First off, happy birthday to my father. May you have thousands more, and always be just as weird as you are now. (But no weirder, please!)
So, I've been back to work this week. I re-read Raoul on Wednesday, and then again on Thursday and Friday because I LOVE IT. It's exactly what I wanted it to be. Sure, there are rough spots, but the core of it is what I wanted to achieve and I'm thrilled.
Now, to sand off all the rough spots and make it sparkle!
As a result of my obsession with Raoul, the 101 tasks kinda... well... did I mention I love Raoul? :)
Yes, I DID add words to my free rice total. A lot of them. The counter reads 11,100 at the moment. The trick is, I don't know exactly how many I have because I reinstalled Windows XP on my laptop and forgot to check the total before I left! I THINK it was at about 115,000 at that point, and we will just say that's where it was. So now my total is 126,000. Not bad.
No, I did not add things to my 'list of interesting things about me'. I've decided instead to incorporate those three lists into my weekly planning/review session (which happens just before I come here and do this) so I'll add one a week.
Yes, I did carry on with my 15+ minutes a day reading. One day this week it was only Raoul, but I am working slowly through an Iain M. Banks novel (SLOWLY... parts are hilarious but so far it doesn't seem to make a story) on the other days.
Yes, I did carry on with my knitted sweater. I also started crocheting a big plushy shawl to wear as a coat substitute in the fall.
Yes, I did carry on with the Artist's Way book and am partway through week 11. I'll finish it and week 12 up next week, and I have bought a compendium of it and the next two books by Julia Cameron, so I think I'll just carry right on into the next one!
No, I didn't do private #101. I completely forgot. :)
Not bad, really. It's funny how it always feels like I've done so much less than I really have. (That, right there, is likely what someone'll put on my tombstone. :)
This week, I will:
#1 add another 7000 grains of rice. They've added math and grammar and foreign language questions, which ups my interest level considerably.
#44 check my records and figure out just how many authors new to me I've read so far and list them. I think the count is WAY off at this point.
#55 carry on with the sweater of doom. At the rate I'm going, I should have the fronts done by the end of October at the dead latest, and then I have a month for each sleeve. Is there hope??
#58 make my tea towels with the day of the week on them. (They're cute. Cartoon teapots.) I have to iron on the design and then paint 'em with fabric paints, which will be this week's Artist Date (part of the Artist's Way book). Once they're done, I'll start the 'have the right one up each day for a month' part of the task.
#89 finish the Artist's Way book.
#101 begin again.
Not bad. In other news, I will begin editing Raoul on Monday. The first few scenes currently involve a joke I'm going to remove, so there shall be much surgery. But then it should be smooth sailing. (Look for a post in about three weeks that completely disproves this theory. :) I'm also still prepping queries for Seven.
Have a great week!
Showing posts with label Seven. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seven. Show all posts
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
May 28, 2008: I can't uncross my eyes!
I've spent the last two hours in a cycle of emailing myself query letters, checking to see where the little oogies arise (lines breaking in the wrong place, for example), fixing those, emailing myself, fixing the new ones I caused by fixing the original ones, emailing myself... two hours. And I now have two completed queries ready to send out on the weekend. (I'm actually happy about this - I expected to only have one finished. :)
Raoul went off on a tangent today as I was reviewing its outline. Basically, I thought of a way to reverse the roles of the male and female main characters. I find it difficult when a huge book-changing idea hits me like this - I'm never sure whether to run with it or not. I'm leaning toward 'not' in this case, because it'll take away a big part of what I wanted to explore, but I'm not completely there yet. It's going to percolate until Friday morning and we'll see then!
I walked to and from the grocery store today and the post-race soreness seems to be nearly gone. Tomorrow I'll try the elliptical machine, and if that doesn't destroy me I'll get back into running. I'm doing a ten-mile race July 13th (yes, the day before my birthday :) so I don't have a lot of time to get ready again. I must like being busy, I guess!
