manuscript

Dreaming of romance.

/ lizziechantree / 5 Comments

I’m about 30k into writing my 8th romantic comedy book and I have to spend a lot of my time dreaming of romantic scenarios and describing gorgeous men. It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it! My latest character is in her forties and has had a troubled past, but she’s so feisty that she constantly makes me giggle about what she’s getting up to next.

I don’t know if it is the same for all writers, but my mind is full of the constant chatter of characters and I don’t often know what they are going to do until my pen hits the paper. I have chapter guides and full character descriptions, but I then just sit down and write.

I’ve also been making a few more memes this week and thought I’d share a couple, as I should have been doing a higher word count each day but managed to fit in some procrastination. I’ve just completed a book tour with Rachel’s Random Resources and as usual it was run beautifully and I was lucky enough to find new readers and see amazing reviews. A big thank you to the tour hosts who take time to post, share, read and review books, just for the love of books. You are all incredible and as an author, it’s heart warming to chat to people who are so passionate about writing.

Have a great week everyone.

Exhausted from procrastinating meme by Lizzie Chantree.png

 

Shouldn't you be writing meme by Lizzie Chantree.png

 

First draft.

/ lizziechantree / 4 Comments

Fiorst draft joy meme by Lizzie Chantree.png

Hello everyone. I’ve not been blogging much lately, as I’ve been trying to finish my latest manuscript. There are always so many things to fit into each day that I was finding my days full of anything but writing. I gave myself a stern talking to and now have almost 70k words of my latest book written. I still have the end of the story to write, but I can see the finish line. They storyline is getting tense, so I can’t wait to get back to it each day to help my characters find their resolution.

How do you cope with the ups and downs of your writing career if you are a writer? Do you jump into a story and feel emotional when a storyline leads you that way? As a reader, do you relate to the characters of a book of they are upset or excited?

I’m hoping to have the first draft of this manuscript ready to send to my editor in a couple of weeks, and then a new story will begin. It’s a whirlwind of writing, editing and fresh starts, as well as finding time to read fabulous new books. There are many great reads out at the moment that I can’t wait to open the first page of and making time to relax and enjoy a great read is, in my opinion, important for a writer too. Have a fabulous weekend. From Lizzie.

 







 

Get writing!

/ lizziechantree / 10 Comments

Happy new week everyone. Today’s post is about motivation. What motivates you to get up in the morning and then sit at your desk and create your products, or write your books or blog posts? For me it is the feeling of accomplishment when I see a finished manuscript. At present, I am only about 5,000 words into my latest novel, which is the sequel to Ninja School Mum. It’s hard to stay motivated when you still have 75,000 words to write, but the thought of holding that book in my hands when it’s ready, is worth the time it takes to write it.

Lizzie Chantree book quote 7

After a lengthy and exciting book launch for Ninja School Mum, it has taken me a while to re-energise and get back to my routine of 1,000 words a day if I can, as a minimum. This week, to motivate myself, I have written a ten point list of goals for the week and scheduled writing time into each day. This might sound silly, but writing time is very easily overlooked when the washing needs doing, the school run organising, the dinner prepared and the housework and shopping completed. Actually writing a weekly plan for when I will sit down at my desk without interruption, gives my week structure and makes me push other tasks aside for after my writing time.

I have been known to write 5,000 words in a day, or as few as 50, so I will let you know how my plan works. The main point here, is to stop procrastinating and to get writing!

You can’t edit a blank page.

My 10 point goals for the week: Schedule time for each point.

  1. Write 1,000 words a day of my latest manuscript.
  2. Write a blog post for Monday.
  3. Post in my Facebook group, Lizzie’s Book Group.
  4. Visit 4 other blogs to support them.
  5. Write the questions for my networking hour #CreativeBizHour on Twitter.
  6. Post to my author Facebook page.
  7. Post to my author Instagram page.
  8. Write guest posts for other blogs.
  9. Update Twitter feeds daily.
  10. Cover design for my latest book, out in July.