Category: book: hell hath no fury (ngd2)

chop! chop!

the challenge: cut 11oo words from Uncle Deppo (from 5100 to under 4000)

the deadline: this Friday

the reason: twofold – 1) to fit the length requirement to be considered for application to The Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop, and 2) to see if i can*

this is as much a challenge of my perception of my own writing (i think Uncle Deppo is great right where it is, but how valid is that?), as of my ability to revise. i think Uncle Deppo has the most potential of all my short stories for acceptance into the program, but losing more than a thousand words will have to have a major impact on the story, won’t it?

it is also possible to use a chapter from a novel for the application, though, and there are a some particular chapters of NGD and HHNF which could suit as well and are already within the length limit, but i really feel like Uncle Deppo has the goods (but will it after such a drastic weight-loss regimen?) and want to push myself to make it work.

here goes.

* and thereby answering the question: just how much fluff do i write, anyway?

unexpected workoad, but that’s okay

at my computer job has taken up the vast majority of this week. it unfortunately seems to come with the territory of web work, but it’s a good team of folks and i’m glad i have the time to help out. unfortunately, this week is also when i was going to prep for spring term’s classes starting on monday, so i found myself locked down on wednesday with school work and nothing but school work. that was probably a good thing, actually, as it kept me focused and i’ve just got to refresh the content for the first two classes in my head to prepare, finalize a couple things on the schedules, and i’ll be ready.

there’s been one more thing that’s kept me busy this week, and that’s some editing i’m doing of someoene else’s book. this is a great reversal for me, and has been an intriguing, challenging and rewarding experience for me (and i hope the author feel’s the same). the topic is well outside my normal content zone (and possibly comfort zone), and has pushed me to beboth more introspective and more objective. it’s been an interesting process, and i’m nearly there.

anyway, that’s the long way around of saying i haven’t done any of my own writing at all this week, but i’m okay with that. the computer and school work has to be done, but the editing work has been keeping my writing mind in shape. i’ve gotten a couple more rejections on the last batch of agent queries for NGD* over the last week, which is par for the course. it probably wasn’t wise to send them just before the holidays, but it was that or freak out for ten days with them hanging over me.

anyway, it is what it is, and this weekend, perhaps, will see some new work.

* including the HHNF submission to the agent who allowed me to do so. it didn’t suit, any better than NGD, apparently. s’okay, and i learned something about rejection notes: it’s actually possible to make form letters sound individual and personal (until the second one arrives with the exact same text, except the title). instead of being bitter at this, though, i’m impressed by the skill of the agent’s writing (especially in terms of the Business Communication course i teach). i suppose that says something about my own writing…

HHNF beta feedback? – mostly cosmetic!

after quite some time away, i’ve finally compiled all the feedback from the beta readers for HHNF and typed up the majority of the edits. it took a couple days to get through them all, and it could easily start to feel like death by a thousand cuts, but it never did because these ‘cuts’ were overwhelmingly mechanical edits (extra spaces, double commas, typos, et cetera), and i’m quite happy with that.

there are several dozen outstanding items i’ve flagged for further consideration having to do with word choice in dialogue or organization of a scene. in each case, i can see the reader’s reason for making the edit/suggestion, but now i must take some time to get back into that passage and see what fits best for each item. this is where the give and take of editing is the most difficult and, i think, powerful. whether or not i choose to make a change, i have been challenged to determine what i think is the best answer, and i force myself to answer for it.

thank you to all who have shared your thoughts on my work.

finally, there are two larger items that have been raised. one is an out and out plot flaw, involving a complete oversight on my part (a weapon that shouldn’t have been in Kelly’s possession is used to some effect in a scene). The other is a bit more nuanced, but no less important. in the latter case, i have a few options, while the former has only two (1: revise earlier loss of weapon, or 2: revise later scene to work without weapon). even as i write this, i realize which is the better answer (#2) and why (it’s more interesting and more real), so i’m looking forward to that revision. that should be some good fun.

not a bad start to the new year.

oh, one more thing: i don’t think i mentioned it before, but an agent who passed on NGD just before the holidays has allowed me to send the first 5 pages of HHNF to see if they spark any more interest. this is not a normal experience for me with agent rejections, but there was something in the letter that implied there really was some interest so i ran with it and she has the HHNF pages now. of course, there are no guarantees, but it feels like a step for me to realize that i don’t necessarily have to take ‘No’ for an answer, regarding rejections. Really, the worst that can happen is the agent says ‘No’ again, and hey, far worse things have happened.

ah, balance

got another rejection for “Uncle Depp versus The Truth” today, which was a bummer, but i also got feedback from one of my HHNF beta readers,  who really enjoyed it, so i think i still came out on top.

that’s my story and i’m sticking to it.

