Monday Check-in

Sometimes life gets all sorts of crazy. I don't know about you, but us girls here at Tangled have been all over the place! But since it's a new month, and it's Monday, we're getting back on track. And that means a Monday Check-in.

Danielle: The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for me, lots of stuff and lots of sick. So much so that I spent three hours on Saturday cleaning/reorganizing my room! Yes, I know. So if that's any indication you can probably tell I have done..well...not much (except SHP work.) This week I am: doing crits for Christina, writing this chapter that I have been sitting on for weeks, job searching, organizing the segment for next week on Tangled (which will be awesome!) and going to the gym! I am getting things together over here. I am. If you see me on twitter, please ask me. Please. (Also: I posted this and then this morning, here's my horoscope. WEIRD.)

Patricia: I spent this past week working with a new client as we move into the first round of revisions and did some brainstorming for future related projects. I also read through some more slush MSs and read more than half of a friend's FANTASTIC new book. I am hoping to finish notes on the MS this week and get them to my co-editor---and read 3 more slush pile entries.

Christina: Wow, I haven't done a check-in in a while. Anyway, I finished my draft a little while ago that I'd been working on! Yay! I took a little bit of time off to catch up on some reading and now I'm starting revisions. I'm on Spring break right now (yay!) so I'm going to be doing intense revisions while I'm off work!

What are you up to this week? What's been going on the last few weeks?

Monday Check-in

We get to share what we did or didn't do last week---and what we want to do this week. As always, feel free to chime in and tell us your goal


Danielle: I did nothing last week. And when I say "nothing" I am not being generous. I read a few things, but I did nothing. This week doesn't look so hot, but I'm definitely going to try to write something new! We'll see. And on Friday night I go to London---so yay!! So excited. Too excited to focus! This is gonna be the longest week ever...If you have suggestions of something to do, by all means leave me a comment.

Christina: This week I wrote about 2k. I keep saying I'm going to write more then I get all lazy and don't get past 2k. This week I REALLY am going to try to get more written--at least 4k. It's hard getting off work and having the motivation to sit down and get writing done instead of just picking up a good book to read! Anyway, I'm getting so close to the end this WiP! (Yay!) so someone yell at me if I don't get more than 2k written this week!


What are you up to this week??

Let's Talk about Books

It's that time again! We get to share what we did or didn't do last week---and what we want to do this week. As always, feel free to chime in and tell us your goals.

Danielle: So, last week I wrote one chapter. Which doesn't sound like much but man, I was in pain. I did read a lot of books. This weekend I wrote another! Now I want to edit that chapter and write another new one. Only two more chapters stand between me and this huge chapter point in my WIP. I want to be at that point before I go to London in two weeks. I love this story so much and it's a lot of fun to dive into.

Patricia: This week was more of the same for me, brainstorming and percolating (aka procrastinating). I worked on an editing project for a good chunk of time and then at the very end of the weekend got down to some writing. It wasn't an amazing week, but definitely better than weeks where I've gotten no writing done, so I'll take it! Positive thinking, FTW this week!

Cindy:  Over the last week I spent a lot of time brainstorming on my new WIP, but not a lot of writing. I'm hoping that will change this week, but I was able to get a good chunk of critiquing done, which was nice. My goal for this week will be to write 1K each day for the new WIP. And I'm with Patricia, positive thinking FTW!

What are you up to this week??

The next two weeks on Tangled, we're going to talk about BOOKS. I know I know--it's exciting. Because we're all writers here but even more, we're book lovers. There's no better way to learn about writing than by reading. So we're going to review a book. But instead of gushing, we're each going to talk about a certain technique in a book and how it works/what we learned from it. It should be fun!

How To Save a WIP and Check In

Hello again! *waves* It's Monday! Here's what we were up to last week and what we want to do this week.