Writing Project: Raoul's outline review and Seven's queries
Time Planned: 2 for Raoul, 3 for Seven
Time Spent: 2 for Raoul, 3.25 for Seven (lost track of time and honestly didn't hear the Palm signaling the end of the session)
Favourite Part: seeing a few areas to deepen Raoul
Exercise: walk to the grocery store
One Fun Thing I Did Today: spent time in City of Villains (online game) making costumes for my characters. Seriously, such a nerd. :)
Raoul went off on a tangent today as I was reviewing its outline. Basically, I thought of a way to reverse the roles of the male and female main characters. I find it difficult when a huge book-changing idea hits me like this - I'm never sure whether to run with it or not. I'm leaning toward 'not' in this case, because it'll take away a big part of what I wanted to explore, but I'm not completely there yet. It's going to percolate until Friday morning and we'll see then!
I walked to and from the grocery store today and the post-race soreness seems to be nearly gone. Tomorrow I'll try the elliptical machine, and if that doesn't destroy me I'll get back into running. I'm doing a ten-mile race July 13th (yes, the day before my birthday :) so I don't have a lot of time to get ready again. I must like being busy, I guess!
Writing Project: Raoul's outline review and Seven's queries
Time Planned: 2 for Raoul, 3 for Seven
Time Spent: 2 for Raoul, 3.25 for Seven (lost track of time and honestly didn't hear the Palm signaling the end of the session)
Favourite Part: seeing a few areas to deepen Raoul
Exercise: walk to the grocery store
One Fun Thing I Did Today: spent time in City of Villains (online game) making costumes for my characters. Seriously, such a nerd. :)
Monday, May 26, 2008
May 26, 2008: Half Marathon Report
Short version: if you haven't trained in 23 degree Celsius heat, the race isn't a lot of fun. If you happen to wear black shirt/shorts/cap at the same time, it's even less fun. Sometimes you have to walk even when you don't want to.
I did the Mississauga half marathon two weeks ago in 2:40:47. I wanted to do Ottawa in 2:39 or less and I really wanted 2:35. The problem? I had no basis for thinking I could achieve that time. I didn't finish Mississauga feeling like I was full of energy and like I could have done more. The last 2km were rough, and I was tired. So why'd I figure I could be faster in Ottawa? Well, because I wanted to be.
But sometimes that just isn't enough.
I was nervous at the start in Ottawa, likely because inside I knew I didn't have what it would take to get the time I'd essentially pulled out of the air. There's been a point in every race where I've seriously felt I couldn't keep going. I hit that at about the 4km mark in Ottawa, a BAD sign given there were 17 more km to go at that point. I started to feel a bit better, and from 13km to 17km I was doing well, largely because I gave up on the time goal and decided to go on what felt right. I found a pace that felt comfortable but still a challenge and stuck with it.
Just past the 18km mark, I started to feel really thirsty, and ridiculously overheated. I took a cup of water at the aid station there, which I hadn't planned to do (I take my own Gatorade), and since I can't drink while running I had to walk.
And then I couldn't get going again. I kept saying, "I'll run after this next post" and then walking past the post. Just before the 19km mark, I said to myself, "This is not how you want this to go. You have a choice right here: you give up and walk the rest of the way or you run and you don't walk again. What's it going to be?"
I ran to the end.
I was likely not a lot faster than I'd have been walking, but I did run. I nearly quit running several times but I didn't let myself, and I'm so glad. I still wish I hadn't started walking the first time (my plan was to walk only my scheduled walk breaks) but I am so glad I made myself run again, because when I finished I knew I'd given it everything I had.
That's how I want my writing career to go too. I worked my butt off on Seven last week and I know there wasn't anything left to give. The book is the best I've got. Everything I know how to do, at this stage, is in there.
All I can do, in writing and running, is know I've put everything I have into it. And I've done that with Seven. And I did it with the race too. And I'll continue to do it.
Until I achieve that 2:35, and until I see my books on the shelf at every bookstore.
And then I'll set new goals and achieve those too.
One race at a time.
