It's 5:20 pm, and what have I accomplished today?
planned: wash dishes, defrost freezer (which always takes longer than I plan--3 hours)
unplanned: host playdate (cut short by Hannah going to friend's house because I was not letting them play with *hot candle wax*)
writing-avoidance: Internet *groan*, Sudoku
That Vale story is still stirring around, but I just can't seem to make myself put words to paper. What sucks is that I know how it is supposed to go; I even know how the end connects back to the beginning, the perfect circle of the short story. I know that for Godred, too, although I seem to have a few gaps in the middle, or at least parts that need fleshing out. Vale and Cinderella and Godred are getting more and more substantial in my head, but I seem to have put a choke-hold on my own writing. It is very frustrating.
I know I have claimed I was going to work when Hannah wasn't around, but tonight she is going to sleep over at a different friend's, so I am making concrete plans to hide myself in the sunroom and write *something*, anything. Check back here tomorrow to see if I actually do it. (I will!)
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
I finally scraped myself together enough to post on my other blog, but not much else has been happening writing-wise. One story (Vale, not Godred) started poking me in the brain while I was cooking this evening, so maybe I will go upstairs and work on it while John and Hannah and her friend are watching a kind of dumb movie on tv.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Just wanted to put up a couple of things that might be of interest for our resident romance writer:
Romance author Kathleen Woodiwiss dies at 68
MINNEAPOLIS — Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, a pioneer of the modern historical romance novel marked by strong heroines, detailed period settings and steamy sex scenes, has died, her family and publisher said Tuesday. She was 68.
Someone I know from an editing-related email list has published a write-up of the recent Romance Writers of America conference in Dallas at All About Romance.
Romance author Kathleen Woodiwiss dies at 68
MINNEAPOLIS — Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, a pioneer of the modern historical romance novel marked by strong heroines, detailed period settings and steamy sex scenes, has died, her family and publisher said Tuesday. She was 68.
Someone I know from an editing-related email list has published a write-up of the recent Romance Writers of America conference in Dallas at All About Romance.
Since I am not currently getting much writing of my own writing done, I will report on my other writing-related activity, editing. There is a lady John works with who has written a book about American wildlife, in English, and she asked if we would proofread it. I had done a proofread of her last book, so I said yes to be nice. When it came, it didn’t look like too much.
Except then I opened the envelope and found that it was double-sided (!). 270 pages. It took me a while to get started, mostly because I didn’t feel like it, but when I did finally start, I had to take frequent breaks to come down from the murderous rage it left me in. I tried writing a few journal entries about the experience while I was still in the middle of it (I finished it this morning and stuffed it in her office mailbox after lunch—woot!), but they all looked like this:
::stabbity::
That’s not good, especially since I couldn’t decide if I wanted to stab out my own brain or hers.
I know she is not a native speaker of English, but even German requires sentences to start with capitals and to end with periods. How hard is that? And if she had just turned on spell check, I wouldn’t have to fix “arev” (are) and “tofen” (often) EVERY. SINGLE. PAGE. Which would explain the murderous rage.
She did throw me a bone in the form of some howlers, but I decided not to mess with them. She talked about bears “making love”, and snails “shooting love-arrows at each other”, and my favorite, “the beaver’s running sore.” Sounds like an occupational hazard in the porn industry. *snarf*
I also discovered in the course of this project that the Staedtler “Noris Club triplus” red pencil sucks ass. When you sharpen it, the point is way too sharp, and then it immediately snaps off when you put pencil to paper. The color itself is very faint, and pressing harder just makes more of the lead break. I bought *2* of these bitches because my other red pencils had gone missing. I dug out what was left of my beloved Faber-Castell “Colour Grip 2001” and used it until it was literally too small to hold. Isn’t that the saddest thing you’ve ever seen?
Once I figure out where I bought it in the first place, I will never go anywhere else for my pencil needs ever again.
Except then I opened the envelope and found that it was double-sided (!). 270 pages. It took me a while to get started, mostly because I didn’t feel like it, but when I did finally start, I had to take frequent breaks to come down from the murderous rage it left me in. I tried writing a few journal entries about the experience while I was still in the middle of it (I finished it this morning and stuffed it in her office mailbox after lunch—woot!), but they all looked like this:
::stabbity::
That’s not good, especially since I couldn’t decide if I wanted to stab out my own brain or hers.
