Argh! Time Constraints

Why, oh why can't there be several more hours in a day? 24 hours...seriously? And 6-8 of those we're sleeping, unless we're insomniacs. I often only sleep 4-5 hours myself, but not consistently enough to consider thinking I'm an official insomniac...it's just Mommiac. Depending on the number of kids the acute Mommiac symptoms can last 18-25 years and then to some lesser extent forever.

Any-who.

I've hit a fork in the road. I know which path I have to take -- due to deadlines -- but it's frustrating. I have to sit NaNoWriMo aside for a week or so for manuscript edits.

I received the last response from my friends and beta readers on November 2. They were awesome to take the time out of their own busy 24 hours to read through and give feedback. I always do a quick look-see at the responses and then set it all aside for about a week or so. This gives me time to mentally prepare for the changes that need to be made.

So, starting tomorrow I will be diving into the final edits for Echoes of Regret. This time will be a bit harder. I'm coming into this a changed woman. There are disabilities I'm still trying to recover from as a result of the brain surgery in April. This edit will help me determine the extent of recovery I will have to do, which in turn might affect my publishing goals for the next year.

But enough of that depressing bit.

There's not too many changes I need to make to Echoes of Regret. Mostly it's weird grammar mistakes my brain doesn't compute these days (using he/she intermittently as one example). There are some subplots and gaps in my antagonist storyline that I need to beef up. And then some facts/story points I took for granted and carried over from book 1, Revelations of Tomorrow, that I didn't clarify enough.

Oh, and I have to finish my cover art input sheet so Desert Breeze's groovy artist can make yet another fantastic cover. She does a really great job tying the look and feel of series and trilogies so I'm excited to see how Revelations of Tomorrow compares to Echoes of Regret.

I knew this would happen at the same time as NaNoWriMo and prepared for it. It still sucks, but it is what it is. I'll be picking up my NaNoWriMo and catching up during the week of Thanksgiving, which I have off.

So wish me luck folks. (Don't worry, I have band aids and antiseptic on hand in case Captain Noah Bonney gets pissed off at the changes I'm making.)

Editing Abyss

AR grabs the ledge and pulls. The rain pelts down, drenching and chilling her, but she perseveres. Some of the dirt layering -- now turned to mud by the torrential weather -- slips. She grips harder, her ice cold fingers digging to the rocky underlying. She risks a look down into the abyss of editing hell...

Oh, hey... didn't see you there.

Yes, I am still alive and well. I didn't fall into the abyss, though it was close. The whole month of July was pretty much dedicated to manuscript editing. My final publisher edits for the first book in the Telomere Trilogy, Revelations of Tomorrow, and final edits of the holiday free read short story, Lasting Bonds, were due to the editor.

Remind me never to do a free read again. A couple reasons, but first, let me say that I love the final book and am excited to close some open loops for Nettie and Rinny. HOWEVER, I realized something about myself during the adventure of writing the Telomere Trilogy, which I overlooked when I signed up to do a free read for Desert Breeze Publishing.

I am not a monogamous author.

I can't keep characters going over several books. And truthfully, the characters aren't monogamous either. The characters slip into my mind, we flirt, and we all get excited and explore the journey. Once that journey is complete, I'm done and they're done. They drift off into the world I created for them and I never hear from them again. For me, the flirting process has started with a new story and characters. I'm too distracted with the new adventure.

So, any-who, August 1st came around and I sent Lasting Bonds to my editor and let out a huge sigh of relief. Then, within five minutes (could've been sooner, I wasn't watching the clock) the characters from my new novel started beckoning me. I went straight into it and spewed out over 8,000 words. Yes, 8K in 3 days... needless to say, my creativity was pent up.

My new heroine is amazing. I'm so impressed by her resilience and saddened by her past. I hope I can do her justice... plus she's got some really cool genetic make-up that is almost superhuman. I'm still working out my hero and I'm not sure if I like him much, but I think that's the point. He's got some serious jerk issues and shoulder chips, and he's going to change/evolve through the storyline into someone worthy of my heroine's love. The problems with the hero I think will benefit my heroine, and help her realize her own hang up and issues she needs to let go of if she's to find her own peace and happiness.

Another Step Done

And a few more to go, but I'm going to celebrate the completion of this one a little. The editing rounds are for Duty and Devotion are complete and my editor is moving it to the line editing phase!

