I'm going to take a minute to brag.
I edited the shit out of March. I got my intensive first edit of MystWatch 3 done within the first three weeks of March, got it out to beta readers, then I turned around and did a final proof of Druid Wars 1. I kicked so much ass, and I'm incredibly pleased with myself.
Not only that, I also managed to write a couple of short story snippets, thanks to the Neil Gaiman Masterclass, and brainstormed a couple of different future story ideas.
And then, I spent the first day of April doing a final edit on my query and putting together my first batch of agent queries. Those went out this morning.
It has begun.
The next several months will be a roller coaster ride of hope and rejections. I'm ready. I mean. Ish.
In the meantime, I need to shift focus. My editing quarter was a resounding success. And now, it's time to start my writing quarter. It may take me a few days to switch gears from editing to writing, which makes me glad I'm starting with SP. She makes for a good transition series. I'm all signed up for Camp Nano, and now that I've got about a week or two before I hear back from my first few queries, I have some time to be creative and stop thinking business.
I do want to think about craft for a minute, though. Neil Gaiman made me think about a lot of things I already know how to do and the things I need to work on. But someone also shared an article with the writing group that I found really interesting, and it got me thinking about my One Free Trick.
Basically, this writer says everyone gets one thing by default that they're really good at. The rest we have to learn to do better. I keep trying to figure out what my one thing is. Every time I think I have it narrowed, I trace it back to where I learned to do it, instead. So I've finally come down to, I'm good at putting characters in situations where there's going to evoke some emotional response from the reader.
I like to believe that I have the Plot Machine figured, but there was a long time I was bad at beginnings, middles, and ends. I think I have an instinctual feel for the shape of stories, so story structure comes pretty easily. I'm good at coming up with horrible things to happen to my characters to keep them from their wants and needs. And I've gotten good at subverting reader expectation, once Ted taught me how to do that. Dave taught me to do better dialogue. Dianne has taught me a lot about showing versus telling. Amanda helps me figure out where I've hit the emotional beat I meant to hit and where I missed. Jack gives me weird stuff I wouldn't have thought to include. Rachel gave me the confidence to keep writing what I love and put myself out there.
Yes, I had a few solid tricks when I first started writing, but it's been thanks to all of my friends (and family, too! My brother and sister are my biggest fans!) that have made me a better writer, and kept me writing even when things seemed bleak.
Anyway. I digress. I've just found it interesting to reflect on my process, and my journey as a writer. Especially since I'm trying to hard to take the next big step in that journey.
But for this month, I just need to write. Hopefully I can wrap up this next SP adventure. And then, over the rest of the quarter, finish up writing Chain Letter. And write another short story at some point. Here's hoping my writing quarter is as epic as my editing quarter! Really liking this goal system so far.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Friday, March 1, 2019
March Update: Moving Right Along
I had a productive month.
I have done All The Edits for Druid Wars except for a last copyedit/proofread. I also still need to polish the hell out of the first chapter or three to get it query ready. And I need to tweak my cover letter a little bit. But all of those things shouldn't take very long. I'm updating my agent query list so that by the end of this month, I should be ready to begin the query process. My top agent is still closed, though, so if I need to take some extra time, I can. I'm debating sending it off to one last beta reader even before the proofread to make sure I'm not missing anything. As kind of a final check. Even before I send it to my siblings.
Halfway through this whole process, I realized why it took me a year to dive into this. It's such an intensive process. I have to fully immerse myself in a world. I have to read and reread several times, look at it from every angle, and pick apart each scene and sometimes even sentence. It is hard work to edit a novel. It's even harder work to get a novel ready for querying. It's only the second book I've had to do this to. With MystWatch 2 and 3, I'm not going to do a line edit, a copy edit, and a proofread, as well as a crutch word pass. But those things need to be taken care of before I can send a book to an agent. Or, I suppose, if I were going to self-publish. Which, I've decided not to for the foreseeable future, so that's here nor there.
