The Writings of M. Dunham

What I've Learned by Working From Home

2012-01-23T18:30:00.001-06:00

I've been feeling burnout lately.

I don't like to talk about the hard parts of working from home, but sometimes, they happen. I gave up my full-time job for a part-time job when I moved to Australia so I could focus on my writing. There's still enough money to pay for necessities and have fun, but it's not quite as plentiful. I'm OK with that. I don't know how people go full-time working from home without an income stream, because that seems like a very hard thing to do to me, but mine's worked out well so far.

What have I learned from the last few months working from home? That the pressure to succeed becomes huge. That you really only can go to yourself at the end of the day to succeed, or fail. And that when you have setbacks, the failure feels more than other failures you experience.

Because it feels like you only have yourself to blame.

When you sit down to do work, prioritizing becomes a necessity. Putting in your full workload is vital. So is finding time to goof off and keep yourself oriented.

Making a plan is important, because it's easy to get overwhelmed when you don't have anyone to assist in the workload.

There are also benefits to working from home, but I haven't reaped many of them yet. Let's see if I feel the same way once I'm done revising this book.

And despite all of this, I still wouldn't trade it for the world.

What I'm Currently Into

2012-01-11T19:44:00.001-06:00

In:

Editing my book. At a snail's pace, sometimes, but still, progress is progress!
Looking at wedding stuff. I got engaged over Christmas, so I peek at wedding stuff occasionally.
Reading books. My list is already piling up, with purchasing two friend's books.

Out:

Too much dessert. I've not been interested in dessert as much lately.
Headaches. (It took five days, but it is finally gone)
Writer emo. Too much time making the sad face just gets in the way of getting somewhere. I'm changing that habit around so I don't ride the rollercoaster as much - I focus on results.

I Have New Years Goals and Dreams, Do You?

2012-01-01T20:11:00.002-06:00

The lovely Beth Revis shared an interesting way to reveal her New Years resolutions, and I enjoyed it so much I've decided to do the same.

This year, I have four goals to strive towards, and two dreams.

All of my goals will require great discipline on my part.

One is very personal.

One is financial.

The other two involve my career.

As for my dreams, I know they can't be achieved without some luck or outside help, so I realize they're out of my control. And that's why they're dreams! I believe, however, there's no shame in hoping and reaching for dreams. Dreaming is vital for people who use the creative process. I won't be butthurt if I don't make them, I'll just keep dreaming.

As I achieve each goal, I'll reveal them on my blog.

Here's to a productive and awesome 2012.

Good News All Around

2011-12-30T19:20:00.001-06:00

Well, to start off, I thought I'd let you all know about my other article which came out right before the holidays about handing a long-distance relationship while apart for the season. I've had a few people thank me already for it, which makes a gal feel good. Having been in those shoes, I wouldn't wish them on anyone.

Having said that, one big celebration for me this Christmas was getting engaged! My fiancee surprised me with a ring in my stocking. Props go to the fine jewellers at JP Miers, who designed the ring for him.He made sure to get an Australian sapphire and diamonds, too, which I was glad for on a ethical level.

I hope you all have a happy holidays! I've started diving into my writing again, so I suspect I won't be coming up for air much.

A Pause Before the Storm

2011-12-19T05:00:00.002-06:00

This December is vastly different from last years. I'm writing full-time, working part-time, I'm enjoying summer(!) in Australia (!!), and I think my book draft, as much as I love it, will give me an asscramp by the end of it all.

But since I'm still in my little interim period of vacation between drafts, I thought I'd take a moment to point out my latest article has come out about finding a home overseas. I've got another one expected to come out soon as well.

I've read 4 books this week, and I'm finishing up a beta read for my friend's first half of her epic fantasy. Seeing her work makes me feel like a lazy poop for having a novel that's 'only 90k'. Although then I don't have the big draft issues, so there's that, I suppose. :o)

Then there's the company Christmas party tomorrow at my fave Thai place, and prepping for our quite little Christmas here. It may not be filled with tons of people, but I love it.

Of course, I've not yet dived into my draft, so ask me in a few days how I feel.

Draft Completion Afterglow

2011-12-12T15:47:00.002-06:00

I should have posted this the day I finished, but it was pretty late into the night, and I was too tired to do so. I've finished draft two of my book, yay! I'm having a delicious week off from it while I catch up on other things (hello, overdue articles, emails, and blog posts).

The past six weeks where I did nothing but focus on my draft has been hard, but worth the effort. The results are really good, and I'm looking forward to editing it after my week off.

Onward and upward.

Of Course I'm Writing!

2011-11-17T16:34:00.001-06:00

And we can all pretend like I'm not avoiding editing, for just a few minutes, yes? Ok then.

For the past two months, I've buckled down on finishing my current draft. I'm pleased to say the end is near.

At least for this draft.

What, you think a book is done in only 2-3 drafts? Oh, no, gentle reader, it is not. A book takes as many drafts as you, your agent, the publisher, and the vampire hamsters chasing you demand.

I'll have this draft finished in just over a week. Then it's out to a friend of mine to read for story inconsistencies.

Then, the next round of editing - fixing any story errors (which shouldn't have any, I hope), and editing for word usage. That should take about another month, and if I'm really lucky, less.

Then agent hunting, which will culminate in more edits.

If/when the book sells, more edits.

~~Then the vampire hamsters demand their share of the plot.~~ Let's just say there are a lot of steps.

Funny Australianisms

2011-11-17T16:21:00.001-06:00

When you live in a culture different from what you grew up in, it's not big things you realize are different, but subtle differences which come up and bang you on the face, leaving an expression that generally leaves the natives shaking their heads.

In my case, I find the differences to be generally amusing.

For example, living here is like living three years in the past. Technology isn't cutting-edge. The Kindle debuted in August and it was a Big Deal. Most Australians will never know what the white, first gen ones were like, because the ones being advertised are the second gen. And supposedly the current, third gen Kindles are here, but I haven't seen them, so my source may be misinformed.

I bought the new Kindle for cheaper than buying here would cost me, even with shipping.

Another funny thing - watching TV shows which are a season or two behind the US. Now to be fair, many are current (such as Big Bang Theory), but the ones which are a season behind are amusing. I feel like a time traveler who can't tell her culture the secrets of the future.

Experiencing November as summer is unsettling, especially since the Christmas decorations are up. Tinsel everywhere, and no arguing about the propriety of baby Jesus on public buildings.

Sometimes the differences are quite annoying, such as paying out the nose for internet. Blazing fast speed here is ADSL2, which reaches a whopping 1.2meg download speed.

*twirls finger*

At some point, I'm going to write a post about actual Australianisms, which is the slang used here, so stay tuned.

Kindle, NoooOOoooOOOoo!

2011-11-08T21:30:00.002-06:00

As of two days ago, my Kindle hath broken.

It was an accident, and although I was lucky enough to receive it as a gift (and didn't have to pay for it), I'm wondering if getting the new one, which'll be so much smaller, will be weird, as I'm now used to having a 9-inch screen to read off of rather than 6 inch. I'm going to head down to Dick Smith's at the end of the week to pick up a new one. It's my reward for finishing all of my new scenes, and since I have one new scene left to write, and then it's rewrite time.

I'm so excited, out of all of my book left, I've got about 8 scenes I need to do some fiddling with, then I'll be printing out my book to do a full pass at it. Yay!

Agent hunting commences at the end of this month. I refuse to be late to that deadline.

It's funny how once something becomes serious to you, how willing you can be to make it work. And build a routine. It's been a long, hard road to get back to a place where I'm ok sitting down and writing every day, due to so many personal issues coming to fruition at once, but I'm so glad I'm here.

In unrelated news, holy heck it's getting hot here. I've never had a warm, let alone hot Christmas, so this is going to be one weird set of holidays for me. In some ways, my brain doesn't fully comprehend that I should be awaiting Thanksgiving. Turkey day isn't celebrated in Australia - they don't even have their own version, but the plethora of other parties they have makes up for it.

Writing Successes and Goals

2011-11-07T05:22:00.001-06:00

Last week was filled with many writing successes as I pounded out a hefty 10k new words for my novel. I'm working to finish the major edits, which includes adding a few scenes, before the end of the month.

Currently, I'm mostly on schedule. Flogs will ensue if I go off. :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-10-30T20:37:00.000-05:00

As of today, I'm officially twenty-seven.

I moved!

2011-10-26T15:18:00.003-05:00

One of the joys of living here in Australia has been finding my own place. It took almost two months to find a place as the first rental company we tried to work with never came back to us with anything. It was horrible, I can't imagine them actually managing property. So we switched companies, found a place, and actually received responses and a confirmation within two weeks.

Lo and behold, we've moved to a lovely two bedroom unit that's newly renovated.

I won't get into the internet saga, but let's just say it took over two weeks to get the phone connected and then another week to get internet. Ugh. We were charged over $400 for the privilege in total. I almost went into shock at the connection fees. Australians can never see what Americans pay for their stuff, or they'll all rebel. :P

Great Writing Advice and Update

2011-07-24T17:54:00.003-05:00

My latest article is out on inloveabroad.com. I hope you enjoy it!

Also, my friend sent me this video advice for writing. It's great, everyone who wants to write should watch it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl953qNcHIc&feature=youtu.be

This is the sort of stuff that gets repeated time and again, yet no one listens. So often, new writers assume there's some sort of magic secret where those of us who have published sit down, magically flow out 3000 words in an hour, then head off to our book clubs. It's not like that. It's butt in the seat, staring at the screen, and typing it out no matter how terrible it sounds. And then editing as much as it takes for it to shine.

Let's Get Personal

2011-06-29T20:42:00.002-05:00

I've now lived in Australia for two months, and things are going well, if a bit crazy. In that time, I've travelled along New South Wales's coast, enjoyed eating Australian style food, and learned that kangaroos are kamikazes around cars. I've started a part-time job, worked on my book with an eye towards being done in August, and I've been setting up my life here. I've read about a dozen books since getting here, and I'm working on plenty of others.

Oh, and I've been writing these nifty articles - and yet another one is out.

Sometimes when I give myself grief for not having enough done, I realize I've done more than I realize. Yes, I wish I had more writing done, but not having a writer space and still working means I'm overcoming my obstacles, one bit at a time.

New Article out and Some Chit-Chat

2011-06-13T06:31:00.003-05:00

Business first: my article about long-distance relationships and figuring out how to close the distance came out on Sunday.

I've been getting good feedback, but here's hoping more people will keep reading and responding with enthusiasm or sending the articles on to people they know - this pleases my editor, who in turn is happy with me. We like a happy circle.

Second of all, I know I haven't been chatty much lately, and certainly not as much as I'd like to be. Ever since I landed here in Australia, it's been a whirlwind of setting up my life and making myself get into a writing routine - which has been a struggle, since everything is still a tad chaotic. In a good way, but still chaotic.

A good writer who wants to get published gets their bum in the seat and writes what will be sent off to agents. Writing also requires a good amount of reading - not just for the obvious assistance in writing, but also to check out the competition, and for fun and relaxation when you can get the writer mind to stop critiquing every sentence. Ha!

My big find this year is the Fever series by Karen Moning. It's an urban fantasy set in Dublin, and is all about a girl who goes through this amazing personal journey as she rises up to save the world from an evil Unseelie (read: fairy) artifact. I'm partway through the fifth and final book, and I just have to gush for a moment about how much I love this series.

When I read the first book, I almost put it down, which is the kiss of death for my reading. There was a lot of repetitive back and forth with the primary characters as they attempted to figure one another out, and it was - well, annoying. But I kept reading past those chapters because the world hooked me, and I'm so glad I did. The characters grew into people and breathed life into a complex, yet easily understandable world. There's so much going on here.

Suffice to say this is my series recommendation of the year for someone looking for an excellent urban fantasy to get sunk into, who likes a more thriller-esque, dark tension with fairies, strong sexuality (not softcore sex scenes, just plenty of tension), a story that's not all rainbows and kittens, and yet manages to give us the happiness amongst the horrific happenings.

I can't wait to finish the last book.

My first long-distance relationship article is out!

2011-05-22T00:38:00.002-05:00

It's a good feeling, writing about a topic near and dear to my heart.

Here is the article link for anyone interested.

I would write more, but alas, I just came back from a lovely drive along Australia's Southern coast, and have nothing to show for it except a full tummy (the best cafe I've ever been to), a pile of chores and a happiness that winter includes many 70 F days.

New Writing Gig

2011-05-16T00:08:00.002-05:00

Starting this month, I'll be writing regularly for a blog about international long distance relationships. As some of you know, I recently moved to Australia to live with my boyfriend. I'll be posting links soon!

