Not done yet, with just a week to go in National Novel Writing Month, but I'm closing it. The challenge is to reach 50,000 words in the 30 days of November. I'm more than 85 percent of the way there. Therefore, Searching for Rachel Edelstein is coming to an end. And believe me, I will close it out somewhere just north of 50,000 words.
I'm tired of, on the fly, coming up with what's next to write.
As I look back at this month, I wish I had thought and planned more in advance. It would have made the writing easier. I have long since written past the notes I outlined for the story and so every day I face the challenge of what's next.
By temperament as a writer, I am a pantster -- someone who writes by the seat of the pants -- as opposed to being a plotter, who does a lot of planning or outlining before writing. I like it because as a pantster, I discover the novel in much the same way a reader would. I like to be surprised by details as I go along.
But with that approach it would take me at least three or four months to write a first draft, and probably longer than that. My first novel -- Fighting Chaos, which gave its name to this blog, took me more than a decade to write. And it's still dreadful.
The second one took four and a half months. Better but not nearly as good as it can, and should, be.
So, I like NaNoWriMo because I can get the first draft done and on paper quickly. But I can't do that much writing so quickly without some planning ahead. I write out pages of notes and use them as a guide day by day.
I wrote notes this year, have hardly looked at them, and now have written well past them. I have to do better next year.
But that is for 2017. I just need to get Rachel done this year. So I must get back on it.
Thanks for reading.
Showing posts with label Update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Update. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Random thoughts
Hello, my readers. Sorry I have been a little distracted for the last couple of weeks. Whenever possible, I have been planing for my next novel but I have been interrupted a lot.
The main reason for the disruption in my work and in blogging was my daughter's high school graduation. Or more precisely, getting her out of high school.
For reasons I won't go into on this blog, my daughter was short a course credit required for graduation. So, since early May, my wife, daughter and I worked many hours getting my daughter to complete an online course in three weeks -- work that should have taken three months. In the end, her principal set a 4 p.m., May 25, deadline for the school to hear from the online administrators that she had passed the course or she couldn't walk with her class at the graduation ceremony the following day.
They got the fax notification at 3:42 p.m., with just 18 minutes to spare.
I stressed out enormously over this graduation. Education is extremely important and something my wife and I greatly value. So getting my daughter out of high school and moving her onto the next major stage in her life development was important. I have earlier blog posts about being a worrier but I was probably more stressed about this graduation-thing than any other thing in quite some time. (There are other details I haven't mentioned regarding my daughter's graduation, so I wasn't just going nuts over the ceremony.)
But she walked and we were all proud.
On Sunday, my oldest daughter and I attended the Indianapolis 500, which we do every year. It was a thrilling race in incredible heat. But she and I survived it and had a wonderful time. I have been a Dario Franchitti fan for many years so I was pleased that he is now a three-time winner in what I think is the world's greatest auto race.
All that is to say I haven't gotten as much writing done in the last two weeks as I should have. But I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.
So, keep writing and thanks for reading.
The main reason for the disruption in my work and in blogging was my daughter's high school graduation. Or more precisely, getting her out of high school.
For reasons I won't go into on this blog, my daughter was short a course credit required for graduation. So, since early May, my wife, daughter and I worked many hours getting my daughter to complete an online course in three weeks -- work that should have taken three months. In the end, her principal set a 4 p.m., May 25, deadline for the school to hear from the online administrators that she had passed the course or she couldn't walk with her class at the graduation ceremony the following day.
They got the fax notification at 3:42 p.m., with just 18 minutes to spare.
I stressed out enormously over this graduation. Education is extremely important and something my wife and I greatly value. So getting my daughter out of high school and moving her onto the next major stage in her life development was important. I have earlier blog posts about being a worrier but I was probably more stressed about this graduation-thing than any other thing in quite some time. (There are other details I haven't mentioned regarding my daughter's graduation, so I wasn't just going nuts over the ceremony.)
But she walked and we were all proud.
On Sunday, my oldest daughter and I attended the Indianapolis 500, which we do every year. It was a thrilling race in incredible heat. But she and I survived it and had a wonderful time. I have been a Dario Franchitti fan for many years so I was pleased that he is now a three-time winner in what I think is the world's greatest auto race.