I know she is not a native speaker of English, but even German requires sentences to start with capitals and to end with periods. How hard is that? And if she had just turned on spell check, I wouldn’t have to fix “arev” (are) and “tofen” (often) EVERY. SINGLE. PAGE. Which would explain the murderous rage.
She did throw me a bone in the form of some howlers, but I decided not to mess with them. She talked about bears “making love”, and snails “shooting love-arrows at each other”, and my favorite, “the beaver’s running sore.” Sounds like an occupational hazard in the porn industry. *snarf*
I also discovered in the course of this project that the Staedtler “Noris Club triplus” red pencil sucks ass. When you sharpen it, the point is way too sharp, and then it immediately snaps off when you put pencil to paper. The color itself is very faint, and pressing harder just makes more of the lead break. I bought *2* of these bitches because my other red pencils had gone missing. I dug out what was left of my beloved Faber-Castell “Colour Grip 2001” and used it until it was literally too small to hold. Isn’t that the saddest thing you’ve ever seen?
Once I figure out where I bought it in the first place, I will never go anywhere else for my pencil needs ever again.
Since I had rather a lot to say in response to your last post, Kee, I decided to make a post out of my comments rather than just stick them onto the end of your post in the comments section.
I am sorry that you are having such a rough time. I know that when John is out of town (and never for more than a week!), I swear that we can never divorce because I don't want to be a single mother. I can't imagine how they do it! And it must be multiple-times worse for you with twice as many kids and 4 times as long an absence, so I think you have the right to cut yourself a little slack.
That being said, I think the stress of your current family situation might be coloring your perception of your writing. Maybe you could take a break from it until Scott is back. If nothing else, no changes to your manuscript = no mistakes, at least until you can get some perspective on it.
And now I am going to head off at a slightly different angle, but I hope I can manage to pull it back around without losing track of what I am saying. *g*
From an article by Eric Flint in Jim Baen's Universe:
"There's an old saw in science fiction—I've forgotten who first came up with it—that says you have to write a million words of crap before you write anything worth reading. That's a bit of an exaggeration, in my opinion. At least for me. I've gone back through my personal history and added it all up, and I can now strut around and say very proudly that I managed to start writing pretty good stuff after writing only (by my best count) about 400,000 words of crap.
But whether it's a quarter million or half a million or a million words of crap, there are almost no writers who've managed to start writing well without a lot of practice, false starts, and a learning experience. Nor does that end once they start getting published. Almost all writers continue to improve with practice, for a period of many years after they start getting published."
This is something we have to keep in mind: we are both relative beginners at writing. It takes practice (which takes time) to learn a skill, and writing ficition is a series of highly advanced skills, I would argue. No one starts out with all the right tools in their writer's toolbox. Every writer has to learn about what tools she needs, and then basically contruct each tool from scratch to her own specifications. Think about how long a carpenter would need to make all his (physical) tools!
By including the quote about the million words of crap, I don't mean that you are writing crap. I mean that the million words represent the training phase of learning to write, and you learn writing by *writing*. It's a classic case of learning by doing.
But you also have to learn what *not* to do. I think you, Kee, may have fallen into the pit of trying to second-guess the market. I know you want your novel to sell, and well, but trying to guess what any given editor or agent is going to want to read and buy--and that is a single person whose buying habits you can research--much less guess what "the market" wants is the path to madness. I think you would be better off writing a book *you* want to read; after all, you are a reader in your genre. If you would want to read it, then there is probably someone else out there who would, too.
As Miss Snark used to say, "Write well." I wouldn't worry about following a trend in your genre if that is not the kind of book you like to read or write.
Having said all that, my advice to you, Kee (and what else is a big sister for?), is to put down the current version of Ransom and dig out the last draft of the earlier version and give it a read-through. I will bet you a jelly donut that you like Breck version 1 better. If you agree, I think the only thing to do is to stop screwing around with the new version that is making you crazy and go back to the older version and start from there. I know you added quite a bit of plot info, and most of that you will be able to salvage, but trying to chop Breck version 2 out would be like trying to clear a field of kudzu at this point.