*does an excite yet awkward wiggle dance*

Okay, okay. Calm down AR, calm down. The final version turned out soooo great. My editor was fab-u-loso! A rock star if you will. The story is to the pin tip a portrayal of my vision for it. She knew when to push me and when to ease me back and most important, when to celebrate what was just right. I kept all her notes and comments so I can apply the common editing/revision themes for my next work.

Also coming soon should be the kick off of cover art development. I don't know who'll be my official cover artist. Desert Breeze has hired a couple more on board but all their website portfolios look awesome. I do have a likeness for one of the portfolios in particular but I'm keeping quiet as really, any of them would do an excellent job.

I've started daydreaming about all the different ways they can go with the cover. I'm hoping for a nice balance between science fiction and romance. Not too harsh but not too soft either...

LOL! Geez, you know what? Just call me Goldie Locks!

Any-who just thought I'd share this milestone with my Blogger Buddies!

Oh Yeah...We're There

Oh boy! My brain (and eye balls) are ready to explode. It's the major editing saga of March, which will drone on into April. I'm just coming off of first round edits with my publishing editor on Duty and Devotion. Now I'm wading through the sluggish zone of "Editing Land" for Revelations of Tomorrow. It has to be done, and yeah, it's bad timing...but those are the breaks when you have deadlines to meet.

I'd wanted to get the first draft of Ending Eternity done so I could revise and edit all the Telomere Trilogy books together before having to submit the first to my publisher. However, my "Muse" decided to strike on me with the last 8K of Ending Eternity first draft. The reason? A conflict on the direction of the story. I feel someone needs to die, she feels I chose the wrong character to kill off, yet won't tell give me an alternative option.

I have mixed feelings about Muses. I know in reality they don't exist...not in the harps playing mirror looking human representation kind of way. I call my creative thought process my Muse. It's the little part of my brain that is always on imagination overload.

So, what do I do when my "Muse" and I are at odds? Well, it really means that two parts of my thought processes are at opposite ends of the spectrum. This usually means I'm not seeing the whole picture of the vision for my story. One or the other needs to share their little secrets so I can re-imagine what needs to be done.

With all the editing deadlines mentioned above, I know I have time to wait out this OK Corral moment and let it unwind itself in its own pace. It'll come to me...of course, at the most inconvenient time. But hey, don't look a gift muse in the mouth. Right?

What are you all working on right now? Mostly editing or mostly writing or some mix of both? (Of course, you could also be world building or outlining...don't mean to leave those two out.)

It's Sadistic Really

Yes, it is. I don't know what it is about writers (or maybe it's just me) but we are a sadistic and weird bunch.

...Let me explain before any odd ball notions get planted here. Too late you say? Oh, well...(heehee)

I sat down at lunch break and checked my personal mail.

What did I find?

The first round edits from my editor. I read through the email that contained overall pros and cons of the story and my writing. Then I peeked into the document and found all the red marks of the change tracker throughout the file.

What did I do?

I stood and did a little gleeful booty dance. That's what I did.

Now, why would I dance at the mark ups of my work? My precious piece of art that took a little sliver of my soul? There's a couple reasons. The first is my day job. It's a business setting where I work with management to come up with ideas that will keep the organization solvent. Then I build proposal and try to "sell" my executive team on them.

By its very nature this comes with a lot of technical review, political mumbo jumbo, and praise or criticism. They'll either love it or hate it. Rarely does the project fall into the middle "okay" ground. I've had to learn to accept this, and respond in a professional and non personal level. Sometimes that's standing my ground, sometimes it's compromising, and sometimes it's knowing when to let it go.

Writing is more personal. Yes, yes. I know you're thinking that. And you're right. Several years ago, I probably would've cried if this came back to me from an editor or critique partner. Okay...I did cry the first time this happened to me. It is personal. I poured out my creativity and tapped into emotions to make this story how I envisioned it.

But at the end of the day, I want this book in the hands of a reader, preferably lots of readers. To do that, like in my day job, means a couple specific things:

1. Checking my ego at the door
2. Putting my work into the hands and review of others
3. Accepting those professionals have my work in their best interest
4. Understanding the revisions of my work will result in a better portrayal of my vision

So far, these key points have not failed me. The end result of editing rounds has always been a better story.

Let's face it, I've read through Duty and Devotion hundreds of times. My eye is not catching another mistake or weird sentence. It's just not. The fresh eyes of my editor spotted things that, if published as is, would've been embarrassing or confusing (which leads back to embarrassing).

