A Call for Help

Resources are desperately

needed!

This is going to start out random but I promise you it gets to the point... eventually.

It has been one week since I’ve had any wheat. One week.

That means an entire week of no bread. No pasta. No egg soufflés!!! (and in case you didn’t know, egg soufflés are my favorite!)

*Deep breaths*

You remember my post when I got back from Vegas that talked about new beginnings? Yeah, this is one of them. It isn’t a permanent removal of all things delicious, I know that everything is a moderation thing, it’s just a temporary, I really need to work on my portions because I love bread way too much, thing. In truth it makes me feel better but that doesn’t mean that I am not craving the hell out of it. Which, as a side note, I am.

In better news, I removed the fake claws I had put on for vacation and can now quickly and comfortably type. It makes blogging and drafting a novel much, much easier. Besides, they were done horrifically by the salon I had gone to and were practically tearing at my real nails every time I did anything. I’m much happier to have my short, real nails back and I think I’ve learned my lesson that I am no longer a girl who can have long nails. I’m too incompetent for them and I respect any woman who can get through her day without hassle that has long nails, real or fake. Just because I am on the subject of ‘girly things’ I have one more observation that I came across this weekend: I am a red head, with extremely pale skin. So pale, in fact, that the moment I move or get even a little warm my face turns a serious shade of red. This makes foundations/powders/all makeup that is supposed to cover your face extremely important to me. I also have highly sensitive skin, so chemicals don’t do me any favors. This makes finding products pretty tough. I took my fifth trip into Ulta (a specialty makeup store in my area) to try and find something that would help. Everything I’ve purchased thus far has failed, caked, made me break out or just in general didn’t look right. Thankfully I found a makeup line called It. I purchased their new CC Veil cream and the foundation powder and Oh my god. If you have any issues finding a good base for your makeup seriously, try this. I am in love.

NOW ON TO THE SERIOUS THINGS…

I posted in the Writer’s Discussion community last night asking how people were balancing all things in life and being an author. It was a relief to see so many people are as clueless as me. And then, I thought about it and panicked a little. Posting it was a light hearted thing until I realized that I actually needed an answer. I have yet to run into this problem because I’ve never really had long term projects. I am awesome at getting things done. I can pack a day like you wouldn’t believe, to make sure everything gets taken care of and there’s enough time to gloat when it’s finished. But something that takes weeks, months, years to complete. Oh. My. Lanta. I am at a complete loss. How in the heck do you stay motivated? How do you stay on track? How do you keep an insane schedule for that period of time? How do you not get freaking bored with what you’re doing, everyday all day for months!?

Yikes.

I don’t have the answer and for the first time in my entire life I cannot even try to fake having the answer. More often than not I can push through and pretend until I figure it out. Well, it’s been a year since Red was conceptualized and I still have no, freaking, clue. I’ve googled. I’ve conversed. I’ve read the journey of others. And probably for the first time since the internet was realized, there just isn’t an answer. There is no easy fix. No twelve step program. There’s no template, no demo for me to use. No one on this bloody planet has an answer for balancing and continuing on with a novel. And if they do, they’re not sharing (which in this case, if we ever meet and I find out you know, we’re going to have problems). It seems that nearly every question I’ve ever asked regarding the writing of a novel it has been completely opinion based or everyone else has the same darn question!

This leads me to the real reason for this blog (even though it began with completely off topic conversation). I would like to start a resource list, so that when people have questions or need just a direction to look there is an easy page to scroll through. I cannot tell you how much time I’ve wasted clicking through Google search results only to get something that either doesn’t apply or is just someone using keywords to get blog views. I would like to try to minimize this, but to do that I need everyone’s help. I’m certainly not the most internet savvy person in the world, and I’ve only found a handful of useful websites for different questions about writing a novel. I would like your input on what has helped you tremendously in your journey thus far. Here’s an example of the types of categories I’m looking for:  

-Self publishing tips

-The legalities (ISBN’s, business license, taxes, etc)

-How to stay motivated

-Good time management tips

-Plotting, character development, word choice

-Marketing/Self promotion

-Getting  an editor, illustrator, beta readers

These are just a few bumps that I’ve found where I’ve had trouble finding good links/blogs/resources to find the answers to the questions I have. Not only will this help me as a writer (and any other writers who are struggling with maybe what questions to even ask) but also it’ll help me as a reader. I’m always looking for well written/well published books too! So knowing how amazing everyone on G+ is I’m sure we can put together a killer resource list that I can make available in case there are people struggling for the answers. Even if they don’t have everything you need, at least it’ll give writers a place to start. Please either comment here, on my page or message me so that I can put the list together.

Thanks J