You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'fiction' tag.
I was reading a third book of a series yesterday. It had been a while since I had read the first two books. Yes, the book explained a little about what happened in the first two, but there were some parts I was totally lost. The book had way too much conflict to follow along. There was the main conflict which was needed for the story, then there was also other problems that needed solving and worries leftover from the other two books.
It made it really hard to follow. Yes the book mentioned that the character had faced the twinkie demon in the first book and defeated it by joining the ho-ho alliance and becoming the leaders mate. (yeah, I totally made that up). But then it went into the complications from that because it upset the pretzel cartel who was lead by a sister to the character. It spiraled down from there to where it distracted me from the main conflict of fighting the Krispy Kreme cult. It was way too much conflict to digest. (get it? digest. I kill me.)
On the other hand, not having enough conflict isn’t much of a story. It’s like watching a reality show with one average person going about their daily lives. Boring. Why would you want to read about it if you can look around in your daily life and see the same thing?
How does this relate to me and editing my novel for publication?
I am working on my query letter to hopefully snag an agent as I edit the book. This has me struggling with putting enough conflict in the query but not too much that it is too hard to follow. Yes, I am putting in the main problem… Karie needs to get her body back or she will die. (If you haven’t read my teaser about the book, please check it out here. ) But while resolving that conflict she uncovers an even bigger problem. Along the way her allies have conflicts they need to deal with also.
Which ones do I mention? Which do I leave out? Also, I can’t mention all the characters. But boy I feel like I am picking favorites when I decide who goes into the query letter. But pick I must.
I am constantly learning- constantly trying to improve my craft. I hope this never changes. After reading this book-which is a successful urban fantasy series- I learned not to make conflicts too complicated and abundant that they overshadow the plot of the book.
I also learned not to write blog posts when I am hungry or I make a lot of junk food references. The digest thing still cracks me up though.
Okay I have been trying to work out a plot for the next book. I have an idea and a few characters in mind. I even have some very funny scenes. What I don’t have is a plot. I have sub plots but not the major thing- the main reason the book exists. I have been hoping for an inspiration to hit.
And well she did- just not in the way I thought she would.
I have been hit with another idea for a story. What the heck? I tried to push it aside, but it won’t go away. So my poor other story is being pushed aside now for a new one.
It’s okay though. I will work on the new story and maybe, just maybe I will make the other story jealous enough that it will finally inspire me with a plot.
You are probably thinking, my child got to my keyboard or maybe I misspelled NaNoWriMo. Nope. I am skipping NaNo this year. (National Novel Writing Month for those not in the know) but my friend and one of my lovely Beta readers challenged me here to NaBloPoMo, which is a challenge to write a blog post every day in November.
As you can see, I missed the November 1st post, d’oh! but I am back ready to go.
I got back critiques from one Beta reader-the one who issued the challenge in fact (hi Teri) and it was good. Showed me that I really need to develop one character more and give more information up front about her. She was amazing in catching inconsistencies. I am excited to do the second round of revisions. I think with Beta feedback the book is going to be so much stronger than it was before, which takes it one more step towards getting published.
I am curious though, how many of you are doing NaNo this year and how are you doing with your word counts?
I realize I haven’t been updating the blog as much as before. Boy when I was able to update word counts I felt compelled to blog. Now saying I edited 10 pages doesn’t sound quite as exciting.
I am excited to say first round edits are finished. I sent it off to the Betas- including some new folks that will have to be fully thanked in a later post (unless they hate the book then phoey on them). 
Thanks to Emily, Teri and Laurie who have been added to my Beta readers ranks. A writer friend I met on Twitter also has critiqued the first 10 pages for me. Ruthanne Reid is an amazing writer. Don’t believe me? Go to her website and read her first chapters here. You will be blown away.
So what does it mean to have first edits done? It means I see where the book needs more work. I am eagerly awaiting critiques from my Betas so I can make changes and start the second round of edits. I am saving a few people who offered to beta read for those edits.
I also wrote a query letter yesterday. No, I promise I will not send it out. Why? Several agent on twitter today bemoaned receiving queries letters where writers are not able to send the partial or full out right away. You have to be completely finished with edits before querying. I know this. I do. But man, that is a hard rule to follow.
Another rule I am struggling with is not writing book 2 if book 1 isn’t sold. I have the next book started in my head. I want to write it but I won’t. Why? If you can’t sell book 1 you are stuck with a book 2 that will also not sell.
Nope. Won’t do it. I am working on another idea that popped up in the middle of writing book one. I am struggling with some plot issues though so it isn’t flowing like the first. Of course I have just met some of the characters so they may take time to show themselves to me. Not every main character can be as pushy as Karie is from the first book.
