Tag: rewrite

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IWSG

#IWSG Sept. 2023- Happy Birthday Insecure Writer’s Support Group!

IWSG

Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click here to learn more or sign up.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Any amount I make goes towards my dream to host a book fair in Hampton Roads, VA. Please see my About page for more details. Thank you for your support.

Optional Monthly Question: The IWSG celebrates 12 years today! When did you discover the IWSG, how do you connect, and how has it helped you?

My first IWSG post can be found here. Admittedly, I discovered the IWSG shortly after it formed, but didn’t have the courage to join for almost a year and a half. Ultimately, I’m glad I made the leap of faith.

The IWSG has consistently been the most encouraging and uplifting aspect of blogging for me over the years. I’ve been a part of other blogging communities that have come and gone, or that I left, for a number of reasons, and not all of them were bad. Some just reached their time to end.

As a writer, the IWSG has been a great way to network and promote, and even learn from others. As a blogger, it is the only reason I haven’t given up on blogging. I hope it sticks around for another 12 years and more.

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Now, on to the personal updates.

I had a plan in place to start chronicling my process of rewriting my first novel series. While I am still doing that, I hit a wall last month that I let keep me from posting. I lost countless pages of research I had done from the original series, plus a bunch of new stuff I am planning to incorporate, so when I went to start plotting things out, I stumbled, not able to access the ideas I had in my brain. I moped for a couple of days but then I eventually went back to redo the research. I never got around to posting last month, feeling a little defeated, but I’m hitting reset, yet again. So, as of now, that’s what I’m doing. Redoing research. Maybe in a month or two, I’ll be ready to start plotting, but in the meantime, I can still blog about the research I’m doing.

On a positive note, I’m enjoying reading again. Here’s what I read in August 2023.

The Masked City
Amazon | Bookshop

Murder at the Library
Amazon | Bookshop

If you’re up for it, I have a short video giving my star ratings for what I read, but if you enjoy video book reviews, I suggest that video. Hey, neither of them is that long, so you could watch both if you’re feeling frisky 😉

#short video – https://youtube.com/shorts/fjAWfvawikk?si=fC0JW0l2FQLWMnSe 

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Where were you when you discovered the IWSG?
Did you read any good books last month?
It may take some time, but I promise, I will eventually stop by your blog.

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Sonia Dogra,
J Lenni Dorner,
Pat Garcia,
Sarah – The Faux Fountain Pen, and
Meka James!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #27).

Did you know you can follow me for FREE over at Patreon to receive a monthly update on the creative projects I’m working on? I tell you the truth, it’s better than a newsletter!

Thank you for making it this far down the virtual page. Kudos to you! I’d love to know what you thought of this post in the comments below. Stay safe and be blessed.

Categories
Mark of Bletsian

I’m #writingabook: Mark of Bletsian No.1

Greetings Dear Reader,

Welcome to my journey of personal growth, self-expression, and a complete and total rewrite of my Eternal Curse Series. So, before I dive further into this, I want to clear out any haters lurking about. This rewrite, like the original, is based on a Judeo-Christian worldview but is not Christian fiction.

I want to be clear when I state that I have no problems with Christian fiction, it just so happens that what I’m writing isn’t that. I have actually drawn knowledge and inspiration from many tales and histories stemming from all three major monotheistic religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, as well as other various cultures, polytheistic religions, and some lesser-known mythologies. My aim, here, is to tell a great story but to also be true to myself. I know what I like in a good story and am not afraid to blend my many influences to achieve the results I want. I am creating a world of fiction, inspired by a dream, based on a Biblical foundation and a bunch of other stuff.

While most people who read paranormal fiction are used to reading about angels, demons, and other related content without any reference to religion or spirituality, but I will be including those elements in my story. I will not be trying to hide a message of faith in my story, I’ll just be telling a story that happens to include characters dealing with spiritual struggles. While I think it makes for a great story, this will clearly not appeal to some, and that is okay. I’m just stating here and now, that if my characters talk about and or actually engage in prayer, it’s because that’s just their reality.

