1k-a-day Friday Giveaway Winner 2

As I posted yesterday and through the contest, we're giving a book away to a random winner each Friday. All you have to do is post your word count once throughout the week to be entered.

This week's book is Dull Boy by Sarah Cross. Here is the description again:

What do you do if you can deadlift a car, and you spend your nights flying to get away from it all? If you're fifteen-year-old Avery Pirzwick, you keep that information to yourself. When you're a former jock turned freak, you can't afford to let the secret slip.

But then Avery makes some friends who are as extraordinary as he is. He realizes they're more than just freaks—together, maybe they have a chance to be heroes. First, though, they have to decide whether to trust the mysterious Cherchette, a powerful wouldbe mentor whose remarkable generosity may come at a terrible price.

I used a random generated number site, listing each person in no particular order who posted their word count at least once. This week's winner of Dull Boy is:

Jennifer C.!!!!!!!!

Congrats Jennifer! Please email me at YAedge at yahoo dot com with your address and I'll mail it off.

For those who didn't win this week, don't worry. We still have tons of books to give away! We're only into week two! Thanks again to all who participated in week 1 of 1k-a-day!

1k-a-day Day 10

Tracy's Day 9 word count: 1109
SS current word count: 48 010
LI current word count:
WS current word count:

Great plan of attack for 1k-a-day, Tami! I'm plugging along scene after scene and adding whatever I can from my first draft of SS (of which the plot has drastically changed because of tweaks to UMS). Some of it is totally getting nixed, some I'm saving for book three, but a smidge is being worked into SS and blends well. Moral of the story...when writing a series what you change in one book will alter them all. It's just lovely. :)

Good luck for the Friday giveaway!


Tami's Day 9 word count: 1,406
Parlor current word count: 11,731
WD current word count:

Happy weekend everyone!

I'm sure you've probably noticed by now from my previous days, I've mentioned chapters as much as word counts. When writing a first draft, I don't care how sloppy I get, I just care about getting the story out and my word count if I'm doing a contest such as 1k-a-day or NaNoWrimo. Now that I'm working on the second draft of Parlor, word count is important because 1k-a-day, but my true concern is chapters. Each word I put down needs to be crisper than it was in the 1st draft, the story needs to flow with no holes large enough to jump into and get lost in. Each chapter, each scene needs to have a purpose and if it doesn't, throw it out. This is what I'm dealing with right now, and I've set my challenge to not only write 1k-a-day, I've also made sure that I'm knocking out a 2nd draft of at least one chapter per day. Currently, the first draft has 36 chapters. When we started 1k-a-day, a couple of those chapters were just notes, based on where I wanted the story to go, so I spent time filling those in. Now that every chapter has at least some form of the first take, I can focus on the issues. I hope to have all 36 chapters edited in a 2nd draft form by the end of 1k-a-day, so that my crit group can jump into it ASAP. Anyway, just thought I would share the way I'm going about 1k-a-day this year!

I will announce the winner of the second 1k-a-day book giveaway some time today on the blog and our Twitter feed! Good luck everyone!

1k-a-day Friday Giveaway 2

This week's 1k-a-day book up for grabs is Dull Boy by Sarah Cross. I loved this book because it was a fun read with a comic book feel, yet everyone can relate to the characters for being different. Below is the synopsis taken from bn.com:

What do you do if you can deadlift a car, and you spend your nights flying to get away from it all? If you're fifteen-year-old Avery Pirzwick, you keep that information to yourself. When you're a former jock turned freak, you can't afford to let the secret slip.

But then Avery makes some friends who are as extraordinary as he is. He realizes they're more than just freaks—together, maybe they have a chance to be heroes. First, though, they have to decide whether to trust the mysterious Cherchette, a powerful wouldbe mentor whose remarkable generosity may come at a terrible price.

To enter, comment in this post, or any post from last Friday leaving your word count by 9pm PDT today. Please remember, you must reside in the US/Canada to win the weekly prizes due to the cost of international shipping. The final contest for 1k-a-day, the prize pack will be opened to all participates. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments section of this post.

I will be announcing the winner some time tomorrow via the blog and Twitter. Thanks everyone and good luck!

