Where did the summer go? And what a summer it was ...
I didn't finish Cleveland like I'd hoped. In fact, at the PNWA conference I attended in July, I pitched Collected just for the heck of it. My appointments were on the last day so I spent the first two talking to people about the concept. They responded so well that when the time came to pitch I asked the agents and editors if they wanted the concept pitch or the back-of-the-book pitch. I only had one agent turn me down and that was because the editors she works with want romance, and Collected does not have a romantic end. One agent stopped me as I was getting up from our 3-minute speed pitch and told me I'd done the perfect pitch! I walked away with two requests for partials, a request for a full, and a request for the full and the series outline from a major editor. I also walked away with a request for my latest picture book from an editor that had turned down my first children's book last year.
How has it shaken out? The full from an agent I really wanted to work with was rejected. After 50 rejects, disappointing but not unexpected. The agent I thought had done a courtsey request for a partial turned it down. The other partial turned into a request for a full the day after I sent it in. He's still got it. I've nudged him for he's rejected everthing else he requested that's been logged on QueryTracker. No word yet so I'm crossing my fingers. No word yet from anyone else who has it, including the publisher who was referred Collected back in June (I'm assuming that's a pass). And the children's book publisher/editor liked my children's book but didn't love it, so she passed. I'm still counting it as a win since she'd hacked last year's work to pieces.
I feel like I'm inching toward needing to change my reference name on this blog. Just like I'm inching toward finishing Cleveland. I was writing daily on Cleveland and then wham! at the end of July I wrote myself right out of the feeling. I did such a good job shutting my character off from feeling all the chaos swirling around her that I could no longer tap into her developing feelings for the other character - right around the corner from their falling in love! (cue the Rightous Brothers)
I've gone back and read the parts where the story was working. I've written the scene in my head at least a hundred times. What finally worked was to concentrate on how she felt at those times that worked. Why she liked hanging out with him. It's not 100% yet. I'm not as in love with him as I think I/she needs to be yet. "But why do YOU need to be in love with him?" I hear you ask. Because the characters in books/movies/TV that we fall in love end up being the ones that we care about. And when we care about them, we want to spend time with them, recommend them to our friends. Dave needs to be someone that the reader has fallen in love with so that they're cheering Angela on. If I can't do that, how can they?
So I'm going to leave you, go take a shower (a place where I seem to do my best thinking), and go get back to work. Until next time ...
Monday, September 17, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
Yesterday I sent my first full manuscript off. I'd actually sent a full out once before, to an agent who liked my idea but hadn't read anything yet ... and then sent me a "thanks but no thanks" four days after receiving it. I'm counting this as my first full because this is the first time someone's actually READ my work and then wanted to read more. :O Other than my beta readers, of course. What makes it even more shocking for me is that it's actually a PUBLISHER who requested the whole thing! A small press, but still - SOMEONE LIKED MY WORK!!!!
Now, two years worth of rejections have tempered my enthusiasm somewhat and my expectations greatly. My enthusiasm thinks it cool. My expectations are that it will turn out to be rejection #50. Yes, 50. I've been keeping track on QueryTracker.
So if this novel actually gets published, I'm going to frame the email and mount it next to the most ironic piece of feedback I've ever gotten. This happens to be a critique I received on a children's story that I entered into a writing contest. So far this piece of work has received three critiques that scored in the 90s and the aforementioned one that scored a 74. That judge REAMED me for writing an unrealistic story. So why am I going to frame it? Because that unrealistic story was in actuality the wacky stuff my father did while growing up on the farm. Yes, my "unrealistic" story was a true story. The judge hated it so much that he/she gave me a "9" on "Mechanics" even though he/she actually noted, "This reader did not note mechanics issues" and the other judge gave me a "10". Which proves two things to be true: 1) You really just can't please some people and 2) Truth really is stranger than fiction.
But no time to rest on my laurels. I've still got my current WIP to finish - I'm hoping by the middle of July so I could potentially pitch it at the PNWA conference. Not that I'd be ready to actually send it out at that time. The last two years have taught me that a manuscript needs to be as polished as possible before it goes out, and that probably won't be until October. But, hey! At least I'd have a list of people who would actually be looking for it instead of just cold-querying.
So, enough for this post. I need to de-fry my brain after two days of straight editing and a four-hour round trip in stop and go traffic - while serenaded by my power-steering belt that screamed every time I put the car in neutral - journey to drop my mother off at the airport. It's Friday night and I'd grab a margarita or beer but I'm on a diet. I guess video games will just have to suffice.
Ciao!
Now, two years worth of rejections have tempered my enthusiasm somewhat and my expectations greatly. My enthusiasm thinks it cool. My expectations are that it will turn out to be rejection #50. Yes, 50. I've been keeping track on QueryTracker.