HHNF – draft 5 – Done.

quarter past 5 on Sunday evening, 150+ pages typed/revised in two days, and my third book is finished!

my brain, however, having been boosted on caffeine, Tim Tams and repeating cycles of Vienna Teng, The Wailing Jennies, and the Dave Matthews Band,* is now heading straight to mush for recomposition.

first impressions of being done, though:

i’m extremely excited. i feel very good about what’s there, about a lot of the pacing, the intensity, the storylines, and the characters. i feel like i’ve been true to them all, though it unfortunately needed these 5 revisions to get there in many cases. i can’t wait to hear feedback.

it’s noticeably leaner than the first book. this isn’t inherently bad, but i chopped a fair amount of stuff which felt heavy-handed or unnecessarily expositional, which may end up back in, depending on my beta reader responses. this is very hard for me. i hate being talked down to as a reader, so i don’t want to do it to my readers, but i also know everything that’s going on** so it’s sometimes hard to judge a good balance there.

and, yes, a little nervous. i’ll withhold the reasons for my nervousness, though, so as not to affect my beta reader’s perceptions.

so, the next few weeks are the hardest part, actually: the waiting.

in the meantime, though, what’s going on? well, i’ll be going back to the short story pile, working on submissions which have lagged while i focused on HHNF. i also have almost half of another book i’ve been sitting on (totally different storyline) waiting for the gumption to finish, which has been popping up in the brain more and more lately. then there’s the remaining three All Prophets Are Liars books, which are fully mapped and waiting to be written.

hm.

honestly, the first thing i’ll probably do is nothing.

well, besides finish the homework for tomorrow’s classes…

i did it!

* not to mention the incredible support of my wife who, among many many other things, saved my sanity by getting me outside for a walk with the dog on this exceptionally beautiful and warm fall day!

** hopefully, anyway

almost double

27 pages more this morning! the momentum got sidetracked with a couple calls in the latter part, but i’m not complaining. 27 is good. officially more than halfway!

now, to work.

almost halfway, and loving every minute. seriously.

page 145 out of 301!

15 pages this morning already, and still going. need a short break, maybe a Tim Tam, maybe a dark chocolate Digestive*, give the piano some more practice ahead of this evening’s lesson, then back here to run with more revisions!

what i said before about revision-fatigue** is valid, but not quite accurate. it’s actually more about getting myself to start working. when i’m feeling the fatigue, i dread the work, generally piling up all the things i previously mentioned as reasons not to even bother.

however, and this is absolutely key, once i start, no matter where i am mentally, no matter how little time i spend on the work, no matter how minor the changes or edits i make, i am always, without exception, immersed from that first moment.

the story reaches out to me, pulling me in, carrying me along, but it’s as much a logical as a creative pull. i tend to swing back and forth between the two pursuits and i’ve discovered that they are less mutually exclusive for me. i love the wonder and discovery of the creative light, of writing my way around a corner and finding a character i had no idea existed until that moment. or pushing myself to reach beyond my familiarity and try a new technique or environment or way of expressing the story. these are fantastic.

on the other side, i love the puzzle nature of revisions. i love the idea that i can turn a raw, rough ‘something’ into a polished and shiny final product. perfect? no. but it’s the process that thrills me, here. seeing the work as a puzzle, where most of the pieces are on the table and some are on the floor or between the cushions of the couch or still in the box or even out on the lawn, seeing it like this, gives my logical side a run for its money each and every time.

yes, it’s often difficult.

yes, i go overboard with some of these things.***

yes, i love it all: the fun, the difficult, and the unexpected.

* probably both.

** that was the phrase my wife actually used, which is much better than revision-exhaustion.

*** sorry, love.

here comes the momentum again!

after a great couple of classes and a couple of tutoring sessions, i had an hour and a half before we headed home. so i buckled down, strapped on the headset with Vienna Teng‘s fabulous Inland Territory CD*, and went to town on the revisions. less than an hour and a half resulted in 17 pages of work.

it’s great to be back.

* the whole album is excellent, though today i ended up putting “No Gringo” on repeat for at least the last half of the writing. the rhythm hooked me.

revision exhaustion

my wife and i were talking about my lack of momentum and she raised the point of ‘revision exhaustion’. perhaps my lack of energy is because i’m just tired of looking at the same story over and over again. at first i resisted this, but it’s true. i’m having trouble getting regularly jazzed by the story, seeing the magic of it, and that’s cycling back to less productivity, etc..

as a result, i’m starting to doubt the worthiness of the story, the quality of this sophomore effort, my ability to write anything that anyone would want to read. add to this the seemingly daily news of bookstores closing, of amazon and wal-mart mutually collectively bottoming out the book market, of less new book deals, the steady flow of rejections . . . .

bleh.

so, in an attempt to change my fates, i managed to turn out 20 pages through this evening, after all. not too shabby. is there excitement again? yes, some, but mostly a concerted effort to reach the end of this revision so i can get away from it. on the other hand, i am in a constant battle to do my best every step of the way. this can be really draining (and has been), but i’m going to get there.

now to bed to (hopefully) dodge the flu.

getting distracted

this weekend i got 40+ pages done on saturday morning, which was awesome!

on Sunday, I played DDO for almost 3 hours, which was not awesome.

yes, balance is key, and it’s okay to goof off, but i’m starting to let this final revision drag on. i need to buckle down.

of course, today isn’t much help, though it’s necessary: i just finished a few more pages, but no more than that, due to school work, grading, et cetera. on the other hand, school pays the bills.

so does the web work, so ciao.