I know it's very early winter, but already I have a case of winter blahs. Born in England, I can deal with cold weather, and, growing up in Australia, I expect sunshine, but when it's cold and gray, it's horrible. Nobody minds tons of snow when there's brilliant sunshine, and Canada is usually that way. Not today. It's horrible outside, a sort of half-light, as if the sun is going down, and it's only 3 p.m. So I once again admit that I am adversely influenced by light-deprivation. I have all the symptoms. All I want to do is cuddle up on the couch with my cats, and half-watch TV or doze. Not good when I'm trying to complete my book.
As to the novel, I just can't put more chapters up yet. The thing is just not going the way I want. It's baffling to me that I can't handle my own characters, but, everytime I tell them, 'that's it, this is what's going to happen next...' they just ignore me. The latest words look all flat on the screen, uninspiring, so I delete them all, go back again and tell them (my characters), 'that's it, this is what's going to happen next...' and then I go through it all again. I've been doing this for three days. I no longer spring out of bed to get to them. I no longer rush back in here after making a coffee, or eating my lunch. I sort of wander a bit aimlessly towards the computer wondering if they are ready to behave yet.
I feel that I am on the verge of something. It's not what I planned, but it's coming. In the meantime, I will prattle on here, and try to find inspiration in other blogs, which often help.
Sad thing just happened. My newly acquired and much-loved digital notes, which I have been using wildly since I installed the program, suddenly disappeared from my computer. No sign of my bulletin board, my notes on future blogs, my chapter action summaries, chapter page numbers, etc. They've just gone. Usually a little tab just sits on the bottom waiting for me, but no more. So I opened the program, and it asked me to agree to all terms and conditions, etc., as if it had never seen me before. At least the book is more or less finished, and I don't really need to refer to those notes, but I know there were other things...
Much earlier, I mentioned to my son that I was enjoying this new digital notes program. He sort of said, 'ho-hum', because he has a Mac, and apparently Macs have this program built in; I know what I'm going to buy when I replace this aging computer. I used one years ago, but then every office I knew switched to PC, despite my protests. When you freelance, you use the programs and hardware the client uses, and no one was using Mac. I no longer have any clients to speak of, so I'm free to choose my own computer.
Mac wouldn't have eaten its own digital notes.
I bet a Mac would be able to help me pull those characters into line, too.
Showing posts with label Hafan Deg. Novel-in-progress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hafan Deg. Novel-in-progress. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Chapters One through Thirty-Four Today
Well, you can see that I now have just one place for you to click to gain access to the novel. I think the site looks a lot cleaner, and certainly makes it easier for you.
Only three chapters (I think) to go. I've been avoiding it, this last part. It's as if I am getting ready to say goodbye to an old friend. Of course, it will always be with me, and certainly still be driving me crazy when it reaches the submission stage. But the completion of it, the final resting of it, I hope, in my brain, should make for more normal days. I have been obsessed with it, as I think I told you.
I wanted to comment on something that has occurred to me at numerous times since I've been doing the revisions. I belong to another writing site, where we all critique one anothers' work - although I've been shamelessly lax, being so involved in this manuscript - and I've received suggestions for improvements to the ms there, which I mostly took on board. I also read a vast quantity of blogs and writing How-To sites, and, from all this wealth of information, it came home to me just how terribly complicated the process of writing a book is, way above and beyond the actual creation of it.
It stands to reason we must be very careful with our editing - proofing and proofing again - to make our words perfectly clear, not muddled. This, in itself, is the worst job of all, as far as I can see. I would pay someone else to do it, had I spare cash, but I don't.
On top of that, today we have to be terribly clever with our query letters, composing them like works of art in themselves. We need to have brilliant 'pitches', breathtaking synopses, and all typed very carefully in Copperplate Gothic, they say.
Thinking back to all the biographies or newspaper snippets I've read about famous writers of much earlier years, particularly those of the forties and fifties, it seems their publishers weren't so absolutely perfectionist about the condition of their manuscripts. Those writers, admittedly tops in their field, were famous for their sloppy pages, seemed to almost take pride in that eccentricity. I've seen some of them reproduced, their original submissions, and they were just filled with ink blots and scribbled-out words, hand-written, a lot of them, with misspellings and poor punctuation.
In those days, editors permitted this, humored their great talents, allowed them to be - let's face it - incredibly difficult reads, at least, at that stage. So the editors and proofreaders did the awful slogging, all the tweaking, with what must have been hundreds of blue-pencil marks all across the pages.
