Hair: cut and colored
Backpack: purchased and packed
Planner: bought and filled out (w/ the syllabus info I have already, of course -- I'm not telepathic)
New clothes: bought and put up
Dreamweaver: Learned and still learning
Laptop: researched and almost ready to buy ☺
Dog: bathed and teeth brushed
I think I'm ready for school to start on Wednesday!!
I'm not sure what the dog had to do with that... but I'm pretty proud to have accomplished all of that stuff today, and after sleeping in too. In my sweatpants, because today was the first day cool enough to wear them.
The only thing I still have to do before my senior year starts is... write. I'm working on a sci-fi short of 5K for a contest. Let's face it, "working on" it right now means I'm reading David Gerrold's "Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy" and brainstorming. And it's due August 31. Gulp. But, no fear...
Oh, and I'm still stuck on a few chapters of IE revisions. Chapters 6-9 are giving me some trouble. I had planned on getting to at least 10, if not higher, before school started... it can still happen, if I can figure out these tiny issues. We'll see.
Otherwise, I'm ready!!!!!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Disenchantment
The high of ripping through several d2 chapters of IE is wearing off. Slowly but surely. A huge part of that is posting chapter 1 for fellow writers/readers to critique. Apparently, so far the vote is unanimous that some of the changes I made between d1 and d2 are not welcome.
Ollie is too lecture-y.
Sophia is too whiny.
Trent is too cold.
The conversations aren't age-appropriate.
There's too much dialogue.
The characters don't have original voices.
The new POV/tense is jarring.
Sigh.
I really shouldn't have posted that for crits yet, I don't think.
But I won't give up. I just might slow down a bit, even though I'm going to try not to.
Someone remind me again why I chose this hobby/future profession? It's mind-boggling!!
Ollie is too lecture-y.
Sophia is too whiny.
Trent is too cold.
The conversations aren't age-appropriate.
There's too much dialogue.
The characters don't have original voices.
The new POV/tense is jarring.
Sigh.
I really shouldn't have posted that for crits yet, I don't think.
But I won't give up. I just might slow down a bit, even though I'm going to try not to.
Someone remind me again why I chose this hobby/future profession? It's mind-boggling!!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Funerals Suck
They do. It's a tried and true fact. Unless you're the Grim Reaper or something -- or Jason Priestley's character on Tru Calling... which was not unlike the Grim Reaper.
Anyhow.
What sucks worse than a funeral?
Writing about one.
There's an inherent tension, saddness, and ache that comes with funerals, and as an author, it's my job to get those all in the scene without crushing the readers' spirit so much s/he puts the book down. And you'd think, after attending countless funerals -- 3 grandparents, half a dozen great-aunts, three classmates, a handful of friends' parents and relatives, and my husband's uncle (which was less than a week ago, so I really should have it fresh in my mind) -- I would be able to get all these raw emotions on paper.
Riiiight. Because all those funeraly emotions come creeping in when you try to write a funeral scene, and while you'd think this is a good thing, it's not. Because they kind of block you from properly expressing any emotion.
So, funerals suck.
Writing about them sucks.
And they're both a part of life. Well, the real ones are a part of real life, and the fictional ones are a part of my novel. So, I'm going to have to figure out how to use my RL experience to create an authentic funeral scene for my readers.
Remind me again why I chose this hobby??
Anyhow.
What sucks worse than a funeral?
Writing about one.
There's an inherent tension, saddness, and ache that comes with funerals, and as an author, it's my job to get those all in the scene without crushing the readers' spirit so much s/he puts the book down. And you'd think, after attending countless funerals -- 3 grandparents, half a dozen great-aunts, three classmates, a handful of friends' parents and relatives, and my husband's uncle (which was less than a week ago, so I really should have it fresh in my mind) -- I would be able to get all these raw emotions on paper.
Riiiight. Because all those funeraly emotions come creeping in when you try to write a funeral scene, and while you'd think this is a good thing, it's not. Because they kind of block you from properly expressing any emotion.
So, funerals suck.
Writing about them sucks.
And they're both a part of life. Well, the real ones are a part of real life, and the fictional ones are a part of my novel. So, I'm going to have to figure out how to use my RL experience to create an authentic funeral scene for my readers.
Remind me again why I chose this hobby??
Monday, August 10, 2009
Rewriting
Rewriting Isaac's Eyes is going SO much better after I let it simmer for a while. Just this month, I have rewritten/revised 6.5 chapters. Since finishing the first draft on New Years' Eve of 2008, I had gotten exactly 3 chapters revised before now. And I had to re-revise those this week. So, it's been pretty productive! I just hope I can keep up this momentum and get the whole 2nd draft of the book done by the end of the year. I never wanted it to take this long to get finished in the first place.
