Of all the things that make up a good book - active dialogue, believable and empathetic characters, kick-ass plot, strong narrative structure, increasing conflict, external and internal goals, etc. etc. (put the next hundred important things in writing a book here ___) one of the most important is probably one of the simplest - yet hardest - to do.
Putting the book aside after you've drafted it and waiting.
I think waiting, and all its subtle torments, is especially hard for writers (see my older posts tagged 'waiting' and my own struggles with that elusive virtue). But, like the proverb says, good things do come to those who wait. Especially when you've finished your first draft or when you're about to tackle an editor's or agent's revision letter. I know, I know. It's so, so tempting to send the thing out there once you've drafted it. You can feel it. It's so close to perfect! You feel the passion of that book. You want it to be read! Why wait to revise after you've already spent months working on it? What more could you possibly do to those thousands of words? Well, in the immortal words of Yoda (who never said this but totally could have!) "Oh, young Skywalker. More you can do, yes."
Would you advocate your son or daughter marrying someone after only two or three dates? Heck, even two or three months worth of dates? No, you say. Of course not. To know someone - really know someone - takes time. How can you learn all the nuances of this complex person in such a short time? You only begin to understand someone through exploring their layers: first the superficial - the looks, the sound of the voice, the physical mannerisms. Then, after a time comes the deep conversations, the surprise revelations, the knowledge that there is good and maybe not so good in this book - I mean person! Anyway, you get my meaning, I hope? Time and distance can make you see a person more clearly. The same thing applies to a book.
I'm thinking about this now because I'm about to enter into my editor's revision for The Break. Since submitting and receiving word that it was accepted for publication I have not opened it. Not once. In 9 months. Because I knew that the time away from it would make me see it more clearly. So now I can look upon it with a slight detachment that will make it easier to make choices about it. That will, hopefully, make me fall in love with it again.
And as for the WIP I finished a couple of weeks ago? We're on a break right now for a couple of months. My WIP understands. It knows how important it is to explore other novels for a time. That way when we start seeing each other again, I'll know it's the one for me and what we have to in order to make the relationship work.
So, what about you? Do you take a break from your draft? And for how long?
Showing posts with label waiting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waiting. Show all posts
Monday, June 13, 2011
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Limbo and What it Does to Your Head
And I'm not talking about the dance game.
I'm IN limbo. So many things are up in the air, waiting to hear about things, waiting to start things, just a general state of limbo. Not just with writing but with homelife too. And it's seriously messing with my head and my already less than patient attitude.
I've mentioned before that we're on the cusp of a major renovation. We've been on this cusp so long I've worn a groove in it from the pacing. I've also got a few things out there in the writing arena and with the expected summer slow down in publishing I figure I'll be waiting a while on those things too. I swear, some days the groove is quickly becoming a pit. Sometimes it feels like I'll never get out of this limbo. I even looked up the definition of the word to see if it captured this frustrated, helpless, trapped feeling I'm living with:
LIMBO (of limbus limbo, fr. L, border - more at LIMP) 1 often cap: an abode of souls that are according to Roman Catholic theology barred from heaven because of not having received Christian baptism 2 a: a place or state of restraint or confinement b: a place or state of neglect or oblivion (proposal kept in …) c: an intermediate or transitional place or state
Oh, yeah, baby. Captured what I'm feeling times a bazillion.
Sometimes I do actually feel like I am physically constrained and, in my worst moments, believe I am being neglected/obliterated. But what I really should focus on is that Limbo is also that last definition: an intermediate or transitional place or state. In a real life example I can relate to: Limbo is the time you spend in an airport waiting for the flight to get you to that really awesome island vacation destination. I hate airports but they are a necessary evil in order to get me to that ultimate destination. They may be boring, even stressful, maybe downright uncomfortable but they are, above all else, TRANSITIONAL. Which leads me to another definition:
TRANSITION: a passage from one state,stage, subject, or place to another.
Or, better yet:
a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage or style to another).
Yes, I like that. I'm not in Limbo. I'm in Transition - my house will evolve from its old leaking, dysfunctional shape to a beautiful, made for our family work of art. My writing is evolving from one form (submitted proposals) to one day accepted, publishable, real life books.
Now if only someone could tell me how long I'll be in Transition. And what I can do to make this airport more comfortable...
I'm IN limbo. So many things are up in the air, waiting to hear about things, waiting to start things, just a general state of limbo. Not just with writing but with homelife too. And it's seriously messing with my head and my already less than patient attitude.