I did the Mississauga half marathon two weeks ago in 2:40:47. I wanted to do Ottawa in 2:39 or less and I really wanted 2:35. The problem? I had no basis for thinking I could achieve that time. I didn't finish Mississauga feeling like I was full of energy and like I could have done more. The last 2km were rough, and I was tired. So why'd I figure I could be faster in Ottawa? Well, because I wanted to be.
But sometimes that just isn't enough.
I was nervous at the start in Ottawa, likely because inside I knew I didn't have what it would take to get the time I'd essentially pulled out of the air. There's been a point in every race where I've seriously felt I couldn't keep going. I hit that at about the 4km mark in Ottawa, a BAD sign given there were 17 more km to go at that point. I started to feel a bit better, and from 13km to 17km I was doing well, largely because I gave up on the time goal and decided to go on what felt right. I found a pace that felt comfortable but still a challenge and stuck with it.
Just past the 18km mark, I started to feel really thirsty, and ridiculously overheated. I took a cup of water at the aid station there, which I hadn't planned to do (I take my own Gatorade), and since I can't drink while running I had to walk.
And then I couldn't get going again. I kept saying, "I'll run after this next post" and then walking past the post. Just before the 19km mark, I said to myself, "This is not how you want this to go. You have a choice right here: you give up and walk the rest of the way or you run and you don't walk again. What's it going to be?"
I ran to the end.
I was likely not a lot faster than I'd have been walking, but I did run. I nearly quit running several times but I didn't let myself, and I'm so glad. I still wish I hadn't started walking the first time (my plan was to walk only my scheduled walk breaks) but I am so glad I made myself run again, because when I finished I knew I'd given it everything I had.
That's how I want my writing career to go too. I worked my butt off on Seven last week and I know there wasn't anything left to give. The book is the best I've got. Everything I know how to do, at this stage, is in there.
All I can do, in writing and running, is know I've put everything I have into it. And I've done that with Seven. And I did it with the race too. And I'll continue to do it.
Until I achieve that 2:35, and until I see my books on the shelf at every bookstore.
And then I'll set new goals and achieve those too.
One race at a time.
Friday, May 23, 2008
May 23, 2008: Seven. I haz it.
I need a good LOLcats-style picture of a frazzled cat holding a 110,000 word manuscript, because that's what I am and that's what I've got. Another 4 hours and 20 minutes today, and Seven is complete. And I'm completely wiped out. The seven hours yesterday took a LOT out of me and doing the time today was not a cakewalk by any means. But I love what it's turned into.
I'm off to Ottawa tomorrow for the half marathon so there will likely not be any bloggy goodness until Monday afternoon/evening or Tuesday, depending on how tired I am when I get home (and also on whether the hotel has Internet access that doesn't cost two arms and a leg). As you were, until I return. :)
Writing Project: Seven's final read-through
Time Planned: I expected to finish in 3 hours
Time Spent: 4 hours and 20 minutes
Favourite Part: Feeling my heart beating faster when the main character had to do the one thing she couldn't do
Exercise: 20 minute run
One Fun Thing I Did Today: wandered slowly around cleaning up the house. Might not sound like fun, but the 'slowly' part is significant. :)
I'm off to Ottawa tomorrow for the half marathon so there will likely not be any bloggy goodness until Monday afternoon/evening or Tuesday, depending on how tired I am when I get home (and also on whether the hotel has Internet access that doesn't cost two arms and a leg). As you were, until I return. :)
Writing Project: Seven's final read-through
Time Planned: I expected to finish in 3 hours
Time Spent: 4 hours and 20 minutes
Favourite Part: Feeling my heart beating faster when the main character had to do the one thing she couldn't do
Exercise: 20 minute run
One Fun Thing I Did Today: wandered slowly around cleaning up the house. Might not sound like fun, but the 'slowly' part is significant. :)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
May 22, 2008: Seven hours on Seven!