All that is to say I haven't gotten as much writing done in the last two weeks as I should have. But I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.
So, keep writing and thanks for reading.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
One final read through
It's taking much longer than I expected to do one final read through of An Untidy Affair before I ship it off to an contest. A lot is riding on the contest but there is always a lot riding on a contest. So that isn't what is slowing me down.
I am tweaking it here and there, tightening the writing and spotting problems that I should have seen months ago. But the novel itself is still strong. I guess I just want to put the best foot forward. Yet at some point you have to conclude you have done the best you can do at the moment and let it go. Not there yet but am probably close.
Once I completely finish the read of Affair and send it in, I will concentrate re-writing the query letter for The Last Tontine Survivor, and compile the list of agents to send it to. That means lots and lots of reading -- on query letters and on the interests of particular agents. I am tired of doing that but I have no other choice. It is the nature of the industry.
So, I wanted to give you an update. You will also notice I have changed styles once again on book titles. I will boldface and italicize them. Perhaps it will make them jump off the page.
It's a beautiful day outside and I'm going to enjoy some more of it.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
I am tweaking it here and there, tightening the writing and spotting problems that I should have seen months ago. But the novel itself is still strong. I guess I just want to put the best foot forward. Yet at some point you have to conclude you have done the best you can do at the moment and let it go. Not there yet but am probably close.
Once I completely finish the read of Affair and send it in, I will concentrate re-writing the query letter for The Last Tontine Survivor, and compile the list of agents to send it to. That means lots and lots of reading -- on query letters and on the interests of particular agents. I am tired of doing that but I have no other choice. It is the nature of the industry.
So, I wanted to give you an update. You will also notice I have changed styles once again on book titles. I will boldface and italicize them. Perhaps it will make them jump off the page.
It's a beautiful day outside and I'm going to enjoy some more of it.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
I couldn't see
I am generally very careful about my reading glasses -- when I carry them out of the house, where I take them, when I wear them and where I put them down. And the reason is simple. They are the only pair I have. Since I started wearing reading glasses more than a decade ago, this is my favorite pair.
When I moved back to the Midwest from Philadelphia in January 2002, it was in the middle of the school year and we had not sold our house. So it was months before the family -- wife and daughters -- moved here. During that time, my oldest daughter was reading Harry Potter. I wasn't into Potter (though I certainly am now) but I promised to read the books and we'd talk about them on the phone in the evenings.
One week after I got here, I accidentally stepped on my eyeglasses which had fallen out of my shirt pocket. Given that I was an editor and needed them to read, I went to an eye doctor the next day. The frames I loved best happened to be Harry Potter frames. I considered not getting them but I did love the glasses.
I have used the same frames for the last eight years.
Last week at a black journalist meeting I left my eyes on the conference room table at the television station where we were meeting. I didn't notice it until later that evening when I got home. But it meant when I was writing on Friday, I had to increase the print size on my computer screen to 125 percent of normal. Otherwise, I'd have a hard time seeing.
Seeing what you are writing is an important aspect of writing and one that I suggest all writers accomplish. And I know this is a pretty weak blog posting. I had intended to blog about the word choices on Friday but I had a hard time seeing. So today I decided on a little whimsy.
Sue it!
But in the meantime, have a nice day. Thanks for reading and get back to writing.
When I moved back to the Midwest from Philadelphia in January 2002, it was in the middle of the school year and we had not sold our house. So it was months before the family -- wife and daughters -- moved here. During that time, my oldest daughter was reading Harry Potter. I wasn't into Potter (though I certainly am now) but I promised to read the books and we'd talk about them on the phone in the evenings.
One week after I got here, I accidentally stepped on my eyeglasses which had fallen out of my shirt pocket. Given that I was an editor and needed them to read, I went to an eye doctor the next day. The frames I loved best happened to be Harry Potter frames. I considered not getting them but I did love the glasses.
I have used the same frames for the last eight years.
Last week at a black journalist meeting I left my eyes on the conference room table at the television station where we were meeting. I didn't notice it until later that evening when I got home. But it meant when I was writing on Friday, I had to increase the print size on my computer screen to 125 percent of normal. Otherwise, I'd have a hard time seeing.
