Today is all about a very special topic: me.
Yes yes, shush, I know this is highly different from ALL MY OTHER POSTS EVER. But I’m talking specifically about my writing today. YES! I am a writer! I sometimes don’t blog about it because I’m also a shy walnut. Somehow yelling about other people’s books is easier than yelling about my own.
But not today, my fine fiends. Let’s take a tour of my hyper little brain.
I stole The Wisteria Writing Tag from the gloriously wonderful Abbie @ Abbiee’s Music Blog (after, like, whining that she didn’t tag me and how that made my life a broken mess of anguish so she tagged me because bless Abbie). I’m breaking all the rules of the tag, however, and stealing MANY MANY QUESTIONS, so pop over to Abbie’s blog if you want actual sensibleness. (I also highly recommend Abbie’s blog while I’m here because she is an exemplary human creature and if you’re not following her YOU’RE MISSING OUT.)
1. ARE YOU WRITING ANYTHING AT THE MOMENT? IF SO, WHAT?
I am writing MY TOMBSTONE BASICALLY because I have is a gazillion writing ideas and it’s too overwhelming to pick between my darlings and I think my brain exploded. I have 3 options for NaNoWriMo in November. Yes, three. And yes I could write now — but I’ll be editing a Super Secret Project soon. So I must gather my strength.
So the answer is: I am writing exactly nothing.
But if you want to know what I’m plotting…oh, mwahhaha…I HAVE A LIST FOR YOU. (Yes I do plot at least 4+ novels at once. My brain is unreasonable like that.)
- AN ADULT DARK FANTASY TRILOGY: It’s actual a rewrite of a series I wrote when I was 15 and it was pronounced too dark for YA apparently. I mean, pfft. But whatever I can work with this. It now includes a war between shape-shifting dragons vs tree demons. There’s all the normal fantasy things: torture, murder, bleeding, stabbiness, people getting carved into immortal evil beast-creatures of weaponised destruction, a bit o’ impaling, and then everyone dies in book 3. So. Like I said, it’s not really that dark. I’M HAVING AN UNREASONABLE AMOUNT OF FUN WITH IT.
- A CUTE BOOK STEALING CONTEMPORARY: Just so you know: I write all the genres. This is about a boy recovering from a brain tumour that took his memories and he steals books and gives them to people who could really really use them (aka = dying kids; homeless people; poor people etc.) Except he steals them from this epic, shouty girl. And obviously = #OTP. It has no title and that is ruining my life.
- A FANTASY HEIST STORY: It’s about an excellent con-master who works alooooooooooone, until (A) he takes a job to move a “very precious item”, but (B) he doesn’t know what item is (!!), and (C) it turns out to actually be a BABY that’s been kidnapped from the royal family. SO NOW I HAVE: this con-master who is now in possession of a baby that he doesn’t want to hand over to the villains, but he personally would like the ransom for too. Plus the royal family wants everyone dead. So he is running away from everyone — WITH A BABY THAT HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH. It will be called Scorpion Deep and I am the excite.
2. WHAT GENRE OF WRITING DO YOU LIKE BEST?
Fantasy. FAAAANTASY. Although I have written in a lot of genres, because I believe in taking a bite out of ALL THE CAKES. I’ve written Sci-Fi ( x 2) and Epic Fantasy ( x 7) and Dystopian ( x 1) and Apocalypse ( x 2) and Paranormal ( x 4) and Contemporary ( x 4).
3. GIRL OR GUY POV?
Of the 20 books I have written, 9 x just boys, and 3 x just girls, and 8 x both. I think it’s safe to say I prefer writing the boys, but why??? WHY???? Boys are odd creatures who are often gross. I would like to say their thinking patterns are easier to write, but what would I know. I am, in fact, a girl myself.
4. WHEN DID YOU START WRITING?
My writing story is twofold and is glorious.
PART 1: I was 6 years old and wrote and illustrated a story called The Three Bears. Which I, naturally, just rewrote off the top of my head from the actual fairy tale. But I signed the book with MY NAME because I WROTE IT and told everyone I MADE IT UP. I’m sure they believed me.
PART 2: When I was 12, my little sister started writing and stapling together little books and got far too much attention. I needed attention. I began to write my own books. So yes, you might say my entire life’s career started because I DIDN’T LIKE MY LITTLE SISTER DOING SOMETHING I WAS NOT.
Aren’t you proud of me? I’m so proud of me. *
* I’m actually a little concerned about me, to be honest. Where are my noble intentions? I seem to have misplaced them.
5. DO YOU PREFER WRITING ON PEN AND PAPER OR DIGITALLY?
I would rather die than handwrite. I can’t even sign my name properly. Pen + handwriting + me = IT’S A NO GO. I WAS NOT MADE FOR THIS.
6. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT WRITING?
Destroying readers’ lives.- I am absolutely addicted to the freedom of I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT. I can be whoever and go wherever and it’s intensely exciting.
- No one can interrupt me! I come from a big family okay? Someone is always talking over the top of you. So writing = I AM SPEAKING NOW, SHUSH EVERYONE.
- I adore the act of having nothing on a blank page and then — BOOM, MAGIC — now I have an entire world that I made out of 26 letters scrambled more than eggs and bacon.
I also quite like destroying readers’ lives with tragedy.
7. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT WRITING?
- Editing. It is, in a word, abominable.
- The self-doubt that comes every time you think about your words because WHAT (!) IF (!) YOUR (!) STORY (!) IS (!) NOT (!) ORIGINAL (!) ENOUGH (!)
- When I kill all my characters at the end of book one and then am stuck for the sequel. #problematic
- The very thought of my parentals reading my writing. Like, no. I am not strong enough for this. I am too young. Hold up while I move to Guadeloupe.
- Trying to sum up WHY your book is awesome WITHOUT using pinterest. Which trust me, has to happen a lot when you are trying to get traditionally published. Apparently agents / publishers want pitches not pinterest and it baffles me too.
- Reading back my first drafts. It’s just…it’s a no from me, sorry.
ME + READING MY OWN WRITING AND TRYING TO STAY POSITIVE.
8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING TO WRITE? (NOVELS, POETRY, SHORT STORIES, ETC.)
I only write novels. ONLY. I once tried to write a short story and, well…60,000-words later…
9. WHEN DO YOU WRITE BEST?
I am a fiendish beast and I don’t give myself the opportunity to have a “preferable writing time”. I treat writing like a job, honestly. YES I’M ONE OF THOSE DISTASTEFUL CREATURES. When I write, I binge-write. So I write from 9am till like 11pm (with breaks, dude, writers need cake breaks) and my “best writing time” just doesn’t exist. HAHAHAHAHA. IT JUST DOESN’T. EVERYTHING IS A MESS WHEN I WRITE.
10. WHERE DO YOU LIKE TO WRITE?
Unlike my admirable professional (ahem) flexibility of above….I only like to write on my bed. NOT EVEN A DESK, I KNOW. Shame on me. But I need my comfort. I need the view out the window down my valley so I can stare at it for 83% of the time I am supposedly “writing”.
11. WHAT IS YOUR BEST MOTIVATION TO WRITE?
The idea of walking into a bookstore and seeing MY BOOK ON A SHELF and getting to point at it and say “I DID THAT” and then beaming like a psychotic fish of joy. Wanting to be published, honestly, motivates me 100%. And, well, probably admirable stuff too like changing worlds, sharing my imagination, sending a message, blah blah etc. Dude, I just want to see my book on a shelf with a pretty cover and possibly 89000 rabid fans. I’m that shallow and totally okay with it.
12. MOST WORDS YOU’VE WRITTEN IN A DAY?
I think it’s 22,000-words. I only say “think” because once you’ve written that many words YOU’VE GONE A LITTLE NUTS SO DETAILS ARE A BIT WILD AND FREE. I have absolutely definitely written 20,000-words in one day, however. So if you want to argue over that 2K? Fight me, fiend.
13. OUT OF EVERYTHING YOU’VE WRITTEN, WHICH BOOK IS YOUR FAVOURITE?
You are asking me to choose between my children???? LIKE HOW DARE YOU.
No wait, I’m entirely joking. Of course I can choose between my children. Some of them are unspeakable conglomerations of nonsense and I would be okay if they spontaneously combusted into papery confetti. * Honestly, I hate some of my books so much I would eat them. Like, I am the Kronos of authors.
So. I do have a very special place in my heart for The Dead Boy and the Paper Cut, which is a ghostly novel about books, cake, and being heard. (It was on wattpad for a little while, but I took it down because #LimitedTimeOnly.) But I also gave myself a huge attack of prideful feels when I wrote The Never Never Prince in April this year. It’s a dystopic dragon mess of sass and scars and conquering the world and you can see why that speaks to my soul, right?
* Which is not possible, as we’ve established, because I only write on the laptop. Did I ever mention I’ve NEVER printed out my writing??? #devastated When I grow up my #1 priority is to buy a printer and print out a darn manuscript because I WANT TO. #adulting
14. WRITING METHOD: SLOW AND STEADY OR LIGHTNING BOLTS OF INSPIRATION?
I am the Queen Of Lightning. THE QUEEN, I TELL YOU. A draft generally takes me 4 to 5 days. And then I take 4 to 5 months off…hahahhaha..ha…ha…ahem.
My method is terrible. 1/10. Do not recommend.
15. WORST SPELLING FAIL?
- This isn’t exactly writing related, BUT! I nearly sent an email to a publisher starting “Hell, I’m inquiring about a book“…which, you know, isn’t generally how you make a good impression. HELLO IS WHAT I WANTED TO SAY. I did not send this, thankfully. But, what can I say? Hellfire cannot keep me away from books.
- Scrivener has an autocorrect that is the BANE OF MY LIFE. I had a character called Tark and I spent an entire draft calling him Mark or Talk or Ark. I love you, Scrivener, but I also hate you.
- I often write sentences that make NO SENSE AT ALL and I sit there trying to figure them out but…no. There is just, no. My solution = DELETE THE SENTENCE. Delete the whole paragraph while you’re at it, hahaha. DELETE THE WHOLE DARN BOOK! WOO. NO HARM DONE. HAHAH HA HA…ha…ahem.
Ooooh I want to know more about all of your stories!!! (Hint hint: do a post on them please or I might die of curiosity) XD They sound fabulous.
I juggle maybe around four or five ideas at the same time. I’ll be editing one (editing is the bane of my writing life), brainstorming another, then first drafting another one, and then messing about with several others. Honestly sometimes I question how my brain can function with all that going on… 😀
I will do a post! A WHOLE POST. I PROMISE.😂 I actually was going to do it today but I ran out of time so this one went up instead heheh. But I gotta walk everyone through my pinterest too, because #reasons.
ooh you edit and draft simultaneously?! THAT IS TRUE TALENT AND I BOW. I’m always mentally concocting something, but I only ever either edit or write. (Or, more likely, lie on the floor and cry about things.) Your brain is the multitasking hero, that’s the truth right there.