I'm a bit confused how this is possible... I seem to be reading through it this last time at the same speed at which I read while editing, approximately 150 wpm. I'm making nearly no changes so I'm not sure why it's going so slowly (for me... I know 150 wpm is a good reading rate, but I'm usually around 1200 wpm so it's slow for me!) but I DO know that I love the book. Love love love. I've fixed a few minor glitches, one completely odd statement by the main character that I've never noticed before, and I truly believe the part I've finished is the best I can do.
And that feels good!
Writing Project: Seven's final read
Time Planned: 4 hours
Time Spent: 7 hours (I did the four, decided to do 2 more, then my weasel sister suggested it would be cool if I could say I did 7 on 7 so I had to do another hour! :)
Favourite Part: Seeing my character gradually recognize her issues
Exercise: scheduled rest day
One Fun Thing I Did Today: Worked so hard my brain is asleep - and I loved it. :)
And that feels good!
Writing Project: Seven's final read
Time Planned: 4 hours
Time Spent: 7 hours (I did the four, decided to do 2 more, then my weasel sister suggested it would be cool if I could say I did 7 on 7 so I had to do another hour! :)
Favourite Part: Seeing my character gradually recognize her issues
Exercise: scheduled rest day
One Fun Thing I Did Today: Worked so hard my brain is asleep - and I loved it. :)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
May 21, 2008: Three DAYS??
I reached the end of Seven today. I SO didn't expect to be done in three days. I'm thrilled, but stunned too.
Since I had intended this to take me until Friday, I will spend tomorrow and Friday re-reading it again. I will read it, as best I can, as though it's brand new to me, and see how it works. I really am happy with it, though. :)
Writing Project: 7's edits
Time Planned: 5 hours
Time Spent: 4.25 hours, 'cause I FINISHED!
Favourite Part: Finishing. :)
Exercise: 30 minute elliptical
One Fun Thing I Did Today: I synchronized my Palm at Starbucks using my new Bluetooth adaptor. Nerd heaven. :)
Since I had intended this to take me until Friday, I will spend tomorrow and Friday re-reading it again. I will read it, as best I can, as though it's brand new to me, and see how it works. I really am happy with it, though. :)
Writing Project: 7's edits
Time Planned: 5 hours
Time Spent: 4.25 hours, 'cause I FINISHED!
Favourite Part: Finishing. :)
Exercise: 30 minute elliptical
One Fun Thing I Did Today: I synchronized my Palm at Starbucks using my new Bluetooth adaptor. Nerd heaven. :)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
May 20, 2008: 63% finished!
Another four hours today, and 38,000 words. And I really AM reading them carefully! I go back over things as I need to, I'm making changes (tweaks, in most cases) nearly every page... but it's just moving along well. Is excellent. :)
Writing Project: 7's edits
Time Planned: 4 hours
Time Spent: 4 hours
Favourite Part: how much I still love this book :)
Exercise: 40 minute interval workout
One Fun Thing I Did Today: I'm going to watch the Toronto Marlies hockey team play tonight!
Writing Project: 7's edits
Time Planned: 4 hours
Time Spent: 4 hours
Favourite Part: how much I still love this book :)
Exercise: 40 minute interval workout
One Fun Thing I Did Today: I'm going to watch the Toronto Marlies hockey team play tonight!
Monday, May 19, 2008
May 19, 2008: Holiday? Not for me!
I worked for five hours today on Seven's edit. I can't remember the last time I did five hours in one day. I covered 30,000 words, and I am so happy with them. :) I'm also a little braindead, but it's worth it.
I'm staying offline as much as possible this week; this week's Artist's Way program includes a "reading deprivation" exercise, where you don't read. No problem, I wasn't planning to read a book the same week I did Seven's edit. Hmm, but then I realize blogs count as reading, and so do knitting and crochet magazines, and reading eBooks... and now it feels like more of a problem. :) But I will do my best!
