Tag: WIP (Page 2 of 3)

The Importance and Unpredictability of Introspective

October 5, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Remember how I mentioned last week that I’ve been very introspective in my thinking (it’s totally okay if you don’t remember…I just thought this was a good way to start the post)? Part of that is because I’ve been so busy in my life that I haven’t had the time or energy to be extrospective.

(Okay, totally made up that word…but it totally should be a word…nonintrospective isn’t really right because it implies a lack of thought…I’m more talking about keeping thoughts inside vs. expressing them, hence extrospective…digression over!)

The other part that’s kept me introspective is where I’m at in my creative process, which is revision. I’ve been going through all the great feedback I have from my in-person critique group, my beta readers, and the professional feedback I’ve gotten for my WIP YA thriller (right now titled BLACK BUTTERFLY).

So I’ve been thinking a lot about what the story still needs and what feedback is working and what isn’t resonating with me. It’s a lot of decision-making, and it’s tough on the ego to be working through the criticism, even though it’s all done in a professional, constructive manner. After all, the revision process is all about facing what you wanted to do with a story and haven’t yet accomplished or realizing that what you wanted to do with the story in the first place maybe isn’t the best thing for it…not easy!

Often when I’m working out some tricky thinking in my own head, I turn outward to help sort through the thoughts. But, surprisingly, I’ve turned inward in this case. It’s like I have to hold all those thoughts and feelings close in order to really experience and figure out how to move forward. Expressing them would ruin them before they can turn into whatever it is they need to be, so I continue to hold them close until they’re ready (the whole pregnant and birthing analogy would be apt here, and like pregnancy and child-birthing, it’s exhausting).

All that physical and mental busyness leaves less room for other things, mainly blogging, Twitter, Facebook, exercise (though I do a lot of walking with the boys), and even reading. The number of books I’ve read this year is way down from last year and also below my adjusted yearly goal.

I didn’t expect or plan to step back from those things (and haven’t entirely ignored them), but it’s what happened. And I’m allowing myself to be okay with that. Because I’m allowing the other things I’m doing and thinking about that are more important (no offense to my Internet peeps!) to take priority. The unpredictability of life and the creative process are what makes my life and work exciting, and it also fuels my stories.

What exciting or unexpected things have you been doing lately?

Updates, Getting Back into the Writing Groove, and a Call for Guest Posts

September 9, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

First off, my guest blog schedule is pretty wide open for the fall, so I’m definitely looking for guest posts to come my way. If you have a book coming out or an older one you’d like to promote, I’d love to have you on the blog. I prefer a post with some original thoughts (though it could be a post that’s been posted elsewhere) as opposed to something purely promotional.

You don’t have to be published or even a writer to guest post either. I’d love some short, fun posts about anything to do with writing, reading, the creative process, or whatever interesting ideas you might have. Hit me up on my contact page if you’re interested or mention it the comments with an easy way to contact you!

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled post…

So technically it’s still summer (and it certainly feels like summer this week here in CT), but school’s already back in session and the air and earth are starting to get that fall feel and smell to it. That means my non-summer schedule has started and with it comes more writing time. Yay!

Though I certainly have enjoyed all the fun times we’ve been having this summer and all out outside time, I’m definitely looking forward to sinking my teeth back into my writing projects.

In particular I’ve been chomping at the bit to get back to revising my YA thriller. Even with beta reader feedback coming in (and those ever-present doubts are rearing up, making me questions my abilities to pull off what I’m trying to accomplish with this story), I’ve never been so excited about the thought of sending a piece of writing out. So I’m hoping to ride this wave of confidence to the finish line and get to submitting it soon.

After that I don’t have any set plans on what I’ll be working on next. It’s a freeing and exciting feeling. I love the prospect of starting something new (or possibly digging back into something I put away for awhile but may come back to soon). The world is wide open at this point for me.

So how was everyone’s summer? What are your plans for the fall?

Gearing Up for a Noncommittal Summer

May 29, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

This time last year I was preparing for the arrival of The Prince with plans to spend the summer enjoying my two boys and adjusting to life as a mom of two. Now looking forward to this summer, I have that strange feeling of not believing how quickly time has gone but also feeling like it’s been a long year.

In a couple of weeks, we’ll be kicking off summer a little early with The Prince’s first birthday party at my parents’ house. My birthday (a special milestone one if I were a hobbit) falls in the middle of summer, but no big parties scheduled for me. Fast forward to the end of August and we’ll be unofficially ending the summer with The Boy’s fourth birthday party, probably also at my parents’ house.

