Sydney Strand

So I can be a little bit of a crazy monkey. Not the kind that flings poop. That's a disgusting monkey. But I am one who pushes herself into crazy deadlines and goals in order to make stuff happen in order to pave the road for bigger stuff to happen. And one of these crazy ideas? I am writing a short story as I'm revising my big story. Because I always like to have a B Project while working on the A Project. This Isn't the First Time, Either When I worked on His Favorite Regret , with Cadie and Bo, I needed to keep my creative juices up as I waited for beta readers and the editor to get the story back to me. So I started His Favorite Inconvenience , which is a story that focuses Cadie's sister Sera. I started it at the end of Draft 2 for His Favorite Regret , on October 16, and then on December 13, I put it up on Amazon, and in mid-January, I had His Favorite Regret up. The Second Time As I started on my B Project this time around, I noticed somet...

This week was filled with going full tilt into NaNo. It's been a good week. Notes were made, the story was read, Draft 3 was begun, and 18 chapters have been revised (with another 42 to go!). I've been keeping focused by having my bullet journal and my Netflix ( The Office and Gilmore Girls are my two go-to's). You can find me on @plan_create_repeat on Instagram if you want more ideas about bullet journals At the end of each night, I sometimes find myself with extra energy and do a bit of doodling. When you have a lot to do, somehow, it creates a LOT of nervous energy. (Or inertia and fatigue. Luckily, I believe that Action Begets Action, and so that's what I do. Action--even if it's doodling.) A doodle at 2 a.m. And when you got stuff to do, you have to keep to schedule. Even if it means taking 30 minutes in the middle of errands to get in some work. I had to buy a lamp and diapers. But first, a chapter to revise! And in the middle o...

So with NaNo, you are supposed to write 1,667 a day. Every day. For 30 days. People usually get hung up around Day 8 (you'll notice the steep dropoff in social media posts going "Yay Me"). This is when people start rereading their work. Or turning on their brains while they're writing and realizing they're writing drivel. (Because you are. First drafts are all drivel.) But let me tell you what you can do to help you write that drivel and KEEP writing that drivel: 1. Do not reread. Exception: you are allowed to read the last page you wrote to remind you where you are emotionally in the story, but YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO REVISE IT. Even if you see a major spelling error. It will still be there when you go back for the Second Draft. 2. Do not think you're writing anything close to the final product. You will be touching every single word in revision, to either delete or find a better way of saying it. It's all yuck. And it's supposed to be. ...

This week has been all about prepping for NaNoWriMo. This year is the year I set myself up for success. No, the issue isn't whether I hit 50,000 words. As a girl determined to become a career writer, and as a girl who has already been published by NY, I know that I can write words. In fact, I have 3 manuscripts already completed. First drafts, though. So for this NaNo, I'm changing up the rules. I'm using it to benefit me and my goals. I'm using it to revise. And so I did some prep in order to get to this point. But first, a moment to see a Week in My Life: He wasn't in the aisle I was in. Found him at the bubble wrap. Of course. The temperate days of fall are going away soon--must make the most of them! I may have a slight crush on fall. And maybe this girl here, my La Petite. Costumes done! He was so happy with his Super Why. Hey, Fall. Stop with the cute  photo opps already! Off we go to get some cavity creat...

November cometh. With it cometh NaNoWriMo. The best month of the writer's year! And no, in my opinion, you do NOT need to be fast-drafting a First Draft. You can do what I'm doing: revising. Am I cheating? Uh, how is working on a book, in whatever draft, cheating? And I'm not giving up the awesome camaraderie of NaNoWriMo just because I'm ahead of the curve. Because I like to banter with fellow tortured souls. I do it on Twitter ( sydney_strand ), Facebook ( sydneystrandauthor ), and Instragram ( sydneystrand ). Come find me! Friend me! Offer me psychological help when I need it! Now back to your regularly scheduled program... So exactly how do you use NaNoWriMo if you're revising? Here's what I'm doing (and I highly recommend that you come up with a process, too, that's realistic for the way you work--time-wise and energy-wise): Days 1-5 (5 Days) I am re-installing the drives for my printer. It's messed up because I have a Mac and...

I have been working on a story since July. I fast-wrote it in ten days and then set it aside and worked on two more fast-writes. I then fleshed out one of those stories (seven revisions later) that ultimately turned into Bad Mom Rents a Man: Glampfest! That came out September 2014.  Then, I went back to this one, which is His Favorite Distraction . So this first page is what I fast-wrote and briefly revised back in July: -- Old First Page: A RAINBOW-COLORED STRING OF CHRISTMAS LIGHTS WERE ON AT 2334 SEAGLASS LANE. It was nearly October, still two months until Santa made a visit to the good boys and girls of Pembroke Village. Matt Stone was not one of those good boys. For one, he wasn't a boy. He was forty-one, an age that he wasn't comfortable admitting to, much less being. His mind still had him in this thirties, in peak form, no injuries to wait out. He also didn't think "good" fit him. Conscientious. Charming. Those were adequate words for him. ...

The confession behind this blog: Read here.     This is what my November looked like, as I think most writers' lives (those with a deadline or who were competing in NaNoWriMo) looked like. Writing in the kitchen, drinking hot chocolate Writing in the Starbucks, drinking a skinny hazelnut latte Writing in the bedroom, drinking up the words Writing in the dining room, drinking water Writing in the family room, drinking them in Writing in the office, at the desk, most likely drinking Diet Dr. Pepper Writing in the office, on the sofa, definitely drinking Diet Dr. Pepper All that writing and now you're done. DONE! Now, though, what should you do? -Put it in a drawer? -Put it on Amazon? -Put it in the mail to whoever that was who published JK Rowling? This one's easy. I'll give you a minute. Got the answer? Okay, here it is… … … … Put it in a drawer. Everyone . Enjoy the month that is Dec...

Basically, this is what my November is making me feel like: I knew this was going to happen when I decided "Hey, I should do NaNoWriMo AND revise a book. Cuz I'm bored and have nothing else to do but stare at walls." Yeah. I'm a silly ninnymuggins, to borrow an Elf phrase. Anyway, I've been chasing two rabbits. I still am. Actually, 10 rabbits, and two of them are on crystal meth. (The bunnies, sillies. Not me. I'm on Excedrin.) Anyway. It's November. You're a rabbit catcher when you're a writer and it's November. Keeping it short so I can get back to revising... Hugs! Kisses! High Fives!