At this moment, my best friend's passed out beside me. The smell of baking cookies pirouettes through the bedroom like an infinite troupe of aromatic helium balloons, bounding, frolicking. Chocolate. Oatmeal. Caramel. A bottle of a sparkling wine's still bubbling on the night stand.
The stranger who paid our entire bill tonight claimed to be writing an article for some swanky New York mag, comparing wine to women -- or women to wine. Was I research? I didn't mind being paid for, but if I was research. . . . I'm a writer, right? I know how these things can go.
Apparently in his youth, the man learned from his uncle's raising of orangutans, giraffes, peacocks; learned to appreciate his wild side, to honor rather than fear the passionate, rarefied touch of the great grape god.
How this week is all connected is rather swimmy. No writing. There were my first four chapters edited. New encouragements unleashed. New books read. New lives lived. Roads not and gladly taken. The week has spun through a haze, with Dionysus swooping in at every angle, gloating without malice, a small, plump god with florid cheeks puffing away as if sobriety itself were an indignation.
Needless to say, the WIP is suffering a bit. It needs another good round of edits and I haven't quite got there. But next week will be better. I still hope to have WIP edits done by the end of NOV.
And you? Any related, tangential, perpendicular, orthogonal stories!? Tell, tell :) How are your writing goals coming . . . or not coming, as in my case?
I had one of those frustrating revision weeks - where I had *the* greatest idea for a few chapters, so I frantically wrote. Then the next day, I realized it was awful, so I had to go back and delete/fix. I'm to a good place again, but still wasted a lot of time.
ReplyDeleteHowdy,
ReplyDeleteLast week, I hit my weekly goal. It was hectic, but I managed to pull out my word count at just over 10k in four days. It’s kind of fun to think that with that 10k I’m over a third of the way to finishing the story and closer to half. I’d said previously that it was for a contest, but it really isn’t. It’s an open call for subs for Avon’s Impulse line with thew deadline at 25k. It's for a "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" series. I’m hoping it’ll give me some exposure to the reading world if picked up and if it’s not, I’ll just expand upon the idea and make it a full novel. It’s likely not going to reach the 25k mark and will probably come in more around 18-20k. With revisions, it’ll probably stay at 20k, as I tend to write light and add more scene description in revisions. This means, that the first draft might be ready to go by the end of this week if I hit word goal. Guess we’ll see what happens. Of course, once the first draft is ready, the real hard work begins, revising the thing.
This week I’m waffling over sending a submission status request out for my finished novel. It’s been close to 19 weeks and their process said 12-16 weeks (with some people getting replies within a few days). However, I’d heard the place I’d sent to is a bit behind on their subs. I always feel odd sending status requests because I don’t want to risk making them feel as though they don’t have the time to deal with it and having them reject it as a result. If it helps my chances at all for them to hang onto it for a while, they can take all the time they need with it, take it to bed, sleep on it, reread it, relax with a nice cup of tea or espresso, maybe a warm blanket... ;)
This post left me with more questions than answers, but it sounds like you've had a lovely time in Napa. I cleaned and tweaked a MS for my lovely agent and got that sent off on Friday. Then got some weird stomach flu and spent the weekend in bed reading fabulous books.
ReplyDeleteYes, I need to get back to drafting the WIP. I'm at 40K and am bored with the story and just want to finish it off and right THE END. I think this one might be decent after five years or so of revision. Right now it's a train wreck.
I'm cartwheeling! I Fed-X'ed my manuscript to my agent on Thursday for a Friday arrival. Then I spent the weekend in the wallows of self doubt and neurosis. This morning I wrote 600 words on a brand new project. A few moments ago I heard back from my agent and he used words like "gobbled it up", "excellent, excellent job," and "This is really, really good." He does have a few editing suggestions and of those, only one is major - so it's looking like a bright shiny New Year will include the shopping of my bright shiny Upper MG manuscript. Whoa. Shizz. Somebody pinch me.
ReplyDeleteWOW, JRO!!! Pinch, pinch! And congrats!! That is absolutely fantastic!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that others had some frustration this week (Jennifer, Angelina).
But it sounds like you are right on, Daniel, and sounds like Napa is definitely an adventure, Lora!
Mine was a mix. I hit 11K for NaNo and 30K total on the ms, but realized I had to go back and straighten out the scaffolding before forging ahead. I tried to get it done over the weekend, and made some headway, but realize I want/need to continue from there first. So my revised goal for this week is to make it through the rest of those 30K and get it in a state where I can push forward next week at least.
So glad I have the company! A great week to all!
It must be the 3rd week curse. My week quickly spun away from Nano and the WIP. Work demanded much more, "right now" and "yesterday" sort of attention, so the WIP has suffered some neglect.