Writing Project: Seven's final edit
Time Planned: 4-5 hours
Time Spent: 5 hours
Favourite Part: recognizing a repeated pattern in my protagonist's behaviour that I'd never noticed before, which perfectly supports her main story problem
Exercise: scheduled rest day
One Fun Thing I Did Today: Watched 2 hours of "Top Videos of the 1980s". Oh, that hair. :)
I'm staying offline as much as possible this week; this week's Artist's Way program includes a "reading deprivation" exercise, where you don't read. No problem, I wasn't planning to read a book the same week I did Seven's edit. Hmm, but then I realize blogs count as reading, and so do knitting and crochet magazines, and reading eBooks... and now it feels like more of a problem. :) But I will do my best!
Writing Project: Seven's final edit
Time Planned: 4-5 hours
Time Spent: 5 hours
Favourite Part: recognizing a repeated pattern in my protagonist's behaviour that I'd never noticed before, which perfectly supports her main story problem
Exercise: scheduled rest day
One Fun Thing I Did Today: Watched 2 hours of "Top Videos of the 1980s". Oh, that hair. :)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
May 15, 2008: Crazy scheduling woman
There are probably rocket launches that aren't scheduled as tightly as I made today's plan. I launched my rocket, let me tell you. (That sounds dirtier than I'd intended.)
Raoul's outline is indeed done. The characters are itching to be written, but Seven needs to get out into the world first, so tomorrow I'll finish up some of what I've been learning in the emotions course (which is better and better with each passing lecture, incidentally) and get ready to go full-blast on Seven on Monday. (Yes, it's a holiday. No, I ain't takin' no holiday. My boss is a slave-driver. :)
As well, I cleaned out the linen closet (scoring 15 items to donate to charity - explain why two people need ten towels??), sent off my Computing Unplugged article, washed the floors, dusted, spent an hour applying the emotions course to Seven and another half hour on the next lecture... I am a beast. A tired beast. :)
Writing Project: Raoul's planning - last day, baby!
Time Planned: 2 hours
Time Spent: 2 hours
Favourite Part: How badly I want to start writing it. :)
Exercise: 40 minutes elliptical (scheduled to be 45 but I was going to be too late for breakfast!)
One Fun Thing I Did Today: I'm about to sit and relax and crochet for an hour. Heaven!
Raoul's outline is indeed done. The characters are itching to be written, but Seven needs to get out into the world first, so tomorrow I'll finish up some of what I've been learning in the emotions course (which is better and better with each passing lecture, incidentally) and get ready to go full-blast on Seven on Monday. (Yes, it's a holiday. No, I ain't takin' no holiday. My boss is a slave-driver. :)
As well, I cleaned out the linen closet (scoring 15 items to donate to charity - explain why two people need ten towels??), sent off my Computing Unplugged article, washed the floors, dusted, spent an hour applying the emotions course to Seven and another half hour on the next lecture... I am a beast. A tired beast. :)
Writing Project: Raoul's planning - last day, baby!
Time Planned: 2 hours
Time Spent: 2 hours
Favourite Part: How badly I want to start writing it. :)
Exercise: 40 minutes elliptical (scheduled to be 45 but I was going to be too late for breakfast!)
One Fun Thing I Did Today: I'm about to sit and relax and crochet for an hour. Heaven!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
May 14, 2008: Raoul is... dare I say it...
I think Raoul is planned. Yes, I really do. I see a flow through it, see the conflict building up the way I want, and I still love it. :)
Tomorrow I will go through the scene list line by line and make completely sure each belongs. If they do, it's ready.
But I'm not ready to write it. :) I need to go through Seven one more time before it goes out to agents in late May/early June, and I'm considering also going through Polar Bear once more as well so if agents say, "I like your writing but what else have you got?" I'll have Polar Bear. On the other hand, I could give them the outline for Raoul. So we shall see.
Regardless, I expect to be writing the first words of Raoul by mid-June, and that's a great feeling given that not too long ago I had no good story idea and no idea where to find one. :)
Writing Project: Raoul
Time Planned: 2 hours
Time Spent: 2 hours
Favourite Part: re-reading the longer summary and loving it
Exercise: 30 minute run (was supposed to be 45, but my shins are apparently still unimpressed by the half marathon :)
One Fun Thing I Did Today: last night I read a tip on how to knit more quickly. Tried it today and it works! I may just have that sweater (currently about 8 inches long) done by Christmas after all!