One thing the article I quoted above did not mention was what happened to those million words of crap. Are they completed stories that got shelved? Chunks that were cut out of stories that went on to be sold? Just because you worked hard to write something doesn't mean you have to hold on to it. I worked really hard making Hannah, but that doesn't mean I wanted to keep her umbilical cord. *g* It served a purpose at the time, but afterward it was (medical) waste. It will hurt like a band-aid being ripped off a hairy spot, but getting rid of the parts that aren't working for you will be a weight off you, I bet.
Or you can ignore everything I said, but just think: several people read your earlier version and liked your characters. If you think you need a character who is a tough lady or whatever, save her for another book. I know you have another book in you! You don't have to use every ingredient in your kitchen for just one dish, so don't try to cram all your "good bits" into one story: a teaspoon of pepper may be just the thing you needed in a pot of beans, but it will really ruin that cheesecake.
I am sorry that you are having such a rough time. I know that when John is out of town (and never for more than a week!), I swear that we can never divorce because I don't want to be a single mother. I can't imagine how they do it! And it must be multiple-times worse for you with twice as many kids and 4 times as long an absence, so I think you have the right to cut yourself a little slack.
That being said, I think the stress of your current family situation might be coloring your perception of your writing. Maybe you could take a break from it until Scott is back. If nothing else, no changes to your manuscript = no mistakes, at least until you can get some perspective on it.
And now I am going to head off at a slightly different angle, but I hope I can manage to pull it back around without losing track of what I am saying. *g*
From an article by Eric Flint in Jim Baen's Universe:
"There's an old saw in science fiction—I've forgotten who first came up with it—that says you have to write a million words of crap before you write anything worth reading. That's a bit of an exaggeration, in my opinion. At least for me. I've gone back through my personal history and added it all up, and I can now strut around and say very proudly that I managed to start writing pretty good stuff after writing only (by my best count) about 400,000 words of crap.
But whether it's a quarter million or half a million or a million words of crap, there are almost no writers who've managed to start writing well without a lot of practice, false starts, and a learning experience. Nor does that end once they start getting published. Almost all writers continue to improve with practice, for a period of many years after they start getting published."
This is something we have to keep in mind: we are both relative beginners at writing. It takes practice (which takes time) to learn a skill, and writing ficition is a series of highly advanced skills, I would argue. No one starts out with all the right tools in their writer's toolbox. Every writer has to learn about what tools she needs, and then basically contruct each tool from scratch to her own specifications. Think about how long a carpenter would need to make all his (physical) tools!
By including the quote about the million words of crap, I don't mean that you are writing crap. I mean that the million words represent the training phase of learning to write, and you learn writing by *writing*. It's a classic case of learning by doing.
But you also have to learn what *not* to do. I think you, Kee, may have fallen into the pit of trying to second-guess the market. I know you want your novel to sell, and well, but trying to guess what any given editor or agent is going to want to read and buy--and that is a single person whose buying habits you can research--much less guess what "the market" wants is the path to madness. I think you would be better off writing a book *you* want to read; after all, you are a reader in your genre. If you would want to read it, then there is probably someone else out there who would, too.
As Miss Snark used to say, "Write well." I wouldn't worry about following a trend in your genre if that is not the kind of book you like to read or write.
Having said all that, my advice to you, Kee (and what else is a big sister for?), is to put down the current version of Ransom and dig out the last draft of the earlier version and give it a read-through. I will bet you a jelly donut that you like Breck version 1 better. If you agree, I think the only thing to do is to stop screwing around with the new version that is making you crazy and go back to the older version and start from there. I know you added quite a bit of plot info, and most of that you will be able to salvage, but trying to chop Breck version 2 out would be like trying to clear a field of kudzu at this point.
One thing the article I quoted above did not mention was what happened to those million words of crap. Are they completed stories that got shelved? Chunks that were cut out of stories that went on to be sold? Just because you worked hard to write something doesn't mean you have to hold on to it. I worked really hard making Hannah, but that doesn't mean I wanted to keep her umbilical cord. *g* It served a purpose at the time, but afterward it was (medical) waste. It will hurt like a band-aid being ripped off a hairy spot, but getting rid of the parts that aren't working for you will be a weight off you, I bet.