So if this novel actually gets published, I'm going to frame the email and mount it next to the most ironic piece of feedback I've ever gotten. This happens to be a critique I received on a children's story that I entered into a writing contest. So far this piece of work has received three critiques that scored in the 90s and the aforementioned one that scored a 74. That judge REAMED me for writing an unrealistic story. So why am I going to frame it? Because that unrealistic story was in actuality the wacky stuff my father did while growing up on the farm. Yes, my "unrealistic" story was a true story. The judge hated it so much that he/she gave me a "9" on "Mechanics" even though he/she actually noted, "This reader did not note mechanics issues" and the other judge gave me a "10". Which proves two things to be true: 1) You really just can't please some people and 2) Truth really is stranger than fiction.
But no time to rest on my laurels. I've still got my current WIP to finish - I'm hoping by the middle of July so I could potentially pitch it at the PNWA conference. Not that I'd be ready to actually send it out at that time. The last two years have taught me that a manuscript needs to be as polished as possible before it goes out, and that probably won't be until October. But, hey! At least I'd have a list of people who would actually be looking for it instead of just cold-querying.
So, enough for this post. I need to de-fry my brain after two days of straight editing and a four-hour round trip in stop and go traffic - while serenaded by my power-steering belt that screamed every time I put the car in neutral - journey to drop my mother off at the airport. It's Friday night and I'd grab a margarita or beer but I'm on a diet. I guess video games will just have to suffice.
Ciao!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
How did it already get to be the end of May?
I'm glad I'm currently writing only under my own deadline. I'd set a goal to be finished with my current WIP at the end of June so that I could have it ready to pitch at this summer's PNWA conference. Not going to happen. Not if I want to have done a decent edit on it first.
Oh I guess there's a possibility - I'm currently at about 60% through my first draft. I write longhand in notebooks and track my progress by estimating 350 words per page. To hit my word count, I've got about 100 pages more to write. I usually write about three a day on days I sit down to write, but I've only been managing to write about two days a week. My last novel then took 3 weeks to type up. Then I'd need to print it out and start the real editing process. I'm thinking October before I'd actually send it to an agent.
Until recently, I'd always thought I was more of a plotter - I knew where my story was going - but recently I've discovered that I'm actually more of a pantser. Yes, I have milestones - I know where my story is going - but I have no idea of how I'm getting there until I do. When I teach writing, I tell kids that they need to have a plan, a roadmap, and that I can always tell when they haven't done one and just sit down to write.
How did I discover the difference? Last week I was writing away, figuring out what happened next between Point A and Point B when my character's brother called her. I knew that he was calling her because he had decided to move. Where the hell did that come from?! It was not something I'd planned. It was opposite of what he'd been telling her 100 pages before. But I knew that based on what was going on in his life, that is what he'd do. And, of course, it deepened the crisis my character was going through - perfect for the storyline.
That was when I discovered that I really had no clue what was happening in my story. To use the analogy I teach with - I knew I was driving to New York and wanted to go through Denver, St. Louis, and Cleveland. But the roads I would take, how I was actually going to get to those places? No clue. A pantser. Someone fully dependent on the muse in order to write. And those of you who write know how fickle she can be.
So, I'm going to end this post, go make myself a cup of coffe, and encourage her to work for an hour or so before I go exercise and take a shower. Yep, it's 10am and I'm still in my jammies.
I'm glad I'm currently writing only under my own deadline. I'd set a goal to be finished with my current WIP at the end of June so that I could have it ready to pitch at this summer's PNWA conference. Not going to happen. Not if I want to have done a decent edit on it first.
Oh I guess there's a possibility - I'm currently at about 60% through my first draft. I write longhand in notebooks and track my progress by estimating 350 words per page. To hit my word count, I've got about 100 pages more to write. I usually write about three a day on days I sit down to write, but I've only been managing to write about two days a week. My last novel then took 3 weeks to type up. Then I'd need to print it out and start the real editing process. I'm thinking October before I'd actually send it to an agent.
Until recently, I'd always thought I was more of a plotter - I knew where my story was going - but recently I've discovered that I'm actually more of a pantser. Yes, I have milestones - I know where my story is going - but I have no idea of how I'm getting there until I do. When I teach writing, I tell kids that they need to have a plan, a roadmap, and that I can always tell when they haven't done one and just sit down to write.
How did I discover the difference? Last week I was writing away, figuring out what happened next between Point A and Point B when my character's brother called her. I knew that he was calling her because he had decided to move. Where the hell did that come from?! It was not something I'd planned. It was opposite of what he'd been telling her 100 pages before. But I knew that based on what was going on in his life, that is what he'd do. And, of course, it deepened the crisis my character was going through - perfect for the storyline.
That was when I discovered that I really had no clue what was happening in my story. To use the analogy I teach with - I knew I was driving to New York and wanted to go through Denver, St. Louis, and Cleveland. But the roads I would take, how I was actually going to get to those places? No clue. A pantser. Someone fully dependent on the muse in order to write. And those of you who write know how fickle she can be.