Danielle: Cindy and I were on a writing retreat with some of our other friends. It was awesome and very productive. I kept working on my new WIP and wrote 10k over the weekend. Now, I'll spend the week polishing that some that and working on crits for friends--as well as sleeping. I'm really excited about the work I did and where the story is going!

Cindy: Had the most amazing time at the writing retreat Danielle just mentioned. My goal was to write 6K over the course of the weekend and somehow, miraculously, I was able to actually accomplish that goal. I'm so very excited about this new WIP and after such a great weekend, I'm ready to keep writing.

Christina: So last week I said I wanted to get between 4-8k done and, yeah, I didn't get that much written. I wrote about 3k though. I didn't have the weekend to write because I was so busy, so that's part of why I didn't get as much done. This week, I am gonna try to actually get 4-8k written! (hopefully closer to 8k)

Patricia: This week was a tough one for me, a variety of things kept me from writing (some tangible, some in my head). I did get my outline finished, so not a total loss. Here's hoping that next week is better for my book. :)

This week starts a new segment--6 Ways to Save a WIP. Over the last two weeks, we each shared a struggle, and now we're going to talk about fixing those issues. Check out the issues we'll be addressing.

Confidence |||| Pacing |||| Tension ||||| Writing into a Corner |||| Overplotting ||| Shiny New!

What are you doing this week?

Monday Check-in

It's Monday again, and a bit of sad one here in Boston since the Patriots are not the victors. (Also, kinda funny on my end to see grown men that upset about it.) This week we'll be continuing our "Six Ways to Kill a WIP" segment, and we hope you join our discussion. 

Since it is Monday, it's time for a check-in where we share what we accomplished last week, what we want to do this week and all the things standing in the way.

Christina:  I got quite a bit done this week. About a total of 5k words which is about 2 and a half chapters for this story. It really doesn't feel like I did that much. I'm a bit shocked actually. I kinda felt like I was distracted by all the shiny things (*cough*pinterest*cough*) on the internet. But that means I met my goal and some for last week! Yay! I also finished plotting out the last 10 chapters completely too. So my goal for this week (and until I finish this WiP) is at least 2-3 chapters a week. Which would probably be between 4-8k words. I'm really hoping to finish this draft in March!

Cindy: Pretty much the same as last week....Revising.

Danielle: It's so funny because for weeks I have been stuck between this chapter I wrote and where I thought the story needed to go. I had no idea why I couldn't progress, and even debated whether or not I should tell this story. But then, something happened at work on Friday. I can't even tell you what it was. But I knew the story. I spend the weekend plotting it out (all twenty-four chapters!) and wrote two chapters. I now have 9K done in the first four chapters and I can't wait to keep working on this story!


Patricia: This week brought heartache when I realized I was stuck in writing, had a headache where I couldn't move, and then a miraculous cure for both when I figured out the plot of my book! I spent a good chunk of the weekend (though not as much as I would have liked... grumble boring super bowl grumble) fleshing out the plot scene by scene. It still needs a little work, but by the end of this week I aim to be writing and knocking out this first draft!


What are you working on this week??

A Tangled Guide to Kill Your WIP in 6 Ways (An Introduction)

In case you haven't noticed, we started doing segments on Tangled where each of us talk about the same issue over two weeks. Today starts another. This time we're talking about this thing called death. (And no, that's not what you think it is.)

Every writer has that thing they struggle with when telling a story--whether that's conflict, action, character, or something as simple as structure. It's really important to know what your weaknesses are as a writer so you can be aware of them AND overcome them. That's what our new segment is about. If you don't know what your problem areas are, then those areas have the power to completely destroy book you've written or are writing at this moment.

We're each going to address a unique area that she personally struggles with that has the power to destroy a WIP. And then, two weeks from now, we're going to tell you how to save that WIP by fixing the things that can kill it. But you have to know what you're saving it from before you can save it. We're all really excited about this one!

