How Do You Find Time? –IWSG Post

Hello friends!

Today I'm participating in Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group, so be sure to check out other posts like it.

Maybe you can tell from the language I'm using to write this post, or maybe not, but I am exhausted. It's 10:30 AM on a Wednesday morning, and I've already taken a psychology class from 8 to 9:15 today. Sure, it's only one college class, but Monday's and Wednesday's are my lazy days.

Tuesday's and Thursday's, that's another story. I'm on campus from 8am to 4pm.

The homework isn't too bad, it's just a ton of reading. I'm enjoying all of my classes, even the math. Though, the math homework is pretty terrifying.

I'm also officially getting hired today!

So while all of these things are great, "how do you find time to write in your busy day?" you ask.

Well…

I've edited four pages over a week.

So…to fully answer your question, I have to say that balancing writing and my new schedule are becoming extremely difficult. Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person to give up something I love just because it's hard. I'm definitely not going to be taking any writing breaks or go on hiatus (though my absences from blogging seem to make it look that way).

One of my biggest weaknesses is time management. Ever since college started, I've been doing a lot better with it, but it's still not good enough. How do I balance class, homework, real work, writing, and still maintain a healthy social life while making sure I eat enough and get enough sleep?

The answer: I don't know.

At least, I haven't figured it out yet.

How do you find time to write in your busy day? (Hopefully you're doing a better job than I am!)

–Jess

Oh Dear... The Challenges of Rewriting

I just realized I have to totally rework The Inferiors.

Again.

The first time I had to fix it, luckily I'd only written the first 30K out of what's now 112,000 words.  It was challenging.  Rewriting something you've already written is ridiculously hard!

Fortunately, I only had to rewrite 30,000 words then.

Now?

I've got 112K to sift through.  Hopefully I can keep a lot of it.  There are a few parts I don't want to lose, but the entire thing needs to be shortened.  Reason?

I discovered that the "end" isn't actually a good place to end the story.

In my head, I have a timeline of all three books.  Originally, when I first started writing book 1, I had no idea it was going to be a trilogy.  It was all meant to be one book.  But when I began to hugely exceed the standard YA word count, I had to break it up.

Anyway, my mental timeline includes just about everything in the story, from beginning of book one to the end of book three.  And as I'm going over it, there's no way book 2 can end where it did!  (Trust me, I've read over it like four times and the current ending is lame anyway.)

So, in the end, I guess I'm not rewriting it all.  'Compressing it' is more accurate I guess.

Knights of MicroFiction

Yep, you guessed it.  It's time for the KoMF!  To join in, just post your entry by the end of today, and leave a link to your post in the comments.  Then, go check out as many entries as you can!  By the 17th, Kathy and I will choose two winners to feature on our blogs.


Here's the prompt:
Write a flash fiction in 200 words or less beginning with the phrase:  Her eyes shot open...
You are free to change the gender and POV if you want.


Okay, so here's my entry.  It was modified from my WiP (The Inferiors).  Altighty, here it is:

Her eyes shot open, but they found only darkness.  The room was unclear before her, but she didn’t have to see.  She knew exactly where she was.

She sat up, knowing it was probably time to see how they were doing.  Surely they couldn’t fly this ship together without getting into another ridiculous argument.

A wave of cold washed over her as if all the air had suddenly vanished.  The deep scar on her arm burned.

“I was waiting for you,” said a masculine voice.

Her skin prickled at the sound.

“Show yourself,” she called, trembling with fear.

A figure near the other wall moved closer.  His deep green eyes became barely visible.  Her breath caught in terror, yet she couldn’t move.

He touched her shoulder and she flinched.

“He lied, you know,” he said.  “Deep down, you just know it.”

Her chest tightened.  She wanted to protest.  To call out and tell him he was wrong.  But she choked on the words.  They were dry and overused.  Pointless.

And in that horrifying moment, she realized she believed him.

“I’m coming back,” he said.  “And when I do, expect no mercy.”

And just like that, he was gone. 

***

So yep.  That's about it.  Out of context it's a little confusing but hope you enjoyed the confusing-ness :)


Okay, here's the list of awesome people who have already posted their entries:

1. Ashna Banga
2. Fairbetty
3. Nick Wilford
4. Aldrea Alien
5. Usama
6. Esther Jones

Oh, and of course Kathy.

Have fun!

--Jess