So, I'm going to end this post, go make myself a cup of coffe, and encourage her to work for an hour or so before I go exercise and take a shower. Yep, it's 10am and I'm still in my jammies.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
It's amazing how the universe aligns at times. My current WIP has been slowly plodding along. Two years slowly plodding But I've learned to trust my muse; things reveal themself when they're supposed to. It's time when it's time. This week, pieces I've been pulling together for weeks, months, crashed together.
I've known for quite a while that the first thing the eventual love-interest of my main character did upon moving to New York was to go to the Central Park boat pond. It was his first stop because he'd fallen in love with it when he'd read Stuart Little as a child. The episode were Stuart races across the pond had stayed with him. It was a life-changing moment as it turned out.
My friend Erin has been blogging A-Z this month. A couple of days ago, she challenged her readers to write characters that were Keyser Soze worth. Not someone I'd heard of before. I've never seen The Usual Suspects but Erin explained it well and challenged us to write character that were "a story unto themselves".
I've been thinking about my characters since then, both my WIP and my past. Are they a story unto themselves? And what can I do to make them that way?
In my day job, I'm a substitute teacher. Thursday and Friday this week, I worked in a first grade classroom. What has the teacher been reading to them? Stuart Little. What scene have I been working on this week? The one where Dave takes Angela on a picnic to Central Park, where they sit and watch the boat pond. One of Dave's favorite places in the world. What a coincidence. What connections.
Earlier this week, as well, my muse prompted me to go see Titanic, which is now out in 3-D. I knew there was an anniversary coming up but I had no idea until I sat down in the theater that 100 years ago tomorrow the boat sank. Talk about a movie with heart and characters that are a story unto themselves! Not too terrible a coincidence but, wow!
I got home, stared at a blank page, and pulled up Erin's post for today hoping for some inspiration. M for Muse. I thought about all the remarkable connections this week and put Celine Dion on Youtube. I knew there was stuff there, just beyond my reach.
I picked up my notebook (actual paper one) and began to write. Magic happened. I only got one page, but boy! What a page! I got to see the real Dave. And, I have to tell you, I had tears pouring down my face as I wrote. This man has the most amazing heart. It all came together - Stuart Little, Erin's K challenge, and Titanic. It's just a simple scene - a picnic at the park - but what revealed itself was simply amazing.
And now I'm stuck again. What do I write next after something so amazing? I'm not going to worry about it too much. After all, my muse proved today just what can happen if I'm patient.
I've known for quite a while that the first thing the eventual love-interest of my main character did upon moving to New York was to go to the Central Park boat pond. It was his first stop because he'd fallen in love with it when he'd read Stuart Little as a child. The episode were Stuart races across the pond had stayed with him. It was a life-changing moment as it turned out.
My friend Erin has been blogging A-Z this month. A couple of days ago, she challenged her readers to write characters that were Keyser Soze worth. Not someone I'd heard of before. I've never seen The Usual Suspects but Erin explained it well and challenged us to write character that were "a story unto themselves".
I've been thinking about my characters since then, both my WIP and my past. Are they a story unto themselves? And what can I do to make them that way?
In my day job, I'm a substitute teacher. Thursday and Friday this week, I worked in a first grade classroom. What has the teacher been reading to them? Stuart Little. What scene have I been working on this week? The one where Dave takes Angela on a picnic to Central Park, where they sit and watch the boat pond. One of Dave's favorite places in the world. What a coincidence. What connections.
Earlier this week, as well, my muse prompted me to go see Titanic, which is now out in 3-D. I knew there was an anniversary coming up but I had no idea until I sat down in the theater that 100 years ago tomorrow the boat sank. Talk about a movie with heart and characters that are a story unto themselves! Not too terrible a coincidence but, wow!
I got home, stared at a blank page, and pulled up Erin's post for today hoping for some inspiration. M for Muse. I thought about all the remarkable connections this week and put Celine Dion on Youtube. I knew there was stuff there, just beyond my reach.
I picked up my notebook (actual paper one) and began to write. Magic happened. I only got one page, but boy! What a page! I got to see the real Dave. And, I have to tell you, I had tears pouring down my face as I wrote. This man has the most amazing heart. It all came together - Stuart Little, Erin's K challenge, and Titanic. It's just a simple scene - a picnic at the park - but what revealed itself was simply amazing.
And now I'm stuck again. What do I write next after something so amazing? I'm not going to worry about it too much. After all, my muse proved today just what can happen if I'm patient.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
So, I'm going to a conference this weekend and have signed up to pitch. I rewrote my query, yet again, and sent out a bunch as long as I'd done the work. Most agents asked for at least 5 pages. In the process of cutting and pasting, I re-read them. Then changed them. And embarked on another edit of my book.
