Laura's blog

It's Friday, and -- wow -- I'm happy to say that I met all of this week's writing goals. Woah. I think setting weekly goals works well for me. I've often had issues setting concrete goals with definite deadlines. Somehow I end up getting things done, but often in a haphazard, frantic manner. I have a good picture in my head of where I want to end up -- but the baby steps between here and there are often hard to visualize. If I can plan week by week, I can make better progress. I also finished Edit Round 3 on The Book and have started ER4. At 103,951 words, it still needs some serious trimming. My goal is to get it below 100k. Then what? I'm avoiding answering that question, at least for now. Like with drafting, I've found that I edit better when I don't worry about the future. I've discovered some good editing strategies. I've outlined, made a "Changes to be made" doc, kept "Discarded and alternate material" in another doc, a...

I'm participating in Ready. Set. Write! this summer, a blogfest type thing where we all set writing goals and hold each other to them. I've tried for a long time to find a good way of setting concrete goals that I can stick to, and this will help me. Weekly Writing Goals: - Finish writing the revamped scene/section of The Book. I have about 500 words to go, so that's doable in a week. CHECK! I finished it Monday morning. - Get back to editing the rest -- but only after the new part is done. - Write at least two more Examiner reviews this week. - Post here 3 times a week. What I'm Reading I just finished The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, and I am now sufficiently depressed. I also bought four ebooks for my NOOK on the computer, and I plan to raid the library later this week. I just finished reading House of Many Ways and The Game by Diana Wynne Jones, Stolen by Vivian Vande Velde, and the Paranormalcy trilogy by Kiersten White. Bleep, I loved those books. A...

I've just finished reading Paranormalcy by Kiersten White. It's a fantastic book, and I highly recommend it if you're into paranormal or fantasy fiction. In my book,  Paranormalcy  wins Cutest Relationship Award. There is very little staring soulfully into each others' eyes and "just knowing" that Evie and Lend are "just right." He doesn't freeze her in place her with his electric gaze that seems to stare into her soul. She doesn't dazzle him with her superpowers or her sweet, soulful shyness. Instead, there is lots of fun bonding time, friendship building, crush-having, and figuring-out-who-the-other-person-is  before it blossoms naturally into romance. Paranormalcy also wins Creepiest Ex Award for the character of Reth. Reth is an ancient faerie with an obsession for Evie. He doesn't care about physicality or sex; he's all about manipulation, mind control, and a really creepy intrusive thing he does that is basically mind r...