In the face of darkness, high stakes, and horrible odds, you can save yourself and the world
More seemingly random research:
The Norwegian Fjord Horse a la Wikipedia.
Fast facts
Small horse that can carry a human (certainly can carry a Frost elf!)
All horses are dun (tan or gold) with darker markings
Work horse as well as riding horse–very versatile
Very gentle–good with children
Often used in therapeutic schools
Genetically pure because of selective breeding
Pictures of Norwegians Fjords
The (very, very) rough draft is finished. And yet, I do not feel that dancingly happy feeling of accomplishment, as there is much more writing to do. A lot of the writing feels superficial at the moment, sketchy. However, the first draft is done.
What happens next? I’ve solicited some folks to read the thing a chapter or two at a time for feedback. My goal is for me to have the second draft tweaked with feedback by the end of April. In May and June, I’ll be taking some time off from writing to create in another medium (time to do a little serious sewing!).
In June/July, I’ll get the manuscript out to some full draft readers, with the hopes of getting it around over the summer and getting it off by August. Yes, that *is* a full six months after I’d hoped. I think it’s okay to break a self-imposed deadline. An industry one is another matter.
Well, gotta go. The little battery sign on the computer has turned red.
Catherine
Looking ahead to The Substance of Shadows rewrite, we ordered these books:
What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England by Daniel Pool
Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in Regency and Victorian England from 1811-1901 by Kristine Hughes
Brain is all wrung out. I am determined to do my handout for a conference today, so that’s probably all the writing I get. The sad thing is that while I promised you snippets, there is nothing worthy of you this week. Instead, you get these progress reports. Twitterites do get one-liners, but snippets just aren’t coming.
Here’s where we’re at. The first two chapters are in good shape. The third and fourth chapters are more uneven. There are three brand new scenes in there that haven’t had time to cure, otherwise I think the writing is pretty solid. Likewise, chapter five is mostly solid, but has two brand new scenes, and one extensively revised scene. Those three are tomorrow’s work.
Chapter six is a real mix. There are four very solid scenes, two scenes that are in need of extensive revision, and two raw scenes, which are really just notes and have yet to be composed. In chapters seven through ten, there are 10 revision scenes and 10 raw scenes.
I’d love to have chapter five done and chapter six waiting for revision by the end of tomorrow. That’s essentially the end of my life as a full-time writer for the foreseeable future. Then we’ll be back to trying to write as we can, with planned time on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
I am currently the proud writer of 38.8K. I have no worries about this book falling in the right zone for a YA draft. That took a while.
Once I have the basic draft finished, I’ll do a detail/deep revision, and as each chapter goes through that, I’ll begin to solicit some reading comments.
It’s nice to have road map, still, but creating the fabric of reality is hard on the brain.
Does this writing process sound familiar to you, or alien to you? I’m curious about how you guys put it together.
Catherine
Jim Hines’ Novel Survey Results Part 2 takes on instant fame and the necessity of connections.
Maggie Stiefvater’s post on why writers need other occupations.
What do I want from my writing career? I linked to Aprilynne Pike’s October article Firsts in my last entry.
I feel differently about setting my writing goals than she does. Now, I’ll admit that I entered my pursuit of writing fairly naive. I didn’t know about differentiation. I figured that agents were created equal, and now I know better. I figured that any exposure was good exposure, and now I know better. I also hear the echoes of many writers telling me to control the only thing I can control–to write the best story that I can, which I think is sound advice.
But what do I want from my writing career in the long run? What are my goals?
My goals are very simple, when I get down to it.
1. I want to write the stories I have inside of me to the best of my ability. I will try to publish them wisely. (Yes, I know I’ll have to unpack that.)
2. I want to supplement my retirement income with advances and royalties.
That’s it. Let’s take a deeper look at those two things.
Continue reading “Basic Goal Setting and the Philosphies Therein”
Some links that have crossed my path during Internet travels today.
Do I Really Want to Get Published? by Editorial Ass (for all of you on the Submission Train with me).
Firsts by Aprilynne Pike. (This one is about thinking through and setting your writing goals, which is worth doing. I’d best do this sometime.)
Some objects appear closer by fellow VP’er Brent Bowen, talking about the first steps being the ones you actually take.
Right. Back to the writing.
Catherine
Several interesting items before we begin a gray, murky, misty Iowa writing day.
1. Story Acceptance: I’m pleased to announce that my ambiguous horror story Crystal Vision will be appearing in Swill issue 5, most likely this summer. One of the things I like to do as a writer is stretch, and this one is a bit of a stretch for me. I get to climb into the head of an alcoholic grandmother. Swill is a non-paying venue, but fills another part of my writer agenda, working with people I know. It sort of dovetails into the third part–placing yourself in areas where you think there will be buzz. Because the Swill guys really have a quasi-literary project.
I want to thank all of my great readers who made me work harder to shape the story. You guys really know how to make a woman revise!
Viable Paradise peeps might also like to know that this was one of the evil overlord vignettes I wrote.
More? Let’s cut this thing a bit, so you don’t have to read the whole list if you don’t care to.
My friend Yvonne from the Netherlands took a series of trips to Norway. I’m linking her travelogues here for my own use.
and what will this be?
norway 2
norway-wednesday
norway?
***
Jim Hines publishes the first of his Novel Survey Results.
And now, I’ve got to do some appointments and run some errands. Writing coming up! Loving the full time writing life for this week.
Catherine
Julie Rose sends along a link to another gorgeous candidate for frost elf chases: the Myrdal Plateau. Of course, there is a gallery of gorgeous pictures from the trip as well. Thanks to both Julie and Craig for letting me link. Some of these pictures are breathtaking.
Some more Norway pictures can be found at Tifosi, the soccer blog my friend Prairie writes. There’s a lot of soccer in here, but also some country capturing pictures.
I’d really like to see this stuff for real. Probably not in time to do any good for this manuscript, but maybe I can rig something for the sequel.
Catherine