I've mentioned before that we're on the cusp of a major renovation. We've been on this cusp so long I've worn a groove in it from the pacing. I've also got a few things out there in the writing arena and with the expected summer slow down in publishing I figure I'll be waiting a while on those things too. I swear, some days the groove is quickly becoming a pit. Sometimes it feels like I'll never get out of this limbo. I even looked up the definition of the word to see if it captured this frustrated, helpless, trapped feeling I'm living with:
LIMBO (of limbus limbo, fr. L, border - more at LIMP) 1 often cap: an abode of souls that are according to Roman Catholic theology barred from heaven because of not having received Christian baptism 2 a: a place or state of restraint or confinement b: a place or state of neglect or oblivion (proposal kept in …) c: an intermediate or transitional place or state
Oh, yeah, baby. Captured what I'm feeling times a bazillion.
Sometimes I do actually feel like I am physically constrained and, in my worst moments, believe I am being neglected/obliterated. But what I really should focus on is that Limbo is also that last definition: an intermediate or transitional place or state. In a real life example I can relate to: Limbo is the time you spend in an airport waiting for the flight to get you to that really awesome island vacation destination. I hate airports but they are a necessary evil in order to get me to that ultimate destination. They may be boring, even stressful, maybe downright uncomfortable but they are, above all else, TRANSITIONAL. Which leads me to another definition:
TRANSITION: a passage from one state,stage, subject, or place to another.
Or, better yet:
a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage or style to another).
Yes, I like that. I'm not in Limbo. I'm in Transition - my house will evolve from its old leaking, dysfunctional shape to a beautiful, made for our family work of art. My writing is evolving from one form (submitted proposals) to one day accepted, publishable, real life books.
Now if only someone could tell me how long I'll be in Transition. And what I can do to make this airport more comfortable...
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Getting Back into the Writing Game
Wow, June 1st already. Where has the year gone? For me, the last few weeks have flown by with nothing really concrete to show for it. I've taken a break from writing since I finished the revision to my YA paranormal earlier in May and that was right after I finished my YA contemporary back in October (with a sidetrip to a WIP that led to a dead end - for now). So now on the writing front I'm in the waiting game to see how both these books do. They're out of my hands for now. But that means I have to decide what to pursue next in terms of writing and that's a hard thing to figure out sometimes - especially without a shiny new idea dangling in front of me. I hate being in this limbo time.
It probably doesn't help that the family life is not expected to get any less stressfull over the next few months. As many of you know, my oldest daughter will be prepping to go to university in the fall and we'll have to get her packed and off and started on her new life (sob!!), we're trying to get a major reno started this summer and, most stressful of all, my mom (who lives about 4 hours away) will be undergoing surgery for breast cancer this month. My mind isn't exactly on mapping out my next story, you know? And yet, I know if I don't start writing soon, it will be that much harder to get back into it again. I've always believed that writers need to recharge their batteries and stepping away from writing and doing other things is crucial to creating good writing. But I've never left it for very long. A month at the most. And that's what I'm coming up to now.
I think I fear that somehow I will have forgotten how to write if I stay away from it for too long. That if I do let the personal life take over I will lose the one true discipline I've nurtured in my life. Believe me, I'm not that disciplined in anything else I've attempted but for writing I have started, I have kept at it - even through dark times, raising 3 children and work and family conflicts and books that felt like they were going nowhere - I have continued to write. So then why am I worried about not immediately picking up the pen now? What's holding me back?
Maybe I need a little bit of positive, go forward news from the writing front to get me fired up again. A good writer friend just told me about some news she received that really gave her a boost of confidence. It was just a few words but boy did they fire her up. I think that's what I need. Some sign from the universe that the brain cells I'll fry during the writing process are a worthy sacrifice. The summer will be here soon and we all know that the already slow publishing business will grind to a halt then. Before that happens - and before my personal life completely takes over - I need that little bit of something that will help me get back into the writing game again. For writers it doesn't take much to make us pick up the pen again. But a little good news sure makes that pen lighter.
It probably doesn't help that the family life is not expected to get any less stressfull over the next few months. As many of you know, my oldest daughter will be prepping to go to university in the fall and we'll have to get her packed and off and started on her new life (sob!!), we're trying to get a major reno started this summer and, most stressful of all, my mom (who lives about 4 hours away) will be undergoing surgery for breast cancer this month. My mind isn't exactly on mapping out my next story, you know? And yet, I know if I don't start writing soon, it will be that much harder to get back into it again. I've always believed that writers need to recharge their batteries and stepping away from writing and doing other things is crucial to creating good writing. But I've never left it for very long. A month at the most. And that's what I'm coming up to now.