After d2 (draft 2) is done, I plan to let IE sit for another month or two and then work on d3. Hopefully (fingers crossed!) I'll only need to get to d4 before I can start working on the dreaded query/synopsis/praying to God someone in the publishing field even remotely likes my work. The way I see it, d1 is for writing, d2 is for rewriting/revising, and d3 is for editing. Of course, there will be many half-drafts in between, and probably a few more editing drafts. In the case of IE, d2 is mostly for reWRITING, instead of reVISING, because I have added so much to the plot, characters, and overall complexity of the story since d1. So, what I'm doing right now is more rewriting than anything. In some cases -- like chapters 4, 5, and 6 -- completely re-writing the entire chapters... which is nice. It's back to the ole' blank canvas of d1 that inspires me to keep writing. I like it.
Stephen King and Elizabeth Lyons didn't have much to say to me about rewriting, but I have a feeling I'll be using much of their wisdom -- and that of many others -- to finish this draft. Especially if I want to make headway before school starts on August 26th (senior year!!! for real this time!).
Off to write some more. I'm adding a new series of flashbacks to the story, told backward from chapter 2 throughout the story (which is a basic forward-chronological structure, no tricks), and this flash is all new. And exciting. And hopefully gives some of my critters (those who critique my work, not small animals ☺) a taste of what they've asked for. Just a taste.
After d2 (draft 2) is done, I plan to let IE sit for another month or two and then work on d3. Hopefully (fingers crossed!) I'll only need to get to d4 before I can start working on the dreaded query/synopsis/praying to God someone in the publishing field even remotely likes my work. The way I see it, d1 is for writing, d2 is for rewriting/revising, and d3 is for editing. Of course, there will be many half-drafts in between, and probably a few more editing drafts. In the case of IE, d2 is mostly for reWRITING, instead of reVISING, because I have added so much to the plot, characters, and overall complexity of the story since d1. So, what I'm doing right now is more rewriting than anything. In some cases -- like chapters 4, 5, and 6 -- completely re-writing the entire chapters... which is nice. It's back to the ole' blank canvas of d1 that inspires me to keep writing. I like it.
Stephen King and Elizabeth Lyons didn't have much to say to me about rewriting, but I have a feeling I'll be using much of their wisdom -- and that of many others -- to finish this draft. Especially if I want to make headway before school starts on August 26th (senior year!!! for real this time!).
Off to write some more. I'm adding a new series of flashbacks to the story, told backward from chapter 2 throughout the story (which is a basic forward-chronological structure, no tricks), and this flash is all new. And exciting. And hopefully gives some of my critters (those who critique my work, not small animals ☺) a taste of what they've asked for. Just a taste.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
On Writing
I'm reading Stephen King's writing guide, appropriately titled, On Writing. I am also reading Elizabeth Lyon's revision guide, also appropriately titled, Manuscript Makeover. They are both very interesting, and very, very different.
I thought I'd give out some details of what I've found interesting from King's book, since I've shared a little of Lyon's already. But not too much, because what fun would that be? If you like what I post, you can go buy the book yourself ☺
On Writing
The first piece of advice marked with a green and brown sticky-note in my copy is:
"When you write a story, you're telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not in the story." (page 57)
This may sound simple enough, but sometimes I think we writers forget this. We get so caught up in the grammar (How many adverbs do I have on this page? Should I use "said" or an alternative? How many times in this chapter did I use the word "she"?) and the worry that someone (anyone, just one person, who happens to live under a rock across the world) won't like this particular word/line/phrase, that we lose sight of our mission. Our mission is to write, to tell a story the best we can, and hope, nay, pray, that someone (anyone, just one person, who may or may not happen to live under a rock across the world) gets it. That's it. That's all we have to do. Simple, right?
The second piece I noted from this book is on page 134. Yes, there is plenty of wisdom between pages 57 and 134, but I'm sharing the ones I felt important enough to mark with the green-and-brown striped sticky-note. It really falls into what I was just saying, so apparently there is a theme here:
"The object of fiction isn't grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell them a story... to make him/her forget, whenever possible, that h/she is reading a story at all. ... Writing is seduction.* Good talk is part of seduction..."
*Did you like that? Writing is "seduction." How 'bout them apples? I feel pretty damn good already. So if I ever become a professional writer, can I say that my job is "professional seductress?"... does that sound too... street-corner-worthy?
Ya know what, that's all I'm going to share today. I think I've found a theme and I like it. To go along with these professional words of wisdom, I'd like to share one more thing. I read a forum post on CC (www.critiquecircle.com) that has stayed with me for a few days. This forum was about Dean Koontz, but I found something that really interested me along these same lines. I have no idea how to make a pretty little link to the forum, but it doesn't matter much anyhow because only members of CC can read it. But, if you are already a member, or are thinking of becoming one (CC is the best writers' group on the Internet, I swear it. If you're not a member, you should be one. It's free. Go sign up. I'll wait.), just plug in some strategic search words and you can find the original post. Here's what I liked:
CC'ers are forever wailing the bad writing of successful authors. And I don't think it is that only once you've sold tons of books you can do that, because if you go back to the first book of these authors, they are just as bad, usually worse. I've read tons of Koontz, and his strength is definitely not his prose.