Anyway. A lot of the reason I dragged my feet on Druid Wars submission was because querying sucks. But it's also because I wasn't ready to breath, eat, and dream Druid Wars.
It's been different, though. With MystWatch, the more I read it, the more I love it. With Druid Wars, the more I read it, the less I love it. Rather than being discouraged by that, I'm actually heartened. Maybe querying won't be so brutal. I can take it less personally this time around. And as I mentioned, if I have to trunk this series, I will have fewer feelings about it.
That being said, I am not as fatigued as I'd expected to be after all that. And I'm not tired of the world. I even made some notes for book two. So I'm in a really good place with all that.
So now, of course, it's time to switch gears, and projects, to focus on finishing up my MystWatch trilogy. Time to edit book three. It took about four weeks over the course of two months to do about the same level of edits on Druid Wars that I want to get done on book three this month. And it's a longer book. So it may be tough to get it ready for beta readers before I hit the end of this quarter. But as long as I'm diligent, it should be close. Camp NaNo is next month, and I only need about 15k words to finish my current SP adventure, so I should have some time to finish it up, if I need.
One more month of editing, then I'll slide into a writing quarter. I'm nervous and excited. I've been thinking about Sally Prescott on and off the last month, so it'll be good to revisit her world soon.
In the meantime, I get to go back and visit all my MystWatch friends. I might even try to write the Shane short, since I did make a goal to write a short story each quarter. Although maybe I should consider writing a Druid Wars short. I decided which two I want to write. I don't necessarily have plots for both, though, so maybe it's better to wait. Also, there's no point in writing in-between-the-books shorts if the first book doesn't get picked up. I may anyway, just as an exercise, but I think my writing energies may be better spent focusing on other things.
At any rate. It's only been two months so far this year, but I'm happy with my pace and progress. Moving right along. Hopefully by the end of this month, MystWatch 3 will be ready for beta readers.
I have done All The Edits for Druid Wars except for a last copyedit/proofread. I also still need to polish the hell out of the first chapter or three to get it query ready. And I need to tweak my cover letter a little bit. But all of those things shouldn't take very long. I'm updating my agent query list so that by the end of this month, I should be ready to begin the query process. My top agent is still closed, though, so if I need to take some extra time, I can. I'm debating sending it off to one last beta reader even before the proofread to make sure I'm not missing anything. As kind of a final check. Even before I send it to my siblings.
Halfway through this whole process, I realized why it took me a year to dive into this. It's such an intensive process. I have to fully immerse myself in a world. I have to read and reread several times, look at it from every angle, and pick apart each scene and sometimes even sentence. It is hard work to edit a novel. It's even harder work to get a novel ready for querying. It's only the second book I've had to do this to. With MystWatch 2 and 3, I'm not going to do a line edit, a copy edit, and a proofread, as well as a crutch word pass. But those things need to be taken care of before I can send a book to an agent. Or, I suppose, if I were going to self-publish. Which, I've decided not to for the foreseeable future, so that's here nor there.
Anyway. A lot of the reason I dragged my feet on Druid Wars submission was because querying sucks. But it's also because I wasn't ready to breath, eat, and dream Druid Wars.
It's been different, though. With MystWatch, the more I read it, the more I love it. With Druid Wars, the more I read it, the less I love it. Rather than being discouraged by that, I'm actually heartened. Maybe querying won't be so brutal. I can take it less personally this time around. And as I mentioned, if I have to trunk this series, I will have fewer feelings about it.
That being said, I am not as fatigued as I'd expected to be after all that. And I'm not tired of the world. I even made some notes for book two. So I'm in a really good place with all that.
