Writing Challenge Day 9 & Upcoming Projects

Yesterday's challenge asked us to share what we love most about writing. I absolutely love world building. I find having a solid foundation for a story starts with knowing what kind of world the characters have to deal with on a daily basis. I love filling in as many details as I can, though I do have to be careful. I can easily get bogged down in the 'verse and forget all about the characters and story entirely.
My second favorite part of writing is character creation, and probably for the same reason. I just love filling in blanks. I could probably go work for the military as a civilian filling in blanks...or helping others fill in blanks. Nah. I'll stick to writing. :)
My biggest struggle is sentence structure and variety. I sometimes feel like my vocabulary is over-the-top and might cause hiccups in the flow. I know the dialog doesn't always match my characters' personalities, too. And my sentence structure? It's often repetitive. This is why I /know/ I need an editor. I'm only waiting until I can find one that fits my budget.

#MayLitWrit Day 9 - What is do you love most about writing?

You may be asking why I shared a photo of books when we were asked to share what we love most about writing. In order for me to fill out my worlds well, I have to research different things. These two resources were on bargain shelves at my two favorite chain bookstores and I got them for a fraction of the original cost. (My sincere apologies to the folks needing royalties from these!) I can't wait to dig into them. I knew when I wrote Ripples that I wanted to create a strategy game for my world. I'd love to create more but I'll need lots of help in that area as strategy and tactics are not exactly my strong point. The book about games will come in handy but my husband and son will also be able to offer some valuable input since they think that way normally. I found The Book of Games at BAM. The Illustrated Signs & Symbols Sourcebook I found at Barnes & Noble. (No one is paying me to link to these resources or sites...just disclaiming.)
Speaking of royalties, I'm learning more and more about how the writing process works every day. Yesterday, I learned a little about royalties for authors. It sounds like a crazy roller-coaster. I'm glad I'm going to self-publish. I know it will be much harder this way, but at least I'll know where I stand financially and be able to retain all the rights to my work.

Something To Look Forward To

I've started working on a short story which I hope to submit to some magazines. It would be so nifty if I could earn enough with my work to pay an editor. I really want to get Ripples into print but I need some revenue first. Right now, I'm reading Successful Self-Publishing by Joanna Penn in an attempt to learn more about the process of getting books out. So far, it's been easy to understand and concise. She urges writers to find editors for their work and I can't disagree with that. I catch mistakes every time I go back over my work.
Every.
Single.
Time.
I know my work will shine all the brighter for having a different set of eyes check it over. So here's to learning how to craft a short story worthy of selling. The only down side is that they may throw off the plans I made about the titles of my stories. They're all supposed to fit together to create a poem when I finally finish. I guess we'll just have to see.