Writing Thursday: A Peek At the Desk of Taylor Fenner

As a writer living in a small space, I make a desk out of whatever's handy. I recently purchased a puzzle table which is perfect for me to use since I do most of my writing while sitting on my bed. It's sturdy and big enough to keep the manuscript I'm editing and a few other items close at hand.

Let me give you the tour of my portable writing desk...

Here's a breakdown of what I keep on my desk...

- Succulents -

I love succulents but even though they are one of the most low maintenance plants out there I can't keep them alive for the life of me. So I picked up a few artificial ones on Amazon.

- Bookish Candles - 

Apartment living isn't the most conducive for lighting candles but luckily for me I've always been more into popping the cap and letting the fragrance fill the room over burning them. This Sleepy Hollow one from Get Fictional transported me to the setting for Headless...

- Funko Pops - 

I love collecting Funko Pops and I think it's really cool how diverse their selection of Pops are; from musicians to tv and movie characters, ad icons, and now even writers. I couldn't resist the Edgar Allan Poe and B&N exclusive Stephen King funko pops. They're a great motivator staring back at me when I feel like procrastinating and shopping online instead of writing.

- Bookish Signs - 

I was inspired by a Derry, Maine (the setting for IT by Stephen King) sign that I saw on Etsy recently. Not wanting to shell out for something I knew I could do myself and put my own spin on I bought some craft supplies and made my own. I love how it turned out, don't you?

- Pens, Sticky Notes, Notebooks - 

While I use Scrivener for my writing projects (which is a lifesaver, trust me!) it's always handy to keep paper and writing utensils at hand for those spur of the moment ideas that need to be put down on paper.

- Print Manuscripts & Finished Novels -

I've found that changing the format of a draft is easier to edit than just scrolling through it on a computer screen. For my upcoming release, Monsters & Mist, I had a bound manuscript printed so I can easily read, edit, and make notes in the margins. I also like to keep copies of my novels handy so if I need a quote for a Bookstagram post or a promo post I can flip to a random page and find something to use.

Headless

- Laptop - 

Since the onset of my carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis in my thumbs my laptop has replaced my handwritten WIPs and become my number one writing tool for working on my projects, blogging, and general everyday online stuff. 

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What do you keep on your desk? Dictionaries? Thesaurus? Knickknacks? Let me know in the comments!

Happy writing! 

March Wrap-Up

Happy Easter! It's April already and March brought a lot of personal changes to my life which screwed with my reading, blogging, and writing schedules. I did manage to get a few things done...

READING

Books I Reviewed In March:

- Gentleman Nine by Penelope Ward

- The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

- One Week Girlfriend by Monica Murphy

- See How She Dies by Lisa Jackson

-Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

- The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco

Books I Read In March: 

- Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

- One Week Girlfriend by Monica Murphy

- See How She Dies by Lisa Jackson

- Chaser by Kylie Scott

- Furyborn by Claire Legrand

- Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope

- Second Chance Boyfriend by Monica Murphy

Books to-be-read in April:

- Heart of Ash by Kim Liggett

- Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

- Moonlight Sins by Jennifer L. Armentrout

WRITING

March started strong writing-wise and I hit 25,000 words in what was previously known as The Endgame and has since become Who I Am With You. Unfortunately due to unforeseen events I haven't had time to write over the past couple weeks so I'm pushing back my deadline to complete the first draft until May 1st.

BLOGGING

Despite the challenges I faced later in the month I was able to meet my obligations to participate in my usual cover reveals and release day blitzes.

PUBLISHING

No events for March

NaNoWriMo Stress-free

It's November, and if you are a writer like me you know that it is NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month, a month where authors temporarily lose their minds in an attempt to write 50,000 words in thirty days. I've done this two previous years in a row and actually excelled. Then came this year...

What's different about this year you ask?

Well, this fall has not been going my way at all. I've had a sick relative that was in a hospital and then a physical therapy facility for a whole month who has now returned home, turmoil in my relationship that hopefully is calming down, a surprise book release, and another book coming out in less than two months. Who wouldn't be freaking out?!?