We need your help. For the next four Fridays, we're going to do crits of your first 500 words. If you want to submit, all you have to do is go here and follow the guidelines. We'll randomly select a person each week and offer up a critique on the opening. We want you to submit--and to get involved with our struggles and connect this week. That's what we're here for.

Speaking of connection, it's time for another Monday check-in. Make sure you let us know
what YOU are working on this week too in the comments.

Christina: I had to rework the last chapter I wrote so I didn't get as much done last week as I wanted. I wrote about 3k in total and hope to get 4k or more done this week.

Danielle: I've completely finished my final(ish) round of edits and now I'm just analyzing every little line, which usually means I'm finished. A final round of readers is looking at the story and while they do that, I'm going to plot out some of my new WIP this week---and I'm very excited about it.

Cindy: I'm working on the same thing and trying to figure out how to be productive. Still making revisions per and brainstorming other revisions for the completed MS and have also been plotting the new WIP I'm working on.

What are you doing this week?! 

It's Monday!

Welcome to another installment of the Monday Check-In! Every Monday we'll post small updates on what we've accomplished in the past week with writing. If we've gotten a lot done, or accomplished some of our goals, we cheer each other on. If we've not gotten enough done, or are in writing slump, we still cheer each other on. Sometimes you just need someone to remind you that you really can do it, right?

Christina: I got some edits done for people and two chapters written over the holiday break. My goal for this week is to work on more crits for people and finish two more chapters!

Patricia: Despite big plans to practically complete all of NaNo over the weekend, I came away with 7,432 words and memories of an extremely fun and relaxing weekend with family and friends. The plan for this week is to keep moving on PLETHORA and lay a little more ground work on CATNA. (Plus, it's her birthday week!!)

Danielle: I left work Wednesday night with a new fire and a goal. From Wednesday to Friday I wrote about 20k, and edited about 17k. And I FINISHED MY WIP! (and won NaNo) It's a very, very exciting thing. Very exciting. I even started doing some edits on my own and plan to finish up that by mid-week so I can send it along to some betas. I also may or may not have watched practically a whole season of Supernatural. I'm almost at the finale of season 4--but I'm going to wait to watch until my editing is done (and it will hurt!).


What are you doing this week? Let us know so we can check in with you and encourage each other. Leave a comment or tweet us about it: @tangledupnwords @PatriciaERiley @DanielleEWrites @cindyiswriting @TheDrunch @christinaferko

Monday Announcements!

Welcome to another installment of the Monday Check-In! Every Monday we'll post small updates on what we've accomplished in the past week with writing. If we've gotten a lot done, or accomplished some of our goals, we cheer each other on. If we've not gotten enough done, or are in writing slump, we still cheer each other on. Sometimes you just need someone to remind you that you really can do it, right?

Today's going to be a little different than usual. Why? Well, it's almost Thanksgiving!! And with that comes LOTS of last minute things in real life and in between all the crazy, we'll all be writing.

This week: 
Cindy's family all has the stomach flu.  
Patricia is catching up on all the words this week since there's extra time off work.
Christina is hoping to write another chapter this week.  
Danielle is looking forward baking these GREAT strawberry cupcakes for Thanksgiving.

Announcement time!! 

We're sad to tell you that Drea had to leave Tangled because of work and moving issues. We love Drea and we know she will be awesome at whatever she does.

Meanwhile, we're very, very pleased to add Jodi Burrus to Tangled. Jodi has so lovingly and enthusiastically stepped up to be part of the team. We know she'll be excellent and a lot of insight to the materials here. You'll learn more about Jodi this week, and you can check out her info in the About Us page.

We are now offering free critiques! You know how everyone says the first 500 words are important? Well, now you can get some feedback from us. Each week one (or two) of us will post some feedback of your work. We're open for entries now and you can expect the first critique to go up December 2. Check out all the requirements and enter by clicking here.

