Memory of a Dog

I'm going to go off topic for a short post in memory of Akila. I feel he deserves at least that much.

Akila: Died 9/27/2011

Akila was never a good dog. He was always a little too clever and spirited to be good. I remember sitting at the Humane Society in the visiting room with him. He wasn’t the dog we came to see. That dog had already been adopted.

We were strangely hesitant to commit to Akila. There was some whispered warning there that we probably should have heeded, but what fun would that have been?

We eventually decided that if he ate the annoying fly buzzing around us we would take him home. Yes, really. That was our deciding point. As if on cue, he did exactly that. I do believe it was the first and last insect he ever ate.

Shortly thereafter, I put him through obedience classes, which generally went something like this:

“Akila, come!”

Hmm. Mom wants me. I suppose I should… Did you smell that! I have to go check that out! Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be right back!

He never really learned to come when called, but the instructor graduated us. I still suspect it was out of pity.

Akila’s independent streak continued, leading us on many wild chases through the woods and down the street and even into neighbor’s houses. He would behave for several months, coming when called and lulling us into complacency, then he’d catch wind of something and sprint off while we called frantically after him. Now and then he would even pause and give me that ‘Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be right back’ look before loping off into the trees with his goofy long-legged lope. Of course, right back with Akila could mean anything from half an hour to four hours later.

Interestingly, this behavior led to the development of a super power. Specifically, my hag voice, which has been known freeze people in their tracks. It is the only thing that could ever drag him back early from one of these adventures. I am sure my neighbors will have nightmares about it for years to come.

Akila and his favorite cat with my nephew.

Like the cat’s he always got on with so well, Akila never felt the need to please us. He liked us, he thought a nice round of Frisbee catching followed by a milk bone was the best, and he slept by the bed every night in silent appreciation of our care.

Over the last few years, some of that changed. He started losing nerve function in his back end and losing his mind a bit, but even when he was reduced to wobbling around the house and falling a lot, he would occasionally sprint off into the trees, using his hind legs together more like a pogo stick to propel him forward.

Then the bone cancer came. It was clear that his spirit would never give in, but his body had. It was time to help him go. To the last minute, he still wanted his milk bones and he loved the gourmet hamburger we made him for lunch. Then the vet came and he reluctantly moved on. Living with him was never easy. Losing him was harder still.

His body rests on the hill behind the house. Wherever his indomitable spirit is now, I hope he can eat all the popcorn he wants, steal hamburger from the counters, and have many adventures. He will be missed.

Planning a Sequel, Pantser Style

I consider myself a pantser when I write because I don’t ‘plot’ my novels. I sit down and I write them. That said, I actually do ‘plan’ my novels in most cases. My typical first draft process begins something like this: New character in my subconscious pokes through to my conscious and says, “Hey! I have a story I think you’ll be interested in.”

Whatever important thing I’m doing suddenly loses my interest. I perk up much like a dog that’s caught a scent. “I’m listening.”

And off we go. However, I rarely start writing the actual book at this point. What I do is begin with sketching out several scenes the character is very enthusiastic about. Often these are turning points for the main plot or one of the subplots. Critical scenes. From these scenes, I learn who the character is, what they want, what stands in their way, and I often meet some of the important supporting characters. Sometimes I even learn how they achieve their goal from these life vignettes the character shares with me. I may not have a detailed outline at this point, but I know from experience that the rest will fill in from there and I love leaving it dynamic enough for my characters to throw me curve balls without it destroying my plans.

That is why I don’t do structured plotting. I love discovering parts of the adventure as I go. When I know exactly every step a character will take before I start writing their story one of two things happen.

• I lose interest because I feel like the story is already written, I’ve already been there, it just isn’t on paper yet. (This used to cause me problems with editing too until I learned enough about the craft to love watching the book improve with each edit pass.)
• My characters are unwilling to conform to my plan and destroy all my careful plotting.

I used to wonder if I might be a better writer if I plotted more. We all question as we go, because we tend to be looking for that magic skill or combination of things that will make it all work. Now, especially with the positive response I’ve gotten on my YA steampunk novel, I have stopped worrying about it. It seems to work.

