A person overwhelmed by cardboard boxes during a home move, symbolizing stress and relocation.
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Moving & WIP Update

ByR. William Parmenter Reading Time: 4 minutes

The Move

I don’t have a poem or prose prepared for this week because I am focused on our upcoming move from Arizona to Michigan. The days have been spent sorting and packing and sorting and packing and — yeah. Moving to a new location is one of those things that I love and hate at the same time. On the one hand, it is exciting to leave a place I’ve never really connected with and go back to a place I love. On the other hand, it is so much work! Not to mention, leaving some family members and friends is also very hard.

I’m writing this ahead of time. So, as you read this, we will already be on our way somewhere between Amarillo, TX and Tulsa, OK! It’ll take us a few days especially because I cannot handle long, eight+ hour drives like I could in my twenties. The ol’ hip and knees can’t take it. The kids aren’t too keen on long drives, either. Although, they are excited to move and adventure around my home state. They’re also excited to meet with the rest of the family members and make new friends.

WIP Update

Even though I don’t have a poem or anything prepared for the blog, I have been able to squeeze in some words on my cozy mystery! Currently, I am a little over 20,000 words. This is the furthest I have gone writing a book, ever. I probably have thousands of words in research and planning toward other projects, but this is the most forward progress I have ever made in a book! It feels great, and I love seeing the progress.

If you’re wondering what is different and why I’m making so much progress with this book, I owe it to learning how to plot! In the past, I was a pantser. For those who don’t know, a pantser is someone who writes by the seat of their pants. Basically, pantsers write whatever comes to them and enjoy the surprises that come along. They may plan a little, but it isn’t a full on plot.

I used to write like that. But no longer!

With the cozy mystery, I decided to try plotting. As an ADHD writer, I had to do something because pantsing has not been working for me. So, I learned to plot because I figured I needed a sort of roadmap. It has been a game changer for me! It has allowed me to make significant forward progress and see the road ahead.

However, I’m not making the plot so rigid that I must write it as I made it. I’m allowing for deviations, detours, and side trips. I’m allowing myself to still be surprised and make slight adjustments as needed, but the overall plot structure is still there to help me stay on track. It has been an amazing change and will see me through to a finished book!

The other helpful thing is that cozy mysteries have a structured format. Having the structured format is also helping me to stay on track. It is almost like having instructions or a recipe. They’re not rigid rules, but if you deviate too far from them, then you no longer have a cozy mystery.

National Poetry Month

Today is the start of National Poetry Month! I decided to celebrate by discounting my eBook to $1.99 and my print book to $9.99.

Further, I am participating in PoetryPalooza! From April 12 – 14, my books will have a deeper discount along with many other amazing poets with eBooks for $0.99 – $1.99 and various print book discounts.

Also, sign up for event reminders (here: https://www.vwpublishing.com/poetrypalooza) for your chance to win a $15 Bookshop.org gift card! Signing up for the reminder = 1 free entry into the giveaway! Full giveaway terms here. Giveaway ends April 14th at 11:59pm (all entries need to be submitted by then). Winner will be reached out to around April 16th.

Until Next Time

That’s all I have for this week. Next week, I will share a couple of poems from my book, Between The Dark and The Light, since it will be the four-month anniversary of when I published it. I’m sharing two because I forgot to share one at the three-month mark!

As always, thanks for reading! 😊

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