That's all for this Monday Check-in. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Monday Check-in

Welcome to another installment of the Monday Check-In! Every Monday we'll post small updates on what we've accomplished in the past week with writing. If we've gotten a lot done, or accomplished some of our goals, we cheer each other on. If we've not gotten enough done, or are in writing slump, we still cheer each other on. Sometimes you just need someone to remind you that you really can do it, right?

Plus, today is a really awesome in the YA world because The Hunger Games trailer premiered and we're all pretty excited!! Have you seen it? Look....

Without further adieu, here is our check-in for this week:

Christina: I've been super sick this week (boo!) so I only got one short chapter done. Hopefully I'll stop being sick all the time and be able to start writing again.

Danielle: This past week was a  roller coaster for writing. I was a day ahead in my NaNo word count, so I skipped a night. Then, somehow, I was three days behind! Shows what happens when you get out of habit. I'm all caught up now though and will break 25k tonight or tomorrow. (I'm almost there!) I'm also trying *not* to brainstorm this Shiny New that attacked me out of the blue on Sunday OR to fangirl THG (see above) on Tumblr. Slightly failing in both areas. Anyway, another week of NaNo is ahead---so here goes.

Cindy:  I was able to get a large chunk of pages revised and have just 66 pages left to revise. Hoping to be finished by the end of the week. Yay!

Patricia: NaNo has offically hit week 3! Bringing with it a spectacular shiny new and stress about falling behind. My plan this week is to keep writing at least 1,666 words everyday that I can. I am also keeping my Shiny New at bay by jotting down any notes and scenes that won't get out of my head. If only ALL the words counted (especially since I wrote a 10 pg term paper this weekend and have racked up thousands of words in GChat and emails!)

What about you? We'd love to hear how your last week in writing went. Please leave us a comment to let us know! 

Monday Check-In

Welcome to another installment of the Monday Check-In! Every Monday we'll post small updates on what we've accomplished in the past week with writing. If we've gotten a lot done, or accomplished some of our goals, we cheer each other on. If we've not gotten enough done, or are in  writing slump, we still cheer each other on. Sometimes you just need someone to remind you that you really can do it, right? 

So without further adieu, here is our check-in for this week:

Danielle's Check-In: NaNoWriMo is going well! I've written 10K in 5 days. I'm very excited with how everything is moving. I did discover a problem with my timeline in the story, but I'm plotting it out on the wall with post-its and hoping to figure that out so I can move forward without issues. But I'm loving writing so far this month. I missed being in that place where it's all you can think about and the consumption is a great feeling!!

Christina's Check-In: I finished one chapter this week. I was hoping to get two done, but this was a pretty long chapter, so I'm okay with it. I'm not doing NaNoWriMo, but I'm hoping to get lots written this month. This week I plan on fixing my plot outline and writing another chapter or two.

Cindy's Check-In: I'm also not doing NaNoWriMo because I'm trying to finish up revisions to my rewrite. I lost power for a few days due to the crazy October snowstorm that took a million people out of electricity last week. It kind of sucked not having internet or really having a good place to write when our generator could only power up so many things at one time, but it was also kind of nice to have some space from it. I had lots of time to think about where this story really needs to go and have been unable to stop thinking about the things that need fixing. Over the days that I did have power, I got a good amount of revisions done and I'm actually thinking (HOPING!) I'll be done with this round of revisions by Sunday night. 

What about you? We'd love to hear how your last week in writing went. Please leave us a comment to let us know.

Monday Check-in

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!! Hope everyone is ready for October to be over. That's crazy.

Welcome to another installment of our Monday Check-In. Each week (or most weeks) we share where we are with our writing. The goal is to keep ourselves accountable for our goals and to encourage one another to keep going when we're in a writing funk. So without further adieu, here is today's check-in.

Cindy's Check-in: Still revising. Lots of revising. (Cindy is also without power since Saturday evening. Booo!) 