Seeing what you are writing is an important aspect of writing and one that I suggest all writers accomplish. And I know this is a pretty weak blog posting. I had intended to blog about the word choices on Friday but I had a hard time seeing. So today I decided on a little whimsy.
Sue it!
But in the meantime, have a nice day. Thanks for reading and get back to writing.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
MOVE
First of all, MOVE is not an acronym. If I'm not mistaken, the full name is On the MOVE.
Today is May 13. And MOVE, a radical, urban, back-to-nature group -- yes, I realize that urban and back-to-nature in this case is an oxymoron -- had its last major confrontation with Philadelphia police 25 years ago on May 13, 1985.
City authorities wanted to evict MOVE members from their West Philly home. After a day-long confrontation (with authorities using bullets and full-pressure water hoses), police dropped a satchel of explosives -- read: bomb -- on the roof of the MOVE house in a misguided attempt to knock a fortified bunker off the top of the building. The attempt failed.
The bunker and the roof caught fire. The fire department did not immediately turn on water hoses once the blaze became apparent and, ultimately, the burning bunker collapsed into the second story of the structure instead of falling off of the house and into the street, as officials had hoped.
The resulting fire eventually went to five or six alarms, destroyed 61 houses, left 250 people homeless and cost 11 people, including five children, their lives. All of the dead were from the MOVE house.
Though the neighborhood was rebuilt, it was shoddy and now, 25 years later, the city owns 37 of the rebuilt houses and apparently has left them abandoned.
I mention this because the MOVE confrontation plays a minor, yet crucial role in my current novel, AN UNTIDY AFFAIR. Affair is a murder mystery and isn't in the least bit a political novel. But when I decided to have it set in Philadelphia, I wanted to use a major event as a backdrop for the developing murder story. And there is no event in Philly's recent history -- say, the last 50 years -- that is bigger than the 1985 MOVE confrontation.
In my novel, there is another body found in the debris left by the bombing and fire, though it is not in the MOVE house. It is in a house further down the block. Figuring out who it is and why they were killed is the mystery in the book.
I don't mind using that sad day as a prop in my story. It's attention-getting. And it is the biggest story I have ever covered.
But as I reflect on that day and the days that immediately followed, I remember working the story. I remember standing with other reporters watching the entire neighborhood burn to the ground. I remember a day or so later standing with a resident in front of the remains of her property. The only thing that was vaguely recognizable was the burnt frame of a window air-conditioner. Everything else she had was gone. And I remember standing on some one's porch looking down the block of burned down houses as the coroner removed the first of the 11 dead bodies. I wasn't suppose to be on the porch -- officials restricted the media's access -- but a kindly elderly woman let me into her home and I was the first journalist in the world to report that they had dead bodies and were moving them.
I hoped then that my reporting and writing accurately described the events without bias. And as an author, I hope my readers one day get a sense of the misery of that day and the following days. I made one of the characters in my book a resident whose house was destroyed. It was a time of incredible sadness but I still had a job to do and I think I did it well, remaining fair and balanced. I was respectful of the victims and didn't pull any punches for those responsible, though several of the city officials I respected and one or two I really liked.
Anyway, those are my thought for the day, in addition to the fact that I got a rejection e-mail today from one of my B-list agents. No big deal. I sent her a quick thank you e-mail and moved on.
Thanks for reading today and keep on the MOVE.
Today is May 13. And MOVE, a radical, urban, back-to-nature group -- yes, I realize that urban and back-to-nature in this case is an oxymoron -- had its last major confrontation with Philadelphia police 25 years ago on May 13, 1985.
City authorities wanted to evict MOVE members from their West Philly home. After a day-long confrontation (with authorities using bullets and full-pressure water hoses), police dropped a satchel of explosives -- read: bomb -- on the roof of the MOVE house in a misguided attempt to knock a fortified bunker off the top of the building. The attempt failed.
The bunker and the roof caught fire. The fire department did not immediately turn on water hoses once the blaze became apparent and, ultimately, the burning bunker collapsed into the second story of the structure instead of falling off of the house and into the street, as officials had hoped.