So, yes, I did shake a little excited booty and am ready to find out all the errors of my ways with Duty and Devotion. It's going to be exciting and challenging...and ultimately rewarding.

How do you all take criticism of your work? Are there specific points you follow to keep the experience positive?

Enjoying the Details

The last two weeks I've been wading in the Revision/Editing Phase...more the Revision and not yet the pure editing. Part of me would like to say that I'm battling it out and struggling with creative restraints, or otherwise not enjoying what some can see as the "boring" part of the writing process. True, it can be boring. This is especially true the more you get to the Edit side.

But, there's a creative skill that happens in this part of it too. Imagine the clay artist. He takes his chunk of clay and molds it into the general form of his vision. This to me is the straight writing phase. Getting it on paper. The Revision phase puts the details in. The curves, the depth, and the texture. No, it may not be that free, open session...but it refines the vision in a way only your creative mind can do. It add your writing "signature" that can only be you. Anyone can dump a rough draft if they have enough time and interest to do so. It takes a true artist to emote something from the basic form.

So, I'm busy refining my mold. I'm taking the dragging scenes and parring them with my molding knife to be the reflective moment of the character to his/her surroundings and journey. I'm taking the 4 chapters of straight action and adding depth to showcase the character dynamics and emotions developing through the chase. I'm taking that heated scene and adding texture to allow the characters to fall in love and not just lust.

Now, I'm not claiming to be a Salvador Dali...but I think I can be a pretty successful Street Artist. We'll have to wait and see what you all think in June when the debut novel comes out.

Good writing (and refining) all!

This, That, and the Other

Hear that screech of excitement? Yup, that's me. Revelations of Tomorrow is drafted. I'm now working through my editing phases. You know, adding the needed layers to produce a story that will accurately portray my vision. Some items I usually focus on in my first round edits include:

1. Plot and story structure
2. Character arch and consistency
3. Cross-referencing my technical components for consistency, clarity, and plausibility (if not plausible, at least enough to suspend the readers skepticism)
4. Major sentence and paragraph wonkiness

This will be several pass throughs and usually adds about 8-10K to my overall word count. I also know the ending is sparse...it's usually the last bit I flesh out. I've already spotted 2 characters that really should be combined into one character and expanded on. With all these initial points identified, I'm adjusting my progress bar to add 10K. This visual will help keep me focused and reduce any procrastination risks.

The difference with this manuscript that I will be working out for the first time is the trilogy factor. I've already started brainstorming and sketching some plot ideas for book 2. My goal is to have book 2 and 3 outlined by the time book 1 is complete in December. To help me, I'm going to be interviewing some series authors to seek some of their tips and tricks.

Okay, that's all I've got for now.

Good writing all!

You Remember...Remember?

Decades. Duty and Devotion has been with me for decades. It started out the passionate whims of a teenager. The plot and characters nothing more than a preconceived idea of what adult life is like. Over the many years, it was rewritten several times, tucked away for several years, and reborn out of those childish dreams. What came to be was a story I'm both proud of and something I think will resonate with many readers. (Cross those fingers....Hurry! Hurry!).

I knew I'd done what I could and what would come of it was up to the Publishing Gods. Either it would stand on its own and sell, or fade quietly into my fondest memories. Well, thankfully it was picked up and will be shown to the world. It's one of my greatest prides. So, when I got my first editing tasks, I found myself feeling a little weird. Making the needed changes for the publishing house as been easy...no heartbreak. No devastation. Just...easy.

I'd moved on, and though I look at it fondly, my very being is no longer attached to the story. I gave it everything I could, and now it's a partnership between the editor, copy editors, cover artists, and I to polish the last bit of rough spots and send it out into the world.

It's not my toy anymore and I'm okay with that. I think it's a good sign for a writer to know when they are truly ready to reach that next step. When they realize that the final product is not just theirs, but a team effort.

Just my thoughts on it any-who. And now, I can look back at the story and point to my hubby. "You remember when this was THE story? You remember...remember?"

Good writing all!

I'm on F.I.R.E.

Oh yeah. I'm on writing fire. Last few days saw almost 1200 words added to my Sci-fi epic novel (still unnamed---grrrrr).

It's the first novel I'm using several POV's. 5 to be exact. Not as daunting as it first looks and the characters are all tied together pretty tight. There are times though, I have to refocus my muse because she's seeing a scene in multiple POVs at the same time.

"Slow down, Little Muse Grasshopper...Breath," I keep telling her. It's working so far, but I know this one will need extra love and tender care in the editing phase.