Danielle's Check-in: NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow. OMG. EEP. I can't even handle this. I'm determined to succeed. Determined. My housemate and Patricia are both doing it as well, so hopefully the three of us will force each other in submission. I'm ready to start! If anyone else is participating, add me!! DanielleEWrites 

 Christina's Check-in: I met my goal for last week and finished another chapter. This week, my goal is to write another chapter and start on a critique that I have waiting for me. 

Patricia's Check-in: Between being sick and gearing up for NaNoWriMo, I have done a spectacular amount of nothing this week when it comes to reading and writing. I did get ahead on some projects for work and lessons planned/homework done for my classes through November. I know I'm ready because I've started getting that jittery combination of anticipation adrenaline and completely terrified sickness at the thought of starting. Today and tomorrow I am going to try to finish my super-loose outline so I have some sort of path to head down as I start my crazy 50K journey on Tuesday.


Drea's Check-in: Drea is alive. She's on a little break right now. Catching up and resting. We love her and send her hugs. 

What are your goals for the week? Let us know in the comments. And, if you're doing NaNo, let us know that too!

Monday Check-In

Welcome to another installment of our Monday Check-In. Each week (or most weeks) we share where we are with our writing. The goal is to keep ourselves accountable for our goals and to encourage one another to keep going when we're in a writing funk. 

So without further adieu, here is today's check-in:

Danielle's Check-In: This weekend I got to hang out with Patricia and Christina. It was so much fun--lots of writing talk and no writing. Unfortunately, this week is going to be super busy with the YA Spooktacular (check it out here!!) and my time is all about promo. I'm also taking care of some personal and school stuff. Writing will probably be non-existent. I AM going to plot some things because NaNoWriMo starts in a week!!! Eeek!

Christina's Check-In: I didn't get more than a page written this week. I was sick all week so I just basically worked, slept, or read books. And this weekend was SUPER busy hanging out with two of our Tangled girls, Danielle and Patricia, along with the some other awesome people too! I plan to get some written this week though! I really need to. Someone yell at me if I haven't gotten at least one whole chapter finished by next check-in!

Cindy's Check-In: I had family in town for over a week for my oldest son's fourth birthday and had very little writing time. That put me behind, but I'm still hoping to finish this round of revisions by the end of October. I've been working on some pacing issues I feel like the WIP has and have been moving/deleting/adding things to fix the problem. Wish me luck! 

Monday Check-In

Welcome to another edition of the Monday Check-In.

We hope that your writing is going well and that you are meeting your goals. If you'd like to join us each week to keep yourself accountable to those goals, we'd love to hear from you.

Each week we try to update on another on how we are doing and hope that this will keep us motivated to keep writing. Here are the updates for this week:

Danielle's Update: This week I am starting some work on future homework and catching up with friends! I get to write this scene that I have been plotting in my head and SO SO excited about for almost two weeks!!! I can't wait to do it. It will really move my story along I think and things are gonna fly!

Christina's Update: This last week I didn't get two chapters done like I'd hoped but, I did get one written and added a few things I needed to some of my older chapters. I also edited a few chapters for my sister who is trying to get into writing and worked on some background stuff for my WiP. This week I'm hoping to write at least two chapters, I think I should have a little more time for writing coming up, so let's see if I can do that! 

Patricia's Update: This week I accomplished all of my goals from last Monday! On Thursday I was ambushed by a Shiny New Idea (something I'll share more about in my post tomorrow!) but I survived it and if nothing else am happy to be writing again. Free time is shrinking as my son starts having homework he needs help with and I realized this week I need to cut out more TV and spend that time writing. This week I'm planning to get ahead on all the things I need done so I can focus on NaNoWriMo...which starts in 22 days!

Cindy's Update: I'm still revising. I don't have much more to say than that. It's an ongoing process but I'm hanging in there. :-) 

So how about you? What were you able to accomplish in the past week? 

Monday Check-In

Welcome to the first Monday Check-In of October! If you are like us, it helps to have someone keeping you accountable for your writing and making sure you're not procrastinating. So we have our weekly check-ins to help each other keep our goals intact. Feel free to join in with us each week to let us know how your writing goals are going. 

