Tonight I’ll be attending the reception to launch The Year of the British Home Child in Ottawa. Since my father was one of the 100,000 sent out from the British Isle between 1869 and 1938, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.
Pitching to an Agent
Next Sunday, I’ll be pitching my first novel to a literary agent. Fingers crossed that she loves my pitch and wants my book…
Some new writing…
I fleshed out another bothersome transition yesterday. Reads much better now (at least I think it does). Will have to send it off to my critique partner for her input since she was the one who first thought this one was too abrupt.
After getting that fixed, I did get some other writing done but not as much as I’d hoped. Maybe a bit later today, I’ll be able to get on a roll and get something accomplished.
Productivity drying up
Since Monday, I’ve not done a lot of “new” writing. I fixed a transition in the piece I worked on last week. Contemplated fleshing another area out some more but have decided I’ll leave it for now.
And while I was in “fixing” mode, I went back and rounded up the plot bunnies that threatened to run amok because of a change I made later on in the book. Might as well get it done while I was thinking about it.
Productive few days
The inspiration was there, the mind was cooperative and quite a few words were committed to “paper”. I had a few things I had to look up online to confirm with what I’d written. Think I’ve got that all looked after, so… now can fill in the blanks in my documents and carry on.
Did pretty good on the shopping front, too.
Dry Spell has passed
Met with the girls in my local writers’ group yesterday. During the course of the morning meeting we got on the subject of writers’ block and how I’d not written a word in some time. Well, I came out of there with a fresh outlook not to mention some excellent ideas.
I managed to write for about 5-6 hours yesterday. Woo hoo!!!
A spark?
I left my Blackberry turned on when I went to bed last night, as I always do, forgetting that I receive an e-mail from Forward Motion in the wee hours of Saturday morning. I couldn’t have been in a very sound sleep because I heard the thing vibrate and it was on the far side of the room!
Anyway, a few thoughts for Sarah’s Gift sort of came to me in those few disturbed moments of slumber but after mulling them over and bouncing them off a gal in my writers’ group, I’ve decided not to incorporate them.
Hey but at least I was thinking about my manuscript and getting back at it!
Nothing yet…
I wrote the other day about writing to deadline and the few precious days I have to finish the current revision of my manuscript – Sarah’s Gift. Well, I’ve not written a single word… zilch, nadda, el-zippo, zero… you get the picture.
Hoping to be able to spend the weekend (when I’m not running errands) getting some serious writing done. But time will tell.
Amazon Order
I ordered four books from Amazon.ca last week. While checking to see if my order had been shipped, I discovered I’d added a book to it that I already have. Luckily, I was able to delete it but wasn’t able to add the title I wanted.
One of the three books that remained on the order was Victorian and Edwardian Fashion – A Photographic Survey. I’m hoping that having it will bring back the inspiration and motivation I need to get this revision of Sarah’s Gift finished.
Oh, and the other two books? Both Stuart MacBride titles… books three and four… Broken Skin and Flesh House. And even though I’m a self-confessed Stuart MacBride addict (well at least his writing), I’m resisting the temptation to read these right away. The writing has to come first.
See my previous post entitled Writing to Deadline?
Writing to deadline?
An appointment to pitch to an agent. How exciting! Especially when it could mean securing someone to represent my work. But… my manuscript isn’t completely finished and proper etiquette dictates you don’t pitch an incomplete project. I’ve got until September 11th to complete the current revision since I’ll be pitching it the next day. Twenty six days remain as I write this on August 17th between me and that ever so important date. In addition to completing the manuscript, I also have to perfect my pitch. Yikes! Nothing like putting the pressure on myself. My original goal was to be finished by August 31st. That still could happen. I’ve not ruled it out totally.
Because I’m not a linear writer, it’s very difficult for me to gauge exactly how much I have left to write. I’ve come up with some ideas to get me through the remainder of the segment that takes place in the past. Even though I have an outline, thanks to storybook, I’ve veered off course from it, too. Not a lot but some.
Compounding matters, my motivation has gone walkabout and has yet to return. This is the fifth revision of Sarah’s Gift so to say I’m getting bored is an understatement. I want to move on to other projects.
Can I do this? Can I be ready to give a word count and genre to the agent in addition to my “TV guide” version of the plot? I’m definitely going to give it a shot.