...oh who am I kiddin'?

Editing is about carnage and blood and guts spewing everywhere. Must remember my scrubs and face mask when that time comes.

Good writing all!

The Benefits of Short Flights

I'm off to my business trip and headed to the airport in a few minutes. The plan:

To keep my laptop closed and manually edit, edit, edit.

The benefit of flying only a short distance is that you don't really have the time or inclination to turn the laptop on (unless you're a putz who wants to look really important...). So, I've printed several chapters and am prepared with a blood pen to scratch, claw, and rip my way through the flight. Hopefully what's left in this carnage will be great revisions for the evening in my hotel room.

Wish me luck and good writing to all!

The Many Faces of Editing

Well, I'm at home with a hiking injury so I'm devoting today to editing. (What the heck else am I going to do?) I'm not talking the first phase, where I just hit the Spellcheck button. No, I'm way beyond that phase...oh, wait. Have I talked to you all about my loosely defined phases of editing?

Muawahahahahaha! Okay, here we go. Come join the crazy world that is AR.

Phase 1: Denial Editing. "I just finished this wonderful masterpiece. All it needs is a quick spell check and it's off to the races of submission wars." (After this phase I put it away for a couple weeks to fight off the early-submission urge.)

Phase 2: Awareness Editing. "I know this is perfect, but just let me check to make sure...Uh, that didn't come out quite how I'd hoped...that either. What the Wisconsin?" (After this phase I am usually ego deflated and put the manuscript away in shame for a couple weeks.)

Phase 3: Revelation Editing. "Let's pull this work of crap out and see what I can make of it...oh, those changes did make this better. If I just change these little things...it'll be perfect again." (After this phase, I'm heading towards the happy part of writing again.)

Phase 4: Final Touches. "It's finished...but why can't I tell the difference between you're and your or there and their when I'm in full writing mode?"

So, there are my 4 loosely defined phases of editing. Usually phase 2 and 3 are rinsed and repeated several times before reaching phase 4.

Good writing all!

Adjectives and Adverbs Fettish

Tsk, tsk, tsk...it comes out. I love adjectives and adverbs. (Hides under 3rd grade glow in the dark space comforter).

I do. I can't help it. Blue can't be just blue. Smurf blue, baby sky blue, smoky blue of the dusty horizon. Okay. The last one is a joke (maybe...you'll never know). Let me tell you, starting out I was slapped with the harsh, cold anti adjective/adverb tornado of the writing industry.

To admit, I didn't *really* understand what they were scoffing at. Of course, now I do...and I want to share what I know and have grown to understand. It's an evolving thing here, so if you think something's way off base, feel free to flip the bird at me.

Here we go (interpreted from the Gregg Reference Manual, 8th Edition):

Adjective: Modifies a noun or pronoun. A word, phrase or clause that answers what kind, how many, or which one.

Examples:

1. Dismal Amazon rain (what kind)
2. Ten Amazon tribes (how many)
3. The other Amazon tribe (which one)

Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. A word, phrase or clause that answers when, where, why, in what manner, to what extent.

Examples:

1. In a timely manner (when)
2. I quickly rose (in what manner)
3. He occasionally visits (to what extent)

It's well known that the adjective/adverb angst ranges from frowned upon to outright lynching. Me, I think that moderation is the key. My first drafts are riddled, drowning, and splattered with adjectives and adverbs. Through my first editing pass, I focus on them, each on a case-by-case basis.

With each one I ask myself: Is there a better way to write this? And, am I using it as a tell instead of a show?

Example: Surpringly, Julie didn't expect the party.

Revision: Julie opened the door and dropped her keys in the bowl. Flipping on the light, the burst of "Happy Birthday!" scared her back against the wall. On a laugh, she smacked Tony's shoulder and said, "I didn't expect you to do this!"

The revision expands and gives three dimensions to the character, the secondary character, and their dynamic to each other. The first is dry as a saltine cracker.

Other times it's just about overload. My original work Flora Planet is a prime example of adjective overdose. (I'm only giving the first paragraph, as it's rather embarrassing in hindsight)

Example:

"Standing in the forest clearing, my crew the first to stand in a new planet without assistive gear, I felt humbled. Thick warm air enclosed around us. Tall, thick trees, lush green plants, bold beautiful flowers, and bright blue sky filled our eyes. Leaves so large they were bigger than the hand. So many variations of green: dark greens almost black, bright green vines, moss green growing on rocks, deep green leaves, and green brown tree needles."