Fantastic post, Cait!! I’ve been wondering for a while if you’d do a writing-related one, and I’m so happy you have!
I’m writing my first ‘real’ novel now and I’m nearly 21. I juggled a few ideas between the ages of about 13-18 and started a few novels that I see now were not really novels and one day I may go back and turn them into products of wiser adulthood loljk (I also wrote copious amounts of fan-fiction which I still write now to flex the ol’ writing muscles and use as basically a big sandpit of writing FUN where nothing really matters and you can knock all the castles down and put them all back up again and it doesn’t matter! To quote Ina Garten, ‘How fabulous is that??’ (I watch too much Food Network in my spare time…))
Atm I’m only focused on the one novel and a few side fan works. I think that’s because I get pretty obsessed with one thing at a time and DO NOT LET IT GO, so I’m pretty viracious about the researching and the characterisation and the plotting and don’t let anything else really stand in my way. It’s “all or nothing”, basics.
The worst thing about writing… Knowing you’re writing something that you can tell just is not good? Like, give me self-reflection meta and character analysis and dialogue any day, but do not let me write all the stuff that goes in between. The fleshy plot stuff. The stuff where things actually HAPPEN. I’m still learning on that front. But yeah. Self-doubt is awful when you’re writing. And also thinking that something is fantastic as you smash out a good chunk of words (we’re talking your 22K here) and then re-reading it afterwards and being like, ‘I thought… this was… good????’ Sigh. I think the lack of confidence and the nervousness and the self-doubt that comes with being a writer is astounding.
The best things are (vainly) having people validate your work — telling you it’s good, and that you’re talented, and all those other compliments that I hoover up like gold dust. I shouldn’t need people to tell me that, but it makes it better? Also when you just get into the flow of something. When things turn out how you plotted them or even turn out better. When your eyes light up because you think about how something can happen or go from A to B and you congratulate yourself for being a genius.
Aah, there’s probably more to write but I am such a waffler once I get in the comment box, and basically I just think that the pros of writing will forever outweigh the cons. We’re building worlds. In our heads. With those scrambled 26 letters!! Mind. Blown.
Wow this really was a long comment now I see it like this. I’m so sorry…
OH DON’T BE SORRY!! I love chatting with people about writerly things (and long comments are awesome. <3 seriously it makes me so happy!!)
And also YAY for your first serious writing project! I think fanfiction is actually a really good way to start. I was writing Narnia fanfic at 12 but I didn't actually know what fanfic was. SO YEAH. But clearly all the greats start with that, right? HHAHAH *DIES* And I'm with you on getting obsessed! Like I can plot 10 novels at once, no worries. But I only ever have ONE writing project going at once. I had this idea that I could write + edit….nope.😂 Did not happen. I think it's great to be hyper-focused!
I write stuff and know it's not good all the time. *sighs* The trick is, I think, to keep going. Because IT GETS BETTER. My books are always rubbish at the beginning and get better as I warm up and get to know the characters more. But I NEVER read back as I write.😂 Too depressing haha. But yes, omg, we writers do collect self-doubt, right?! SO MUCH SELF-DOUBT.
and I don't think it's vain to be told your work is good! I actually think it can be crucial! I posted on wattpad earlier this year and the feedback honestly GAVE ME LIFE and kept me writing when I was having a tough time. *nods* So don't be ashamed of needing compliments occasionally!
I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT YOUR WRITING! *says in a sing-song voice* (of course) also currently I have like a million ideas in my head and most of them are coming from fairytales. THEY ARE NOT EVEN RETELLINGS! I JUST DO NOT KNOW. also, I have plotted like six of them and just waiting when my exams gets over so I could take all the days off from my school and WRITE. Gosh, Cait, I am scared by your method. I would never do that. Also, I wake up at eleven (which is too late). #priorities
great post as always! 😉
WE ARE TWINS WITH MILLIONS OF IDEAS THEN *HI FIVES* I hope both our brains don’t explode with them all.😂 But that’s so so cool that they’re fairy tale inspired! I LOVE THAT. Plotting is also good when one doesn’t have time to write. I plotted a 17K story last week…so basically I barely even need to write the book. hahaahah. Ahem.
I am a 5:30am riser.😂 THAT’S WHY I’M SO CRAZY OBVIOUSLY.
This was great, I loved learning about your writing process! I’m a lightning queen too, I might write a few chapters in one day, and then leave that novel aside for years. Why is writing so hard? It feels great to finish a piece (I’ve never finished a full novel, but that must be an amazing feeling) but getting the time and motivation to actually write the awesome thing you’ve planned and make it as awesome as it sounded in your head… Ugh.
Why is writing so hard? omg. *sobs with you* And oh YES finishing is amazing. I highly recommend trying it.😂 I feel like nothing ever is quite as awesome on paper as it is in your head though, which is TRUE TRAGEDY. But the hope that it one day might be is a huge motivator for me actually hehe.
I have never written a short story. I had an idea for a Horror book, but might try to write it as a short story just to see if I can. Ha ha. Sibling rivalry can be a great motivator! One reason I wish my son wasn’t an only child. I love that you stare out the window just like Anne of Green Gables. Keep on writing. 🙂
Sibling rivalry is GREAT sometimes.😂 When I was homeschooling, my brother and I basically did the same workbooks / reading material and omg he would get SO ANGRY if I got ahead (because I’m younger) and it definitely kept him working.😂 I’m sure that’s a parenting win for our mum, ahem.
Staring out the window is like 99% sure to help me get more work done right?!?
I relate to your post on a spiritual level. All the agreement! I’ll take one of your NaNoWriMo ideas off your hands 😂 I wanted to do it this year again, but I have 0 ideas and I told myself that I had to have at least 1 good one with the plot semi planned out otherwise IT WOULD NOT WORK OUT.
Also just your summaries for your stories are enough. I am DYING to read them all! (Look you’ve already destroyed a future reader’s life; I haven’t even read it. I’m in suspense hahah.)
And your method is my method. I don’t write for months even though I want to but I just CAN’T! And then it comes every day for weeks. Highly undesirable method…
Also one more thing; have you ever shown your parents your work? I have the exact same problem. They sometimes want to see my work and I just clutch my notebook to my chest like a little squirrel and run off to my room (strange metaphor day) BECAUSE BARING MY SOUL IS NOT MY STYLE. (Also yes I am notebook squad, but mainly for short stories and poems. If I am writing a novel and I have a goal like NaNo, I’ll use a laptop.)
Lots of cake and have a wonderful day full of writing Cait! I’m waiting to buy your books!!!!
OH YES YOU SHOULD DO NANO WITH ME. And you’ve got time right?!? It’s only September! *actually has small panic attack because how is it September* But I’m happy I’m already living and achieving my goals by destroying readers. And I only have to spit out 100-words to do so. :’) Ultimate win.
Ugh, yes, binge-writing is the WORST. I feel so unproductive sometimes.🙈🙊 Like maybe I whould write consistently? BUT ALSO I AM TOO LAZY FOR THAT.
I used to! When I started writing my mum read everything and actually helped edit and it was GRAND. But like…not in the last 4 years basically?! And I can’t use the “it’s not ready” excuse anymore. But I NEED MORE EXCUSES. HELP ME. HIDE ME.
How about Stolen Memories? First title that popped into my head…. He lost his, is stealing books to be like a Robin Hood of some sorts. But books can be memories too…
I love your answers. I have a few ideas for books and series myself but can’t seem to get words onto – digital – paper…. Got one prologue from one idea of mine and that’s it😖😞 got any tips?
Xoxo
Felicia
AWww, you’re really nice to think up titles!! THANKYOU. I’ll keep that one in mind! (It actually fits rather well, right?!)
Well I’m very big on outlining!! Because otherwise I get stuck SO easy and I need to know where the book is going. (I don’t like surprises.😂) So maybe try an outline? It doesn’t work for everyone, but at least it’s something to try!
Hahahaha I can barely write 22,000 words in a month, haha, so funny, ha… ha… ha *hides under a desk and cries*
Dude all your story ideas sound SO GOOD go back to your writing cave and write them all so I can get my greasy hands on them.
I can’t handwrite for the life of me either! My brain goes too fast for my hands to keep up, so if I try to handwrite it just ends up one scribbly mess. Plus it’s like double the work because you have to type everything up afterwards and I DO NOT LIKE WORK.
*gives you cupcakes so you don’t cry* I didn’t say they were GOOD words though.😂 Think of them as incredibly messy and full of unreasonable jokes that I have to delete later even though I amuse myself greatly at the time. OMG I WANT TO WRITE SO MANY THINGS RIGHT NOW BUT I CAN’T DECIDE SO I JUST DO NOTHING.
Handwriting is awful. Ugh. I would happily type everything for the rest of ever. My handwriting hasn’t improved since I was, like, 12. This is a problem. If I ever do become an author I will like get a PRETTY STAMP and stamp people’s books/foreheads/whatever instead of signing because I cannot write.
I don’t write at all which makes all the writing you do so freaking impressive!! I love the sound of your heist book and I also love reading books from guys’ POVs. Thanks for the great post, Cait!!
Zareena @ The Slanted Bookshelf
AHH THANK YOU, KIND BEAN. *flails happily* And honestly writing gets easier the more you do it. Well. Sort of.😂
Thank you for sharing about your writing life 😀 I hope your book will be published soon so I can read it 😀
btw, I also write on my bed, not on my desk 😀 *high five*
Yayyy, I hope I’ll be published someday too.😂 And *returns hi five* We clearly have our priorities in order for writing space. Beds are just WAY more comfortable, right?!
Yeah bed is way more comfortable than desk.. I love reading on my bed,too 😊
So this was possibly the most relatable post I’ve ever read. I don’t know if I’d want my parents to read my writing either.
Also your family leaves you alone when you write?! I get inturupted every 30th second. I have 7 siblings. So as you can probably deduce, I have a really, really hard time focusing.
I write multiple books at the same time. Currently I’m working on four, and I have like, 5o million ideas for more stories. Like this one about faery changlings and murder and stuff. ahem.
Whyyyy is it so terrifying?!? Like I AM A GROWN aDULT and I have an agent and I have had dozens of people read my writing. But my parents??? MY PARENTS????? *screams* (Okay, let’s take back the “grown adult” thing. I don’t think I am. I think I’m a fake.)