On top of that, the "perfectly constructed story idea" that sounded so good in my head is not going so well on paper. I can actually feel the psoriasis breaking out on my skin as I type this. So I'm not really feeling the spirit of NaNoWriMo this year. 

So to soldier on, I've decided to do NaNoWriMo my way to keep the stress at a minimum.

Here's how I'm switching things up...

1. I left my "Home Region" on the NaNoWriMo website.

Why did I even join that region anyway? Even though it's one of the two closest geographically to where I live (as in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin) it isn't really accessible for me to get to write-ins 45 miles away when I have neither a car nor a license, nor, if I'm being perfectly honest, the spare time to sit around at a library working on the same thing I could be working on at home just for the sense of camaraderie. Besides that, there's one woman in my "home region" who is a total witch with a b. I mean on day one she claimed to have written over 13,000 words which I swear is an impossibility. I'm not competitive, but she gloats and rubs it in and is overall not a nice person - and this is the second year of having to put up with this. And I don't need the stress, so the group had to go.

Whew, I feel better already.

2. I'm taking on a "Que Sera, Sera" attitude. 

If I can figure out the kinks in this story then eventually I'll finish it, even if I don't hit 50,000 words in the month of November or finish the first draft in thirty days. I'm not going to freak out if I don't. I'm patting myself on the back because you know what? I've already written 92,000 words this year on two other writing projects. That's pretty damn good if I say so myself.

3. I'm not writing every day. 

Sure, I can tell you I'm sitting here on my laptop every day writing. But some days I'm just not feeling it. I'm not behind... I don't think? I'm at 12,000 words written since November 1st and I'm tired. So if I want to read, I'm going to read. If I have a book that pops up that I have to review or a blog post to type and schedule, that will come first. I can stress myself out by staring at a flashing cursor on the screen or I can relax and let the words flow out of me if and when they come. 

4. I'm not thinking about writing when I'm not writing.

Sure, if an idea pops up, I'll write it down. But I have other things on my mind so I'm not going to panic and think "oh no, I haven't written today," or "I'm so behind on my word count!" Like I said, if it's going to happen, it will happen in time. I think that's part of my anxiety issue, I'm so afraid of what's going to happen if I don't get what needs to be done, done now that I don't stop and think about what will really happen, which usually is nothing. Why did we let NaNoWriMo get to be such a big thing? Did it used to be fun before all the competition and pressure? Some of my friends talk about being supportive and encouraging and I want to get back to that, not surround myself with writers who act like jerks and pick on people if they don't have a certain word count on a certain day. 

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Are you doing NaNoWriMo? What are you doing to keep your stress levels in check?

NaNoWriMo Prep

There are only 15 days until the start of NaNoWriMo 2017! Those of you that are writers might know what that is but if not NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, which runs during the month of November each year.

What is NaNoWriMo?

Each year writers around the world challenge themselves to write a novel, at least 50,000 words during the month of November. Is it really possible? Yes! My first year I wrote about 54,000 words and last year I wrote about 63,000 words if memory serves me right. This would be my third year participating.

Alas, the past two years I've participated were easier than this fall is shaping up to be. Even though I've had this year's idea festering in the back of my mind for a few months now I'm currently dealing with a relative that is about to come out of a physical therapy facility and will be arriving home around the end of October. It's been a stressful month dealing with everything - lots of paperwork and phone calls and incompetent people in the medical/insurance field, but I digress. Nonetheless, I'm going to at least try and see how much I can get done in the 30 days. Anything will be an accomplishment at this point because I don't want to push myself too hard. 

A Little About My 2017 NaNoWriMo Project

For the second year in a row, I'm turning to the YA Fantasy Genre for my NaNoWriMo project. 