Christina's Check-In: This last week I did my goal! I got 2 chapters written which ended up being just under 5k for me! So this week I want to stick with this goal and do at another 2, at least. I think this WiP is going to be divided into parts as well as chpts and that I'll have 3 parts in it. So this means, I'll be able to start the 2 part soon! I'm excited....I hope that excitement lasts as I continue to write!

Danielle's Check-In: October is insanity for me. I was secretly hoping it wouldn't come. This week I am doing more homework, planning things for the YA Spooktacular and need to catch up on blogging. Between all that, I'll be lucky if I get to write any words, but I'm still excited about all the other things. And a little overwhelmed.

Cindy's Check-In: I've been doing a lot of revising this past week and implementing a new plot into the storyline. I'm happy with how it's coming along so far, even if it is slowly coming. So far I am on schedule with where I want to be with revisions and hope to continue at this pace.

Patricia's Check-In: Last week was not as productive as I'd hoped. Some personal stuff left me feeling drained and not really in a writing-mood. The reading-binge continues however, I read another 5 books last week. This week I'm going to write a piece for YA Spectacular, do homework for my copyediting class, and then get some writing done. 

What about you? How is you writing going this week?

Monday Check-in

Drea: I spent several hours this weekend researching mythology and added 1,000 words to WIP. 

Danielle: Last week, I bumped up my pages to 65 and my word count to...uh...a lot more? I can't remember now. Around 20K or so? This week my goal is homework. Homework. A break to go to the So You Think You Dance tour stop tomorrow! (EEK!!) Then more homework. Some edits on what I wrote last week that's due for homework. Oh! And did I mention homework? That's my life this week. And next week. Homework. And I get to meet Laini Taylor on Friday if I survive until then.

Patricia: This week I finally found my way out of my recent reading slump and read 7 books in 5 days. It felt good to spend most of the weekend curled up on my couch with a book. I did meet my goal of three writing sessions, so I'm going to up that this week and try to get at least 5 hours of writing done before next weekend.

Christina: I got a chapter written like I planned to and plan to write two this week!!

What are YOU doing this week? How was last week?

Monday Check-In & Thank You!

First of all, we'd like to thank everyone who bid on our Read For Relief critique donation. We are blown away and so grateful for all your generosity and cannot wait to begin our critique. Thank you!

Now for our check-in:

Christina's Check-In: Oh...well...this week I haven't gotten any writing done. And I don't even have a good reason. (shame face) I've just been so tired after work that I've been taking naps instead of writing. Hopefully this week will be different! I plan to get one-two chapters finished!

Drea's Check-In: Drea is still struggling through her first few weeks back at school with her new students but should be back to writing very soon. (If not, I'll have to hound her!)

Danielle's Check-In: For me, this week, I want to write. Guys, for real. I want to move forward and write new words and love it. Maybe I'll go crazy and read a book. I don't know what will happen, but for some reason I've been completely unable to focus on writing. So...I want to write.

Cindy's Check-In: After playing around for a few days with a new project, I have come full circle back to my draft of the last WIP and am making some necessary changes to that story.  I'm still waiting for full feedback from my betas and crit partners, but in the meantime, I'm busy adjusting a few things that I know need some work.

Patricia's Check-In: This is week I face my greatest challenge of the year: the return of ALL THE TV SHOWS! I also volunteer and teach 5th graders for two hours one evening a week starting this week. In anticipation of this wonderful time of year, I'm going to set my goal a little lower and aim to write at least 3 nights this week, for at least an hour each night. In a perfect world, I would write one hour for every hour of television I watched. Thanks to my DVR I can use the shows as rewards for writing, so if I can stick to my plan I'll be able to get a LOT of writing done. 

What about you? How has your last week in writing been?