It could never happen today, could it? Unless someone like J.D. Salinger really did present that mystical new novel, all messy and awful because it's been sitting around for so many years. I guess they'd take it, whatever its condition.
Oh, how I wish it could be that way for me. And mine is so-oo clean.
Except for that little comma I missed out on page.....
Only three chapters (I think) to go. I've been avoiding it, this last part. It's as if I am getting ready to say goodbye to an old friend. Of course, it will always be with me, and certainly still be driving me crazy when it reaches the submission stage. But the completion of it, the final resting of it, I hope, in my brain, should make for more normal days. I have been obsessed with it, as I think I told you.
I wanted to comment on something that has occurred to me at numerous times since I've been doing the revisions. I belong to another writing site, where we all critique one anothers' work - although I've been shamelessly lax, being so involved in this manuscript - and I've received suggestions for improvements to the ms there, which I mostly took on board. I also read a vast quantity of blogs and writing How-To sites, and, from all this wealth of information, it came home to me just how terribly complicated the process of writing a book is, way above and beyond the actual creation of it.
It stands to reason we must be very careful with our editing - proofing and proofing again - to make our words perfectly clear, not muddled. This, in itself, is the worst job of all, as far as I can see. I would pay someone else to do it, had I spare cash, but I don't.
On top of that, today we have to be terribly clever with our query letters, composing them like works of art in themselves. We need to have brilliant 'pitches', breathtaking synopses, and all typed very carefully in Copperplate Gothic, they say.
Thinking back to all the biographies or newspaper snippets I've read about famous writers of much earlier years, particularly those of the forties and fifties, it seems their publishers weren't so absolutely perfectionist about the condition of their manuscripts. Those writers, admittedly tops in their field, were famous for their sloppy pages, seemed to almost take pride in that eccentricity. I've seen some of them reproduced, their original submissions, and they were just filled with ink blots and scribbled-out words, hand-written, a lot of them, with misspellings and poor punctuation.
In those days, editors permitted this, humored their great talents, allowed them to be - let's face it - incredibly difficult reads, at least, at that stage. So the editors and proofreaders did the awful slogging, all the tweaking, with what must have been hundreds of blue-pencil marks all across the pages.
It could never happen today, could it? Unless someone like J.D. Salinger really did present that mystical new novel, all messy and awful because it's been sitting around for so many years. I guess they'd take it, whatever its condition.
Oh, how I wish it could be that way for me. And mine is so-oo clean.
Except for that little comma I missed out on page.....
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!
I don't usually comment here two days in a row. But it's New Year! I wanted to get down some immediate thoughts on how I see 2009.
First, I was somewhat dejected that I hadn't finished my revisions to the Hafan Deg manuscript yesterday. It was a pact I made with myself, and one I thought I could fulfil. But those darned characters, what can I say? They will NOT behave the way I want them to. They fiddle about, hanging curtains, going on about Genius Loci's and how well the furnace is working. I just can't seem to get them to go where I want them. Today, in a mighty effort, I will, somehow, take them in hand.
I have to tell you, and it's not easy to say, that I got a rather disappointing review of the manuscript. Hafan Deg appears on two other writing sites, and this particular one, from whence appeared the critique, I had earlier tried to cancel (it didn't seem appropriate for my book, surrounded, as it was, with fantasy, vampires, and gothic horror). They politely told me they can't cancel. However, despite being a reader of that site, the reviewer appears eloquent and learned enough for me to take seriously.
In setting up this blog, I told you that I would entertain any worthwhile critiques and try to learn from them. I knew I would have to be brave. I've inserted the whole thing below. I would really appreciate it if you would comment on it. The thing is, if it's true, then I should just scrap the whole book and go back to painting. Yet I receive feedback from other sites where people are following Karen with such interest and involvement, so that this one frankly hurts. My gut feeling is that this book is just not suitable for this reader; we all read totally different kinds of books. My best friend in Oz would never pick up Hafan Deg to read if she found it at the library, I know, because she prefers Harlan Coben thrillers, but the poor girl is ploughing through it out of loyalty, not riveted attention.
So I wanted to ask the critic what he preferred to read, but felt it would be unseemly to actually follow up on a less than kind critique. I must conclude that he didn't closely read the book, perhaps a quick skim, because he didn't know that Hafan Deg was a house, and that the name is Welsh for 'safe harbor', and that all appears in the opening two or three chapters, as I recall. Anyway, it's below. PLEASE comment.
