Venis Nytes Writes

  The editing debate...  I am in the category of broke writers. I invested in grammarly premium, under $200 (after using it several times, I can see the difference and now I catch more errors while writing) I also had a lot of stomach aches, frustration and tears, trying to figure out how to rewrite something that I thought was fine; but with editing sounded better. I sometimes worry that I will lose what I think is the originality of my voice. But then I  think, do readers really care about my voice or just want to read a great story.  On grammarly, I don't stop editing until I get that 100 score, then go back like the rebel I sometimes am, and change a word that they said would be too difficult for knowledgeable readers. Which drops my score to 99. As a person who likes getting the best score possible, it's a constant source of anxiety for me. Grammarly offers structural editing pros.  I checked the price for one chapter of one of my current wip novellas. I ed...

  Writing marginalized characters This was posted on @mpiper_writes on IG I think it's a wonderful piece of advice and a great discussion as a fledgling writer.  I have an Egyptian Trans character, a bi male, a gay female and an asexual character in my wip Ginnie Transformed. They are all side characters. I focused more on the personality than trying to tell their story, but wanted diverse representation in my story.  Just like when I used to read romance growing up and never saw a woman of color represented as a love interest. I like seeing the pieces of a character that aren't perfect and more authors are incorporating this aspect into their books. But mentioning sometimes is better than writing as the premise because looking from the outside in is a whole different perspective.   I am a black woman married to a white man. My father's second wife was white, and the brothers and sister I was raised with are biracial which came with its own set of challenges....

  So August is upon us. I set some lofty goals for the month. I posted this on some of my social media sites.  Here are my writing goals for the month of August: I have completed half of Chapter 6 of my ongoing story Beef Witch You  and hope to be ready to start Chapter 7 midweek while I finish up and edit Chapter 6. That is how I have been able to post between 3500  to 3700 word chapters weekly. Beef Witch You will be a novella. Eventually I  will write a novella for each sector of Forestdale.  They will be free and published on Wattpad and Inkitt. I think it's a good way to practice and improve my writing while slowly building an audience.  I invested a little into some marketing efforts to drive readers to my books on Wattpad. The effect over all,  has been minimal at best. I have gained some very loyal followers of the story which makes me happy.  I have also tried jumping on some writerslift or writerlifts on Twitter but again, it's slow...

  It's late July my lovely readers, and I am once more sick.  I got fully inoculated in June and still got sick. Ain't that some B.S! Yep, got fully vaccinated and did my first larger wedding. This was originally booked in 2019 for 2020 so it was a long time getting to this point and they were an amazing couple from New York. I brought masks with me but proceeded unmasked as were pretty much everyone except the food staff. We had to wait under the large gazebo for almost an hour for the rain to stop and guests complaining. The wedding was a smashing success on my end, earning me another stellar review and 5 star rating, Woo-Hoo!  But less than a week later I am in the emergency room, now on steroids, antibiotics and something for the coughing up bloody yellow phlegm. Feverish one minute, Freezing the next. Had to wait two days to get the correct antibiotic ordered, cause once more doctors don't listen. My throat was so raw, I could barely speak so leaving several voicemai...

  Hello wonderful readers and followers. I haven't posted anything since the latter part of June, so I thought I would check in and let you know that I am still alive and breathing. My writing journey has been a bit of a go-no-go over the last few months. As many of you know, I lost my birth mother at the end of March this year. I took it surprisingly harder than I would have imagined. For most of April, I  marathon read my way through the days to keep from dealing with and suffocating my emotions. Luckily some amazing authors wrote equally fabulous alien sci-fi stories to truly take me out of this world. Authors Honey Phillips, Luna  Kingsley, Presley Hall, and Madison Savage. Here are just a few: In other news on my writing progress Beef Witch You has a 3500-word first chapter. I just finished writing a second chapter yesterday, another 3500 words.  Writing each chapter exactly 3500 words even after editing is my little personal side challenge. Why 3500 words? I...

  Aspine Aspine (first draft) The first strike of lightning was followed by an ominous rumble of thunder. A heavy downpour of rain soon followed. Simon, Aspine's tabby, let out a sorrowful meow as he scurried to safety under her bed. "Scaredy cat." Aspine admonished gently with a slight smirk. She pulled up the soft down comforter and snuggled deeper into the soft haven of her bed. Streaks of light danced across her bedroom wall, lighting up the darkness in zebra stripes of whitewash. The rain patter across the roof played a treble beat of the seductive rhythm, soothing to her ears. The splashing water drops on the pavement outside her window, made for a sultry acoustic accompaniment. She thought of him then. The guy from the bar. The guitar player. His pale grey eyes haunted, as he picked and strummed his custom, Jaguar Fender. The power he possessed over the crowd, over her, spread through her very being like a drug. His music rippled through the air and landed gently ...