Or you can ignore everything I said, but just think: several people read your earlier version and liked your characters. If you think you need a character who is a tough lady or whatever, save her for another book. I know you have another book in you! You don't have to use every ingredient in your kitchen for just one dish, so don't try to cram all your "good bits" into one story: a teaspoon of pepper may be just the thing you needed in a pot of beans, but it will really ruin that cheesecake.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
I have been in a funk. I can sit down and read a crappy book and tell you everything that's wrong with it. I can read the editing book I have and absorb all the good bits in it, even thinking as I go how to check for things in my book. But when I think about picking mine up and reading it again, I want to cry. And actually have.
Even knowing that I have all these people supporting me. It has really been getting to me. There's stress with hubby working out of town and trying to juggle everything else by myself. Like lots of stress, like the kind that has been making me break out in hives and reaquaint myself with my friend Mr. Toilet. Yeah.
Then I start thinking about my story and about what crap it is. And about how I might have ruined the feeling of the main character in my sad ass attempts to improve it. And now don't know if it's anywhere close to being decent. And how I have no idea how to fix it.
And then I read a crappy book that DID get published. And cry some more.
Even knowing that I have all these people supporting me. It has really been getting to me. There's stress with hubby working out of town and trying to juggle everything else by myself. Like lots of stress, like the kind that has been making me break out in hives and reaquaint myself with my friend Mr. Toilet. Yeah.
Then I start thinking about my story and about what crap it is. And about how I might have ruined the feeling of the main character in my sad ass attempts to improve it. And now don't know if it's anywhere close to being decent. And how I have no idea how to fix it.
And then I read a crappy book that DID get published. And cry some more.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
I wanted to get back to the fantastic comments on my last post before now, but we have been quite the social butterflies the last couple of days. So I will give it a go while Hannah is off at a friend’s and the laundry is running itself.
Kee said:
“It gave a good hint to look at things scene by scene. Convey what you want about your character in relation to that scene. Save the rest as the story progresses and your character does too.”
I think this is good advice. I am still trying to decide if it pertains to short stories and novels equally. In a short story, you don’t have so much space for gradually introducing a character, but then again, you also don’t have so much space for him to change in (time-wise).
I think in my Godred story, Godred is going to realize/find out something he didn’t previously know, and this is going to be a major catalyst for him. It’s kind of a light-switch moment, but the reader needs to be able to follow the change from Godred before the “aha!” and Godred after it. Without me beating them over the head with it. Since I only have 4-5 scenes to work with, I have really got to fit a lot in there. *ponders*
Then WesTexGirl said:
“Because poetry is all about saying as much as possible in as few words as possible, tightening and making every word count was paramount to what we were trying to accomplish.”
I’ve always thought poetry was very similar to short stories in this respect. Every word has to pull its own weight, has to be able to defend its right to be there. Unfortunately, too many of my words are still flabby. *g* But writing is a bit like being a drill sergeant: you keep working those words until they shape up.
They say, “Kill your darlings”, meaning that even your favorite bits of your own writing have to be able to withstand careful scrutiny as to their contribution to your work. If they don’t pull their weight, out they go. I am one of the least sentimental people you are going to meet, and I regularly slash and burn as I go, but sometimes I wonder if I’m not chucking the baby out with the bathwater. But there’s something really satisfying about shredding the crap results. You just can’t look back, is all.
Kee said:
“It gave a good hint to look at things scene by scene. Convey what you want about your character in relation to that scene. Save the rest as the story progresses and your character does too.”
I think this is good advice. I am still trying to decide if it pertains to short stories and novels equally. In a short story, you don’t have so much space for gradually introducing a character, but then again, you also don’t have so much space for him to change in (time-wise).
I think in my Godred story, Godred is going to realize/find out something he didn’t previously know, and this is going to be a major catalyst for him. It’s kind of a light-switch moment, but the reader needs to be able to follow the change from Godred before the “aha!” and Godred after it. Without me beating them over the head with it. Since I only have 4-5 scenes to work with, I have really got to fit a lot in there. *ponders*
Then WesTexGirl said:
“Because poetry is all about saying as much as possible in as few words as possible, tightening and making every word count was paramount to what we were trying to accomplish.”