I think I fear that somehow I will have forgotten how to write if I stay away from it for too long. That if I do let the personal life take over I will lose the one true discipline I've nurtured in my life. Believe me, I'm not that disciplined in anything else I've attempted but for writing I have started, I have kept at it - even through dark times, raising 3 children and work and family conflicts and books that felt like they were going nowhere - I have continued to write. So then why am I worried about not immediately picking up the pen now? What's holding me back?
Maybe I need a little bit of positive, go forward news from the writing front to get me fired up again. A good writer friend just told me about some news she received that really gave her a boost of confidence. It was just a few words but boy did they fire her up. I think that's what I need. Some sign from the universe that the brain cells I'll fry during the writing process are a worthy sacrifice. The summer will be here soon and we all know that the already slow publishing business will grind to a halt then. Before that happens - and before my personal life completely takes over - I need that little bit of something that will help me get back into the writing game again. For writers it doesn't take much to make us pick up the pen again. But a little good news sure makes that pen lighter.
Monday, May 17, 2010
The In-Between Time
Writers fixate a lot on the different stages of the writing process. We're starting a book. We're in the murky middle. We've Finished - YAY! Nope. We haven't. We're revising. And revising. And revising...
Until we finally send it off - to agent, editor or critique partner. It's gone. Out of our hands. It's this time, the time after we're done our project and before we start another that's sort of an in-between no-man's writer's land - for me at least. I feel a bit at loose ends without the weight of a project in process on my shoulders. At first it's not a bad feeling. Kind of like when you finished your last exam and it's the first official day of your vacation. The freedom! The endless days of nothing to worry about, nothing to do. Your mind is a nice, exhausted blank. You can finally concentrate on everything you've let go for so long. Eventually, though, I know the itch will start. The need to get back at it and tackle the beast of a story that is inside our heads. But, for now, it is a blessed quiet time.
Right now I'm thinking about all the things I can do around the house or with my kids that have been pushed to the side (and with a massive home renovation to get started on this year there are A LOT of things to deal with). I don't have a burning idea for a novel simmering in the back of my brain. All I have now is a niggling worry about that still neat idea that I have in a very rough half-draft written state that I need to go back to - but I'm not ready to deal with it yet. So it's easily pushed back. I also have a niggling worry that I'll never get another good idea ever again. But I push that to the back of my mind, as well. Right now, for a little while at least, I am officially "In-Between". That place can be a very good place to rest, rejuvenate, and concentrate on other things in life - like supporting my oldest daughter as she chooses which university to attend in the fall, like going to my son's Track and Field competition and cheering him on, like watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs, like going to a couple of movies with the family, like reading the stack of books I've been meaning to, like talking more with my mom - maybe even visiting her more often. Like living life.
In-between is not stagnant. In-between is a resting place on the journey forward. Hope all you writers stop there once in a while and enjoy a rest there too.
Until we finally send it off - to agent, editor or critique partner. It's gone. Out of our hands. It's this time, the time after we're done our project and before we start another that's sort of an in-between no-man's writer's land - for me at least. I feel a bit at loose ends without the weight of a project in process on my shoulders. At first it's not a bad feeling. Kind of like when you finished your last exam and it's the first official day of your vacation. The freedom! The endless days of nothing to worry about, nothing to do. Your mind is a nice, exhausted blank. You can finally concentrate on everything you've let go for so long. Eventually, though, I know the itch will start. The need to get back at it and tackle the beast of a story that is inside our heads. But, for now, it is a blessed quiet time.
Right now I'm thinking about all the things I can do around the house or with my kids that have been pushed to the side (and with a massive home renovation to get started on this year there are A LOT of things to deal with). I don't have a burning idea for a novel simmering in the back of my brain. All I have now is a niggling worry about that still neat idea that I have in a very rough half-draft written state that I need to go back to - but I'm not ready to deal with it yet. So it's easily pushed back. I also have a niggling worry that I'll never get another good idea ever again. But I push that to the back of my mind, as well. Right now, for a little while at least, I am officially "In-Between". That place can be a very good place to rest, rejuvenate, and concentrate on other things in life - like supporting my oldest daughter as she chooses which university to attend in the fall, like going to my son's Track and Field competition and cheering him on, like watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs, like going to a couple of movies with the family, like reading the stack of books I've been meaning to, like talking more with my mom - maybe even visiting her more often. Like living life.