What I really think is going on is that the 'rules', the 'writing no-nos', aren't nearly as important as we think they are, at least not to the reader. In fact, I think we are handicapping ourselves beyond our ability to be productive and successful. It is as if we are in a race, but have decided that the only way to go about it is with a backpack full of bricks across our shoulders and three china teacups balanced on our heads.
And there go Koontz, King, Rowling, et al, running blithely along miles ahead of us.
Meanwhile, we keep checking with each other to see how well packed our bricks are.
That just amazed me. How true is that, fellow writers? Instead of doing our business -- our telling... our seducing -- we worry WAY too much about the technicalities of the craft. (PS, that's what CC is for, to help with those technicalities once you've told your story. So, here's another chance to go sign up. No, I don't get squat for plugging the website, but I like it, and you will too.)
That's about all I have for now. I am revising my 2nd draft of IE currently. I'm taking a break from Illusive Truths (tentative title, I just don't know how I feel about it yet), my SuNoWriMos project (bust! I only wrote 20K when my goal was 60K in two months...) to do some heavy rewriting. More on that later. I have to get back to work.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled program...
I thought I'd give out some details of what I've found interesting from King's book, since I've shared a little of Lyon's already. But not too much, because what fun would that be? If you like what I post, you can go buy the book yourself ☺
On Writing
The first piece of advice marked with a green and brown sticky-note in my copy is:
"When you write a story, you're telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not in the story." (page 57)
This may sound simple enough, but sometimes I think we writers forget this. We get so caught up in the grammar (How many adverbs do I have on this page? Should I use "said" or an alternative? How many times in this chapter did I use the word "she"?) and the worry that someone (anyone, just one person, who happens to live under a rock across the world) won't like this particular word/line/phrase, that we lose sight of our mission. Our mission is to write, to tell a story the best we can, and hope, nay, pray, that someone (anyone, just one person, who may or may not happen to live under a rock across the world) gets it. That's it. That's all we have to do. Simple, right?
The second piece I noted from this book is on page 134. Yes, there is plenty of wisdom between pages 57 and 134, but I'm sharing the ones I felt important enough to mark with the green-and-brown striped sticky-note. It really falls into what I was just saying, so apparently there is a theme here:
"The object of fiction isn't grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell them a story... to make him/her forget, whenever possible, that h/she is reading a story at all. ... Writing is seduction.* Good talk is part of seduction..."
*Did you like that? Writing is "seduction." How 'bout them apples? I feel pretty damn good already. So if I ever become a professional writer, can I say that my job is "professional seductress?"... does that sound too... street-corner-worthy?
Ya know what, that's all I'm going to share today. I think I've found a theme and I like it. To go along with these professional words of wisdom, I'd like to share one more thing. I read a forum post on CC (www.critiquecircle.com) that has stayed with me for a few days. This forum was about Dean Koontz, but I found something that really interested me along these same lines. I have no idea how to make a pretty little link to the forum, but it doesn't matter much anyhow because only members of CC can read it. But, if you are already a member, or are thinking of becoming one (CC is the best writers' group on the Internet, I swear it. If you're not a member, you should be one. It's free. Go sign up. I'll wait.), just plug in some strategic search words and you can find the original post. Here's what I liked:
CC'ers are forever wailing the bad writing of successful authors. And I don't think it is that only once you've sold tons of books you can do that, because if you go back to the first book of these authors, they are just as bad, usually worse. I've read tons of Koontz, and his strength is definitely not his prose.
What I really think is going on is that the 'rules', the 'writing no-nos', aren't nearly as important as we think they are, at least not to the reader. In fact, I think we are handicapping ourselves beyond our ability to be productive and successful. It is as if we are in a race, but have decided that the only way to go about it is with a backpack full of bricks across our shoulders and three china teacups balanced on our heads.
And there go Koontz, King, Rowling, et al, running blithely along miles ahead of us.
Meanwhile, we keep checking with each other to see how well packed our bricks are.
That just amazed me. How true is that, fellow writers? Instead of doing our business -- our telling... our seducing -- we worry WAY too much about the technicalities of the craft. (PS, that's what CC is for, to help with those technicalities once you've told your story. So, here's another chance to go sign up. No, I don't get squat for plugging the website, but I like it, and you will too.)
That's about all I have for now. I am revising my 2nd draft of IE currently. I'm taking a break from Illusive Truths (tentative title, I just don't know how I feel about it yet), my SuNoWriMos project (bust! I only wrote 20K when my goal was 60K in two months...) to do some heavy rewriting. More on that later. I have to get back to work.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled program...
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