So I was on a mountain Saturday. Friends of ours got married in a chalet up on Grouse, one of the local Vancouver slopes. The ceremony took place at night, but we arrived early and I snapped this.
I remember spending the entire week leading up to that day looking forward to the view, to hopefully seeing the city spread out below. (It's one of my favourite parts of flying.) This was, however, not to be. The fog rolled in, thick as pea soup, and instead we were treated to this glimpse of something completely different. Really, I think it added to to the magic.
So. Here we are in February. Our lovely, crazy, wonderful March Madness is happening next month (more on that later, as we get closer and closer), but for now we're (ulp, already!) more than four weeks into 2013.
How's it going with your #WIPmadness goals?
Did things turn out differently than expected last month? Any surprises? *glances at the cloudscape* And now that you're here, take a breath, enjoy the beauty, and tell me: what are your plans for this month?
Remember, even if things aren't going as hoped, there is still so much to look forward to.
Me, I plan to (hopefully) write my new query letters and submit to agents this month. Thanks to my critique partner, I've got a tiny bit more polishing to do, but I'm feeling pretty good about it. There's sleep to catch up on and my health to bring back into focus, and I'm trying to enjoy myself and have fun with a few current projects. Rocko and I are gearing up to go to our very first Emerald City Comicon at the end of the month. I'm also trying to factor in reading and beta-reading, too. However the (rest of the) month unfolds, I'm looking forward to it. I think it's going to be a good one.
How about you?
Hi L.S. - What a gorgeous view that is!
ReplyDeleteMy January saw the end of my WIP. I revised myself, had an alpha read, then revised again. Now it's out with betas and I wait and wonder if it's good enough to be book two.
I don't have many writing goals for Feb. Do some beta'ing. Maybe revisions if I get the WIP back. Maybe reread an old ms to see if there's life yet to be had in it. I do have a new idea but I'm not ready to do more than scribble notes. So I may actually, gasp, relax. Unless my edits come from my editor. Then I'll disappear for a while.
Thanks, Jaye. Yay on finishing your WIP! Hope your beta-feedback goes well. :) And definitely take the chance to relax if you get it!
DeleteBeautiful, L.S. And thanks for hosting February.
ReplyDeleteAce got his first round editorial letter on Jan 29th. Edits due Feb 10th. So you can guess what I'm doing. Plus my closest friend is visiting from Washington this week. So early morning revision is what I'm up to. My mind has been so distracted, it's hard to get it wrapped around my story, but I'm starting to get into a rhythm. Sort of. After I'm done with the MG, I'm thinking I'll try to get back to revising the YA contemp I've been piddling around with for the past couple months.
And I got my substitute teaching certificate last week and will be interviewing with the school district sometime within the next couple days. I look forward to getting into the classroom again. Also looking forward to having an income again. ^_^
Carry on Wipsters! And send me good revision energy. Please! ^_^
You're welcome! Congrats on the certificate. And good luck with Ace's edits!
DeleteAwesome news on the edits AND the teaching certificate. Serious hoops have been cleared - so happy to hear about.
DeleteThanks for hosting this month! I'm going to continue on with last month's goal of writing at least an hour every day. It's working well for me, even though I did spend about three hours last week stuck on the same scene. But the last few days have gone smoothly.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to everyone!
Ooh, that sounds like a great goal. You have my envy. :) Keep at it!
DeleteI reached my Jan goal and finished my (ex) WIP. It's now in the hands of Betas. As soon as I sent it to them, of course, I realized every plot hole, mistake or under/over writing I'd done (I panicked, in other words.) So for February my goal is to not spiral into madness by second guessing myself. I want to tackle the revision project I promised myself I'd do, and I want to be kind to myself when I get my beta reads back. That's a large enough goal for the whole year, I think. Hope everyone else's writing goes well this month!
ReplyDeleteAlex, Cool! Good luck with the beta-feedback. Take a deep breath. You deserve it. You can do this!
DeleteThe unexpected sometimes turns out to be really wonderful, doesn't it? Beautiful photo!
ReplyDeleteMy goal this month is lots and lots of words. What, that's not specific enough? ;) Srsly, after much groundwork, I'm really hoping to get significant work done on this project in February.
Thanks for hosting this month! And three cheers and a big chunk of dark chocolate for all the wipmadnessers out there!