Book Challenge/Kindle Lovin'

2011-04-08T17:41:00.005-05:00

I took a challenge this year to read 100 books. As a voracious reader, I felt it was a goal that was challenging but manageable. And I've learned all about making sure goals are manageable. Shooting for the stars is great, but really, the rest of your goals should be ones you can accomplish rather than scurrying towards them will due force until burnout forces you to stop.

There's no point in that.

This week I knocked three books out of my list - 10-12, respectively. Although I've previously only put my review on Facebook for my friends, the Book of Faces isn't very good for going back to see what one has read. It's nice to be able to help friends find books, and I enjoy the challenge of helping people find that next beloved story, so maybe these reviews will help someone else. Or at least I can find them when I need to recommend a book next time for someone.

Book 10: The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey

I have a confession about this book - I've read it before. In fact, it's one of my favorite books, and I've read it every year since it came out. Between my reading and other people's borrowing of it (hey, it's a great story!), I've worn out two copies of it in paperback. So this time, I thank the Kindle Gods as I downloaded one of my beloved stories, and reread it.

This is the type of story where the mix of fantasy, with a nice little romance and a healthy dose of amusement all roll into the best take on fairy tales I've ever read. Don't mistake it for a fairy tale rewrite - this isn't the type of book where Snow White is conceptualized in a 'new and fascinating way." No, what this book (and the series) is about is why fairy tales are shaped the way they are - and how how fairy godmothers use this power to help shape the stories, bringing out the good and trying to avoid the bad. It is, simply put, the best way of rediscovering fairy tales and thinking how they work I've ever read. And the delightful mishmash of these tales is just hilarious.

If you ever enjoyed fairy tales, this is the book for you.

Book 11: Darkfever, by Karen Moning

I originally grabbed this book last summer, and due to my insanely huge book pile, I simply didn't get a chance to read it until now. This book is an urban fantasy thriller/mystery, and it focuses on the Fae rather than werewolves or vampires (although vampires supposedly exist, but since I'm on book one, I can't verify that). Out of the faery urban crush of the past few years, this one's had one of the better story ideas behind it, and I applaud the author for using the traditional wide variety of Faekin as mentioned by the ancient Celts. The story is interesting. The world-building is very good.

The writing - well, it's not terrible, but it has a few definite bad habits that I found distracting.

Overall, if you can get past a few writing issues, and some of the lukewarm characters (they start to grow on you by midbook, and become much better by the end), and you enjoy fantasy, then this is a book for you.

Book 12: Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

So, this is the third book in the Dresden Files series. I wasn't a fan of the first two. Book one was ok, and book two stank, but the third possessed all the potential I saw from book one realized. This fantasy/mystery series possesses a healthy dose of sarcasm to lighten the tension and a plot that's fun to follow along, although occasionally his leaps of logic feel just like that - a tad incomprehensible, but mostly, a solid mystery read that leaves you wanting more.

And having read two of these books on my Kindle, and started two others, I am officially hooked. It's so convenient! My poor money - now I can get easy access to the books I crave... dun dun dun.

Kindle!

2011-03-27T09:19:00.002-05:00

\o/

Ok, I was originally skeptical, but I am sold on my new-to-me Kindle. Thank you, my friends, who generously donated their Kindle to me. I think this means I'll be giving them free book copies for awhile. :)

Being able to purchase things from the American store and keep up with the latest releases stateside is a big relief. No ungodly shipping, whoo.

Except for those that aren't ebooks, but I can work those out. No worries, eh?

One week until I am self-employed!

Preparing

2011-03-06T11:50:00.002-06:00

When people tell me they want to or can write a book, I always want to reply "Do you have any idea how much preparation goes into that?"

But then I'd sound like my mom, so I don't.

Seriously, though - nothing drives home this point more than one of my pending projects. As I prepare to go into full-time writing mode in May, I've dug up one of my favorite projects I've had to put on hold for almost two years due to the extensive amount of research I need to do.

I'd actually had difficulty digging up source material for this particular piece - there are a lot of facts I need about the historical setting, and I just couldn't find the raw data I needed to make it accurate. And I didn't want to pull it outta thin air. It's a surefire way to get people grumbling.

This morning, however, using the connections I made, I finally made serious headway into finding the sources I need to get the work done.

I can't wait to write this book. It's just as interesting as my fantasy/mystery writing has been, and I'm prepared for yet another long haul filled with reading, notes, and charts before I can write this story down.

Don't kid yourself, I had to do the exact same thing with my personal series, only it was tougher because I had to make everything up in a way that makes logical sense. Yes, magic can make logical sense - it just requires a lot of forethought.

I can't wait for May - so much to do!

Backing Up Data

2011-02-15T07:50:00.002-06:00

This past Monday, my computer video card failed. Because I've been planning to move, however, I'd purchased an external harddrive and placed all of my files, from writing to pictures to music, on it.

Never forget to back up your files! You never know when something's going to explode.

As it is, I've plugged my external drive into my laptop and carried on with writing like nobody's business. :)

Big News!

2011-01-30T12:01:00.001-06:00

It is officially official - I will be spending the next year working on my writing career in Australia. Whoo!

Life and Writing

2010-11-20T19:54:00.002-06:00

Well, I didn't get nearly as far as I *could* have, because I didn't push myself. I did, however, manage a solid synopsis and a few chapters in that are just as solid.

I'll take that over NaNo schlock any day.

The biggest reason I didn't get as much done? My boyfriend is in the country, so I've got some other priorities right now. :) He's been going around meeting my family, and seeing America for the first time. It's been quite an experience. One that I'm sure will come in handy with writing some day - it's not often you get to see a country through another person's eyes.

Oops

2010-10-28T11:40:00.002-05:00

I somehow skipped two months. How embarrassing!

I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year, only my emphasis will be on a solid, well-written first draft first, and the 50k wordcount second. I might not get the wordcount, but what I have will be worth finishing. And that's important to me, as I'll be working on the sequel to my last novel.

Synopsis cleanup is this week. Next week - writing commences!

Obligatory Monthly Post

2010-08-13T15:00:00.002-05:00

...just so you know I'm alive! >:D

I have revived from a nasty kidney infection, and have started working on my novel revisions again. The work comes in fits and starts, but Things Are Getting Done.

A Journey

2010-07-28T09:22:00.002-05:00

I picked up the old pages, spattered with blood red revision ink - my favorite color to edit with because even if my eyes get tired, as I can easily distinguish red from black print. I looked over the changes I'd made, the different drafts - first large changes, then smaller as I refined my story. All of the ups and downs of this past year, rough as it was, remain fresh in my memory, but now there isn't as much hurt. There's space.

I've been looking at it as I started this novel two years ago, and I need to stop being lazy. Perhaps the real problem with me is I should have realized I only started this novel two years ago, and it just needs a few more months to be polished, shined up, and sent it off to it's first day at school.

And my friend was right - I push myself hard, and I need to give myself a break. Sometimes we all stumble, and I certainly had every reason to this past year. Yet I've still retained my love for reading and writing. I still need it, the same way I need nutritious food and love.

Writing sometimes can be pumped out. But it's also something that comes from the heart, and sometimes, when crises hit, we have to let ourselves bleed a little bit off-stage instead of letting it flow into and poison our published works.

I fixed my first full chapter this past week. I'm ready to finish the rest.

2010-06-20T17:56:00.001-05:00

2011 MINOTAUR BOOKS/ MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA FIRST CRIME NOVEL
COMPETITION
Sponsored by St. Martin's Minotaur and Mystery Writers of America (MWA)

NO ENTRY FEE
The Competition is open to any writer, regardless of nationality, who has never been the author of a published novel (authors of self-published works may enter, as long as the manuscript submitted is not the self-published work) and is not under contract with a publisher for publication of a novel. Only one manuscript entry is permitted per writer. All manuscripts must be original, previously unpublished works of book length (no less than 220 typewritten pages or 60,000 words) written in the English language by the entrants.

Murder or another serious crime or crimes is at the heart of the story. If a winner is selected, Minotaur Books will offer to enter into its standard form author's agreement with the entrant for publication of the winning manuscript. After execution of the standard form author's agreement by both parties, the winner will receive an advance against future royalties of $10,000. Deadline November 13, 2010.

NOTE: Always a nice contest. Only one winner, but man what a prize. With no entry fee, why not try?

DOUBLE NOTE: I tell people to keep writing in the summer, but gracious . . . it's so darn hard! The outdoors just calls my name so loud I can hardly think straight.

Can I make the deadline?

Short Story Published

2010-03-20T08:13:00.002-05:00

An anthology, "Arcane Whispers, Volume 2" has released. My short story, "A Taxing Fixation," was selected as part of the anthology. If you're interested in purchasing a copy, here is the publisher's website.

2010-03-12T21:19:00.002-06:00

I've looked at my manuscript every night when I've come home, then eaten dinner, taken a shower, and flopped into bed.

Busy season for grants has cometh. It needs to give me a break so I can finish my freaking work. Doh.

I Don't Wanna

2010-02-25T05:50:00.002-06:00

Don't you hate how it takes 30 days to make a habit, but one week of lazy, grumpy "I don't wanna's" to totally destroy it?

This can apply to anything - exercise, writing, our eating habits... the trudge uphill is so much harder than the roll downwards. It's such a pain, it's no wonder 1/3rd of all Americans are obese.

But then, I think about the things I tell myself I don't want to, and it's such a small, stupid things to complain to myself over, that it gives me the push to do them, even when I'd rather take the convenient option.

Yesterday, I really didn't want to go to the gym. I wanted to lie down, mope a little, and heck, eat some doritos. I don't have any doritos, and lying down was fruitless, so I hauled my complaining, whining butt to the gym. And even though I didn't do as well as I normally do, I didn't meet or exceed my usual end goals, I did the most important one - I finished. Sometimes, all it takes is that reminder from finishing to remind us we're doing it all for a reason.

And I don't really want those Doritos anymore, either.

Dedication

2010-02-16T05:30:00.004-06:00

I know, it's been awhile since I posted here. I've been dealing with some personal issues, and combined with my usual daily life, has left no time for blogging. And for that, I apologize. I will do my best to resume a motley handful of posts a month from here on out.

One of the reasons I've been so quiet is I sent a partial out last month, and my creative brain has been focused on shaping up the rear end of this novel, and starting the next one in the series. I also took a break as I moved into a new place.

Now that I'm fairly well settled into my new routine, which involves working out at the gym and eating better, the writing is making its way back in. But let's face it - as much as we write about writing in these blogs, sometimes we just need to write about life. I mean, that's what we as writers do - explain life through the lenses of our books. And if we can get people to understand what makes us passionate, what makes us view a particular slice of life the way we do and get them to sympathize, then we have succeeded as writers.

I have learned more about some areas of life than I cared to in the past few months. However, the raw emotions that go along with life changes are necessary. They remind us that we're human, that we all share a common bond. And it reminds me, as a writer, why I choose to portray life through fiction.

Meanwhile, I've got so much life left to live, so many stories to tell, and things to experience, that I can't wait to have every moment of life. And, I hope, some of those experiences will trickle their way into my writings and touch some reader somewhere.

Article about writers

2009-12-05T07:31:00.003-06:00

This article on CNN is great. If you haven't read it, you should.

"Battling my Way to a Pulitzer Prize."

My fave quote from it:

You see, in my view a writer is a writer not because she writes well and easily, because she has amazing talent, because everything she does is golden.

In my view a writer is a writer because even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway.

Ack - 100 posts?

2009-11-09T19:58:00.001-06:00

This is my 100th post. It's being marked by this momentous event.

Screaming Guppy - you have challenged me to a manuscript throwdown.

It's on.

Pieces of Advice

2009-10-28T12:48:00.006-05:00

As I approach my 25th birthday this weekend, I thought I'd take some time to reflect on the best advice ever given to me - advice I've ingrained into myself and which has helped me become a better person and writer.

In no particular order of importance:

1) Act your wage.

Pithy, but useful. And so true. While most people my age are out buying new cars, TV's, and leveraging a house whose payment constitutes 30-45% of their income, I've rented, kept my very nice car my dad gifted me, and paid off my school debt. I don't owe Sallie Mae a penny, and it feels great.

2) Be yourself.

Anyone who knows me will attest that I follow this one. I'm not much of a conformer; I'm a little bizarre. However, I am happy with myself, and that's something many people cannot say.

3) Don't waste your youth; do things you really want to do.

