Writing Progress Report for July

Wow, let's see how many excuses I can come up with this month...

I did write a lot, but I barely accomplished anything.  Just for fun, let's blame birthdays, class reunions, the 4th of July, and sick kids.  Could be worse, I suppose, but here are my writing status for July:

The usual disclaimer still applies, and that is that I post this not to say "Hey look at me, I'm doing stuff!" but to show my highs and lows for month, as well as hold myself accountable to my goals--in theory--and give similar writers some numbers to compare to their own, hopefully inspiring them to keep writing.

Author Interview: JD DeHart

10 Questions with JD DeHart

How long have you been writing and what got you started?

I have been sketching out stories in notebooks as far back as I can remember. I started seriously writing in my teens and early twenties, sending out poems with occasional success. I think part of me always wanted to be a writer because I have always enjoyed reading good stories, but some of my English teachers have also been huge contributors to my writing. If not for a few people along the way, reading my rough drafts and encouraging me to enter contests and submit, I probably would not have started publishing. I have also had members of my family encourage my writing.

Five Links Friday 7/25

Credit losmininos under Creative Commons

Five Links Friday!

1. Michelle Weidenbenner gives 13 tips on How to Find Time to Write and Parent Children Too.

2. Here are 10 Tips on Writing – and Writing More from author, G. S. Wright.

'Trickster' now available at Theme of Absence

The latest story at Theme of Absence has been posted.

Click to read 'Trickster' by JD DeHart.

The WIP Challenge

I've been writing on a schedule this year where I'd write a new short story on odd-numbered months and work on the novels on the even-numbered months.

This has been successful for the most part, since I've manged to get three new short stories written, but I still feel like I haven't made very much progress for the year.  Part of the problem could be that all three of those are flash fiction pieces, so my annual word count is an abysmally low number.

Author Interview: E.S. Wynn

Credit Jan Tik under Creative Commons

10 Questions with E.S. Wynn

How long have you been writing and what got you started?

I’ve been writing for almost my entire life. As soon as I learned how to wield a word, I was writing little stories, and by first grade I was writing short books. Everything I was writing then was very derivative of the cartoons or sci-fi shows I was hooked on at the time, so it wasn’t sale-able by any stretch of the imagination, but it was good practice and I loved doing it. I think I gravitated toward writing initially because I had a lot of images trapped in my imagination that I needed to get out on paper, and since I couldn’t draw (or at least, didn’t have the patience to learn how to do it) and didn’t have my own movie crew or studio to make movies with, I settled for the art form that gave me the leverage to do the most that I could with the simplest tools. I learned the power of words very early on, and have always delighted in using simple constructions of letters and sound to cause explosions of color and imagery within the minds of my readers.

Five Links Friday 7/18

Credit losmininos under Creative Commons

Another week has gone by way too fast.  I had a pretty productive week at work, but not so much on the writing front.  I'll make sure to make next week count.

But enough about me.  Today it's all about five links to read over the weekend.

1. Here is an interesting concept. Using the idea that agents and editors will often reject a manuscript after reading only the first page, Ray Rhamey critiques the first page of Invisible by James Patterson and David Ellis on Flog a Pro: would you turn this bestselling author’s first page?

New Flash Fiction by E.S. Wynn

Read the latest short story at Theme of Absence, 'Seconds Full Of Years' by E.S. Wynn.

Quickie Book Review: Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing by Mignon Fogarty

I wanted to try something a little different in the car, so I picked out this audiobook.  Actually, my wife picked this one out for me, and I'm happy she did.  I'm also lucky she supports my writing habit as much as she does.  It really helps.  But back to the audiobook, if you're unfamiliar with Grammar Girl, check out her website: Quick and Dirty Tips.  You won't find a better site for basic grammar tips and answers to your writing questions.

A Grammar lesson from The Great One

Credit Maxamegalon2000 under Creative Commons

... or should I say "The Weird One"?

If you're a Weird Al fan (and if you're not, you should be), you might have seen his latest video: a parody of "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke called "Word Crimes."

I don't tend to pass judgment very often on this site, but I'll don't mind going on record stating that "Blurred Lines" is the worst song ever written in the history of music, if you can even call it music, that is.

What I've Learned Since Launching Theme of Absence

Theme of Absence on its launch day

It's been a month now since I launched Theme of Absence, my attempt at an flash fiction ezine.  I originally planned to write a post about why I started the site, and what I'm hoping to gain from it, but I decided to instead talk a little about what I've learned so far.