Omg 7 siblings.😳 I have 5 siblings, but I’m the second-to-last and all the others have basically left home. And when I write, I make them all leave me alone ON PAIN OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION.
Also I admire you writing multiple projects!! That is seriously awesome! I plot multiple but I can only write one at a time or, BRAIN COLLAPSES.😂
This was such a great post! I love being up dated on your writing :), and all your books sound totally cool. (though the writing thing… myabe you should call this blog digital fury? Though it doesn’t have the same ring to it?) I have A LOT of ideas all going at once BUT right now (like literally this week) I’m makig the beginnings of what will be my school year project which is a contemporary about a slightly rude girl who goes to school in Thailand and is figuring stuff out and LOVES AV lighting stuff (kind of like Elise in This Song will Save your life but different and I just realised that my MC’s name is Elissa and I should probably go change that because I SWEAR IT’S NOT COPYING) I like the fact that I can edit and make my words better but I don’t like acutually editing. I write a lot of different stuff: I love writing essays and poetry and short stories and novels. So yes.
AHHH THANKYOU!! *flails happily* Although I kind of could use a clone or two so I can get all these books written?? That would be very nice. I should order one off etsy or something. *goes to google clones*
ohh I AM LOVING THE SOUND OF YOUR BOOK. (Also I actually totally hear you on the name-thing.😂 I’ve done that. I wrote a dystopian once and called the protagonist Bea…which is nothing like Tris from Divergent. Just the…opposite end of the name? *facepalm* IN MY DEFENCE I WAS YOUNG AND IMPRESSIONABLE.) And I so so agree about editing. I love knowing I’ve edited. Actually doing it makes me want to die slightly.
Yeah, editing is the worst…your opinion of your work goes waaaay downhill 😛
I try not to juggle more than one or two writing ideas at a time, because – you know, head explosion is messy and painful…
I’d love to read any of your work. 🙂 Email, that elusive printing, etc. 🙂 All your ideas sound really interesting and fun – seriously.
By the way, you won the giveaway at The Invisible Moth!! 🙂 My email is daley.downing@gmail.com, so we can finalize shipping details, etc. 🙂
Omg doesn’t it just?!?😂 Like I often finish a first draft and HATE IT, but then I think “Oh well, it wasn’t so bad!” and then I go to edit and…nope. #nope nope nope. ABORT SHIP. *burns continent to the ground*
Oh head explosions are messy. I have them bi-weekly. *cries piteously for self*
OMG!! *SQUEE* I shall email you right now!
Writing posts are my absolute faaaavorite from you. I am in awe of your sheer awesome. If you did not write with such emotion I would be 1000% convinced that you’re actually a Vulcan. I mean, who can write 22,000 words in one day? WHO?
My extremely talented queen and overloard, that’s who.
I know you have written posts about your process before, but I always love those. I’m sort of a nerd when it comes to studying other people’s writing processes. Never get tired of it. I demand more.
And, agh, my WIPs are eating me alive right now. I’m honestly really proud of what I’ve accomplished this year. I started January with one really crapy rough draft and am now at six really crapy rough drafts (each less crapy than the last). I’m juggling two novels, plus school, plus work, plus my blog thing that I’m trying to get up. And everything is terror and chaos. But it’s probably been my best writing year yet, and I’m proud of my chaotic self. So that is a #writingupdate from me.
Oh pfft, I AM A VULCAN. What little emotion I do have just goes into writing and so the rest of the time I just wow the world with my dry wit and emotional unattachment to everything. *kills off all the characters* *doesn’t even cry* BUT I, OBVIOUSLY, ACCEPT ALL ACCUSATIONS OF QUEENNESS.
eheh, I could actually do another process-post because it’s changed a LOT this year. I used to be more relaxed, but I swear, the older I get the longer my outlines become. I wrote a 17K outline the other day.😳 I nearly don’t need to write the book.
WAIT SO YOU’VE WRITTEN 6 BOOKS?!?!? WOOOOO!! THAT IS AMAZING!! I actually bow to your skills right now.😂 I’ve written 2 + edited 2 but I’m also a lazy bean and would kind of sleep for the rest of the year? Except the plots are coming thick and fast and I should probably catch them before they stab me. Everything being terror and chaos is VERY relatable though. *pats shoulder* But I am immensely proud of you, btw.
Maybe you are 75% Vulcan, 25% dragon, 100% queen? These ratios would make sense to me.
YES PLESE DO. I die to know of your process and your astronomical word counts.
Nooooo I haven’t written six. *nervous laughter* Technically, I’ve rewritten the same books six times. So, both of my WiPs have gone through three rewrites. 3+3=6 (yeah, I can maths) If that makes sense.
But, I should just go ahead and accept that compliment because I DID A LOT OF WRITING, SIR. So, I’ll pat myself on the back now. *pat pat*
These ratios make perfect sense to me too. Although maybe a little more dragon. (Have you read Seraphina? They were shape-shifting dragons with TOTAL Vulcan attitudes and confirmed that I, totally, am one.)
I did do a post with a step-by-step run down of how I spend a writing day.😂 SO HERE IT IS. FEAST YOUR EYES.
ohhhh the SAME book 6 times. Pfft, that counts as 6. That totally does. So you can keep the compliment and the back-pat, but I’ll only give out cake crumbs because, well, I ate the cake anyway so I can’t really offer it in congratulations for your math and writing skills.
It’s obvious that this post was great because it was all writery and had elements of tragedy. We really appreciate when someone write a book that makes us enter emotional distress. We’re masochists like that💀
All your book plots that you wrote about in the beginning of the book sound wonderful and we’re more than happy to be a part of those 89,000 rabid fans you want
Writing + tragedy = OBVIOUSLY A GRAND COMBINATION, I WON’T ARGUE. And who doesn’t like their feels being ripped out?!? I mean, surely everyone loves it. #legit 😂
Ahhh, thankyou!! I am glad you will help me achieve those 89,000 fans. :’) I’ll be there in no time, tbh. I have, like, 5 officially now. (Including my parents who don’t…get…to read. BUT WHATEVER. MOVING FORWARD. My dog loves me. He can be a fan too.)
Oh my goodness, Cait! The posts when you talk about your writing ARE THE BEST! Why, forevermore, don’t you do it more often? I mean, for real?!? Although I must say, I’d somehow gotten it into my head that you wrote 30,000 words in a day once? I guess I’m just totally off with that. (Last NaNo I wrote 20,000 in one day, not sitting at a desk, and am still reaping the consequences. All I can say is I hope your wrists hold up better than mine. #wristsbracesstillinuse) I’m currently not doing the “binge writing” deal, although I actually like that way best. It’s so much fun to totally submerge yourself into a story and just focus on it and only it for a week or two.
Okay, okay, okay. Your story about the royal baby? YES! It sounds amazing and lovely and so totally interesting. #Iwananreadit
So, as for questions? I so totally feel like asking them, just so you do enough to do a second post about your writerly life, but at the moment my brain is coming up a bit blank. Okay, maybe since I can’t think of questions about writing at this moment, I’ll go ahead and request another post: PRETTY PLEASE do another post with your niece and nephew. Those ones are the most adorable posts *ever*! Like, your chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe-review post was pretty much one of the best I have ever read in like, ever.
Aidyl from Noveltea
AHHHHHH THIS IS SO SO KIND OF YOU. I’M JUST…I’M ALL THE FLAILS RIGHT NOW, THANK YOU. <3 It's actually so encouraging when people say they like to hear about my writing. I go gloopy as a happy watermelon on the inside, I totally do. :')
Ugh to wrist pain! I don't know why but I've never had it?!? I've had sore hands, but honestly zero problems with my wrists. I hope it stays that way, eep. (And I hope yours get better.) But HI FIVE for 20K days!! Being totally enveloped by your own imagination is INCREDIBLE. I love it.
Awww, I will totally do a niece/nephew post then! JUST FOR YOU.😂 I'm so glad you liked that recipe review one eeeep. That was like one of the most fun posts I've ever written hehehe. I SHALL PUT IT ON THE TO-DO LIST FOR SURE.
The way I write is really weird, because a scene/situation will pop into my head, I’ll literally act it out (in my head though – the last time I actually acted it out, I made a really loud noise and my mum was like WHAT WAS THAT NOISE because I was trying to purposefully fall down the stairs. As part of my book. It makes complete sense) and then I’ll write it down in my notebook or laptop.
I have the same motivation to write, like how I write letters so I can get a reply in the post with my name and address and it makes me feel special. But seeing my own book at a bookshop, I would be even more excited. And if there were people taking my books off the shelves and looking at them *squeals*. And if there were people actually talking about my book and they recognize me and ask me to sign it and I start screaming and crying with joy and hugging them and giving them free brownies.
Simi
P.S. Do you have any other books on Wattpad? Because I’d love to read them!
THIS IS SO GLORIOUS I’M JUST LAUGHING RIGHT NOW. #relatable I totally make all my ideas a movie in my head while I plot them. Then I outline. Then I write. But it was soooo much better in my head every time.😂 OH. But I’ve been out walking once and imagining my books and caught myself making faces to go along with it. SO EMBARRASSING. bahaha.
Omg can you imagine like people all TALKING ABOUT A BOOK YOU WROTE?!?? Actual goals of life.
I don’t have anything else on wattpad yet! But maybe soon!?
THIS, Cait.
OMG. I needed this in my life.
Please excuse me while I jump around the room in absolute excitement because I READ (and LOVED) THE DEAD BOY AND THE PAPER CUT TO THE POINT WHERE I WANT A COPY ON MY BOOKSHELF RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THOMAS = EVERYTHING.
And, um…just asking: when are we going to get to read more?
*begs* I NEED MORE, please and thank you and oh my gosh – I’ll even bribe you in cake. JUST,HAND.OVER.ONE.OF.YOUR.MILLIONS.OF.BOOKS.
Unlike you I can only juggle 2 ideas at once.
Never mind, make that 3. Or 7. (I’m in denial about how often I think about new ideas, obviously).
I love this post so much. OMG. And every single time I read about you stealing writing from your sister I laugh out loud.
But now that I’ve thought about it, I won’t shut up, WHEN CAN WE READ MORE OF YOUR WORK????
GET PUBLISHED ALREADY. DARN IT!
Of COURSE you needed this post in your life. It was written by me. Everything written by me is crucial for existence. :’) #SoHumbleICantEven
OMG YOUR ENTHUSIASM FOR DEAD BOY LITERALLY GIVES ME LIFE (unfortunately it doesn’t give Thomas life *sad noises*) AND THANK YOU SO MUCH. HONESTLY IT’S JUST SO ENCOURAGING YOU HAVE NO IDEA. I SHALL JUST FLAIL AND CRY OF HAPPY NOW. And I plan to announce what I’m doing next with wattpad sooooon. So stay tuned! But dangit, Kat, don’t bribe me with cake. You know my weakness. YOU KNOW I CAN’T REFUSE CAKE.