I can't count the number of people older than I who get wistful and tell me not to waste a minute of my life. So I don't; I don't want to be wistful with regret when I'm their age. I enjoy leisure time, but I also put my time into my future writing career, I maintain good relationships, and I attend important events and places.
4) Live in the now with an eye for the future.

Don't let current events immure you and what you hope to achieve, nor should you let your hopes for the future cause you to ignore the present.

5) Writers use lies to tell the truth.

Maybe not advice to you, per se, but it certainly is for me. It's easy to forget why writing is so wonderful when dragged down into the grammar games, but regardless if it's a literary masterpiece or a thriller, books let us come away with a deeper understanding of the world around us.

6) Trust, but verify.

My boss calls this the Ronald Regan approach. Regardless if it means fact-checking for a book, a political candidate's claims, or your phone bill, it pays to monitor what makes it into your psyche.

7) Get your butt in the seat and work.

There's a time for procrastinating and - ok, really, there's never a time to procrastinate, and if we all spent less time tooling around and focused on the job at hand, we'd have a lot more time at the end to have our fun and games. Following this one is hard. It's a work in progress.

8) Patience.

As a goal-setter/achiever, this one is hard for me. The past year has taught me an insurmountable load about patience. Pushing won't always yield the results you want, and may have the opposite effect.

9) I can fix a bad page; I can't fix a blank one.

On my desk there's a lamp I inherited from Suzann Ledbetter. She wrote writing-inspired quotes on the lampshade. I heard this one often enough at our workshop, and it's certainly true. The number of writers who never take the time to finish penning those thoughts deny themselves the pain and joy of revising. Yes, revising is a daunting, sometimes overwhelming experience, but it's like any other large task.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

10) Ask yourself: have I done the best I could today with the given knowledge at the time?

This one is hard for me. We don't make things perfect the first, second or twentieth time around. We don't always have the tools we need to tweak something to just the right balance. And sometimes, it's tempting to say "I don't have everything I need, so I'll put this on the backburner."

Worthwhile projects will always require more changes, better revising, patience, and the ability to let go of perfectionism at the same time. Sometimes you really just have to do your best and remind yourself you can have a better best the next day.

Happy Halloween, everyone. This Halloween baby is going out before digging into the writing cave.

What Happens at OCW stays at OCW...

2009-10-19T17:16:00.004-05:00

... Except the information I’m about to share. Let’s hope the shiny black SUV’s don’t roll up and take me away.

I attended to Ozark Creative Writer’s Conference on October 8-10. What a fun experience. An author friend of mine recommended I attend. The three keynote speakers were Susan Stoltz, editor for Women out West, Pat LoBrutto, acquisitions editor for Tor-Forge and editorial consultant, and Doug Grad, literary agent.

The Industry Skinny:

All three touched on digital age and digital book publishing. In addition to reinforcing digital rights needing to be hammered out, how this will affect book sales (consensus seemed guardedly positive), and its impact on the author’s future, the other big point that came up several times was how it’ll will affect the publishing side. The publishing industry itself has been slow to change, and worked hard to maintain the same sort of process they’ve had in place for over fifty years; the digital age is forcing them to evolve, whether they like it or not.

So keep an eye out on how e-books affect payment structure (both advances and royalties), and watch the small publishers – their increased popularity may also be another big future wave.

Non-Industry Skinny:

I made several good contacts, and met many wonderful writers, both aspiring and published. I meandered the town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. They have a fun trolley ride, by the by, if you happen to go there.

Best news: I pitched my novel, and it went well. I'm finishing my revisions now so I can take my next step in January, which is sending some pages on. Here's hoping he likes what he reads. *crosses fingers*

Neil Gaiman is Tweeting a Book Today

2009-10-13T11:13:00.002-05:00

If you haven't heard about the whole Neil Gaiman and BBC Audiobooks America, who are working together to create a tweetbook today with all of their followers, you should check it out. Here's the article from Publisher's Weekly, and on Twitter - you can follow the official picks @BBCAA. The hash is #bbcawdio.

For those that don't want to follow, but are curious as to what Neil's line was (he started the book, with contributors to help finish the story), it was:

Sam was brushing her hair when the girl in the mirror put down the hairbrush, smiled & said, "We don't love you anymore."

Great first line, and classic Gaiman.

My trip to the Ozark Creative Writer's Conference went well. I'll be sure to dish out my findings when I get a chance. I'll be coming back to blogosphere now more. Weekly postings should resume now that I have my house mostly sorted.

Honorable Mention

2009-10-04T16:36:00.002-05:00

One of my pieces I submitted to a magazine received an honorable mention. Over at Allegory Magazine, if you're interested. Keep on trucking on.

I have a writer's conference next weekend. Work has exploded, and boss has estimated that it'll stay this way through the fall. I might be getting an upgraded position soon at this rate.

Focusing on life and writing. I'm here, promise.

2009-08-25T10:17:00.002-05:00

I'm alive. I'm moving to a house, with the usual packing, unpacking insanity attached. Far more important and exciting is I've also got houseguests this week. My best friend just finished her tour in Kuwait and is back in the states. We're spending some time with her on her leave before she heads to her new assignment in Colorado.

I'm also going to be burying my head in the sand in preparation for a writing conference in October. Spotty communications may become spottier, but don't worry - I'm always lurking.

<3

Linky for my YA Homies

2009-08-13T10:27:00.002-05:00

Somehow, I've gathered 5 million friends who write YA. Not sure how I manage to not find so many people who write adult fantasy/mystery, but hey... that time will come.

Yes. Link. Ahem.

There's an agent looking for MG/YA submissions. Susanna Einstein of LJK Literary Management, and there's a lovely interview with her from the Guide to Literary Agents Series.

Here's a link to the interview. You can get to know her a bit before deciding if you want to query. :)

A Comprehensive Book Guide for Writers

2009-08-05T09:53:00.016-05:00

One of the most important things a writer does is reading. It is just as vital to writing as the actual act. Besides gobbling up fiction books, though, a writer also needs to keep abreast of writing craft books.

If writing is your career goal, how else are you going to improve yourself without some sort of studying? Studying and practice, those are what will make for good writing. And while I also advocate the importance of having a business hat, this too requires studying.

In hopes of helping my fellow writers on the prowl for quality writing books, I've created a list of books all writers should read. This list is for staples, and is not specifically geared for a particular genre.

In no particular order, I present to you books on writing and getting published.

1) Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Rennie Browne and Dave King
Recommended by countless critique groups, authors, and agents (oh so many agents), this book cuts away the crap and gets straight to the chase... literally!

Ok, enough with the schmaltz. There's no good way to talk about an editing book, so I'll be brief. Fiction writing is vastly different from non-fiction. There are more rules, and plenty of ways to break them in the name of creativity. But there's only so much rule breaking you can do. In the end, there's still guidelines to keep your writing good. This is that book. If you can only buy one book on this list, get this one.

2) Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Writers need a fine balance of encouragement and admonishment. Of gentle guidance, and ass-kicking to get into gear. This book is all of that. Anne Lamott talks about how it is to be a writer and to make that commitment in your life. Engaging, thrilling, and permission to write Shitty First Drafts (one of the chapters in the book), it's everything you need to remind you when you're bogged down that it's ok, it's normal, and everyone does it, so you must be on track.

Also, lots of sharp wit in here, and I don't know about you, but sometimes I need a good laugh when I'm ready to boot a chapter in the butt.

3) Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss

If you're one of those people troubled by punctuation issues, then this is the book for you. The dry topic is tempered by equally dry humor, and gives some great examples to drive the lessons home.

4) An Unabridged Dictionary
I don't have a specific one to suggest, I think that's up to you, but I highly recommend buying or having a free one linked that's unabridged. Why? Because unabridged dictionaries often have the year that the word was entered, so if you're writing a historical piece, you know you can use a word if it was common during that time - this can be important for some writers.

The same goes for having access to a Thesaurus, but since most people have one on their computer, I won't quibble.

5) On Writing by Stephen King

Love him or hate him, Stephen King is prolific. And like his writing or not, King's chock full of sound, sometimes amusing advice. This book is part biography, part advice.

The thing this offers, besides a personal journey, is simple, direct advice for everyday writing habits that establish a routine. I also think many of his points on how he writes is liberating for folks, and yet another constant reminder that we all have different ways of hammering our words out.

It's engaging, and hey, it's not thick. Give it a shot.

6) Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass

Writing isn't just about the little stuff - it's the bigger situation that's also important. Breaking through on topics as to what breakout novels have in common, this book is incredibly fascinating because it uses all sorts of examples to prove its points on dynamic situations and the commonality in big-selling novels.

With a focus on explaining the commercial success aspect of breakout novels and why these shot to the best seller lists, Maass explains why great storytelling over great writing sells. There's also a matching workbook, which a lot of people recommend, but I've never tried, so I can't verify it's usefuless for you.

If you want to write for a living, read this book.

7) The Career Novelist by Donald Maass

At the risk of sounding like a Maass fanatic, this is another fantastic read for people seriously considering the writing path as their career. Sometimes people are so caught up in the excitement and joy of writing that they forget the practical realities of writing. This is the book to help you gain your business hat.

Things to consider: where do I get insurance now that I'm an independent businessperson? How do I market? How do I know when my books make enough to live off of? Unfortunately, lovely words don't always pay for shelter and food. And it's hard to write when your stomach is rumbling. It also has a nice basic query letter explanation.

The best part about this book? It's free. The linked title above is a direct link to the PDF download on Maass's site. Or if you're hesitant to click, go to his website and then click on the link.

8) How to Write a Great Query Letter by Noah Lukeman

Noah Lukeman is another esteemed agent who has written prolifically on the writing industry. Many people recommend his books; I honestly haven't read them so I can't in good conscience recommend them (yet). However, he does have this fabulous FREE download on Amazon shorts about query letters. Again, the push here is professionalism and learning to query with a discerning eye.

Please, don't bother to buy anything about how to write a query letter. This 74 page PDF will take care of you. Promise. And if you feel like it didn't... well, hey, it was free.

9) Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Guide Tips for Better Writing by Mignon Fogarty

I'm sure you're getting tired of the grammar books, but I couldn't let this last gem slide by unmentioned. Grammar Girl uses some great mind quip (mnemomics, for you word junkies out there) to help people remember those annoying grammar rules you can't seem to keep in your brain. She also runs a Podcast show, and there's a cute interview on Amazon with the author.

10) Get Known Before the Book Deal by Christina Katz

Nowadays, it's not just writing that's important. Being marketable is just as important to a publisher. It all comes down to the bottom money line, and if you've got an established base to promote your book to, you look that much better. This book will help you figure out a way to promote your book without sounding like a slavish bathroom scrubber door-to-door salesman.

This is all about building a platform you can always spring from. Building a fan base is one of the most important things you can do for your career.

I might add a few books later - I got a few at home whose titles I can't remember offhand. If you guys enjoy this list, I'm going to do another post about reference books for writers. Seeing as research is so vital, it deserves its own post.

Busy Busy

2009-07-27T14:15:00.001-05:00

I find myself reading over blogs far too much, and with juggling my revision schedule and work, this isn't smart.

Going unplugged for 1-2 weeks. I'll come make the blog rounds when I'm back.

<3

Less Blogging, More Editing

2009-07-23T08:30:00.003-05:00

I've finally kicked myself into gear, and I'm working hard on revisions. I'll have the first pass done by October, then comes the polishing round. I hope to work on polishing while submitting to agents, but given the constant talk of how picky agents and editors are right now, I don't know if that's a good idea. I'll reevaluate my novel when my first pass is done.

Ahh, the ins and outs of the publishing world.

Editing is my bedfellow for the next few months, for myself and my crit buddies. I've loads of projects to keep up on.

I promise to let you know I'm still alive.

New Blogs to Watch, Links, and Friday (huzzah!)

2009-07-17T06:47:00.004-05:00

Friday mish-mash time. I don't know about you, but I work a full-time job to support my writing addiction. Good thing paying out for paper, printer ink, highlighters and pens is pretty cheap.

Mostly.

I didn't buy a crate of highlighters. Heavens no!

So. Ahem. Links and fun things! Nathan Bransford's post on Thursday covers/links the three big published articles on the e-book pricing debate. Since publishers have been mum, people have decided to take the questions to them. Take a look - the articles are good.

A new blog that started this week by a person who works in the sales department of a major trade book publisher. We readers have been promised information and explanations on how acquisitions work. My favorite post so far has been the one about Bookscan, which is used to comp a writer's sales numbers and determines if your future works will be purchased.