I've read 10 or 12 books in the last two months, working my way through C.J.'s best reads of 2011 list as well as some other recommendations of hers. As I read back through my book, I noticed it still didn't have the flow of the books I was reading, even after the MAJOR editing job I did on it last fall. I've decided it's true that the best writers are the biggest readers. You pick up a flow and pattern that you then repeat. Isn't that how language is passed on?
If you think I'm nuts, then just take a look at this retelling of The Three Little Pigs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxoUUbMii7Q
Yes, the language of Shakespeare used to be the language of everyday people. As a teacher, I know that conversational language is different from academic language. A person who doesn't speak English can become conversationally fluent in three years but it takes them about 7 to become academically fluent.
They say that writers should write everyday, that it improves your writing. I would disagree with that. If the only writing you are exposed to is your own writing, then if you are writing crap, chances are you could continue to write crap every day. You'd just find it easier to do so. I think you need to find a balance between writing and reading and just imagining.
My second novel has creeped up to the 100 page mark. Much of what I'm writing is terrible. Not crap because the ideas are good. But it is me stumbling around in the dark, looking for the story, still trying to get a feel for who my main character is. I know what she does. I just don't always know why. My writing is more newsish and I want both me and readers down the line to feel what Angela feels, to feel what drives her. It's still somewhat hidden from me.
There are times that I find it frustrating that in many ways I'm writing crap. But I take to heart the illustration that C.C. Humphreys made at last year's PNWA Conference that your first draft is an SFD - shitty first draft. He likened it to finding a way up the mountain. You're not going to know how to do it the first time up. There'll be lots of things you'll do differently the next time up and everytime after that gets better, easier, and more polished. So I write crap and I hope for some insight into Angela. I think I'm just about there and then the whole rest of the story will just spill out.
In the meantime, I'm going to try to balance writing and reading and imagining. And take this weekend's conference as a chance not just to pitch my first novel but as a chance to grow, connect, and recharge.
I've read 10 or 12 books in the last two months, working my way through C.J.'s best reads of 2011 list as well as some other recommendations of hers. As I read back through my book, I noticed it still didn't have the flow of the books I was reading, even after the MAJOR editing job I did on it last fall. I've decided it's true that the best writers are the biggest readers. You pick up a flow and pattern that you then repeat. Isn't that how language is passed on?
If you think I'm nuts, then just take a look at this retelling of The Three Little Pigs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxoUUbMii7Q
Yes, the language of Shakespeare used to be the language of everyday people. As a teacher, I know that conversational language is different from academic language. A person who doesn't speak English can become conversationally fluent in three years but it takes them about 7 to become academically fluent.
They say that writers should write everyday, that it improves your writing. I would disagree with that. If the only writing you are exposed to is your own writing, then if you are writing crap, chances are you could continue to write crap every day. You'd just find it easier to do so. I think you need to find a balance between writing and reading and just imagining.
My second novel has creeped up to the 100 page mark. Much of what I'm writing is terrible. Not crap because the ideas are good. But it is me stumbling around in the dark, looking for the story, still trying to get a feel for who my main character is. I know what she does. I just don't always know why. My writing is more newsish and I want both me and readers down the line to feel what Angela feels, to feel what drives her. It's still somewhat hidden from me.
There are times that I find it frustrating that in many ways I'm writing crap. But I take to heart the illustration that C.C. Humphreys made at last year's PNWA Conference that your first draft is an SFD - shitty first draft. He likened it to finding a way up the mountain. You're not going to know how to do it the first time up. There'll be lots of things you'll do differently the next time up and everytime after that gets better, easier, and more polished. So I write crap and I hope for some insight into Angela. I think I'm just about there and then the whole rest of the story will just spill out.
In the meantime, I'm going to try to balance writing and reading and imagining. And take this weekend's conference as a chance not just to pitch my first novel but as a chance to grow, connect, and recharge.
Monday, January 2, 2012
A whole new year ahead of me. Lots of change. Due to things going on in my personal life, I haven't been doing a whole lot of writing. And reading back over what I have written, it's not really great. I made myself take a deep breath and remind myself that C.C. Humphries said that your 1st draft is supposed to be crap - you're finding your way up the mountain.
I was at a New Year's Eve party and people asked me about my writing. They were so much more excited about it than I was. I've gotten used to rejection and disappointment and it keeps my enthusiasm in check. It was nice to be asked if I had anything they could put on their Kindle. Maybe this will be the year I finally pick up an agent and maybe even a publisher.
My beta readers aren't doing much. Zippo feedback so far. At some point I may need to send it off into the query world again without true beta feedback. Maybe that should be my resolution for this year - find beta readers that actually provide feedback.
In the meantime, I'll plot and plan and send my characters into mental improv.
Happy New Year!
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