So now, of course, it's time to switch gears, and projects, to focus on finishing up my MystWatch trilogy. Time to edit book three. It took about four weeks over the course of two months to do about the same level of edits on Druid Wars that I want to get done on book three this month. And it's a longer book. So it may be tough to get it ready for beta readers before I hit the end of this quarter. But as long as I'm diligent, it should be close. Camp NaNo is next month, and I only need about 15k words to finish my current SP adventure, so I should have some time to finish it up, if I need.
One more month of editing, then I'll slide into a writing quarter. I'm nervous and excited. I've been thinking about Sally Prescott on and off the last month, so it'll be good to revisit her world soon.
In the meantime, I get to go back and visit all my MystWatch friends. I might even try to write the Shane short, since I did make a goal to write a short story each quarter. Although maybe I should consider writing a Druid Wars short. I decided which two I want to write. I don't necessarily have plots for both, though, so maybe it's better to wait. Also, there's no point in writing in-between-the-books shorts if the first book doesn't get picked up. I may anyway, just as an exercise, but I think my writing energies may be better spent focusing on other things.
At any rate. It's only been two months so far this year, but I'm happy with my pace and progress. Moving right along. Hopefully by the end of this month, MystWatch 3 will be ready for beta readers.
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
February Update: Finally Stuff and Things
I realized in my last post, I didn't announce this, but I finally got my rejection from DAW. So, the MystWatch series is officially on hold indefinitely. Maybe one of these days, it'll make its way out into the world. For now, I'm just going to clean up book three for my beta readers and siblings, then I'm done with it.
I'm finally excited about the first Druid Wars book again. It only took a year after getting it back from my beta readers. But. I got the beta reader feedback incorporated. Now I just need to go through and do a line edit, then a copy edit, then probably one last proof, and it will be READY TO QUERY. It's really close, now. I should have it done this quarter, as I had planned.
I haven't done much to MystWatch book three, but I did add to a scene I'd been struggling with, so I can at least say I have touched it this year. I'd like to get Druid Wars off my plate before diving into it. I don't know if it'll take me all February to wrap that up or not. Either way, I plan to spend at least one whole month on it, and probably whatever time I have leftover once Druid Wars is polished.
I even dragged out the literary agent list I compiled last year for it. I've updated it a bit, and even checked on my query letter. All of that is mostly ready to go, so yeah. I'd say I will hit my quarterly goal of having it ready to submit before Camp NaNo hits.
I'm nervous and excited. The querying process was soul-crushing last time around. This is a better, more marketable book, I think. Better written. A hell of a lot shorter. I'm hoping to get at least a few more requests for partials (maybe even fulls!). I'm not 100% convinced it'll be my big break, but I think it has a better chance than Hunter's Blood ever did.
And hey. Worst case? I trunk it and move on. I didn't make the same mistake with Druid Wars as I did with MystWatch. I didn't waste a lot of energy writing a second or third book, so I can let it go more easily. And hey. It took me about two years to get through all the queries I wanted to do with Mystwatch. By that time, I should have a my next book lined up to begin querying, if Druid Wars doesn't make it.
I know my yearly plan is rather aggressive, editing three books and finishing writing at least one. But last year I didn't manage to get these books off my plate, so I have to do it this year. I have these three outstanding books that have been weighing on me for years. Time to wrap them up and see where my next adventure takes me. The Order and Autonomy world? The Dante novels? Fractured Worlds? Hunker City? Something completely new? Only time will tell.
So far, the quarterly goals are working really well for me. Knowing I have three projects to work on over the course of three months is allowing me more flexibility in following my motivation. I never liked how when a month ended, I had to immediately try to switch gears. Knowing I just have these three things I want to get done before April helps me relax, knowing that if I really don't want to work on something, I've got something else I can slide in. So even though my plan is to work on Druid Wars and then MystWatch, I can swap them, if I so choose. I also would really like to write a short story this quarter, so I can sneak that in, as well.