Thanks, Shari! Good luck with the productivity. I wish you much, much wordage.
Delete... *noms the chocolate*
My goal is just to write everyday. I've been kind of down on myself lately but really loved this interview Lena Dunham,the screenwriter of the HBO show GIRLS, that's in last week's issue of EW. On overcoming writer's block she said: "I refuse to acknowledge it...My muse is 'I'm going to write today...I might enjoy it or I might not ... got to force yourself to write everyday..but I can guarantee you'll be surprised at how much you want to hold on to at the end of the day...' **Paraphasing from her interview that's on the electronic issue of Entertainment Weekly.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more, Kim. Best wishes and much productivity this month. :)
DeleteGreat photo up there! Congrats, Angelina on your subb'ing certificate! Laura, best of luck on the querying process. :))
ReplyDeleteAs for Jan. goals, I accomplished exactly what I'd set out to do. We (agent and I) began subb'ing out my picture book to publishers last Wed. Soooo thrilled about the positive responses we've received so far. As for Feb. my goals are to enjoy this process and began working on a couple of ideas, one PB and one MG. Fleshing out the stories is favorite part. :)
Have a great week, wipsters! ~Write on!
Thank you, Candilynn. Oooh, hope that you get a nice deal with the picture book! That sounds like a great place to be in.
DeleteGoal this month is to send a submission package to Capstone. Send a story to Highlights and revise a picture book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting us this month! Good luck everyone!
Hope the submission goes well, Deb!
DeleteHi Laura. Thanks for hosting. I actually have no idea what is going on, but I intend to work on my WIP fics this month. I'm not on a professional level like you guys are. I'm at the border between writing fanfiction for fun and considering myself good enough to write original fiction that can possibly be publishable one day. I don't know if admitting to writing fanfiction on here is a bad thing or not. Either way, that photo looks gorgeous and all the best to you with your query letters/submissions.
ReplyDeleteMarie, writing fanfiction is *not* a bad thing. It's a great place to start, and to practice. I hope this month turns out to be productive and useful for you. :)
DeleteYay, thanks for hosting, Laura! I'm just coming off of a couple of major revisions. I got more done than I expected in January. For February my goals are more about keeping up on marketing stuff, blog posts, and working on revisions when my books come back from beta readers. I'm going to gear up big for March, but still not sure with what. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Denise. Those sound like reasonable goals. Thankfully March is still three weeks away ... plenty of time to contemplate the madness! :)
DeleteWhat a gorgeous view, Laura! Thanks for hosting this month. It's hard to believe that March Madness is just a flip of the calendar page away! Whew!! So far February has been a washout for me -- too many other things have sidetracked me -- but I'll keep putzing along and hope to pick up speed soon. The Wipsters are certainly setting a good example for me. Congrats to everyone for all your achievements. :)
ReplyDeleteNo worries, Carol. Just remember, whatever happens probably needed to happen for some reason or another. Hope you can get back on track soon!
DeleteI love that picture, as well as the analogy. Beautiful. Thank you for hosting this month. My goal is simple - to simplify my schedule (i.e. not give away my time unnecessarily) and WRITE WRITE WRITE. The unemployment clock is clicking down and I'm in morbid dread of being an office chimp again.
ReplyDeleteThanks, GP. Sometimes simple goals are the best. Best of luck with the writing!
DeleteI'm late to the party this time.
ReplyDeleteLast month ended with a swift kick to the gut. My 33-year-old brother-in-law passed away, so we spent 25 hours in the car driving up and back for the funeral. I'm trying to tap into those emotions in some because as you guys may know, I write about ghosts and people who see them, which at times also includes the survivors who lost their loved ones. Our loss was sudden and we are all still recovering from the shock.
As for the WIP, I'm still wallowing in chapter 2, so my goal this month is to get to chapter 3. It's not much, but it will at least be forward motion.
No worries, Mary Ann. I'm late to responding to everyone who replied after Monday!
DeleteI hope you can tap into those emotions. My current WIP's main character can see ghosts. One thing I've realized is that it's not just about the ghost's unfinished business, but also about the living's unfinished business with the dead, and the anger and frustration that can be associated with that.
Awesome view!
ReplyDeleteI nominated you for the Liebster Award. Check out my post tomorrow (Monday) for the details!