2 or…7? Basically the same thing OF COURSE. *nods*
OK, I’m lacking a topic for my upcoming blog post, so I’m totally stealing this, K? ehehe… 😂
Anyhow, I want to read your fantasy heist story… dude running with a baby and doesn’t know what to do… yeah, i wanna read that!
OK, and now:: 🎶 DUDE!!! Tell me how to stay motivated so I can actually finish my short story… I wrote 1200-ish words and then totally lost all sorts of interest, you see?!?!?!?! Write me a post now!!!!! NOW!!!!! NOOOOWWWWaaawwawaw 🎶
Uhm… that was me singing, by the way. So yeah, can we have a 10-Ways-t0-Stay-Motivated-about-Writing-Novel/Short/Narrative/Essay/whatmayyoublah etc. post from you?
OH GOOD. DEFINITELY STEAL IT. I can’t wait to read your answers!! And omg I’m so glad you like my heist story. I’m sooo excited about it! *flails wildly*
Motivation is actually a seriously good topic! I’LL WORK ON THAT (Although, I mean, my motivation is like: be rich and famous…so idek if my post will be much help honestly.😂) BUT YES! YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND. I’LL WORK ON THAT!
A fantasy heist!?!?! Genius! Now I want to write a story like that…except the idea is obviously yours already. *frowns* But the villain having to care for a baby sounds hilarious!
I generally juggle about four or five ideas around. Right now I’m currently working on three projects (a novella, fantasy novel which just keeps getting longer no matter what I try to do with it, and a futuristic trilogy). And I’ve another book in hibernation, and another one I’m going to start planning soon…the ideas never really stop long enough for me to finish them. *sighs* And that doesn’t even count blog posts, a serial story, and monthly short stories about fantasy time travelers.
My favorite part of writing is the ‘ah’ moment where everything fits together. My least favorite part…editing. Typos and I get along way too well, no matter how hard I try to force them to leave. 😉
Fantasy heists aren’t just my idea, don’t worry!! Six of Crows is like my FAVOURITE fantasy heist but I’m planning on reading The Lies of Locke Lamora which is apparently a fantasy heist too!! BUT YES VILLAIN + BABY = I AM SO HAPPY I THOUGHT THIS UP HONESTLY.😂 I got the idea reading a contemporary novel and it just kind of exploded into fantasy because that’s who I am. (Now I’m merging it into a Davy Jones retelling.)
Oh oh I hear you with the fantasies that just want to get longer. It’s like they’re disagreeable children having an eternal growth spurt too?! And YES the ideas never do stop. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry over it.
Editing is the worst😂
Can I have your brain??? Please?? I wish I could think of that many ideas and write so fast! Instead it takes me like months to plan and then another few to work up the courage to start writing 😂 But omg reading back your own writing is the scariest thing on earth. So is going back to a novel idea you haven’t looked at in ages and finding you’ve forgotten everything about your characters (because that totally hasn’t happened to me… ermmm… ahaha) Pinterest saves lives in those circumstances! Actually I don’t think I could manage writing if it wasn’t for Pinterest. It’s like the perfect way to procrastinate but you can also call it ‘planning’ or ‘inspiration’. Win win if you ask me 😂
NOOOO. MY BRAIN! MINE! *hugs brain and runs off with it howling* Ahem.😂 But hey these things come with practise! Last year I wasn’t nearly so bad with thinking up 9384 new ideas. But this year?!? It’s like my brain won’t even turn off at all. IT’S RIDICULOUS. But omg I actually forget all about my books after I write them.😂 I couldn’t even remember what books I’d written when I was trying to list off the genres for the post. I had to go look it up. HOW SAD AM I?! Omg. (Pinterest also saves lives for so many reasons it’s glorious. Pinterest is a superhero.)
Here it is, a comment lyrical
just to please the blogger imperial
I’d like to hear more of baby-sitting con
and with assonance I end my song.
There, I’ve sung my request. Now for the rest…
How many writing ideas do I juggle at once? Too many. I’m kind of ridiculous in that way.
For me, the best thing about writing is dreaming up the ideas (while I’m supposed to be working). The worst thing is staring at the blank word document and thinking ‘I had a great idea, I’m sure I did. What was it again?’
That is a BEAUTIFUL song, T, and who would I be to refuse your request. :’) I shall try to have a post up soon!! (Actually I plan to write a post with all my ideas and get everyone to vote on what I should do for NaNo😂) Also: it honestly depends on how many ideas I juggle at once. Like I’m either writing or plotting. When I write, I only write ONE book. But if I’m dreaming up books?!? OMG IT CAN BE SO MANY. Right now I’m finishing off (mentally) plotting a trilogy, and also working on two standalones. It’s a bit intense doing them all at once.😂
Oh, yes. The writing in a big family thing. Never quiet. I don’t know how books got written before earbuds and headphones came along. Being a from a homeschooling family also means that the littles are always around. Families in general also are not conducive to writing sometimes. (Other times though, they give you all sorts of inspiration and other nice things, so it’s a toss up.) My family just loves to give CONSTRUTIVE CRITISISM. It’s like our love language. 😀 It always leaves me at a loss, though, because I have rosy ideals of my family fawning over my writing about instead they’re like, oh it’s good but here, let me tell you what I think is wrong with it. And my betas are all really nice? Is this role reversal normal???
And I also prefer writing from male POV. We women are just too complex even for our own kind. XD
OMG I SO RELATE TO THIS IT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY. Like when I was younger I used to have my mum read my novels, which she totally missed the memo of “fawn over this” to “let me edit it within an inch of it’s life”. Which, in retrospect was seriously helpful. ut at the time I was like NO I’M NOT STRONG ENOUGH FOR ALL THIS CRITIQUING.😂
I’m from a big homeschooled family too though!! *flails with you* Although I’m like the 2nd youngest so having little kids running around was never a big deal for me. Althoooough I totally steal things from my family to put in my books. THEY’RE INSPIRING. In good and bad ways.
Omg YES. We women are so much harder to write. That is it for sure.
CAIT YOU DID IT AGAIN. YOU DID THE TWO THINGS ACTUALLY:
YOU TELL ME ABOUT BOOKS I CAN’T HAVE BECAUSE THEY AREN’T WRITTEN BUT I WANT THEM SO MUCH… *pouts and contents self with stalking your Pinterest* XD
YOU ALSO KEEP INSPIRING ME TO ATTEMPT TO WRITE A NOVEL IN A WEEK. I DO NOT THINK I CAN DO THIS I CAN BARELY WRITE A NOVEL IN A MONTH BUT I WANT TO TRY.
*cough* So yeah… lovely post. 😉
YOU’RE WELCOME FOR THE TERRIBLE INFLUENCE THAT IS ME. I’m like a gift to the universe, obviously. :’) And yes of course you can write a book in a week. IT’S EASY. Just ignore people, stockpile snacks, don’t sleep, and get so deep into your own imagination that you start running up the walls. Nothing better. Super fun.
(Also someone else write all these books so I can read them.😂)
Ooohhh Cait now I really REALLY want to read Scorpion Deep…that’s what it’s called, right??! (Sorry, I have the memory of a dead goldfish when it comes to this sort of thing.) But ANYWAY, the premise made me think of Kaz (only, you know, orginal and different Kaz amd maybe even not Kaz at all…WHY am I talking about Kaz…oh because I thought of Kaz holding a baby, and you know, NOT “disposing” of it in some Kaz-ish way….BUT KAZ AND A BABY WOULD BE SO STINKING CUTE. Okay, sorry but I really want to read all your stories. Like, I’m kidnap your family and hold them for ransom until you deliver. Hahahaha wait what???? But I am very impressed with all your writing, how do you FIND THE TIME?!?!?
YES THAT’S WHAT IT’S CALLED!!😂 And don’t worry, it is kind of inspired by Six of Crows! Although it’s going to be set in a kind of sea kingdom and my protagonist is NOTHING like Kaz hahaha (my protagonist is an idiot, basically. I love writing idiots for some reason?!? They’re cute and so frustrating😂) PFFT, DON’T KIDNAP MY FAMILY. KIDNAP MY CAKE. THEN YOU’LL GET ME WORKING HARD.
I also work from home, so I can find the time! I usually take a holiday when I’m drafting, but when I’m editing, I squeeze it in at night. hehe.
Wow. I wish I could write as fast as you. You like to write from a guy’s POV too? I have no idea why I like it…I just do. Oh, and my writing is a mess too. Seriously, I have at least 10 crazy ideas in my WIP.
All your WIPs sound awesome. I hope they get a pretty book cover and a regal place in a bookstore. 🙂
Ohhhh I’m glad I’m not alone liking to write from a boy POV then!! Maybe it’s like a distance thing?! If I write by a girl it’s easier to make it me (which is waaay too awkward to write like hahah) but with a boy I can create a more original character. OR I DON’T KNOW. LIFE IS STRANGE AND WE WRITERS ARE STRANGER.
Awww, thankyou!! I dream of that day when I can see my own book in a bookstore. *fingers crossed*
“So yes, you might say my entire life’s career started because I DIDN’T LIKE MY LITTLE SISTER DOING SOMETHING I WAS NOT.” < Honestly if that isn't the most accurate description of living with siblings, I don't know what is.
Destroying readers lives is also why I write. It's the little joys in life.
HOW DO YOU GET SUCH HUGE WORD COUNTS??? If you could just bottle up your powers that would be great.
AGH HOW DO YOU DO A DRAFT IN FOUR OR FIVE DAYS. Again, bottle up the powers please.
I have so many writing ideas right now it's not even funny. OF COURSE THEY COME WHEN SCHOOL STARTS. Yay.
Life with siblings, amirite!??? People might think it’s all friendship and sharing cornflakes, but no. It’s like 99% a competition. *sighs dramatically* 😂
The little joys in life are so so precious. We must hold onto them and kill our characters and drink our readers tea and just embrace life (death?) to the fullest.
I DON’T EVEN KNOW. I SWEAR I DON’T WANT HIGH WORD COUNTS. It’s easier to edit when you only have small books!! But my first drafts can be beasts but then I EDIT THEM DOWN. Axing words is almost as fun as axing characters. I shall bottle powers and sell them and get rich. #goodplan
Yas this is so reletable. I MEAN MY HANDWRITING NO WE DON’t go there ew. I also have that i have like 5939875938375848452457624197920345748442475785 ideas and I get an idea write 0.00000000000000000000000000045454557 of the book and then repeat, AAHHHHH.
