IWSG & Writing Goals

by Jemi Fraser

Welcome to another fabulous IWSG day! Thanks to the amazing Alex J. Cavanaugh and his merry band of delightful minions and clones, we have a day where we can support and encourage each other as we travel this fascinating journey of publication.

Check out the list of other IWSG writers here and find some new friends to visit this month!

July's question: What are your ultimate writing goals, and how have they changed over time (if at all)?

My writing goals have definitely changed over time.

1st Level Goal: Write for fun! (= 2 or 3 drafts)

2nd Level Goals: Meet other writers and learn things (= AgentQueryConnect.com, incredible crit buddies, and the realization that I knew nothing!!)

3rd Level Goals: Learn more things & write a draft that someone else might want to read (= learned the rudiments of editing, social media, & more drafts ... I can first draft forever!!!)

4th Level Goals: Learn more things, polish a story, & query (= sent out a few queries, some full requests, excellent feedback, learned more about pacing & conflict)

5th Level Goals: Learn more things, learn to plot (= so much angst over plotting!!!, several more drafts)

6th Level Goals: Learn more things, take some risks (= enter a #Pitchwars contest where I made awesome new friends & got excellent feedback, enter a IWSG contest and got a story chosen for the Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime anthology!)

7th Level Goals: Learn more things, take more risks, finish a good draft using an outline, write more short stories, get my stories ready to head out into the world, consider querying & self-publishing 

And that's where I am today. Still learning, still growing, still risking, still thinking about publishing paths, and (most importantly) still having fun writing!

How about you? Have your goals evolved with time? Doesn't it feel great when you achieve a goal? (I know I'm still Happy Dancing over UNTIL RELEASE being out and about in the world!)

Just Jemi

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Until Release & The Villainous POV

by Jemi Fraser

I like to think I'm a pretty good person overall.
I take care of my family, I work hard at my job.
I even share my chocolate stash...well, most of the time.

So, why is it so much fun to write from the point of view of a villain?

I believe in law and order.
I pay my taxes and donate to charity.
I have no secret desire to cause murder or mayhem.

But, boy is it fun to write as if I did!

Creating a character who is a little twisted,
who plots and plans to destroy another
and who really is a nasty piece of work
is a whole lot of fun!

The characters in Until Release are a varied lot
They're (mostly) not all good or all evil
They're (mostly) just human beings
Which means they're an interesting mix of both

So, I think it's okay to enjoy
playing Voldemort
as long as it's just playing

Because as Miss Congeniality says, ...

World Peace GIF from Worldpeace GIFs

How about you? Do like reading/writing the villain's point of view?
Do you share your chocolate stash?

Just Jemi

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Until Release

by Jemi Fraser

Back in September, I posted this on Facebook...

3500 words
7 different pov characters
1st attempt at a short
Genre I don't normally write
What could possibly go wrong...?
#amwriting

The Theme for the newest IWSG anthology had intrigued me.

Theme: Tick Tock. The story revolves around a clock, is time sensitive, or has something about a specific time. 

The prompt for the contest had my brain ticking (pun intended!). I saw a clock counting down, but counting down to what?

The first character to pop into my head was a grieving mother. Then the man who caused the grieving.

This man was being released early from prison, for good behaviour.

Other characters popped in until I ended up with 8 points of view in the story. I'm used to juggling 2 points of view and am comfortable with both male and female viewpoints. But 8? Yeah, I thought I was nuts, too. And, yes, another character clamoured to be added after my FB post above.

Added to the mess, none of the characters came with names, but they did come with evil intentions.

I had so much fun writing the first draft! And the fun increased with each revision round.

First up in the story is Ashley...

It proved impossible to paint nail polish neatly while imagining her fingers wrapped around that throat.  Squeezing until the pulse ceased to beat and the life was gone.

Like her Matt’s life.

Gone.

Four years, three months, and thirteen days gone. Less than five years to pay for the death of her son. Snuffed out at nineteen. Run down like he meant nothing.

It wasn’t enough.

Walker had to pay like her Matt had paid.

Ashley took a deep breath followed by three more. Then picked up the polish with a steady hand.

I hope you'll be picking up a copy of Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime when it's released! And don't forget to add us to your list on Goodreads! Join us on Facebook too!

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Just Jemi

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