Category: Just Keep Writing Page 2 of 4

Bitch-Slapping My Inner Editor

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On March 6, 2013

In Just Keep Writing, Revision, Talking It Out, Things That Are Hard

I’m editing right now. Fourth draft. The plan – beforehand at least – was to make some tough cuts, chop out a couple characters and some extra scenes, trim it down a bit.

Well I can’t. I don’t want to. It just doesn’t feel right.

Would it bring the reader to a climactic scene a bit sooner? Yes. Around 3,000-ish words sooner. Would it reduce the overall word count? Yes, by about 5-7,000 words, I think.

Would the reader know my protagonist as well, understand what makes her tick a bit better? Definitely not. Would it hinder the story arc over three books? Yes, a little.

I’ve been worried – obsessed, if you want the truth – about the fact that this one pivotal scene happens around a quarter of the way through the book. I’ve gotten it into my head that that’s too long. But the thing is, something like a dozen people have read it so far, and not a single person has shared that sentiment. I think I’ve been so focused on advice that says you have to lay out ALL THE ACTION!!! on the first page, but there’s more than one way to write a book. Do my first few pages lay the foundation for some action? Yes they do. This go-around I’ve been working on ramping up the spookiness so there’s a better sense of impending peril, which admittedly wasn’t as effective as it could be in previous drafts. If I’m doing it right, there should be lots for the reader to worry and wonder about. And those pages leading up to that one big scene certainly aren’t devoid of action. There’s lots going on.

I’m coming to the realization that cutting the chracters and scenes I was contemplating really does a disservice to the story. The reader needs to know who Callie was before in order to appreciate the way she changes throughout the series. By cutting all those parts, she’s less vibrant, less passionate, less anchored to her old life.

Are there still some thoughtful changes to be made? Absolutely. But this is going to be my final draft. I can’t keep going back and forth on this issue, wondering if I should or shouldn’t. It’s time to finish it and move on.

Wish me luck!

I Have A Plan

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On March 1, 2013

In By the Numbers, Just Keep Writing, Organizing, Planning for the Future

So after working out all my dilemmas about what I should be doing right now, I’ve made a decision about my next writing steps. I didn’t meet the last set of goals I set for myself, unfortunately, but based on how things have been going for me these past two months, that actually turned out to be a good thing.

With respect to my current WIP, I’m going to write until I reach a point in the plot that’s a major transition, and then I’m going to stop for awhile. It’s a good place to pause because at that point the way I’m going to be writing will be changing significantly. The perspective is going to get complicated, and I think I’m going to have to be very, very good if I’m going to pull it off. Basically my main character will be experiencing something akin to locked-in syndrome (with a bit of a paranormal twist), written from her perspective. Oh, and she’ll be blind. Poor Callie. So I think it will be good for me to take a bit of a break and mull over how I’m going to accomplish that.

It will be hard to stop writing for awhile, since I’ve been making such good progress lately. I just got back from a ten-day trip to California with my kids, found time to write on seven of those ten days, and eked out 15,000 words. I should be sitting at around 40,000 total when I pause.

In the meantime I’m going to go back to my first book and do another round of edits, then (for real this time) start querying. I know what changes I want to make, and although I’m sad to make one in particular, I can see that it’s not really relevant to the story arc and just serves to slow things down. My goal is to have the edits completed and at least one query sent by the end of March. I think that’s completely doable, especially since I expect I’ll be finished with my WIP by the end of this week, maybe even tonight.

Exciting times! I’m glad to have an outline I can follow for the month. Good things should come of this. 🙂

I’m Ridiculous.

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On February 26, 2013

In Just Keep Writing, Things That Are Awesome, Writer's High

I always get a little squeamish and silly when I’m writing the naughtier bits in my story, like “eeeee, I can’t believe this is happening! Oh my god did they really just do that?” It makes for slow going, and sometimes getting through a single page can take an hour or longer because I relish the experience so much. Due to the nature of my main female character’s phobia those scenes are few and far between, so it’s always exciting when I reach one, but it’s also like being back in junior high and being a bit embarrassed to watch two people make out in the Degrassi episode you’re watching in health class. I’ve been known to blush on behalf of my characters.