In-between is not stagnant. In-between is a resting place on the journey forward. Hope all you writers stop there once in a while and enjoy a rest there too.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Mastering the Art of Waiting - Not.
The journey to become published is paved with the carcasses of writers who have suffered through many tortures - the worst of which is waiting. Learning how to wait patiently should be a first year credit course for anyone taking a writer's program or be taught at whatever writer's retreat you might be lucky enough to attend. I've been writing for over seven years. I've waited through my share of writer milestones: waiting to hear back from agents (agony I tell you!), waiting to hear back from editors once your book is on submission (torture - sheer torture!), waiting to find out if your book made it through the acquisition meeting (tear your hair out torture!), waiting for the first revision letter, waiting for final pass pages, waiting to see your cover, waiting for your agent to get back to you with revisions for your next book, waiting, waiting, waiting...
I thought I'd passed through all the seven circles of waiting hell by this point but there was one more I had to face: waiting for my author's copies to arrive.
Sheer. Brutal. Agony.
I got the email from the publisher earlier this week saying the books were on their way. My agent emailed me yesterday saying she'd got her copies and they looked great. Now waiting was compounded by its ugly cousin jealousy - dang it everybody else had their copies - when could I hold my book in my hands? I was home pretty much all day yesterday and thought the mailman would end my suffering (it had been a while since I'd stalked the mailman!) But, nope, my waiting would not be over with the sound of bills and magazines thunking onto the front hall carpet. I would have to wait some more.
But I was pro at waiting. I'd learned over the years what I needed to do. I would work on my wip! I'd clean the house! I'd rake the yard! Laundry! Of course. Hockey games to attend, errands to run. All of these things would take my mind off of the waiting.
But I'd failed to realize one small difference in this waiting game that made it different from all the other waiting games I'd played in the last seven years. This time I was waiting for my first book to arrive. It was out there. In the world. About to be launched. Held by people. Read by people. It was here.
Two more days until the mailman comes again. The seventh circle of hell has morphed into number eight and counting...
I thought I'd passed through all the seven circles of waiting hell by this point but there was one more I had to face: waiting for my author's copies to arrive.
Sheer. Brutal. Agony.
I got the email from the publisher earlier this week saying the books were on their way. My agent emailed me yesterday saying she'd got her copies and they looked great. Now waiting was compounded by its ugly cousin jealousy - dang it everybody else had their copies - when could I hold my book in my hands? I was home pretty much all day yesterday and thought the mailman would end my suffering (it had been a while since I'd stalked the mailman!) But, nope, my waiting would not be over with the sound of bills and magazines thunking onto the front hall carpet. I would have to wait some more.
But I was pro at waiting. I'd learned over the years what I needed to do. I would work on my wip! I'd clean the house! I'd rake the yard! Laundry! Of course. Hockey games to attend, errands to run. All of these things would take my mind off of the waiting.
But I'd failed to realize one small difference in this waiting game that made it different from all the other waiting games I'd played in the last seven years. This time I was waiting for my first book to arrive. It was out there. In the world. About to be launched. Held by people. Read by people. It was here.
Two more days until the mailman comes again. The seventh circle of hell has morphed into number eight and counting...
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Suspended Animation
So I'm almost ready to hit the send button on the final copy edits to Illegally Blonde (still double/triple checking things like my usual obsessive self). I should be very excited (and I am!) but more and more I'm feeling like I'm in a state of suspended animation. I know that as soon as I hit that Send button that will be it. I'll lose that last bit of control I've had with the book to this point. And that's as it should be. I guess, instead of just getting on with it, I'm taking the time to enjoy this last little bit of time alone with the book.
It's a scary thing sending a book off for this last part of the journey. Don't get me wrong. I know it's in great hands with Great Plains Teen Fiction.I know it will be taken care of by talented, responsible, incredibly supportive people. Yet, here I sit, not minding the waiting, liking the calm of this time and preparing myself for the unknown that launching a book will bring in the spring. But I also know that in the next few days I will hit Send and my state of suspended animation will stop. My anxiety and worry over launching a book will take over and I will wish for this time that seems so quiet now.
