Category: The Writing

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RX Day 7

The bad news:  I overslept a bit because I stayed up too late playing a stupid computer game again, which also means I didn’t do any of the writing work I was supposed to do last night.

More bad news:  I didn’t hit my 500 word goal and it’s time to hit the Evil Day Job.

Good news:  I *did* finish the current scene with 433 words.  So I’m pleased! 

However, I must get some work done tonight.  I need to take stock of where I am and get that blasted daysheet done.

Edited the new section and smoothed it into place in Chapter 1.  Began editing the second new section but didn’t finish it.  It’s smoother, though, and won’t require as much work.

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RX Day 6

I decided to be a hard ass with myself.  No blog feeds in the morning until I hit at least 500 words.  (Once I make that consistently, I’ll bump it to 1K.  I know that’s doable–it’s just a matter of making it happen.)  I did better this morning, only opening my e-mail briefly to contact my accountability partner, Jenna.  (We e-mail each other in the morning when we “meet” Dark and Early with mini “goals” and then report back in aftewards to see if we made it.) 

Anyway, I was doing really good until I decided to check my website stats, and then I e-mailed Deena about something…and before I knew it, I’d wasted another 15 minutes. 

So tomorrow, I get to e-mail Jenna and that’s IT.  Nothing else until I hit 500 words. 

I did make the minimum word count this morning.  The scene’s at 1592 words and almost done.  I’m not sure where it’s going — it sort of morphed on me today.  I’ll explore it a bit tonight and hopefully wrap things up. 

Goals tonight:

  • finish current scene
  • edit existing draft, smooth these new scenes into the mix, and take stock of where I am in the story.
  • finish the Day Sheet.  I stalled on it and I’m not sure why.  I need to figure things out before I get there!
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The Great Agent Hunt

Dee Tenorio is blogging about her Agent Quest over at Romancing the Blog.  It’s an interesting angle to the Great Agent Hunt.  So many blog entries, articles, and workshops have been dedicated to writing the perfect query, the dreaded synopsis, or all the research that we should do before querying, but few down-to-earth commentaries about agents are really out there.  Maybe because we’re all trying to be too careful?

You just never know who’s reading that blog entry bemoaning two rejections received on the same day, or Nathan Bransford’s lightning fast response (I read someone had a rejection in 9 minutes), or another form rejection from Dream Agent, or whatever woe is common in the Great Agent Hunt.  I know some agents I’ve queried have at least visited my website.  So I’m not going to flap too much about specifics, and I know most people probably feel the same way.

This isn’t the first time I’ve hunted for an agent.  Technically, I suppose it’s the third time.  I queried both Rose and Beautiful Death before they were contracted by Drollerie.  I actually had much better luck as far as requests went on Rose (thanks in large part, I think, to finaling in the Molly contest).  Yet even though this is my third round on a new book, I haven’t hit 50 queries.  Not even close.  I’d have to do some digging, but I’m probably between 20-30 agent queries on three books total.

I know all the advice out there says to hit many targets.  Always have 5-10 out at a time.  That’s just not my style.  I’ve been watching and listening for five years now.  I pay attention when authors talk about their agents.  I’ve read many agency blogs for years, all wonderful sources of information. 

But I don’t read for query to-dos any more, or rejection horror stories, or what’s hot.  I know what I write.  I know my style.  The trick is finding the agent that matches that style, who loves what I love just as much.

I’m studying communication styles and interaction.  Is the agent hands on or off?  E-mail savvy or snail?  Slow to respond?  I know an agent’s personna in public is very different from the private side her clients see, but true professionalism and love for Story come shining through, whether in interviews or in a blog post.

We’ve all heard tales of the towering mountains of slush our stories must shine through, but I think we should look at our own “slush” and do a little careful weeding.  There are thousands of literary agents out there.  Many of them are solid, good, dependable agents.  That doesn’t mean they’re right for me. 

A writer’s time is just as precious as the agents’.  I work full time, have three monsters, and a mountain of laundry calling my name.  I’ve got so many stories I want to write and time’s a wastin’.  Every minute I’m querying an agent is a minute I can’t write.  I’m sorry, I’m not going to wait around for 6-8 months on a simple query response, or worse, the no response camp.  I had two of them on the last round.  I know accidents happen, black holes suck up mail (even snail mail — one contest packet came back to me nearly a year overdue) all the time, but those agents are crossed off my list.  Sorry.

