I'm ready to throw up my hands and go it alone with editing. I'm getting such conflicting opinions within the crit group I belong to, and while I'm getting lots of good suggestions I also hear "you have too many details, it slows down the pace." and "you need more details so I feel like I'm there." And "what is her/his tone of voice when she/he says that?" and "you don't need so many dialogue tags." My head is spinning! I'll admit it freely, I like details. I like knowing how things sound and smell and look, how a shadow is cast, how something feels to the touch. It's how I write. Maybe this means I'll have trouble with getting published with Harlequin or I'll just have to compromise what I want to get across. November 1st is just around the corner and I'm still not 100% positive on what project I'll work on, the total rewrite on Dreamer's Sea or my brand new story idea. At this point I'm going to end up doing "eeny meeny miney mo" on Sunday morning. Well, we'll see.
I don't like craft projects, I've decided. My son and I are working on his wigwam for school. Not enjoying it at all. If it involved painting I'd be good with that. Beading, sure, why not. But working with birch bark, sinew and superglue is not for me.
It snowed yesterday. Lots and lots of fluffy white snow. It stunk. I'm not ready for this. I firmly believe that the first day of snow should come on December 24th. The last day of snow should be January 1st. Anything after that is just no fun. Maybe I need to win the lottery and buy a winter house somewhere warm and snowless.
What I fear the most, though, is another ice storm like the one we had last December. That was horrendous and expensive.
I'm hoping that at some point I'll be able to get to some writing. As soon as the wigwam construction is finished. *sigh* This is not my forte.
I was thinking about a manuscript I have, Dreamers Sea. It's a complete manuscript but I'm completely dissatisfied with it. It lacks umph and angst (great words). So, over the last many months I've been wracking my brains as to what to do with this story. I love the characters, I love the settings and if I add in the missing elements I think it would be a really good story.
Thing is, the elements I want to add would pretty much change everything about the story. The characters would still pretty much be the same..... well, sort of, the setting would be the same, but nearly everything else would be gutted and rebuilt.
I had thought about going through the current manuscript and just changing things when they needed to be changed, but that's easier said than done. There's just too much to change.
Would it be cheating to rewrite this story for NaNoWriMo? If I don't go back and snag bits from the original and just completely start from scratch? I've been a stickler for following the NaNo rules and I don't want to bend them, but I know this story, I know the characters-and how I want them changed in this new version, I know the setting, the plot (pretty much) and how I want it to end.
If I start from scratch it wouldn't be cheating, would it?
I find that I have a real hard time with the beginnings of my stories. When I'm writing a first draft I don't easily jump with both feet right into the action. I'm more of a lets set up the scene and ease our way into the story kind of gal. I know that this is frowned upon by most, so I'm trying my best to change that from the time I start writing the story. I find it very difficult to go back to a story that I've already started writing and completely change the beginning. Cutting out info and trying to find a place for it later in the story is a huge challenge. I'm facing this challenge with three different manuscripts. You'd think I'd learn by now. Sometimes I wonder if this is why I do prologues, so I can jump into action right away, then go back to setting the story up. It's going to be a cold day. I believe I'm going to have to make some chili. Thanks Denise!
I really hate the time when we have to have the heat turned on on a regular basis. Might as well just grab fistfuls of money and throw it out the window. Sure, I love this time of the year in every other way, except the cold. And the knowledge that a long winter is ahead of us.
But other than that....
The time has arrived to get the kids ready for Halloween. My daughter wants to go trick or treating. She's 13. Is this too old? I see older kids out there so I guess it's not really. I'm sure at that age it's more of a social thing. I didn't trick or treat when I was that age, but then again I lived in the middle of nowhere so it wouldn't have been worth it. I tried having a Halloween party once at an old cemetery in the woods. My friend and I chickened out and didn't go.... to our own party. But I wasn't exactly cool back then so I don't think anyone else showed up either.
Still tossing around NaNoWriMo ideas. I'll probably keep tossing until Oct 31st. Or longer. I would love to do a young adult story (and so would my daughter) but I have another story buzzing around.
What to do....
Anyone else have plans for NaNo? Started doing research? Character sketches?
Not me.
Need a little pick-me-up? This is a lousy copy of this video but I love it so.....
Sounds simple enough, right? I have so many friends who are able to juggle a heck of a lot more than I do and do it successfully. Yah, sure, I work 8 hours a day and have 4 kids, but I need to learn to juggle too.
One thing, need to blog every day. Yes, I've said it before, but I need to mean it. I need to visit more blogs. I need to figure out Twitter, and do more networking on Facebook. I can't forget my MySpace page and of course I have a website which is just sitting there lonely and forgotten.
In the meantime, I have NaNoWriMo looming. I think I know what project I want to work on, but that doesn't mean I can't change my mind.
So, here I go. This will work!
WHAT I'M READING: The Carpenter's Lady by Barbara Delinsky. I love Barbara Delinsky's books. She sets them in various New England states so I feel like I'm reading about a bit of home. This book is set in New Hampshire. Ilove Nora Roberts, but Barbara Delinsky is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
Location: Southwestern, New Hampshire, United States
I'm 44 year old mom of 3. I work as a customer service rep for a publishing company, and I write. I have five published novels and working on adding to that.
THAT KIND OF MAGIC--AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 17,2010
What's a witch to do when she refuses to use magic to find love? Beautiful Wiccan Charlotte Noone has a shop for magical supplies and a goddess who's pushing her to find the man of her dreams. When Patrick Riordan, a straight-laced non-believer enters her life, Charlotte falls madly in lust with him. Despite their very different lives, neither can stop the erotic journey they’ve embarked on, but will it be enough to break through their barriers so they can accept that love itself is magical?.
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