But I also know you get nowhere by being in a state of constant suspense. I know there will be huge, stressful, exciting changes that will replace my calm, suspended state very soon and who willingly wants to go through stress? But like my daughter said to me tonight, "What's the problem? Isn't your book being out a GOOD thing?"
Yes. Yes it is. A very good thing. Sigh.
Maybe hitting Send won't be that hard at all...
It's a scary thing sending a book off for this last part of the journey. Don't get me wrong. I know it's in great hands with Great Plains Teen Fiction.I know it will be taken care of by talented, responsible, incredibly supportive people. Yet, here I sit, not minding the waiting, liking the calm of this time and preparing myself for the unknown that launching a book will bring in the spring. But I also know that in the next few days I will hit Send and my state of suspended animation will stop. My anxiety and worry over launching a book will take over and I will wish for this time that seems so quiet now.
But I also know you get nowhere by being in a state of constant suspense. I know there will be huge, stressful, exciting changes that will replace my calm, suspended state very soon and who willingly wants to go through stress? But like my daughter said to me tonight, "What's the problem? Isn't your book being out a GOOD thing?"
Yes. Yes it is. A very good thing. Sigh.
Maybe hitting Send won't be that hard at all...
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Why Waiting is Sometimes A Good Thing
First of all, let me be quite clear - I hate waiting. Hated it since I was a kid and my mom would be puttering around the house doing God knows what while the rest of us waited in the car knowing we'd be inevitably late for whatever event we were headed to. I despised walking in after something started with all eyes on us and everybody thinking, "Finally. Now we can eat." (Note: My Portuguese family didn't like waiting to get started in on the food.)
I think that's what made me become the chronic early arriver I am now. I am always at least 15 minutes early to doctor's appointments, meet ups with friends, etc. My clocks at home are set five minutes fast just to get my chronically late family out the door just a little bit faster (and, just as an aside, what giant cosmic joke has been played on me that not only was I raised by a chronically late arriver I am now surrounded by two out of three offspring and one husband with the same disease? /rant ). Yes, all in all, I'd say one of the great beliefs of my life has always been that faster is better, waiting sucks and life's too short to spend twiddling your thumbs waiting for stuff to happen.
You know where this is leading, don't you? Yup. That kind of blanket belief is ripe for a challenge. Through my writing journey I've learned that early is not necessarily better all the time. And taking your time can be a very good thing sometimes.
We all know publishing is a slow business - g-l-a-c-i-a-l-l-y sloooooooow. I wonder how I've stuck it out for as long as I have knowing my little personality quirk. But I have learned to appreciate the time it takes to get things done in this industry. Take, for example, the fact that once a book is acquired it takes about a year to have it released (let's not get into how long it takes to get a book acquired - that's a whole other level of waiting). Sometimes less, sometimes more but on average you've got about a year if you're lucky. Some writers have to wait almost two years to get a slot on the publishers list. Yes, that year or two can be excrutiating wait for that final step in the journey. Especially when you've got friends and family members regularly asking you: "When's you're book coming out?" (insert Nelsa grinding teeth here)
I've got about five months to go until Illegally Blonde is released and now I can say I'm really glad it took this amount of time. I'm waiting for the last final proof to arrive from the publisher and I'm not going to rush going over those pages (well, if I'm given a day to look over them then I'll rush! :). But now, more than ever, it is a time to savour the book - before it's released. It is, in a weird kind of way, my last time to 'own' it. This year long wait has been my opportunity to get used to the idea of being published. It's been a time to prepare myself for the book being out there - for me being out there to promote it as best I can. People are starting to ask what I'm going to do about the book launch and I tell them I'm not sure yet. I'm taking time to sort ideas out in my head. There's nothing concrete yet but, for once, I'm taking my time to figure it out. I'm sure when the release comes everything will seem super speeded up so I'm not complaining about the wait now. I kind of appreciate it.
I've definitely learned that slow isn't necessarily always bad, that rushing to or through something can lead to mistakes (especially speeding tickets), that taking the time to savour the moment - to really think about where you are now and where you want to be - is something everyone should learn to appreciate. For me, this year long wait for the book to come out has been a good thing.
Now, if I could just learn to appreciate how long it takes my son to get himself dressed in the morning...
I think that's what made me become the chronic early arriver I am now. I am always at least 15 minutes early to doctor's appointments, meet ups with friends, etc. My clocks at home are set five minutes fast just to get my chronically late family out the door just a little bit faster (and, just as an aside, what giant cosmic joke has been played on me that not only was I raised by a chronically late arriver I am now surrounded by two out of three offspring and one husband with the same disease? /rant ). Yes, all in all, I'd say one of the great beliefs of my life has always been that faster is better, waiting sucks and life's too short to spend twiddling your thumbs waiting for stuff to happen.