So what do I plan on sandwiching in between those two big events (besides celebrating/crying over getting another year older)? Hopefully lots of summer fun: beach days, playing in the yard with the boys, grounding myself every day, day trips with the family…that kind of stuff.

The first half of the year has been full of author events (all told I’ve probably done more author events in the last six months than in all my previous years combined) and I’ve got three more planned for June (check out my homepage for details), so I’d like to slow down a bit for the summer. Iced tea in the afternoon, wine in the evening, feet in the sand, and read a book for pleasure kind of slowing down.

I’m so very close to completing a good draft of my WIP, so I’ll be devoting some time to revising once I get my beta feedback and a little break from said WIP post-drafting. Maybe I’ll start drafting a new book…or maybe not. I think I’ll see where the winds take me on that one. I may need a break in order to refill the creative well.

I’d also like to pay attention to one aspect of my life I’ve been woefully neglectful of: namely, getting in shape. I’ve been slowly acclimating my mind to the idea of maybe getting back into running, and I might try working with a personal trainer and seeing if I like it. Not sure about going back to playing soccer. I’ll see how I feel after I’m in better shape.

Overall, I’m in the mood to be very noncommittal about things. Before long those boys of mine will be off running all over the place without me, so I’m trying to be more in the moment and enjoy them while they’re little (even through the hard times of them being little).

I’m thinking of running old posts here for most of the summer, and probably not too many guest posts. Keep things simple…yeah, that sounds real nice. What are your plans for the summer?

I Will Finish this Draft…

May 19, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

…this week. I can do it! C’mon, chant it for me, “You can do it, you can do it, you can do it.”

That is all!

My Writing Process Blog Hop

February 17, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

I’ve been tagged! Author extraordinaire Kai Strand asked me to participate in the My Writing Process blog hop. Make sure to check out Kai’s post about her (many) works in progress and her blog at http://kaistrand.blogspot.com/.

Now on to the questions I must answer:

1. What am I working on?

I’ve been really mum on the blog lately (and in general) about my WIPs since putting myself in a creative bubble last fall. I’m not exactly ready to bust open the bubble, but a little sharing won’t hurt.

So I’ve been working on drafting two different YA projects. Elixir Saved (which I’ve mentioned on the blog before) is a companion novel to my published YA fantasy Elixir Bound. It has three point of view characters, is epic in scope, and has a central theme of sacrifice. My other YA project is tentatively titled Black Butterfly. And that’s all I’m going to say about that one.

I’m hoping to have good drafts of both done before Baby Boy #2 arrives, but that may be wishful thinking. We’ll see how the drafting progresses.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My work is different from others in its genre in exactly the same way as any other writer’s is (how’s that for a paradoxical answer!). What I mean is I write stories that only I can tell in a way that only I can tell them. Okay, you want me to be more specific. One important way I try to stand out in the fantasy genre is to feature dynamic female characters with complex relationships among themselves and with the males around them. (Admittedly, there are other fantasy stories, particularly YA ones, that do this, but I think there aren’t enough.)

3. Why do I write what I do?

I write for teens and kids because that is what I love to read. But it goes beyond that, too. Kids and teens are learning and growing in ways an adult never will. A book read by a child has a far greater impact on his/her life than a book read by an adult had on that adult’s life. I think it’s important to offer kids and teens important, deep, diverse, fun, and entertaining reading experiences (not necessarily all provided by a single work). And I’d love to feel like something I’ve created can have even a small impact on a child.

4. How does your writing process work?

I’m not sure I’d say it does work. I often feel inadequately equipped to be a writer. Not because I can’t write well, but because the process can be elusive. Most of my stories start with a driving plot point and a character and grow from there, but I’ve never written two books in the same way. But they eventually get written, so maybe it my process does work.

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Thanks for reading about my writing process. I’m tagging two more authors extraordinaire Erin Albert and Suzanne de Montigny. Be sure to check out both their posts next week!

Erin Albert (http://www.erinalbertbooks.com/erins-blog.html) is an editor at BookFish Books and author of The Fulfillment Series. Since she picked up Morris the Moose Goes to School at age four, she has been infatuated with the written word. She went on to work as a grammar and writing tutor in college and is still teased by her family and friends for being a member of the “Grammar Police.” In her free time, Erin enjoys acting, running, kickboxing, and, of course, reading and writing. Her favorite place to be is at home with her family and easygoing tabby cat.

Suzanne de Montigny (http://suzannesthoughtsfortheday.blogspot.ca/), author of The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy, was an elementary music teacher for twenty years where she discovered her knack for storytelling. She has nearly completed The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Deception.