Author: J.I. Soucie

Christian, wife, mom, and pet lover with a love and passion for reading and writing.
General Updates

Working On Projects for Friends

J.I. Soucie

Today I took a break from working on my own writing to work on some projects for a woman who is elderly, but seeking to live her dream as a writer. She doesn’t quite grasp the computer age, but she tries. Since I have more experience in the writing and published field as well as computers, I have decided to help her out.

I started writing her author biography today, but first I spent some time reading about writing a good author biography to see how things have changed since I last wrote mine several years ago wish some updates. I think I am going to have to change mine! An update is in order.

It is a chore to write your own author biography, but the real challenge comes when you write one for someone else. While I am working on putting a professional spin on her biography, I have sent her some interview questions that will help me to write her biography, as well as an interview article, and possibly help with writing the press release for her book The Rose Garden.

Then, I will be helping a friend post updates on his blog about his adventures into the world of developing apps. He is starting off with an Android App called OrganicGarden. He has a list of things he wants to talk about on his blog, so this will be more learning experience, but also a learning curve into the world of a computer engineer. Shall be enlightening! He hasn’t added anything to his blog in quite some time. I guess he hadn’t found what he really wanted to do yet.

So that is what I have been working on for today. I have made some progress. Not as much as I had hoped, but I am thankful for what I was able to get done. Now we’ll see what tomorrow will bring.

Voice4Society

Article Finished

J.I. Soucie

Tonight I finished my article titled “Grief Is Not The End” for Voice4Society. The article ended up being nine pages and over 5,400 words. Longer than I had expected, but that’s okay. That is one thing I like about writing is not knowing how long a story, article idea, etc. will keep you enticed so you will keep writing until you just know that moment when all is done.

I used the program eSword to help with my Biblical research for this article. It is a very valuable tool and not only helps me find the verses I am looking for, but it also has some great commentaries as well. I highly recommend it for anyone doing Biblical research and Bible study.

I will post a link to my article when I get word that it has been published. Please, stay tuned!

Tomorrow I will be working on fleshing out some notes that were given to me by the V4S staff, so it will be back to eSword and studying God’s word! Love this opportunity to learn and to teach! :)

 

Voice4Society

Article On Grief

J.I. Soucie

It has taking me a few days to come up with a new way to write this personal experience article on grief. I was thrown for a loop at the beginning on how to begin writing a personal experience piece, so I did some reading online and found some good references. One of the places was Writer On Line: http://www.writer-on-line.com/content/view/325/66/~Articles/Memoir/Turning-a-Personal-Experience-into-an-Article.html

Taking the advice from the above article, I was able to rewrite my article and now find my writing to be going more smoothly. I am finding it easier to stick to my topic and the article is going in direction I originally intended. Thank you, Kathryn Lay, for writing “Turning A Personal Experience Into An Article”.

It is great that other writers can help other writers learn new things and help each other branch out into other areas of writing. This keeps our writing muscles challenged and never bored.

Now I must get back to my article. God bless!

Voice4Society

Article for Voice4Society

J.I. Soucie

Okay so I have been working on this one article and have over 1000 words typed up, but wouldn’t you know it. Something already doesn’t feel right about it. I think I may have to go through it and do some reworking. My plan was to have this article done and submitted to Voice4Society by tomorrow evening, but I don’t think I am going to make the deadline I had planned. That doesn’t mean I am not going to try my darndest though. Sure as heck am!

I don’t usually work with outlines, but I think I may have to in this instance. When I am working on the article, I am not only typing up what I have written, but find that when I am typing, I am adding in things I hadn’t thought of previously, however, they may not be in the order I would like to talk about them. Hmm….

The next step, I think I will finish going through the motions of typing and adding in what comes to mind that pertains to the  piece I am working on. If it is one thing I have learned is not to rework something before you even have the rough draft. It totally interrupts the flow of creativity. Best to get everything down first and then go back and do some reworking.

I also need to come up with a title for this piece as well. It is about grief and I was intending to capture my experience with losing a parent while a teenager, however, there are other instances of grief and variances of grief that people feel when it is a parent, a sister, brother, aunt, uncle, cousin, grandparent, pet, etc. All of these have their own degree of pain and loss, depending on how close one is to their family, friends and pets.

