Monday, April 28, 2014

Xesturgy Writing ~ A to Z Challenge

My A to Z Challenge. 
What I'm doing: OFF the CUFF ~ Basically, I'll be keeping posts short and writing about whatever moves me~themes, inspirations, causes, and silliness. I'll stick to my normal posting of Mondays & Wednesdays (possibly an occasional other day), highlighting the appropriate letter for said day. But I will visit blogs throughout the week. I am looking forward to reading your words!

Xesturgy is the process of polishing, which will be applied to the act of writing for my purposes, today. NA Author Stina Lindenblatt has tagged me in this blog tour, where I'm to share my method for generating ideas, mapping out those ideas, and eventually writing those ideas down. Her first new adult contemporary romance, TELL ME WHEN, is available from Carina Press (Harlequin imprint). LET ME KNOW will be available from Carina Press on September 1st, 2014. Make sure to check them out!


My Writing Process:

What am I working on now?
I'm currently applying my critique partner's suggestions/notes to the fourth draft of my middle grade novel entitled MOTLEY EDUCATION: The Urd Saga. For the most part, the manuscript is ready to send to my agent. But I've decided to revamp the opening to the book and fix one character's purpose in the story. Of course, I still have to check for overly used words and such.

How does my book differ from others within its genre?
Motley Ed is set in a world much like our own, but the middle school is for students who hold psychic abilities as well as those who've adopted New Age beliefs such as being close to nature and the stars. Eventually, the story drifts to places and characters found in Norse Mythology, but written with a steampunk edge. My main character is a mystic/medium and her best friend manipulates matter. Neither are very good at what they do. Yet. ;-)

Why do I write what I do?

My first thought to this question is that I'm still a kid at heart. I have four children, so I've been blessed with see life at all stages through them, again. For me, the tween and teen years pose so many amazing challenges that can be explored from multiple angles. LUV that! I will never tire of spotlighting issues, desires, fears, hopes, and aspirations of this age group. The more I write for them, the more I learn about myself and the world in all its revolving changes.

How does my writing process work? 
Usually something inspires me. It could be a character's facial expression during a movie, the setting from a book I'm reading, something that happened in my local town, or an average day with my kids. Then I come up with a starting point, a middle problem, and then an ending. From their, I get to know my characters, and then ask myself questions about how they'd react to this or that in the particular story I'm working on. Some of this gets blotted into an outline, while some snippets end up on note cards. Guess you could say my Xesturgy process is a bit scattered. But eventually, I do make it shine.


What's your writing process like?

Continue following the process of writing tour and see how others hammer out their stories.

NEXT UP ON TOUR: Crystal Collier, Kristin Smith, & Eliza Tilton.



 photo Sheri2.png

24 comments:

  1. I have no idea! My writing process seems to be constantly changing.

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  2. Ooh, your middle grade story sounds so good. Fingers crossed for. And loved learning about your writing process.

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  3. Yay for being a kid at heart. It's so much more fun that way. :)

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  4. I think the fact that you're a kid at heart is definitely why you write MG/YA character voice so well. Of course, it helps to have a gaggle of real teens to eavesdrop on too!

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  5. Loved this post. I get the story hashed out in my head first then get it down on in words. Voice gets tweaked right to the very end. I change my first page the most. It takes a while to get it just right. Yes, being around the age group you write for is a tremendous help.

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  6. Aww, thanks for tagging me!! I feel honored! :) So, how does this work? Do I post it when I get a chance (once A to Z is over?)

    Loved reading about your writing process! It's so great that you are able to draw inspiration from seeing your children at various stages in their life.

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  7. Sherry, I love your process, and thank you for tagging me--although I have to admit my heart skipped a beat when I saw my name at the end. I started frantically flipping through my calendar trying to figure out if I signed up for something and forgot...before my brain caught up. Whew! This A to Z thing can totally fry your brain, eh?

    True Heroes from A to Z

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  8. What a great post. I enjoyed reading it. I always find it interesting to read about the writing process of other writers.
    Deb@ http://debioneille.blogspot.com

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  9. Great word! I'm doing the writing process blog hop - and you stole Eliza from me!
    Marlene at On Writing and Riding

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  10. I'm adopting this word. Seems as if we're both blogging about the same thing today! How about that? Enjoyed reading your post and look forward to seeing that MG book. Sound delicious.

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  11. I had no idea Xesturgy meant polishing. Now I have a new word for when I'm revising my work. ;)

    Being a kid at heart is the best way to be!

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  12. What a great word! And really, being a kid at heart is the way to go, isn't it? :-)

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  13. Must say that's a word I've never heard before! Your book sounds cool. And I'm glad to hear you're still a kid inside. :)

    My writing process is pretty scattered too. The more I write, the more I realize I need to learn.

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  14. My process differs from book to book actually!
    Loved hearing your process! Motley Education sounds so cool!!

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    1. That's cool your process changes from book to book. If I think about it more, I guess my does a little. It definitely differs when I write a picture book. For those, I tend to find a lesson in life and then dream up a story or let an idea I've had take form.

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  15. Very cool process. Mine usually starts with a spark of emotion :)

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  16. I hope things go well w/Motley Education(fantastic title, btw!).

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  17. No wonder you look so young. You're a kid at heart.

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  18. Cool title! My process usually begins with an idea that I let rattle around in my head until it starts to expand into a premise I can't stop thinking about. Then I write.

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    1. Gosh, that was a fantastic sentence you created to explain your method. I'm mentally jotting that down now.

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  19. I agree that the types of things that end up being huge inspirations can come from all kinds of random places like a person's expression or a line of overheard dialog.

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  20. That's a new word for me, Sherri. Thanks for inviting us to peek into your process. Maria, Delight Directed Living

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