Category: Uncategorized (Page 5 of 7)

Looking for: One Brain

March 15, 2016 / elizabethdohertyauthor

I feel like I am losing my mind. (Maybe it’s just because I’m exhausted. Are Tuesdays more exhausting for anyone else than Mondays?)

I was driving home from work yesterday and opened my water bottle thinking, “Man, if I spilled this right now, it would go all over my lap and make it look like I peed myself.” I then proceeded to do just that.
I planned my WHOLE WEEKEND around grading the 150 essays that I need to grade for work. What did I leave at work? All of the essays. And the folders I had to organize. Who doesn’t have a key to get in on the weekend? That’s right.
I was looking for this pen that I like to use when I write. It went missing. I looked for it for three days. I tore my apartment apart. Where did I find it? Hiding under my TV remote.

I’ve always been a little ditzy ( a lot according to my family), but this week I seem to have misplaced my brain. Where do I find it?

Nights In

December 5, 2015 / edohertyauthor

Wow, I’ve been doing a terrible job at keeping up with this blog, haven’t I?

It’s been kind of a crazy week. Hanging out with friends, catching up on work, taking a look at my NaNoWriMo goodies, watching The Wiz Live! (how great was that??), reading my to-read list. This is the first moment I have had to sit down in what feels like forever. I can breathe again!

Of course, it is now 8:30 on a Friday night. I’ve just finished doing dishes and now I’m watching Parks and Rec… again.

Ah, the glamorous life I lead.

I have a lot in mind about what I want to blog about: my new novel, Broadway, books, my amazing friends. But tonight? Tonight I think I’ll relax. Maybe I’ll write a little, maybe I’ll make a little hot chocolate, maybe I’ll just go to bed early. I’ve earned it. You’ve all earned it.

What do you like to do on a night in?

50,000!

November 26, 2015 / edohertyauthor

There isn’t much to talk about today. Things have been crazy during preparations for Thanksgiving (my very favorite holiday!) and trying to get caught up on my NaNoWriMo writing. But finally, FINALLY, I did it. I hit my 50,000. 50,012 to be exact. There’s a bit more that I want to write before I officially put in to “win” NaNoWriMo, but I’m almost there. Even just seeing the 50,000 is one of the best motivations I know.

I’m a little nervous about finishing it, but I am even more nervous about revising it. I’ve always been absolutely terrible at revisions. It’s hard for me to take what I have written and deconstruct it and start anew. Does anyone have any good advice on revisions?

And if you celebrate it, I hope that you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And if not, have a wonderful day regardless!

NaNoWriMo

November 13, 2015 / edohertyauthor

I guess I’ve been a little MIA the past few weeks. Between getting papers graded for work and participating in National Novel Writing Month, I feel like I haven’t had any time to myself!

If you don’t know what National Novel Writing Month is, I highly recommend you look into it. Writing a novel in a month is insanity. The good kind of insanity. In fact, the only novels I have ever finished were NaNoWriMo projects (this makes me a VERY BAD AUTHOR).

This year’s NaNoWriMo has been the craziest of them all. Real life has decided to be a thing this year. I am actually being a social human being (what!)! Plus there’s the whole work thing, which is taking up more of my time this year than it has in the past.

The craziest thing though is that I completely changed what I was going to write on the very first day. Originally, in my head, it was going to be a spin on popular fairy tales. I spent all of October planning and researching and getting ready (I am a planner).

But on November 1, I woke up completely inspired to start working on a novel I had scrapped long ago. I had some of it written, and about half an outline done, and I set to work on it. Scrapped all of my plans from the first novel and went with it. And I haven’t looked back since.

It’s not perfect, but I am enjoying it. And NaNoWriMo is all about getting the words on the page, right? I can make it better later.

The problem with genres

October 14, 2015 / edohertyauthor

Since starting this website, I’ve labelled myself as a Contemporary Romance and Chick Lit writer. To an extent, that is exactly what I am. The only novel I’ve completed is definitely contemporary romance. The novel I was working on when I opened this site (which has since fallen by the wayside) was also a Contemporary Romance.

My next novel? Fantasy. Young adult fantasy.

For now, I figure, this is an okay thing. I’m writing this for fun before if I see if it goes anywhere. I am writing it for National Novel Writing Month.

But when I publish, if I publish this, is there going to be a problem? The genre is quite different than what I usually write. Assuming I build up some notoriety, is it smart to switch genres all of the time? Even when I want to try my hand with someone else?