My list is small.  I try really hard to target stories correctly.  Letters is much different from my “brand,” but I’d like an agent who can handle both spicy contemporary and romantic sff, so that narrows the list even more.  I’m not querying just agents with an online presence — but I do “know” someone online who has worked with these agents in the past.  Every round of queries I send out, I learn something new.  I see which “hooks” attracted which agents.  I record response times. 

That’s not to say I’m afraid to take risks.  I have queried a few agents on a lark, just to test the waters, so to speak.  I used to do the contest circuit, trying to final in the “right” contest to get in front of Dream Agent or Dream Editor, but after one story propped someone’s desk up for three years…I decided to go the more direct route.  :shock:

If all of my current packages come back as “no thanks,” then I’ll punt and go to plan B.  I’ve punted before.  Hopefully each time, though, I’m getting a little closer to the goal line.  :mrgreen:

P.S.  It’s not surprise at all that the Great Agent Hunt = GAH.  That’s exactly how I feel each and every time I see a response in the mail box, whether snail or electronic.  GAH!!!

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RX Day 5

Well, this Revision Xibalba is grinding my bones to dust.  It’s been really slow going but I’m hanging tough.

Yesterday, I didn’t quite break 500 words, but I did make it up and started a new scene.  Today, ditto, only even less words so far.  My mind is just not in the game.  But it’s crucial here that I not let myself make up excuses or let another pretty shiny project steal me away.  I know, if I keep working and meet the story every morning, things will eventually click and it’ll be full steam ahead.

It would help tremendously if I didn’t have any games on this computer!  When the going is tough, it’s so much easier to let distractions rule.  “Cooking Dash” is ever so much more fun than slogging through revisions!  :oops:

 

I’ll report back tonight when I break 1K in this scene.

Update:  squeaked up to 1050 words in this scene.  I should be able to finish it tomorrow.

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RX Day 3

I had two simple goals this morning.

Get up.  (Don’t laugh.)  Friday mornings are hard for me to do D&E.  I made it, but only by going to bed before 10 last night.  I didn’t watch Survivor because I was doing some stuff for the Evil Day Job.  I didn’t watch the debate because I was putting the monsters to bed and then wrote a bit.

Write 500 words.  (Again, don’t laugh.)  I know 1K for a D&E session is more than doable, but for whatever reason, I’ve only been getting a few hundred words this week.  New scene, new POV character, etc. all valid excuses, but come ON.  I need some major wordage here.

I made both goals!  Total scene length:  1676 and it’s finished.

I decided last night that I only get to do NaNoWriMo if I finish these revisions.  I really don’t think I can get the whole book revised in a month.  I need around 40K in new words and probably 15K of the existing draft needs some serious work.  About 40K of it hasn’t even been edited once.  *dies*

It sure would be lovely to participate again and get some nice wordage completed on Return to Shanhasson though…  Dharman and Sal have begun to clamor along with Gregar now, which I suppose is only to be expected.  After all, they really want to nag Shannari.  :mrgreen:

We’ll see.  I really doubt it’s humanly possible to do a decent 2nd draft this month, but Sal is eagerly offering all sorts of assistance.

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RX Day 2

Up a bit earlier today.  Combined with yesterday’s measly word count, I’ve got 847 words in the new scene.  Just flying, I know.  :???:

However, this is the first scene in this new character’s POV and it’s also a new setting.  I’ve had to figure out several things that I didn’t expect.  Aspects of Laredo stymmied me until I decided to just wing it.  Some interesting backstory came out for Quinn too that I didn’t expect.  Some of it will likely get cut back in revision, but it’s good stuff to know. 

I’ll update any additional progress on this entry.

Edited 9:19:  You know, sometimes I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed.  I had the most incredible backstory conflict screaming at me, just waiting for me to do something with it…and yet I almost missed it.  Doh.  I smoothed this morning’s scene and picked up this backstory undercurrent that totally drives this relationship up another notch.

