minor fix

I made a minor fix to the end of the last scene I wrote in The Illusionist, and I like it better, though it still doesn't read quite the way I would like.

But, I did get a few more words.

Wordcount updated in the sidebar.

big plans shot down

...by a dose of 'reality check'.

I guess there are a lot of little things I need to answer before I can move on with my 'big plans' (namely, getting The Illusionist ready for eBook publishing in October and having EB ready for print submission).

First: when you submit something without any pro sales to list in a letter, should you have the whole thing already written, or can you sell based on 'three chapters and a synopsis'?

Second: straight to the publishers, or do you look for an agent first? Is there some advantage or disadvantage to doing one or the other first?

Third: if you go with an agent, should you have a completed manuscript first? (Same questions as the publisher, I suppose).

Fourth: is there a big advantage to having shorts sold to pro markets when trying to get something else published, even if you don't excel at the short story format?

I'm certain there are more questions rattling around in my brain, but for now, these are the most prominent ones. And, I'm not really expecting any life-altering answers here; I accept that I've just opened up a huge need to do more research into something that -- even with a lot of excitement to fuel it -- isn't going to be a simple process!

crit at the park

I met with my friend at the park today, and, while our children played for a couple of hours, we read and critiqued and talked about different aspects of writing, and what we each need to do. (I'm afraid that more time was spent on what I need to do, and I feel as though I need to make that up to her at some point...)

So. New plan.

I will continue to work on The Illusionist for the eBook Challenge. But, I will also return a chunk of focus to polishing the first several chapters of EB, and getting a better, more solid synopsis of the entire work, so that it might be ready for submission before too long. I'm a little nervous at the idea of sending out queries (is that the right term?) before the entire piece is done and polished, but I understand that that's really how its done if you want to make a living at writing.

I guess the upside is that she really liked my work that she read.

And the downside is that she really liked my work. (Haha. If people say its crap, I can just console myself with its being awful, and play around with no expectations. If people like it, then I have some kind of obligation -- even if its only to myself -- to do something with it! Ah, the tangled mess I can make of such simple things.)

So. Plans. Now on to the execution. (Take that however you like....)

prep-work

I printed out pieces of nine different works in progress to take to my 'critique session' at the park tomorrow. Most of them are the entire pieces -- no really long, or really complete things among them -- and the last is the first chapter of a former NaNoWriMo piece.

I don't know what my friend is bringing. I don't know if she writes poetry or romance or -- well, anything nowhere near what I write. What if my writing is just not in her interest area, or hers in mine?

Well, at least we can discuss the writing process, and motivation, if nothing else, right?

And worse comes to worse, we'll fall back on talking about kids and not delve into writing at all.

frustrated

It took me 2 hours last night to write a thousand words. The scene is no more than a 5 minute 'meeting'. Two hours!

I guess the good part is that its done. (I don't like the end; there needs to be more before it gets to that same conclusion.) Fuul likes it. I think he likes everything, though. Not exactly an impartial reader?

Thursday I'm supposed to meet a friend at the beach and, while our kids play, we are going to do some reading/critting of one anothers work. I've not showed stuff to anyone besides Fuul in a couple of years; I've not written much in the past couple of years. shrug I'm a little nervous, I guess. (Said friend used to teach some level of college writing; I'm a little intimidated.)

But. I wrote. Several pages worth. The story is gelling. I have an idea where it is going. I don't hate the story, and think the spew on the page isn't all bad.

I guess its not horrible for a start!

the illusionist

I'm putting a wordcount bar in my sidebar, to try and track progress on my eBook Challenge WIP, The Illusionist.

So. Progress. (And not just in the coding arena, either.)

having vs being

I realized something tonight, when I was talking to Fuul about the new eBook Challenge that PBW posted on her blog:

I really like having stuff.

No, really. I like having things -- not necessarily looking at them, or sharing them, or doing anything with them. But having them? Yeah, baby; I'm there.

I have Star Wars action figures. (Unopened. In boxes.) I have Harry Potter action figures. (Unopened. In boxes.) I have a beautiful bass guitar. (Enshrined in its case, rarely played.) I have boxes and boxes of beautiful fabric. (Heaven forbid they get cut into!)

And therein lies the problem, I think. I have stories. Lots of them. (In my head. Untapped.) Because once you open them, once you share them, once they are used up, then the potential is gone. I won't have them anymore. And I like having things.

I'm going to work on that, though. I've recently started using all that fabric that I've been having for years, and I'm finding that I like having it in quilts and baby dresses and other fun things, maybe even more than having it in a box. Sure, I can never do anything else with that particular peice, but look at the wonder I was able to produce by no longer having it! Its a better thing, and I'm better, for not having any longer.

I've got to stop having those stories in my head, and let them start being what they can be. And that will be all the better for them and for me!