A Breath of Spring Air.


It’s my favourite time of the year once again!  Spring is in the air, and there is a definite bounce in my step.

The season has gone off with a terrific start.  Signing up for the Writers’ Platform-Building Campaign has proved rather hectic with all the groups I have signed up for, but it has been fun meeting a whole bunch of wonderful writers I would never have met otherwise.  Thank you to all my fellow campaigners who have stopped by here to introduce themselves and/or subscribed to my blog.  Throughout the campaign, I aim to visit each and everyone of you, comment (although I find this difficult with some blogs I visit), and subscribe.  I would have to admit, visiting some of these other blogs has made me feel a bit of an amateur!  Because of the season and the inspiration I am getting from other campaigners, I’ve even changed the look of my blog/website.

For the past couple of weeks I have made some progress with the re-writes/edits of my first YA novel, Deception.  I was having difficulties with getting the voice right for one of my main protagonists, but with some tweaking, I think I’ve got it now.  I have managed to add about another 6,000 words during that time.  When I eventually finish with these re-writes, I hope to find some critique partners/beta readers.  If I recall, Rachael Harrie has mentioned something about this on her blog, so maybe I could be critiquing with some of you. 🙂

As always, with the arrival of spring, I go over my progress for the past twelve months and re-assess my goals.  I have plenty of ideas for novels and short stories (what’s writer’s block again?) and I have three complete novels to re-write/edit; my problem, as always is juggling my time.  I need to get my priorities right and make some sacrifices, but I’ll talk about that next week.

How has your writing been going lately – have you made good progress?

Image by Debbie Johansson.

20 thoughts on “A Breath of Spring Air.

  1. Hi Debbie, I’m a Campaigner too, finally stopping by! Thanks for linking me in your blogroll! I’ll get around to linking you soon ;). You must be in the southern hemisphere, because it’s totally turning into autumn up here 😛

    Ah, writing . . . it’s been non-existent this week. I thought I was going to be able to get an entry ready for the next round of Writers of the Future, but life has gotten in the way this month. Now I’m planning for the January round of it, as well as gearing up for NaNoWriMo!

    Good luck with your edits!

    1. Debbie Johansson 05/09/2011 — 11:12 pm

      Hi Rebekah. Good to see you. I’m an Aussie (maybe I should write that on my blog somewhere), and we’ve had a pretty cold winter. I tend to hibernate, which is why I love spring so much!

      I haven’t heard of Writers of the Future, but I’ve done NaNoWriMo a couple of times. I’ve haven’t gone over whatever it was I wrote, but I think I managed to get a couple of good ideas up and ready for further planning and research. Best of luck with your writing and I look forward to seeing more of you.

  2. Hello there! Fellow Short Story Campaigner here!

    My writing has been slow lately, on all counts. My writing, my rewriting, my critiquing… I’m looking to pick everything back up again (obviously) and joining the Campaign, I think is going to motivate me more. =)

    1. Debbie Johansson 05/09/2011 — 11:18 pm

      Hi S.C, thanks for stopping by. It’s a pleasure to meet another short story campaigner. I hope you find plenty of motivation throughout the campaign – I know it’s certainly helping me and I’m finding everyone a very friendly bunch of people. Best of luck with your writing! 🙂

  3. I love this blog design. I had it for my writer’s blog (the one I use to collect all my writing stuff) for a few months, but switched because some of my widgets didn’t lay out well. It looks beautiful on yours–makes me want it back.

    I’m in the thriller Campaign group–nice to meet you!

    1. Debbie Johansson 06/09/2011 — 1:55 am

      Hi Jacqui – pleased to meet you! Thanks for stopping by and I’m glad you like my ‘new look’ blog. I’m slowly working my way to visiting everyone in my groups, so it’s great to see another thriller campaigner. I look forward to getting to know you. 🙂

  4. Hi Debbie, spring is an excellent time to look everything over. I’m thinking I should maybe assess every spring and fall. Both are crazy seasons, though, transition in more ways than one. Good luck with everything!