Nothing like family betrayal to sweeten the pot. 

I’m hoping to break 1K in this scene before heading to bed…

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I researched a bit more about the FBI and found an incredible news release from this past month that fits PERFECTLY with what I was hoping to build.  I’m still a bit foggy on FBI procedure, especially involving international trafficking (e.g. from Mexico), but I think I can work my way around any technicalities.

Final word count today (total scene):  1144.

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RX Day 1

Not so much done for the Mayan Fantasy, unfortunately.  I needed to research a good border town between Mexico/Texas and finally settled on Laredo because of I-35 heading straight to Dallas-Ft. Worth.  I still don’t have a good picture in my head of Laredo.  Has anyone been there?  Can you tell me of a fairly disreputable area, perhaps along the Rio Grande?  Warehouse district or something?

Other misc tasks accomplished tonight, in no particular order:

  1. Imported all 2008 livejournal posts to this blog.
  2. Promptly got locked out by server for suspicious activity!
  3. Deena set up my joely AT joelysueburkhart DOT com e-mail, so fire away at will!  Alternatively, you can continue to use joelysueburkhart AT gmail.com.
  4. Talked to a friend who really needed an ear.
  5. Drew a very bad map of Laredo.
  6. Uploaded all my character pictures on the private WordPress blog for NSR.  (They were lost when we moved my domain.)  I need my pictures!
  7. Took the monsters to the dentist.  Dentist recommended new procedure I’ve never heard of before.  Haven’t had time to google it yet. 
  8. Late home from the dentist, and I was very thankful for the frozen meatloaf I’d prepared over the weekend.  I threw it in the oven (300 degrees) before leaving and it was perfect.  Mashed potatoes ala Shedds and gravy ala packet mix.
  9. Worked for the Evil Day Job a bit after dinner.  I’m behind.  Eventually, I’ll be so far behind I’ll actually be ahead!
  10. Spent an hour looking for library books that both Middle Monster and Princess Monster have misplaced.  Swore to never buy them another book or ever step foot in library again.  I know this promise will fail miserably.
  11. Entered the Eppies.
  12. Volunteered to judge in my free time.  *snort*

Here’s to an earlier rising tomorrow.

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Officially Revision Xibalba

October is here and I’m in hell.  Revision hell, that is, or since this is a Mayan Fantasy:  

Revision Xibalba.

I’m not quite as prepared as I hoped, but the best laid plans, etc. etc.  I have a pretty solid vision in my head for what I want to accomplish, although my daysheet is still incomplete.  I do have all my hastily jotted note cards and my timelines.  I plan to fill out the daysheet as I go, recording word count per scene.

I don’t know how much “new” blog content I can provide if I’m deep in ripping apart story, so I’ll try to plan a few easy things.  I’ll scan Princess Monster’s illustrated story and put it up one page at a time.  I’ve also got some oldies but goodies from the dead blog that I can repost. 

I’ll also post RX updates here briefly but I doubt many will be interested in my little “400 words D&E – didn’t get up as early as I planned” sort of posts, but it keeps me honest.  Those little notes also go to my accountability partner, Jenna, who meets me D&E.

My update today?  :oops:  Up but later than I planned and I did this blog entry, which cut into my time.  (Note to self:  set up blog entries the night before if possible.)  I did edit the beginning of the new scene I started yesterday (340 words) and have some jotted notes from yesterday when I was waiting for the monsters at school.  Hopefully I can sneak in some real words over lunch or tonight.  I’ll post an end of the day count later.

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Happy Birthday, Year 5

Today, I’m five years old as a writer.  Five years ago, I made a commitment to My Beloved Sisthat I would FINISH Rose (then titled MBB).  I didn’t even dream of publication at that point–I just promised to get Shannari out of that prison cell and back to her barbarian. 

To be honest, I’ve struggled to decide what I wanted to say.  This past year has been hard…and glorious.

