NaNoWriMo Progress: 21,600 Words!

Hey everyone!

In case you didn’t know, I’m participating in NaNoWriMo this year. This is day 7 and I just logged my updated word count at 21,600.

I am ahead of schedule and last weekend’s goal of 5,000 words each day kind of kicked my booty, so this weekend, I’m sticking to my 2,000 words per day goal. Check out my dashboard, yo!

DaySevenStats

I’ve finished my 2,000 words for today, finishing 2,147 as indicated on my dashboard. I also have a word goal that I set per chapter in my Scrivener application and when I reach it, the bar turns green, so I know I’ve hit my mark.

Here’s a shot of a snippet from the end of Chapter 10, heading into Part II of the novel where the meat happens. Underneath, you can see the chapter word count and on the bottom right, you can see my goal bar is green ’cause I’m a good girl and did all my words today. 🙂

ScrivinerBar

Are any of you participating in NaNo this year? How’s it going? If you need some inspiration, check out my Resources Page for writing prompts, ideas and other resources. I’m so proud of myself for sticking to my goals and meeting my daily goals every day so far. I won’t lie, it’s hard work and I’m tired. But it will be SO worth it once November is over and I have the completed first novel in my series (series? Yes, series!) of novels to come. And I’m so proud of YOU for participating and hanging in there. If you’ve fallen behind in your goals, it’s not too late to get caught up. Just dedicate some time to writing this weekend and you’ll be back in the game!

Happy Writing!

~ Eileen 🙂

NaNoWriMo Progress

Hey everyone!

In case you didn’t know, I’m participating in NaNoWriMo this year. This is day 3 and I just logged my updated word count at 8,211. I have a personal weekend goal of 5,000 words each day and weekday goal of 2,000 words per day. It’s pretty cool when you log your words, because you get a breakdown of what you have left, average words, and other neat information. Here’s a screen shot of my word dashboard. (Click on the picture to view a larger version – huge version actually.)

DayThreeStats

I’ve written 1,170 words today and I need to meet my personal goal of 5,000 words so I better get crackin’! I have 3,830 words left to go today! 🙂

Are any of you participating in NaNo this year? How’s it going? If you need some inspiration, check out my Resources Page for writing prompts, ideas and other resources.

Happy Writing!

~ Eileen 🙂

Ghostly Bounty: FREE 10-05 through 10-09

Hey Everyone,

It’s been a while since I’ve offered my book, Ghostly Bounty, for free. I love the Fall and in honor of cooling temperatures, hot cocoa, and the Holiday Season about to smack us in the forehead, I’m offering Ghostly Bounty for free from October 5th (today) through October 9th. So go grab a copy and enjoy the read with some cocoa or tea, on me. 🙂

Here’s the link:

Ghostly Bounty

Happy Reading!

~ Eileen 🙂

Ghostly Bounty

WordPress Daily Prompt!

Hello fellow writers and readers!

Some of you may not be aware that WordPress actually posts a daily writing prompt. The prompt is usually about personal writing, as WordPress is first and foremost a personal blogging arena. However, the prompts could be used in many various ways. For example, the prompt from yesterday was:

070313 Prompt
So, while this prompt may be intended to inspire you into writing about your secret love of Glee! or your hidden passion for pineapple shaped plastic canvas tissue box covers, it can also be used as a fiction exercise as part of a story or for character development.

As an example, I have written two short pieces below.

Example # 1: Personal Writing

Some people don’t know that I have a love and fascination of the paranormal. This fascination goes so far as to compel me to want to speak with and interview those who have the ‘gift’ and find out how it works. What do they feel when they are being ‘psychic’? Are they psychic all the time? Can they turn it off? and many more questions. I have actually interviewed several psychics over the phone and plan to meet with them in person to interview them further on the topic, eventually crafting a book out of the interviews on psychic abilities.

Example # 2: Fiction Writing – Part of a Story

“Tell me something that even those closest to you don’t know about, Kyra.”

Kyra looked at her psychiatrist and didn’t say a word. Blinking slowly, she processed the question.

“Kyra?” The woman peered at her over her half-glasses, her milky gray eyes blinking. “Did you hear the question, Kyra?”

Making a decision quickly, Kyra grinned a lop-sided grin.

“Yes, Dr. Martinson, I heard the question.” Commiting to her decision, Kyra leaned back on the white leather sofa and crossed her legs. Joining her hands on her slim knees, she bounced her leg so her anklet jingled gently. “The real question, Doctor, is whether you want the answer or not.”

“Kyra.” Dr. Joy Martinson laid her pad and pen aside and looked her patient in the eyes. “We don’t play games here. You know that. Answer the question please.”

Kyra watched her doctor’s face and smiled, her red lips curving gracefully.

“Alright, Doctor.” Her grin widened and her index finger tapped slowly on her leg. Kyra brushed her straight dark hair from her shoulder. “When I was five, my cat went missing.”