So, that is what I have been busy doing. edits. plotting and trying not to give in to desires to query and write book 2.
I am a little late in posting. I try to post every monday and then another if the mood hits. I know what you are thinking. Okay, she used us to motivate her into finishing the book and now she slacks off.
No, I am not abandoning you loyal readers. I have been working on editing and you know what, it sucks. I hate editing. In my version of hell there is a huge manuscript to edit along with people whistling annoying songs. (why whistling- for some reason it gives me a headache. So naturally my five-year-old son does it when he is mad at me.)
I pushed aside all the doubt when I was writing. I told myself putting the words on paper- or in the computer rather- was the most important thing to do. Now is when I need to take out the bad and replace with the good. I read things and think, What was I thinking? which brings on doubts of maybe everything sucks like this and I don’t realize.
I’ll be honest it spiraled down into a pit of self critism that soon made no sense. (If I didn’t slump over maybe my back wouldn’t be sore and I would write better). So folks, that is where I have been. On a little writer crazy vacation.
I think I am back now. I like the book. Yes, there are parts that need work. Yes, editing is still one of my least favorite things. But I can do this- know why? I am a writer. I wrote a book I would like to read. At the end of the day, I can be proud of that if nothing else.
This week we have family visiting. But after that I think I will give myself permission to start working on the new book forming in my mind. When I have doubts about editing, I can switch to writing.
What about you? If you are in the editing phase, how do you cope? If you are writing, does reading about this scare you?
I hope not. It is all a part of the process. I can do it. We can do it! Off to edit…
Well, that is misleading. The first draft is complete. At some time around 5:30 AM I typed the word END on the book. It felt good.
I started re-reading the book so I can get a feel for it and realized the beginning is very bad. The writing is painful in places. I started the book for NaNo last year. Wow, I have learned a lot this year. It shows in my book.
Which leads me to the point no writer wants to hear after completing their first novel. Usually the first few manuscripts don’t get published. The thought of spending all these hours working on my baby only to find it won’t be made into a book is disheartening. However, I knew that going in. I know that no matter what, each book I write contributes to the next one because I get better every time.
So this book might be the foundation for my future best selling debut novel. Or, this book could be the perfect break out novel already and the New York houses will be fighting for me in a bidding war. (hey, I’m a writer I create my own reality) Who knows?
All I know is my head aches, my back is sore and the wrist is throbbing, but I have 80,801 beautiful words that tell a story from my head. How cool is that?
Last night I was tired of my book. I needed a break from characters and storyline. I tried to pull a fast one on my Beta readers.
Yes. I tried the ole’ “end and epilogue”. Which, if the story is finished is fine. But mine wasn’t. *I* know what happens but I forget that readers don’t.
I tried to bum rush my characters! Akk, bad writer, bad, bad writer. I sent off the emails to the betas last night and then decided I would go to bed early. (early meaning at 1 AM instead of 4:30 AM).
Let me tell you, nothing disturbs your sleep like ticked off characters wreaking havoc in your brain. I didn’t fall asleep until after 3 and not until I started writing more in my head. sigh.
I woke to almost identical emails from my betas. No way, the story is not done yet. Need resolution.
What I have learned is writing endings is hard. So much harder than beginnings. At first I wa paralyzed because I didn’t want to screw up the big climatic moment. I got past that part and now need to tie up loose ends.
My struggle is I want to write a book 2, but I can’t. That is a big no-no until the first is sold. Why? What if the first never sells, then you are stuck with a sequel to a book that isn’t sold.
So I want to leave a few loose ends, but still want to complete this story. It’s not as easy as it may seem. But I will get through it.
Word count: 76,621. The book is almost finished. I can see the tape and the hordes of people waiting at the finish line. I’m running as fast as I can!
I have passed the 30,000 word mark! I am so excited. I am at 30,747 to be exact. I have big plans on writing a bunch this weekend. I would love to do a marathon and try to crank out another 10,000 words so I can say the book is half done, but I can’t. I need to work on articles to pay the bills. But soon, very soon I will be there.
One of the agents I want to submit the book to is closed to submissions right now. However, there are rumors she will be open again at the end of the month. If I can up my word count to 2,000 a day, that will give me a month to edit before submitting.
Gotta go and write now.
One of my favorite blogs is the Apocalypse Blog. It is a blog of a fictional character named Faith who survives the apocalypse. I highly recommend you start from the beginning and read the whole story.
but if you want to skip ahead and just read mine here is the link.
I hope you enjoy it and welcome any feedback.
I can’t quite believe it. I am still in shock. I honestly thought there was no way I would win. I thought the second place story would win. I had to read the announcement over and over. Here’s the post…
I am going to be a published author in a real book! It will be sold on Amazon. Wow, I am having a life long dream come true. woo hoo
