B writes: Progress

I'm happy to report that this 250 Words a Day writing challenge I set myself is just what I needed to get my backside into gear and finish this pony story I've been sitting on since 2013!

Most days I'm easily going over my target - in fact my average word count is 500 words a day.  I've done seven days of writing, and 3,503 words so far - with a few extra typed here and there that I didn't bother tracking. So far, I'm only doing the challenge five days a week, but I might up that to six days a week soon.

I want to keep it achievable though. That's why I picked such a low word count to aim for. Yes, it would be slightly ridiculous for some writers who are already writing regularly to do the same, but this is for me. A busy mother with three children under four years old, who has many other responsibilities and hobbies besides writing.

250 words, five days a week is not only achievable, but also encouraging. I hit that goal, I want to try for more. So I end up doing more than 250 words each and every time I sit down to write! Sometimes it's a little more, sometimes it's a lot, like 1,013!

Either way, progress is being made and it's good. I like it.

"The first jump was an inviting oxer, with a nice ground line. Simple bars, and solid wings, the jump was set up to encourage the horse and rider to get into the course.

It didn’t look that scary until Jody was standing next to it, and then it was as high as Dudley’s knees, 60 centimetres tall. She could feel the butterflies flopping about. She’d jumped higher than that before – she’d been regularly jumping a meter ten at the riding school, but that had with Bosley; her favourite mount. Now it was just her and Dudley and she wasn’t sure she was ready for that.

She could dimly hear Mrs. Lowe discussing the course as they walked around, and shook herself, panicking. What did she miss? “-so make sure you sit up after the spread and really half-halt to gather Dudley’s strides. He will have flattened out to jump over the width of the triple bar, and you’ll really need to collect them up to get through the bounce clear.”

David nodded in complete agreement, but Jody felt like a vice was squeezing her ribcage when she looked at the pair of jumps set so closely together after that wide staircase spread. 

A triple bar! Then a combination! She could feel her knees knocking together, but David and Mrs. Lowe were already striding to the last jump of the twelve obstacles – the wall.

A solid jump, one to scare the riders, and Jody remembered it’s not just the riders that don’t like wall jumps – most horses didn’t either because they couldn’t see the ground on the other side of the jump. They had to trust their rider that it was safe to jump.

Jody swallowed hard. She and Dudley had been working on their relationship all this time – and they’d had some crazy adventures together – riding for help after Betty’s accident, and then riding out alone to help Cinnamon, but where they ready for this?

Jody squared her shoulders. Well, it was now or never, and as she walked back to her family and Dudley, she thought it was time that Dudley proved himself to be the right pony for her." 

- Dudley's Last Chance by Bonita Vear

Coming soon!

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B writes: On Writing

So I've made a pledge to myself. I'm going to start a habit of writing 250 words a day on my books - any of them. A novel, the e-book, anything - but it's got to be on a book, and not on a blog!

I do write a lot every week, but I'm writing on my blogs, on Twitter, on other people's blogs.  I'm not writing on things that are going to help my journey forward as a published author. I'm missing that part in my schedule of things to do, and as a result, all too often the book writing gets completely overlooked.

Crikey, the last time I worked on a novel seriously was.... Uh.  Whoops. I don't even remember. Probably Nanowrimo 2013.

Gamenian did get some work done on it in 2014, but that was mostly polishing and editing; stuff to ready the manuscript for publishing. No real 'writing' as in building the story.

Since I've made this pledge I've written over 1,000 words. So I know it can be done. Bit by bit, day by day, I'm going to finish my next book, and then I'm going to start another one. I'm a writer. So I am going to write.

"Jody stared at the measly remnants of cake in front of her, and poked the crumbs into a tidy heap in the middle of the swirling gold pattern. It was always a bit of a worry when Bridget got that look on her face – mostly because it meant that she had some new idea that she was going to drag Jody into, and any amount of ‘no’s’ just made her all the more determined to go ahead." 

- Dudley's Last Chance by Bonita Vear

b.

B writes: Why I Write

A series of questions I found on Gala Darling that instantly intrigued me, and I knew I had to answer them for myself.

Because why do I write?

Why?

WHY DO I WRITE?

Because I can’t not write. Because I can’t not tell a story some how, some way. I have so much to say, and so many ways to say it – art, photography, creating with my hands – but in the end, I can’t not write about it.

It’s like the story is too big and too grand to be captured just by one medium, and each different medium adds another layer to this great big story I call ‘Life’. 

So I create, I share my stories, and I hope that somehow the message gets across…

There is something out there, something that is bigger than we see. Something that inspires us, that drives us, that pushes and pulls us to grow, change, explore, create, expand, implode, fall down and begin all over again.

There’s life. There’s hope.

And those two things are the fundamental elements of my creative ‘me’. Story telling just happens to naturally blossom from those two core truths I know, and writing just happens to naturally blossom from my desire to tell a story.

So I write because I must.

HOW DO I WRITE?

Sporadically. It’s kind of sad. I’m not even close to any sort of rhythm or routine. I know that all professional writers talk about dedicating certain hours of the day, or making sure to hit a certain number of words, but I don’t do that. In fact, I’m the worst kind of writer…

The one who waits for inspiration to strike!

Ruh-Rho…

Please don’t follow my example!  I write when I have a blog post to write, but it’s never on the same day week to week.  I write when I have something I need to remember, or a story to tell. I work on my books when I need too. Nanowrimo was great for getting me into a regular routine, but I couldn’t keep it up for long. I had really bad tendonitis after trying to write 1,000 words a day for a month. Ouch.

Basically, I write when I want to. But it’s a least once a week, so I am writing regularly if it comes to that – just not once-a-day-regularly.

HOW DOES MY WRITING DIFFER FROM OTHERS IN ITS GENRE?

Hmm. This is a super great question. Mostly because I’m not sure, but let me think…

I think our writing is different from other books that I’ve read in the same space opera genre, mostly because of our faith, and how that shapes our world view, and consequentially, our writing.  

There’s always a theme of hope, and something greater that’s out there – referring to God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. We want to make people think about their world view and why they believe what they do. Questions always lead to answers when your heart is truly seeking, and we hope to that by provoking the questions our readers can find an answer that satisfies their soul.

HOW DO I GET PAST WRITER’S BLOCK?

I… don’t.  No, really. I just move onto another project and wait for the writer’s block to dissolve. Sometimes this works really well, and sometimes it doesn't. I think the best approach to writer’s block has a lot to do with whether or not you are a professional writer, or a part-time writer like myself.

I PASS THE PEN TO…

Alethia!

I pass the pen to any writer out there who would like to answer these questions themselves. Go ahead – tell us - why do you write?

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