It is almost time to write the sequel to the YA steampunk. Since I wrote book one over NaNoWriMo and actually came out with a decent first draft, I’ve decided to write book two as my NaNo novel this year. In the interim, have been editing an adult dark fantasy while I plot in my head and sketch out scenes for the next book in the Clockwork Cat series (the next two actually, but who’s counting).

The one thing I have learned as my writing improves is that, whether pantser or plotter or something in between (where I imagine a lot of us fall), don’t waste time worrying about your methods. Do what works for you. Refine your approach, but NEVER, NEVER, NEVER try to force yourself into a method that doesn’t work for you. Find your own. We each have a voice that makes our writing unique and trying to fit yourself into a mold when you write will muffle that voice.

Happy writing!!!

Writing in a World of Distraction

If you're like me, then when the writing is going well, nothing can stop you. Not food, not family, not that little notification popping up in the corner of your screen to tell you that you have a new twitter follower. There is nothing outside of the words bleeding from your fingertips. But maybe things aren't going that well. Maybe you're not happy with the way a character has developed, or that scene just isn't moving the story the way you wanted, or you've written yourself into a corner and can't figure out how, with all your meticulous plotting, it could have come to that. Now what?

The best solution I've found is to get away from your work and do something away from the computer for a while (see Writer's Block: On the Value of Manure). How often do I really do that though? I'm at my computer already. I can do something writing related on the Internet. That’s kind of like writing, only different. Opportunity abounds, but even legitimate reasons to surf the Web can be devastating to your productivity.

RESEARCH

This is a dangerous one. I'll be the first to admit that I spend a ton of time researching. Just looking up word origins to make sure they are period appropriate can consume large chunks of time. The Internet can provide a wealth of information (though you always have to be careful of your sources). The biggest threat, in my opinion, is all those glorious links.

Oh, it starts innocently enough. You need information on a particular piece of gothic architecture. You find several pages on that subject and start clicking links. Before you know it, you've been wandering links for over an hour and are currently reading about a local beer festival. If you’ve gone off course, bookmark the page to come back to when you aren’t on your writing time and get back to work.

EDUCATION

Another great opportunity to whittle away writing time. Learning about writing is never bad. As authors, we should always work to improve our craft. However, learning must be balanced with doing. Perhaps you notice too much filtering in you writing. You search the Internet for help and come up with these two articles:

• Filtering (Leslie's Writing Exercises)
• Are These Filter Words Weakening Your Fiction? (Write It Sideways)

From there you follow links to:

• Filter Words and Distancing Point of View (Let The Words FLow)
• The Reason Editors Reject Manuscripts (Fiction Factor)

And from there you follow links to...

Well, you get the idea. I'm not saying these aren't all great articles. I've followed this thread and read most of them. There is some fabulous information here. The trick is to not become so immersed in all the information available that you never get around to applying what you've learned. By all means, learn everything you can, but discipline yourself. Take a half hour or hour to read up on something, then get back to work and revisit it another day if you need more help.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

The time-eating monster. We all know how we're supposed to be building a fan base and getting ourselves out there in the writing/reading world before we've even published a book these days. That is a tall order, especially if you’re new to social media. You can spend hours just finding the people you should be following on Twitter. Then you can build your own blog and maintain it and find the blogs you should be following and comment on them and...

Yes, it can go on for days. The best thing you will ever learn in this area is something I heard many authors talking about at the last conference I went to. Schedule time for this every day and set a timer if you need to. Do not fall into the trap of spending all your time in social networking.

Still here? Shouldn't you be writing? Shouldn't I?

Go. Research. Learn. Network. Above all, write.

Happy writing!

Writers Conference: Pitching the Book

I was going to post this before the conference, but the hotel didn’t have free wireless, so I am posting it now with a few notes on the success of each goal.

• Probably the most important… have fun. - I had a great time.
• Meet people, make connections, and network. - Also a success. I met some great people, made new friends and new industry connections.
• Give as many people as I can my new, fabulous business cards. - I could have given out more, but many people do have this card now.

 

   

• Line up a few agents and editors to send the book to if the agent who currently has the manuscript decides not to represent it. - Very successful. I only pitched to the people I had appointments with because volunteering, pitching, and attending sessions made it hard to catch people in the halls, but I have two agent requests for the first 50 pages, an editor request for the first 20 pages, and an editor request for the full manuscript.
• Oh, and have fun! - Yes!