I’ve always thought poetry was very similar to short stories in this respect. Every word has to pull its own weight, has to be able to defend its right to be there. Unfortunately, too many of my words are still flabby. *g* But writing is a bit like being a drill sergeant: you keep working those words until they shape up.
They say, “Kill your darlings”, meaning that even your favorite bits of your own writing have to be able to withstand careful scrutiny as to their contribution to your work. If they don’t pull their weight, out they go. I am one of the least sentimental people you are going to meet, and I regularly slash and burn as I go, but sometimes I wonder if I’m not chucking the baby out with the bathwater. But there’s something really satisfying about shredding the crap results. You just can’t look back, is all.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
I am having a problem with characterization. (Well, lots of problems, but I am concentrating on characterization. *g*) Part of the problem is that my subconscious has been working on the inconsistencies in the plot, and some of the nuances of characterization are waiting for those plot problems to get cleared up.
When I started, I had the idea that Godred would be a tough guy with a soft center. But even a tough guy would be likely to crack (or at least learn to control himself) under the kind of pressure I had in mind.
On the second try, he came out mushy, with no edge.
On the third attempt, he wasn’t mushy, but he was still bland. It’s kind of making me crazy, trying to find just the right words to convey the way I see him in my head. Fortunately, even though I was pleased in general with my third attempt, I was able to see that he wasn’t quite where I wanted him to be, so I can still work on it. A few things have occurred to me, and the plot is starting to sort itself out nicely, so it is going to eventually fall into place, but the meanwhile is what is bugging me.
As part of my ruminations on characterization, I reread Monstrous Regiment, by Terry Pratchett. It is a brilliant novel on different levels, and hilarious to boot (like snorting-aloud-on-the-bus funny). I was able to pick up on some of the macro-level things he did with his characters, but they are still complex enough that I will probably have to give it another go, but this time in a more systematic way. Or maybe I’ll let my famously slow subconscious take a whack at it while I work on something else, say, my Cinderella story.
When I started, I had the idea that Godred would be a tough guy with a soft center. But even a tough guy would be likely to crack (or at least learn to control himself) under the kind of pressure I had in mind.
On the second try, he came out mushy, with no edge.
On the third attempt, he wasn’t mushy, but he was still bland. It’s kind of making me crazy, trying to find just the right words to convey the way I see him in my head. Fortunately, even though I was pleased in general with my third attempt, I was able to see that he wasn’t quite where I wanted him to be, so I can still work on it. A few things have occurred to me, and the plot is starting to sort itself out nicely, so it is going to eventually fall into place, but the meanwhile is what is bugging me.
As part of my ruminations on characterization, I reread Monstrous Regiment, by Terry Pratchett. It is a brilliant novel on different levels, and hilarious to boot (like snorting-aloud-on-the-bus funny). I was able to pick up on some of the macro-level things he did with his characters, but they are still complex enough that I will probably have to give it another go, but this time in a more systematic way. Or maybe I’ll let my famously slow subconscious take a whack at it while I work on something else, say, my Cinderella story.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
I had a dream last night that I sat down at the computer, and words just flowed from my fingers on my Godred story. Too bad it was just a dream.
Sometimes I wonder why I insist on sticking with writing. I don’t know that I feel as strongly about it as Kee, but maybe I am just approaching it differently. I think I would like to have some of my writing published, but that is not the driving force for me. I feel like I *should* be able to finish a story, and I’ll be damned if I stop before I do.
I guess it is one of my never-ending projects, like a certain quilt that won’t die, or John’s walking stick he has been carving on for a couple of years now.
In other news, I have been reading a book about Liselotte from the Pfalz, a local princess who married the brother of Louis the 14th of France back in the day. It is a really poorly put-together book, and I am leaning toward just abandoning it. For one thing, her father’s name is spelled 2 different ways on the same page. For another, page 39 is glued in behind page 9. I just don’t think I want to subject myself to such a high level of publishing incompetence, even if the subject is interesting.
And finally, I just finished my homework--*2 days in advance*. I know, you are probably stunned by this revelation. I certainly am. But I borrowed a book Hannah is using in school, and she needs it tomorrow, so I had to bite the bullet and work on a Sunday. *gasp* Maybe this work ethic will spill over to my writing...