Or should I focus on one? OR should I come up with pen names for each?

Why isn’t this all easier?

NaNoWriMo

October 4, 2015 / edohertyauthor

It’s that time of year folks! Time to get ready for National Novel Writing Month.

If you don’t know what National Novel Writing Month is, I suggest you look it up. One whole month of a lot, and I mean a LOT, of writing. 50,000 words in the month of November. It’s insane. And it’s glorious.

This will be my fourth time participating. I’ve won the other three times (I’m a crazy person. If I set a goal for myself, I do NOT give it up), and it’s always a terrifying start. I mean, 50,000 words? Who says I can even write 5?

It can be a slog too. There are days when I don’t feel like writing. When everything I put down on the page I feel awful about. It almost hurts to write. But I do it.

Because at the end, I have an almost shiny new novel. And bragging rights.

Of course, I always take the month of October to prepare (and last year, I was preparing through September as well). I like to jump right in on November 1, get as much done as possible so that I can just write for those thirty days.

I’ve done very little planning so far. I guess I should get started, huh?

Does anyone else do NaNoWriMo?

Music needed!

September 25, 2015 / edohertyauthor

So here I am asking for some more advice.

I love music, but I have my own niche. That niche, surprisingly enough, is showtunes. I can’t get enough of them. (No, I have NOT listened to Hamilton yet. I WANT to, so bad, but I want to wait until I actually get to see it. If I ever actually get to see it.) They’re fantastic because they tell a story. And they have some great voices and melodies that go along with them.

The problem is that I don’t venture too far away from my niche. I listen to some indie, some classic rock, some instrumental movie soundtracks. But I have a problem finding new music. Especially finding new writing music.

I don’t like my writing songs to have too many words in them. It can get distracting. Yes, I have writing music that DOES have words, but I’d prefer the instrumental stuff. A lot of movie soundtracks. (The Theory of Everything was the soundtrack of my last novel.)

So how do you find new music that fits the genre that you want to get into the headspace of? So far, I’ve been having a little bit of luck with Youtube. Should I look more into Pandora? Spotify? Something else?

The easy way out or the road less traveled?

September 17, 2015 / edohertyauthor

Do you ever get a great idea for what you’re going to write (yes, I know that I just updated about writer’s block, but something came to me in a dream! No, really.), and you get so excited, and then you sit down to write it.. and there are all sorts of problems?

A part of me hates the beginning of the writing process, all of that planning. Because it can be so hard, a complete obstacle to getting to the fun part. You have all of these ideas, but you need to make them make sense, right? And sometimes that is just not fun.

Do I keep going? Do I keep planning this wild story in my head? Even with this giant obstacle in my way? Or do I stop? Search my brain for something easier to write? Less difficult.

I don’t want to say that I am running away from a challenge. But with a new job and a new apartment, should I write something that comes to me easily? Save the difficult stuff for when life settles down a bit?

Will life settle down a bit?

And more importantly, will I ever stop asking questions on this blog?

What do you do when you have writer’s block?

September 6, 2015 / edohertyauthor

Stuck sick in bed the weekend before school starts is NOT where I want to be.

I’m feeling lethargic (and not just because of this nasty cold). I have some intense writer’s block right now. I’m chipping away edits on my first novel (editing is such an arduous process, and I really hate it), but nothing new is happening. I have seedlings of ideas, but none that make me sit at the computer and WANT to write. I’ve tried, but I don’t like what comes out.

So I guess this isn’t a blog so much as a request for advice. What do you do when you have writer’s block? How do you get your inspiration?

Welcome. Will I be?

September 2, 2015 / edohertyauthor

The school year is about to start here, and because of that, I have been attending a lot (and I mean a LOT) of meetings for teachers. These meetings help us make sure that we are prepared for the year, that we have plenty of icebreakers that we can use for our students, and that we know how to welcome the year and the students with open arms.

For me, the welcomes are the scariest part of the year. I suffer from a little bit of social anxiety, and it’s hard for me to make connections with other people. (No, I’m not sure why I became a teacher either.) So I just keep thinking about how terrible it would be if I am unable to make connections with my students.

What if I don’t understand them? What if they don’t like me? What if I don’t like them? What if I’m a miserable failure?

I had these same thoughts last year. They turned out to be unfounded. I didn’t connect with every student, but I loved them all. I made connections. I worked hard for all of them, and I think they liked me all right.

But it’s a new year. New school. New students. I know that I won’t work any less, but those worries nag at the back of my mind. Will it be enough?