Hello and welcome to Week Two of my Summer of Writing 2014!
This week, I won’t just be posting writing goals. I’m also participating in the Writing Process Blog Tour!
But more on that in a moment. First, my goals for the week:
- Write a news article about E3 for Her Campus
- Start my “fortune” story for the HG Wells Competition
- Write an article about “Couch to 5K”
- Write an article about comparing oneself with others
- Work on “Blue Skye”
And now for the Writing Process Blog Tour!
Back at the end of May, the lovely Danny Rhodes sent me an e-mail asking if I wanted to be involved in the Writing Process Blog Tour.
I have to answer four questions about the way I write, then tag three other bloggers to do the same thing next week.
Danny Rhodes was my lecturer for my Fiction module in my first year of university. He’s recently published a new novel called “Fan”, which is based on his own experiences as a witness of the Hillsborough Disaster.
You can find his participation post here on his blog.
And now it’s my turn!
What am I currently working on?
The shorter answer is what I’m NOT currently working on! I’m one of those writers who has the terrible tendency to try to write a thousand things at once, fretting away at each of them in turn until I finally get sick of it and knuckle down to finish something.
My main work-in-progress is my first novel, “Blue Skye”. It’s a young adult story about a teenage girl called Skye who befriends a grouchy middle-aged ghost. I re-wrote it for last year’s NaNoWriMo, but although I broke the 50k word-count, I haven’t finished it yet. Which I really need to do before I tackle Camp NaNoWriMo this summer…
My other primary work-in-progress is a short story called “Numbers Up”, which is going to be about personal redemption after death.
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
By being written by me. Which sounds awfully big-headed, but that’s not what I’m trying to get at.
When I write, my words, thoughts and ideas are filtered through my personal experiences and everything I’ve known and lived through. Nobody else has had a life exactly like mine, and therefore nobody else writes exactly like me.
After all, what’s the point of writing if you don’t tell a story that only you can tell?
Why do I write what I do?
Because you can’t run around telling people what to do and killing them on a whim in real life without getting arrested.
Sorry, I’m being facetious.
No, the reason that I write what I do is because… well, it’s what I do. Ideas come to me from everywhere and I write them because I am a writer and if I didn’t, I would probably lose my mind.
I write what I want to write, and what I need to write.
How does my writing process work?
This varies depending on whether it’s NaNoWriMo or not.
If it isn’t NaNoWriMo, I occasionally pick up the piece of writing, forcing myself to put down a few words here and there, taking frequent breaks and generally taking forever to get anywhere.
If it is NaNoWriMo, you’ll find me writing silly light-hearted scene summaries on paper then banging them out in desperation like a chimp with a typewriter.
And now I must pass on the baton! Sadly, I could only find two people, but as those two people are bloody fantastic, I feel no shame.
Melissa Holden
Image © Melissa Holden.
Bio:
Melissa Holden self-published author/poet/blogger from Kent, is an undergraduate at Canterbury Christ Church University (Creative and Professional Writing BA Hons). As well as studying at university, Melissa is also an Editor for CCCU Her Campus and a Theme Editor for Readwave.com
When she isn’t writing novels or poetry, Melissa blogs on WordPress and helps other authors promote their careers.
Melissa Holden’s works:
“The Snow Killer”
“From Me, With Love”
“The Little Things: A Book of Haiku
“52 Writing Prompts”
Social Media:
Twitter: @melissaholden94
Facebook page: MelissaHoldenWriter
Writing blog: melissaholden.wordpress.com
Personal blog: thelifeofa19yearoldauthor.wordpress.com
Lorna Holland
Image © Lorna Holland.
Lorna Holland is a 20 year old creative and professional writing student at Canterbury Christ Church University. Originally from Northamptonshire, she now splits her time between Northants and Kent. Lorna writes a little bit of everything, but her main passions are YA fiction and magazine journalism. She keeps a regularly updated blog and has an increasing social media presence. Her work has been published by My Student Style, and she regularly contributes to HerCampus CCCU and Kettle Magazine. She also writes a YA story called Missing Secrets for Jukepop Serials, which is released a chapter at a time. Aside from writing, Lorna loves books, bands, and TV shows.
Learn more about Lorna on her blog: www.lornaholland.blogspot.com
You can also follow her on Twitter: @themaxdog
And find her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/lornahollandwriter
P. Gotch – Writer 