'I haven’t learned what a "hafan deg" is yet
I’m slowly working my way through "Hafan Deg," and I still don’t know what the title means. I’m assuming the story itself will tell me, so I’m not bothering to cheat and look it up. But as titles go, it’s eye-catching only because it’s so different, not because it’s informative.
Whatever it means, "Hafan Deg" is the story of Karen, as she vacations and attempts to find meaning in her life, now that her children have moved on. She’s returned to her favourite vacation spot of their childhood, a place she hasn’t been to in sixteen years. Most things are the same when she arrives, time here holds still.
Not so in the story’s narration, which (while third-person in perspective) follows Karen’s thoughts quite closely. She seems lost in time, reminiscing about children and past lovers, old memories and regrets. She’s clearly a woman looking for meaning amidst the chaos of day to day life, and hopes this place of memories will reinvent a future for her.
Perhaps it’s because I’m nowhere near middle-aged yet, or perhaps because most Web Fiction is usually more fast-paced, but I find myself yawning through most of Karen’s self-reflection. For one thing, her thoughts don’t stay in any one scene, whether of current events or memories, for me to find a sense of attachment to the moment. She skims over everything, without getting to the meat of any of the moments of her life. Perhaps that says something about her character, but it makes for dull reading, because I can’t get inside any one scene and feel its emotional heartbeat.
Without that pulse, the story really doesn’t come alive for me. I’d be much more interested in her memories or current adventures if the story showed more about them, but the constant skimming leaves me skipping from chapter to chapter to find something more to sink my teeth into. Let’s hope I find something satisfying.'
Well, leaving that bit of negativity, I have just one more extract from another blog, which I stole shamelessly, because it's funny, and fitting to the day.
"Some doctor on the TV this morning said that the way to achieve "inner peace" is to finish all the things you have started. So I looked around my house to see things I'd started and hadn't finished and, before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of shhhardonay, a bodle of Baileys, abutle of vocka, a pockage of Pringlies, tha mainder of a botl Prozic and Valumscriptins, the res of the Chesescke an a box a c hocolets.
Yu haf no idr who fikin gud I fel.
Peas sen dis orn to anyy yu fee ar in ned ov inr pece."
I'll talk to you next week...Inner Peace, everyone!
First, I was somewhat dejected that I hadn't finished my revisions to the Hafan Deg manuscript yesterday. It was a pact I made with myself, and one I thought I could fulfil. But those darned characters, what can I say? They will NOT behave the way I want them to. They fiddle about, hanging curtains, going on about Genius Loci's and how well the furnace is working. I just can't seem to get them to go where I want them. Today, in a mighty effort, I will, somehow, take them in hand.
I have to tell you, and it's not easy to say, that I got a rather disappointing review of the manuscript. Hafan Deg appears on two other writing sites, and this particular one, from whence appeared the critique, I had earlier tried to cancel (it didn't seem appropriate for my book, surrounded, as it was, with fantasy, vampires, and gothic horror). They politely told me they can't cancel. However, despite being a reader of that site, the reviewer appears eloquent and learned enough for me to take seriously.
In setting up this blog, I told you that I would entertain any worthwhile critiques and try to learn from them. I knew I would have to be brave. I've inserted the whole thing below. I would really appreciate it if you would comment on it. The thing is, if it's true, then I should just scrap the whole book and go back to painting. Yet I receive feedback from other sites where people are following Karen with such interest and involvement, so that this one frankly hurts. My gut feeling is that this book is just not suitable for this reader; we all read totally different kinds of books. My best friend in Oz would never pick up Hafan Deg to read if she found it at the library, I know, because she prefers Harlan Coben thrillers, but the poor girl is ploughing through it out of loyalty, not riveted attention.
So I wanted to ask the critic what he preferred to read, but felt it would be unseemly to actually follow up on a less than kind critique. I must conclude that he didn't closely read the book, perhaps a quick skim, because he didn't know that Hafan Deg was a house, and that the name is Welsh for 'safe harbor', and that all appears in the opening two or three chapters, as I recall. Anyway, it's below. PLEASE comment.
'I haven’t learned what a "hafan deg" is yet
I’m slowly working my way through "Hafan Deg," and I still don’t know what the title means. I’m assuming the story itself will tell me, so I’m not bothering to cheat and look it up. But as titles go, it’s eye-catching only because it’s so different, not because it’s informative.
