Writers Anonymous September Meeting

Hello, my name is Traci, and I'm a walking cliche.

I'm at the Hampton Roads Writers Conference today and tomorrow. There are several smart people here, including Michael Palmer (he's a physician and a writer with 16 best-sellers). From his keynote speech alone, I knew my first chapter was in trouble. Then Chuck Sambuchino (Writer's Digest editor) and Marisa Corvisiero (literary agent) and a number of other speakers gave advice...it's officially done-for.

I was a little upset about this at first, but then I remembered: I already knew it needed a lot of work. This is not exactly news to me, just a little more than I'd expected. I did manage to avoid a number of the more obvious cliches, but there are still quite a few that need to be cut.

The other thing I'm happy about is that this whole writing conference thing is making my muse rather happy; she's quite talkative right now. That little pen and pad of paper they give you at conferences? Seriously come in handy today. I'm not sure yet which ones are workable, but it should be fun!

Hi, I'm Traci, and I Hear Voices (WA#3)

Words written this month so far: 370
Song of the day: Castle Made of Sand by Pitbull and Kelly Rowland

Yesterday was one of my "crazy" days. I was having trouble focusing on reading anything or writing for any period of time. Why? Because the assassin in my head was sullenly silent and giving me death glares. (No worries; I didn't actually tell anyone this. They would have tried to medicate me. Then where would I be as a writer??)

Thankfully, I have some awesomely supportive writer friends who were willing to come to my rescue (Gemma and company). They started helping me interview Vesper, my assassin, to try and get her talking. It's been helpful, in that I've found she's hiding something from me. No wonder all the silence!! However, getting it out of her has proved to be...difficult.

Yesterday I also came across several pages of notes I had almost forgotten about. When I'm tutoring, I'm supposed to "ignore" the boy while he's working, so I jot down notes on my story. These notes then get tucked into my purse, and I sometimes forget they're there while I'm running errands (bad Traci!). But I found them again! Now I just have to interpret them...lol.

Alrighty, then, off to feel crazy again!

Writers Anonymous Meeting #2

I received another critique the other day. I know, I know:

"Traci, you're on Critique Circle; these things will happen."


I'm not complainin', I swear! It just brought to my attention that...well, let me get this meeting started, and I'll tell you all about it.


*Ahem* "Hear ye, hear ye! Let this second official meeting of the This Particular Chapter of Writers Anonymous come to order!"


(Clever chapter name, yeah? Yeah? No? Dang it. That's what I get for procrastinatin'. All naming suggestions welcome.)


Hi, my name is Traci, and I'm...addicted to adjectives.


I know, right? Pretty horrific. I've got it bad, too! I'll list four or five adjectives to describe one single action! Geez, it's so bad, it drove me to drinking. (I had a lovely post-dinner glass of wine tonight.) Even going into a new chapter aware of my problem, I STILL made the same mistake. Granted, to a lesser degree, but it was still present. I'll be doubly watchful in the next chapter, I suppose.


So? Anyone else have anything to confess?

Save the Bookstores Day (6/25) and WA

I had heard mention of this "Save the Bookstores Day" thing, but hadn't found any details, until now! This Saturday is the date, so mark it on your calendar and take the kids to a bookstore. If you don't have kids, borrow some. (Someone you know really well, preferably; it's illegal to pick up other people's children at random off the street.) If you'd rather not borrow kids, then go by yourself. However you do it, just go to the bookstore and buy a shiney new book (or twelve) to put on your shelf.

So, PSA done, on to Writers Anonymous.

Welcome to Traci's first ever meeting of WA. I'll go first.

Hi, my name is Traci, and I'm a snob. No, really, I am. I recieved a review yesterday, and I was really upset by it. Now, I get bad reviews. That's cool. If you don't like my work, I understand. It's dark and gory and evil and tragic and SciFi, which not everyone can stomach. Sometimes I even prefer bad reviews, because they help me grow and get better. What I DON'T like, though, is when someone blatantly disregards the entire point of the piece, or doesn't understand it because English isn't their native tongue and they don't try to understand it, or the have to read it (for whatever reason--say a contest) and hate the genre and don't look at it with unbiased eyes because they hate the genre. It irks me in a way I can't even explain! I always try to be unbiased. Not that I always succeed, but I do try, and I would like to have that consideration in return. I didn't think that was a lot to ask.

Whew. I feel so much better. Anyone else? Thoughts/opinions on my revelation, or revelations of your own? The podium is open!