I wish I could say I’ve written a novel and oh my gosh yes the idea of seeing your book in a bookshop is so motivating. (not motivating enough though as I hope we’ve established from the amount of numbers that were in this comment ^)
I want more writing postssss, which I sung 😉 (only a little bit ever so quietly because I don’t want to kill any poor souls. well i do but ya know I save that for my 0.00000000000000000000000000045454557 of my book.
– http://www.whatlexieloves.blogspot.com
WELL WE ARE TWINS IN SO MANY RESPECTS THEN, LEXIE. HUZZAH FOR US AND OUR INSANE WRITER BRAINS. *hi fives* 😂 But I hope you finish a novel soon sometime! I swear, the feeling of finishing something is BEYOND glorious. And it helps you learn so so much. Plus editing. I mean, I hate it, but it also really helps improve my writing.😂
How…do you draft in 4-5 days? Do you not sleep? Eat? :O
I DO SLEEP AND EAT I PROMISE. I don’t talk to people though.😂
OKAY OKAY OKAY BUT CAIT
I RECENTLY FOUND ABBIE’S BLOG BUT NOT THROUGH YOU
I FOUND HER BLOG BECAUSE MY BEST FRIEND SAID ABBIE WAS ONE OF HER FIRST INTERNET FRIENDS AND SHE WAS READING ONE OF ABBIE’S POSTS AND ABBIE MENTIONED YOU IN IT AND JUST
LIFE IS SO CRAZY AND WEIRD I CANNOT
YAS Dead Boy <3
Now I want to do this tag XD
WELL THERE YOU GO. IT’S A VERY SMALL WORLD APPARENTLY.😂 But Abbie is so fantastic right??!? HER BLOG IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITES. *whispers* Yesss you totally should do the tag!!
SHE IS. I told you a while ago that when I read other blogs, I compare them to yours and if I don’t get the same vibe from them, I’m not as likely to follow. BUT ABBIE HAS THE SAME HILARIOUS VIBE YOUR BLOG DOES. HER VOICE IS SO SIMILAR TO YOURS (not copy-cat nuuuu but similar enough that I INSTANTLY loved her). I’M SO HAPPY. THERE ARE OTHER BLOGGERS OUT THERE NEARLY AS FABULOUS AS YOU (but not quuuuuite because, I mean, you’re Cait, and no one else can be Cait XD)
Oh oh oh (totally forgot to say this) but YES I am planning to do this tag. I even made a draft post for it. Now whether I actually get around to it within the next ten years is yet to be decided.
I like writing all the genres too. I’m a big lover of fantasy, but the story I’m currently rewriting (because nothing is working for me this year, so I might as well return to working on something that has already not worked out 😉 ) is a silly contemporary. I usually write third person, so I write from a mixture of male and female perspectives. I’m great at characters and TERRIBLE at plots. 🙁
So your characters need to come and play with my plots.😂 WE COMPLETE EACH OTHER, RAIN. hheheh But yay for fantasy!! I write so much fantasy, but I also found I quite enjoy contemporary?! Which is ironic because it’s the genre I complain about the most haha. But you can have so much BANTER in contemporary and that’s fun. :’)
Heh. I started writing because I was a snob, didn’t like the way the Narnia movie portrayed the book, and thought that I could write a better script. You’re good, Cait.
I cannot give you a number on how many writing projects I routinely juggle, but it’s many. There are just so many ideas running around in my brain and they’re all so interesting. I try to focus, though. Try. Even when I am focused on one project or another, there are usually twelve other stories that will run through my head and demand my attention at odd hours.
Best thing about writing: Being in control and getting to do pretty much anything I want. Getting to explore great, new worlds at my whim and pleasure.
Worst part: Writer’s block.
Bahahhah. Okay my origin-writing story doesn’t sound so bad now.😂 That’s awesome that you can juggle so many projects though! I’m like ONE at a time for writing (but 394839 at a time for plotting in my head😂) and I always have little tiny plot bunnies that I write down on sticky notes and stick on my wall. My walls are covered basically. Hehe.
I do so love the control for sure too. Like reading is my favourite thing, but so stressful because I never know what’s going to happen. But writing? I GET THE SAY SO. #winning
I AM ALSO WRITING DARK ADULT FANTASY TWINSIES!
HELLO MY DARK ADULT FANTASY TWIN, MINNA. WE SHALL SHARE COOKIES FROM THE DARK SIDE TOGETHER NOW.
Your Fantasy heist story sounds like such a good idea! I’d love to read it! And I totally agree with the thing about your parents seeing you’re writing. I let them read my short stories but I think it’ll be mortifying if and when I finally let them read something with a sex scene in, even if I don’t describe much. Yeah, I dread that day. Great post and good luck with your writing!
I have sooo much trouble even THINKING of letting them read my stuff.😂 Plus my mum always thinks I’m basing a character off her and it’s like “NO, PARENT, I’M NOT.” And my last book has these really awful parents in it so I’m just DREADING letting them read it because they’re going to think I think they’re awful! Noooooo. *heavy sigh* Life as a writer is hard.😂
Please give out quotes of your writing! I love it when we get little tastes, but I am starving for your quotes.
OMG LEAH YOU ARE SO NICE TO ME I SHALL JUST FLAIL NOW. :’) I will definitely try to do quotes at NaNo!!
This post was so great! Had loads of fun reading. I hope you do more posts about your writing. You are always so passionate and into your writing and it really does show. I’d love to hear about your writing habits and more about your books :). I would totally buy your book. I could care less what it’s about. I would buy it. Especially if there is some stabby stabby in it.
I actually don’t write much, but I want to. I don’t have a laptop though, so I’d have to either write it out or use the family computer in the living room(Eww.). Haha.
Ohhhhh, THIS MAKES ME MONSTROUSLY HAPPY, THANK YOU, BROOKE. :’) *gives you an enormous pile of cake* I love love love writing so I have no idea why I get so nervous to talk about it. AND SQUEEEE. HOPEFULLY ONE DAY I WILL HAVE SOMETHING PUBLISHED RIGHT??! #dreaming
Eeep, it would be frustrating to use the family computer! I used to do that when I was a Small Human and it was really hard to get into the zone when everyone is peering at you.😂
I wrote a trilogy years ago. It wasn’t all that long (maybe 300,000-ish words for the whole thing) but when I went to print it out, it was ridiculously long because my printer only did one-sided printing and I ended up with a massive brick of paper that didn’t fit in the biggest binder I could find, even though I’d scrunched the font down to a barely readable size. So I had to put the books into separate binders. And buy more printer ink. And more paper, obviously.
I can’t write by hand, either. I mean, I can (I have decent handwriting) but my hand with a pen is nowhere near as fast as both hands on a keyboard, and it can’t keep up with my thoughts. If I try to write by hand, I get to the end of a paragraph and think, “Wait… what? There were about four other sentences I wanted to write. Where are they? I thought I wrote them. Maybe I just thought I wrote them and didn’t really write them after all. I was thinking them, anyway.” That’s obviously not very productive. (I’ve thought about trying out one of those speech-recognition programs that lets you dictate to your computer… but I’m not sure if my brain would be able to work that way, either. Plus, you have to worry about people overhearing you and possibly thinking you’re insane…)
But it still must’ve been super AWESOME to hold all your words in paper-form right?!??!? I DREAM OF DOING THAT ONE DAY. I feel like I’m going to end up asking for my own book to be printed off for my birthday hahaah. I’m so sad.😂
OH YES SO TRUE!! I cannot write to keep up with my thoughts. Not even close. Plus I get handcramps after, like, 3 sentences haha. Ahem. I find it hard enough to write out a lis of prompts for my bookstagram photo challenges. LET ALONE A WHOLE BOOK?!? I CAN’T EVEN IMAGINE IT HONESTLY. I couldn’t dictate either. I’m so not a talker. 😂
I relate to so much of this it’s not even funny… Including the 60,000 words short story attempt, and the yelling about other people’s books with only a rare and mumbled mention of my own. But now you’ve given me a perfect excuse to mumble a little louder, so…
I have a gazillion ideas stacking up & waiting to be read, but I have forced myself to work on one and only one for the time being. Although I am also jotting notes and outlines for my NaNo project, and occasionally my WIP’s backstory escapes and has to be written in the form of short stories and novella outlines before it vanishes for good. The actual real WIP is epic adult fantasy and I’m about a chapter and a half away from finishing the damn thing and… And then I’ll have to face the fact I wrote a book which is about double the acceptable word count for the genre with the longest acceptable word count and figure out what I’m going to do about that.
I am very impressed with the amount of things you’ve finished. I’ve only ever finished one and that was back when I was a teenager. It was also the middle book of a trilogy where I’d only written about a third of the first book, and even back then I could tell this was not a sensible way to approach things.
I love your blog, by the way 🙂
WE MUST BE TWINS THEN, CLEARLY, JAMIE. *HI FIVES* And omg why is it so hard to talk about one’s own writing?!? It’s like my top passion and yet if someone asks me about it IRL I’m like “avoid avoid OH LOOK AT THIS NICE WEATHER”…anything to change the subject.😂
I think it’s actually good just to stick with one story at a time!! I can’t focus on multiple things anyway hahah but I also just like to get something done before I move to the next project. Yayyyy that you’re planning for NaNo too already! ALSO YAY FOR EPIC ADULT FANTASY. That has suddenly become my infatuation too. I thought I’d only ever write YA?!? But apparently not.😂 I must write everything mwahaaha. (Good luck with editing that word count! The outline for my epic adult fantasy is 17,000-words which is monstrously awkward. The book could end up being 200,000 and THEN I WOULD DIE. And split it into two books. And die again.)
Aww, thank you!! I’m so glad you like my blog! *twirls happily*
Yes, exactly. Look at this nice weather and is that a bug crawling up my wall and what were we talking about, I’ve completely forgotten…
I have read nothing but YA all year. I’m struggling to get back into reading adult fantasy at all. But yes. Writing it. That will surely turn out well….
*looks away shiftily and whispers* my word count is about 350,000 😱😂 I think dying is the only option.
MAN I FEEL YOU WHEN IT COMES TO SHORT STORIES. I attempted to start a short story, 6,000 word cap, for an anthology taking submissions this month. WELL. I’M AT 3,000 WORDS AND IT’S LIKE BASICALLY CHAPTER ONE. I’m hypothesizing that some of us just think in NOVELS. We just can’t help it. It’s an incurable affliction.
IT IS SUCH AN AFFLICTION. I SUFFER GREATLY WITH YOU. *heavy sigh* I mean, sometimes I think it’d be cool just to have a project last for 10K but honestly my outlines are longer than that.😂
Cait, you make me laugh.
