revising, rom-com, writing

The One With The Love List…

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What is a love list? Honestly, you could do a love list for a whole lot of different things, but this one is about my manuscript. 🙂

Once upon a time, YA Highway (remember, YA Highway?)’s prompt for Road Trip Wednesday was: “What’s on your Work-in-Progress Love List?”

It was a summer day, forever ago (on August 22nd, 2012), when writers around the globe shared their love lists for their own manuscript. I did, too. Even if I did apparently forget.

Full disclosure: I actually remembered Katy Upperman’s love lists (for KISSING MAX HOLDEN which was then called CROSS MY HEART and another book which is full of hearbreak and emotions), which is how I found my way back to Googling YA Highway RTW Love List, re-read Dahlia Adler’s Love List for her manuscript which popped up in my Google search, and then re-found my own from August 2012.

That YA Highway Road Trip Wednesday prompt was based on a guest post by contemporary young adult author  Stephanie Perkins’ for author Natalie Whipple’s blog.

Whenever I begin a new project, I also begin a list called “What I Love About This Story.” I start by writing down those first ideas that sparked the fires of my mind, and then I add more ideas as I discover them during my push through early drafts. I use this list as a touchstone to remind myself during the hard times why my story is worthwhile. It’s easy to forget the GOOD STUFF when I’m wading through the muck, and the end is still months away, and it feels pointless and hopeless to continue. This list becomes a crucial reminder: Yes! This is a story worth telling! 

And as I’m about to go back into finishing drafting/revising my current work-in-progress, I feel like writing down this manuscript’s love list (in addition to my Pinterest board) will be helpful.

This is my first adult rom-com and I’ve only been sharing snippets of it with my critique partners.

So, here we go.

💕Love List 💕

Second chance romance.
Bucket Lists.
Lace. And tule. And wedding dresses.
Vintage clothing.
Old Bay.
Swans’ Cove.
Maryland Eastern Shore Little Town.
Holiday season.
Laughter.
Animal shelter.
Hockey.
Therapy.
Ice rink.
Self-confidence.
Therapy.
Friendships.
Giggles.
The sweet smell of cinammon apple pie baking in the oven.
The flavor of Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon.
The sound of the waves.
Family dinners.
Support.
Chemistry.
Scenes full of sexy moments…including sizzling sexy moments and laughing sexy moments and full-of-emotions sexy moments.
and so much more ;-)…

Do you have a love list for your manuscript? Or maybe for your job? Or your day? Don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments. 🙂

Oh, and if you’d like to help me raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and #LightTheNight, please check out this link.

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If you’d like to receive updates about my books and get exclusive access to bonus content, don’t hesitate to susbscribe to my newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/elodienowodazkij/website .

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revising, Road Trip Wednesday, writing

My Love List….

Today is Road Trip Wednesday 🙂 RTW is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This week’s topic: Inspired by Stephanie Perkins’ post on Natalie Whipple’s blog, what is your novel’s “Love List”?

Whenever Stephanie Perkins starts a new project, she creates a list called “What I Love About This Story.” You really should check out her post! (plus you know it’s Stephanie Perkins :D)

I love this! Love it! Which is good for a love list, right?

Please bear with my ramblings as I only had a few hours of sleep. I attended the 10 queries in 10 tweets webinar by Sara Megibow (and due to the time zone difference, I got up at 2am) While my query got a pass, she did say the concept was strong and gave me pointers how to better it.

So exciting! (especially as this doesn’t count as a rejection)

Anyways…

grace in winter 2
Uploaded by Ekabhishek (Wikicommons)

ONE TWO THREE has been pretty much consuming my time, and my thoughts. Husband can testify to this, right hubby? And my wonderful beta readers as well as my critique partner extraordinaire probably nod their heads as I’ve been sending them emails 😀

And it’s important to remember why I love the story. So here is my love list. And it doesn’t even include my characters. Really, I love my characters.

  • Friendship
  • Love
  • Shoulders
  • Ballet
  • Arabesque
  • Plié
  • Chopin
  • Piano
  • Soccer
  • Kisses
  • First times
  • Tequila
  • Family
  • Grief
  • Field
  • Tutu
  • Disney
  • Restaurant
  • Piano
  • Car
  • Arrogant
  • Funny
  • Charismatic
  • Salsa
  • New York
  • Pelmini

Now, tell me what comes on your love list?