    1. Debbie Johansson 06/09/2011 — 4:06 am

      Hi Shannon. Thanks for stopping by. I’m still working my way around the blogosphere!

      I tend to assess everything at the beginning of each spring, rather than undertaking new year resolutions. I think it makes more sense and they last that much longer! Best of luck to you too. 🙂

  5. Hi fellow campaigner. Congrats on your progress. Getting the voice right is one of the hardest things to do.

    1. Debbie Johansson 10/09/2011 — 12:33 pm

      Hi Linda. It took me a few years, but I think I’ve finally manged to get my protagonists voice right. Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to seeing more of you during the campaign.

  6. Hey Debbie! Thanks for stopping by. Life has ben crazytown lately, but I too hope to visit all the campaigners soon. 🙂

    My writing is at a standstill. I have a project that needs a serious front end revision and another that I just finished a rough draft of. Lots of exciting work ahead…just have to find time to do it.

    1. Debbie Johansson 10/09/2011 — 12:42 pm

      Hi Alison. Thanks for stopping by and posting. Best of luck with your re-writes and visiting all the other campaigners – a busy but fun time! 🙂

  7. Spring has Sprung Debbie and I am LOVING IT! Today was just delightful (even though as I type this I am watching the lightning out over the water and listening to the rain on the roof – but still that makes it seem more like summer anyway!)

    I have been a bit slack on the Writer Campaign front – I need to get a move on a check out more blogs but with ROW80 still going and my prep for NaNoWriMo I just don’t seem to have much time!

    Oh and my writing is going great! I broke 50K on my WIP yesterday and added another 1K today! All in all the first draft should be done in time for me to have a good week or so off before NaNoWriMo starts *sigh*

    1. Debbie Johansson 10/09/2011 — 12:47 pm

      Hi Jody. I’m impressed with your writing efforts – well done! I always find this time of year to be a great motivator. Best of luck with NaNoWriMo this year. I’ve done it twice and will be giving it a break this year as I desperately need to re-write those two attempts. Looking forward to seeing more of you throughout the campaign.

  8. Hi! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I liked having you on the intro post. I wrote back there, but I wanted to know if you’d heard the John Wayne Gacy song? CREEEEPY, but pretty sounding lol. Also, Deception is a very cool YA title. Best of luck with it!

    1. Debbie Johansson 10/09/2011 — 12:55 pm

      Hi Kelley. A John Wayne Gacy song? I didn’t know there was one, but now that I do, you’ve given me the creeps just thinking about it! 😉 I’m glad you like the sound of the title Deception for my YA novel – I think it’s suitable, but hopefully not too obvious (if that makes any sense). I think I’ve sat on it long enough and when the re-writes and critiquing is done, I aim to send it off. Thanks for the luck – I may be needing it!

  9. Your new page is definitely “Spring-y” and it is very nice. I have been writing like a mad fool lately, I have so much pouring out of me – I’m having to choose between sleep and writing! Can you guess which one is winning? 😉

    1. Debbie Johansson 10/09/2011 — 1:08 pm

      Hi Heather, good to see you again. Funny how people can talk in their sleep, and walk in their sleep, why not write in their sleep? I know it would certainly make my life easier! 😉

  10. Hi Debbie–I’m in your thriller-suspense campaign. I’m new to blogging so I’m picking up some great ideas from other campaigner’s sites. I’m having troubling with fitting writing in too–looking forward to your blog on priorities!

    1. Debbie Johansson 10/09/2011 — 12:59 pm

      Hi Tess. It’s a pleasure meeting you. I’m enjoying visiting the sites of other campaigners – it’s certainly giving me plenty to think about. My post on priorities is based on what has worked for me – I hope they’ll be of help to you too. 🙂 I look forward to seeing more of you during the campaign.

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