stronger and i understand that they’re busy and want to know that a book is worth it by just reading a few pages of a summary, but really how can they tell that a books good enough just from a damn synopsis? 

Whatever…I’m game for it ONLY because i want to be published eventually and will do whatever it takes.

But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.

I mean, who could like writing a synopsis?

It’s called the dreaded synopsis for reason after all.

So i’ll dread it because I suppose that’s what i should do, and I’ll write it because I have to and that will be that.

Finals…Ughh…and Life I Suppose

I survived finals week Thank God, but I gotta say. I wasn’t sure I was going to. That Auditing final I had was brutal.

 

B-R-U-T-A-L Brutal.

 

I had to take three finals which all in all isn’t that bad except when one is an auditing final and one is an oral presentation.

 

I HATE oral presentations.

 

Either way though, I think I did good on all three of them and now tomorrow is the start of new classes, and the Boyfriend has gone for two days, so I’m just basking in the fact that I got A LOT of writing stuff done this weekend.

 

It’s about damn time too!

 

I should mention that after two and half years of busting my ass, I’m finally 8 weeks and 4 classes away from getting my BSBA in Accounting.

 

Yes, you read that right.

 

I will have obtained my bachelors degree in two and a half years, all the while working a full time job and trying to pursue a writing career.

 

Holy Moly Artichoke, I can’t wait to be done.

 

Next January I plan on taking a five month review course that leads up to the CPA Exam, at which time if I pass…*crosses fingers* I will work under my current boss as I normally have for another year (well I should mention I plan on working for him for longer than that) but as he’s an actively licenses CPA, training under him for a year will enable me to obtain my CA CPA License.

 

I’m so excited!

(Bursts into song…and I just can’t hide it! I’m about to lose control and I think I like it!)

 

You see I graduated with high honors in high school and was accepted to every college that I applied to, but by the time my senior year came around I was so burned out that I went a little crazy and then decided to take a break before going to college.

 

People thought, Kaycee, if you don’t go to college now, the chances of you going at all are slim to none.

 

Well I’d just like to show all those people this special finger I have in the middle of my hand! They obviously didn’t know me, I’m very determined, but I also knew that had I gone to college right after high school I probably wouldn’t have finished.

 

I needed that break.

 

So I decided to after being out of school for a year and half, sign up through Devry as a full time online student, took accelerated courses and now I will be graduating before most of the people that I went to school with. It’s nice feeling accomplished again.

 

I showed all of them. I’ve always been very determined to do something with my life and thanks to my family and the love of my life, (and myself of course) I did it.

 

It was hard, and it was worth it and I couldn’t be happier.

 

Sometimes you just need a break so that you don’t crash, I recognized that before others did and now I look at all my old friends who dropped out of college and stuff and think. Who was right?

 

It’s very important recognize what you need, and I recognized the need for a break. A much needed one at that.

Now, I’ll have more time to concentrate on my writing and I can start pursuing the journey of obtaining my CPA License. I don’t want to be a CPA, but it couldn’t hurt to have the license.

 

Hooray for Kaycee! I’m almost done with school!

 

From The Diary of Presley Montgomery Entry 2

Hey guys,

I decided to pull out another of Presley’s journal entries, its an earlier one than the last, but I thought you might enjoy reading another. Just don’t tell her I’m spreading her diary around. She’d probably stop cooperating with me and make the story stop.

From the Diary of Presley Montgomery:

At the beginning of this week I woke up to the rare sound of my doorbell only to find my sister and six year old niece at my doorstep. That definitely got my attention, but what caught it even more was the fact that Lorraine appeared to be here for just a visit. A rare occurrence at that because normally she only shows up when she needs money, but I hadn’t seen Jasmine since she was a baby so I put our differences aside and visited with them. The last thing I expected was for Lorraine to excuse herself to use my bathroom and then disappear. I’m not sure what I’m going to do now. I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a child and I refuse to stick her with social services. I feel as though I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. I guess this is what I get for wishing my sister would just get out of my life. After what she did to me though, she could hardly expect me to welcome her with open arms, and I knew she knew that. I could tell by the way she looked at me, the way she slowly pushed my niece towards me so I would forget our past. She knew Jasmine was my one weakness and once again I’ve been played by the very sister I tried my hardest to take care of after mom passed away.

