Recommended Reading

I've been doing a lot of reading the last few months and the author that stuck out as an exceptional Young Adult writer was Tamora Pierce. Her writing has traveled the globe and caused readers to become fascinated with what seems to be her favorite subject, magic.

In her Circle of Magic quartet, Ms. Pierce introduced four unforgettable mages-in-training. Each mage develop as unique young people with as story of their own. The Circle Opens is about these same young people four years later when they acquire their first students in magecraft.

I'm halfway through The Circle Opens and am dazzled by Ms. Pierce's ability to create her stories. Her writing is a lesson in YA writing and inspires me to create my own stories with the same intertwined plots. Each scene she writes is woven into the next one until you realize you're almost done with the book. I recommend her to anyone interested in YA literature and hope you read her books if you haven't already.

New Year's Resolutions

With the start of the new year many people are grabbing onto their New Year's resolutions and are beginning tasks to better themselves. In the writing community, some people will decide to take courses in writing to increase their level of skill. I know because I did that exact thing two years ago.

What I discovered from my venture was that I developed a dislike for long-winded lectures and a lot of homework. But at the same time, I found that my writing habits improved so that I was writing almost 1,000 words a day. That was because of the daily journal we were required to keep. At first I grumbled about it and complained that it was extra writing. Since then, I've stopped the journal and gone onto to writing on stories.

If you have trouble being motivated to write something or anything, start a daily journal. You don't have to go to school to get motivated, unless you think you need instruction in the skills of writing. In a journal you can write anything you want, as long as you write something each day. I remember one day in my journal, I wrote about how stupid it all seemed. I wasn't afraid to write that because no one else was going to read it.

Do you keep a journal? I'm starting to write in mine again this year with the hopes of getting back to my 1,000 words a day. Happy hand cramps (unless you keep it on a computer)!

IWSG - 2015

Welcome to Insecure Writer's Support Group and its first blog-hop for 2015. This group meets the first Wednesday of the month and is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. To visit the IWSG website, click HERE.

I was going to update everyone on what I was working on at the beginning of January, but as I sat back and looked at my projects, I realized I've stalled on them. Not because of disinterest, but rather, I have something rolling around in my mind that is wanting to get out. It's a story about a terrible time in a woman's life that almost took her life. Although I've jotted down ideas and a few scenes, I hesitate leaving my other work unfinished to begin working on this.

How do I work on one piece when my mind feels scattered and keeps going back to this new plot? Have any of you ever experienced this conundrum? I wonder if leaving work unfinished is okay? I can't seem to see the ending of the story I was working on. Perhaps if I let it sit for a while I can come back to it later with a better idea for the end. In the mean time, I can outline this new story and see where it goes.

After reading this circuitous post, can you see my dilemma? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Happy New Year, 2015!