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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
I didn’t get as many words written yesterday as I was hoping for. Less than 1000. The good thing is, the ideas are percolating away up in the gray matter so now it’s just a matter of time to get them from there out my finger tips and onto “paper”.
As much as I love creating the podcasts for my website, I’m taking a hiatus. It takes a long time to come up with the idea, see it through to a publishable product, record and upload it. All time that I could be spent getting through the current rewrite of my first manuscript.
I need to concentrate my efforts on that. It’s certainly not going to publish itself and if I don’t submit it, there’s no chance of publication so I’ve got to get on track and back to work on it.
I promise there will be more podcasts in the future… maybe just some random readings of short (flash) fiction but I’ll be back. Please bear with me and wish me well during my absence.
In the meantime, I’ll try to post any triumphs I have on the writing front. Even if it’s just how many words I managed to write in a given day.
Cheers!
I had a rather productive day on the writing front, even though my wi-fi wouldn’t/couldn’t connect to the Internet. I settled in after lunch and throughout the course of the afternoon managed to write between 1100 and 1200 words. A complete new scene. And I inserted a previously written scene into where I wanted it to reside in the grand scheme of things with a few revisions.
I need to do some research before I can continue with the scene I wrote today. So… off to check a few things out.
Well today wasn’t a productive day on the writing front at all. However, I did do quite well on the Solitaire front. My wireless internet connection was playing silly buggers so I felt lost – not to mention pissed off – because I felt isolated with no contact to the outside world.
In the end, I think I wrote half a dozen paragraphs which I’m hoping will bring me closer to the entire scene I wrote last weekend.
Still, I plan on having this, my 5th revision of Sarah’s Gift, completed by the end of August. Guess I best find some inspiration, muse, motivation, and anything else I’m going to require to achieve this outlandish goal.
Wish me luck!
After going along smoothly, the words flowing out of my fingers, I’ve found myself grinding to a halt again. I had to stop and check a few details and formulate how I would work them in to my writing. Simple things, really… what train would my hero take from the nearby train station into Aberdeen? And once I got him to the city, what time would he leave? Minor details perhaps, but details that need to be accounted for.