Hmmm… my mind is going in a few directions now as I continue to type this blog entry. I see several ways I could go:

1) Personal experience article with loss of parent while I was a teenager

2) Personal experiences with losing pets

3) Personal experiences with losing a classmate

4) Personal experience with losing grandparents

5) Personal experience with losing a teacher/family friend

Okay… so this list can go a little further…..and these are all referring to loss and grief by way of death. It just occurred to me that there are other forms of grief as well such as school friends going off to college and losing touch, or parents divorcing, not being able to keep a pet due to allergies, etc. Grief takes many forms, more so than I had previously thought when beginning my article.

Huh….talk about so many ideas I am not sure which way to go for this one article. I will do some thinking and praying about this and will probably contact Voice4Society and see what they prefer right now. Won’t hurt to ask.

Well, guess it is off to get to work. Best of luck to all you writers out there! God bless!

General Updates

Last Notes for 2012

J.I. Soucie

I am sitting here in my warm bed thinking of the writing I had set out to accomplish this year but didn’t. I have to ask myself “why?” Truth is I really don’t have an answer. I wondered today if maybe I am not taking myself seriously as a writer and really sticking to what I told myself I would do. I try my hardest to keep my word to other people when I say I would do things for them so why not keep my word to myself as well?

Now, that I have decided I need to take myself more seriously, two questions have popped into my head and I really don’t know how to answer them. He are the questions:

1) should I publish my articles in magazines instead of on Yahoo Voices? And which way is more credible?

2) should I try traditionally publishing my books, or continue down the path of being and Indie author?
— I have published a few things through CreateSpace but I fear publishing more work for lack of professional editing which is so expensive I cannot afford it. I think I do pretty good on my own but editing is NOT my strong point, writing is. Gee, guess I am seeing a lack of confidence in the area of editing…at least I see potential for improvement in the coming year.

So there are the questions that plague my mind and I go back and forth over the pros and cons of each. I am so confused now with this mix of self publishing vs. commercial publishing I don’t know which to choose or which one is right for me. I don’t even know where to begin. I am left stumped and at a cross-roads, ready to pull my hair out and scream! It is so totally insane. I know no one can make this decision for me, but I am curious…how do you…meaning other published writers, determine which avenue to take your work? If you are an Indie author, how do you find the money for an editor, or do you hone the skills yourself and call it good?

Even with these questions in my mind, I have been working on my writing, an article on my experience with grief for the Voice4Society blog. Making great progress and I am working hard to have it done by the end of the week.

I have tons of ideas for writing, it is the publishing avenue that gets me. (Sighs) oh well. Must be time to get on my knees and talk talk to the Big Guy and see which way He would like me to go, the way that would be most beneficial to His will.

I will sign off for now, but I will be back in the New Year!

God bless!

Camp NaNoWriMo, General Updates, november nano

Holidays Are Here

J.I. Soucie

You have probably noticed I have not posted anything recently. No updates on my writing…. This doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing something here and there or at least thinking about my writing, but the holidays are here and it is that crazy time for buying gifts, wrapping gifts, making gifts…not to mention the cooking and baking involved and planning out what is going to be on the menu for dinner and dessert.

I have been quite busy planning our menu for Thanksgiving as well as ordering Christmas gifts, wrapping a few of them, and I still have to make some of the other Christmas gifts. The gifts I have to make are taking up most of my time, so my writing really has been pushed to the back burner.

I have tried to keep up with NaNo but this month seems to be the hardest for me. November just seems to busy. I tend to have better luck with the Camp NaNo months, but I know those aren’t taken as seriously by most as the November NaNoWriMos.

There really is no telling what next year will bring, if I’ll be participating in the NaNos or not. I predict it will be busy with house searching, however, my daughter starts pre school so that will give me some more time to sit and write and not feel so rushed. Still, everything is in God’s hands and we’ll shall see what happens. I’ll keep praying and remaining flexible to what God’s will is. I know that is important. We shall see what He has in store. Keep up the writing! God bless & an early Happy Thanksgiving!!

november nano

Seventh Day of NaNo

J.I. Soucie

Man oh man am I ever behind! I started out with one story for NaNo and then changed it a few days in. I erased the word count I had for that one story and started over with this new story.

