• About Me
  • Home
  • Short Story Achievements

Finding Faeries

~ My continuing mission to explore … magic

Finding Faeries

Tag Archives: lost

Staring: A Great Place to Start

09 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by Kathleen Palm in Thoughts, writing

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

getting to know your world again, going back to a manuscript, lost, staring, thoughts, writing, writing is hard

I started working on a new and exciting manuscript…a middle grade horror!

Then I was distracted by short stories.

It happens. And if it’s not other writing adventures, plain old wonderful life sucks away writing time. But after the suckage ends, it always does, after the short stories are submitted…the manuscript waits.

I went back.

And stared at it.

And went on Twitter.

And went back to staring at my ms.

And went running back to Twitter.

And realized that I was running from it cause it was looking at me funny.

I didn’t know it as well as I did. We went our separate ways for a while. Maybe it was mad at me.

Time to get to know that world. So I stared. I scribbled notes. I let my brain live with Ember again. I listened to Nowhere and all my characters. Heck, I offered it cookies and glittery stickers.

And the story began to speak to me! TA DA!

So I am back to writing my first attempt at middle grade. The words are slow at the moment, but I will not give up. Time to focus and finish this sucker.

It’s hard to leave projects…or maybe not, depending…

Possibly harder to go back. But a bit of magical determination, a little bribery to get those characters to talk to you, and POOF the words and ideas return.

So staring…is a pretty great place to start.

 

Lost in the Magic … Read, Revise, Repeat

05 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by Kathleen Palm in Thoughts

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

critiques, focus, lost, revising, take a break, thoughts, Twitter, writing

So, I got a little lost.

Where?

In my manuscript. Yes, I’ve been writing. Revising. Editing. Deleting. Adding. Ignoring my family and workouts. Pretty much losing my mind. No worries. It happens.

My ms Doors crawls closer and closer to being ready to query. And I am READY! Until I get rejections … then I’ll rethink that. I can’t remember when I wrote the first draft. I do remember the idea popping in my head and scribbling it on a piece of paper. So long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I had a couple of first drafts in my computer … the beginning of what will be a series. Way back then, the common thought was that first-time authors would have less luck trying to query a series, so I searched the world for a stand alone idea. And it hit me … what if you could go anywhere in the universe.

What if there was a door?

Piece by piece, I uncovered the rest of the story. I exist in the belief that stories linger out in the grand space of everywhere, waiting to be found. If you are quiet, they will talk to you. If you force them into places you what them to go, they will rebel. If you open your mind all will be revealed.

So, I wrote it. Then I left it. I like to let first drafts sit in all their problems, marinate in all the plots holes and lost description. I go back, after I forget what I wrote, when the story calls to me, and its easier to find all the problems.

When I joined a writers’ group, The Summit City Scribes in Fort Wayne, IN., I bravely volunteered to read and brought the first chapter of Doors. Weeeellllll, it confused everyone. I had started it in the wrong place, I didn’t have enough world building …

RED ALERT! STEP AWAY FROM THE MS!

So I set it aside. It wasn’t ready and I had no idea what to do with it. But I didn’t fret. It would tell me what to do, eventually, so I moved on and wrote another ms.

Eventually, Doors tugged me back. I knew where to start it … I thought. Years later, I brought it back to the Scribes … no go, people.

BUT!

The comments from that critique, sent my mind spinning. After a few days, I knew where I needed to start it.

Magic has happened! Finally, I believe in it. I have done a few read-throughs and it now sits with some VERY KIND AND GENEROUS people who volunteered to read it and TELL ME ALL THE THINGS! Thank you all my Twitter friends! Seriously, if you’re a writer and haven’t found the marvelous support on Twitter … GO NOW AND FIND IT!

So, I wait. And I am not buried in words … wait … what? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW? The panic lasted for a moment, but I decided to give my brain a break. I will not think of Doors. Instead I shall run off on an exciting adventure of drawing and short stories, of critiquing for others, which is the best thing EVER.

How do you take a break? Anyone else climbing out of a sea of words?

Cupcake, anyone?

Sharing my search for magic in everything.

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 10,366 other followers

Archives

  • January 2021 (1)
  • November 2020 (1)
  • October 2020 (2)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • October 2019 (1)
  • September 2019 (1)
  • July 2019 (2)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • March 2019 (2)
  • December 2018 (1)
  • October 2018 (2)
  • August 2018 (3)
  • July 2018 (2)
  • June 2018 (5)
  • May 2018 (3)
  • April 2018 (3)
  • March 2018 (3)
  • February 2018 (4)
  • January 2018 (5)
  • December 2017 (2)
  • November 2017 (3)
  • October 2017 (4)
  • September 2017 (13)
  • August 2017 (3)
  • June 2017 (3)
  • May 2017 (4)
  • April 2017 (5)
  • March 2017 (6)
  • February 2017 (17)
  • January 2017 (5)
  • December 2016 (8)
  • November 2016 (4)
  • October 2016 (9)
  • September 2016 (17)
  • August 2016 (9)
  • July 2016 (7)
  • June 2016 (6)
  • May 2016 (9)
  • April 2016 (3)
  • March 2016 (8)
  • February 2016 (9)
  • January 2016 (8)
  • December 2015 (12)
  • November 2015 (9)
  • October 2015 (7)
  • September 2015 (10)
  • August 2015 (9)
  • July 2015 (9)
  • June 2015 (10)
  • May 2015 (9)
  • April 2015 (8)
  • March 2015 (9)
  • February 2015 (11)
  • January 2015 (10)
  • December 2014 (8)
  • November 2014 (7)
  • October 2014 (28)
  • September 2014 (9)
  • August 2014 (10)
  • July 2014 (7)
  • June 2014 (9)
  • May 2014 (7)
  • April 2014 (7)
  • March 2014 (10)
  • February 2014 (8)

Goodreads

Kathleen Palm, Author

Kathleen Palm, Author

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy