Posts Tagged With: Novel

How It’s Going

Posted on May 12, 2015 by caseykins

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I haven’t talked about how the writing is going in a while.  That’s because it isn’t really going.  I mean, I shouldn’t say that.  It’s a different kind of “going” these days that feels less like writing and more like reading things and moving words around.  In short, I’m doing a bunch of editing.  All of it with Brian’s help, who is very awesome for going over my novel with me (it’s in much worse shape than I thought, but I don’t think the edits will be impossible).  Next stop Beta readers, maybe.

I set myself a few goals this year.  Goal #1 was to have a finished novel that’s ready to shop around.  Goal #2 was to get 5 short stories published, and one of those five paid for.  I’ll make #1, I think.  I’m on schedule to.  Brian and I will finish going over the novel sometime in June, and then I will have a full 6 months to do all the final edits and write the various synopsis that go with querying an agent.

But #2?  It just dawned on me that the year is almost ½ over and I don’t even have 5 stories written yet, let alone published.  And if everyone keeps things for 2+ months (which they do these days, mostly), then it is likely I won’t make it.  Yikes!  I’m whipping those six-in-six stories into shape as quickly as possible, and trying to write a few more as well.  The more I have circulating out there, the more likely I am to get things accepted.  That’s the theory anyway.  And only two of the six-in-six stories are something someone might be likely to buy, I think.

So I’m editing like crazy so I can start submitting like crazy.  The goal is to have 3 ready to submit this week, and then start writing again next week.  I’m making progress. Now we’ll just all have to cross our fingers that someone will give them a home.

Please?

In other news, Brian’s car is fixed!!!  It is running like a champ!!!  I have 2 hours of my day back and I couldn’t be more thrilled!!!  I like using exclamation points!!!

But seriously, it’s been nice to be able to have a little bit of time in the day, instead of always having to drag myself out the door, and then rush to the next thing, and then the next, until I finally get home (maybe) around 7:00 pm, after leaving at 6:20 in the morning.  And then there’s dinner to cook.

I do miss Brian, though, and it’s only been one day.  I’m hopeless.  I know.

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A Novel Update. Sigh.

Posted on January 12, 2015 by caseykins

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So, how is the novel, you ask?  Sometimes people do ask me, you know.  And I hardly ever answer with the truth, because I would have to say, “Yeah, it’s a mess.”  I’ve broken every resolution I ever made about the thing.

I was supposed to be done with draft 5 before the year turned new again.  I’m 80 pages away, and I can’t seem to make myself charge forward any more.  Why?  I realized that in editing, I edited out all reference in the second part of the novel to one of the main character’s injuries – which was basically the entire premise for the first part of the novel.  It has to be in there.  It has to be.  So I feel like an idiot going blissfully on and still leaving out that important piece.

But re-copying the novel is the best thing I ever decided to do.  Structurally, it’s so much better than it used to be.  And it seems stupid to go back, edit in all the other stuff to add the injury in, and then come to this rough, badly edited piece again.  Would it not be better to just finish re-structuring draft 5 and then edit the injury into draft 6 as a complete draft?  Or would it actually not?  I have no idea.  I’ve never written a novel before.  This is my first one.

This is not the first time I’ve felt like an idiot while writing a novel, FYI.

And the real problem is that the novel is in two parts.  That’s what creates all the angst (and the cheating.  One draft at a time, self).

I was supposed to be reading the manuscript to Brian starting on the first. I realized, though, that I wanted to do another polishing draft.  So instead of working on the end part of draft 5 in December like I was supposed to, I did draft 6 on the first part again.  And then I started reading draft 6 to Brian, who offered excellent suggestions I’m eager to put into practice in draft 7.

BUT I HAVEN’T FINISHED DRAFT 5 YET.

Sigh.  Wrangling myself is like herding cats.   I’ll be buckling down on draft 5 this week, although I don’t really have any hope for myself.  But if you put it on the internet, it HAS to happen.  Right?

