In Which I Do the Spring Cleaning Writer Tag Challenge

Last week I shared my very first original tag, the Spring Cleaning Writer Tag Challenge — and today I’m here to answer the questions myself, as promised!

So this is a chance to catch up on ALL my writerly news of late! 🙂

1. Dust-bunnies and Plot-bunnies: Reorganize Your Writing Goals (Or Make New Ones)

I didn’t so much have “goals” as “dreams” (like I mentioned in my New Year post), but a glance at those can show that I’m not very far on most of them. I did, however, start working on a few! So I’ll share those at least. Because #positivethinking.

• Finish the short stories I’d started. I haven’t, actually, BUT I did write a new one, a flashfiction. Which I actually entered in a contest for the Fellowship of Fantasy — I think fan voting starts March 27 (tomorrow) so you can check it out if you like, and I’m so excited to see everyone’s entries! (And I had an idea for another short story. So many ideas. Halp.)
• I haven’t set up my Facebook page yet (waiting on finishing my website first) BUT I did take the first step and set up a FB account. *cough* (What is this life.) So you can find me there if you’re so inclined. 🙂
• I’ve been WORKING on my official website. It’s not done yet but I have clear ideas about where I want it to go and I’ve been working on it a bit… I will be sure to share it with y’all when it’s ready! (Going hand-in-hand with this is my newsletter, which, again, is not ready yet, but will be available to sign up for when my site is up, even if I might not start said newsletter for a little while.)

• Spend more time with the stories and characters I love most. I’ve been doing a little of this, namely finishing a chapter with Tare & co. that I had been stuck on FOREVER, and which is full of so much tension but also fun and feels. ❤ And I plotted the first dozen chapters of The Other Half of Everything and have been thinking a lot about Teague and Meridian and the rest. I’m so excited to have wrestled part of this into an outline! 😀 Now that I actually know where the bits I’ve written out of order go, it’s rather exhilarating. (Writing a book out of order is exhausting and I don’t recommend it, but this book is something special, and it will be written how it pleases, thank-you-very-much, regardless of how I feel about it.)

• I have NOT finished developing The Siren and the Skyship sequels, but I’ve been doing brainstorming on and off, making a little progress, and I might work on this project more for Camp? We’ll see?

• I am actually working on my freelance proofreading/copyediting business, which I’m very excited about! I’ve done a couple projects now, and I love it. If anyone needs their typos caught, I’m available. 😉

• And obviously Realm Makers hasn’t happened yet, but I have officially signed up for it. Guys. I’m going to Realm Makers in July! I’M SO EXCITED. I can’t wait to meet everyone there! 🙂

So my goals/dreams are still similar, and that’s just an update on the ones I’ve made progress on. 🙂 Those are mostly partial successes, and if I’m being honest, I really haven’t been able to focus much on writing this year yet — which makes me sad. But it’s heartening to see I’m making a little bit of progress in a few areas! ^_^

Tentative new goal might be to do Camp NaNoWriMo and focus on an hourly goal, working on plotting my Sky Voyages trilogy and hopefully finishing The Siren and the Skyship…

But I have no idea if I can pull that off, or even if it’s a good idea, because of how BUSY life is for me right now.

But I wanted to be more open about my goals, even the ones I’m scared won’t pull through, so. That’s a hope. I don’t know if I’ll do it or not.

(And yes, I know Camp is in less than a week and I haven’t decided. Shush. Let me live on the edge for a minute. XD)

2. Which Stage Are You At?

• a. Remodeling layouts (planning the story)
• b. Painting the walls in colorful hues (writing)
• c. Polishing the windows and scrubbing the floors and putting flowers in vases (editing)
• d. Blueprints (not to the cleaning or remodeling yet… just drawing up plans for the very beginning inklings of a story)
• e. Some combination of those things (cleaning out a closet)

On which book? O_O I think I’m doing most of these for one story or another. XD (Trust me to make a tag I can’t answer very well. :P)

How about a run-down on my WIPs (works-in-progress)?