And, while it is much too late to implement feedback for the conference, here is my pitch:

London is a city of progress. Gleaming buildings rise above a foundation of human suffering so the wealthy can avoid the filth and camaraderie of the lower classes. Graceful airships glide overhead through a soup of smog and waste while steam-powered coaches share the streets below with their horse drawn predecessors. For a street rat like Maeko, all this progress simply means that she has to be smarter and faster to evade patrol officers on their new steamcycles. Picking the pockets of the well-to-do to keep from going hungry is riskier and more exciting than ever.

Then she finds Macak, a cat with a clockwork leg. Her interest in the unusual feline leads her to the discovery of a dead mother and child and to a family torn apart by the accusation of their murder. Macak’s owner, the only man who can prove their innocence, has gone into hiding in fear for his life. Maeko will discover just how much a London street rat can accomplish when she decides to protect the cat and prove the wrongly accused family innocent by pursuing the murder investigation through the squalid streets of the city.

Comments are welcome.

After the conference, we unwound with the final Harry Potter movie. A great finish to the movies!

Happy writing all!

Writer’s Block: On the Value of Manure

Yes, manure. I’m not being funny. (Well, maybe a little.)

Before I go into that, however, a quick update on my status. My YA steampunk novel, The Girl and the Clockwork Cat, is back to the agent, so I am trying to focus on other projects (like brainstorming through some of the plot details for the series and editing my urban fantasy). This week it will be easy as I am attending the PNWA writers conference. My focus is on perfecting my pitch, which I will then change seven or eight times before I actually get to my agent and editor pitch appointments. I am pitching the YA steampunk. In case the current agent decides not to take it, I hope to have a few more agents interested by the end of this week.

Anyway, back to the manure.

Many things can cause that irritating phenomenon we call writer’s block -- when you just can’t seem to make any forward progress on your writing. I’ll list just a few here.

1.       You’re ready to start a new project and haven’t figured out what you want to do.

2.       You’re not clear how to progress from one scene to the next or how you want the current scene, chapter, subplot, overall plot, etc. to work out.

3.       Lack of confidence in your own ability.

4.       External influences (relationship problems, etc.).

One of the best things you can do when you hit a block, in my experience, is just sit down somewhere and start writing. It doesn’t matter what you write, just do it. Let your subconscious have the wheel and run with it. But that solution doesn’t always work. Sometimes you need something more. Sometimes your subconscious unwilling to step in while your conscious mind is blathering on about it’s many woes. That is where the manure comes in.

I have horses.

I love my horses, but they are a lot of work and they make a lot of manure. It turns out, however, that during the tedious process of shoveling manure each day is when I do some of my best brainstorming. Cleaning a horse stall doesn’t require deep thought. When I go out to clean stalls, my conscious mind goes into autopilot, scooping along to the music I put on the stereo. Scoop, dump, scoop, dump, and so on. Whatever I was working on before I went out ruminates in my subconscious without the hindrance of my conscious. Then… revelation! At some point during the process of picking little balls of compacted, chewed up grass out of the bedding, I get bombarded with ideas from the backseat driver. My conscious mind wakes up and the two parts of me bounce ideas around. Before I know it, I’m eager to get back to my desk and return to work.

What if you don’t have horses?

Not a problem. Find something else you do or can do that turns off that pesky conscious, because that is what usually permeates a block and escalates it. Find some process that puts your body to work and your conscious to sleep. I do think putting your body to work is important to the process. There is a lot of energy in your physical self that needs an output and letting it become too pent up can lead to distraction, making it harder and harder for your subconscious to get through, especially when it is already fighting your conscious.

A few ideas for those not fortunate enough to have manure flinging in their daily schedule:

·         Take a walk or bike ride

·         Exercise on a treadmill or similar workout equipment

·         Garden

·         Dig a moat around the house (Who doesn’t want a moat?)

Do whatever works for you. I have found certain things don’t work well for me, such as kayaking, horseback riding, and caving. All of these activities are great for later inspiration, but while I am doing them, my subconscious and conscious mind are busy keeping track of my environment because of the risks involved in those sports. When writer’s block is the issue, it is better to do something that isn’t going to draw on all your resources.