The two of them are the only family I have and as much as it hurts to say it, I only really want Jasmine in my life. Lorraine doesn’t deserve the forgiveness she wants, not after what she did. She’s lucky I care about family and give her money. God knows she doesn’t spend it on that little girl though. Oh no, she spends it on coke and god knows what else. I feel sorry for that child, and although I have no clue what I’m going to do with Jasmine, she’s really better off with me anyway. I don’t know where my sister went and frankly, I don’t give a damn but I do care that she just abandoned her daughter. How could anyone take off on something as sweet as she is? I already feel my world is a little brighter with her in it, I just wish I didn’t have to stress about feeding another mouth. I’ll make it work though, I always do. I guess that’s why I’m where I’m at and Lori’s where she’s at in life. It’ll be an interesting journey now that’s for sure, and at least I’m not alone anymore. I thought I enjoyed being by myself, but I actually didn’t realize how lonely I had become until Jasmine came around and filled my life with more joy than I thought I had in me.

As if that wasn’t enough though, today after work I was cornered by the most gorgeous and infuriating private investigator I’ve ever met. (not that I’d met any before him) he’s spinning all sorts of tales about how Lorraine is involved in a jewel heist and chances are because of her I’m being watched and both Jasmine and I could be in danger. How can we be in danger if we never did anything? I seriously think he’s just trying to scare me into cooperating. Well I told him everything I knew and left out only personal information that is irrelevant to the situation and I prefer not to talk to anyone about. Its not like its any of his business anyway. I don’t know who he thinks he is barging into my life the way he is, but I’m beginning to get really irritated. I don’t care if he is sexy, or if I could drown in the green depths of his eyes, he’s disrupting my otherwise simple life and creating this whole mess that for the life of me I can’t figure out how to stop. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but you can bet I’ll figure something out. That’s for damn sure.

Until next time,

Presley

Plotter or Pantster: Which are You?

There have been a lot of recent discussions in many of my writing groups regarding plotting and pantsing. For those that don’t know what the difference between the two is, here you go:

A Pantster is someone who literally writes from the seat of their pants and has no idea where there story is going, they just write until they run out of ideas.

A Plotter is someone who plots out the entire novel before writing it and tries to the best of their abilities to follow the outline they provided. This is a hard thing to do because I think we all have a little bit of the pantser in us simply because we are writers and do have overactive imaginations.

I’ve decided to take my blog this week to let you all know exactly what my writing method is…
I’m both!

Yes, you read that right!

If I plot out an entire novel, by the time I’m done I no longer have any interest in the story to actually write it, but if I don’t have some idea of the different plot layers and subplots I want to hit on my way to the end then I end up writing myself into dead ends which I extremely frustrating for me.

You see I have a wonderful Novel Notebook to thank that helps me to do both methods. I’ve pasted the link below so that anyone who wants to check it out can. It’s extremely low cost 7 dollars at the cheapest 13 at the most expensive.

http://www.jeannieruesch.com/mywipnotebook.shtml

This notebook allows me flesh out my characters completely, figure out the different setting I want to use, allows me to set a timeline for my novel and also lets me flesh out each conflict, plot layer, and subplot that I want to hit in my story, it allows me to write out the black moments, the HEA, how each plot and conflict is resolved, what the characters learn from those conflicts, and I’m able to flesh out my characters GMC’s as well. This notebook is amazing and I’m so glad that I found it. It also lets you map out your novel chapter by chapter but I only plan on using that one chapter at a time.

Now that I’ve raved about the notebook, here’s my actual process(mind you the time line isn’t exact because I only do this stuff when I have time but this is the order I do it in)For me, I usually get the plot in my head before the characters so I go straight to the end of the notebook and map out all the different conflicts for the story that I have in my head(I add more later if I think of any, after all this isn’t concrete its just a map to go off of) while I’m writing out the plot layers and conflicts I get the ending scene in my brain and map that out as well as the HEA and black moment.

By this time I usually have my characters in my head and know what kinds of personalities I want them to have so I go online and I do a name search for my characters names. I usually ignore the setting aspect because that will come to be as I write.

Once I have the majority of the notebook filled out I’ll write and I usually won’t stop unless I’m at the end of the chapter. I then go back to the notebook and in the chapter outline area I will outline only the main things I want to accomplish in the next chapter this way I know where to start the next time I write. I do this until its finished and then I begin editing.

Seems like a long process I know, and it is, but I love doing it because I love writing and its what works for me.

Now I’m curious,

What methods do you all use?

Inquiring minds want to know!

You know you love me!