Tomorrow I will go through the scene list line by line and make completely sure each belongs. If they do, it's ready.
But I'm not ready to write it. :) I need to go through Seven one more time before it goes out to agents in late May/early June, and I'm considering also going through Polar Bear once more as well so if agents say, "I like your writing but what else have you got?" I'll have Polar Bear. On the other hand, I could give them the outline for Raoul. So we shall see.
Regardless, I expect to be writing the first words of Raoul by mid-June, and that's a great feeling given that not too long ago I had no good story idea and no idea where to find one. :)
Writing Project: Raoul
Time Planned: 2 hours
Time Spent: 2 hours
Favourite Part: re-reading the longer summary and loving it
Exercise: 30 minute run (was supposed to be 45, but my shins are apparently still unimpressed by the half marathon :)
One Fun Thing I Did Today: last night I read a tip on how to knit more quickly. Tried it today and it works! I may just have that sweater (currently about 8 inches long) done by Christmas after all!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
May 13, 2008: Too much tea?
I didn't believe it was possible to have too much tea. It's like having too much happiness or too many polar bears. (That last one could be just me.) But it is possible to have too much tea, and, as the LOLcats say, "I has it."The picture shows an entire shelf in the kitchen cupboard I organized today, full right to the back. There's also a single box in a different cupboard because I just couldn't make it fit. Several are duplicates (I have three tins of strawberry tea, which I do like, but as far as I know we're not suffering a tea shortage so I could likely have bought more later) but most are different flavours. I drink one cup a day, two at the most. Egad. Still, it's nice to have options, right?
This week, I'm working through Margie Lawson's emotions course, about writing emotions and non-verbal communication. I've made some changes to Seven as a result, and am working on internalizing this material so I'll automatically write Raoul that way. Interesting stuff!
Writing Project: Raoul's planning - nearing the end!
Time Planned: 2 hours
Time Spent: 2 hours
Favourite Part: Recognizing the 'big decision point' that should have been near the end of the book was too early, and fixing it by just dragging scene titles around. Ah, outlining. :)
Exercise: scheduled rest day
One Fun Thing I Did Today: changed my Facebook profile picture and my Blogger picture to be the one taken after the race. I'm holding my race medal (although not facing forward for some reason) and wearing a plushy blue sweater I crocheted that I love.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
April 16, 2008: The Case of the Missing Updates
So Monday night I had band practice, and then was too tired to post. Last night, also too tired. Tonight, tired, but not TOO tired.
The big news: Seven's re-read is complete! It took me, according to my handy little Palm time tracker, 9 hours and 33 minutes. Not too bad for a 108,000 word book!
I'm now getting ready to start playing with the new one (code-named Raoul, because it doesn't have a title). It HAS to be playing, at least for the first while. I've crushed two good ideas by being over-involved immediately - this one, I'm having fun with. A woman who hates hockey being hired to massage the team's star player? How can I NOT have fun with it??
I got a speeding ticket today too, which is sad. I deserved it, though, I think... I narrowly avoided being snagged by a speed trap an hour or two beforehand, so I guess my karma caught up to me. If only I'd been going so fast it couldn't catch up!!
Tomorrow is all playing with Raoul, at least it is once the piano goes. And I don't know when it's going. It's SO hard to schedule working from home sometimes.
Good night!
The big news: Seven's re-read is complete! It took me, according to my handy little Palm time tracker, 9 hours and 33 minutes. Not too bad for a 108,000 word book!
I'm now getting ready to start playing with the new one (code-named Raoul, because it doesn't have a title). It HAS to be playing, at least for the first while. I've crushed two good ideas by being over-involved immediately - this one, I'm having fun with. A woman who hates hockey being hired to massage the team's star player? How can I NOT have fun with it??
