Back to Revising

When I first started writing, I had no idea, NO IDEA how much revising there'd be. I mean, I taught high school English. I believe in first drafts. But I always *thought* that after that first draft, you go back, re-read, make some tweaks and viola! Perfection! Oh how naive.

I remember my first book. Typing that last word. My kids were outside playing and I could hear their little voices. I sat at that computer, the words blurring through my tears. I did it. I wrote a freakin book. It was a lifelong dream, something that I wanted to do in my twenties but lacked any amount of discipline. And now, during naps and after bedtimes and during stolen moments when both my babies were miraculously happy at the same time, I had done it. All along I'd been obsessively stalking agents and learning the industry.

Do you get where I'm going? Yes, I read through the manuscript once, fixing typos and tenses. But yes, I actually queried right then. Like, the next day. To huge uber agents. I actually got a request for a partial and I cringe now when I realized the garbage she read. *sigh* But it's all part of it. Learning, growing, moving forward.

I know now what revising really means. My 'complete' book is being worked on again (are they ever really done?). I took some suggestions from an agent and am revising. Here's the thing, these agents, they know their stuff. There have been several along the way who have really helped make my book better. And I am grateful.

If I had known then what I know now, would I have written that first book? Absolutely. I wouldn't have changed a thing. This journey, while heart-breaking and frustrating, is essential to who I am. And when I look back, I'm proud of myself. Besides clicking send on that very first partial, there's not one part of this that I would take back!

What about you? Regrets? Startling realizations? What would you do different?

NaNo is nuts

So I didn't do NaNo. I do understand the value of such a thing. I'm as competitive as the next person and I work well with goals/deadlines, etc. But November? Wasn't gonna happen!

Which isn't to say that I haven't been writing. The idea of Nano got my butt in gear and I'm now about 10 pages in on a brand new ms. *sigh* Which is great, don't get me wrong, but I fear it was just a shiny new idea taunting me to get me away from that incredibly hard re-write I was working on. I've never worked on two things at once, but I think I may now. An abandoned ms might keep me up at night, so in the interest of resting easy....

In query news, lots going on. A couple partials and a few fulls out there. It seems agents are quite sympathetic to my plight (see how I lost my agent) and even my rejections have been super nice. Like they fear I might not be able to take much more, lol. I have made my peace with it all and remain hopeful that my one true agent is out there. For now, I am happily seeing what's out there!

Happy Football Sunday!

NaNo

I've never done it before, but I've heard about it. Writing a novel in a month. Or, 50,000 words. Yikes. I am considering, but I'm left asking, Why November? Really? In the month we get to recover from Halloween/Fall activities? In the month where we gear up for the craziest time of the year? In the month where we travel for a week of food and drink at Thanksgiving? This is when I'm supposed to crank out more words than ever before?

But this year, I have an idea. And I'm thinking. And thinking. And I think I want to do it. Regardless of all the million reasons not to.

Because, for the first time in a while, I can't stop thinking about this idea. Inspiration has hit when it had been hiding for months (see lack of blogging for verification!)

Should I do it????

See ya Summer!

Can I just say, bring on Fall! I have missed you, blogging buddies, I have. It has been an interesting summer, that is for sure. Somewhere in there, I made the decision to stop writing. I abandoned my WIP and my blog and I stopped reading.


It's no wonder that I felt so lost.


With that being said, let me tell you my story and I'll keep it short and sweet.


I was really struggling with my WIP. Kids were out of school, I had no time to myself and when I did, the words were coming hard. I kept at it though, telling myself that my agent was going out on sub soon and I needed to have something to show her. And then, I got a phone call.


And, I knew it was coming. I mean, in hindsight, I should have known. I'd read about relationships between other agents and their clients. And I just wasn't feeling that close with mine. I mean, she was great, she always got back to me, but something was missing. As it turns out, what was missing was the passion on her end. Because when my phone rang, I listened while my kids tore up the card aisle of my local Publix. Bottom line: My agent quit agenting.


The next month was spent waiting and talking with the senior agent. In the end, we terminated my contract.


That's right, I'm now agentless.


And while I spent plenty of time feeling sorry for myself and feeling almost sickened by the whole darn process, well, I am back for more. Last week I sent out 5 brand new queries. Now I've got a couple partials out and I'm loving the game again.


This is where I am. I've got a new part-time job teaching VPK 3 days a week that I'm super excited for. My little one starts pre-school this week. My oldest is rocking Kindergarten. I'm recommitting to blogging. T/Th/Sat I will post. Tuesdays will be inspiration for writing/goals. Thurs will be writing and my life and where it fits. Saturdays will be 6 things on a saturday so misc. I will write 1000 words a day on my WIP. I will keep 5 active queries out at all times.


