Website Critique: Kelly Armstrong

Faye Progress:
19734 / 90000 words. 22% done!

Through my recent NON author searches, I've encountered a lot of terrible and several good websites. Also, today I managed (after an hour) to upload a new banner on my website that's has a modicum of appeal. All this website surfing got me thinking about doing another critique.

I selected Kelly Armstrong this time by closing my eyes while standing in front of my bookcases, spinning my arm in the air, and seeing what I stopped on. Very scientific, I know.

Critique Group: Second Thoughts

I've always thought that it would be really beneficial to be part of a writers' group. I envisioned weekly or biweekly meetings where we would critique the selected writer's chapter, rotating through people's turns. As we wrote, we would be helping each other improve and perfect our stories. Optimum efficiency, and all that.

And then I read Stephen King's On Writing, and he brought up a downside to critique groups I'd never considered: Do I really want to have my WIP critiqued as it is written?

On Writing: What Is Ambiguous

While I agreed with nearly everything King wrote about the craft of writing in On Writing, there were a few things he said that contradicted what I've heard other authors say.

For starters, he recommends (commands) all writers read. Constantly. Everywhere. A moment is spent waiting is a moment that could be spent reading. So is a moment spent riding as a passenger in a car, standing in line at the post office, and brushing your teeth. He also advises reading everything, not just novels in your genre.

On Writing: What Works

I've been reading Stephen King's On Writing off and on since June, and in the last few weeks, I finally got past his biography section to his advice on writing. Since then, my interest in the book has definitely increased. Having never read one of King's novels, I have no more than a passing interest in his history. However, on his thoughts on the craft of writing, I'm all ears.

A Recycled Novel

Generally, I'm a huge fan of recycling. I have a several stashes specifically for recyclable items—plastic bags, batteries, computer parts—and I live in a neighborhood where trash is sorted by the city for recycling purposes (which I've done some research on, and they actually do it!). In fact, up until last week, I would have said I'm a huge fan of recycling. Period. No caveat.

Then I read Terry Goodkind's The Law of Nines. It's not a novel about the horrors of recycling. In fact, it's a fantasy novel about a man who must use his wits (and a gun) to save his world from destructive villains from another world. The problem, though, is that I've already read this book. I've read it eleven times already, to be specific.

Faye Has Begun!

I had planned on crafting the scene-by-scene notecards of the in depth storyboard of Faye (my new novel now that Madison is done and waiting to be sold) before I began writing. But when I sat down this morning, the scenes didn't want to be divided down into little bites like that. They wanted to be written.

Naming without a Tune

I've been busy working away on writing-related projects, despite the blogger silence of late. I finished yet another round of Madison edits, and now it's going to sit in the sidelines until an agent requests to see it. I don't think that'll be too long. It's ready for the public. Finally. Three years later. It took me three years to write my first novel, and three years to write and polish and query my second. I think I'm getting faster, even if it doesn't look like it from here.

Which means that my attention has turned to the next project. I mapped this one out, and have it ready to go except for two looming obstacles: naming my main female and male characters.

New Website Text!

I've been attempting to hold out on updating on my website until I could do everything—layout, design, images, and text—all at once. What I realized that meant was that I had a crappy, outdated site just sitting there for years. Not a good plan.

Finding the Right Voice

I'm sure there are millions of people around the world who do not experience a tailspin in their life when they are between books. I'm not one of them. If I don't have a current book to read, people die.

Okay, okay, maybe not die. But Cody suffers. There's only so much of my undivided and disgruntled attention the man can take. When I don't have a book, Cody, who loves nothing more than to come home from work and stay home for the evening, is suddenly happy to escape the house at any hour of the night to obtain me one. The only thing that keeps him home are bookstore hours.