Always a Student

I'm taking another writing course. I'm hoping it's not just a delaying tactic to keep from writing. I don't think so. It's a great class about empowering one's characters' emotions. I think it's just what I need. My writing is too "dry" and emotionless. A critiquer said my YA manuscript was very interesting, great characters, but she couldn't feel the characters' emotions and there weren't enough internalizations to bring the reader closer to the characters.

So revising that is on my to-do list. Another writer told me about a YA contest with an October deadline. That gives me plenty of time. But I'm still pushing forward on my mystery. I've rewritten the opening with some new characters and hopefully more oomph. I *think* I've found the right voice for it. That's been the hardest part. It's got to be just right for the story. At first I was aiming for a sort of chick lit type voice with a humorous edge. But that's not me. The humor part, yes, but with a little more grit and gristle to it!

Someone in one of my online writing groups mentioned having some things out on your desk that remind you of what you're writing and your characters. I'm going to print off some good roller derby pictures. I think it will prove immensely helpful. I find it hard to write at work on my lunch hour, and I think it's because of the atmosphere. It's work after all!

On another note, I've had another idea for another manuscript. Actually it's been rumbling around in my head in one form or another for quite a long time. Years. Maybe I should seriously consider it (AFTER I finish the current wip of course!) It would be a thriller which would be a first for me. Maybe even a sort of romantic suspense although more like suspense with a romance in it. Something that men might read as well. (Funny but I always think of myself as writing for women...) I'll add it to the long list of other ideas waiting to be hatched into life.