An Hour a Day

Over the years I have shared that I am writing a novel. What I have written is sprinkled throughout numerous files and notebooks. Last week, I created a strategy to finish my manuscript.

1. Evernote: Evernote is an amazing organizing app. Unlike Pinterest, which feels like traveling down the rabbit hole, Evernote helps me focus. The application is available for computers, smartphones, and tablets, and it syncs between all three. If you don't use Evernote yet, try it. You'll thank me.

2. An hour a day: This goal is flexible. Honestly, I will be happy if I spend 15 minutes a day writing. And if I spend 2 hours writing, I exceed my goal!

3. Feedback: I find it difficult to reach out for feedback. I am going step outside of my comfort zone and bug my writer friends who have told me to send them my writing.

I'm going to use the same principles into a Shimmering Star.


It only takes an hour a day!

The Great Gatsby and Catch-22 Sweepstakes

I love F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing style. One of my all time book covers is The Great Gatsby (I am excited for the 2013 film simply for the visuals). And now Simon and Schuster and Out of Print have teamed together to offer The Great Gatsby and Catch-22 Sweepstakes!

Enter by November 6th for a chance to win!

Of the Sea

Although I did not participate in NaNoWrMo this year I have been working on a novel. One of the central characters in my novel is also the setting: the sea. The vastness of the sea is daunting, and I have stalled because I want the mood of my novel to be right.

In his Introduction to Classic Sea Stories, Barry Unsworth's description of the sea acknowledges the otherness of nature. He states

"The sea is another world, uncontrollable, unpredictable, violent in her rages, beguiling in her calms, but always alien. Moreover, she is vast, beyond our scale in her volume and extent and limitless to our imagination."

It is the imagination of the sea I want to tap into; the juxtaposition of calm and power. The sea is familiar and foreign, comforting and frightening.

I need to dive into the sea and let my pen describe what I find.