Monday Check-In & Giveaway Winners

Each Monday here at Tangled, we will be posting a check-in to keep us accountable for the writing we've accomplished and to receive encouragement for those of us who have struggled. And let's be honest, when aren't we struggling as writers? We could always, always use a little encouragement, right? 

This week we are also posting the winners from our author week giveaways. Check for the names below.

So here is our check-in for this week. Please feel free to leave a comment with your own check-in. We'd love to see how you're doing. :-)

Christina's Check-In: This last week I finished about 2k on my WiP. I was hoping to get a little more done but got kinda lazy. Eep. This coming week though I plan to do about another 2k at least, maybe more. I'm not sure exactly b/c this week will be a bit busier for me.

My winner for the copy of Haven by Kristi Cook is MINA! Congrats Mina! I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did!!

Drea's Check-In: I got nothing. I need to make it through this week and then I hope to get back on a normal writing schedule. The first few weeks of school are killer.

Danielle's Check-In:  This week I'm going to finish my paper (due Tuesday) and read a book! I haven't read a book in like three weeks that wasn't for school so I'm very excited. I'm going to write 2-5k this week. That's a smaller number for me but I'm hoping to finish by the end of November and anything is better than nothing. Plus, I think work will be insanity. Last week I survived--which was my goal--so as long as I read a book and write SOMETHING beyond this scene, I'll be so happy.

Winner of THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER is: Audris

Patricia's Check-In: I just finished my week off from writing and it was definitely the right thing to do! I read a new book on craft that gave me a lot to think about and I'm going to be implementing some of the ideas I got while reading it this coming week. I also spent the weekend in Boston with Danielle (which was SO MUCH FUN!) and was lucky enough to have dinner with Cindy and Ariane while I was there. It was a wonderful evening of book, industry, and writing talk. More than anything else I did this week, it got be excited to start working again so I thank all three of them for that! This week I am going to drive right back in and focus on moving forward in my draft without looking back and editing as I go. I'm also going to try out drafting in Scrivener (which Danielle was kind enough to give me a tutorial in while I was there!)

Winners of the TORN give away:

Grand prize winner: Melinda Williams

Two runners up: glitterword, mermaidvision 

Cindy's Check-In: I finished the first draft of my WIP. I sent it off to crit partners and now I'm waiting as patiently as possible for feedback. I've started a new WIP to keep myself distracted and am getting caught up on critiquing. Overall, I'm really excited for the finished WIP and can't wait to dig into revisions. 

Monday Check-in on Tuesday

Sometimes things happen. Today is a complete example of this theory. Drea worked really hard on an awesome--and it was really, really, really awesome--post on craft (that's Tuesday's focus). I went to post it and then--bam---it was gone. Seriously. Blogger ate it. We have no idea what happened. And since today is her first day of teaching, there's no way to get another one. 

Then yesterday, when were supposed to post this post--Cindy was unable to escape her writing vortex. She's been swept away! 

So, here's a Monday check-in on the Tuesday that blogger ate our original post! Huzzah!

Drea: I don't have an updated word count for my new WIP. The school year is getting ready to begin and my energies have been focused on preparing for my students to arrive next week. I really need encouragement to stay on track in spite of the stress and long hours.

Danielle: The last two weeks have been an adventure. I read some books for school, wrote some papers for school and I broke 15K on my draft. My WIP is all a big puzzle that I'm putting together and it's been a lot of stress, tears, fun and rewards. I've been going back and forth with some of my crit partners about how/what/when/why I should do things. It's stressful, but it's so good to be challenged. This week, I have one more massive paper to write on two books that I haven't read yet that's due on Friday for school. Then, Patricia is coming to visit for the weekend! I also start full time at my job this week. So, if I get any writing done then it will super awesome. My goal is to survive and get my homework finished!!

Christina: I took the week off from writing. My twin sis was in town and since I don't get to see her often, I spent my time with her. So, I didn't get any writing done but I have been brainstorming on my plot for my WiP. I also plan to try and write two more chapters this week!


