My CRAP

Don't you hate it when the answer to "What have you been up to lately?" is "Busy"? I mean, it's not an actual answer to the posed question. But, sometimes, that's the only thing you can say. Honestly, what else do you say? "I've been living my life, which seems to have more components to it than I recalled."

(Before I get too far into this post....Happy Valentine's Day! Or Happy Singles Awareness Day! Whatever you feel like going for.)

It's been a while since I've posted here. But I love this blog and think I have awesome co-bloggers who do what they can to keep up the good work. Me? I'm a slacker when I lose interest in something, even if it's just a little. (If someone wants to say this isn't a part of my ADHD, I'd be curious to know what it is so I can get some help with that.)

 One thing I am sure I haven't had enough time for lately is writing. Whether its my current WIP or blog posts or an email, it feels like I just don't have enough time to write much. And my goal this year is to get this WIP finished and submitted and I have no idea if I can. But I do know I can accomplish something this year.

Thankfully, last year at an PEG writing workshop, I was placed in a group led by Annette Lyon. With me were three awesome women: Jessica, Betsy, and Karen. We ended up talking about creating our own critique group and exchanging email accounts. At first, I didn't think this was gonna stick, that it'd phase out. Especially when we weren't able to meet for another 2 months due to a new baby and a surgery (two different people).

But when we finally met, the same fun chemistry that was present in our workshop returned. We all have the same goal to be published and each of us have different strengths. Apparently, I can end a chapter in that "duh, duh, duhnnnn..." (and can be a grammar Nazi.)

I bet you're wondering why this post is called "My CRAP", aren't ya? (Pretend you are anyway.) CRAP is an acronym (it is not an abbreviation nor is it a monogram) for Creative Rockstar Author People. I didn't come up with the name. I was sick during that meeting. They're probably happy I was....actually, I probably would've agreed.

The thing that's nice is we've started to meet more regularly. This means I have to have a chapter ready every 2-3 weeks. This forces me to write the next chapter in a book that I don't know exactly where it's going (kinda do, but hey, I'm a discovery writer, not an outliner.) But really, this goal of having a chapter each meeting means that I am moving forward in my story and I am doing so without worrying about the book being done.

This gives me a pace that is good for me because I really don't have time to sit and write 50k in a couple months, much less one month. I think it's awesome for whoever can do that. Given my life right now, I can't. I'm tired of hearing "you can do it if you put your mind to it." Sure, I'll do that if you complete my budget files that have to be done in that month. :)

What was this post about? Critique groups? Anyway, a critique group is a great thing in my mind. It took me a few years and a few tries to get this one to stick. (Although, I have had others that I enjoyed working with, our schedules just never worked.)

So, what I'm saying is, if you can get a good critique group going, I recommend it. If you can find good authors to help you improve in places where you're lacking, I highly recommend it. But fyi, hands off my CRAP.

Alien abductions are involuntary, but probings are scheduled.