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NaNoWriMo: The Week 2 Blues

Posted on November 12, 2014 by caseykins

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The latest pep talk for Nanowrimo is not what I needed right now. And I need a pep talk. I’m feeling the week 2 blues set in. I was so excited to see that they had one up on the website, and I’m sure it helped someone move forward amidst some writers block. The thing about Nano, though, is that I don’t usually get writers block. I get writers block when I am worried that everything I’m writing is crap and won’t fit the tone of the rest of the novel. I get writers block when I don’t know how to write a scene and I desperately need it to work. In short, I only get blocked when there are stakes.

There are no stakes in Nanowrimo. There aren’t. However much you’d like to believe that you’re the next Hemmingway, I will have you know that your current novel is not up to those standards (that’s what editing is for). You should also know that’s a GREAT thing. It means your next line of prose doesn’t have to be genius. You also never have to show your novel to anyone, ever. All the “her troubles melted into the fondue pot of life”s and “their eyes met across the crowded room and stuff”s, all those horrible clichés, and the twelve adjectives you used to describe each thing; all of those are between you and the blank piece of paper. The blank piece of paper isn’t talking. There are no stakes

For me this time, there is only the realization that I hate these people a little bit. I don’t know why I decided to spend a month with them. He’s too nice. And why does he cry when she leaves? She’s going to help her country. He shouldn’t cry, he should be angry that she won’t listen to reason. Only he isn’t angry. He’s this warm, supportive, wishy-washy guy. And then there’s her, and she is such a reluctant revolutionary. She’s supposed to like excitement. The baby is supposed to be more than a glorified purse that she carries around and has to make sure she doesn’t leave at restaurants. The leader of the resistance is supposed to be the one that’s reluctant, but he seems ever gleeful to send everyone to their death.   At least Dad seems to be the asshole he’s supposed to be.

I know. It’s week two and we all feel this way. Every year I’m ready for it and make fun of the week 2 slump. But I’m always surprised by how genuinely I hate my novel. This isn’t “ha, ha. I’m over the thrill of week one.” This is honest loathing. I’ll get over it. I’ll feel proud of myself by the end of week 3. But how to charge forward through week 2?

I don’t know any way to do it except to put my butt in the chair and do some uninspired driveling. So that’s what I’m doing.

But I sure could use a good pep-talk right about now. Perhaps I’ll read Neil Gaiman’s (again) for the 1000th time. Or perhaps I’ll take my inspiration from Shannon Hale, who said that if engineers can land a probe on a comet, surely I can do something so simple as meet my word count goal…

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The Novel, and BEA

Posted on May 30, 2014 by caseykins

IMG_20140303_131755I’m more connected to the publishing industry than I ever have been before.  Not that I’m very connected, but I have recently started following some industry blogs.  I feel like I have an inkling of what’s happening, although I don’t participate and I know I’m probably woefully uninformed compared to some.  Still, being more connected has some interesting consequences.

Before I delve into the consequences, you should probably know that the novel isn’t going well right now.  It seems to go in fits and starts.  This is a full-on fit where I can barely get myself motivated to write the three new chapters that draft three really needs.  Almost nothing is left of the Nanowrimo manuscript, and yet it’s still far from good with no end in sight.  I think that part of the problem is this: if it’s only for me, I don’t have to worry about whether it’s good or not.  As soon as I show it to someone, it matters.  Once this draft is finished, I will show it to people.  It will break my heart if I’ve been working for years on something that can only be tossed out.

I’m too close to it to know how it really is.  All I can see is the masses of work it still needs, not whether the words that exist now are any good.  That’s high incentive not to finish editing it.  If I never get to draft five, then I can still harbor dreams of six figure advances and glossy covers.  I can interview myself as I drive home, about the genius symbolism I wove through the novel and what my next project will be.  I can craft my answer to “Where do you get your ideas?” I can plan what I will wear to book panels and signings.

You don’t have to tell me this is an insane pipe dream.  I already know it.  Just as I know exactly which house I’m going to buy in Maine when I win the lottery (says the girl who never buys a ticket).

