Five Things You Need To Know

By SeanByrne

Happy St. Patricks Day!
I'm on hiatus from social media but there are five things you need to know so you won't wander too far...




1. On March 26th I'm reviewing Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu.
And then on March 28th author Carol Fisher Saller will be with us to talk about her book Eddie's War reviewed on the blog here.


2. Beginning in April I will be exploring Indie publishing and Traditional publishing from a more media savvy prospective. There are a lot of myths, contradictory and often adversarial information out there. With your help, I'm hoping to open a dialogue about publishing from the readers point of view. Isn't this the view that's the most important? 


3. While on hiatus I am also researching social media and making decisions about which ones will work best for me. I plan on sharing what I've learned in a new series I call, Joining The Online Dialogue: Why Writers Can't Be Shy Anymore.


4. The new Furry Friday will open it's first call for photo's so get ready to send in your favorite pet shots along with a caption for the There Can Be Only One Contest. 


5. And finally...I will be making an exciting announcement on April 1st and it's no April Fool. Trust me...it's so real I already have goosebumps.


So in the meantime... check out my sidebar for the awesome MMGM reviews every Monday. Or check out my list of most popular posts here on the blog, in case you missed them before. 

Envisioning Revision

OK, when I thought up this title I thought it would be Easy. I was wrong. You see I'm still working on finding my writers groove so when I began to revise my WIP I quickly realized I needed some direction. I'd revised articles, academic papers and even short stories. Revising an entire book: a whole new beast. So what did I do? What I always do, I consulted my blogging friends. Here are just a few of the things I've learned so far...

1- Like any piece of writing, you need to let it cool off and get some distance. That was harder than I thought. When I finished my first draft I was so Excited I wanted to plunge right in and was afraid I'd lose my momentum if I put it away. DO IT ANYWAY! Fresh eyes are a must.

2-There are two kinds of writers, putter-inners and taker-outers. I tend to be a putter-inner. Early in the creation of my WIP I learned that I had to push through noting areas that needed more. So going in,  I knew that I was going to have some research and more writing to do.

3-Practice Riff-writing. This is different than free-writing because it is focused on a specific part of your WIP. Choose a place to "jump-off" , a scene, a characters feeling any place you feel needs to be Expanded in some way. Then write everything you can think of. These "riffs" can be folded into your WIP.  

4- Have several other projects in the works so you can go back and forth. Your brain can get tired when so focused on one portion of your book.  Taking a break allows your brain to renew itself, you Exercise it in another direction.    

5-Prepare a checklist and chunk your finished manuscript. There are as many different checklists out there as there are writers. It would be Efficacious to create a checklist that reflects your known weaknesses as a writer. Revise your manuscript in small bites.

These are  only a small number of the ideas that you can Enlist during your revision process. What I realized is there is a certain amount of Envisioning (preparation) that needs to occur prior to revising so one doesn't feel lost or overwhelmed. I'm still figuring that out. 

Here are a few links to things I found Exceptionally helpful. 

Questions To Ask Yourself Before Revising 

Cutting The Fat

Revision Shannon Style

How to Form a Quick Revision List Based On Your Weaknesses

Revision & Self-Editing

One Checklist

Kidlit Posts

Fumbling With Fiction

Six Keys To Revising

What has been the greatest piece of advice you have received on revision?

Fifteen Awesome Blogs!

So, last week I received an award from Angela Felsted over at My Poetry and Prose Place. 
Thanks so much Angela! I spent the weekend trying to find new blogs that I hadn't visited before so it took me a while. Here are fifteen blogs that I think deserve this Stylish Award.

Congratulations To The Following Winners! 

  ***I'd also like to challenge the winners to find 15 new blogs that deserve the Stylish Blogger award.  Happy clicking.***

Check out Beth's blog all about balance, one of my favorite words:
To The Fullest


 Over at Dark Angel, Sherry is just plain cool.

 Check out the Writing Fortress a group of published writers.  

Over at A Writers Reality Mellissa Cunningham shares her adventures in reading and writing.

Now if your looking for some motivation try Writing While The Rice Boils  where Debbie Allen gives great advice!

Cynthia Watson is another wonderful Canadian writer who writes YA paranormal fiction.

Then over at Still Writing  JEFritz is taking us on her writing journey.

Choices is always choosing the right words at Love To Teach.

Girl Unpublished is where Jessica Stanford shares her picture book writing adventure.  

Renee Miller is  Dangling on the Edge of Sanity and shares a major hottie.

At Brenda Drake Writes , Brenda lets us in on her latest coffee brew besides great blogging.   

Then hop over to DNA Writers where Brenda and her buddies are launching a new blog.  


Wendy Sparrow shares her adventures at Where The Ladybugs Roar.

Find out what Scobberlotch means (it's a verb) over at author, Karen Harrington's Blog.            

Take a hop to Sherrie Peterson's Write About Now  is a blog that is chuck full of great information.

80 Followers Celebration and Give-Away!

 Tweet    Thank you for taking the time to read my blog! I've only been blogging since June and already I have made contacts with some of the most talented writers and agents in the business.

There are several other benefits and discoveries I have made:

1) The community of writers is incredibly supportive. 

2) I will never run out of resources to get me through any
    crafting issues.

3) Editors and Agents are usually very supportive of their 
    writers.

4) There are as many ways to write a book as there are
    writers.

5) If you have a question, there is someone out there that 
    has the answer.

6) The writers community are cheerleaders for their peers.

   (Not the kind with cutie uniforms, although if you do, or
     want to, we'll let you, that's how we roll.)  

So, if you feel as lucky as I do to be a part of this community, comment and tell me why and you will be entered to win a copy of Elana Johnson's  debut novel, Possession!  Why Elana's? Because she has been instrumental in my growth as a writer and blogger. Thanks, Elana.