Revision:

"Standing in the forest clearing, my crew the first to stand in a new planet without assistive gear, I felt humbled. Thick air enveloped us. Leaves, in varying shades of green from moss to almost black, were bigger than the hand."

See? Much tighter. Did the reader really need EVERY shade and to what part the shade was with? No, that can unfold throughout the story. Could you imagine a whole story of the original? EEK!

Okay, enough rambling for now.

Good writing all!

Submission Process from the Writer's Viewpoint

You can be the type of writer who constantly changes and modifies the same story until, well, forever. In that case this post will have no benefit for you and you can skip it (I won't be offended, promise).

But for those of you who are in this to eventually get published and have progressed enough to realize manuscripts have to be completed, you realize it's going to happen.

Eventually your draft will be as complete as possible. Your beta readers will still be in disagreement over plot, character, and word choice...but they'll catch no more technical errors. You, yourself, have gone through and can only change a word choice here or there. The title page is complete, formatted, and has your correct email address (not the personal one that starts with hotmama12).

It's time.

Still excited, you put together the cover/query letter and paste it into your email. The excitement starts to turn to manic psychosis about here...You double, triple, million times check it for errors or weird sentences. You attach the manuscript, remove it and reattach to make sure you've got the right file. Remove it, change the name of the file to something you feel is more professional. Reattach. Remove and reattach to ensure you have the right file.

This can take anywhere from 1 to 5 hours.

Then with nervous, sweaty brow and your heart about to explode....you hit send.

At this point, you completely freak out. Going straight to your sent file, you reopen to check for errors, file mistake, anything. You sit for the next 1 to 3 days hitting the refresh button, waiting for the confirmation and acknowledgement response. Often throughout this phase you log out and then back in...just in case the refresh feature is broken.

Once you receive the acknowledgement the little crazy writer inside of you needs a mental jacket. You spend the next 90 days (yes, most responses take 90 days) obsessed with your email and your submission tracker.

Now, the little realistic writer inside of you tries to tell the crazy writer to calm down. But we all know what telling someone to calm down does. Eventually the realistic writer does manage to tie up and muffle the little crazy writer and gets to work on writing, editing, or outlining the next story...but it takes a while.

Usually by this time, within a few days, you get the response from the editor and it's time to start all over again either with the same story or another completed story. The good news is the more times you've done this, the faster and easier it is for the little realistic writer to take control and the more productive you'll be during the waiting torture phase. It really does just take practice and a built up resistance to the neurotic tendencies.

Good writing all!

To Edit or Not to Edit

I sat staring at the PC, willing my brain to come up with a really snazzy post topic. I hope that I provide engaging content that is both thought triggering (provoking just seems so generic and over used) and helpful. I try to integrate the "tips" and "lessons learned" in with my current WIP.

There are millions of writing tips that can be given. Millions...yes, I can allow myself too hyperbole. I'm a writer after all.

*rubs hands*

Okay, of the million tips, which do I want to talk about today? Hmmm...editing. Or rather, not editing. With my recent frustrations of Sorcerer's Carnival and the editing of two short stories I think it's appropriate. Not to mention - which is a weird sentence introduction as I'm about to mention - my online writing circle had a forum discussion about this very topic.

Many writers, especially new writers, want to edit as they write out their first draft. My tip: don't worry about editing when your laying out the first draft of your story. By trying to edit as you unveil the story in your mind, you're limiting your creative juice from the gate.

Let your muse do his or her thing. Don't restrict them. Don't slow them down. Don't stop them. Your muse runs on an underlying level of thought that your conscious doesn't recognize or see. Basically, you don't know all the thoughts you're thinking. Your muse, however, can see everything and cruise all the avenues.

By definition your draft is suppose to suck. It's suppose to have grammar errors, sentence mayhem, and confusing paragraphs. The climax of the story will be in an odd spot and your characters will conflict with their core characteristics.

It's okay.

After your muse exhausts himself or herself and crawls into his or her mental bed to sleep off the creative hangover, your Nazi Editor can march out and straighten up the mess. They are systematic, organized, and ruthless.

I guess the core of what I'm saying? The Muse and the Editor don't play well on the playground, so don't have them out at the same time. You're just begging for the Muse to go all bitch on you and risking your Editor having a meltdown.

Then where will you be? Screwed, that's where.

That's my writing tip for the day. Good writing all (and editing too)!