I love fall. Somewhere in the aisles of desk-top organizers and new pens is the sense that anything can happen. Fall is a blank page, a fresh start. And I am ready.


So, what's up with all of you?? Had any hard writing times lately? Anything good and/or bad you'd like to share?

Outlines

Thanks for all the support regarding finding time to write with little ones around. Looks like I'm not alone, and that is always nice to know. Seems most of us writing mommies get the writing done simply because we have to. It's who we are, it's important to us, and that's okay. We can do both, and do both well. (Or fairly well...already since I began this post I had to break up an argument and put one kid in time-out...*sigh*). Anyhow, yeah, somehow we make it work.

A writing update. I finished my second round of revisions last month. My agent said all looked good and now we had to wait on other submissions she had out there. Apparently, she can't be out with more than one project at a time. I'm good with that...it's all about timing, right? Or at least partly about timing. Certainly she knows better than me. I'm getting quite good at the waiting game anyhow. Now I'm back at work on my old WIP and after polishing up the first couple chapters I sent them off to her to get the A-ok. She emailed back that she is liking it, but she can't really offer any feedback yet, until she sees how it unfolds. She asked for, gulp..the dreaded outline!! Aaaack! Condense all these rambling thoughts into a few pages of organized, coherant, interesting, and gripping plot-points????? Oh my.

So far, I've got a loose back page copy, some character sketches (with goals, motivations, and conflicts, plus basic physical characteristics), and a summary of the three acts. I guess now I should break it down into chapter summaries? The problem is, I'm not real sure of the details of the end of the story. Like, I have no clue. I was going to see how it unfolded, but I think the not knowing was paralyzing me, so I'm happy to face it. I'm going for a walk right now in the hopes that I brainstorm and figure it all out. Anyhow, any thoughts on what else I should include in this outline? I get the impression that it doesn't have to be super detailed, but maybe I should have asked?

This outline may be the death of me!

High Maintenance

It's a term my kids know and use regularly. It's been our lesson of the summer. We've been saying it together now, every time they need something. High Main-ten-ance. Not high maintenance in the sense that they need lots of clothes and make-up. High maintenance in the sense that EVERY time I sit, they need something. Whether it be food or drink or a lost toy or a too-high-up toy or a new coloring page printed or....I could go on and on. High maintenance. It takes A LOT to keep them happy for any amount of time.

Which leads me to this question. How do writers write with these little people around?

Stephanie Meyers has, like, four kids. All young and she wrote Twilight when they were all home. During the day. I saw an interview where she laughed and said she had a baby on her lap, along with her laptop, while she wrote. And I don't think she was kidding. Never mind that my kids are in a constant state of need. Never mind that. I cannot focus, cannot have even one coherent thought when they are around. And by the time they go to bed, well, quite frankly I'm ready for bed too.

Do any of you write with your kids around? I'm back to writing a first draft, so if I were gonna do it, now would be the time. I should do a test and see how many words I could get before somebody would need something. I'm betting on ten. Just during this post, I've had to stop and refill milk cups, locate a particular baby doll, help dress particular baby doll, and assist in the potty.

You'll forgive me if my posts are lacking? Hell, at this point, I'm just happy to have posted. Now, if only I could get back to my WIP...ooops gotta go add something to my 3 yr old's Christmas list. Yes, I know it's July, but she is obsessed with keeping an ongoing list for Santa. Say it with me. High main-ten-ance!

Happy Fourth everyone! Hope you're all having fabulous summers!

Graduates

Well, my first trip of summer is upon me. In two days, I'll take to the road. I'm trying to be optimistic, though ten hours in the car with my 5 and 3 year old is a daunting task. It's not even them...they'll be entertained by new coloring books, movies, and junk food. But me? I get tired and bored and just don't love driving. Especially by myself. I'm looking at it like an adventure and I'll try and forget that the last "adventure" with just me and my girls last summer involved my youngest choking on a banana and puking up all the junk she'd already eaten while I navigated the car the a dumpy gas station and tried to clean both her and her carseat. An hour later, we resumed. But the smell stayed with us for the remaining 8 hours.

It can't get worse than that, right?

Anyhow, I'm heading to the DC area, where I'm from, to see my nephew graduate high school. He was born my senior year of high school and I remember being at the hospital, just glad to be missing school. I fell asleep on the couch while my sister labored and I think I missed the significance somehow. I was pretty self-involved then. But once I met him, he won my heart, and now....wow, he's an adult, going off to college with his girlfriend. I'm still shocked when I see him, like he should be that cute kid with glasses who, for years, growled at anyone who greeted him (he loved dinosaurs). But he'll be there, on stage, his first really big deal in life. I feel for my sister, who feels like it all went by too fast and who makes me want to freeze time for my little ones.

After all, I've got my own little graduate here.