Title: Monsters and Mist

Genre: YA Fantasy

Minimum Word Count for NaNoWriMo: 50,000 Words

Word Count I'd be happy with if I fail to meet 50,000: 30,000 Words

Estimated Chapter Count: 15-20

Main Characters:

Andromeda "Drom" Mistsplitter - Aged 18

Thane "Cutter" Cruelseas - Aged 20

How I'm Prepping For NaNoWriMo

- Outlining the chapters and what I want to happen in each chapter.

- Character building for my two main characters. I like to let the other characters develop as I go along.

- Worldbuilding and creation of the mythology of that world. 

- Pinning story ideas on Pinterest. 

- Building a playlist to write to for NaNoWriMo.

It would be great to be able to attend some of the write-ins for NaNoWriMo but the two regions closest to me are 30-40 miles away and I don't have transportation to get to them every weekend. I also don't really know any of the other local writers in the town I live in. On the bright side, I have a lot of writer friends I've met online so I'll have the support of some online friends at least. 

***

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? How are you prepping? Are you a planner or a pantser?

What I'm Working On: September

It's halfway through September (and still overwhelmingly hot here in Wisconsin) and I'm about halfway through my current writing project so I just want to catch you up on what I'm working on this month...

Night of Terror

Night of Terror is a short story/novelette/novella which I will be posting one chapter per week on Wattpad starting on October 3rd and continuing until it is complete. Night of Terror is aimed to be a horror story and as of right now it is 9,000 words in length and I'm in the midst of the 6th chapter - which means you'll get to read this story at least through all of October and into November!

Where will you be able to find this story? Follow me on Wattpad!

Monsters & Mist

In November, I will be starting my next full-length novel, Monsters & Mist and this month I'm outlining the chapters so I can figure out what parts of the plot need to be filled in and worked on. 

CurseBreaker

This month I revealed the cover art for my upcoming novel, CurseBreaker and this month I still need to get the Kindle edition ready to go up for preorder, order paperback ARCs, and begin reaching out to bloggers and readers about review requests. 

***

That's what I'm working on writing-wise this month. What are you up to?

August Wrap-Up

It's September! Summer vacation is fully behind us and I honestly don't know where the time went but I can tell you that I feel like I spent the entire summer working! August was both a busier and lighter month for me and you'll see why...

READING

Books I Reviewed In August:

Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (Audiobook Review)

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Unforgiven by Lauren Kate

After the Game by Abbi Glines

Unrest by Wendy Higgins

Fallen Heir by Erin Watt

The Dazzling Heights by Katharine McGee

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

Books I Read In August: 

Can't Hardly Breathe by Gena Showalter

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (Audiobook)

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Fallen Heir by Erin Watt

Unforgiven by Lauren Kate

Unrest by Wendy Higgins

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

Oblivion by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Books to-be-read in September:

Because You Love to Hate Me edited by Amerie

The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich (reread)

The Graces by Laura Eve

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Theresa Anne Fowler

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

WRITING

In August I worked on some ideas for my NaNoWriMo project, but mainly I began working on a short story I plan to post online for Halloween. It's a horror story and I'm hoping readers will be pleasantly frightened by it. 

BLOGGING

In August I participated in 2 Cover Reveals, 1 Release Day Blitz, Spotlighted 2 Bookish Retailers I love and did my usual "What I'm Reading" Wednesday, #BookMail Thursday, and #Booktag Saturday posts. I also reviewed 1 ARC.

PUBLISHING

In August I set up the cover reveal sign-up form for CurseBreaker and got it ready to submit for pre-orders (which should be up soon). To help reveal the cover of CurseBreaker on September 15, fill out this form! 

July Wrap-Up

July was a good and bad month for reading and blogging. As you probably heard I had a slight set back from typing and blogging due to a sprained thumb but I'm much better now! In case you missed anything on my blog or social media last month, this is what I got up to: 

READING

Books I Reviewed In July:

Sublime by Christina Lauren - I still can't stop thinking about this book and I'm not exactly sure whether I loved this book or was afraid of it.