Next time writer’s block has you in a stranglehold, think about manure. Try something that doesn’t require deep thought, but that does get you moving. Go into it when you have your work in mind, then forget about it and see what happens.

Ganbattene!

Happy writing!

Writing Better: On Soliciting Professional Feedback

I’ve had a lot of thoughts for blog posts lately, but my time has been sucked up trying to take my book from good to sellable (per the feedback of an agent who would like to see it again). Since it is my goal not to let an agent down if at all humanely possible, I’ve been focusing on that task. As I am through the second round of changes and some of my beta readers are hacking up the text for me, I can take a breather, which really means I can work on another novel and finally get a blog post out.

Ahh. Just got my first cup of tea, things should become more coherent from here on in.

I’ve been thinking about what has helped me improve my work and gotten me to the point where I have an agent interested in one of my books. It has taken many things, including the support of some wonderful people, but there is much that you must bring to the process before you can rise up on that foundation.

One of the single most important things I learned was to treat it like a job. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy writing. Enjoy the hell out of it. Just remember, if you want to be a published author, you also have to take it seriously and be willing to put in the hours to make your work worthy of the time readers will put into it and to market it to those readers.

Learning to write well requires effort. Write a lot. Read a lot. Study the work of those you admire. Read books and articles on writing. Read the blogs of agents, they have vast knowledge about trends and about what sells. Above all, when you feel you are ready, put your work in front of people.

Who do I give my work to?

Friends and relatives are always an easy place to start and you can gradually figure out who is interested and will make a good long term beta reader. Then you can start educating them on the kind of feedback that is most valuable to you.

Critique groups are another good source, so long as you learn to sleuth through the feedback and find the wisdom. Remember, people in such groups have different agendas, styles and skill levels.

Professionals in the industry. It is easier than I would have believed to get your work in front of agents and editors.  Obviously, you can submit work to magazines, agents and book publishers in the usual ways and I’ve gotten some valuable feedback this way as well as a few less valuable form rejections, but that is hardly the end of it.

Conferences are great for getting feedback on pitches, queries and synopsis, and for soliciting interest from agents and editors. See how they react to your idea and to how you presented it. Find out what worked for them or turned them off. I met the agent interested in my current book this way and got an opportunity to get detailed feedback from another agent on the first three chapters of that book.

Contests are another great medium. There are many short story contests, including Writer’s of the Future where I got feedback that opened my eyes to a plot problem in a short story that made the semifinalists. Large writing groups can put on some great contests and keep you apprised of other such opportunities in your area. You can also find contests all over the web these days. Watch blogs from agents, editors, publishers, and published authors for contests in which feedback on some portion of your book or your submission packet (query, synopsis, etc.) will be professionally critiqued as part of the prize or as a reward for participation.

Webinars are another resource for professional feedback, such as those put on by Writer’s Digest. These give you a chance to build your writing skills and, in some cases, a critique of some kind comes with the price of admission. I recently attended one where the presenting agent gave a pitch critique as part of the admission.

What do I do with all this feedback?

Trying to find the key to succeeding as a writer can sometimes feel like shooting mosquitoes in the dark with a long bow. It doesn't have to be that way. When you've accumulated feedback from a variety of sources, then you can start mining for gold.

This can be tricky. I entered a contest with two different novels this year and received feedback from two category judges on each. The feedback was… fascinating.

One novel scored higher than I expected and the judges both praised similar things, world building, premise, dialogue, etc. They both had a problem with a few things including the viewpoint in the first chapter and a stiff tone in some of the text, which gave me some great ideas on what I needed to do to improve the work.

The second novel was the real puzzler. The two judges in that category were widely at odds in their opinions. One gave it a near perfect score, commenting on the great pacing and great characters. The other gave it a good score, but cited problems with the pacing and the characters.

Hmmm. Well, people are diverse, that’s why you have to learn to sift out the gold.

Look for common complaints in feedback from different sources. These are the things you really need to work on and getting feedback from unrelated sources will show you what the most glaring issues are. It will also show you what you do best and can build upon.