The resulting fire eventually went to five or six alarms, destroyed 61 houses, left 250 people homeless and cost 11 people, including five children, their lives. All of the dead were from the MOVE house.
Though the neighborhood was rebuilt, it was shoddy and now, 25 years later, the city owns 37 of the rebuilt houses and apparently has left them abandoned.
I mention this because the MOVE confrontation plays a minor, yet crucial role in my current novel, AN UNTIDY AFFAIR. Affair is a murder mystery and isn't in the least bit a political novel. But when I decided to have it set in Philadelphia, I wanted to use a major event as a backdrop for the developing murder story. And there is no event in Philly's recent history -- say, the last 50 years -- that is bigger than the 1985 MOVE confrontation.
In my novel, there is another body found in the debris left by the bombing and fire, though it is not in the MOVE house. It is in a house further down the block. Figuring out who it is and why they were killed is the mystery in the book.
I don't mind using that sad day as a prop in my story. It's attention-getting. And it is the biggest story I have ever covered.
But as I reflect on that day and the days that immediately followed, I remember working the story. I remember standing with other reporters watching the entire neighborhood burn to the ground. I remember a day or so later standing with a resident in front of the remains of her property. The only thing that was vaguely recognizable was the burnt frame of a window air-conditioner. Everything else she had was gone. And I remember standing on some one's porch looking down the block of burned down houses as the coroner removed the first of the 11 dead bodies. I wasn't suppose to be on the porch -- officials restricted the media's access -- but a kindly elderly woman let me into her home and I was the first journalist in the world to report that they had dead bodies and were moving them.
I hoped then that my reporting and writing accurately described the events without bias. And as an author, I hope my readers one day get a sense of the misery of that day and the following days. I made one of the characters in my book a resident whose house was destroyed. It was a time of incredible sadness but I still had a job to do and I think I did it well, remaining fair and balanced. I was respectful of the victims and didn't pull any punches for those responsible, though several of the city officials I respected and one or two I really liked.
Anyway, those are my thought for the day, in addition to the fact that I got a rejection e-mail today from one of my B-list agents. No big deal. I sent her a quick thank you e-mail and moved on.
Thanks for reading today and keep on the MOVE.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The Death of Art
I had intended that my current project, THE DEATH OF ART, be finished by the end of last month. I didn't make that deadline. At the moment, I am hoping to finish the first draft before heading for a vacation in five weeks. it will be close.
The novel is coming along well, however. I continue to discover things about my characters and about the story. Although at the moment I am in a slow period, both in the writing and in the story, the story itself is unfolding well. I am editing and re-writing more as I go along, a departure from the past. And that is one of the reasons I haven't finished yet. But I can't let that be an excuse.
Once I finish, however, I may change a major event of the story. In doing so will present a real surprise to the book but I'm not sure it will work. I won't know that until I get to the end and I try it. I am willing to do whatever is necessary to improve the book.
On the publishing front, I still don't have an agent for A MURDEROUS DISPATCH and I'm going to start directly querying a select number of publishers. And I may change the name back to DEATH AT THE JUNGLE-BUNNY JOURNAL. I have a couple of publishers in name so I will have to decide something about the soon.
That's it for now. Thanks for reading and keep writing.
The novel is coming along well, however. I continue to discover things about my characters and about the story. Although at the moment I am in a slow period, both in the writing and in the story, the story itself is unfolding well. I am editing and re-writing more as I go along, a departure from the past. And that is one of the reasons I haven't finished yet. But I can't let that be an excuse.
Once I finish, however, I may change a major event of the story. In doing so will present a real surprise to the book but I'm not sure it will work. I won't know that until I get to the end and I try it. I am willing to do whatever is necessary to improve the book.
On the publishing front, I still don't have an agent for A MURDEROUS DISPATCH and I'm going to start directly querying a select number of publishers. And I may change the name back to DEATH AT THE JUNGLE-BUNNY JOURNAL. I have a couple of publishers in name so I will have to decide something about the soon.
That's it for now. Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Not feeling the love. What are the options?
It's early in the year and I have already met some of my writing goals for the year. But this past month has had a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs.