I got a speeding ticket today too, which is sad. I deserved it, though, I think... I narrowly avoided being snagged by a speed trap an hour or two beforehand, so I guess my karma caught up to me. If only I'd been going so fast it couldn't catch up!!
Tomorrow is all playing with Raoul, at least it is once the piano goes. And I don't know when it's going. It's SO hard to schedule working from home sometimes.
Good night!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
April 12, 2008: A lovely relaxing day
I'm starting Seven's final read-through tomorrow so I wanted today to be a nice rest day... and it was. Went to the gym, went grocery shopping, spent hours hanging out and chatting with Mr. W. about topics ranging from writing (somehow it always comes up :) through the Olympics. We're watching Star Wars episode 5 now... it's been a great day!
Once I've finished re-reading Seven, it'll go to the critique group and beta readers and I'll start planning the next one, which I've code-named "Raoul". (I usually end up titling things too soon, so now I'm using code words. Why not, right?) I have already started and thrown away two plots for Raoul, largely because I've been putting way too much pressure on it... to be a great follow-on to Seven, wildly salable, brilliant and funny and insightful... and I've just crushed the life out of the plots. The newest idea is odd, a bit weird, and has the potential to be funny as hell... so that's what we'll go with.
On the movie tonight, Luke Skywalker says, "I can't believe it," after Yoda pulls the spaceship out of the swamp. Yoda says, "That's why you fail." I believe I can write Raoul.
:)
Writing Project: none
Time Planned: zero
Time Spent: exactly as planned :)
Favourite Part: not thinking much about the book - breaks can be good!
Exercise: 45 minute elliptical
One Fun Thing I Did Today: nearly finished crocheting a purse
Once I've finished re-reading Seven, it'll go to the critique group and beta readers and I'll start planning the next one, which I've code-named "Raoul". (I usually end up titling things too soon, so now I'm using code words. Why not, right?) I have already started and thrown away two plots for Raoul, largely because I've been putting way too much pressure on it... to be a great follow-on to Seven, wildly salable, brilliant and funny and insightful... and I've just crushed the life out of the plots. The newest idea is odd, a bit weird, and has the potential to be funny as hell... so that's what we'll go with.
On the movie tonight, Luke Skywalker says, "I can't believe it," after Yoda pulls the spaceship out of the swamp. Yoda says, "That's why you fail." I believe I can write Raoul.
:)
Writing Project: none
Time Planned: zero
Time Spent: exactly as planned :)
Favourite Part: not thinking much about the book - breaks can be good!
Exercise: 45 minute elliptical
One Fun Thing I Did Today: nearly finished crocheting a purse
Sunday, February 17, 2008
"Seven" is complete in its ??? draft
Hard to say, really, but this version is finished! It is now resting for a month and then I'll polish 'er up and send it to my wonderful writing group for comments.
I'm now trying to come up with the concept for my next book. Why does it always seem that whatever stage of the process I'm in is the hardest stage?? :)
I'm now trying to come up with the concept for my next book. Why does it always seem that whatever stage of the process I'm in is the hardest stage?? :)
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Nathan Bransford, you poor brave man
Nathan Bransford, way at the top of my list of "agents I'd love to have", is doing a first page contest. I have posted "Seven"'s first page on his blog for the contest (go to the contest page and search for "Seven Exes" on the page to find it) and am hopeful he'll like it.
If you came here from there, feel free to leave feedback about the page. Constructive, preferably, but if you liked it (or didn't like it - but tell me why!) let me know.
I am about a day or two away from rewriting the final scene, then it's time to go through and make sure all the pieces link up properly. Can't wait. I LOVE this book!
Heather
If you came here from there, feel free to leave feedback about the page. Constructive, preferably, but if you liked it (or didn't like it - but tell me why!) let me know.
I am about a day or two away from rewriting the final scene, then it's time to go through and make sure all the pieces link up properly. Can't wait. I LOVE this book!
Heather
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