I’ve had to learn how to write new books and push existing books through to production at the same time.  Not to mention promotion, which I really don’t like to do much.  Giving away books and prizes are much more up my alley than chats (or book signings in the future), but the introvert must come out occasionally.  As a writer, there’s nothing better in this world than fan letters, though.  Meeting people who actually READ my BOOK is a humbling, thrilling, boggling, stammering-inducing experience.  Lord help me, I’ll be a basketcase if I actually have to talk anywhere.

I think my writing has taken some interesting steps.  I’ve pushed myself in 2008 to finish two very challenging and non-politically-correct stories.  AKA Romancelandia may hunt me down with torches and pitchforks after certain scenes in The Road to Shanhasson…

*Gregar grins and there’s absolutely nothing innocent in his wink*

and beta-readers either love or despise Conn in Letters to an English Professor.  That’s one book I really waged war with myself against.  Again, I almost listened to other people’s advice and filed it away instead of finishing it the way it deserved.  I’m so happy with that story I could just bawl thinking about it, but then Miss Belle would beat me over the head with her pink parasol.

Neither story was within my comfort zone as a writer.  They hurt my heart in many ways.  Gregar is not easy.  I actually wrote his big scene wrong the first time in a vain attempt to sneak around his heart’s desire.  I didn’t WANT to write him that way, but the Shadowed Blood was adamant and patient until I got it right.  Well, he did bring out his ivory rahke several times, and once I swear he grabbed me by the hair and threw me into the Well.  But hey, I finished it, and it is one incredible ride. 

And Letters, well, what the @#*&% was I thinking to write a contemporary?  It would have been much easier to shelve it instead of pushing to the end.  Sometimes I felt like that scene in the original Rambo movie where he’s hauling the POW up the sloppy muddy hill toward the helicopter, which then abandons them to the enemy.  But oh, oh, oh, I’m so glad I kept climbing.

And that summarizes the year, I think.  I kept climbing.  Maybe not as fast as I hoped (my word count took a dip over the summer).  Maybe not as far.  But I feel like my writer’s heart grew a size or two after writing those books.

May every book help my heart grow until it busts right out of my chest.

Here’s to another year.

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Happy Birthday, Year 4

Originally published September 2007

As I said Monday, I turn four years old as a writer this week.  If you’re interested in previous years’ reviews, you can always check the archives–although I noticed yesterday that something went a little wonky with the import into WordPress and some of the entries are doubled.

Two big things occurred to me last year.

So it finally dawned on me. It’s never going to get any easier. I’m never going to have more time. I whine now about having too many ideas and too little time. How much worse will it be if I ever am under contract?

and

The most important thing the past year has taught me: no doubts. I’m trusting my heart, my instincts, my path. I’m going to write hard and wildly and I’m not going to stop and worry about what anyone else might say or do. Whether anybody else will like what I’m doing or hate it. I’m bleeding Story with my heart and that’s all that matters.

What does this mean?  It means I finally found MY story.  I found the kind of story I *have* to write.  I can write that story with authority, with belief in my heart that it’s the right story for me, right now.  Instead of wavering, whining, and wandering around in the darkness, I hacked my own path out of the wilds.  Most importantly, I FINISH.  When I commit to a story, I finish it.  I think that’s one of the most important commitments a writer can make.

I also paid attention to the state of the market, New York publishing, and how that fits with what I like to write.  When I stumbled across Drollerie Press and saw mythic transformative fiction and the glorious graphics on the site, I can’t explain it.  My heart skipped a beat.  I felt a resonance deep inside.  And I knew I had to submit.  Three pieces officially accepted for publication this year!  Another under consideration.  Inspiration brimming inside me.  A brilliant editor who’s teaching me to keep my voice while fine-tuning the story to our utmost ability.  What more could I want?

Well, someday, a NY contract too and an agent would be nice.   But I’m writing what I LOVE, and I found a place that loves the same thing.  It’s a great opportunity to grow with a new house, and I’m loving every minute of it.

So this year, I learned to listen to my heart.  I committed to daily writing, 500-1000 words, even if that means getting up at 4:00 a.m. to do it.  I have an accountability partner, my beloved sister, and my dearest friend, Wanda, all whom I trust unquestioningly. In 2007, I’ve written over 194,000 words already and finished SEVEN projects.

I have a vision for where I’m going, and I’m writing stories I love to get there.