This post reminds me of how un-alike we are. I have only written one and a half books, but I generally blog about writing. I prefer to go slow and steady, except that it does take too long.
And I prefer to keep my blog posts, grammatically correct and tidy. Something in my mind says tat’s the way it really ought to be done, and wonders how how you get away with being so crazily expressive with ALL CAPS and STUFF like that. But then I just laugh and enjoy.
The one thing we have in common is the inability to write short stories. The one short story I wrote (other that a plot-less picture books about a pair of birds) was a side bit tow the novel I was writing. And then people thought I should keep writing about what happens next. Which I was but from a different POV. Anyway the thing wasn’t contained.
And then I started to write a fairly funny short story for an anthology competition that got called off. So I stopped, because I wasn’t excited about it, because there wasn’t enough depth and it wasn’t really my style. It probably would have tried to grow though if I’d stuck any larger theme into it.
On a unrelated subject, do you know anything about MBTI?
Omg I’m laughing at the name you left to put this comment.😂 ANNA IS A GREAT NAME BTW.
But heeeeey, as long as we can still be friends EVEN THOUGH WE ARE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE FRUIT SALAD. :’) Slow and steady is just as equally glorious as being a speedy fish.
I guess I like to blog like a conversation. I don’t write novels like this though.😂 But emojis and ALL CAPS and exclamation marks are fun.
Yup I’ve done MBTI tests! I don’t usually do them for my characters so much because I’m lazy. But I am an INTJ.
Do you know what it’s like to have too many in-boxes and forget to check one for a couple of weeks? Annoying.
But apart from this email and a couple of blog posts from a friends there was nothing important.
And Anna isn’t the bit I got tired of. But Brie is kind of cheesy as a last name. As a first name I think it would work, but I now wish I hadn’t tryied to be professional and used my pen name as my blog name. It’s just confusing, to have so many names.
I got a letter from an on-line friend, which was addressed to Anne Lastname on the envelope and Anna on the inside and she knows me by my real name on Facebook. It’s kind of crazy.
And ALL CAPS are fun BUT I’m not often in the MOOD to use them. It takes a special kind of person to use them well. And no, I didn’t think you’d write NOVELS like THIS.
I prefer to look at MBTI from the cognitive function level. I’m a shy ENFP.
I might just steal this, Cait, since you so kindly offered. And since I did basically no writing at all over the summer and I need something to get me in a more writer-ish mood for NaNoWriMo. Which I also need to decide which if my 12495739 ideas I’m doing. I think I’m doing my Italian-based witchy epic fantasy, but I also might be too excited to write it to wait for November.
#writersproblems
And I noticed you took The Dead Boy and the Papercut off of Wattpad! What do you think you’re going to do with it?
You are MOST welcome *nods* I am here to steal things and then encourage others. :’) I’m the most wonderful kind of blogger there is, honestly. #PirateAtHeart
Oh oh but deciding on ideas is the HARDEST thing. Like people tell me “just pick what you love the most!” but I genuinely ONLY stick with ideas I’m entirely infatuated with. So I don’t even have ideas I’m half-hearted about?!?? SO HOW CAN I CHOOSE. IT’S LIKE PICKING BETWEEN CAKE AND CHOCOLATE AND IT’S SO HARD. *whispers* But I’m like 99% sure I’m going to write before NaNo too. NaNo warm-ups?
So far probably not doing anything with Dead Boy! I might try to edit it again with the feedback I got though…if I get in the editing mood. 🙈🙊
Hello Cait! I loved this post sooo much!
I wrote my first novel at age 13, and was extremely proud!! (it was a fantasy with lots of teen boys and elves and magic and lots of angst..xD ) but I haven’t managed to pump out another completely finished work since, #discouraged. My dream has always been to be an author, and I have millions of stories I could write down at this moment! Basically my main problem is that once I start writing I know the floodgates will open and I won’t be able to stop! like ever! haha I’d lock myself in my room and only emerge for food, like you! (which is so awesome, btw)
Have you ever put off writing because you were scared of what you’d become? Because that’s me right now! Thank you again for the awesome post, and for inspiring me to start writing for serious!
Oh oh I totally get that!! Sometimes it is actually easier to write when you don’t know as much?!? I churned out SO MANY NOVELS when I was 14 but like got massively stuck after that too.😂 But just keep going! YOU HAVE GOT THIS. Sometimes it’s handy to like put aside a specific time that you can write? Like holidays or something? I do that so I can just write and write and don’t have to stop.😂
I haven’t put off writing because I’m scared of what I’d become. haha. NOPE. I more put off writing because it’s exhausting and I am eternally ALL THE LAZY.
I’ve been meaning to go to your wattpad to read The Dead Boy and the Papercut for ages and didn’t know you took it down! SAD DAY!
YUS VERY SAD DAY. It was just only up for a limited time!! I did try to tell people but maybe not everyone saw?
I have a dilemma. I have 6 books to edit, 15 to write, and about less than an hour of time a day. SEND HELP BECAUSE I AM BEGINNING TO GO INSANE. My only friend is a squirrel who sometimes eats from my garbage.
What is your solution to not go crazy? (on second thought, maybe the question should be: how to minimize the mental damage)
THIS IS THE TRUE TERROR AND TRAGEDY OF THE WRITERS LIFE. *pats you on the shoulder* I cry with you. I’ve thought up literally 10 new ideas this year and I plot them out but do I have time to write? nooooooo. AT LEAST YOU HAVE A SQUIRREL. *sobs* I only have the walls to talk to. *stumbles around in slow circles of insanity*
There is no minimising mental damage. JUST EMBRACE IT. GO WITH IT.
Fun post! I feel you on the autocorrect, my character Elowen is constantly being corrected to Clown haha! And also fantasyyyy for the win!!!!
*FANTASY LOVER HI FIVE* And also omg, Clown?!? That would be super frustrating.😂 I’ve recently started plotting a book with a character called “Slessor” and it keeps changing it to “Lesser”. DARN YOU, AUTO CORRECT.😂
Posts like this are so engaging for me! I just finished my diploma in creative writing and it makes me miss how much I get to talk about unspoken writer things like these with my classmates. 🙂
oh talking about writerly things with actual writers is WONDERFUL!! I’ve never done it in real life, but it’s awesome online. :’)
Oh my goodness!!!! You just summed me up in a nutshell! I feel like we could be best friends. And knife out people’s hearts together. Truly my motivation for writing is the same as your’s. When I see my book on the shelf, I’m going to cry.
Thank you for this Awsome post!
WE MUST BE CYBER TWINS THEN, BREANA. *hi fives* Our priorities are entirely in order.
Love this post! I may or may not steal it. Though I think Deborah O’Carroll stole it already and turned it into a tag, so maybe I’ll just pick up on that.
I used to juggle a ton of story ideas at once. Now I’m juggling rather fewer, because they’re all being shy and hiding in the corners of my mind. Which is mildly annoying. But I’ve never printed out a full book manuscript either- short stories, yes, books, no.
Also- *switches to singing* I, I, I, I wish, I wish, I wish so very much, that you would share, more of your tales with us- that you’d post snippets and just random bits about your books- they all sound so fun and I wish I could get a look! (Notice how I even sort of rhymed that. Not bad for two minutes’ work at quarter-til-eleven at night.)
YES YES JUST STEAL IT TOO!! It is a tag! I just don’t ever tag anyone because I always break all the rules and things get messy hhahah. Ahem. But dooooo it, Sarah! I want to read your answers!
It would be so epic to print out a full book manuscript. #Goals I just kind of want to hold my writing and feel that moment of proudness?!
YOUR SONG IS MARVELLOUS. I APPROVE OF YOUR TUNE. (I mean, I’m imagining the tune but pfft, it’s glorious.) And I’ll try to post snippets of my NaNo story!! But it kind of MAKES MY DAY that you want to read snippets. <33
I love how you and Deborah have such a very similar reaction to me thinking of stealing a tag. xD But thank you! I shall see if I have time. *very much wants to have time*
I know, right? Even if it wasn’t all fancy and bound like Katie of A Writer’s Faith does, it would still be awesome.
I’m glad you approve. I worked hard on it. (And by “worked hard” I mean I forced my brain to function coherently for two more minutes.) I can’t wait for the snippets- I love snippets in general, and your writing is always so much fun. 😀
One of these days, I am going to get the motivation to write something. Actually, scratch that, it hasn’t a damn thing to do with motivation, I need TIME. I want to write things. But alas, it’s not been in the cards so far. I mean, except for that one thing, but now I hate HUGE chunks of it and it needs to be chopped to bits and have so much overhaul that the thought makes me want to sob in a corner somewhere. So that’s where that thing stands.
I also have this blog to do… writing stuff on. Like fun things, like this. Only… I still haven’t posted anything to it. Or even like, set it up beyond a name and a blank page. So that’s super. I also have a soft spot for The Dead Boy and the Paper Cut but it’s also the only one I have read. I imagine I’d have soft spots for them all. Or maybe I’d hate you after you killed off all my new friends, who knows? 😉
Maybe when your kids are like…married??? THEN YOU MIGHT HAVE TIME! Excellent plan, I know. Or wait. Just wait until your kids are like in their teens and then force them to write your ideas and then steal the ideas back and publish them. Even MORE of an excellent plan. Aren’t you glad you have me here to suggest such great things? Yes yes I can see you are all the glad.
Heyyyyy but c’mon! You read Dead Boy! I KILL CHARACTERS. IT’S WHO I AM. I even kill them before the book even starts and yet people still complain *sighs*
Have you ever been published?
Personally, I’ve never been brave enough to start writing a book #shameonme
Ahh, no not yet! I’m working on getting published traditionally so someday! *fingers crossed* And writing is SO WORTH IT.
SCORPION DEEEEEEEP. What even I need this conny book.
I write more guy POVs tooooo! I think it’s because we’re in girl minds and therefore it’s hard to come up with a complex one that isn’t totally US. Which I try to avoid because I want my character to NOT BE ME. Because me isn’t cool and would not respond well in a crisis. XD
You have a view out your window down a valley? :O NOW I WANT TO SEE THIS.
I’ve written 8K in a day and it murdered me, so 22K is… wow. O_O
Anyways I loved this post because I always love hearing about your writing. ALL OF THE WONDERFUL. <3
I NEED IT TOO. SOMEONE WRITE IT FOR ME BECAUSE I ACTUALLY JUST WANT TO READ IT.😂 And am lazy. Clearly. Ahem.
And yes! Maybe that’s it! Like I don’t want to write girls that are ME so it’s easier to write boys and be more distant from it? Me is not cool either and would respond to all crisis by crying. Which is not so fun to read about hahhahah.