Take a look also at this nifty PDF about the companies that participate in Bookscan (it's about halfway down, and it's the only PDF link in the post. Sorry, but can't figure out how to get my own PDF to load and my eyes are burning tired). It's recent as of January 2009.

A blog that isn't new but one I just started reading is by Andrew Zack, literary agent. Another good industry blogger, I quickly found.

I have more PDF's to share, but I need to figure out a document viewer thingie. No time this morning. Need to get the car into the shop, give kitty her meds, hit work, finish revising my chapters for the week, plan a cookout, buy highli - er clean house...

Notice sleep doesn't come in there. Sleep is for the well-established author.

Keeping the Publishing Dream Alive

2009-07-09T07:49:00.003-05:00

And now I'm back to my regularly infrequent posting!

I have some links for you today. First, my critique buddy Missye passed along this interesting article - 7 ways to keep the publication dream alive. Although I'm surprised at one of her comments (the one about not having the book completed before she queried agents - you can't do that anymore), the rest of them are insightful and a good reminder of the totality of writing.

I don't know how many people here are aware of Women on Writing, but they have a fabulous website with online articles every month - valuable reading, for sure. There's a really interesting article on there about the Shrunken Manuscript. I was thinking how incredibly useful this would be with things like figuring how much space is devoted to a certain character, etc. Take a look at it - for a large overview of your novel and being able to distance yourself like that - it looks useful.

If you haven't signed up for the free newsletter from Poets & Writers, you should. There's a wealth of good information, and even the print magazine is cost effective. They've got an amazing interview with editor Jonathan Galassi. It's fascinating - a real insight into the publishing industry.

The Book Market and Agents

2009-07-06T09:54:00.004-05:00

Thursday, June 25th

“When I’m dead, I hope it may be said: his sins were scarlet, but his books were read.” – Hilaire Belloc

Marketing

Lots and lots of information, but again, the highlights:

editors never focus on the positive reviews, but only negatives. This is what affects future sales.
#’s of books sold: 70% is non-fiction, 30% fiction

48% of fiction categorized as romance

Market breakdown: Amazon – 30%, B&N – 20% Border’s – 10%, independent bookstores – 10%, and the remainder divided between big boxstores/regional chainstores.
Only 6-12 people nationwide decide what you read/what’s out there.
Window/aisle displays in bookstores are bought and paid for by publishers
No one knows what makes a book a bestseller.
Do your research: look at similar books to see who publishes what you write.

The writer’s conference runs from March through October. It’s a good way to better your work, pitch to agents/editors, and to make contacts. Each genre offers an annual conference.

We all start as unpublished; we all start with the same blank page.

The key information to take away from here is not only do you need to think about what you write, but also be cognizant of the marketing you will be presenting to; it is, after all, an industry, and you need both your creative cap and workplace hat to sell your work.

Friday, June 26th

Getting an Agent

The AAR is a great place to start looking, but is by no means mandatory.
Never accept an agent who charges reading fees.
You need to establish some sort of business relationship with your agent, and make sure it stays business, even if you’re fond of each other.
Author’s Guild is worth being a member to.

Most of our information came from a handout, so I didn't write too many notes; there's a plethora of good information about agents; use your sleuth skills to deduce who's on your shortlist to contact.

Now that our two weeks away from the real world have gone by, I have to slip back into a routine. I know that part of working on my novel is intellectualizing, but I want to write. I just hope I don’t have to rewrite 3,276 times.

I mean, geez, that’s what a synopsis is for.

Synopsis

2009-07-03T07:27:00.004-05:00

Wednesday, June 24th

Synopsis Day! I could tell how much all three of us looked forward to the day; we all champed at the bit, and the class was extremely informative.

Ok, a synopsis. They help:

- Discover plot holes/what doesn’t work.
- Discover if subplots are needed for either word count or story.
- Helps identify elements needed for research.
- If something doesn’t work plausibly (i.e., a plot corner), go back and fix.
Note: don’t use coincidence to fix this – too contrived.
- This doesn’t include character corners. These can be written out of; a plot corner cannot.
- Majority of novel still won’t be known despite it being written, so no loss of creativity is involved.
- A synopsis is part of the proposal – so you might as well write it now instead of later!
- When you’re new, it’s used to sell your first novel. When you’re established, it’s used to sell a piece before it’s written.
- It helps with chronology.

Important: a synopsis isn’t written in stone. If you write it and the story goes down a different path, you revise the synopsis.

I realize a lot of people dislike writing a synopsis, but after having written DT, I wish I'd used a synopsis - it would have made all of the problems I didn't realize all the way through clear. Especially with a mystery, there are certain expectations and it's particularly easy to utilize a synopsis. I'm going to use synopsis from now on with future novels. The worst that happens, even if I end up hating it, is I only waste an hour or two - well worth it when you consider it takes about a year/year and a half to complete a novel (And that's if you're plugging along steadily!).

And honestly, I'd rather rewrite a 3k long document rather than my novel everytime I realize something needs to be revised - then you can follow the change to its logical conclusion.

Here's the other thing - the standard for a synopsis to a publisher is 1 single-spaced page per 10k words. I realize many agents aske for a much shorter one, but if you have a 8 page document, you can pare it down to three pages. This all goes back to scale and scope. Each differently sized document that agents request can always be distilled from what you have; it's far more difficult to look at you 90k novel and go "Shit, how do I get three pages out of this?"

I have a second writer’s class I take on Wednesday nights; we did an exercise about detailed descriptions using eyesight only (I liked our other senses work more, but this was useful), and we called about scale – what size we use when describing something; the difference being based on the focus of the writing. We then had to write to both a 50 sentence and 7 word sentence about our life. My seven word sentence:

“No Mom, I don’t like Kansas.”

Backstory

2009-07-01T14:36:00.001-05:00

Tuesday, June 23^rd

Today we talked about backstory in class. Our teacher said it’s one of the most boring classes we have, but the reality is she has to talk about the boring stuff so we can write the exciting stuff. Otherwise all you got is a big steaming pile of poo.

One of the points we hit on today is backstory needs to be released through controlled, small active events within the story. My favorite phrase: “We don’t need a long, musing story bit about the character.” This reminded me of the romance writer’s dilemma (I want to credit Donald Maas with this story). Romance writers often bemoan how their sales don’t climb the charts, but many of them, when faced with a character’s dilemma, sit their characters down and muse over tea. And then they wonder why they can’t break out or up in their genre.

I think the talk about backstory is incredibly useful; it’s a point that I drove home to myself with my very first attempt at writing my novel; woof. You can talk about backstory until the cows come home, but it’s another case where the proof is in the pudding. I think my biggest problem isn’t being convinced to take huge chunks in, but practicing weaving small bits in. So many things that we do in writing take time; I feel glad that it doesn’t make me feel exhausted thinking about all of the writing work, but rather I’m becoming more focused and excited again.

Sensory Description

2009-06-30T07:18:00.000-05:00

Monday, June 22nd

Today topic in class was sensory description, and what a day to discuss it. I was afraid my own sweat and dry mouth would distract me during the writing down the senses exercise. But it didn’t, and today I learned one of my most important exercises that will help with my rewrites. Here it is:

Write about your character as if they’re blind.

I have a big problem with eye cues, and I use them everywhere. I’d never thought about it, but if I do this, thinking about sensory perception is suddenly much easier.

Talk about a facepalm moment.

The senses that are used most are sight followed by hearing; least used is taste, touch, and scent.

Not a whole lot of instructing, but the follow-up of writing a short story in thirty minutes drove the exercise home. Senses make even a boring story marginally better.

Dialogue

2009-06-28T19:01:00.003-05:00

Friday, June 19th

Ahh, dialogue. One thing I’ve realized about dialogue is I can learn something new about it no matter how many times it’s discussed. Dialogue is so hard to get right; not only does it inflect character, intonation, and information, but it also lends to immediacy. Dialogue has so many parts put into it – word use, accents, etc – that perfecting dialogue is tricky; particularly since dialogue can never be as loose as real dialogue, but is a brushed up, carefully worded construct similar to real speech patterns.

Honestly, I could talk at length about it, but the only thing that makes for good dialogue is lots of practice.

I received Jan’s feedback on Devil’s Tongue today. Although I enjoy and appreciate the critiques given me, it was fun to sit down to fresh stories by other writers and critique them. I love editing pieces, both line and content-wise. I learn so much about myself as well as the writers that by the end I felt like I knew Jan and Marcia better than before. Both of their backgrounds shine so clearly in their writing styles. Jan focuses on detailed, vivid description, and Marcia tends to write in a more editorial, journalism sort of way. I hope both of them keep working on their pieces and clean them up; I’d love to see them in print.

Making a Character Sheet/Plotting

2009-06-27T12:20:00.002-05:00

Wednesday, June 17th

Today we did my favorite exercise to date. I’ve added it to my tool arsenal for future works. It’s a character quick fact sheet, consisting of the victim, villain, primary suspect, and hero. You can use this tool for more than mysteries.

We talked about clichés, and the differences in who-dun-it versus how-dun-it. I’d never realized there was a how-dun-it; it’s one of those things you don’t consider until someone points out the obvious to you. I think that’s what CSI (both the show and the books) falls under.

I’ve learned a lot about what’s good and not good for an author to do watching the afternoon talks. I assumed somewhere in my illogical brain that talking about writing is next to writing for writers, and that this would transfer into many fascinating afternoon talks. I’d forgotten that as much as we all love writing, it doesn’t mean we’re all speakers. Another lesson learned.

I went home and looked around for the police citizen’s academy; they’ve got one for St. Louis County. Success!

Thursday, June 18th

Today’s talk in class focused on plotting. Lots of points hit home with me, and I had a ton of highlight marks scattered throughout my notebook. One of the things I wanted to take out of this class, besides a bit of inspiration to get me back in the grind, is to get me back to remembering the basics of writing. I’ve worked hard the past two years pumping my fiction skills up - part mechanic and part business – and sometimes you get lost in the whirl of it all. This has helped remind me of what’s important, and where to cut the crap.

Some of my favorite points that stuck out today:

- A synopsis is key to determining whether a plot is a plot, or an idea that will fizzle throughout.
- No matter how many books you write, we all start at the same place.
- “What if” are the two most important words in writer’s arsenal.
- When you add a sub-plot, it must be resolved well ahead of the main plot, or else the main plot loses its drama.
- In endings, your protagonist must choose between two alternative courses of action that force them to make a decision.
- Hope/fear = suspense

One thing that we talked about today reminded me of something funny shared with me by other fantasy writers. We talked about the importance of pacing and how characters need a chance to breathe as well as the readers.

In fantasy writing, there’s a tendency to stretch the impossible, and I don’t mean by magical means. There’s a Fantasy Novelist’s Exam you can use to check and make sure you’re not guilty of stupid tropes within the fantasy genre. My favorite, #56, is: “Does anybody in your novel fight for two hours straight in full plate armor, then ride a horse for four hours, then delicately make love to a willing barmaid all in the same day?”

Writer Workshop - Characterization

2009-06-26T08:12:00.003-05:00

Tuesday, June 16th

My teacher, Suzann Ledbetter Ellingsworth, is using her 20 years of writing experience to educate us. Now that I've dinged her Google Alerts (Hi Suzann!), let's talk about characterization.

"A good novel tells the truth about its hero; a bad novel tells us the truth about its author." G.K. Chesterton

Class continues to educate and impress me. Today’s talk was about characterization. Some of the highlights:

- fiction exists to entertain & inform
- Don’t beat symbolism over a reader’s head
- Three-dimensional characters are vital
- Write forward, learn about characters from beginning to end.
- Don’t confine characters to a box

I didn’t realize how much us talking about mysteries in class would help. After talking with Suzann after class about my project, I realized something significant for me – I’d always looked at this as a fantasy/mystery, but Suzann looks at it as a mystery with fantasy elements. She mentioned Devil’s Tongue would probably be marketed as a mystery since it has a larger market. I’d never thought of it that way.

Also learned that licensed PI’s have to remain within the bounds of the law. Thank goodness I was corrected of that error before I made a big oopsy.

The talks today weren’t what I was expecting by a long shot. No offense to the speakers, but a talk about meditation and playing word games, and a paper analyzing history isn’t exactly shoptalk. I hope the others are more interesting.

New from the Super Secret Writer's Workshop

2009-06-23T16:03:00.003-05:00

**Begin Transmission**

-crackle- Things have been busy and I've just managed to escape. My apologies for the delayed response, but I can only give eyewitness accounts. Handouts will commence as soon as I find access to a scanner.

