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Elle Clouse

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Tell Me My Fortune

IMG_0794[1]My husband and I enjoy Thai take out almost every Friday night.  They always throw in fortune cookies along side the napkins and forks.  I very rarely eat fortune cookies.  The few that I even bothered to crack open normally have some silly phrase that we jokingly add ‘in bed’ to the end.  Now I suppose that could be said about the fortunes I have pictured to the left but they mean a tad more to me.

The fortune on the top reads ‘You will obtain your goal if you maintain your course’ and I received this right about the time I decided to seriously consider publication for my novel.  I was in full edit mode and getting frustrated and questioning everything I was doing. This came at just the right time to seal my conviction.  I thought that it was very fitting so I kept it at my desk and I refer to it when I’m frustrated.

Just this past weekend, I cracked open another cookie and received the fortune on the bottom which reads ‘Your fondest dream will come true within the year’.  That’s rather specific and again right on target with what I am trying to do.  I am trying to get my novel published and I guess you could categorize it as my fondest dream.  I used to think that I was a patient person but I’ve never had to wait to hear from publishers before.  It’s almost torture.  So this fortune came at just the right time to soothe my nerves and reassure me.  It now keeps my first fortune company at my desk.

I hope that it’s true, although I know that they are random.  They arrived right when I needed them, lets hope that they are correct.  I look forward to seeing my novel in print.

Or winning big in the lottery.  That’s my fondest dream too.

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One Outlining Method

A friend of mine found a method for plot outlining a novel called The Snowflake Method.  You basically take one concept and expand upon it until you have a whole novel charted out.  It’s a concept that I never thought of before and I thought to myself, that’s nice but I don’t think I can use that based on my current creative process.  There is no one method that works for everyone and that is just fine.

I found myself with some downtime and decided to nail down certain things in Northam, the fantasy world my current works take place.  Things are getting too long and complicated to rely on going back and looking so I started an outline of how magic worked in my setting.  I started with the broadest concept of magic and started to break it down into its many points, adding types of caster, types of magic, sub types of magic, etc.  I’m not going to tell you what I devised, you will have to read my novels to figure that out, but when it was done I realized that I had used the Snowflake Method.

I guess without even realizing it, something I had read about maybe a month ago was still rolling around in my brain and I found a practical application for it.  Since most of my story ideas originate from dreams I’ve had, I am not certain it will work for plotting but it has other application.  I’m sure that I can use the technique for outlining other things in the setting.

So I thought that I’d share the article I found in hopes that you can find use for it.  Like I said, not every method works for everyone but knowing your options will help you devise the method that works best for you.

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So Distracted!

I received an encouraging email about my writing today and now I can’t focus on a darn thing.  Normally the weekend is when I get most of my writing and editing done but that is not the case this weekend.  All I seem to have the attention span for is  housework and other short projects.

So I reorganized my blog.  I got rid of all the pages and simplified things down to two pages.  An “about me” page and a “work in progress” page.  Once I have something published I will add a page for those works but for now everything is neat and tidy.  I even updated my “about me” page to include some new content.  I highly encourage you to check them out.

Now, back to cleaning my office.

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Happy Holidays

I hope that you all have a safe and happy holiday this season.  May your burdens be light and your good fortune prolonged.

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December is for Reading

I’ve decided that December will be a month for reading. I have a stack of books purchased but neglected in favor of getting something written or edited. I’ve been so hyper focused on my writing that I can’t think of anything else to talk about with my friends. So I’ve banned myself from looking at any of my stories this month. I need some time to clear my mind; I need some mental floss if you will.

Reading is good for writing anyway. The best writers in the business tell you that it’s important to read as well. You can keep up on market trends, relax, see what is selling, etc. Consider it more research than recreation. I’ll be able to post up a couple of reviews, too, which I hope that you enjoy.

I will also be able to work on some knitting this month…

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Weekend Update: Novel Progress

I’m happy to say that I set myself a goal of hitting 90% complete on my edit of Stealing the Wolf Prince and I made it!  I’m sitting at 90.9% complete.  I believe that my goal of having the first edit done before the 1st of November is completely possible.  I am getting into an area of the novel that will have to be expanded by quite a bit so that will slow my progress in the coming weekends but I hope to maintain momentum.  If I can stay on track, I should be able to start the sequel in November for my NaNoWriMo entry this year.

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