Whatever it means, "Hafan Deg" is the story of Karen, as she vacations and attempts to find meaning in her life, now that her children have moved on. She’s returned to her favourite vacation spot of their childhood, a place she hasn’t been to in sixteen years. Most things are the same when she arrives, time here holds still.
Not so in the story’s narration, which (while third-person in perspective) follows Karen’s thoughts quite closely. She seems lost in time, reminiscing about children and past lovers, old memories and regrets. She’s clearly a woman looking for meaning amidst the chaos of day to day life, and hopes this place of memories will reinvent a future for her.
Perhaps it’s because I’m nowhere near middle-aged yet, or perhaps because most Web Fiction is usually more fast-paced, but I find myself yawning through most of Karen’s self-reflection. For one thing, her thoughts don’t stay in any one scene, whether of current events or memories, for me to find a sense of attachment to the moment. She skims over everything, without getting to the meat of any of the moments of her life. Perhaps that says something about her character, but it makes for dull reading, because I can’t get inside any one scene and feel its emotional heartbeat.
Without that pulse, the story really doesn’t come alive for me. I’d be much more interested in her memories or current adventures if the story showed more about them, but the constant skimming leaves me skipping from chapter to chapter to find something more to sink my teeth into. Let’s hope I find something satisfying.'
Well, leaving that bit of negativity, I have just one more extract from another blog, which I stole shamelessly, because it's funny, and fitting to the day.
"Some doctor on the TV this morning said that the way to achieve "inner peace" is to finish all the things you have started. So I looked around my house to see things I'd started and hadn't finished and, before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of shhhardonay, a bodle of Baileys, abutle of vocka, a pockage of Pringlies, tha mainder of a botl Prozic and Valumscriptins, the res of the Chesescke an a box a c hocolets.
Yu haf no idr who fikin gud I fel.
Peas sen dis orn to anyy yu fee ar in ned ov inr pece."
I'll talk to you next week...Inner Peace, everyone!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Chapters Nineteen through Twenty-Two
I am approaching the final third of the manuscript now. The last few chapters were awkward, for some reason. The relationship between Karen and Malcolm is tricky. You will understand as the story goes on. It's always difficult writing love scenes, I find. I tend to want to write graphic, spicy couplings, but find that, in the end, it's much better to suggest, rather than to describe every naughty detail. We all (well, I assume most of us) know what sex is, so why do we need to go into extraordinary descriptions, unless the protagonist happens to be hanging from a chandelier at the time, or in some other odd situation, something that you, with all your knowledge, couldn't imagine? Well, I have no chandelier scenes, so that simplified things.
I will continue to put these chapters up as they are ready, although I intend to take a few days off in some sort of homage to the Season. So it could continue to be every other day, because the writing urge can't be stifled by mere holidays, or it could be in a week, depending on who comes visiting.
I hope you all have a peaceful and happy holiday.
I will continue to put these chapters up as they are ready, although I intend to take a few days off in some sort of homage to the Season. So it could continue to be every other day, because the writing urge can't be stifled by mere holidays, or it could be in a week, depending on who comes visiting.
I hope you all have a peaceful and happy holiday.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Chapters Fifteen through Eighteen Today.
I mentioned to you last week that a fellow member of one of my writing sites, where we all publish online, suggested that my opening chapter was too full of backstory, glimpses of Karen's past, that might confuse the reader. I was a bit surprised, because I thought it read quite well, but then a second writer at the site said the same thing. So, whether or not you've noticed, I chopped a couple of chunks out of the first chapter, reducing it somewhat, and plopped them down farther along in the manuscript. It all seems to look fine, but I keep having this niggling doubt that I've dropped slivers of narrative from Chapter One more than once in the following chapters. If you should spot such duplication, please tell me immediately. When you are working on re-writes, it's so hard to spot something like that. I find myself looking at a paragraph and thinking, "Hello, haven't I seen you somewhere before?" But there is no way I can start at page one and scan through to find its twin, if, in fact, the twin exists. You would see it immediately, because the story line is all new to you. Help! I would appreciate it.
I want to tell you about the huge number of fantasy and horror manuscripts floating around out there. On one of the afore-mentioned online writers' sites, we are encouraged to critique each other's work, but I've found it difficult to find many books that I enjoy reading. The fantasy/horror books outweigh the classic literary novel about ten to one, from what I've seen. I gather, from other blogs, that this is a general problem for agents and publishers right now. How many more vampire books can be written? It's not to say that the books aren't well written, just that there are so many of them! If you are considering the genre, think about this carefully. If you believe yours is the one vampire story that hasn't been told, then go for it, but I would recommend you browse a few writers' sites for yourself to see what the competition is. Everybody's doing it!