Outside of my monthly IWSG posts, I plan to provide weekly updates on how this process is going. Today, I’m starting with 5,787 (1,000 just added) words of clarified terms, characters names, locations, biblical research, and more as I start this process. I had started updating my Patreon community on this project a while back but abandoned it when I hit a wall. Moving forward, this is where I’ll be tracking my progress, even if it’s just a handful of words or ideas. I will reserve any special excerpts I want to share with the Patreon community, but otherwise, this blog will be focusing on the development of this series. So, to round things out today, this first day of a new journey, I thought I’d explain why the series is being rewritten and why the series name is changing, and what it means.

First, I absolutely love my original Eternal Curse Series and all its flaws. I have reread the books (the two published ones and the third unfinished one) and still really enjoy the overall story and the individual characters. The main reason this series is getting a rewrite is that I grew so much as a writer between the first and third books that I was struggling to maintain the same voice I’d started the series with. My voice had changed. Plus, there were so many aspects of the story that I wanted to change for clarity and to fill in the gaps.

The original series’ name was a reflection of the struggle many of the characters lived. I’d written about characters that were clearly cursed and yet, they had chosen to do good or be good despite their curses. The story is ultimately inspirational, but it’s also very dark- not afraid to touch on a few hard topics. For the rewrite, I wanted to focus on the many character’s, especially the main character’s, choice to be a blessing despite their circumstances. I even go so far as to introduce a mark of blessing to the overall theme, but I’ll explain more about that later.

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BTW- I’ve posted my public/FREE monthly update over at Patreon so please check it out. It has a really cool video that I’m not posting anywhere else… And, I posted a channel update on YouTube. Check it out.

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Thank you for making it this far down the virtual page. Kudos to you! I’d love to know what you thought of this post in the comments below. Stay safe and be blessed.

Categories
IWSG

#IWSG August. 2023- Conflicts in writing.

IWSG

Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click here to learn more or sign up.

Optional Monthly Question: Have you ever written something that afterwards you felt conflicted about? If so, did you let it stay how it was, take it out, or rewrite it?

I seem to write things all the time that cause me to pause afterward. I think it’s part of my process. Sometimes I write things I have no intention to develop, but I have to write it down to know that.

I’m currently rewriting an entire series, but not because there’s a moral conflict. The original simply doesn’t reflect who I am as a writer now so I’m redoing it. Still, I have written some things that might be in conflict with the public appearance I’ve developed over the years- my platform. I’ve considered if it might be worth taking on another pen name to put those out, not to deny that I’m the writer, but to keep a distance from my current fans who may not be into the more edgy/alternative stuff. IDK- I’m still figuring it out.

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Now, on to the personal updates.

I was a little late in posting this message today. I was out of town for a while and returned on a Monday, so the rest of the week was pushed back for me. I thought today was Tuesday. Oops!

Yes, it’s true, the IWSG Book Club has come to an end. I enjoyed being a part of it and will miss it. Thank you to everyone who participated and helped spread the word about it.

I took some time off from the blogosphere after several problematic encounters. I have since determined that the blogosphere, on the whole, is no longer a safe space for me. I love the IWSG and will continue to participate and lend support and encouragement where I can, but I’m changing the nature of this blog.

Moving forward, this blog is a writing log for me. I’m not looking to acquire fans or followers unless they just happen to show us. If I’m going to be connecting with readers, I’ll be doing that on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or my Patreon (which includes a follow, for Free, option).

I hope you all are doing well- reading, writing, and creating with truth and purpose.

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Have you ever written something that gave you pause?
Where do you connect most with readers?

My response time has gotten slower but I’m still making my rounds.

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Kate Larkindale,
Diane Burton,
Janet Alcorn, and
Shannon Lawrence!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #27).

Did you know you can follow me for FREE over at Patreon to receive a monthly update on the creative projects I’m working on? I tell you the truth, it’s better than a newsletter!

Thank you for making it this far down the virtual page. Kudos to you! I’d love to know what you thought of this post in the comments below. Stay safe and be blessed.