Monday, June 15th

The first day of our writing institute. I can’t really call it a conference; workshop is a better term. The keynote speaker, John Dalton, was fabulous. I don’t usually have a need for an inspirational speech from a writer; I figure I make my own inspiration whenever I sit my butt in the seat. His website has a wonderful story that, if you're feeling a bit down about getting the novel done, is a great read. However, having started my new position in OT has made things a little hectic as I figure out my job. I’ve been so tired for the past three weeks that my usual work ethic has gone down the tubes. This is my chance to recharge and think.

John Dalton's Contrary Writer's Rules, as mentioned in his keynote speech:

1) It takes time to develop your work.
2) You can learn a lot from workshops, but you have to learn the most important ideas on your own.
3) Books are often boring.
4) The best writers are all nerds.
5) There's cause for hope.

In class we focused on the writing industry and making writing a career as a whole. We talked about how non-fiction is a great way to break into the writing field and establish contacts while making cash. It also teaches a writer about marketing, focus groups, and forces a writer to learn how to research.

Important distinction:
*Non-fiction talks about fact.
*Fiction uses lies to tell the truth.

I enjoyed the reinforcement about research, as it’s hard to remember that you can only fake so much in fiction. Don't be afraid to talk to experts in a field to get an accurate account of how things are done in the field. Right now, as I started rereading my police procedural book, I’m trying to figure out how much I can “bend” without outright breaking rules in my novel.

I love research. :o) -crackle-

**End Transmission**

An Exercise in Violence

2009-06-11T12:35:00.002-05:00

For my writing workshop. Sharing an experience of violence you've experienced/witnessed.

When I faced my opponent in the ring, the fact that he was six inches taller than me was the only thing running through my mind. It didn’t matter that we were both fresh green belts; the fact that they stuck me with Legs didn’t bode well for the upcoming match.

We bowed, but my eyes never left him; all I could think about was how to outsmart him and hope he tired faster than me. I remember the first ki-hap, then the rest was a blur of circling, jabs and kicks.

I landed the first hit; a solid kick to the side. The whistle blew and the flags flashed my way; one sweet point on my side. He won the next point, but he was tiring. I knew I could win.

I punch him square in the chest twice, enough to make him wobble even with the pads on. No whistle. I glanced at the ref in shock, blocked a punch and kicked his off-side. No whistle; no flags.

Even though it wasn’t fair, I couldn’t think about the ref. Sweat trickled into my eyes. I wiped it off, and that’s when the first low kick blazed towards my shin.

I didn’t remember how many of those dirty blows hit, but my friend outside the ring said she counted forty. All I remember is the searing, agonizing pain as my shin swelled an inch and the referee didn’t say a word. I scored one more point before I started limping. Legs scored the final three points for victory as I hip-hopped around the ring. No calls from the ref for intentional blows, no time out or disqualification. What’s a kid to do when their degree-ranked heroes disappoint them?

Your Conference Spy, Reporting In

2009-06-11T09:52:00.002-05:00

**Missive**

My mission, which I have chosen to accept, is to infiltrate the two week writer's workshop known as Summer Writer's Institute. My goal: to obtain information for the good of writerdom.

Any information obtained will be reported immediately to said writers brave enough to follow this blog. Be on the lookout after Monday, June 15th, for important messages.

This messages will self-destruct.

**End Transmission**

What Are You Doing for Your Writing?

2009-06-09T11:24:00.002-05:00

Writing is like anything else you love and cherish - you have to exercise it, give it a chance to grow and mold itself into the best it can be. If your writing is worth it to you, then it's vital to give it the same care and attention of anything else important in your life.

I start a small 1 credit writing workshop this Wednesday that goes through August at my university. In addition, the countdown to my two week writer's workshop has begun. Just 5 days until I get to spend two weeks of incredibly productive creative time around like minds. I can't wait. Some people may think it's weird to use vacation to take a class, but hey - they take vacation for all sorts of things I wouldn't bother going to. Baseball isn't important to me (sorry, Dad).

For my writing, I'm grooming it with some good classes and giving me the chance to actually write. May-June are hell in the finance world, and it's been difficult finding time to write this month; rare for me, but it happens.

Make sure you do what it takes to take care of your writing, whether it be taming it down to a schedule despite its protests or letting it take a sip of whiskey and see what happens.

Writing Advice is Hazardous to Your Health

2009-06-03T14:31:00.008-05:00

/dusts off her small box and climbs on top

Ahem. This rant, writers of non-repute, is for you and your incessant received writing advice.

There is a thing called too much advice. If you're on your first draft, if you haven't taken the weed whacker to the selection, or had a chance to finish the arc to see where it goes... how can you get advice that's truly valuable? Good advice about a story is precious, and requiring someone to validate your writing every chapter won't help you accomplish anything except angst, and we writers have enough of that.

I know how you feel when you have a WiP. The excitement and madness of writing down your heart's thoughts and your head's emotions. The thrill of racing along with your protagonist as you're swept into their story is beyond compare. And who can blame you? For you, the story is crystal clear.

You've written your first chapter, or perhaps the entire novel, and that little voice, the who's so proud of your work and yet desires some advice speaks up. It tells you to get out there and get people engaged in your piece. Perhaps a Hooked contest over at Authoress's blog, or a writing forum; maybe even the coveted writing group.

To see if you're you're headed in the right direction, of course.

I mean, it was written for you and others to enjoy, right? A little advice and some compliments in one go - how bad could it be?

Let me give you an example from a fellow writer I know. She's a good writer, is free with her writing advice and time for others, and has a wonderful WiP that's shaping up nicely. My friend recently relayed an incident to me where she asked for people in this writing blog group she's in to give her critiques on her WiP. She got 18 people giving feedback on the entire thing.

18 - gosh, she must feel incredible, right? So many people came and gave advice on her piece! And as it turned out, she had several people remark on the same thing, and did find something useful.

The problem, however, was that verbal flood overwhelmed her. While some of the advice was good, just as much of it wasn't. There were people who didn't know how to act like professionals, and there were so many specifics that by the end she felt like she had to please everyone. It became frustrating and depressing to read - knowing when to not listen to unprofessional people still doesn't stop you from feeling down about it.

I know many people say the advice helps them to improve their writing, and I'm not saying advice should never be sought - it should only be sought after you've put it through the wringer and your writing is ready to be viewed by the public for final tweaking. Stephen King calls those people Ideal Readers; an apt phrase.

The thing is, until you've had a chance to sit and sweat over your writing a few times, any adivce you get will be moot, as you'll end up changing the whole darn thing anyways.

Another example: a second friend of mine recently had the first part of her chapter 1 put up for critiques on a board. The dozen or so comments that followed were about as useful as an umbrella with a hole in it. Vague comments about how they didn't like or liked it, with only one person pointing out any specifics was a total wash from her. She knew her first chapter needed some work, but all she found out was that it didn't work for most people. Oh, and the place two people wanted her to start at was trite and overdone for her genre.

If you take the time to sit with your story and look it over, you can figure out yourself the extensive rewrites you'll need to get the much-valued second chapter. All the advice in the world may or may not give you ideas and help, but it'll be their ideas, not yours. Your piece is your creation for so long before people start putting their mark on it - go through it at least twice on your own before delving to the outside realms.

You yourself, and the fact that you stuck your butt in the seat every day to finish the 60k-200k monstrosity is validation. Every day you go back and chip away at the boulder of a bad scene, or use your plot hole shovel, or wield those slice and dice knives - that is validation.

If you need permission to brag, you have it. Less than half of the people who say they'll write a novel end up starting it, let alone finishing a first draft.

When that voice starts speaking up, smack it with a stick. I'm serious. Advice is always a two-edged sword, and putting a piece out somewhere that's not ready to go will give you bad jujus.

Patience, young padawan. You'll know when the time is right to pass out those copies for others to read. Find those ideal readers, the ones whose advice you can trust won't steer you off into stereotypes or change your writing style.

Your writing and you - the best duo in the world. Keep it that way.

What's in Your Work Binder?

2009-05-27T09:37:00.004-05:00

I hope everyone had a happy Memorial Day weekend. Mine was filled with so many gatherings and events that I didn't get any relaxation at all, which has culminated in being asked if I'm ok at work because I'm stumbling around like a zombie.

Speaking of zombies - one of the things I did this weekend was play Left 4 Dead. If you're interested in playing online with me (computer), send me an email! Guppy and I kicked zombie ass. Laura Croft has nothing on us. Unfortunately, we need some more practice as the undead before we can win. Boo.

Despite the weekend insanity, I got two chapters completed over the weekend, and I started on a third. I also submitted a Character Chat for Carpe Mousa's weekly challenge, and she liked it enough that she posted it. If you want to read about justice from Blanche's Perspective (my main character from Devil's Tongue), it's there. :) She also gave me a blog award - thanks Danyelle! It's been such a pleasure getting to know you and your characters. (Psst - am I supposed to put the award on my blog? :3)

I also sent a piece of flash fiction to three different magazines. I'm starting to look at places that allow simultaneous submission for magazines since most of them have a 3-6 month turnaround. Yikes folks. I know editors are busy, but so are we writers.

While submitting, I found a really fun "time waster" at New Myths Stuff - The Excerpt Game. You have to create an account to play, but it's really fun. Each is the opening excerpt from a book - some of them are really famous, others are extremely bad. You get to rate and comment on them and see what others put as well. A fun exercise for people who like to fret about hooks.

I stole this link from Pub Rants, but this Washington Post article on Homeland Security using Sci-Fi Writers to help with future planning is awesome. You've got to read it.

To my fellow writers: Blog if you must, but remember to write! Don't get sucked into the intertubes.

P.S. I feel a small writing rant percolating. It may or may not come to fruition. Stay tuned.

Holiday Weekend, Whoo!

2009-05-22T21:53:00.002-05:00

I hope ya'll are gonna have as much fun as I'm going to this weekend. A birthday Rock Band party, a Memorial Day/birthday bash cookout, zombies all weekend, mocking the Guppy into playing Zork, and general writing shenanigans for zee novel will ensue. I'm going to finish through Chapter 9 this weekend. I've got an awesome character chat challenge to do.

Has anyone else noticed that there hasn't been much blog activity? You can tell the sunny season has started; everyone's out enjoying the time, and guest bloggers are popping up like crazy.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Hooray!

2009-05-17T17:02:00.002-05:00

I've been accepted into the Wash U Summer Writer's Institute for June! The best part - I don't have to pay for it.

*happy dance* Two weeks of solid writing and learnin'. I'm pumped.

Facebook: Obsession and Hiatus

2009-05-13T20:25:00.004-05:00

I recently took 30 days off from Facebook to see if it would affect my life. I got a lot of interesting comments about it. Some people thought it was amusing, some said I needed to learn to moderate myself, and others were horrified as they clutched to their e-page (you know who you are). Some people are addicted, and need a clue.

Let me start out by saying my decision wasn't a freakout reaction, nor because I spent hours on Facebook a day. I did notice my FB activity increased the previous month, and I was checking it intermittently throughout the day to see what my friends were all doing. My choice wasn't because this was bad, but rather because I wanted to see what a change-up in my routine would do to me and my time.

I spend a lot of time reading/interacting online - Facebook, Blogger, Xanga, Livejournal, news, IM, World of Warcraft, online writer's groups... the list goes on. Thankfully, I haven't bit the Twitter bullet. My friends who confess to following tell me they can get sucked in all day on the T-Train. I'm sure anyone reading this blog can admit to spending a decent amount of time jacked into the internet for one purpose or another.

My decision to change up my time was because of the simple fact that it is the changes to our routines, the small things that give us enough shake-up to remember we can do so much more with our time. What I needed was a change in perspective. When I stopped looking at Facebook, I realized that I wasted time with some blogs that aren't really of any fun or use; so I deleted them, and I added others I found more interesting. I started looking at my writing projects again after several months off from any of my own work (long story, but I had serious work problems and the death of two friends). I was reminded of how I wrote the first draft of my novel in just two and a half months, and that there are so many things I want to do in life.

Just as important as perspective, I meditated on time. I know time is a human construct, but I think measuring time helps to see what we can achieve in a given timeframe (like our lives). Looking at one of my friends who passed away this fall - he was 21 and died of liver cancer in four weeks. There's nothing like having a friend pass away who's younger than you die so quickly and slowly at the same time. It was hell, and sometimes I still can't believe that he's gone.