Oh 8K is awesome! YOU’LL BE DOING 20K IN NO TIME.
LITERALLY SMILING SO HARD AND/OR CRYING AT YOUR MENTION OF MY BLOG… :””) THANK YOU BRO YOU’RE THE KINDEST. I feel honored. <3333 and EEEP I'M SO HAPPY YOU STOLE THIS TAG. Because #epic is you muahaha. “I am writing MY TOMBSTONE BASICALLY because I have is a gazillion writing ideas and it’s too overwhelming to pick between my darlings and I think my brain exploded.” << NODDING VIOLENTLY BECAUSE THIS IS ACTUALLY ME RIGHT NOW. WHAT EVEN HAPPENED TO US CAIT. if I didn't have my sister petitioning me to write one particular book for NaNo, I would be so torn between all of the options that I probably wouldn't even pick and it would be a #fail. BUT SERIOUSLY THAT'S A LEGIT THING I'M SO HAPPY YOU UNDERSTAND. LIKE…TOO MANY THINGS TO WRITE AND SO YOU END UP NOT WRITING AT ALL *nervous laughter omg*
ASDFGHJKLKJHGF CAIT HOW DARE YOU TORTURE US WITH THOSE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE BOOKS YOUR PLOTTING?? I PRE-ORDER ALL OF THEM RIGHT NOW *viciously presses nonexistent pre-order button* GET WRITIN', BRO. 😉 “Boys are odd creatures who are often gross.”< <<<< EXACTLLYYYY. And same. I love writing boys' POV far more than a girls' POV. I just end up…not liking my girl character very much!?!? IDK IT'S WEIRD. I ALWAYYYS LIKE THE BOY BETTER. But then that's probably just because I want to materialize him and marry him but y'know. Trying to be professional over here.
YOUR FIRST BOOK STORY THOUGH. Hey it was a retelling, right??? THOSE ARE GETTING POPULAR. YOU SHOULD PUBLISH THE THREE BEARS I WOULD BUY IT. <3 I remember when we were really young my sister wrote a book that was basically A Little Princess and my aunt was like “I think I’ve seen that movie!” XD *face palm* hey, it’s where greatness begins. *wields magical waffle sceptre* YAAAS TO DESTROYING READERS LIVES WITH TRAGEDY. THAT’S WHERE IT’S AT. “Trying to sum up WHY your book is awesome WITHOUT using pinterest.” << wow yes but what a disgraceful idea. omg. PINTEREST IS LOVE PINTEREST IS LIFE PUBLISHERS NEED TO CONFORM TO THE GLORY OF PINTEREST OR TAKE A SMALL TRIP TO THE UNDERWORLD. :''')
OMG I WAS CRACKING UP AT THAT "HELL I'M INQUIRING ABOUT A BOOK" BC THAT IS BEAUTIFUL. xD wow yes those sentences that make literally zero sense no matter how many times you read them… sometimes I laugh at them sometimes i cry over them but most of the time YES JUST DELETE THE WHOLE DARN BOOK is a great solution. 😉
THIS TAG IS GREAT AND AWESOME I LOVE IT AND I LOVE YOU OK YOU ROCK.
peace out pineapple fren <3
Abbiee
I’M SMILING SO MUCH RIGHT NOW TOO SO THAT MAKES TWO OF US. WE CAN IMPERSONATE THE CHESHIRE CAT. *hi fives*
oh at least you have a nice sister to make your life decisions for you! I wish my sister cared hahahahah #diestragically But we can just write our own tombstones of tragedy and count that as part of our NaNo word count, yes? That works.
I SHOULD GET WRITING OMG. I NEED TO SO BAD. I’m nearly finished plotting out the dark fantasy, and now I’m working on plotting Scorpion Deep so I can have a meltdown in November on which one to choose. But pfft, I’m totally going to write a post of my ideas and get everyone to vote. Save me from having to choose. The idea is SO MUCH WIN.
And omg I’m the same with girls. I don’t even know why. I am a girl. WRITING A GIRL SHOULD BE EASY. But I always write manic pixie dream girls and everyone hates those so I get very dejected.😂
Hopefuly publishers will catch up on the fact they don’t need silly pitches of words. They just need pinterest boards. Like who cares how I’m writing this book LOOK AT THE AESTHETIC.
All your new book projects sound absolutely fantastic!
THANK YOU SKYE. THIS IS VERY KIND OF YOU AND I AM THE HAPPY.
I can’t wait for all of your books to be published. You certainly have the whole ‘voice’ thing down. HAHA I almost did the Hell(o) thing to one of my teachers once. It was terrifying too because I was being slightly sassy and slightly complainy because they hadn’t put in any grades all quarter…. oops. YOU HAVE SO MANY GOOD IDEAS. I want to read them all… now. Patience is a quality I need to work on.
AWwww, AUBREY. You’ve made my day. :’)
And I’m glad I’m not alone with the accidental “hells” bahahah.😂 And plus my “O” key is really sticky so I drop Os all over the place these days. I’m saying hell a LOT more than I should.😂
You’ll tell me about your super secret project, though, right . . . ? 😉 *wink wink* *bribes you with chocolate cake*
I need all your book, on my shelf, in both hardback and paperback, signed, sealed, delivered . . . I think I got off track. BASICALLY I NEED THEM ALL NOW.
OMG that contemporary book sounds awesome. And, just a random title idea, you could call it The Book Thief . . . but that sounds really familiar to me for some reason . . .
Please tell me there are humorous scenes with this conman trying to figure out how to change a diaper.
I’ve always loved your story on how you got started writing. xD
I’m not a shy person, but I’m a little more quiet and reserved than most of my family and friends. It’s hard because when I have something I really want to say, I’ll say it, but since I’m not the chatty Kathy everyone else is, they’re already talking and I usually end up getting talked over. #NotAmused
Pfft, if I were an agent, I would’ve loved a little humor of “Hell, I’m inquiring about a book.” It sounds so flippant and hipster, I would’ve responded just for another response. xD
NANOWRIMO IS SO CLOSE AND I HAVE ZERO IDEA OF WHAT I’M DOING. I have an entire notebook full of possibilities, but when I look through them now, I just cry a little inside (and outside) because what even was I thinking when I wrote this down???
STAHP, KATE, YOU KNOW CHOCOLATE CAKE IS MY WEAKNESS. DON’T TEMPT ME LIKE THIS. *howls* And of course if I ever get published I shall send dragons to hand (claw?) deliever your copies all signed and probably smudged with cake crumbs. But I’m sure you won’t mind.
OH YES. THE BOOK THIEF. PERFECT. THAT’LL WORK FOR SURE.😂 I will have no trouble with it being confused with, ya know, that slightly more famous book by the same title. (actually wait! Perfect marketing! People will buy my book thinking it’s Markus Zusak’s and I’LL BE A MILLIONAIRE OVERNIGHT.) #SolidPlan
And heck yes. Imagine this conman trying to put the baby TO BED. If they do not both end up sleeping in a crib then I will not be a good writer.
Crying a little inside (and outside) is totally part of the writers life tbh. PAIN IS OUR AESTHETIC.
We need a picture of the view out your window down the valley!
I plan on actually doing a room-tour at some point so I WILL!!
Love this post – you’ve got such a fun tone of voice and little anecdotes that are so fun to read! Definitely do more posts about the glorious topic of yourself!
I’ve just graduated creative writing and can’t wait to get more writing done – but, like you, I’m suffering from the wayyyy too many ideas, not enough actual writing, problem!
Got a couple of poems on my site though I’d love for you to take a look!
http://thenormalsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/poem-human-unkind.html
Aww, thank you Bethany! YOU ARE VERY KIND.😂 Omg and congrats on graduating your writing (course? I assume? hehe) I hope you figure out which idea to tackle first! (And sorry but I know nothing about poetry so I won’t really be able to offer feedback.🙈🙊)
OH MY GOD. Honestly, Cait. I think writing 20k words in one day is a skill ONLY YOU WILL EVER MASTER. I’m not even hoping to ever achieve that much but it would be nice if I could at LEAST write 1000 words a day but nope. I’m terrible. At this point I’m worried about that my actual story might be what’s demotivating me. Is it too boring? IS IT NOT ORIGINAL ENOUGH (I think this question plagues all writer’s) but I do believe in it’s message so I’m going to continue writing at my excruciatingly slow snail’s pace and hope that MAYBE IN A YEEEAAARRR I will have a completed first draft :’) and yes I do very much also dream of seeing my book on shelves SO YOU’RE NOT ALONE AND OMG. Sometimes the fear of my parents reading something I’ve written very much makes me want to delete everything. Like how do I publish a book and not get them to read? Like, oh hey Mum, Dad. My book’s been published… it’s quite popular.. oh wait I’m going on a book tour BUT NO YOU CAN’T READ IT PUT IT DOWN BE PROUD OF ME FROM A SAFE DISTANCE. Le sigh. So many things.
Bahhahahh! I actually know someone who’s written 30K in one day! And I know a few writers who write 20+K in one day regularly too. So we are insane creatures BUT WE ARE OUT THERE!! 😂 And omg, you’re not alone: feeling unconfident about your story’s worth is like totally part of being a writer. I think sometimes you just have to duct tape your inner editor into silence and just WRITE and think about all the worries later. 😉
AND YES! That will totally be me> “Hey everyone I published a book! Please don’t read it!” 😂😂
Ahem. *clears throat* *begins to sing*
Would you Cait, write a post, about editing tiiippps??
Do you think you could help me out?
To end how I scream and shout?
And give me some help to survive the editing phaaaaasse?
*singing ends*
There’s my writing post request Cait dear, and I even sung it for you, so now you really should make it for me and let me know exactly when you do because I don’t sing for just anybody ( I hope you read that in a nice singing voice because in real life I sound like a drowning walrus when I “sing” ). Also if you have written a post like this in the past then please do tell because I am not aware of it’s existence ( although you could just write a new one just for me because I DID sing for you after all ). XD
THAT WAS A BEAUTIFUL SONG SO YES. YES I CAN. JUST FOR YOU, EM. 😂 I’m adding it to my to-post-about list right now! And like the singing ALWAYS wins me over. Every time. So you’ve done monstrously well.
oh my goodness PLEASE write the Fantasy heist story. That sounds amazing!
And also, I more than agree with you about scrivener auto-correct. I need to scour my manuscript now for random words it corrected and stuck into my sentences, among other oddities. XD
I WILL FOR SURE.😂 Heists are my favourite thing of ever omg and I need moooooore of them.