I want to tell you about the huge number of fantasy and horror manuscripts floating around out there. On one of the afore-mentioned online writers' sites, we are encouraged to critique each other's work, but I've found it difficult to find many books that I enjoy reading. The fantasy/horror books outweigh the classic literary novel about ten to one, from what I've seen. I gather, from other blogs, that this is a general problem for agents and publishers right now. How many more vampire books can be written? It's not to say that the books aren't well written, just that there are so many of them! If you are considering the genre, think about this carefully. If you believe yours is the one vampire story that hasn't been told, then go for it, but I would recommend you browse a few writers' sites for yourself to see what the competition is. Everybody's doing it!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Chapter Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, and Fourteen Today
The book is moving right along, at what feels like break-neck speed. It's so hard to turn off the computer at night. I am more than somewhat obsessed with Hafan Deg right now. A good obsession, though. It beats having writer's block!
I wanted to point out a couple of things about this page. I've now removed the Preface to the Blog, but left a simple link to it. Figured, if you had been following me for a while, that long column might be annoying.
As the list of chapters gets longer and longer, I will probably just put up a link (which in fact is already in place, whichever chapter you choose) to the novel itself, otherwise I'll run out of space soon.
At the very foot of this page, there is a map of Bangor and Anglesey where most of my story takes place, along with a little blurb on the house, which did exist when I was last there. It's nice to get a feel for an area, when you're reading about it.
And, just below, because it's that time of the year, there's an old editors' (and the editors in question would be very old indeed by now..) gag on The Night Before Christmas. This was scanned from a very old page, which I've been carrying around for over twenty years, since my editorial days. It's still funny. Some editors could really do this.
You'll get eyestrain, because I couldn't get it any larger. Zooming doesn't help at all, by the way. But you get the gist.. Try a magnifying glass..
I wanted to point out a couple of things about this page. I've now removed the Preface to the Blog, but left a simple link to it. Figured, if you had been following me for a while, that long column might be annoying.
As the list of chapters gets longer and longer, I will probably just put up a link (which in fact is already in place, whichever chapter you choose) to the novel itself, otherwise I'll run out of space soon.
At the very foot of this page, there is a map of Bangor and Anglesey where most of my story takes place, along with a little blurb on the house, which did exist when I was last there. It's nice to get a feel for an area, when you're reading about it.
And, just below, because it's that time of the year, there's an old editors' (and the editors in question would be very old indeed by now..) gag on The Night Before Christmas. This was scanned from a very old page, which I've been carrying around for over twenty years, since my editorial days. It's still funny. Some editors could really do this.
You'll get eyestrain, because I couldn't get it any larger. Zooming doesn't help at all, by the way. But you get the gist.. Try a magnifying glass..
Monday, December 15, 2008
Chapter Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten Today!
I'm putting up FOUR chapters today, because I have to keep moving with this ms. If I don't put more up, you won't get to see them all before I start submitting. It is such a tiresome job transferring it to the website so that the blog page can link up with it. It goes from Word to a totally different format, and everything changes on the screen. It's excruciatingly slow. But, I said I would do this, so I won't be quitting now. I worked out that I only get that strange neck pain when I'm editing, particularly when I'm correcting wrong quotation marks, that kind of thing. The actual writing gives me no pain at all!
I wonder if we will still be friends in our blogs, when our books are picked up by a publisher - not necessarily famous or rich, because we know that's rare with writers, but expecting to satisfactorily sell in our favorite bookshop. I'd hate to think we would just lose interest in our various support sites. It seems to me that we'll have even more to offer, once we've signed a contract to publish. What a story that will be! I thought we could design some sort of logo for our page - something like Obama's "We Did It!" kind of thing. I trust all of you are writing fervently and confidently (with or without neck pain) towards this goal.
I hope you'll let me know what you think now that the story is unfolding more.
Don't forget to send off your first chapter, suitably polished, to Firebrand Literary for the contest I mentioned last week. It started today. See their link in the sidebar.
See you on Wednesday.
