http://rsswwf.com/

So what is the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood Winter Writing Festival? It’s a writing challenge custom made just for you! 50 days  from January 11th through the end of February to write, edit, brainstorm, polish, format, or whatever the little author in you needs or wants to do.

The RSSWWF work with a “point” system, and YOU decide the terms for earning your point each day. And you define what it takes to earn that point.

No matter what stage you’re at right now (brainstorming, plotting, free-writing, revising, layering, polishing…or any combination) you can make it work for you.

Here are some examples of the sorts of things you might define as worth one
point (you fill in the variables according to your needs) :

-writing X number of words or pages
-deep revising Y number of pages
-polishing Z number of pages
-freewriting / brainstorming for Q number of minutes/hours
-doing R number of 20-minute writing sprints
-keeping butt in chair and hands on keyboard for S number of hours

Another example of how one person might commit to earning points according to the following terms:

-writing 500 words per day OR
-deep revising 10 pages per day OR
-doing a final polish on 25 pages per day
-participating in an hour of writing sprints

Any day that person meets ANY of those goals, she gets a point.

There’s no falling of the wagon either. You can get points for slacking, too.

This isn’t a competition, it’s a supportive process for MOVING FORWARD WITH OUR WRITING.

For more info, visit the website.  Oh, and there will be swag tiven away, too, so check it out.

http://rsswwf.com/

Look no further than Grammar Girl for “Quick and Dirty tips for better writing”.

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/

This is one resource every writer needs to bookmark.

 By: Stacey Purcell

 Merry Christmas to all of our Muse Track readers! It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone so quickly.

I believe that, besides getting older, we fill our days so full, there’s hardly room to breathe. The Christmas season is a microcosm of that idea. We pack three months of activities into one and we expect to be merry and productive on top of that. Wow! That is a tough road- especially if you are the creative sort.

I have a confession to make.

I am not able to write on command. I don’t seem to have mastered the idea that you simply have to be disciplined everyday and the words will come. I understand the principle, try to employ it, but if the creative juice is not there- then it just isn’t there.

This month with all the parties, family flying in and out, shopping, cooking, cleaning etc., I’m finding it especially hard to get words down on paper. So what do I do? If my novel set in Costa Rica with lost treasure, drug cartels, small portable nuclear arms and wild romance won’t flow from my fingertips, I go back to my Twelve Days of Writing Elves to keep the creativity from getting rusty. (Those Elves have gotten me through many holidays and back on track.)

1. Elf 1 says- Find a holiday writing prompt and write a scene about 500 words. I borrowed this one from Writer’s Digest: Christmas Ghost
   While hanging up your Christmas lights, you are flagged down by a neighborhood kid who offers to help. As he helps you, he tells you about the Christmas ghost that haunts his house. What’s odd is that you’ve noticed the same things happening around your house. Write this scene.
2. Elf 2 says- What is your voice? Do you like to write in short staccato sentences or are you more flowing? Are you spontaneous? Or more methodical? Our voice is ultimately what comes out of us. Do you have a writer that you really admire? Do you like their voice? Take a few pages from your book and try to re-write it using their voice, their style. You might be surprised at what comes from this exercise.
3. Elf 3 says- Take an emotion that is commonly written about- let’s say “gut wrenching”. Now dig deeper and create a list of different, deeper, ways of making this emotion tangible. (Thank you Donald Maas for this one.) Take a trip out of the surface emotions into unchartered waters. Your writing will be better!
4. Elf 4 says- Create 5 new titles for your current WIP. What elements will you choose to highlight? How does it “color” your book differently?
5. Elf 5 says- Write the top ten things that must happen in your book before you put in the final period. Even if you are a pantster like me, you should be able to make this list. Use it as a road map or a check off list. (Thank you Will Graham for this brilliant idea.)
6. Elf 6 says- Read two chapters out of a new craft book. Write down 3 things you just learned. Post it by your computer, and try using those items the next time you write on your WIP.
7. Elf 7 says- Get your writing buddies on board and do a page swap. No editing, no rewriting to prepare it for others to read. Just swap the last page you all wrote for FUN- only for FUN!!
8. Elf 8 says- Take an experience your character will have and try to experience it yourself. If they are eating oatcakes from a medieval feast, then prepare some yourself. If they are in a rain forest, try going into a steam room fully clothed and do some kind of activity. If they are going to shoot a gun, go to a firing range and try it out. Use all of your senses!
9. Elf 9 says- Use the timer that was given in Link of The Week (Tuesday) and do a 5 minute brain storming session on finding a $1000 poker chip from the 1960s behind a loose board in a boarding house you just bought to remodel into a B and B. (Again- thanks Will Graham.)
10. Elf 10 says- Take 5 chapters and search for comfort words. Start off with “just” and “that”. You can highlight all of them with the push of a button and try eliminating as many as possible. Easy way to improve your chapters!
11. Elf 11 says- Read a book. That’s it- just read a good book.
12. Elf 12 says- Press the power button on your computer, scoot your chair away from your desk and walk out of the room. Never, never forget this is a time for celebrating family and friends. Enjoy them. Revel in your time together. Find peace and contentment in this season. The book will still be there next week.