Yet one of the things Tommy did was encouraged people to reach for their goals and achieve something with their lives. Mostly he meant it, sometimes he was a little sarcastic about it (when you work as a martial arts instructor, you recognize the dropouts fast), but he was there for people no matter what stage of the game it was. I don't mean to turn this into a sob fest, but when you see something that shocks you and reminds you of your humanity, time becomes something precious.

I'm not going to save the world from giving up Facebook, but I did gain some perspective on what's worth my time. I quit my old job, started a job that's a better fit for me (for now), and I'm making plans with hubby so I can write fulltime in a few years.

Although I have to admit, I'm grateful to have Facebook back because I kept missing invites from people. ;o)

On a lighter note, I got accepted into grad school for the master's program in Personal Financial Planning from the University of Missouri. I'm hoping to have my own business in a few years, so I can do that and writing from home as my career. I get my classes paid for by my university, so it's a win all-around.

I won't stop writing OR revising. Promise. I got some people out here that want to read Devil's Tongue. And I want to finish telling her story.

Blackout Over

2009-05-11T11:49:00.003-05:00

My blackout weekend went extremely well, and I’m pleased with my novel progress. I didn’t get 30k written like I’d originally hoped because I ended up spending more time with the executive summary than I anticipated. This is a good thing, though, because it means that this rewrite is concise and will get a lot more done with a lot less deletage down the road. The writing hang-ups are done, banished by a roadmap to needed changes to produce the end result.

I finished 10k and a really detailed summary. Rewriting sections that sucked also took longer than I expected.

The best part is feeling excited and motivated about working on Devil’s Tongue again. I can’t wait to get this rewrite done so I can go though again to start fiddling, because after fiddling comes beta readers/submission time.

For those who’re having problems wrapping their minds around their project and are stuck in a rut, here are two great posts on how others handle their rewrites by Lady Glamis and Liana Brooks. For me, rewrites haven’t been an issue because I’ve never had to rewrite a novel before – it’s a totally different process than a short story. However, when you have 90k project (give or take), you have to combine both logic and creativity for a huge stretch, and that’s hard if your two sides of your brain don’t want to collaborate. I found with this that I had to do some mental bargaining to get my ducks in a row.

I’m still participating in the Writing Throwdown, although I’m going to revise my original goal now that I’ve got a different plan in implemented.

Jess – I know you can’t wait to read it. You’re going to love the changes I made.

Promised Facebook post will be either tomorrow or Wednesday, barring a visit from Murphy.

Blackout

2009-05-06T13:04:00.003-05:00

I'm taking a four-day writing weekend starting at 4:30 this afternoon. In light of this and my serious writing slackage of the past two weeks, I'm having a blackout - no blog whoring until I've reached my goal. I can take breaks, do fun stuff, slack, nap, read... but I'm not going to be internet hopping much because I get sucked in and don't surface for about three hours once I get started.

I'm an intense focuser by nature, and I need to write the way a sexaholic needs to get laid. I'm getting tetchy because I haven't done as much as I usually do, and my husband is scared of my ferocity.

My writing goals for this four day weekend:

Go over rough draft and create an outline of where the story goes/is supposed to go, and note where serious changes in chapters are needed. (In the works)
Story rewrite #1 - I'm going to go through the rough draft and fix plot holes/inconsistences.

By the time I finish adding in the things I need, my rough draft will be 20k-30k more than the previous time, but I'm not worried. I know where it's going now. I've got a road map in the works. *grin*

Coming up next week: My facebook hiatus is over, and I'm going to blog about it. Also, I should be finding out if I made it into the two week writer's conference, and I'm antsy.

I will be back, never fear.

This blog will be on Blackout at 5:00 PM CST. Seacrest out.

Satisfaction

2009-05-05T15:10:00.002-05:00

I've spent the entire day sneaking critiques inbetween bouts of work, since it's so slow today. It feels wonderful. It's funny, you'd think as a writer I'd want to focus on my own work, but I'm pretty invested in the stories that my fellow writers have crafted in my critique group, and getting critique chapters is like getting my drama delivered right to my door.

Sometimes I wonder if the fact that I enjoy critiquing (and people tell me I do a good job with the pen knives *grin) means I should think about a career on the other side of the fence. then I remember that part of being a good writer is loving to read. Critiquing is great because it gets my juices ready to hack and slash at my own creations.

I've done seven crits and I'm going to do at least one more before heading home. it feels so good to know I've helped people.

Character Chat Monday

2009-05-04T15:08:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine is doing a fun little contest where she pick a topic and then you have your character write a response to said topic. This week's topic is disguises.

Anyways, I had a lot of fun writing my entry, so I thought I'd share my mind drivel for your bored afternoon amusement. Take it as seriously or not as you want to.

Character: Phil, a detective in Devil's Tongue

Disguises are a tricky thing. Some people think of disguises as something bad, the people who use them only characters intent in hiding their true purpose. For me, my disguise is my freedom.

In St. Louis, no one cares if magic users are good people. You could play around as a kitchen witch or produce big things like a sorcerer, it don’t matter. Magic isn’t trusted by most mundanes. Magic can’t mix with technology, people are too afraid of lawsuits to try healing (that they admit to), and for some, it’s not natural. Otherwise, why would it only appear now over the past decade?

But I’m getting away from the point. I know why some magic folk hide; given the sometimes lethal consequences of shootin’ sparks outta your hands, it’s no wonder people try to fit in. At least if you’re a magic user, you can hide your magic from the mundane and keep your job. It’s safety – safety in anonymity.

I didn’t realize I had magic until seventeen. I was a late bloomer, and I didn’t have any of the usual manifestations kids had. I saw mom sweet talking dad but giving off a hate that’d chill a hot glass of wine. I thought I’d imagined it, until I saw it kept happenin’ – I could feel what others felt, even get a whisper or two of their thoughts if it was strong. I caught my girlfriend cheating on me that way. I never told anyone, and I hid it away from the world. I mean, is it really magic if it doesn’t have sparkles?

I called it my intuition, and my intuition rolled me through cop and up to detective in no time. I always catch my man and I never had a case go wrong. I even got in with Grigsby, the hardest homicide captain around and leader of the city’s homicide division. By then, magic had come out of the broom closet and was sashaying its way across the US. Grigsby hated it; so, naturally, we all hated it.

Grigsby, my division, even being a detective on the right side of the fence, even if it was the wrong men – that was my disguise.

Until the one night we picked up a guy in his mid-thirties for homicide. His girlfriend was stabbed more times than I care to remember. I always got the hot seat; people loved how I worked them over. Only this one was different; he was a magic user. I suppose now that I’m stuck at this new job I’d better be PC about the terms.

Anyways, this guy didn’t do it; we both knew it, but he didn’t’ have an alibi, and Grigsby – I’d never seen him so mad. He arrested the guy, and I had to do some fancy footwork to prove the innocence that I knew from this guy. It’s not just feeling – it’s knowing.

That case was the crack in my mask. No way would an ordinary detective, especially one on Grigsby’s team, fight so hard for a magic user unless there was something he knew about the accused. Those weeks of terror in his office were worse than hearing my dad rant about witches and their good for nothing lifestyles. I transferred to the county cops to get away, but Grisgby had his last say – the bastard made sure I got stuck in the new magic crimes unit. As a favor, he said.

And people wonder why I hate my new job.

I’m grabbing these pieces of my mask and keeping it in place as much as I can, but in a magic crimes unit, with people who actually care about this stuff, how long will my safety last? Sure, technically the law can’t discriminate, but tell that to the magic users who get mysteriously let go in this right to work state.

I like being free and like everyone else. I’ll do anything to keep it that way.

Question about Rewrites

2009-05-04T13:37:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I'm knee-deep in revising my first novel draft. Not only do I need to clean up on a grammar level, I have many significant storyline revisions. The joys of rereading and realizing how much you need to change to make a story work.

I digress. I'm wondering if it's useful to even bother with grammar clean-up when I'm changing most of the story around anyways. I feel like I could work through and change the story to what it's supposed to be, then work on clean-up and it would be faster rather than letting grammar games bog me down in the middle of a rewrite.

Thoughts?

LOL!

2009-05-01T13:47:00.001-05:00

I was reading Rachelle Gardner's post about tough reviewers and the things they say, and the comment about The Great Gatesby about killed me. I hate that book.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“It grieves me deeply that we Americans should take as our classic a book that is no more than a lengthy description of the doings of fops.”

Hilarious.

This Week's Chapter - Done!

2009-04-30T14:41:00.002-05:00

My weekly chapter rewrite is complete! I still have to type some of it out, but it's been redone, and that's what's important.

On a side note, I've been reevaluating my writing time and space. It used to be, before we had annoying neighbors move in, that I could pick up my writing time at the end of the day with a glass of wine and be done with my daily goal.

However, since we've had neighbors move in, it's been difficult to set a groove. They're from Uruguay and have no concept of being polite neighbors. They weren't too bad when they first arrived in the fall, but from winter on their child has been a noisy nuisance. I live in a two-story duplex, and every single day (with rare exception), this five year old thunders through the house and shrieks at the top of his lungs.

His running causes the walls to shake and items to eventually fall, so I've taken almost everything off our walls. The shrieking is obnoxious, but I can't stop them other than requesting that they calm their diablo nino down on weekend mornings. Yes, he does it all afternoon and from 7 AM on during the weekends.

I finally got them to realize it truly is loud and obnoxious when he does this on weekend mornings. We've taken to saying the Mexican Hare and Spanish Parakeet are playing downstairs, depending on what noise he's decided to make.

So this leaves me with a quandary. I need my shut out writing space to write. The outside world has to be gone, or I get too distracted to work. It's hard enough focusing after a day of balancing people's salaries and explaining to researchers that compliance really does care how they consent people. Now I have a menagerie downstairs.

I could try taking my laptop to the library, although I don't feel like leaving the house after work. Cranking my music works, but even Queen doesn't drown out the Mexican Hare.

I think I'm going to have to shorten my writing time to work on only 1-2 pages of editing daily instead of sitting down for a chunk amount of time. Editing takes so much more focus than actual writing. Then I can slip in my work between wild animal bouts and hope I don't get too annoyed.

My current worry is that all of my editing is shit because of the distractions. I wish I had a book buddy to swap chapters/books with and discuss why we liked it and didn't. I have a critique group, but that serves a different purpose. I need to find a sample group of fantasy readers to bounce back and forth with once serious edits are "complete". (I am deluding myself about revisions ever being complete, of course. ;o) )

Less Time Blogging Means...

2009-04-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

more productive times offline! I'm busy with pays-the-bills work and with working on my writing in the offtime to hit my deadline this week. I have to have this chapter done.

I'm here. Promise!

Overwriting

2009-04-23T13:21:00.000-05:00

Today is a response topic. I want to ask all of you - what, to you, is over-writing? I want to know your definition. Are there little tricks or hints you use to catch it?

I'm not obsessing over anything in my own writing, merely curious. I'd like to know your thoughts on overwriting.

I Am Alive!

2009-04-17T08:30:00.000-05:00

I slept for 11 hours last night. I kid you not - I fell asleep at 7:30 and woke up at 6:30. I feel much better, although my eyeball is still twitching.

Sorry I cluttered up the blog with so much non-writing stuff, but I'm concerned the time I've been doing at work (I have overtime this week) is going to put me off of my writing goal of finishing a chapter a week.

So to assure you that I'm up and about, I thought I'd post on this beloved Friday and ...

Yeah, my office now has a revolving door, what with everyone who keeps coming in and out. LOL. I gotta work it!

Happy Friday, everyone. I'll hopefully report on my success of finishing Chapter three this Monday.

Explaining?

2009-04-16T18:37:00.000-05:00

So, since I have some explainin' to do...

I work as a grants administrator. Sometimes I get some huge money that I have to help people apply for. I've got my plate more than full, and my boss is gonna be out a lot for the next few days.

I fell asleep at 6 last night, and I think I'm going to bed in a half an hour. I'm pooped.

*grumbles* Stupid allergies...

I'm so Close

2009-04-15T15:45:00.000-05:00

*whimpers*

*attempts to throw in her towel, then gives up and collapses. the towel flutters to the floor*

Subsequently, Marisol is buried by a pile of government paperwork, never to be seen again.