1k-a-day Day 9

Day 8 word count: 2057
SS current word count: 46 901
LI current word count:
WS current word count:

I love Tami's idea of going to a café to write. During the school year (I work in an elementary school library) I usually trot over to Beantrees, our local java joint, for my lunch break and attempt to write. However, I live in small town. It's lunch time. People I know like coffee. And so I end up in conversations with friends and not much writing gets done. Now that I'm on summer vacation, I haven't tried heading to Beantrees early in the morning. Might just have to give it a go. Their chai lattés are to DIE for. ;)

Day 8 word count: 1,395
Parlor current word count: 10, 325
WD current word count:

Yesterday I decided to change it up a little. Instead of going to my favorite writing place, Panera for lunch, I woke up early, got ready and headed there for breakfast. Not only was it cheaper, I had a choice of seating and all was quiet for the most part. I finished editing the last chapter of the book (for now), which I started yesterday, as well as work on editing/rewriting another chapter. It's going good overall. My characters' voices are much stronger toward the end of the book (which means sense for a first draft), but I am not trying to get that same personality into the rest of the story. The great thing about working on edits/rewrites for 1k-a-day is not having to stare at a blank page for too long. It's more working with pieces I have and trying to add to them and improve. It's a little less stressful when writer's block starts to creep in.

I'll be posting which book is up for grabs this week a little later today! Please make sure to get a word count in for the week if you haven't done so! I will be including anyone in the drawing that has posted a word count from last Friday to today at 9pm PDT! GOOD LUCK!

1k-a-day Day 8

Day 7 word count: 1487
SS current word count: 44 844
LI current word count:
WS current word count:



Day 8 - wow, that went fast. I'm still mifted that I haven't touched on my two other WIPs, but I have a feeling I'll crunch some words for them in the last week (I'm motivated by deadlines). It's great having others with us for the journey, I do enjoy hearing how our writer buds are doing. No one really gets this crazy writer's life, save other crazy writers. ;)



Good luck today! May your muse be with you. (Man, that was lame...lol....)

Day 7 word count: 2,161
Parlor current word count: 8,930
WD current word count:

Happy new 1k-a-day week! We've now been at it a full 7 days and are on to our 8th. Still feeling confident and happy? I hope so! Keep going everyone.

I still haven't touched WD during 1k-a-day, but I don't mind since that's my fallback if I get stuck on Parlor. Things are going pretty good. Today's word count looks a little bigger than it should because in my edits/rewrites, areas are pasted from the old chapter. I figured I'd include them since I really have no way of separating them out and I'm well over the 1k.

Back to our little discussion the past few days about reading to learn how to write. I think it's important for every writer to dissect as many books as possible. Sometimes it helps if the book is the same genre as the one you're writing, but other times I find that something completely different is even more of a help. I think I learn the most from looking at point of view and how each author handles it. For example, Parlor is written in 3rd person, which I have trouble with. I find that I get stuck in telling, like I mentioned yesterday. It's more difficult for me to add that extra spark to a character, to really get in their head. Reading other 3rd person POV books that I love helps me understand what goes into making 3rd person as strong a voice as 1st.

Does anyone else do the same other than Tracy and I?

1k-a-day Day 7

Day 6 word count: 2668
SS current word count: 43 357
LI current word count:
WS current word count:

Yesterday was a pretty smooth writing day for me. But I wanted to expand on something Tami mentioned in a previous post. She noted that she reads sections from her favourite books and analyses what the author did to discover what worked and hope to build similar skills in terms of her own writing style. I do this as well. In fact, I have a stack of books at the ready, one per work in progress, each with related fiction and non-fiction titles. For example, when I'm working through a fight scene, I'll skim through a few military history books, or if I'm aiming for high emotion between characters, I might re-read a moving scene from a current favourite. Am I stealing scenes? Stealing plot? Nope. I'm learning my craft, simply by reading - though at this point I don't read for mere enjoyment, I'm studying the author's pacing, use of tension, sense of immediacy, or distance.

Anyway - I was happy to know I'm not the only one who does this. I think I learned grammar from skimming books, thinking - how did _insert author name here_ punctuate a similar sentence? ;)

Happy writing this week!

Day 6 word count: 1,498
Parlor current word count: 6,769
WD current word count: 5993

Today is the end of the first week of 1k-a-day. I hope everyone participating has found that the first week wasn't as hard as you thought, yet the challenge has pushed you to write words that you wouldn't have written the past seven days. The first week of 1k-a-day has inspired me to make my book better. To find true voices for my characters and to take them on journeys I never dreamed could work within my plot.