May your Christmas be happy, healthy, and full of wonder. Merry Christmas!

Good morning Musetrackers! We’ve found some goodies for you. One is a tool and the other is a wonderful site full of information for writers. We hope you enjoy them and find them useful.

http://www.online-stopwatch.com Click on the “stopwatch” selection and you will be given a choice of a stopwatch or a count down timer. Either one is fantastic for doing some timed writing. It’s really big and there’s an alarm when your time’s up!

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/ This is a blog site run by a fellow who can help you with all aspects of self publishing. Besides being an avenue for his business, it’s very content rich on information that is pertinent to all writers. I’ve enjoyed getting his posts and have learned quite a bit.

Hope the holidays are wonderful and you’re still getting a little bit of writing time!

This is a blog site for all writers.

http://writerunboxed.com/

http://www.glimmertrain.com/b59hubschman.html

I hope you enjoy the link this week! This site has a list of the things you should always do to create a wonderful story. I’ve printed it out and it sits by my computer screen….now all I have to do is WRITE!!! Have a terrific day, Musetrackers.

Indie Reader has book reviews on independently published authors of fiction, non-fiction, young adult, and even children’s books. What a diversified selection.

They offer features such as The Book That Changed My Life, Hot Off The Press,  Can’t Bleiewve It’s Not Vanity, Trad Pubbed Book F**k Up, among others.

This venue has an interesting take on the Independent Market.

http://indiereader.com/

What’s cool is they are having their month-long Year End Splash Party right now. Over 200 publishers and authors are participating (including yours truly), with over 500 prizes to be won. WOW! It’s totally fun!  (See poster in the sidebar.)

Warning! Shameless promotion ahead!

My novel BLOOD AND TREASURE will be featured from November 26 throught the 30th. There’s a chance to win BLOOD AND TREASURE on November 17th and 23rd. I’m super excited about it!! But you can join the fun now! Seriously, what are you waiting for!

http://www.theromancereviews.com/

Does your character ever look like this? How do you color in the emotion?

This is the coolest tool I’ve seen in quite awhile. Every writer should have this in their back pocket when wading through a manuscript. Are you stuck trying to figure out just the right way of showing your character is angry? Happy? Amused? This site give you an emotional thesaurus and it’s wonderful. Hope you like this and can use it as often as I have over the past few months.

Want to know what impression your book’s cover gives readers? Check out this blog hosted by author Jude Hardin. Honest and constructive feedback is given on what commenters like and dislike about a cover.

Check it out.

http://coverartreview.blogspot.com/

Jenn!

http://www.ehow.com/

http://www.ask.com/

http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html

Got an eBook available on  Amazon you’d like to market? These Twitter folks tweet Kindle suggestions and will tweet your book. Your book could potentially reach thousands of readers!

http://twitter.com/#!/KindleCoyote

http://twitter.com/#!/KindleSurprise

http://twitter.com/#!/TweetYourBooks

http://twitter.com/#!/BookNutter

Many authors listen to music when they write.  Do you listen to music? Maybe you bob along to some tunes for a little inspiration or to put you in the right mood for a scene.

For those who may not have heard of Pandora Radio, it is an internet radio service that creates a radio station custom made for you.  And it’s free. Just type in a song title or artist and the site will generates a playlist based on your preference. Doesn’t matter what musical genre either.  Rock, Pop, Country, Bluegrass movie soundtracks, holiday, whatever, your choice. Create as many radio stations as you like. And if you don’t like a particular song chosen, you can simply shelve or skip it. Pretty awesome! Pandora also has a Facebook app, iTunes app, can be used on mobile devices, displays lyrics and artist information, and many other features.

Similar radio services with varying degrees of features include Grooveshark, Last.fm,  and Spotify.

Check one of these sites out. You’re sure to find be-bopping and singing along in no time.

Rock on, my friends!

Just went to this art museum in Pasadena, CA this weekend. I think its a pretty nice art museum. I really like the Degas paintings and bronze sculptures this museum has.

Melinda Tracy Boyce is an aspiring graphic novelist and is currently trying to get her daily diary comics published….

I’ve caught a bunch of her little autobiographical comics from EatSleepDraw. They’re pretty funny.

eatsleepdraw is an online art community. We post 100% original content, submitted by contributors across the globe…

Awesome blog. I’ve been subscribed to this blog for a while now. Love seeing the things that people post on there. I’m really close to unsubscribing though because of the heavy flow up artwork that’s displayed… but I love looking at everyone’s work. =) Its a big variety of artwork that’s posted to the website. And if you want to submit your artwork, you can! Maybe one day, I’ll create some artwork I won’t feel so hesitant in posting.

I’m deciding that I want to post some sort of “Link of the Week” on here. It’ll help expose me to more artists and stuff I think. And give something interesting for people to look at.