Cindy: *is stuck in a vortex of writing* I didn't do much writing the last two weeks. Until the last three days. Now, all of a sudden, I can't seem to pull myself away from writing for more than eating. I have seriously not stopped thinking about my book and how it's going to end, and well, it's sucked me in so much that everything else has just sort of faded into the background these past few days...I can hardly sleep at all because I suddenly can't get the plot lines out of my head! With that being said, I am actually ONE scene away from ending the book.

Patricia: Like Drea, I don't have an updated word count as the past week was consumed by things for work and getting my son off to a very happy start in Kindergarten! (Very happy for him, kind of teary/stressful/overly-emotional/happy-ish for me!) I think the overwhelming events of the week kind of threw me into a bit of a slump, both with my reading and my writing. I have been doing a little plotting and brainstorming, so not a total failure on the writing front. While I'm giving myself the rest of this week to get out of my funk (and to have a fabulous weekend visit with Danielle!), I am hoping to jump right back into my productive plans for the rest of September.

What are your goals this week?

Monday Check-In

After much discussion and planning, everyone here at Tangled agrees that accountability is a huge part of achieving goals. So in order for us to be accountable to one another, each Monday we will have a Monday Check-In for us to keep track of our progress. We'll talk about our word counts for the past week, any shiny new ideas we have and admit when we may need a little encouragement to get back on the writing horse so to speak.

Without further adieu, here is our very first check-in:

Danielle says: My novel and I have been going around and around--and I think we've finally reached a point we're both happy with. I'm so excited. My goal for this week is to reach 10K. I currently rest at 6.5K--which when you're rewriting something that used to have 102K words, it's really a sad number. BUT in reaching 10K, my story will be at new twist and have this new layer of tension that will be so fun to write. I'm also re-reading The Hunger Games and writing a paper for school! If I get all that done it will be an awesome week!

Drea says: So, this week I randomly stumbled upon a new idea that has gripped me and refused to let me out of it clutches. I have decided to pursue the new idea and spent some time this week researching various components and thinking through the setting. I also have started to spend some time fleshing out my main character, Thora. Currently, I have about 1000 words written which isn't a ton, but it's a start. I am pretty good at coming up with ideas and characters, but I have a really big problem with writing confidence and stamina. I often talk myself out of writing or convince myself that my WIP isn't working out. I don't want to do that with this project so I need more people like Cindy who keep pushing me. I love this idea so I am hoping this will be the one that finally gets me from start to finish.

Patricia says: After lots and lots of brainstorming, research, and procrastination I finally buckled down and made it to a little over 12,500 words on my (spectacularly drafty) first draft this week! After getting some very positive and energetic feedback on the chapters I shared I'm very excited to keep going and I am aiming to pass 20K this week. Here's hoping I can keep up the momentum!


My (Cindy's) Check-In: In the past week I've written about 5K in my current WIP, which puts me up to just under 48K. As I tend to write more concisely in my first draft and then build the story up during revisions, this is super exciting because I feel like I'm almost done. I suspect within the next two weeks I'll be completely done with this draft. I also had a new idea this week, that I'm more than a little happy about it. It's completely outside the realm of what I've written before, so it should be lots of fun to play around with when the current WIP is complete.

Christina's Check-In: Lately I've been editing my last WIP and I'm almost done and happy with it but I also feel like I need to take a step back from it so I can go back to it with fresh eyes. So, for now, I am going to work on my draft of my current WIP. As of now it's just a little baby draft with only 6500 words and this week I'm going to try to hit 10k on it. Which is a little intimidating to me because school starts this week too so my students will all be wearing me out and I'll really need to be held accountable to not come home and push my writing to the side with the excuse that I'm tired. I'm so excited for this WIP though!

Now we'd like to hear from you. How was your last week in writing? Did you make amazing progress? Do you need some encouragement? Either way, we'd love to help cheer you on. Please leave us a comment with your current status. Happy Writing!!