One of the first things I learned was that I needed to do a much better job of tracking submissions, and more importantly, my correspondences with the authors.  I thought I had a pretty good system to start with.  The plan was to read each submission as it came in, and then either accept, reject, or shortlist.

Author Interview: Kevin J. MacLeod

10 Questions with Kevin J. MacLeod

1. How long have you been writing and what got you started?

I have been writing off and on since grade school. I never took it seriously until a few years ago when I realized that writing is the only thing that I have ever done in my life that I love to do. It was just something that I’ve always done. There was no conscious trigger. Now I just want to share.

2. What is the best piece of advice you have for new writers?

Do not edit your material the second that you are done. Give it a rest and write something else. If possible you should find a program that will be able to read the chapters back for you. Cyberbuddy has a clipboard feature and is free. It isn’t pretty but it works.

Five Links Friday 7/11/14

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Wow, it's Friday already.  Hope yours is a good one.  Here are 5 links to read over the weekend.

1. Literary agent Carly Watters give 3 Ways You Know Your Rejection Not A Form Rejection.

2. I don't write cozy mysteries, but these 10 Tips to Make Your Cozy Mystery Sell by Nancy J. Cohen are good advice for writers of all genre fiction.

'Jezebel' online at Theme of Absence

The latest story at Theme of Absence is online.

Click on over to Theme of Absence to read the lasted story, 'Jezebel' by Kevin J. MacLeod.

YA or MG? And what it means to me!

Photo by jennnster under Creative Commons

One big mistake--or perhaps character flaw--I have is that sometimes when I don't understand the need for something, I pretty much pretend like it doesn't exist.  And I think the time is coming where it's starting to hurt me.

In this case, I'm talking about the difference between Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction.  (For the sake of simplicity, not to mention my sanity, I'll continue to pretend that the category of "New Adult" doesn't exist.)

Incomplete(?) Book Review: Better Than Great: A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives

Better Than Great: A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives by Arthur Plotnik


I'm kind of OCD in the way that if I start reading something, I like to finish it.  That includes a movie, a television series, an audiobook, a video game (not that I have any time for those, sadly) or a pot of coffee.

But this morning, I started an audiobook I just couldn't get through.

It's a book called Better Than Great: A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives by Arthur Plotnik and you would think that it's title alone would be enough for me to know that I wouldn't enjoy it.

Five Links Friday 7/4/14

Happy Independence Day America.  Drink beer, eat hot dogs, and celebrate just as the founding fathers envisioned.

Here are 5 links for your 3-day weekend!

1. Conflict is what sells fiction. Here are 5 Ways To Increase Conflict from Writer's Digest.

2. I still don't really understand what reddit is, but here's an interesting article I read there on YA marketing: Discussion: The Changing Face of Marketing

3. If you're just getting started writing, here are Seven Crucial First Steps for Your Writing Career

4. Here is a nice, quick guest post at Fiction University by Christina Lee making a compelling argument, and that is: All you need is a solid ten minutes of concentrated energy

5. Finally, there's some big...thing?...going on involving Amazon and something called Hachette.  Everybody is mad at Amazon....or are they mad at Hachette?  I don't know.  The only reason I paid any attention ot is is because I saw Stephen King's name thrown around as one of the rich authors who have hurt feelings.  Read the petition and it will clear everything up.  HA!  All it will do is make your head explode like a Fourth of July Firework.

Have a great, safe holiday.

'The History Buff' by Scott Childers online at Theme of Absence

The latest story at Theme of Absence is online.

Click here to read 'The History Buff' by Scott Childers.

Quickie Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth

In a post-apocalyptic Chicago (we don't get a feel for the rest of the country a this point) society is divided into 5 factions based on their dominant dispositions: Abnegation, for the selfless; Amity, for the peaceful; Candor, for the honest; Dauntless, for the brave; and Erudite, for the intelligent.   When you turn 16, you take a test and then choose which faction you join based on the test results.  A select few are called "Divergent", meaning they have traits that could line up with multiple factions.  For reasons we aren't told until the end, the Divergents need to hide the fact that they tested that way and can not be discovered by the faction leaders.

Writing Goals for July

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And the year is half over.  I never believed it, but time really does speed up as you age.  My little guy turned 3 and his sister will be 1 soon.  Fun stuff.

So onward to writing.  After a slow June, I really need to hit July hard.

Here's is my game plan, in order of priority: