Ramblings-n-Writings

I haven’t been hanging around my blog very much recently, but I have a few notes to share with you! =)

The first notable note is I’ve started a new blog!!! Check out Garden Vines when you have a minute. The blog is in its infant stages, but I would love to get your feedback on topics!

And I think I may have mentioned this already, but this is still a notable note – I finished up with my current editing WIP last week!!! Woo-hoo!!! I have to package the final layout once I have approval, but otherwise I’m finally done with this book!

So since I have a little bit more time on my hands right now, I read over the pages that I wrote during NaNoWriMo back in November. I seriously haven’t looked at them since last year. I have to confess that on re-reading I was impressed with the story line, and I feel ready to move on with writing! I felt inadequate when I was writing last year – like I was jumping in feet first. I’ve spent the last couple of months reading books and blogs and learning how to refine fiction. For the past few days, I’ve been mulling over ideas for the my writing WIP and ways to improve it since I now recognize my problems with back story and missing pieces.

Finally, our new house isn’t here yet. (You can read about my packing dilemma.) Thanks to a lot of rain our foundation has not been poured yet. However, our house is built and on its way to W.Va. Worse case scenario is that it will have to sit on the sales lot for awhile. Sigh. I’m praying that the weather stays clear enough that we’ll have the house on our property by the end of next week.

Don’t forget to stop by Garden Vines!

Do you use writing prompts to get your creativity flowing? Have you ever started a story from a writing prompt?

A few weeks ago, Rachelle held a first line contest followed by a first page contest. I didn’t have time to participate in the first page contest since I was trying to finish up my editing WIP (which, by the way, is FINISHED!!! Woo-hoo!!!). I found Rachelle’s idea of writing a first page from someone else’s first line intriguing.

The concept got me thinking about writing prompts. I used to give them to my students a lot when I was teaching, but I’ve never really used them other than when I was in school.

Then today I came across a great opening couple of sentences on another blog. I decided to copy them down to use later as a prompt when I get stuck on my current WIP. At this point I don’t see the description fitting into my WIP at all simply because the character, situation and setting are completely wrong. But maybe a little thinking about that character will help me develop my characters.

Have writing prompts ever helped you?

Things are a little hectic around our house as we’re planning to move into a new home within the next week or so. I haven’t had much time to think about blogging, but for now I wanted to tell you about one of my favorite blogs.

I’ve only been reading Book Therapy for a couple of weeks, and I’ve learned a lot already. If you are interested in the craft of writing, particularly fiction, I think you’ll enjoy the posts. Right now the discussion is revolving around dialogue dilemmas, and I love the relevant examples and practical solutions for improvement.

Do you have a favorite “writing” blog? Leave a comment!