Author Inspiration and This Week’s Writing Links

Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.

Ciao, amici! Good news! I finished my WIP this week. I’m really pleased with how it turned out. I hope my editor is equally happy. Time will tell.

Speaking of time, we’re changing the clocks this weekend. And losing an hour. Ack! I don’t have enough time as it is; I can’t afford to give up sixty minutes. But no one asked my opinion, so…

Because time was on my mind this week (as I rushed to make my deadline and feared the ticking clock), I thought this quote by Henry David Thoreau was appropriate.

Not that the story need be long,
but it will take a long while to make it short.

How true is that? At least, for me it is. I can write long, no problem. Most of my novels are over 80K words, and they flowed. My WIP is around 60K, which is what the publisher wanted. and it took me much longer than usual to write. Writing short means writing very tight. Does that mean my other stuff isn’t tight? I hope not. Maybe I’m getting better? Hope so.

Maybe research took longer than I budgeted for. And I do love research. I could see that being a rabbit hole that cost me time.

And then there’s revising. Revising takes time. And sadly, I have to admit, often when I revise, I add words.

So, yeah, I finished my draft and now am rushing through revisions to make my final deadline. Meanwhile, the government is stealing an hour from me. So not fair, but I’ll get it done. And hopefully, it’ll be done well.

How are you managing your time? Can you believe it’s already March? And Daylight Saving Time? Sound off about your WIPs below.

And now, this week’s writing links:

Posts by me, about my work, or at sites I contribute to:

Me

Story Empire

Posts by others in the industry:

To make you smile:

And when you’re done with these links, don’t forget to check out the sidebar, where you’ll find more links to some of my favorite sites.

Have a great week! Arrivederci!

44 thoughts on “Author Inspiration and This Week’s Writing Links”

Add yours

  3. Congratulations on finishing your WIP … I can see how it is easy to lose oneself in research! I’m glad I’m not the only one who adds words when revising. 60,000 sounds shorter than most novels … is it for YA?

    No, I can’t believe it’s March and soon Easter but at least the evenings soon become much longer – hooray! Now if these blustery winds will just let up and allow us breaks in the garden! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. No, it’s for a sci-fi world. And I know sci-fi is usually long. I think it’s an effort to get readers pouring through the offerings quickly and often. I don’t mind; I love a challenge. It really kept me on my outline, though, and usually I veer a bit. I did one major detour, which took extra days of research I didn’t expect, but it was totally worth it. I guess we’ll see if these changes pay off!

      I am looking forward to nicer weather. We had nasty thunderstorms that kept our dogs up, followed by a day of high winds. One of my dogs had trouble walking in it. But we didn’t get the tornadoes that hit south of us, so I can’t complain.

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    1. I call BS on that excuse, Michele. I’m a former technical writer, and I write long. You just want me to cut you some slack on your White Room Syndrome issues, and I’m not letting you off that easily. 😉

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  7. I’m actually looking forward (get it? :)) to the time change. It means daylight will stick around longer at the end of the day, which makes me happy.
    The first day of spring is my birthday, so yeah, I definitely like that day, lol.
    Congrats on getting your baby finished!

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    1. If my daughter reads this, she’ll love that pun. I groaned, but she’ll love it. 😉

      Happy early birthday! I will be happy to have more daylight, but I could really use that hour. I know it’s only sixty minutes, but I can get a lot done in that amount of time, and my schedule is pretty full.

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  8. Congratulations! It always feels good to finish a WIP. I wish I had to worry about writing too many words. I always write lean and have to add them. One of the pitfalls of starting out writing short stories. Good luck with the book!

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    1. Short stories, I think, are a difficult medium to master. If you can do that, you can do a novel. It doesn’t always go the other way.

      My sister writes too sparse. I’m always making her go back and add to her work. I guess it doesn’t matter how our first drafts are, as long as the end results are good.

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  9. Congrats on finishing your latest! You are right its a challenge to write less and I always add words in revision, too!

    I hate losing an hour too. It takes me weeks to adjust. I wish they would leave time alone, like you said they aren’t asking us:) Have a great weekend.

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      2. Still, take it easy until you’re fully recovered. You don’t want to do too much too fast and relapse or get worse. (Yes, that is the ‘mom” in me coming out. Don’t make me ground you.)

        Liked by 1 person

  11. My WIP is exactly two pages long right now, so we’re still adjusting to the getting to know each other phase while figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

    Congrats on finishing yours and meeting your deadline! That is always such a wonderful feeling. Thanks for the reminder about the time change. I’d forgotten about it. As much as I hate losing that hour, it’s a sign of spring coming, and I am so sick of winter. We’ve got more snow forecast today. Oy!

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    1. Your 2-page WIP comment made me chuckle. You just started! I can’t wait to see what it’s all about, though.

      I’m ready for winter to be over, too. The year is passing too quickly, but I guess that’s the tradeoff. (I wouldn’t complain if the clock slowed once it got warm, though!)

      Liked by 3 people

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  12. I’d forgotten about the time change – thanks for the reminder. Congrats on finishing the WIP! For me, after a blockbuster of a productive weekend, I haven’t had any time at all to write this week because of real life and my son being home for spring break – which I’ll never complain about. I’ll get back to it this weekend. Have a great weekend, Staci!

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    1. Enjoy your time with your son. It’s spring break for my kids, too. My son and hubby are on a golf trip together (with some other guys). It’s nice bonding time. And my daughter is on a ski trip. It’s a good thing I have a ton of work to do, or I’d be super lonely.

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  15. Great quote, Staci. Yes, it takes a lot more time writing short, lol. That hundred word flash fiction I did the other day took much longer than anticipated because of the need to keep cutting, lol! My WIP is on target, but I’m not editing this first draft at all. First time of doing it that way. It’s all waiting for revision. In the UK, our clocks jump forward, losing us that hour, in the early hours of Sunday 24th, so we get an extra couple of weeks on you, ha ha. Have a great weekend and congrats with getting that first draft done! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Enjoy that hour. I need it!

      You’ll have to tell me how you like non-editing as you write versus editing as you go. I HAVE to edit as I go. I get itchy and anxious if I don’t. I’d love to hear how you like both methods.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. At first, it killed me to leave it alone. But now, I much prefer it. Not editing saved me deleting a character I had no idea why I’d written her in … nearer the end of the book, I now have a fantastic use. I write better if my inner editor has to shut up and wait, lol 😊

        Liked by 1 person

  16. My school issued its own notebooks. At the back, it had a quote by Blaise Pascal: “I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter.”

    It took me years to fully comprehend what they were trying to tell us 😀

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. I love that quote. I wouldn’t have understood it when I was young, either. Now, I get it. I wish all young writers could have the wisdom to understand how profound a statement it is. Thanks for sharing it!

      Liked by 2 people

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