Every bit of personal response you get from anyone should go into a common pool, even feedback for different projects. Your weaknesses and strengths will come through in all your work and finding these things will help you focus your efforts.

It took me over half my life to believe that I could make my writing into more than a hobby. Since I finally committed myself to it, I have discovered a whole world of resources that can help me make it happen. Don’t be afraid to dive in at the deep end.

Happy writing!

Another Writers Conference and a Few Thoughts on Self-publishing

I went to the Whidbey Island Writers Association (WIWA) conference over the first weekend in April. Like the PNWA conference last year, it turned out to be a great experience, made a little less intimidating by the smaller number of attendees and the fact that it wasn't my first conference.

The sessions were quite fun and helpful. My favorite was actually a session I took on The Virtuoso Sentence by Priscilla Long. A very useful session for someone who tends to run stiff with her writing due to so much time spent following rigid rules as a technical writer. The session looked at sentences from well know authors and showed various ways in which they play with the rules of syntax to create brilliant, compelling writing. It also gave us tools for developing that kind of writing in our own work.

One of the highlights of the session, of course, was my first pitch. The agent responded to my book with considerable enthusiasm and requested a submission. That will be going out at the end of April (and I should be working on it right now). Fingers crossed, pat the lucky rock, etc.  J

I had a critique session to go over the first 20 pages, which I submitted prior to the conference. I found that experience very educational and encouraging in the fact that all the critiques were on craft issues not story/plot/character issues. These are little things I can easily fix and that will help me continue to improve my writing.

Lastly, I pitched to an editor who I knew was kind of a long shot. She admitted that they weren’t interested in what I was pitching, but gave me some wonderful tips on improving the pitch and told me it sounded like a great story. A win as far as I am concerned since that pitch will be the heart of my query and synopsis.

The next highlight takes a short back-story. Some time ago, my mom gave me a pile of books to read. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein nestled among them. I’ve read many books about animals and one thing tends to ring true through all of them, they end sad. I wasn’t going to read it for that reason.

Through my life, I have been fortunate to share my home with many animals. I love them dearly and miss them horribly when they pass, which they always do. Despite the pain of that loss, I keep on bringing another one home and going through it all again. So, I finally read the book. I was bringing another one home in a sense.

I’m glad I did, and not only because it was a remarkable, beautifully written book (though it did make me cry more than once). At the writer’s conference, Garth Stein was a keynote speaker and instructor. He came across as a very approachable, down to earth person. One of the things about his speech that really struck me was his emphasis on the relationship between the author and their readers and the promise we make as authors to give our readers an experience worth the time they invest. An experience that will move them and perhaps change them.

This leads me to something that bothers me about the current state of publishing. I think it is wonderful that more people have the opportunity to realize their dreams through the growth of self-publishing. I think there is a great deal of opportunity there and hope to see it flourish. However, I believe very strongly in that promise we make to a reader when we put our words down on the page. I think the current self-publishing industry encourages certain laziness in regards to that promise. Some great work comes out through self-publishing. So does some work that is poorly written, poorly edited, and simply a mockery of that sacred promise. That kind of work stains the rest, making it hard for self-published authors without an established audience to gain any respect.

This is one reason I am trying to go the traditional route. I don’t know that I have the knowledge to ensure that my work is the best it can be before I put it out there. I’m looking for the experience an agent and editor can bring to the table. I also like the idea of the relationship that one must build with their agent. For all that I am a reclusive introverted writer, I am also, oddly, a serious people person. I blame this contradiction on the voices in my head. J

Happy writing!

Trying not to be an Author

Although I seem to be good at figuring other people out, it’s a little crazy how many times in my life I have been wrong about myself.

I once thought this was a hobby. Silly me. I tried to make it into one so many times. I tried for years to get a ‘real’ job and build a ‘real’ career. I found things that I am good at and that I can make a lot of money doing. Doing them is how I discovered that it isn’t about the money. It is about the need, the passion, and the love.

I once thought I was a loner, or should I simply say alone. I was wrong. So many people have stepped in, encouraged me, and helped me along my way. By comparison, very few have tried to knock me down or deride what I chose to do, what I have to do. I have been one of those few more times than I can count.