I wonder if we will still be friends in our blogs, when our books are picked up by a publisher - not necessarily famous or rich, because we know that's rare with writers, but expecting to satisfactorily sell in our favorite bookshop. I'd hate to think we would just lose interest in our various support sites. It seems to me that we'll have even more to offer, once we've signed a contract to publish. What a story that will be! I thought we could design some sort of logo for our page - something like Obama's "We Did It!" kind of thing. I trust all of you are writing fervently and confidently (with or without neck pain) towards this goal.
I hope you'll let me know what you think now that the story is unfolding more.
Don't forget to send off your first chapter, suitably polished, to Firebrand Literary for the contest I mentioned last week. It started today. See their link in the sidebar.
See you on Wednesday.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Chapter Six Today
I'm really on a roll, now. The re-writing is zooming along, and I barely break for lunch - or dinner, for that matter. I've said this before, but my characters chatter away while I'm washing up, or trying to concentrate on the news. (To a non-writer that must sound like some kind of psychotic episode.) I have to grab a bit of paper, the back of the shopping list, whatever, to get the snippet down. If it's a longer "chat" and I'm really excited, I come back to the computer and do it right there and then.
When we are in Flow (a rewarding book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ), the work just pours (flows) out, and you lose all track of time. If I didn't have to feed my cats, I'd probably be writing into the wee small hours. So food doesn't seem important, until I notice I'm about to faint. I could get thin. Dorothy Parker was thin. Perhaps I'll become a published writer AND thin. What joy!
There is a fantastic opportunity for you on Monday. Firebrand Literary is holding a contest for submission of a first chapter, without the preliminary query letter. The novel must be complete, with word count, genre, and so on - you'll get the details from the link under Contests. The contest closes January 15, with their response no later than February 1. (IF they respond. Without a response, fear not, you are still a writer, not a would-be writer - a real writer, and you will research the blogs and Google and Twitter to find your perfect agent.) If, like me (bar the tweaking), you have completed your ms, here's your chance. The prize is simply that you will get one foot in the door, your manuscript over the transom, and your beloved pages in the hands of a professional, and we all should realize how exciting that is!
I have been nominated by Brian of The New Author blog (link in the sidebar) for a Real Blog, Real People award called the Marie Antoinette award. I regret to say I hadn't heard of it, but Brian is very nice, and wouldn't lead me up the garden path, I'm sure, although the name of the award is a little alarming, considering the poor woman was beheaded. Is this a play on words? Is this a little joke on the blog community, that we have all, figuratively speaking, lost our heads? Of course, the lady in question was a woman of rare talent and beauty (with head attached, of course), and that's undoubtedly what was in mind with the choice of name. I am moved to think my blog is deserving of this, as I only started it on November 27, sixteen days ago! I feel I've been doing it for years. I am thoroughly enjoying it, but it's even more delightful to know someone else really likes it, too. Isn't that reminiscent of something Sally Field said at the Oscars way back when?
Enjoy Chapter Six.
When we are in Flow (a rewarding book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ), the work just pours (flows) out, and you lose all track of time. If I didn't have to feed my cats, I'd probably be writing into the wee small hours. So food doesn't seem important, until I notice I'm about to faint. I could get thin. Dorothy Parker was thin. Perhaps I'll become a published writer AND thin. What joy!
There is a fantastic opportunity for you on Monday. Firebrand Literary is holding a contest for submission of a first chapter, without the preliminary query letter. The novel must be complete, with word count, genre, and so on - you'll get the details from the link under Contests. The contest closes January 15, with their response no later than February 1. (IF they respond. Without a response, fear not, you are still a writer, not a would-be writer - a real writer, and you will research the blogs and Google and Twitter to find your perfect agent.) If, like me (bar the tweaking), you have completed your ms, here's your chance. The prize is simply that you will get one foot in the door, your manuscript over the transom, and your beloved pages in the hands of a professional, and we all should realize how exciting that is!
I have been nominated by Brian of The New Author blog (link in the sidebar) for a Real Blog, Real People award called the Marie Antoinette award. I regret to say I hadn't heard of it, but Brian is very nice, and wouldn't lead me up the garden path, I'm sure, although the name of the award is a little alarming, considering the poor woman was beheaded. Is this a play on words? Is this a little joke on the blog community, that we have all, figuratively speaking, lost our heads? Of course, the lady in question was a woman of rare talent and beauty (with head attached, of course), and that's undoubtedly what was in mind with the choice of name. I am moved to think my blog is deserving of this, as I only started it on November 27, sixteen days ago! I feel I've been doing it for years. I am thoroughly enjoying it, but it's even more delightful to know someone else really likes it, too. Isn't that reminiscent of something Sally Field said at the Oscars way back when?