I've got a lot to do over the next two months, and I lost a week to another cold this month. But. I think I'm ready to dive into line edits. I even told my sister that she'd get to read Druid Wars soon. I told her she'd be reading it while I was querying, but maybe I'll hold off and see what she says about it before I do that. Make sure it's really truly reader for readers.
One last item of business I wanted to mention. Neil Gaiman now has a Master Class on the MasterClass website. It's $90 to take it, and I think I'm going to. For twice that, I can have an all-access pass for a year, and take classes from James Patterson, Judy Blume, Margaret Atwood, and Dan Brown. It's an investment in my writing career, and that's pretty inexpensive for writing classes. It will kill my writing budget line for the year, but I never spend all of it, anyway. I think this would be totally worth it. Short of beta reading, it's been a long time since I did much to improve my craft. It might be about time.
I'm finally excited about the first Druid Wars book again. It only took a year after getting it back from my beta readers. But. I got the beta reader feedback incorporated. Now I just need to go through and do a line edit, then a copy edit, then probably one last proof, and it will be READY TO QUERY. It's really close, now. I should have it done this quarter, as I had planned.
I haven't done much to MystWatch book three, but I did add to a scene I'd been struggling with, so I can at least say I have touched it this year. I'd like to get Druid Wars off my plate before diving into it. I don't know if it'll take me all February to wrap that up or not. Either way, I plan to spend at least one whole month on it, and probably whatever time I have leftover once Druid Wars is polished.
I even dragged out the literary agent list I compiled last year for it. I've updated it a bit, and even checked on my query letter. All of that is mostly ready to go, so yeah. I'd say I will hit my quarterly goal of having it ready to submit before Camp NaNo hits.
I'm nervous and excited. The querying process was soul-crushing last time around. This is a better, more marketable book, I think. Better written. A hell of a lot shorter. I'm hoping to get at least a few more requests for partials (maybe even fulls!). I'm not 100% convinced it'll be my big break, but I think it has a better chance than Hunter's Blood ever did.
And hey. Worst case? I trunk it and move on. I didn't make the same mistake with Druid Wars as I did with MystWatch. I didn't waste a lot of energy writing a second or third book, so I can let it go more easily. And hey. It took me about two years to get through all the queries I wanted to do with Mystwatch. By that time, I should have a my next book lined up to begin querying, if Druid Wars doesn't make it.
I know my yearly plan is rather aggressive, editing three books and finishing writing at least one. But last year I didn't manage to get these books off my plate, so I have to do it this year. I have these three outstanding books that have been weighing on me for years. Time to wrap them up and see where my next adventure takes me. The Order and Autonomy world? The Dante novels? Fractured Worlds? Hunker City? Something completely new? Only time will tell.
So far, the quarterly goals are working really well for me. Knowing I have three projects to work on over the course of three months is allowing me more flexibility in following my motivation. I never liked how when a month ended, I had to immediately try to switch gears. Knowing I just have these three things I want to get done before April helps me relax, knowing that if I really don't want to work on something, I've got something else I can slide in. So even though my plan is to work on Druid Wars and then MystWatch, I can swap them, if I so choose. I also would really like to write a short story this quarter, so I can sneak that in, as well.
I've got a lot to do over the next two months, and I lost a week to another cold this month. But. I think I'm ready to dive into line edits. I even told my sister that she'd get to read Druid Wars soon. I told her she'd be reading it while I was querying, but maybe I'll hold off and see what she says about it before I do that. Make sure it's really truly reader for readers.
One last item of business I wanted to mention. Neil Gaiman now has a Master Class on the MasterClass website. It's $90 to take it, and I think I'm going to. For twice that, I can have an all-access pass for a year, and take classes from James Patterson, Judy Blume, Margaret Atwood, and Dan Brown. It's an investment in my writing career, and that's pretty inexpensive for writing classes. It will kill my writing budget line for the year, but I never spend all of it, anyway. I think this would be totally worth it. Short of beta reading, it's been a long time since I did much to improve my craft. It might be about time.
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