I struggled through the holiday weekend, to find myself up bright and early on Tuesday looking forward to a day of writing, editing and researching. I did just that. Yesterday I completed all that I wanted to, I edited one and a half chapters, deleting words while still hitting beyond the 1,000 needed and read the first few pages of some of my favorite third person YA stories, trying to pull some of the magic out that I spoke of yesterday.

Keep working hard everyone. Remember, there will be a great YA book up for grabs on Friday for those of you who post your word counts so far. Good luck on finishing the first week off with a bang for day 7.

1k-a-day Day 6

Tracy's Day 5 word count: 1599
SS current word count: 40 689
LI current word count:
WS current word count:

Tami's back in the game and I'm still struggling, but determined to hit my stride. I've stuck with SS and haven't had the umph to write for my other projects - so far. I'm hoping today will change that. I slept in. (NEVER do) I've been hanging out with friends and soaking in sunshine. The remaining tension from the school year is starting to slip away and I'm embracing summer mode. There's creative energy in the air...let's get to work!


Tami's Day 5 word count: 1,416
Parlor current word count: 5,271
WD current word count:

I'm back in the game which makes me happy. It wasn't a great writing day yesterday, but it did the job. I hope to really hit re-writes and edits hard the rest of the week now that I'm back in my normal routine (i.e. my husband is back at work today after a four day weekend). Today will be busy. I hope to re-write at least one chapter, edit one chapter and then read the first chapters of a few of my favorite YA books to see how they have the extra zing. Right now, I feel as if I'm telling the story, not showing as much as I'd like. I need a little magic dust to make it pretty, so if you know where I can get some, please share! ;)

We're almost through our first full week of 1k-a-day! The word counts are climbing and everyone seems positive! Great job so far!

1k-a-day Day 5

Tracy's Day 4 word count: 2345
SS current word count: 39 099
LI current word count:
WS current word count:

Day 4 had me ploughing through my 1k and on to another. I think the anticipation of going to see an afternoon showing of Eclipse kept me going until my friends picked me up (because you can't go to a Twilight film without your pack). Anyway, the film rocked....and so did my writing day. The only pill in the jam revealed itself when I settled in my lazyboy for some True Blood action and discovered July 4th had created a repeat episode. And after that whopper of an ending last week! But one can't be too upset - a rerun of TB is still badass.

Good luck with Day 5 - whoopa, our first week is almost over!

Day 4 word count: 412
Parlor current word count: 3,855
WD current word count: 5,993

Not exactly my idea of a good writing day, but I was able to sit down and do something in the morning before we headed out for 4th of July festivities. I hope to catch up a little bit today, adding a little more than 1k to bring myself up to the 5,000 I should be at for the end of day.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. I know I did. I started the day off with a good breakfast, then headed to the neighborhood party where they were giving out free ice cream. I couldn't pass that up, and then couldn't go home without having a shaved ice, topping it off with the rest of my cotton candy from the fair. Needless to say, I had my threshold of sugar for the weekend. We ended the night with ribs from the Crock Pot and a fire on our back deck. Not too shabby!

Happy Monday!

1k-a-day Day 4

Tracy's Day 3 word count: zippo
SS current word count: 36 754
LI current word count:
WS current word count:

Well, yesterday was a bust. I decided to get all obsessy over my new website and didn't get in any writing for my 1k-a-day projects. I did, however, write content for various sections of the site, answer a few blogger interview questions and THINK about my twisted plot in Second Skin. Soooooo.....while I failed on the 1k aspect, my day was still productive. I'll make up for it over the next few hours. Hopefully.

Yes - happy July 4th! I'm going to celebrate via a matinee show of Eclipse and stuff my face with popcorn. I have five hours before showtime. I best get writing....


Tami's Day 3 word count: 1,062
Parlor current word count: 3,443
WD current word count: 5,993

First I must say to all of our US YAedgers, HAPPY 4th of JULY! Try to get a few words in today, but don't stress too much. You can always fit in a few extra words later in the week. Please make sure to stay safe and have a great time. :)

Yesterday I decided to split up my writing so that I didn't wait until the last moment. The first 500 words came pretty easily as I decided to work on a chapter that I had skipped the first time around. I knew where I wanted to go loosely, so it wasn't flying by the seat of my pants. The second half of my word count was a little harder as the day was winding down and I was sipping a margarita. I know when I get to the point of re-writes, I will have to tweak the chapter a little bit, but I'm happy to have the hole filled.