On the up side:
My short story, THE MISSING CD, which was written for Sisters in Crime's racing anthology to be published next year, was edited and didn't need a lot of extra work by me.
THE DEATH OF ART is coming along nicely, although a little slower than I would like. If I keepmy head down and work hard, I could still finish in May.
I attended two mini-conferences and got a lot out of both.
I had my first pitch session with an editor and it went quite well, although she didn't request a mss. She liked the idea and my execution for as much as she could see from the synopsis. (And I learned how to spell synopsis. I don't have to look up the word anymore.) She just wasn't in the market for murder mysteries but she did take the synopsis (See! What'd I tell you?) back to New York with her and sent it to another editor who might be interested. Plus she passed along the name of another editor at Little, Brown and suggested I contact her. (There is a down side to this. See below.)
On the down side:
ABNA didn't go nearly as well as I had hoped and planned. I knew it was a crap shoot but I put a lot of emotional energy into it and I wasn't prepared for how badly I would feel for failing to make the quarterfinals.
I got three rejection letters and in another week or so I will conclude that another dozen unanswered queries -- those sent two months ago -- are also rejections.
I didn't get a writing fellowship for a two-day spring workshop. I was really hoping for that one.
Though she liked what she saw, the New York editor didn't take the mss and I haven't heard anything from anyone else at her company.
I got an e-mail this morning from a good friend in Virginia and it included a link to an article today on CNN. The article was on on-demanding publishing. And for the first time, I have seriously given thought to self-publishing. Or more specifically, going the print-on-demand route.
That presents several dilemmas.
Everyone in the publishing industry says a lot of good books by very good authors never make it to market through the traditional publishing route for a variety of reasons, and many of those reasons are outside the authors control. Many of those authors end up self-publishing. Thus, a self-published book isn't necessarily a poorly written book.
That having been said, there is still a stigma to self-publishing. You hear it, sense it, feel it inside the publishing industry and, to a lesser degree, in the reading public. Since anyone can write a book and get it published that way, industry insiders seem to contradict themselves and say that if a book were good enough to be published the traditional way, it would have been.
Another dilemma is the cost. The author bears most of the upfront costs. And while on-demand publishing is probably cheaper that self-publishing the old fashion way, it still isn't cheap and the costs come out of your own pockets.
But cost and stigma are not my major problem with going it alone. If I had the money, cost wouldn't be a problem and stigma can be overcome by writing a great book.
My problem, therefore, is one I would face whether I self-publish or go the traditional publishing route. The problem is marketing, promotions and publicity.
Books don't sell themselves. People, authors generally, sell them. And while I'm not very comfortable with self-promotion, I'd be willing to do it for the sake of the book. That has always been the case. Making calls to get publicity, working on a website, going on tour -- I would do all of that and more since that is what it would take.
If I go the traditional route, I would have some marketing help and probably some marketing money, if only a little. But with on-demand publishing, developing a marketing plan and implementing it would fall on me and I don't have the slightest idea where to start.
So that's what I am thinking about. I plan to discuss it with my wife, as well as with friends and a couple of fellow authors. But for now, it is an option and will remain only an option.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
On the up side:
My short story, THE MISSING CD, which was written for Sisters in Crime's racing anthology to be published next year, was edited and didn't need a lot of extra work by me.
THE DEATH OF ART is coming along nicely, although a little slower than I would like. If I keepmy head down and work hard, I could still finish in May.
I attended two mini-conferences and got a lot out of both.
I had my first pitch session with an editor and it went quite well, although she didn't request a mss. She liked the idea and my execution for as much as she could see from the synopsis. (And I learned how to spell synopsis. I don't have to look up the word anymore.) She just wasn't in the market for murder mysteries but she did take the synopsis (See! What'd I tell you?) back to New York with her and sent it to another editor who might be interested. Plus she passed along the name of another editor at Little, Brown and suggested I contact her. (There is a down side to this. See below.)
On the down side:
ABNA didn't go nearly as well as I had hoped and planned. I knew it was a crap shoot but I put a lot of emotional energy into it and I wasn't prepared for how badly I would feel for failing to make the quarterfinals.
I got three rejection letters and in another week or so I will conclude that another dozen unanswered queries -- those sent two months ago -- are also rejections.