A.K.A. I'm working on a 1 million grant that's due in a week (and investigator just told me about it arghawtethestkhse), and a grant that'll be around $40 million. It was nice knowing all of ya. Really.

x.x

Tuesday, Kinda Like Monday... but Not

2009-04-14T09:18:00.000-05:00

April marks the 50^th anniversary of Strunk & White. I know a lot of writers swear by it, but is it really the best grammar advice that you can get? One journalist certainly doesn’t think so. Read this article for a fascinating discussion on why the classic – well, sucks. As someone who read S&W and found some of the advice contradictory, it was nice to hear I’m not the only one.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the Agent for a Day “contest” at Nathan Bransford’s blog, you should. 50 queries were posted throughout the day, and people have a whole week to read through and follow the rules of the contest. I read through the queries yesterday. Some of them I could see why people weren’t interested, others left me wondering why people didn’t pick them up. This is why you need to pick the right agents to query. It made me excited about the query I’ll someday write for my WiP.

Well, I don’t want to take up too much time today on zee blog. I got some NIH grants to finish budgeting and a chapter to edit.

How I Work It

2009-04-12T14:10:00.000-05:00

Chapter two of Devil's Tongue, my magic crimes novel, is officially a working draft.

I'm sure I'll make more revisions, but I enjoy the overall feel of it. Now to see if my writing group feels the same. *chuckles* They always find stuff that needs a rewrite, but hey, that's what revision three is for.

A quick breakdown of how I organize my work. In order to keep my sanity, here's how I handle my drafts. First draft is pure story and characters. I follow my characters around, and eventually I realize what's going on with the story. Yes, even in a detective novel, I don't plot things. I discuss with my protag and then my evil guys how they would handle the situation, and toss them together into a mixture of mayhem.

Rough draft two is to work all of the big errors out - continuity, unintentional oopsies, reusing the same phrases, etc. Then I toss it over to my writing group. They help push it to the next level.

When I finish with the second draft, it's like having a mostly formed vase out of clay. This is important because I see the bumps and the flat pieces, the parts where either myself or others help me realize there's an irregularity. The third phase is smoothing it out to its final shape, so it's as ready as a whole piece in its form.

After that point, I consider it a fairly whole piece, subject only to decoration, glaze and a bake in the kiln.

Friday Shenanigans

2009-04-10T09:29:00.001-05:00

It’s Friday, so I thought I’d take some time to blather on about – well, anything and everything.

First off, in order to keep myself motivated in a timely manner, I joined Elana’s Writing Throwdown Challenge. We each make a writing goal for the next thirty days, then hold each other accountable. After taking several months off from grieving and work stress (very bad time in my life this past winter), I’m ready to challenge my goals, and to make them work for me. I don’t want to meet my expectations, I want to exceed them. And I can only do that by getting dirty.

My goal, incidentally, is rewriting a chapter a week – about 3k-4k words.

Elana, I’m really hoping you’ll keep the accountability group going after thirty days. I think thirty days to evaluate goals and reset them is good.

I finally read the last book in a trilogy that I’ve been meaning to read for about a year - The Eternal Rose by Gail Dayton. I loved the first two books, and no matter how the first ones develop, I try to finish a series so I can understand the whole arc, for better or worse. In the case of the third book, it was not as good as the first two. The first two were crisp, with well-defined issues and zippy plots. Real suck you in material. This third one was about the characters waffling on their feelings and life direction, and it shows. The first third was a slow starter, and it didn’t really pick up into her usual pizazz until halfway through. If you like unique ideas in fantasy, however, give it a read. The culture is that of polygamy with a magic twist – very nifty.

I also finally picked up some books by Kelley Armstrong. On one hand, I can see why she’s popular. On the other hand, she’s got some writing pitfalls that drive me nuts. But a good story will not be held back, and she does craft a good story.

I’m always looking for new authors/suggestions. Feel free to recommend books to me. Especially newer ones published in the last three years. I’d prefer not vampires/werewolves. I’m getting sick of the paranormal fantasy genre. Give me some good magic casting books.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Gimme a Bite

2009-04-09T10:02:00.000-05:00

This is a new segment I’m going to start doing. Bites will contain only a bit of mind doodling.

The tear sparkled, illuminated her pale blue iris, then slid down her smooth, pale cheek. “James, you must take it.”
It was luminescent; no, how could water shine so? Yet there it fell, down into her cupped hands. She held them out to me. The opalescent orb suspended an inch above her hands. No imperfections, not a single line signifying age or wisdom graced her palms. My hair stood up on the back of my neck.
She once again pushed her palm towards me. “Take it.”
“I don’t think it’s meant for me, faerykin.” I edged back and hoped she didn’t notice or take offense. “I’m not worthy of this gift.”
It was then the faery bared pointed teeth in a predatory smile. My blood turned to ice. “But James, you’re meant to be with me. Forever.”

Note: Geared up and sent out Death Rites again. Hoping for another publishing credit to my name soon. Too many near misses with personal rejections.

30 Days Without Facebook

2009-04-07T10:29:00.000-05:00

Last week, I instituted a challenge to myself—to stay off of Facebook for 30 days. The razzings have already started from some of my friends, the ones I can see in person. Some people may not care about Facebook, but for twentysomethings like me, it’s an institution. Schedules, party invites, work networking is all done on there.

Part of being a writer is making sure you carve out time to do your writing/editing. Too often we use all of our nifty networking tools to the point of distraction. Checking people’s status and keeping in the loop becomes a habit, where we refresh the page every few hours to see what’s going on, and perhaps doing a few quizzes and apps along the way.

One of the most precious items allotted to me is my free time. I have a full-time job, I sleep, and I have a few hobbies, so balancing time is extremely important to me. I realized last month that I probably waste a good hour over the course of a day doodling on Facebook. I also spent a lot of time playing WoW (World of Warcraft for you non-geeks) and feeling bored. Bored, for crying out loud! What do I have to feel bored about when I have a book I’m editing for hopeful publication?

We so often ramp up our writing only to take so many little detours out of a need for a break that our breaks become distractions, and the distractions cause us to lose focus of our true goals in life. Sure you want to watch those TV shows – but if you watch so much TV that you’re putting your writing away four nights a week, you’ve lost all of that time.

Thinking about how I spend my evenings, I realized I could easily cut out or reduce my distractions and be focused and therefore much happier about how my time was spent, rather than enjoy a few empty hours only to be frustrated at my lack of fulfillment. No matter how much we enjoy things like games or reading writing blogs, they will not leave you with the satisfaction that your time was plumped with activities that gave you something, something that advanced your goals, hopes, and dreams.

Here are the things I cut out/reduced:

1) Reevaluated my blogs and other info sources. I now don’t compulsively check the news every few hours.
2) No Facebook for 30 days, to see if I really miss anything.
3) I retired my raiding spot in WoW (huge time commitment), and I’ve found I don’t miss anything. I still get to talk to my friends, and I’m spending time sunk into my writing worlds.
4) I cut out a lot of TV. I found myself watching old seasons simply because I enjoy them. Darn you, Hulu.
5) Looking at houses and whining about wanting to own one (I’m cursed with bad landlords)

Because of all of this, I not only have more time for my writing, but all of a sudden I have time for more reading. I’ve always read a lot, but this winter I only read 1-2 books a month as opposed to my usual 6-10. Reading is more satisfying than TV for me.

Will I go back to Facebook after the month is up? Yes – I don’t want social annihilation. But I don’t think I’ll be checking it every few hours anymore.

Discussion on Hook and the First Paragraph

2009-04-03T08:19:00.000-05:00

I found a link to a nifty PDF that everyone should read. It's by Nat Sobel, and it discusses the first paragraph in your book and why it's so important to hook a reader from the start. Fascinating, and worth the quick read.

Nat Sobel on A Literary Agent that Reads Reviews.

Why Reading is Important to Writing

2009-04-02T15:42:00.001-05:00

Whenever I start to feel like I’m losing productivity in a piece (symptoms include vacant eyes, drooling and rewriting the same sentence fifteen times), I take a break and Zen it. I find my inner peace and focus. And the way I usually do that is by reading.

People say that perfect practice makes perfect, but in writing, consistent reading is just as important. After all, how can you expect to write things others will read when you don’t read yourself? How do you know what people like? Besides giving a plethora of writing examples (both good and bad), it kickstarts your brain into creative overdrive, and sometimes the things that lurk that won’t speak up suddenly do.

I’m not the only one who says it. Check out this talk by Stephen King:

Think he’s the only one? Here’s Neil Gaiman:

I could go on, but I don’t want to weigh down this post with fifty different youtube videos.

The rest of this week’s focus is to read and immerse myself in a few different worlds. I’m hoping to put in some serious work on this first chapter so I can finally say it’s close to finished.

I hope.

Whoops

2009-04-01T12:34:00.000-05:00

I had a post all ready for yesterday, and I realized I never put it up. My bad. Let us all note the importance of turning save draft on.

Ch. 1's beatdown continues. Well, beatdown isn't exactly the right word. I've spent a lot of time channeling Blanche and really getting in sync with her thoughts. This has lead to a much improved first chapter (I hope), and I sent it to a discerning friend who kindly agreed to read my ramblings and see how they measure up.

The best part about sitting down and really talking with your characters is the realizations you make. I could write an essay about Blanche, but sometimes she doesn't reveal things to me until we've reached a level of trust - a phenomenon that speaks of her character alone. I discovered some really deep-seated things about my protagonist that surprised even me. Just goes to show you that no matter how you birth them, your "kids" always end up evolving in ways you never realized.

To My First Chapter

2009-03-29T12:10:00.000-05:00

Dear First Chapter,

When we first got together and plotted the beginning of Blanche's perilous journey through St. Louis and the magic crimes there, things were very different. Blanche was Akemi and Japanese, you were bloated with too much telling and backstory. Now you've trimmed down, done the Self-Editing diet. It's done wonders.

And despite your accomplishments, you fail to make Blanche obvious to people. She's too scientific. If you don't start toning up that characterization and making Blanche the Best Person Ever, I'm afraid I'll have to fire you and go with Plan B.

Your Handler,

Marisol

On Writing Groups

2009-03-26T21:55:00.000-05:00

Many writers, at some point, want to join a writing group. Having seen many people come and go, I wonder sometimes what people expected when they joined.

A critique group is just that - it offers critiques. Sometimes people receive a few critiques and then disappear. Others complain or completely ignore what people have said in favor of their original work. Sometimes the writer is right, but when you're in a group of people who've done this for a long time they're honestly trying to help people excavate that dingy bronze urn and shine it to a museum quality polish.

Two people I know eschewed virtually all suggestions and critiques given to them and self-published their books. Both were terrible, but with enough time spent learning the craft of writing, they both probably could have made it with a publisher.

Don't expect them to squeal over your story and be fans - you'll be more than disappointed. Do expect both good and bad points to be laid out for you. If there's a consistent thread of complaint, there's probably a good reason. The people who spend their time in critique groups are the readers and book buyers you'll one day want to attract. If your test audience can't figure it out, odds are the rest won't, either.

In all honesty, I've hung out with many different types of writers, and the ones who have taken the time to write their story, rewrite it even when they want the plot to go a different direction but the character says otherwise, takes the time to learn how to properly erect sentences, which give way to paragraphs and beyond, who go over their stories and truly listen to what makes it better, and are not subdued by the mountains of rejections they get - these are the people who succeed. The ones who try. The ones who earn it.

I'm grateful I'm in a writing group - besides giving critiques and suggestions like pros, watching other writers grow and hone their techniques is gratifying. On top of it, when other writers succeed in getting published, you get to carry the high along with them. It gives me hope for the end of the long-ass editing tunnel I'm currently in.

Which I am still enjoying. Editing is easy now that I am getting a grasp on fictional mechanics and structure.

Writing Seminar/Classes

2009-03-24T21:03:00.000-05:00

I found out that there are creative writing courses I can take in my university I work at. The best part - I don't have to pay for any of them. In fact, one of them is a two week intensive summer course in June that I can attend. Now I have something to use up my vacation time that will really be a vacation - a vacation into worlds abound and I'll take that any day.

The pay sucks, but the benefits are wonderful at Wash U.

I'm so excited. I can't wait for summer.

I Color Code my Revisions

2009-03-19T13:28:00.000-05:00

When I'm going over a rough draft, I color code the document so I have an idea of what I'm working with editing wise. After finishing the first page of this first draft, I thought I'd post a photo so people can point and laug - I mean, appreciate the hard work that goes into editing a first draft of fiction.

Shiny!

Good News

2009-03-16T10:25:00.000-05:00

Not the kind you get from the pulpit.

First, I want to congratulate my friend and fellow writer group, uh, groupie, Hope Clark on bagging an agent. What a huge accomplishment. And you earned it, girl. I can't wait to see the Slade stories in print.

Second, my short story "A Taxing Fixation" was selected for Sorcerous Signals' best of 2008 Anthology. Small pom-poms here for me - after receiving the fifth "we love your story but we don't have cash for it" response for Death Rites, I was kind of bummed.