“Yes, you told me. Fluffy, right?”

“Yes. Fluffy was the first.”

“First?”

“Yes, when the fifth cat disappeared, my parents finally suspected where they were really going.”

Silence stretched in the room. Without breaking eye contact, Dr. Martinson picked up her pad and pen from the table and adjusted her glasses.

“What happened to all the cats, Kyra?”

Without skipping a beat, Kyra leaned forward.

“I skinned them, Dr.”

The good doctor blinked. “You skinned them?”

“Yes.” Kyra said calmly. “I skinned them.”

Dr. Martinson had heard this from young people before. Kyra was trying to shock her. The doctor knew how to solve this one.

“Ok, Kyra. Tell me about skinning the cats. What did you use to skin them? Did you kill them first or skin them alive?”

The doctor, satisfied with herself, sat back in her chair and waited for Kyra to back down from her challenge.

Kyra’s smile didn’t even come close to reaching her emerald green eyes. Dr. Martinson felt a chill run down her spine and shivered despite the warmth of the room.

“The first cat was already dead and I filleted it with my Father’s fishing knife. The second cat I smashed over the head with a rock before I skinned it with the same fishing knife. For the third cat, I had purchased my own fillet knife off the internet. I skinned it halfway while it was still alive and then it died. I finished skinning it after it died. The fourth cat, I disemboweled  and gutted while it was still alive but I was disappointed that it died before I got to skin it. I skinned it anyway. By the time I got the fifth cat, I knew what I had to do. I sliced it open slowly, pushing my bare hands inside her belly. I loved the feeling of her warm insides all over my hand. I wiggled my fingers, finding her heart and massaged it to keep her alive. I skinned her slowly, keeping her open so I could massage her heart while I finished skinning her. When I was done, she was fully skinned and her guts were intact, but exposed to the air. It was a success.”

Kyra sat perfectly still, enjoying the terror that slowly filled her doctor’s eyes. She let a few seconds pass before she whispered, “Well, Dr? Am I making it up?”

The session timer chimed and without another word, Kyra took her purse and left the room.

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For your daily dose of inspiration, visit:

The Daily WordPress Prompt Posts

 

I hope you enjoyed my samples! Happy Writing!! 🙂

Writer Resource: iWriter

If you are looking to make a little extra money doing something you love (writing), then iWriter is a great resource for you.

iWriter is a forum that posts writing jobs from clients and you can register as a writer and pick items to work on. There are three levels of ‘Writer’ that you can achieve. When you first join, you earn the lower rates, of course, until you achieve high feedback rankings with clients. This can take a lot of time, or you can do the Fast Track program to earn a higher Writing rank faster.

iWriter lists writing jobs for articles, eBooks, and reWrites. They can vary in length greatly, depending on what the client needs. There is an excellent tutorial on how to use the site located at the bottom of the page HERE. iWriter pays writers via PayPal and you can choose how often and when you get paid from four different choices.

Payment options are:

  • Weekly (Tuesdays)
  • Every 2 weeks (Every other Wednesday)
  • 5th of the month
  • 25th of the month

Completed articles are checked for uniqueness and spelling/grammar. So, do your best work. Clients do have the option of rejecting your work if it does not meet their criteria or is poorly written.

Each assignment listed on the board has specific requirements. You can choose specific topics like Automotive or Technology and then each client will have keywords or instructions for how they want the piece written.

So, just to give you an example, you can view the job board and filter and limit the jobs by your criteria. Or, you can just view all jobs. Once you see one you are interested in, the listing appears like this:

iWriter Order Summary

You can view additional information about the order by clicking on the gray plus sign in the top left corner of each listing. Clicking on the gray plus sign button will show additional information like this:

iWriter Order Summary Expanded

So you can now view the keywords available. If this client had more than one order, you could see all the orders from this client at the same time by clicking the gray plus sign button. Now, you can click on the Special Instructions button to view the specifics on the order. Here is an example of Special Instructions:

iWriter Order Detail

This particular example is pretty specific, but many of the orders don’t have any special instructions other than using a specific keyword. If you decide you would like to write this order, close the Special Instructions by clicking on the green Close button. Then, you can click on the green Write Article button.

Each order has a time limit and you must complete the order in that time frame. Sometimes, the time limit is only a few hours, so make sure you will be able to finish the order in the time frame allowed.

The more orders you write that are accepted and receive good feedback, the higher your writer ranking will become. Once you have completed, 30 reviews with a 4 out of 5 rating or higher, you will be a Premium Writer and will get paid more for your writing. From there, you will need to get 30 reviews at the Premium level and have a 4.6 rating overall to gain the Elite Writer ranking and get paid even more for your writing.

In all, it’s a pretty cool resource for earning money with your writing. I write a few articles in my ‘spare time’ and get a few hundred dollars a month. It doesn’t pay all the bills, but it definitely covers a few.

Check it out. iWriter.com