You know where this is leading, don't you? Yup. That kind of blanket belief is ripe for a challenge. Through my writing journey I've learned that early is not necessarily better all the time. And taking your time can be a very good thing sometimes.
We all know publishing is a slow business - g-l-a-c-i-a-l-l-y sloooooooow. I wonder how I've stuck it out for as long as I have knowing my little personality quirk. But I have learned to appreciate the time it takes to get things done in this industry. Take, for example, the fact that once a book is acquired it takes about a year to have it released (let's not get into how long it takes to get a book acquired - that's a whole other level of waiting). Sometimes less, sometimes more but on average you've got about a year if you're lucky. Some writers have to wait almost two years to get a slot on the publishers list. Yes, that year or two can be excrutiating wait for that final step in the journey. Especially when you've got friends and family members regularly asking you: "When's you're book coming out?" (insert Nelsa grinding teeth here)
I've got about five months to go until Illegally Blonde is released and now I can say I'm really glad it took this amount of time. I'm waiting for the last final proof to arrive from the publisher and I'm not going to rush going over those pages (well, if I'm given a day to look over them then I'll rush! :). But now, more than ever, it is a time to savour the book - before it's released. It is, in a weird kind of way, my last time to 'own' it. This year long wait has been my opportunity to get used to the idea of being published. It's been a time to prepare myself for the book being out there - for me being out there to promote it as best I can. People are starting to ask what I'm going to do about the book launch and I tell them I'm not sure yet. I'm taking time to sort ideas out in my head. There's nothing concrete yet but, for once, I'm taking my time to figure it out. I'm sure when the release comes everything will seem super speeded up so I'm not complaining about the wait now. I kind of appreciate it.
I've definitely learned that slow isn't necessarily always bad, that rushing to or through something can lead to mistakes (especially speeding tickets), that taking the time to savour the moment - to really think about where you are now and where you want to be - is something everyone should learn to appreciate. For me, this year long wait for the book to come out has been a good thing.
Now, if I could just learn to appreciate how long it takes my son to get himself dressed in the morning...
Thursday, October 22, 2009
When a New Idea Percolates
So I'm supposedly taking a break after handing in my revised wip to the agent. Taking a break means no writing for two weeks while the new idea percolates. I've heard that term used quite a lot with writers. Percolate. Great word. But what does it mean? I mean, I know what it means, but it's so different for every writer, ya' know?
My version of Webster's Dictionary explains that Percolate is derived from the Latin percolare, fr. per - through + colare - to sieve. It defines it as follows:
A) to cause to pass through a permeable substance (as a powdered drug) especially for extracting a soluble constituent
B) to prepare in a perculator
C) to be diffused through
D) to ooze or trickle through a permeable substance
E) to become lively or effervescent
F) to spread gradually
Yes. To all those things.
A new idea - for me - needs to pass through my brain (is that the permeable substance?) like a drug - I can't get enough of it at first - in order to extract the soluable (loosened or dissolved) constituent (the writing). But in order to loosen that constituent it first has to be prepared, diffused, before it can ooze and trickle through my brain onto the page becoming, hopefully, a lively and effervescent story that will spread gradually to many, many readers.
So now that I'm done revising the WIP the new idea which has sat in a corner of my permeable brain for awhile, percolating away, can now take over. There is room for it to really simmer now, for me to lie in bed at night and actually not be able to fall asleep very quickly because I'm thinking about the opening, the characters, the ending, the bits and pieces that will make it into the story, the others that I'm not sure about - everything that can make this new idea work. Percolating is absolutely essential for me to be able to write a good story.
But while percolating is a good and necessary thing, there is also a dark side. Percolating also involves thinking about the fears and the questions. Will I do the idea justice? The story should probably be in third person not first - hmm. haven't written in third for a while so how creaky will I be? POV will be primarily a teenage boy - will I screw that up?
As part of the percolating, I may write down a few things, may even outline the first part of the book in detail. Or I may decide to pants it with only the ideas rattling around in my head to guide me. More likely it will probably be a combination of both processess. But the trick is to start while the idea is still fresh enough to be fun (don't overthink it too much or the idea may get stale) and when anticipating the fears of failure haven't overtaken you to the point where you get too paralyzed to even start.