I once thought I hated people. I came to realize that I love them as individuals with all their differences, bad and good. They give me so much to write and so much to discover. Endless pools of fascinating material.

I used to wonder if I would ever stop and, even in moments of great frustration, I never have. I don’t wonder anymore. Rejections build up alongside the rare and treasured acceptance. I see in those rejections a trend of growing encouragement and helpful feedback. It fans the flames of what was always a bonfire.

Will I ever succeed as an author? I don’t know. Looking back on my life so far, it feels like I already have.

No matter where you are in your own journey as a writer, you are never alone. There are so many others just like you. Always remember, it is about the need, the passion, and the love.

Oh! And the cats. Never forget the cats. J

Happy writing!

Agent Request: Surviving Another Edit

I seem to be suffering inexplicable insomnia of late. I could blame it on the stress of trying to find that last little bit of something needed to push my novel over the top, but I doubt that’s it, or all of it anyway.

I was due to get back to a particular agent at the end of January if I hadn’t placed my novel to see if she had time and interest in looking at it. Well, I certainly hadn’t placed it because I stopped trying and started a new edit after receiving feedback from an editor and that edit wasn’t going well. I knew in a broad sense what needed to happen, I just couldn’t quite figure out how to translate the knowledge onto my written pages. By the end of the day on January 27^th, I was still only 6 chapters into an edit attempt that finally seemed to be working. Fabulous! Only 33 chapters to go.

I couldn’t possibly delay getting back to the agent. That’s a poor way to deal with someone I hoped to build a lasting relationship with, but the manuscript wasn’t ready to go if she wanted it. Being an optimist, I sent her a note to let her know that I had begun another edit based on some helpful feedback and could have it done no later than the end of the following week (because doing a complex edit on 33 chapters in a week should be no problem, especially if I edited over the weekend).

The response came back that she was catching up on many things and would get back to me sometime in the next week. Excellent! A busy agent certainly wouldn’t get back to me before the end of the following week, by which time I would at least be mostly done with the edit (33 chapters, 1 week, no problem).

With plenty of distraction (mostly trying to work out finances to see if we could afford to replace my husband’s car with its rapidly reducing reliability) and already deeply in the throes of an insomnia induced struggle with productivity, I got through one more chapter in the next three days. Now I faced the prospect of 32 chapters in 5 days (yeah, I can do that, maybe).

Then it happened. Early Monday morning, January 31^st, I got the response I didn’t expect until much later in the week. That wonderful agent got back to me. While my husband had been chauffeuring my barely coherent, sleep-deprived body around in his new car, she had been working through the weekend to catch up. Now she wanted the manuscript and the sooner I could get it to her, the better.

Glorious news! Excitement bubbled through me… and crashed violently into a wave of suffocating dread. I opened the manuscript file on my computer and stared forlornly at the 32 chapters still in need of the latest touchup treatment. The answer was clear. I could do nothing except edit until the manuscript was done. Laundry, dishes, stall cleaning, house cleaning, cooking, taking down the everlasting Christmas tree, it all had to wait.

Fortunately, for all of us, my husband stepped in to pick up some of the slack and see that the essentials happened and no one starved. I, still suffering variable insomnia, started editing from early morning until after dark every day, eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at my computer many of those days.

The critters also stepped in to help. My young cat, Neko, maintained his usual care procedures, interrupting me at regular intervals to insist that I scratch the kitty back, thereby ensuring some movement in my stiffening arms. He also took an opportunity to try to catch my beta, just to keep me conscious of the real world. Shai, our grumpy old female cat, kept reality quite starkly real by selflessly peeing on several pairs of my shoes.

The horses, determined to get me out for a little sunshine, made it absolutely clear that the last bale of hay I hoped to stretch out for a few more days proved unpalatable and they would be on starvation strike until I remedied the situation. A trip to the feed store became inevitable.

The true champion in this marathon editing had to be my 14-year-old ailing dog, Akila. Despite monumental efforts, the editing continued into the following weekend and Saturday, February 5^th, I spent the day finishing off the last six chapters and preparing it to be mailed first thing Monday morning. In the midst of that process, while I floated on a rather rare and wondrous editing high, the sound of retching behind my chair hammered me harshly back to reality. Poor Akila heaved his stomach contents, in all their pungent glory, on the floor behind me. After the splendid disgorging, he curled in a shuddering, miserable ball in the bedroom and I suffered from the gut-wrenching certainty that he would die while I finished the novel.