Enjoy Chapter Six.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Chapter Five Today
Chapter Five is here for you, if you are following Hafan Deg.
If I can keep up my tweaking, I'll be able to blog three chapters a week. Tweaking sounds like minimal work, just dotting a few 'i's, etc., but it's real work, re-reading for errors in rhythm, dealing with seemingly endless typos, sentence structure, punctuation. On top of that, I am adding and cutting material as I go, so it's like a full re-write, although the 'good bones' are untouched. With each chapter for the blog, I am pruning away dead wood, I hope.
Which brings me to an interesting article I read on keeping the writing as clean as possible (and I am not referring to smut avoidance). The writer pointed out that the over-use of a past participle, "had been", "had said" "had gone", or other double verbs, muddied the writing, clogged it up, if you will. Once you've established that this action happened somewhat earlier, with ONE example indicating that at the beginning of the paragraph, or the page, it's unnecessary to use it again, and you can comfortably change to simple past verbs - 'was', 'said', 'went', and so on. Readers quickly see that the section is set in a more distant past, and there's no need to keep reminding them.
Karen, in Hafan Deg, is often examining her past, so I went back and looked hard. Sure enough, with those verb adjustments, my page is cleaner. It's taking a lot of time to do, of course, because the little devils try to slip by me. (One did, just then, but I caught it - Gotcha!) With habit, I think I will naturally write with the cleaner verb.
I have no intention of getting into grammar, or syntax, in this blog. But when tips like this come along, I'll share then with you.
Nathan Bransford, literary agent, has a contest, of sorts, which you'll need to act on quickly, as it closes tomorrow, Thursday, 4 pm Pacific time. All you do is paste the first paragraph of your book as a comment on his blog. The entries are an interesting read. Prizes are vague, but involve professional critiquing of your work, fifteen minute phone conversation, things like that. It only took me five minutes this morning to put mine on there. Go check it out.
If I can keep up my tweaking, I'll be able to blog three chapters a week. Tweaking sounds like minimal work, just dotting a few 'i's, etc., but it's real work, re-reading for errors in rhythm, dealing with seemingly endless typos, sentence structure, punctuation. On top of that, I am adding and cutting material as I go, so it's like a full re-write, although the 'good bones' are untouched. With each chapter for the blog, I am pruning away dead wood, I hope.
Which brings me to an interesting article I read on keeping the writing as clean as possible (and I am not referring to smut avoidance). The writer pointed out that the over-use of a past participle, "had been", "had said" "had gone", or other double verbs, muddied the writing, clogged it up, if you will. Once you've established that this action happened somewhat earlier, with ONE example indicating that at the beginning of the paragraph, or the page, it's unnecessary to use it again, and you can comfortably change to simple past verbs - 'was', 'said', 'went', and so on. Readers quickly see that the section is set in a more distant past, and there's no need to keep reminding them.
Karen, in Hafan Deg, is often examining her past, so I went back and looked hard. Sure enough, with those verb adjustments, my page is cleaner. It's taking a lot of time to do, of course, because the little devils try to slip by me. (One did, just then, but I caught it - Gotcha!) With habit, I think I will naturally write with the cleaner verb.
I have no intention of getting into grammar, or syntax, in this blog. But when tips like this come along, I'll share then with you.
Nathan Bransford, literary agent, has a contest, of sorts, which you'll need to act on quickly, as it closes tomorrow, Thursday, 4 pm Pacific time. All you do is paste the first paragraph of your book as a comment on his blog. The entries are an interesting read. Prizes are vague, but involve professional critiquing of your work, fifteen minute phone conversation, things like that. It only took me five minutes this morning to put mine on there. Go check it out.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Chapter Four Today
I just registered the copyright for Hafan Deg online. It seemed to me, putting these chapters out every couple of days, that the novel was a bit vulnerable, despite the little copyright symbol I added to the title. Anyway, it's done, and well worth the $50 Canadian to do it.
Browsing through agents today, and - what a surprise - my old agent, from days of yore, who worked with me on my ghost story, is still agenting! Thought I would surprise her with the new book. I mean she liked my writing, just found the ghost too unscarey. She might even re-think the original book now that so many similar romantic ghost stories have been produced. That would be very cool - two books ready for print...