Ruined by Amy Tintera - It was okay, but it wasn't really a stand out in a sea of YA Fantasy novels. 

Because of Lila by Abbi Glines - A new favorite by one of my favorite authors!

Trust by Kylie Scott - Absolutely loved the YA debut of another of my favorite authors!

Caraval by Stephanie Garber - finally finished listening to the audiobook but it was definitely worth it in the end! 

Riot by Jamie Shaw - back to a series I fell in love with last year. A great second book!

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 

Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry - OMG why didn't I read this book sooner???

Chaos by Jamie Shaw - second favorite book in this quartet! 

Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry - review coming later this week!

Books I Read In July: 

Ever the Brave by Erin Summerill - Started but haven't finished yet.

Sublime by Christina Lauren

Ruined by Amy Tintera

Because of Lila by Abbi Glines

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Riot by Jamie Shaw

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry

Chaos by Jamie Shaw

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo - wasn't loving this so I stopped listening

Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - haven't had the chance to finish listening to this amazing audiobook yet!

Books to-be-read in August:

A Map For Wrecked Girls by Jessica Taylor

Can't Hardly Breathe by Gena Showalter

Long Way Home by Katie McGarry

Unforgiven by Lauren Kate

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

WRITING

In July I started developing the characters and plot of my next writing project, Monsters & Mist, a YA Fantasy novel I plan to write during NaNoWriMo in November. See some of my inspiration here.

BLOGGING

In July I participated in multiple cover reveals and release day blitzes as well as doing obviously a lot of book reviews and other posts for my blog. I've kept a heavy schedule, posting nearly once a day all month!

PUBLISHING

This month, I purchased the ISBN number for the print version of CurseBreaker, obtained the barcode, added CurseBreaker to Goodreads, and brainstormed some marketing ideas for pre-order incentives and more. Read my publishing timeline outline here.

I Don't Have Writer's Block... I'm Tired!

        I missed a deadline. It's a sick feeling of letting people down. I'm usually on top of things so missing the date of something I assigned for myself to do feels like a huge failure. 

      No... I'm not talking about anything related to Out of Darkness's publication schedule. If anything, I'm about a month and a half ahead of schedule, which is a relief.  Instead, I'm talking about the short story I promised everyone for Valentine's Day. 

    It's been said that writer's block stems from the author being afraid that someone won't like something they've written - 

                   Well, that's not true for me. It has never been true for me. Some days I just lack direction or ideas. I literally have no idea where to go with the story next. 

                         Moreover - sometimes I am just dog-tired. Seriously. As was the case of the missed Valentine's Day deadline. It's so great that some writers can carve out time each and every day to write. But that time for me is usually late at night. Mostly between 10 pm and midnight. And sometimes, at these late hours, I'm just exhausted. Sure I have excuses... it's been a tiring day, I took in too much fresh air, I'm drained from reading a book for hours, etc. And excuses they may be. But if I'm not in the mood to write, I just can't do it. So I don't have writer's block... I'm just tired! 

       Some things just work better for some writers. It really all depends on what your schedule is like. Some days I don't write at all other than in a journal I keep to record the happenings of my days. It doesn't mean that I'm lacking ideas for my creative writing. I have all sorts of ideas that strike me at different times. I even have ideas for that half-finished chapter I haven't gotten to working on or the short story I still haven't finished. 

     So I merely store my ideas on notes - on post-its I keep by my bed, notebooks strewn around my room, and Evernote on my phone/Nook/laptop and wait for myself to get a little ambition. Sometimes I go so long without writing that when I do it again it sort of pours out of me, which I consider a good thing. Everything has been brewing thought-wise, waiting for the perfect time to be written down. 

     I don't worry too much if I miss a deadline I set for myself anymore unless it's a series of deadlines I miss. After all, deadlines are an imaginary thing thought up by people just looking to add more stress to their lives. Sooner or later you burn out and need a little time for relaxation. 

Late night writing can be so exhausting after all...