Yeah, sure I could have kept my word count for the old story but I didn’t feel right about it and it felt unfair to others who are trying their best this month to write a novel.

I am working on a novel that is written as fiction, but is based on true events. I love stories like this and I hope my readers will to.

So right now we are supposed to have about what 12,000 words roughly…eesh! I think I am approaching the 2,000 word mark. Ugh! I really don’t know how I am going to make this one, but I am going to keep trying.

Hubby is putting the daughter to bed right now so I have a few minutes to write…I think…but I have popcorn calling my name with butter and parmesan cheese. Yummm!

Maybe a movie and popcorn will come first and then writing before I go to bed. Good thing I am a night owl! Easier to work after everyone is in bed and the house is quiet. I don’t like waiting that long though. I feel so rushed to catch up with everyone else, or at least to be “on schedule” it seems so overwhelming I just want to give up. I have only finished one NaNo so far even though I have competed in one November NaNao and three Camp NaNos. Rather disappointed but sometimes things happen that just aren’t in our control and you have to go with it. It’s a bummer, but worse when you feel defeated early on because you are so far behind, you wonder “why bother” but that is not the way to think about this. Best to be positive or the negativity will just eat you away and win over and you’ll never achieve anything. Yes, the “you” here is myself talking to me. Trying pump myself up and get myself on the right track, I guess.

Well, I should get going and get things rollin’.
Best of luck everyone!

november nano

New NaNo Story

J.I. Soucie

Well, I have started work on a new story for NaNo. It will be fantasy. I am runny far behind on being ready for NaNo to start, but that’s okay. I can still work on some development as I go.

Still need to come up with a title and some character names, but the final decisions will come later. Right now I may just throw some names in there as fillers.

I have the basic story idea about done. Then it will be developing the characters I am seeing carry out various actions to make this story work. Man, I am having dialogue coming to me and my story crying to be written. Oh, how am I going to be able to wait until Nov 1st to begin writing? It’s so hard!!!!

How are you fellow NaNoWriMos coming along with your story? Are you ready for the month long event? Do you plan on staying home and writing or getting out with other writers in your area? I haven’t fully decided what I am going to do. Will have to see if there are any meetings close to me.

Well, I know this isn’t much of an update this time. Hopefully, I’ll have more to say later. Best of luck and happy writing!

Janis

 

General Updates, november nano

Sci Fi Research On Hold, New Ideas

J.I. Soucie

My Sci Fi research is on hold. I’m not sure for how long. I am taking a writing course through Winghill Writing School and they say not to start writing in a genre you know nothing about. They say to write what you love to read about and for me, I love to read fantasy and historical fiction. So, I think that is the way I will go for now for writing for NaNo, but that is not to say I will never try my hand at Sci Fi. Oh, no. I love to watch it, but I need to spend some time researching the genre and reading Sci Fi to get a good feel for it. I just didn’t feel I could come up with a good Sci Fi story in just a couple of weeks of NaNo starting. It would be a forced story and not a good one.

So what am I working on for the November NaNo this year? That is a good question. I have had some ideas for nonfiction pieces I’ve been wanting to write and have written a rough draft several years ago, but have not published the book because it didn’t seem to work. I have been through the health trials of PTSD, gluten intolerance that when undiagnosed for so many years I developed allergies (food and environmental  and asthma. The thing is I have so MUCH information due to journal entries I get so overwhelmed and writing strictly nonfiction can bring back some of the emotions with those situations.

So my question to all the readers of nonfiction out there: Would you prefer a strictly nonfiction book on someone’s life experiences  or would you enjoy a fiction story that is “based on true life experiences”?

I feel personally that writing my experiences in a fictional setting would be easier emotionally for me, but what I really want to write is what my readers prefer to read.

I pray I get a LOT of response to this blog post. I really do want to know what readers prefer regarding this issue.

Thank you so much for you time.

Have a wonderful, blessed day!

Janis