I've given myself two weeks before I put pen to paper again. But I can't be too prescriptive about it. It might be sooner. The urge to write the new story will build. Soon it won't be enough to just be thinking about it anymore. Only when I start it will I know if it will work. When I can see if my percolating idea can eventually become a 'lively" and "effervescent" story.
Until then, I don't think I'll be falling asleep very easily.
My version of Webster's Dictionary explains that Percolate is derived from the Latin percolare, fr. per - through + colare - to sieve. It defines it as follows:
A) to cause to pass through a permeable substance (as a powdered drug) especially for extracting a soluble constituent
B) to prepare in a perculator
C) to be diffused through
D) to ooze or trickle through a permeable substance
E) to become lively or effervescent
F) to spread gradually
Yes. To all those things.
A new idea - for me - needs to pass through my brain (is that the permeable substance?) like a drug - I can't get enough of it at first - in order to extract the soluable (loosened or dissolved) constituent (the writing). But in order to loosen that constituent it first has to be prepared, diffused, before it can ooze and trickle through my brain onto the page becoming, hopefully, a lively and effervescent story that will spread gradually to many, many readers.
So now that I'm done revising the WIP the new idea which has sat in a corner of my permeable brain for awhile, percolating away, can now take over. There is room for it to really simmer now, for me to lie in bed at night and actually not be able to fall asleep very quickly because I'm thinking about the opening, the characters, the ending, the bits and pieces that will make it into the story, the others that I'm not sure about - everything that can make this new idea work. Percolating is absolutely essential for me to be able to write a good story.
But while percolating is a good and necessary thing, there is also a dark side. Percolating also involves thinking about the fears and the questions. Will I do the idea justice? The story should probably be in third person not first - hmm. haven't written in third for a while so how creaky will I be? POV will be primarily a teenage boy - will I screw that up?
As part of the percolating, I may write down a few things, may even outline the first part of the book in detail. Or I may decide to pants it with only the ideas rattling around in my head to guide me. More likely it will probably be a combination of both processess. But the trick is to start while the idea is still fresh enough to be fun (don't overthink it too much or the idea may get stale) and when anticipating the fears of failure haven't overtaken you to the point where you get too paralyzed to even start.
I've given myself two weeks before I put pen to paper again. But I can't be too prescriptive about it. It might be sooner. The urge to write the new story will build. Soon it won't be enough to just be thinking about it anymore. Only when I start it will I know if it will work. When I can see if my percolating idea can eventually become a 'lively" and "effervescent" story.
Until then, I don't think I'll be falling asleep very easily.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Summer Doldrums
I don't know what it is but the last couple of days seem to have slowed down to a crawl. My kids have been complaining of being bored, nothin' to do they whine, all their friends are away, the weather has been hot, humid and thunderstormy. Everybody seems to have taken this week as vacation or is prepping to take vacation next week. A lot of the people who are usually on the message boards at Verla Kay's have been at the SCBWI summer conference in Los Angeles. I've sent off my WIP to my agent and it will be at least a few weeks until I have her comments and I'm reluctant to start the next project while I wait for the word from my editor about what she thought about the revisions to Illegally Blonde I did earlier this summer(which should come later this week).
Sigh. I'm bored too.
And you know what? That's a great thing. The luxury of being bored these days is so rare I should embrace it. Nothin' to do? And I'm complaining??? What the heck is wrong with me?
I should bookmark this post so that in September, when I'm drowning in day work, back to school craziness, revisions from agent, making my plans for how to help get the word out there about Illegally Blonde, hockey mom life, and just living my usual stressed out regular working mom life I'll read this and remember that for one time this year, for a few brief, blissful days I was actually bored.
Sigh. I'm bored too.
And you know what? That's a great thing. The luxury of being bored these days is so rare I should embrace it. Nothin' to do? And I'm complaining??? What the heck is wrong with me?
I should bookmark this post so that in September, when I'm drowning in day work, back to school craziness, revisions from agent, making my plans for how to help get the word out there about Illegally Blonde, hockey mom life, and just living my usual stressed out regular working mom life I'll read this and remember that for one time this year, for a few brief, blissful days I was actually bored.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
No Writing Allowed
At least for the next two weeks that is.