Monday, February 7^th. My darling husband mailed the manuscript this morning on his way to work. Though mailed later than I would have liked, it is better than ever and another 3,000 words shorter. Akila lives, having rallied after a few days of staggering dramatically close to deaths door, a door his sanity has long since passed through. The horses are enjoying their new batch of hay. My beta hasn’t become an afternoon snack for Neko, yet, and I haven’t smothered Shai with a pillow, yet. Christmas is down and I am ready to catch up on household chores before I start a second edit on my new steampunk novel.

I’ve knocked on wood and crossed my fingers, but if anything makes this agent want to represent the book, I’m confident that it will be the effort put into making it shine (thanks to the extraordinary man who allowed me to pour every minute into it over the last week). Perhaps now I can spend a little effort learning how to sleep again.

Oh, and just so he doesn’t feel left out, throughout this process my old male cat, Thomas, remained his sweet and saintly undemanding self. Thanks Tom.

Never-ending Revision and the Curse of Word Count Watching

The biggest question: Do I work on my book or do I take down the Christmas tree?  Well, since the Halloween party decorations are still up, I guess Christmas can stick around for a bit.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently got feedback from an editor on my fantasy novel (in my world, anything under six months ago counts as recently).  After a brief discussion, it seems that, while he liked many things about the book, including the premise and the setup with the main character, the writing was coming across a little stiff.  It wasn’t a problem with the description exactly, but more the things I choose to describe and the way I draw the character’s eye (and therefore, the reader’s eye) through a scene.  The conversation was full of encouragement and positives, but I was a little frustrated knowing this meant yet another pass on this novel.  I very briefly toyed with giving up on it, but I had several of the people who have read it (a few who have read the whole trilogy) say they thought that would be a mistake.  So, here we go again.

I think one of the challenges I face with this novel is the scope of the world.  It is the first book in a written fantasy trilogy.  When you create the world in which the story takes place, you must know that world.  You must know what to describe and how to describe it in order to make that place real for your readers while not spending a ton of time on drawn out explanations or descriptions that don’t move the story.  Not an easy task.

Also, in this novel, I have three viewpoints, allowing me to track events going on in both of the relevant countries as well as giving insight into the different cultures and major characters involved.  Figuring out how to bring such a world to life and keep momentum across three viewpoints is a considerable challenge, but it is part of the craft and I believe I am getting the hang of it.

The biggest challenge I face in this edit pass, however, is the word count.  I put months of effort into reducing the overall word count and now the process of bringing the world to life threatens to raise that count again.  So far, I’ve had three failed starts.

The first effort, I was so busy watching word count that every time I added a word I found myself looking for one to remove.  I got through almost five chapters before admitting that I was doing more harm than good.

On the second try, I forced myself to stop recording the word count, though I still kept watching the numbers at the bottom of the page and holding back in my efforts.  This went on for almost three chapters.

I started over again.  This time, I struggled through the first two chapters and realized that I wasn’t sure I was doing what needed to be done.  I was making a few changes to the MC that I was happy with, changes that strengthened her as a character in the beginning and clarified her motivation for the decisions she makes later on.  These were good changes, but did not address the heart of the problem.

Time for research.  I spent hours skimming through novels I loved and looking at how they brought their world to life.  Then I spent several more hours reading from online articles and books on writing.  While this gave me a great many ideas, I still felt like I was grasping at something just beyond my reach.  When you’re as short as I am, you know exactly how annoying it is to need something just beyond your reach.

It was about this time that a newsletter article from Holly Lisle showed up in my e-mail talking about bringing the WHERE of your story to life.  That article and The Description Workshop it linked managed to click everything together for me.  Something I read there filled in the last piece of the puzzle and freed me to give another shot at making this novel everything it can be.

I learned some critical lessons on world creation, but I also learned that you must create a story, not a word count.  If you spend too much time worrying about word count, you can kill the creativity.  Write or edit the story, not the word count.  Length can always be worked out later.

Happy Writing!