• The Siren and the Skyship = Limbo, in preparation for getting back to planning the rest of the story/writing
• Sky Voyages sequels (Siren and the Skyship, books 2 and 3) = Blueprints
• The Other Half of Everything = Cleaning out a closet (because writing out of order/plotting is a confusing state of being and I don’t know what category it fits in)
• The Secret of Kedran’s Wood (KW2) = Writing
• Various short stories = Also writing (or rather, waiting to get back to writing)
• We Otter Do It (flashfiction for the contest) = Re-reading it over and over because I for some reason think it’s hilarious/adorable and can’t stop. *hides*

3. Treasure From the Back of the Closet (Share one to three snippets you love!)

He had a little half smile that melted her heart, and music that made it whole again. Or perhaps it was the music that broke her heart, and his smile that healed it. More likely, it was both.

(untitled short story snippet)

***

“Come on, what’s your price?”

“My what?”

“Price.”

Tare gave him a stony look.

Harold glanced up at the darkening winter sky as if looking for patience. “Come on, don’t pretend. Everyone has one. Name your price, I’ll meet it, and we can be done here.”

Tare shook his head. “What you seem to be having a lack of understanding about,” Tare said, very evenly and coldly, “is that I’m not everyone.”

(The Secret of Kedran’s Wood)

***

The door creaked open. A tall, wobbling stack of parchment pattered into the room on little furry paws. At least, that’s what it looks like when your otter secretary comes into your office carrying the mail.

I’m a respectable young man and a magician, and nobody would believe me if I told them my life is tyrannized by an adorable otter.

(opening of my flashfiction for said contest)

3.5. Bonus: Do Some Actual Spring Cleaning of Your Writer Self! (And share a picture of your writing space/notebooks/computer!)

I did do a little Spring Cleaning to go with this, and took the opportunity to take a picture of my two usual writing nooks.

Here’s my comfy chair I sit in a lot (to read or write), and my bullet-journal open to my blog planner page, with my writing journal open to the next blank page (which I should go fill once I finish this; ‘scuse me), and of course my laptop, with 5 years of NaNo stickers.

And here’s my desk. (Yes, that’s my inner Tare showing in the form of the leather jacket on the back of my chair… *cough*) Note this post open on my laptop in a gloriously amusing way. Also note my Middle-earth map (yesterday was Middle-earth Day or Tolkien Reading Day, also known as the day the Ring was destroyed and the Gondorian New Year, so happy belated all-of-that to you!). And some of my writing books/reference books, my favorites being If You Want to Write, Pain Free at Your PC, Eats, Shoots & Leaves, and a large dictionary (because #helpful).

So there you are!

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In case you’d like to do the tag, consider yourself tagged! Copy-pastable rules and list below…

Rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Share the picture
3. Answer the questions (naturally…) or even pick and choose which ones you answer
3.5. Tag 3 other writers and inform them that you tagged them (via comment/message/email or hey, even carrier-pigeon or smoke signal; I’m not picky)

Questions:

1. Dust-bunnies and Plot-bunnies: Reorganize Your Writing Goals (Or Make New Ones)

2. Which Stage Are You At? Expound!

a. Remodeling layouts (planning the story)
b. Painting the walls in colorful hues (writing)
c. Polishing the windows and scrubbing the floors and putting flowers in vases (editing)
d. Blueprints (not to the cleaning or remodeling yet… just drawing up plans for the very beginning inklings of a story)
e. Some combination of those things (cleaning out a closet)

3. Treasure From the Back of the Closet (Share one to three snippets you love!)

3.5. Bonus: Do Some Actual Spring Cleaning of Your Writer Self! (And share a picture!)

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I hope you enjoyed this! 🙂 Which is your favorite snippet? Are you going to Realm Makers this year? Is Camp NaNo a yes or an absolutely-no for you right now? And would you like to do this tag? Because I’m tagging you if you would! Thanks for reading. ^_^