I finished the second intense draft of my WIP and even though I know it needs another go through - another 'intense' go through - I am abstaining from the urge to take out the red pen. Instead, since I'll be headed up to the cottage for a week, I will read, read, read (as much as 3 kids and a hubby who will want to kayak, canoe, hike - you know active things? *shudders* will let me). I know that taking a break from my editing side and becoming a reader again will help the next draft. I will have removed myself from the euphoria of feeling finished and be able to see the warts on my my 'frog of a story waiting to turn into a prince of a novel' much easier.
It will be hard not to write especially since I have another story percolating in the back of my brain and another one already written that needs such an intense revision I might as well start it from scratch again. But these breaks are necessary for me. I need to read the story like a reader, not a writer. And it will help that my good bud/CP Stephanie will be reading it too since she hasn't seen a word of it. Two weeks will give me the distance I need to hear criticisms without falling into a puddle of "OMG. I just can't change that or add more! I'm sick of the story. Don't you know it's DONE??" Instead, I'll be able to apply solutions to any problems that are inevitable in a WIP. I'll be happy to tear into it again.
I guess there's something to be said for the old cliché "Absence makes the heart grow fonder". In a writer's case, the cliché can be re-written to say "Absence makes the story get better."
I finished the second intense draft of my WIP and even though I know it needs another go through - another 'intense' go through - I am abstaining from the urge to take out the red pen. Instead, since I'll be headed up to the cottage for a week, I will read, read, read (as much as 3 kids and a hubby who will want to kayak, canoe, hike - you know active things? *shudders* will let me). I know that taking a break from my editing side and becoming a reader again will help the next draft. I will have removed myself from the euphoria of feeling finished and be able to see the warts on my my 'frog of a story waiting to turn into a prince of a novel' much easier.
It will be hard not to write especially since I have another story percolating in the back of my brain and another one already written that needs such an intense revision I might as well start it from scratch again. But these breaks are necessary for me. I need to read the story like a reader, not a writer. And it will help that my good bud/CP Stephanie will be reading it too since she hasn't seen a word of it. Two weeks will give me the distance I need to hear criticisms without falling into a puddle of "OMG. I just can't change that or add more! I'm sick of the story. Don't you know it's DONE??" Instead, I'll be able to apply solutions to any problems that are inevitable in a WIP. I'll be happy to tear into it again.
I guess there's something to be said for the old cliché "Absence makes the heart grow fonder". In a writer's case, the cliché can be re-written to say "Absence makes the story get better."
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Waiting is the Hardest Part
I think I've mentioned on this blog before that I hate waiting. As my family and friends know (poor souls) I am not the most patient of people. Yet, it seems that the last few weeks all I've been doing is waiting.
Waiting for this God d*&m stone to pass. Please, let it be soon.
Waiting to receive the revision letter from my editor (due any day now).
Waiting for my kids to get ready, get out the door, and get to school on time. For once.
Waiting for my husband to get organized, finalize the house renovation plans and start the God d*&m renovations already. Before the roof blows off our house in the next big wind.
I understand procrastination. I understand delays. But when I have no control over the things I'm waiting for it makes it sooo much harder to be patient. I definitely need to get some zen because, unless I become a hermit, I will always be waiting for something or someone. And in the book publishing biz, baby, I could be waiting for years.
So, I must remember that Mercury is in retrograde this month which means a lot of stalled communication (affecting the progress of kidney stones too, it appears!), a lot of do-overs at work, a lot of revisions (maybe) to Illegally Blonde and a lot of waiting until this phase of stalled everything is over.
Sigh.
Pass me a bottle and let me put my feet up.
Hey! I think I found my zen.
Waiting for this God d*&m stone to pass. Please, let it be soon.
Waiting to receive the revision letter from my editor (due any day now).
Waiting for my kids to get ready, get out the door, and get to school on time. For once.
Waiting for my husband to get organized, finalize the house renovation plans and start the God d*&m renovations already. Before the roof blows off our house in the next big wind.
I understand procrastination. I understand delays. But when I have no control over the things I'm waiting for it makes it sooo much harder to be patient. I definitely need to get some zen because, unless I become a hermit, I will always be waiting for something or someone. And in the book publishing biz, baby, I could be waiting for years.
So, I must remember that Mercury is in retrograde this month which means a lot of stalled communication (affecting the progress of kidney stones too, it appears!), a lot of do-overs at work, a lot of revisions (maybe) to Illegally Blonde and a lot of waiting until this phase of stalled everything is over.
Sigh.
Pass me a bottle and let me put my feet up.
Hey! I think I found my zen.
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