Revisions and Revelations

Well, I went on vacay and I'm back and finally into the swing of things. I'm still not unpacked mind you. Seriously, I have issues there!! But I need to get all these things done and there isn't enough time in the day.

I entered the Golden Heart contest for unpublished authors. You enter online then mail your six copies of the entry and synopsis plus a copy of the completed book. Yes, the book has to be completed. Which mine is but.....

I'm still working on revisions. Revisions so if someone actually reads the book all the plot points come together, the character's arc has arched. You get the drift.

What I have found out is that I'm a very, and I mean very, lean first draft writer. Which means I have a lot, and I mean a lot, of work to do after I've written the first draft. I've even thought of in the future when I'm done with the first draft I should just say, "I've finished my outline. Yes, my 234 page outline." How crazy is that?

At least this weekend I've had some sort of revelation. You can read about it over at the F.A.I.T.H. Blog. Please hop over and say hi!

Sunday Psalm

Psalm 63:1-2

O God, You are my God
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

NKJV Nelson Study Bible


We must always seek God---He is the water for our thirsts.

The Story

Yes, I've updated the blog a little on the side-bar. I've actually got a synopsis of my current wip--Dreaming of You.

Here it is:

Kyla Stewart revists her hometown to find the truth about her very unconventional mother. Ryan Maverick might be able to provide some answers, but he's determined to prove her accusations against his father are false.
Seeing her grandmother and Ryan hold steadfast to their faith gives Kyla an insight to God she's never seen before.
Nevermind that Kyla has been dreaming of Ryan for the past six months. Coming face to face with her dream threatens her resolve to live in reality.
Can Ryan change Kyla's heart? Make her see that sometimes God has dreams for us we don't know about?
Or will Kyla run when she finds the truth and miss out on what God has in store for her life.


This story has been so much fun to write. I really like the characters and the feelings and emotions that are being revealed as I write them.

Fun Stuff About Love!

I LOVE watching the Bachelor and Bachelorette shows. Because I love love and love romance and love watching people interact and gettng to know each other, the show holds my interests.
Rarely do the matches that result from the show come to anything more than a few months of dating, but lately there's been a shake-up in the reality Bachelor and Bachelorette world.
It looks like both couples from last year are engaged.


Here is last year's Bachlorette, Jillian and her guy Ed. Jillian moved to Chicago where Ed lives.



And here are Jason and Molly. I won't go into their story. You can read all about it on the internet, but it was crazy. They are now engaged. Yeah!!

I know two engagements doesn't mean there will even be one wedding, but I have a feeling there will be. We'll just have to wait and see!

Happy Love!

This picture describes my revision process speed.
Slow.
Crazy slow.
But I think it's making the book better. At least I hope so. I hope I'm not taking all this time with the same results. I don't know.
I've been reading my how-to books as I go through this process, trying to utilize all the tools I have at my disposal to create a novel that people will enjoy reading and want to finish.
I want to create characters that people care about.
I hope I'm not trying too hard.
The thing is I think I can tell if something's working. I'm pretty good at that. I'm just not so good at being able to fix it quickly. It takes me time. Time to process and analyze. Maybe the more I do it the quicker I'll get.
Let's hope.

Sunday Psalm

Today's Psalm.....


Psalm 17:7-8

I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.



This is an amazing, uplifting Psalm...One I need to keep in mind.
We need to set the Lord before us always.
The Lord never fails, He is faithful and true.

Happy Sunday!!

Chapters 1-6 Pages 1-72

This blog was originally titled Belinda's Writing Journal. And for the next little while that is going to be the way of this blog. I doubt anyone is reading anyway. That's all right, too. I just need somewhere to track my progress, vent my frustrations and be albe to say "Hey--it's working out!"

I've basically spent this week on chapters 4-6. Yes, all week. I only write in the morning before I go to work. But, I do believe all the hard work paid off. I really like the chapters and I think there is a much better flow, a lot less useless conversation, a lot more tension, a lot less mumble jumble. So for this it was worth it. I'm going to continue on today with what ever I can get done starting now with chapter 7, which I think used to be chapter 9.

Tomorrow I'm taking the day off writing and after church we (Lenny and I) are going to spend the afternoon with our grandchildren at their house. We are really looking forward to that.

Then of course, Monday a.m. back at it. I will have to speed it up, though. At revising three chapters a week I'll be doing this a lot longer than I need to be doing this. I need to enter the Golden Heart. Good thing the entry is ready, now I just need to make sure the rest of the manuscript is a-okay.

Losing Words :(

Yes, they are flying off the page but into another file. Hopefully I can use these scenes later. So while I've dropped about 3,000 words, yes, that's a lot of words, I think the story is benefiting from the loss.
But my mind is reeling, somewhat. I really worked hard on those scenes. Put every word down with a purpose. So I'm redirecting the purpose to later in the book.
This morning I've take a scene, changed it's POV and combined it with another scene. Again cutting the words to better the novel.
Remember the old saying "this is harder on me than it is on you?"
I'm picturing my manuscript saying that to me as I highlight and hit those little pair of scissors that come up.
But then I go to another file and paste the scene there.
For now.
Have a great Saturday.