Work on the novel continues. I cut huge swaths into the fabric of my world, and have had to adjust the story accordingly.

2009-03-12T18:04:00.000-05:00

Work on my novel continues. I'm enjoying critquing for my writer groups, and it feels so, so good to be in the groove again.

I am taking a wee break on the short stories while I work on the novel. I'll work on them from time to time, but I'm frustrated by my rejection consisting of "We love it! But we're out of money." That's great to hear, but after the 5th time it gets frustrating. I'd rather work on something and see it grow my leaps and bounds. I need a project with some commitment.

Still chugging along!

2009-01-18T20:15:00.001-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted much of late. I've been quite busy studying for the GRE, getting a new job... you know, the perks of working hard. ;) I've also been really busy reading all of my friends' material, since they've all popped either a half a novel or a full novel my way, and so I'm tearing through the bookload with a sure and steady stream of critiques. C'est la vie.

For anyone living in Saint Louis or visiting, there's this nifty place called the Third Degree Glass factor on Delmar that you can go to and make stuff, take classes, or browse the gallery and purchase something. Their website: http://www.stlglass.com

To celebrate my new job, Justin bought me a paperweight to put on my desk that I lusted after. It reminds me of yummy desserts.

Recovery

2008-12-29T21:55:00.000-06:00

It took awhile for me to heal, and studying for the GRE's/dealing with some personal problems has taken a lot of my energy, but I'm finally getting back into the writing world.

I really, really missed all of you. You being my zany characters who live in my head.

Piers Anthony, My Hero

2008-11-30T08:57:00.000-06:00

Our pep talk for NaNo came this week from Piers Anthony. He's so awesome.

Dear Writer,

You're a fool. You know that, don't you? Because only a fool would try a stunt as crazy as this. You want to write a 50,000 word novel in one month?! Do you have sawdust in your skull? When there are so many other more useful things you could be doing, like cleaning up the house and yard, taking a correspondence course in Chinese, or contributing your time and effort to a charitable cause? Whatever is possessing you?

Consider the first card of the Tarot deck, titled The Fool. There's this young man traipsing along with a small dog at his heel, toting a bag of his worldly goods on the end of his wooden staff, carrying a flower in his other hand, gazing raptly at the sky—and about to step off a cliff, because he isn't watching his feet. A fool indeed. Does this feel familiar? It should. You're doing much the same thing. What made you ever think you could bat out a bad book like that, let alone write anything readable?

So are you going to give up this folly and focus on reality before you step off the cliff? No? Are you sure? Even though you know you are about to confirm the suspicion of your dubious relatives, several acquaintances, and fewer friends that you never are going to amount to anything more than a dank hill of beans? That you're too damned oink-headed to rise to the level of the very lowest rung of common sense?

Sigh. You're a lost soul. So there's no help for it but to join the lowly company of the other aspect of The Fool. Because the fact is, that Fool is a Dreamer, and it is Dreamers who ultimately make life worthwhile for the unimaginative rest of us. Dreamers consider the wider universe. Dreamers build cathedrals, shape fine sculptures, and yes, generate literature. Dreamers are the artists who provide our rapacious species with some faint evidence of nobility.

So maybe you won't be a successful novelist, or even a good one. At least you are trying. T hat, would you believe, puts you in a rarefied one percent of our kind. Maybe less than that. You aspire to something better than the normal rat race. You may not accomplish much, but it's the attitude that counts. As with mutations: 99% of them are bad and don't survive, but the 1% that are better are responsible for the evolution of species to a more fit state. You know the odds are against you, but who knows? If you don't try, you'll never be sure whether you might, just maybe, possibly, have done it. So you do have to make the effort, or be forever condemned in your own bleary eyes.

Actually, 50,000 words isn't hard. You can write “Damn!” 50,000 times. Oh, you want a readable story! That will be more of a challenge. But you know, it can be done. In my heyday, before my wife's health declined and I took over meals and chores, I routinely wrote 3,000 words a day, taking two days a week off to answer fan mail, and 60,000 words a month was par. Now I try for 1,500 and hope for 2,000. That will do it. If you write that much each day, minimum, and go over some days, you will have your quota in the month. On the 10th of the month of August, 2008, I started writing my Xanth novel Knot Gneiss, about the challenge of a boulder that turns out to be not stone but a huge petrified knot of reverse wood that terrifies anyone who approaches it. Petrified = terrified, get it? And by the 30th I had 35,000 words. That's the same pace. If I can do it in my doddering old age—I'm 74—you can do it in your relative youth.

Of course you need ideas. You can garner them from anywhere. I noticed that our daily newspaper comes in a plastic bag that is knotted. The knot's too tight to undo without a lot of effort, so I just rip it open to get at the goodies inside. It's a nuisance; I wish they'd leave it loose. But I thought, maybe there's this cute delivery girl who has a crush on me, and she ties a love -knot to let me know. Not that at my age I'd know what to do with a real live girl, but it's still a fun fantasy. Okay, there's an idea. I could use it in my fiction. Maybe even in a Pep Talk. The mundane world has provided me with an opening. It will do the same for you, if you're alert.

Here's a secret: fictive text doesn't necessary flow easily. Most of the time it's more like cutting a highway through a mountain. You just have to keep working with your pick, chipping away at the rock, making slow progress. It may not be pretty at first. Prettiness doesn't come until later, at the polishing stage, which is outside your month. You just have to get it done by brute force if necessary. So maybe your ongoing story isn't very original. That's okay, for this. Just get it done. Originality can be more in the eye of the reader than in any objective assessment.

You can make it from a standing start, even from a foolish daydream when you should have been paying attention to the Pep Talk. You will want to try for a bit more quality, of course, and maybe a spot of realism. Garner an Idea, assemble some Characters, find a suitable place to start, and turn them loose in your imagination. Now go home and start your engines!

Piers

Piers Anthony is the author of the Xanth series. You can learn more about him and his work by visiting his website.

I am quite busy

2008-11-16T21:04:00.000-06:00

Writing in and of itself has taken a backseat while I let my brain ferment. My original intent was to do NaNoWriMo this month; however, I've realized that I haven't recovered yet from personal stress and grief to let myself take the suicidal plunge this month.

I have been busy. Here is my peace offering as a way of saying sorry for not posting. My photo blog, where all of my silly adventures get written up in photo book format:

http://marfstravels.livejournal.com/

2008-10-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

Ea, the Clever Prince(?), was under oath with them
   so he repeated their talk to the reed house:
     'Reed hut, reed hut! Wall, wall!
O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubartutu:
  Tear down the house and build a boat!
                      - Gilgamesh, Tablet XI

Who can say of mankind and all of its creations?
Will all of these letters and words which become sentences and stories
become something greater? Or will the story change until it ceases to exist?

Editor's Note: I am pissed I can't find the cuneiform to make this a wholly more fascinating post.

NaNoWriMo Cometh

2008-10-26T09:21:00.001-05:00

Coming in November is the mad scramble to write 50k words – that’s “write”, it’s National Novel Writing Month. Each year, thousands of people participate. It’s quite the fun madhouse.

In my writing group we’re all going to give it a go. Who else out there is going to do it? I’d like to add you to my list. Here’s my info so you can add me:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/411510

Feel free to post your information in a comment, or email it to me if you’re shy.

My Dear Tom

2008-10-14T12:15:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine in my writing group recently passed away. Although we never met face to face, I considered Tom Stewart a friend and a comrade in arms, and his death came as a shock. Writing is more than a story. It's a battle, a challenge to not only write The Story but to make it comprehensible to a multitude of people.

I'll never forget when I first joined the Well. He was a submitting maniac with his novel, but Tom was always kind, a hard worker, and a helluva writer. He was also generous with his time and gave as good as he got. Although I will now sadly never get to meet him, I know that part of his writing passion lives on in me and others he's helped along the way, and I hope he knows that, even though he's gone.

Part of me still can't believe he's gone. I'm waiting to hear his latest thoughts as he finishes fine-tuning the novel and looking for a publicist. But as time goes on and the emails never come, I'm sure it'll hit home one day harder than I expect.

Rest in Peace, Tom. And Godspeed.

And we're moving into the editing phase

2008-10-05T22:37:00.000-05:00

My first chapter is getting inspected and turned inside out by my fine writing group as we speak.

Oh boy.

Novel Progress

2008-09-26T14:32:00.000-05:00

Phases I and II complete. I'm feeling accomplished.

This weekend is phase III: chronology.

Advice from "The King"

2008-09-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

And don't you forget it, published author wannabe's!

One of Those Days

2008-09-24T11:45:00.000-05:00

You ever feel like what you're producing is awful and everyone else's stuff is way better?

Yeah, it's one of those weeks. I don't know if I'm cut out to write short stories.

Urgh.

The Hidden Draft

2008-09-19T23:50:00.000-05:00

I won't be showing my first draft of my novel around for a few weeks. I should be upfront about that, since I know a few of my reader friends and possibly even my writing group buddies read this and some are champing at the bit (I've heard your teeth gnashing, you know who you are). Bear with me and I'll explain why.

When I last started a book I found that I had a lot of problems working it because I'd get a lot of comments that, while useful and accurate, were things I didn't want to start really working on until the second round. I got so bogged down in those things that I started revising and never moved forward.

This time around, I'm trying something different. Although my research and world-building are much better this time around, I want to do a process that I used with my thesis and was reminded of after reading some excellent book editing articles. Here's the breakdown of how my process works:

1) First readthrough. This means just that - read the entire novel and write thoughts and comments as I go along. No rewriting, no editing.
2) Light proofing. Fixing the misspellings and obvious grammar booboos.
3) Chronology. Taking a look at each scene and deciding on a timeline/smoothing hte timeline out so it makes sense.
4) Editing. The meat of the project. After all of my thinking about the piece as a whole, I'll rewrite from beginning to end, adding in everything that's been missed out. This is where people's opinions will come into play.
5) Re-Evaluation/Roadmap. After Finishing the first runthrough, I'll be putting all of the information about the world-building I've done into a separate document (for hopeful future sequel use), then re-evaluate where the story is at. And then I repeat steps 1-4 until finally...
6) Polishing. This is basically the steps from above to a lesser degree, with an eye to continuity and theme than other problems, which should be hopefully taken care of by now.

I'm hoping this takes about 9 months. Hey, I can dream...

Time on my hands

2008-09-16T22:07:00.000-05:00

Now that I've finished writing my novel, my writing time feels different. I'm trying to give myself a break before revising, but I've always been headstrong and tend to forge ahead to learn through the absolute gunks of my writing. Most writers suggest a break before starting on your work, but I don't know how long of a break I can really give myself without losing steam. while it's important that I give my work as unbiased of an eye as possible, I think it would take longer than I care to wait to do that.

However, I am with many projects still even as I dither about the novel. I've got a half dozen stories in various stages of the writing cycle, and I think it'd behoove me to get some ready to send out so I can get in my Editor Mind for book revising and still have a few projects to work on while working on the book.

Since I've reached my goal of getting a story published, I am redefining my goals for the next year (which I always do in October, anyways, so I figure I can give myself thirteen months this time). In no particular order:

1) Get at least five cleaned up short stories circulating and published.
2) Finish the first and second edits on the novel.
3) Start searching out agents once second edit is done.
4) Participate in NaNoWriMo in November.
5) Begin early stages for another novel.

Starting this week, I'm going to take 2 hours a day to work on editing my stuff and doing critiques for my writing groups. I'm also going to read at least an hour a day. I need to keep my mind circulating, and reading refreshes me.

Started a short story on Monday and expect to finish the first draft this week. Got another one in the works as soon as I get a chance to do a little research.

After reading my post, I have a lot more going on than I thought. Geez. How am I supposed to stay in one of the top raiding guilds of World of Warcraft with this schedule? ;)

Phase 1 Complete

2008-09-13T00:25:00.000-05:00

I finished the first rough draft of my novel. Word count rang in at 66,000, which is a solid start. I know that I'll be adding quite a bit with some scenes I am already toying with changing around, and there's a bunch of things I need to add for a character I didn't realize I needed until I was at the end of the novel.

But all of these thoughts and ideas I have for editing will have to wait. I need to make myself take as much of a break as possible from the novel so I can gear up and be excited about it again when I start the countless months or year of revisions that will take place now. Writing was the easy part. Editing will be the hardest and longest part of the piece.

But tonight, no thoughts of that. I've written my first draft. If I can do that, I can do anything.