I didn't get a writing fellowship for a two-day spring workshop. I was really hoping for that one.
Though she liked what she saw, the New York editor didn't take the mss and I haven't heard anything from anyone else at her company.
I got an e-mail this morning from a good friend in Virginia and it included a link to an article today on CNN. The article was on on-demanding publishing. And for the first time, I have seriously given thought to self-publishing. Or more specifically, going the print-on-demand route.
That presents several dilemmas.
Everyone in the publishing industry says a lot of good books by very good authors never make it to market through the traditional publishing route for a variety of reasons, and many of those reasons are outside the authors control. Many of those authors end up self-publishing. Thus, a self-published book isn't necessarily a poorly written book.
That having been said, there is still a stigma to self-publishing. You hear it, sense it, feel it inside the publishing industry and, to a lesser degree, in the reading public. Since anyone can write a book and get it published that way, industry insiders seem to contradict themselves and say that if a book were good enough to be published the traditional way, it would have been.
Another dilemma is the cost. The author bears most of the upfront costs. And while on-demand publishing is probably cheaper that self-publishing the old fashion way, it still isn't cheap and the costs come out of your own pockets.
But cost and stigma are not my major problem with going it alone. If I had the money, cost wouldn't be a problem and stigma can be overcome by writing a great book.
My problem, therefore, is one I would face whether I self-publish or go the traditional publishing route. The problem is marketing, promotions and publicity.
Books don't sell themselves. People, authors generally, sell them. And while I'm not very comfortable with self-promotion, I'd be willing to do it for the sake of the book. That has always been the case. Making calls to get publicity, working on a website, going on tour -- I would do all of that and more since that is what it would take.
If I go the traditional route, I would have some marketing help and probably some marketing money, if only a little. But with on-demand publishing, developing a marketing plan and implementing it would fall on me and I don't have the slightest idea where to start.
So that's what I am thinking about. I plan to discuss it with my wife, as well as with friends and a couple of fellow authors. But for now, it is an option and will remain only an option.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Fonts
I have just spent an hour viewing a writers discussion on a forum on the subject of fonts. The concensus was that it is best to use Courier New (doubled spaced, with 12-point type and 1-inch margins) instead of Times New Roman. The thought is that it is easier on the eyes to read and gives you a better page count, which is important to publishers. (Editors look for word counts but publishers pay the most attention to page count because paper cost more that ink.)
I have always perferred Times but I converted an earlier version of "Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal" into Courier and saw a huge difference. For one, I must not have my margins set correctly. The 74,300 words of that version should fit in slightly more than 297 pages (doubled-spaced, 12-point, 1-inch margins) because there should be 250 words per page. But I have 326 pages, or about 227 words per page.
The other difference is readability. Courier is easier on the eye sight, although I still prefer the look of Times.
I am still working on the final draft of Jungle-bunny, most specifically reworking the opening to make it more compelling. It is in Times, of course, but tomorrow I plan to convert it and fix the margins. In that way, I will be more prepared to taking the next step in the publishing process.
Thanks for reading and don't give up on writing.
I have always perferred Times but I converted an earlier version of "Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal" into Courier and saw a huge difference. For one, I must not have my margins set correctly. The 74,300 words of that version should fit in slightly more than 297 pages (doubled-spaced, 12-point, 1-inch margins) because there should be 250 words per page. But I have 326 pages, or about 227 words per page.
The other difference is readability. Courier is easier on the eye sight, although I still prefer the look of Times.
I am still working on the final draft of Jungle-bunny, most specifically reworking the opening to make it more compelling. It is in Times, of course, but tomorrow I plan to convert it and fix the margins. In that way, I will be more prepared to taking the next step in the publishing process.
Thanks for reading and don't give up on writing.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Some feelback
I had a lunch meeting with a fellow writer today who is the only wirter who has seen the entire "Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal" manuscript. The others who have it currently are none writers.
And, thankfully, Debi liked it. There are some style things that we disagree on but she likes the story, she likes the plot and the plot twists, and she likes the pacing __ AFTER about page 100. She says the first 100 pages are slow.