Go ahead and say it: I’m a dork. An adorable, 12-year-old dork who likes writing about kissing and boobs.

I hope this never changes about me. I hope that readers feel the same way when they get to that part, that my enthusiasm shows through on the page. I hope they cover their mouths in disbelief and squirm a little because it’s so awesome. That’s how I feel about it, even after the twentieth time I read it. Because OMG YOU GUYS, THEY JUST KISSED. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

Full Steam Ahead

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On February 15, 2013

In By the Numbers, Just Keep Writing

After taking a week and a half off writing to fight the worst cold I’ve had in ages, I jumped back in the game last night with a vengeance. I spent a couple hours at the window table of my favourite cafe and banged out over 3,000 words. Nearly an entire chapter!

(It JUST occurred to me that I spent Valentine’s Day alone in a coffee shop, writing, instead of doing something with my husband. The thought never even crossed my mind last night, but then, we don’t normally recognize V-Day. I wonder what the other people there thought about the poor girl sitting alone on Valentine’s Day, typing away and eating all the salted toffee squares!)

As I’ve mentioned before I’m using an outline for this novel, unlike the last one, but I’m enjoying how much freedom I still have and how many little scenes just pop up out of nowhere on a whim. The reason I’d resisted outlining for so long was because I thought it would be too rigid and there would be no room for spontaneity, but that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. Part of this often stems from dialogue, but from time to time it’s an entire scene that seems to just flow naturally from something in the outline.

I stayed at the cafe almost to the last minute before closing so I could hit this milestone:

I started writing just under a month ago and I’m a fifth of the way there. For me, that’s excellent progress.

The kids and I leave for a spring break vacation tomorrow, and I’m not sure how much writing or blogging I’m going to be able to do. Hopefully a decent amount of the former, because there are a couple scenes coming up that I’ve been really looking forward to writing!

The Last Six

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On January 23, 2013

In Just Keep Writing

I just learned that Six Sentence Sunday is holding its last list of contributors this Sunday the 27th. I’m sad, for it was a lot of fun to choose my favourite six of the week when I was writing The Unravelling and the kind feedback from my posts helped me to be more confident in sharing my work.

I’ll be posting six sentences from The Unseeing this Sunday, and may keep up with the tradition even though the official list isn’t being managed anymore. I’m grateful I was able to participate as much as I did!

Sequel Sorrows

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On January 19, 2013

In Just Keep Writing, My Failings As A Proper Novelist, Research

I got myself all set up to start writing the next book in my series today, and already I find myself stymied. How much explanation do I have to give of the previous book’s events at the beginning of this one? Do I assume that readers have read the first installation and skip all the details, or do I have to give a blow-by-blow recounting of everything in The Unravelling? I mean, people don’t just jump straight to the second book in a series, do they? And writing in the first person complicates it further, for me anyway. I don’t want it to feel like Callie’s saying, “now sit down, little reader, and let me tell you about everything that just happened. We’ll get to the exciting new parts in a bit.”

I suppose the best thing to do is to go back and have a look at the first chapters of books beyond the first in some of my favourite series, and see how they handle it. I have a bit of reading to do. And I was all psyched up to start writing today too!

And Away She Goes

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On January 18, 2013

In Big Ideas, Just Keep Writing, Planning for the Future, The Next Step

I sent off my first query last night, after the eleventy-first revision. I think I like it. Just to be 110% sure, though, I sent it to the Query Shark. Hopefully I’ll be chosen for evisceration. I’ve also decided this fulfills my goal to send out my first letter by the end of January and my new plan, after some helpful advice I read on another blog (Query Quagmire I think?) is to wait until March-ish to start querying in earnest, since apparently many, many people who are either post-NaNo or fulfilling New Year’s resolutions are also querying right now. I’d rather wait until things settle down a bit and there aren’t so many fish in the water.

In the meantime, I was rudely awoken at an ungodly hour this morning (okay, 7:00, but I’m a special little princess who likes her beauty sleep) with a bit of an idea to add to The Unseeing. In adding it to my outline, I gave the rest of it a quick skim and got excited all over again to begin writing. There’s so much going on! I can definitely see myself starting writing for real this weekend, if not tonight.