ReplyDeleteOur Nanowrimo write-in finally drew a few more writers. The down side is that it also drew more conversation than writing.
And now, after a flu shot on Friday (curses under breath), I have a touch of the flu. It always happens, which is why I rarely get the vaccine, but this time I decided to get it and document what happens so I don't forget the next time it comes up. :P
I'm almost to 60k, with a few more chapters to bang out, so I'm hoping this week will see a little more #wipmadness.
Of course I'm still putting out fires at work thanks to the new guy... blah!
Good luck everyone!
JRo...hurray for Gobbling Agents! Sounds so appropriate for Thanksgiving! :-)
1. NaNoWriMo
ReplyDeleteI've been attending some #VancoWriMo events (including the Take Over A Train Car and write on Transit event last Friday) and things are going well on that front. I'm at 28.6 K right now, so ahead of the curve, but I may need that buffer because I have some revisions to do on the old WIP. Yes, now. The bad news is I received a rejection last Thursday. The good news is that it was a personalized rejection, and with the help of a published friend, I've figured out what needs to be done.
2. Eating habits: It's been off and on. I'm pretty much staying the same, but the same is what I've been at for more than a year and I am tired of this plateau. Most of the Halloween candy's gone now, thankfully. Some things, like being invited to an all-you-can-eat sushi place, were unavoidable.
3. Fitness: My energy levels haven't entirely returned. This is life with MS. But I'm not getting any better sitting around. And I really feel ready to be more physical, because I think that would help me to get some of my energy levels back. So long as I don't push myself, anyway.
4. Reading: I managed one more book. But right now, I have some other priorities *looks pointedly at today's subsection B of goal #1*
I'm hoping I'll have all my edits done soon, too. Though I would love someone to buy me dinner. :P
ReplyDeleteI'm in, dunno, limbo? I just finished a WIP, and after that exhilarating moment or writing "The End" I'm on a slump now, because all the ideas I'm getting seem, you know, not good enough. Blech.
ReplyDeleteBut I wish you luck with your WIP!! <3
Super congrats to JRo! That's cause for a cheerleading pyramid. It seems the rest of us all need to link arms and keep trudging along. I'm cool with that.
ReplyDeleteI made lots of progress last week, but then had company this week, with another round arriving next week. But I get a few lovely chunks of writing time over the weekend. Hoping to get 5K done. Sort of lofty for me... film at 11.
Wine and women-that is a very erotic association :).
ReplyDeleteJennifer - Darn! That is frustrating. It definitely happens to the best writers... At least you know you didn't actually waste time, because you found out what didn't work :) Hope you're getting a lot done now.
ReplyDeleteDaniel - Good job! Hitting that 10k in four days is an terrific accomplishment, and since your deadline was pushed back, maybe you'll have time to really get it polished at the right length. I love your backup plan, too. If you don't get picked up by Avon, you'll be halfway to a novel-length book already.
Angelina - It WAS a lovely (and exhausting) vacation, thank you. I'm sorry this WIP is being so persnickety, but I do know the feeling. Hopefully, you'll be able to feel the love for it again, and in the meantime, congrats on sending the new MS to your agent.
Jaye - Yay!!! That's so exciting. It makes all that sweat worth it to hear words like "gobbled it up." Many congrats. I know you deserve it, and we'll keep fingers crossed for the next step.
Kip - Hope the scaffolding is looking less wobbly by now. That's one of the craziest things about NaNo, the way you have to just push and push ahead. It's smart to look back and make sure the whole thing's not just going to collapse.
Mary Ann - Rats! That does sound like an underwhelming week. And the flu is no bueno at all. :( Hopefully, you've recovered and are hammering out those last chapters. Luck!
Laura - Ha! "Subsection B of Goal 1." Now that is organization. Very impressed. I'm sorry about the rejection, but I'm glad you've figured out a way to make the book stronger. Power through!
Alleged Author - Good luck with the edits. The finish line sprint always feels like magic.
Monica - Know the feeling. I bet a lot of us do. You'll get that inspiration for something brilliant, I'm absolutely sure. And it'll probably come when you're not expecting it. I'll wish the muses your way :)
Lori - I live for those little chunks of uninterrupted writing time. I hope you get your 5k done, relax, and enjoy diving into the WIP without other weekend distractions. <33
Unikorna - Most certainly. Though, I believe after the last few days, there may be such a thing as too much wine, woman, and even (dare I imagine it) too many men buying dinner and expecting that very association :-/ A vaca from the vaca is in order.
Lora--Wow, sounds like Napa was quite the adventure! Glad to hear you are editing McCorduck like mad--just love little Jaffrey ;)
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