Sometimes I wonder why I insist on sticking with writing. I don’t know that I feel as strongly about it as Kee, but maybe I am just approaching it differently. I think I would like to have some of my writing published, but that is not the driving force for me. I feel like I *should* be able to finish a story, and I’ll be damned if I stop before I do.
I guess it is one of my never-ending projects, like a certain quilt that won’t die, or John’s walking stick he has been carving on for a couple of years now.
In other news, I have been reading a book about Liselotte from the Pfalz, a local princess who married the brother of Louis the 14th of France back in the day. It is a really poorly put-together book, and I am leaning toward just abandoning it. For one thing, her father’s name is spelled 2 different ways on the same page. For another, page 39 is glued in behind page 9. I just don’t think I want to subject myself to such a high level of publishing incompetence, even if the subject is interesting.
And finally, I just finished my homework--*2 days in advance*. I know, you are probably stunned by this revelation. I certainly am. But I borrowed a book Hannah is using in school, and she needs it tomorrow, so I had to bite the bullet and work on a Sunday. *gasp* Maybe this work ethic will spill over to my writing...
Thursday, July 05, 2007
I just noticed that with Kee's last post, we just hit 200 posts. Woot!
I have been dragging my Godred story around with me, adding a sentence or word here and there, crossing the sentences back out later. *sigh* If I could just finish this introductory scene, the middle already exists, although still in 3rd person form that I will be converting to 1st--hmm... maybe I should work on that will the introduction stews--and then I have a different end section in mind that needs to coalesce into actual words. There's still a long way to go.
But then last night a completely different story (my dragon story) that has been dormant for ages poked me in the brain while I was walking to a meeting at 8 pm (yuck!). So I jotted down what was poking me, but I don't expect it to take me anywhere for a while. But it is still good to know that something else is happening in my brain besides dust-collection.
In non-personal writing news, I have been working on proofreading something for one of John's coworkers, and some sections came close to driving me *mad*. Yes, I know you are not a native speaker, but haven't you ever heard of starting a sentence with a capital letter? And ending one with a period? grrr... 20 pages down, 200 to go.
I have been dragging my Godred story around with me, adding a sentence or word here and there, crossing the sentences back out later. *sigh* If I could just finish this introductory scene, the middle already exists, although still in 3rd person form that I will be converting to 1st--hmm... maybe I should work on that will the introduction stews--and then I have a different end section in mind that needs to coalesce into actual words. There's still a long way to go.
But then last night a completely different story (my dragon story) that has been dormant for ages poked me in the brain while I was walking to a meeting at 8 pm (yuck!). So I jotted down what was poking me, but I don't expect it to take me anywhere for a while. But it is still good to know that something else is happening in my brain besides dust-collection.
In non-personal writing news, I have been working on proofreading something for one of John's coworkers, and some sections came close to driving me *mad*. Yes, I know you are not a native speaker, but haven't you ever heard of starting a sentence with a capital letter? And ending one with a period? grrr... 20 pages down, 200 to go.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Since I have the greatest sister in the world, I ought to repay her kindness in doing me and my friends a favor and post some new writing info.
I should be getting A LOT of work done since I am now accountable to TWO groups of people for my writing. And I love them both so much I can't lie and pretend to work and instead get my fill reading everynight. Oh, and did I also say I signed a statement, with TWO witnesses, that said I had to tell the truth. Yeah.
I picked up tonight and reread some of the self-editing book you got me. It really is great. It's helped me get focused about the problems I need to watch out for when I am reviewing what I "feel" is complete. Hopefully, I don't find some glaring newbie mistakes. I can't wait until I feel like the whole thing is done.
Gotta go and get to work.
I should be getting A LOT of work done since I am now accountable to TWO groups of people for my writing. And I love them both so much I can't lie and pretend to work and instead get my fill reading everynight. Oh, and did I also say I signed a statement, with TWO witnesses, that said I had to tell the truth. Yeah.
I picked up tonight and reread some of the self-editing book you got me. It really is great. It's helped me get focused about the problems I need to watch out for when I am reviewing what I "feel" is complete. Hopefully, I don't find some glaring newbie mistakes. I can't wait until I feel like the whole thing is done.
Gotta go and get to work.
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