I have completed the fine-tuning on eight chapters of Hafan Deg now, and have developed a strange neck injury, as a result. It only hurts (sharp, burning sensation) while I type, and is gone when I do something else. Hmm, this could be very detrimental to my writing. I have done so much typing this weekend, for hours and hours straight, that I guess I've just overworked something. It's good when I'm writing a poignant scene, because I share the pain on the page, but no good if I'm in a light-hearted bit of dialogue. Have adjusted the chair, the screen, no go. Will keep trying.
Is anyone going to make any comments about this book? I mean, that's one reason I'm doing it. Sharing it, nakedly, with you. I belong to another site where it's received a couple of comments. Basically, it's felt my first chapter is a bit long-winded, with too many characters to confuse the reader. I don't see it, but I intend to go back and give it a serious look. I know what that confusion feels like, because I have tried at least three times in my life to read Dr. Zhivago! But that was different; I have no Russian names in my book.
Enjoy Chapter Four.
Browsing through agents today, and - what a surprise - my old agent, from days of yore, who worked with me on my ghost story, is still agenting! Thought I would surprise her with the new book. I mean she liked my writing, just found the ghost too unscarey. She might even re-think the original book now that so many similar romantic ghost stories have been produced. That would be very cool - two books ready for print...
I have completed the fine-tuning on eight chapters of Hafan Deg now, and have developed a strange neck injury, as a result. It only hurts (sharp, burning sensation) while I type, and is gone when I do something else. Hmm, this could be very detrimental to my writing. I have done so much typing this weekend, for hours and hours straight, that I guess I've just overworked something. It's good when I'm writing a poignant scene, because I share the pain on the page, but no good if I'm in a light-hearted bit of dialogue. Have adjusted the chair, the screen, no go. Will keep trying.
Is anyone going to make any comments about this book? I mean, that's one reason I'm doing it. Sharing it, nakedly, with you. I belong to another site where it's received a couple of comments. Basically, it's felt my first chapter is a bit long-winded, with too many characters to confuse the reader. I don't see it, but I intend to go back and give it a serious look. I know what that confusion feels like, because I have tried at least three times in my life to read Dr. Zhivago! But that was different; I have no Russian names in my book.
Enjoy Chapter Four.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Chapter Three Today
I've had a very interesting morning. I woke up at 5 am and couldn't get back to sleep, so I just got stuck into my usual internet ritual.
I've found a useful site for all of you who would like more feedback on their work, called Authonomy. It's not much use to you if you haven't completed at least 10,000 words, because that's their minimum, but you then simply download the material, one chapter at a time (save them to separate doc files).
The manuscript could be reviewed by HarperCollins, as it's their site, and there are so many writers to critique your work, and everyone seems really friendly. Do check it out. I've just put the first three chapters of Hafan Deg there, so will let you know what kind of feedback I get.
I cannot believe the errors that keep popping up in my MS. I have been using a lot of expletives lately at my apparent blindness. How is it that I have proofread this book so many times, yet still they present themselves? I was an editor for years on a rather stuffy business directory, lots of names and figures, and I don't recall it being as tricky as this has been. I think, when we're working on our own words, the flow of them is already embedded in our brains, and we simply think we've transferred them that way to the page. With the business publication, it was so fact-oriented, it had nothing to do with that creative flow.
Somewhere or other, I have a nice poem on this subject, if I ever find it for you.
Do read Chapter Three. The story is now truly unfolding.
I've found a useful site for all of you who would like more feedback on their work, called Authonomy. It's not much use to you if you haven't completed at least 10,000 words, because that's their minimum, but you then simply download the material, one chapter at a time (save them to separate doc files).
The manuscript could be reviewed by HarperCollins, as it's their site, and there are so many writers to critique your work, and everyone seems really friendly. Do check it out. I've just put the first three chapters of Hafan Deg there, so will let you know what kind of feedback I get.
I cannot believe the errors that keep popping up in my MS. I have been using a lot of expletives lately at my apparent blindness. How is it that I have proofread this book so many times, yet still they present themselves? I was an editor for years on a rather stuffy business directory, lots of names and figures, and I don't recall it being as tricky as this has been. I think, when we're working on our own words, the flow of them is already embedded in our brains, and we simply think we've transferred them that way to the page. With the business publication, it was so fact-oriented, it had nothing to do with that creative flow.
Somewhere or other, I have a nice poem on this subject, if I ever find it for you.
Do read Chapter Three. The story is now truly unfolding.
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