Tuesday, December 31, 2002

December, 2002
I read Poynter's book and started outlining my self-publishing process. I also outlined my first novel, Counting Raindrops through a Stained Glass Window. That's the title that came to me, for now. First I created a synopsis, then outlined the plot to the story of the main characters. Bought InDesign so I could learn to typeset my own book. I needed to take a break. Went to New York for the first time for New Years.

Read more...

Saturday, November 30, 2002

November, 2002
I went to Baltimore to attend a Writer's Conference. These conferences are helpful because I'm getting 45 minutes to an hour of introductory information on all aspects of writing and publishing. Between the past 2 conferences, I have been introduced to writing the first novel, what agents look for, choices in publishing, how to attract a traditional publisher, literary law, etc. I read more books on Novel Writing, Dialogue, and Character Development. I found and signed up to take Writing the First Novel at the UCLA Extension Writer's studio in February, 2003. It's a 4-day workshop, 9 - 5 each day. Can't imagine writing that long, no matter how much I love it. This has been the busiest month.

Read more...

Thursday, October 31, 2002

October, 2002
Research, research, research. I needed to find more conferences and workshops to go to. The information presented was helpful and I need more. I get books on grammar because I need to go over the basics. I sign up and take an Writer's Digest online class--Descriptive Writing. I jotted down sketches of all the stories I could think of. Came up with 9. Then I selected one to start with. I'm official.

Read more...

Monday, September 30, 2002

Doing more packing today. Cleaning bookshelves and trying to narrow down 5 bookcases worth of book into 2. That's going to be tough.Since I started talking about the beginning, I thought it'd be interesting to backtrack over the next couple of entries and go over the highlights from each month. I already regret not starting a diary from day one. Although I can remember everything, I miss out on the emotion of the time.

August-September, 2002
Made up my mind to drop everything and write my first novel. Can I do it? Don't know. Never written anything as massive as a 300 page document before, EVER. Went to the Writer's Conference in Columbus and sat in on my first seminars. I was informed to get the self-publishing bibles from Ponter and the Ross'. From what I'm learning, this is the route I think I'm going to go. I'd definitely do it all myself though. I know it's harder, but unless I'm with a traditional publisher, I can't see giving up rights to somebody else. I'd rather learn it and do it myself because I'd have better control over everything. Mom always said I was a passively bossy person.

Read more...