I’ve also decided I deserve to have my own writing space. Right now, my “office” is the couch in the basement rec room, a few feet away from our only TV, and the majority of the kids’ toys. So if I want to work, I have to ensure that the kids aren’t around (really, only when they’re sleeping) and that my extremely understanding husband doesn’t want to watch TV. It’s also cold as hell down there and kind of dark because there aren’t any windows. At first I wanted to build a nice loft office above the garage, but that doesn’t look feasible based on the way the garage was constructed. So now I think I want one of these: minus the kitchen and trailer, but definitely with the loft. There’s a nice corner in my backyard where I think it would fit perfectly, and I bet I could build one on the cheap with salvaged materials. It would make a nice spring project, because I don’t have enough on my plate already…

It’s nice to have things to look forward to.

And Then A Funny Thing Happened

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On November 26, 2012

In Distractions, Just Keep Writing, Planning for the Future, The Waiting Game, Things to Ponder

I’ve been almost entirely preoccupied with Callie, Matthieu and Dane for nearly a full year. The three of them fill my thoughts constantly. So I was surprised recently when, at the back of my mind, another voice appeared. She was quiet at first, stealing into my thoughts every once in awhile when the others were silent, but over the past month or so she’s been gradually getting louder and more insistent. I’m here she says. Listen to me for a bit. And I do. I find I’m listening to her a lot.

She’s a funny one, this girl. A bit of an enigma. She tells me lots about her childhood, but little about her present or the trials she’s facing. She says we’ll talk about all that later, but in the meantime, there are things I ought to know…

Callie was kind enough to give the kid a few pages of my time today (she’s not enjoying having her early days re-written, it seems) and just like that, this girl-without-a-name became real, a person on paper, instead of a hint of an idea in my mind. There are a few things I need to get down before she’ll settle back into her quiet corner, waiting until Callie et al. have said their piece. The funny thing is, I don’t even know where she came from. It sure wasn’t the lightning bolt of inspiration I experienced with The Unravelling. Maybe she was born of discarded bits of other ideas. Maybe she’s always been there. It’s pretty clear at this point that she’s not leaving.

Now I find myself with a whole new tree of folders in my writing directory, a fresh set of topics to research and a document to store stray ideas as she feeds them to me. There’s monsters, and magic and a giant identity crisis – all the things I love in a story. I’m intrigued by all this – it’s a completely different process from what I’m used to. Callie’s story is so driven by music and I see and hear her in things all around me. This is like little whispers from the ether I have to strain to hear.

Is it possible to be working on two completely different books at the same time? Is that even wise? I might be about to find out.

Farewell, Summer

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On September 29, 2012

In Excitement, Just Keep Writing, Revision, Talking It Out

I sat outside in the yard for what will probably be the last time this year, the sun shining on my face, and wrote. We’re expecting our first snowfall early next week, and I work during the day tomorrow and Monday. I’ve loved writing this summer. Being outside has been so inspirational for me, and I’ll miss it until spring comes around again.

It’s probably fitting then that I’m coming to the end of my book just as summer’s also winding down. There’s a remote possibility that I may even finish tonight – I’m on the last chapter, I’ve already written 2,000 words and I still have the whole night ahead of me. Then I have to decide if I want to tackle re-writing the first two chapters right away, or sit on the whole thing for a bit. I’ve been thinking on those chapters for awhile and I’m fairly confident I know what I want to do with them. Then once they’re bright and shiny new I can rest up a bit and do my revisions as planned at the beginning of November. Sounds like a good plan to me…

Oh Dear

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On September 27, 2012

In Excitement, Just Keep Writing, Musical Interlude

Callie’s in a pretty tough spot right now. Things are looking dire. Will anyone come to her rescue?

This is what I was listening to this afternoon when I dumped the kids in Ikea Smaland and then wrote in the cafeteria for an hour:

I think if I buckle down and find some time every day I’m as little as one week away from finishing…

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