And she thinks the alternating chapters style I have in the first half is okay and isn't the problem with the pacing.
She suggested I beef up one of the minor characters to allow for him to be more of a red herring in the murder mystery and that I should introduce the real killer more. I'm not sure how to do that without ruining the surprise when the killer is revealed.
Also I need to develop Jason a little more because the reader doesn't care enough about him and they don't care enough easily enough.
However, she says it just needs tweaking, not a total overhaul. It turned out to be something that was very encouraging on a day when I needed to be encouraged.
So keep writing.
And, thankfully, Debi liked it. There are some style things that we disagree on but she likes the story, she likes the plot and the plot twists, and she likes the pacing __ AFTER about page 100. She says the first 100 pages are slow.
And she thinks the alternating chapters style I have in the first half is okay and isn't the problem with the pacing.
She suggested I beef up one of the minor characters to allow for him to be more of a red herring in the murder mystery and that I should introduce the real killer more. I'm not sure how to do that without ruining the surprise when the killer is revealed.
Also I need to develop Jason a little more because the reader doesn't care enough about him and they don't care enough easily enough.
However, she says it just needs tweaking, not a total overhaul. It turned out to be something that was very encouraging on a day when I needed to be encouraged.
So keep writing.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
An update
Lots of small things to say at the moment.
I visited the Barnes Foundation several days ago and went to the public library to do more research on Albert Barnes and his art. Also discovered a couple of new sources to tap into in the Philadelphia art scene. It's been a very productive, and yet restlful, time in Philadelphia for the last three days.
AND I helped stack 165 bales of hay in my friend's barn in 90-degree heat. I was sweating in places I didn't even know about.
Yesterday I got the first critique of "Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal" from a friend who is a non-writer. She liked it a lot, found humor in parts that I wasn't sure were there and, importantly, found a major style inconsistency. I haven't done anything about that yet but plan to as soon as I get home.
I sent several more query letters but no responses yet. Never sure what that means. Perhaps I am being carefully considered and perhaps I'm just in the slush pile. Only time will tell.
My writing critique group meets this Saturday and I am looking forward to that. It's not a month in which they are looking at my writing but it is always fun and interesting to critique others. One of the short stories I read this month was truly surprising and that is always a good start. And it's from someone who has my complete novel. I trust her and her opinion, although I don't always agree with her, and she writes well.
Lastly, and on a personal note, I learned last week a friend has cancer. It is treatable and they are scheduled to go in for surgery next week. She is a dear friend and has always encouraged my writing.
I pray for her full and complete recovery.
Well, that's it. It is 9 in the morning and I am about to stuff my things back into my bag and hit the road back to Indiana. It looks nice outside and I'm driving a convertible. Should be fun.
Thanks for reading and Write On.
I visited the Barnes Foundation several days ago and went to the public library to do more research on Albert Barnes and his art. Also discovered a couple of new sources to tap into in the Philadelphia art scene. It's been a very productive, and yet restlful, time in Philadelphia for the last three days.
AND I helped stack 165 bales of hay in my friend's barn in 90-degree heat. I was sweating in places I didn't even know about.
Yesterday I got the first critique of "Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal" from a friend who is a non-writer. She liked it a lot, found humor in parts that I wasn't sure were there and, importantly, found a major style inconsistency. I haven't done anything about that yet but plan to as soon as I get home.
I sent several more query letters but no responses yet. Never sure what that means. Perhaps I am being carefully considered and perhaps I'm just in the slush pile. Only time will tell.
My writing critique group meets this Saturday and I am looking forward to that. It's not a month in which they are looking at my writing but it is always fun and interesting to critique others. One of the short stories I read this month was truly surprising and that is always a good start. And it's from someone who has my complete novel. I trust her and her opinion, although I don't always agree with her, and she writes well.
Lastly, and on a personal note, I learned last week a friend has cancer. It is treatable and they are scheduled to go in for surgery next week. She is a dear friend and has always encouraged my writing.
I pray for her full and complete recovery.
Well, that's it. It is 9 in the morning and I am about to stuff my things back into my bag and hit the road back to Indiana. It looks nice outside and I'm driving a convertible. Should be fun.
Thanks for reading and Write On.
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