And that’s where the consequences lie.  Mostly, I’m sad because I wish I could join in.  All the tweets from BEA are making me super jealous.  Especially Shannon Hale’s hilarious reports of things Daniel Handler said.  I would love to hang out with the two of them as peers and not just as a fan (maybe with Libba Bray thrown in for extra sass).  The photos that Little Brown and Penguin are posting of the convention floor also make me cringe.  Is everyone in the world managing to write a novel except me?

I’m beginning to see why writers recommend not even starting if you can help it at all…

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Winner!!!

Posted on July 31, 2013 by caseykins

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Today is the last day of Camp Nanowrimo July, and I am officially a WINNER!  That certificate is fancy, and such nice validation.  What’s also nice is that now I know I’m capable of editing a novel.  If I can get through draft two, I can push my way through draft ten or beyond.  I know I can.  (But hopefully it will never be thirty.  Shannon Hale really shouldn’t have told us that it took her thirty drafts to complete Goose Girl.  Talk about no end in sight…)

There is still plenty wrong with the novel.  I’m beginning to realize that you can’t just take it all in one fell swoop like you can with a short story.  There are too many words, and too many skeins to hold onto as you weave the story.  My first draft was messy.  It was missing chunks of things, it was full of textbook-like explanation, and it kept repeating itself.  The story arc is better now.  There are no chunks missing, and the repeats have been rearranged to appear in their proper place. 

I haven’t read this draft as a whole document yet, so I can’t put my finger on exactly what’s wrong.  I know immediately that something is, though.  I learned in my Novel class last semester that there are several differences between a Novel and a Novella.  A Novel is a story over 50,000 words, and a Novella is a story between 25,000 and 50,000 words.  Beyond just word count, a Novella usually has one main story line, and maybe one sub-plot (maybe).  There is not time to do justice to more.  A Novel usually has a main story line and up to five sub-plots, although two or three is more common.  Blue Gentian currently clocks in at about 45,000 words.  It has three sub-plots.  You see?  I already know I’m not doing the sub-plots justice, that there is a lot missing.  Next is to find out why, where, and how to fix it.  

Draft four will be for Character and dialogue.  Draft five will be to make sure the threading and symbolism is working.  Draft six will be for anything else that I feel I missed, up to and including editing for chapter length.  Chapters with action should be shorter.  They’ll feel like they’re moving faster. 

After draft six, I’ll show it to people.  Brian gets first dibs.  He is my most thorough critic, and best source of advice. I have a feeling my father would also like to read it.  Once I’ve done draft seven (or maybe eight), I’ll put it on Critique Circle.  Then I’ll write draft nine…  

It sounds like a long row to hoe, right?  It really does.  But 50,000 words looks like a far cry from 0 words on day one of Nano.  In small chunks after thirty days, though, it mostly looks impressive.  I plan to be very impressed with my novel once it’s done, too.  I’m confident I can do it.  After all, I already have draft two under my belt.  What’s a few more?  

(Holy crap, what did I just get myself into?)

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Camp Nanowrimo July

Posted on July 8, 2013 by caseykins

It is Camp Nanowrimo this month.  I wasn’t going to participate because I don’t need to write any more horrible first drafts of novels until this current one is in shape.  And then I realized that I have exactly 31 chapters that are unedited.  That’s one for every day in July. 

I am officially giving myself 1615 words for every chapter I complete, for a total of the traditional 50,000 by the end.   Thanks to my Logic final exam I’m a chapter behind.  But I can totally catch up and win.  Giving myself a deadline has made the novel much better behaved.  I think I whipped it into shape with this scheme, opposed a little discipline.  I’m feeling like the enforcer. 

Well, I was until this morning, anyway.  I’ve been in editing mode for so long that I’ve reached a chapter which needs to be added and I’m feeling really loathe to write anything from scratch.  Make stuff up?  Out of my own head?  But it’s so haa-ard.

Ok, I’ll stop whining now and put my hands back to the keyboard.  Must make word count!

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