Scrivener is such a beast about the autocorrect. Especially when like it might not correct it instantly? So I’ll be halfway through my next sentence and I’ll notice it’s changing all my names. *facepalm*
*clears throat and sings a trill* Would you do a post about the most important lessons you’ve learned as a writer? *holds the last note a very long time* *bows*
Okay, so I LOVED this post a TON! SAME THO!!! I write novels or nothing, it seems. Which is a problem because I am currently without any novel ideas. In either sense of the word. I actually rarely have more than two or three writing ideas in the samish amount of time, My problem seems to be writers constipation. (It’s like writer’s block, but it usually comes AFTER a project, and takes forever to go away.)
OMG!!! SO MUCH YESSS!!! No matter what people say, I will always be motivated by the thought of my books one day adorning the shelves of international bookstores and changing GENERATIONS with my fabulous storytelling skills. Someday…
Seriously tho, I believe that you will one day be a famous writer. Your loyal minions will insure it.
OH YES. I TOTALLY CAN! I just wrote that down on my “to post” list actually, so look out for it soon.😂
Omg writers constipation.😂 YOU MAKE ME LAUGH. I sometimes get a bit drained after writing and so I’m happy to take a month or so off and just read and renew my creative tanks! It helps. BUT YES OMG THE THOUGHT OF BEING PUBLISHED IS JUST AFJADSKLADJ I CANNOT EVEN WITH IT. That’s what I want so so bad ahhhhh.
Aww, thank you. <3 *blushes*
All of your book ideas are fabulous. They give me so much hope and renewed love for YA. Also your adult fantasy book sounds FANTASTIC. When can I read it? 😉
Awww, that’s really nice of you to say!! I NEED TO GET WRITING OBVIOUSLY.😂
I have way too many writing ideas for my own good. It’s an illness. I seriously want that book-stealing book, by the way. I’ve even thought of a title for you: The Book Thief. Clever, huh?
And actually I just want all of your books. Even the ones you haven’t written yet. Now, please.
It is an illness omg whatever are we going to do? HOWEVER WILL WE COPE? *flails about dejectedly*
And of COURSE. The Book Thief. Perfect title. It will definitely work for sure.😂
Oh, Cait. Every time I read one of your posts I am reminded of how you are the awesomest of ever. You NEED to get a book published because the world needs more Cait. Oh, and I’m so lucky that I got to read TDBatPC because just after I read it (and just before I went to go write a blog post about it and tell everyone to rush over and read it immediately) it mystappeared. I think if I had missed out on the ending I would have cried!
Omg!! I’m so glad you did get the ending!! hehe. And I’m sorry I took it down, gah, but yeah, I didn’t want it up there forever and I did try to warn people it’d be going! But I should’ve given an exact date eeep.
BUT THANK YOU. <3 YOU SAY THE NICEST THINGS.
Good to see I am not the only one thinking ahead to NaNoWriMo! I hope you do write the dark fantasy, as that’s what I’m doing this year. Rivalry, romance and blood magic, oh yes.
I have to say, 22 000 words in a day? My wrists are sore just thinking about it! I know it’s possible – there are people who write multiple books over the course of NaNo – but it still sounds painful. :/
There is basically a 99% chance I’ll write the dark fantasy BECAUSE THAT’S MY FAVOURITE GENRE TO WRITE TOO. *hi fives* We have epic writing taste obviously. hehe.
And I actually don’t find writing 20+K painful! Tiring for sure, but I’ve never heart my hands over it. 🙂
Woo, dark fantasy. Or in my case BLOOD MAGIC EVERYWHERES!
Hahaha! Cait, sometimes you are very funny…. 🙂 Reading your posts gets a smile out of me. Oh, and *clears throat and begins to sing* I would lo-ove it if you po-ost-osted a review of your favorite book characters, in sections of published and non-published, just so-o-o-o you know! *takes breath and stops singing* Phew. That was tough to sing. 😉 Also, I do love how you call people pineapples. I do it all the time, and I was practically blasted off my seat with awesomeness coincidence explosion when I heard you doing it. I think I might do it twice as much as I used to because now I know I’m not the only one. 😀
OH YAY FOR PINEAPPLE REFERENCES!! *hi fives* I kind of got mine off watching Psych.😂 And no regrets. Pineapples are the best. I’ve even got my 5yo nephew calling people after fruit. heheh.
AW THANK YOU. I TRY TO BE HILARIOUS. IT IS MY CALLING.😂
Uggggggggggh! I have multiple projects at once …. but I only let myself WRITE two at a time. But plotting, well…. I only have about 12 docs open where I write down the MCs’ names (because, let’s face it, CHARACTER’S NAMES ARE SO FREAKING HARD TO REMEMBER, GOSH DARN IT.) and a first sentence (or, er, first pages).
I, also, am a binge writer. Only during the dreadfully horrible months of November and May do I get any writing done.
And the most words that I’ve ever written in a day was 10 thousand or so. And that was after I read your post on your writing process (which is actually REALLY similar to mine. And I wanted to get as close to as many of your words as I could. Thanks.
THAT’S ME EXACTLY TOO!! Like I’ll be plotting a million books but when I write? JUST ONE. Same with editing.😂 But then editing eats my brain so bad that I literally do nothing when I edit except = edit + cry. And omg I’m 100% with you on the character names. Even for one book I was writing, Icould NOT remember their names while I was writing. It really slowed down the process when I’m like “and then thingie said”…because what is his name. WHAT IS HIS NAME. *cries*
Also binge-writer HI FIVE. Clearly we are very alike in our writing habits, Alyssa. 😉 Which is so so awesome. You’ll be doing 20K a day IN NO TIME!🎉
That horse gif is amazing I love it. Also I lol’d at “the Kronos of authors”. Love a good mythology reference …
I loved this post, Cait! Thank you for letting us be fellow thieves!!! *steals all the questions and laughs evilly*
Now, I know this sounds so mega creepy and I’d probably be totally weirded out if someone said this to me, but it’s getting REALLY CREEPSTER over here for me. IT’S LIKE WE’RE TWINS (only problem being I’m two years too young for that but MINOR DETAIL). Like, even about things we shouldn’t be similar in, like I have five siblings and I’m second-to-last. I’m homeschooled. My MBTI letters are INTJ. Almost everything you say is an excellent articulation of something I’ve been *trying* to say (like your post about romance in YA books!?!? ABSOLUTELY. Or the diverse fantasy books one?!?). I write on my bed. I struggle with insomnia. I can’t even remember all the things I’ve noticed so far that are like me in another life <- that sentence is even creepier than the rest. Even my family thinks its eerie and creepy and super weird. I tell everyone you're like the real version of me: better, cooler, wittier, cleverer, and totally future Queen of the Universe. I think I must be your ghost time-travelled back, or a horcrux of you or something, I don't know even and I'm just getting more creepsy. We'll just call this a social experiment to see how soon I can creep Cait out. Also, that reminds me, my full first/middle name is Katie Grace. Which is sooo crazy.
Okay, so I'm really sorry for being such an over-the-top annoying pineapple frond MacCreepster!!! I just had to get it out of me before I spontaneously combusted from the coincidences. It's like an echo. Or really, like an echo hearing the original voice. Which is even weirder. ANYWAY! SO SORRY! I'll move on now.
You know, my sister did the same thing with the stapling books (and I copied her, of course, because that's what little sisters do). I mean, where did THEY get it? Is there like a "how to look cool in front of your little siblings" book I need to check out?!?
I love what you said about writing enabling you to talk feely. I never thought about that before, but it's TRUE! Writing helps me find a voice that's drowned out otherwise. SHUSH WORLD AND HEAR ME SPEAK!
And shall we say, THE MOM SYNDROME? I always get nervous sharing my writing with people I know; I've gotten used to my siblings reading it, but I still break out in a sweat when my mom reads it and I'm like "no I don't want to hear what you thought let's just imagine you never read it okay?!" And I'm SOOOOO freaking out about my friends/extended family reading my first to-be-published novel. I'm ready to bury myself right now.
I would totally be in that boat of "wanting to see my books on a shelf and being a writing goddess", except my belief in myself is exactly zero (I know I could never get published traditionally if I tried and certainly not hugely famous). Also I don't want the pressure that typically comes with traditional publishing. Also I'm slightly scared of fame tbh (because I'm an anti-social reclusive writer shy walnut type). Also I'm kind of just hoping that self-publishing will be moderately successful for me and find the happy medium and I won't nose-dive which I probably will. Anyway, I admire your confidence in yourself and it's founded btw, because I'm totally one of your rabid fans right now and I haven't even read one of your novels. I firmly believe you will one day rule the world.
Oh, and your novel ideas? I WANT THE THIRD ONE NOW. No, YESTERDAY! I'm soooo intrigued! Will it be made available for rabid fans' consumption one day?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I WANT IT. I MUST HAVE IT. MY PRECIOUS. Can I bribe you with cake?
MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL,
WHO'S THE CREEPIEST OF THEM ALL?
KAT! (sorry!)
OKAY SO I’M SMILING A LOT AND NOT THAT CREEPED OUT AT ALL. LIKE I LITERALLY AM LAUGHING OMG. TALK ABOUT COINCIDENCES??? Are you my long lost twin sister, Kat?? Although I’m honestly not surprised by the “Katie Grace” similarities because I know like a few other bloggers with that name too. Plus I’ve met several people IRL that named “Kate (Well some derivation of it) Grace”. CLEARLY OUR PARENTS NEED TO STOP NAMING US ALL THE SAME OMG. But anyway. INTJ HI FIVE, MY TWIN. And pfft cool.😂 I’m a massive dork. I got so into my own writing the other day that I took a break to make gaucamole and ended up looking in the FRIDGE for a SPOON. And then realised why do I even need a spoon??? I need a fork. So. That experience was a mess from start to finish. 😂😂 No one please let me have responsibilities.
And I totally get that traditional publishing isn’t for everything! But please don’t choose it because you don’t think you’ll be good enough!! I know you listed other reasons (like omg I am a totally hermit recluse too…like 10000%) so yesssss. Do whatever you think is best for you, but trust me: no writing feels good enough all the time. 😉 I even don’t! I just pretend. I have a Queen Hermit Syndrome which means I just wanna rule everything but so long as I don’t have to talk to anyone.😂
ANYWAY YOU ACTUALLY COMPLETELY MADE MY DAY WITH THIS COMMENT. <3
I know I always say this but I LOVE ALL YOUR STORY IDEAS AGH <3 <3 <3 <3
And I am 10000% sure they will all devastate me, based on how The Dead Boy and The Paper Cut affected me. So I can't decide if I'm excited or terrified to read them honestly. O.O Can I say both??
Omgggg thankyou. <333 THAT REALLY MAKES MY DAY. 😊 And like devastation is definitely guaranteed because that's who I am as a writer. I'm super nice.