Writing Deadline Month

As you may know from previous posts, tomorrow begins my deadline month to finish the "writing" portion of my novel project. I'm both excited and terrified by this, since I have so many other ways to spend (waste) my time, with a new HDTV and Dynasty Warriors 6 it will be difficult to force myself to stick to the plan. But I am going to do it.

Next week I'll be flying to Toronto on business again and I should be able to get some words written on the planes. Let's cross our fingers and hope that Curious Woman doesn't spontaneously decide to visit Ontario by way of Denver, too.

Endorsement: www.SimplyCharly.com

I was recently turned onto a good (and entertaining) resource. Students, teachers, and others can check out websites specific to historical figures and famous personalities through the portal at Simply Charly.

Personally, I enjoy the caricatures, but there is quite a bit of information available about each. If you're doing research, or just occasionally curious from time to time like I am, have a look and a read. Just the Flash is impressive, and the content will make you smile and challenge your brain.

Is that like "Harry Potter" and "C.S. Lewis"?

Flying back from my latest business trip (to New York City), I was seated next to a friendly and talkative woman who took an interest in what I was doing on my laptop. Or attempting to do. As you know from previous posts, I'm trying to finish the writing portion of my current novel project by the end of April. The conversation was quite hilarious, but I'll summarize because I don't have a very good memory for that sort of thing.

She asked if I was a writer (with much awe, I might add) and I told her I was trying to be. It was my first novel project and that it was nearing completion and should be ready to submit to a publisher this year. She asked me what kind of book it would be and I told her "fantasy."

She asked me what I meant by "fantasy."

See, there's a funny connotation to that word (quite a few, I suppose) where people think it's either something sexual [which she seemed to be appalled by] or something like Harry Potter and C.S. Lewis. I had to explain that it was "swords and dragons" fantasy, which is kind of where the Harry Potter comment came from.

Not that I'd mind being compared to Rowling, in fact the older gentleman in the leaned-back-all-the-way seat in front of me was reading Deathly Hallows for most of the flight. It's just that the stereotype that gets slapped on Fantasy Fiction is kind of bothersome - that it's either too adult or not nearly adult enough.

It was fun to talk about my book, though, and it made me realize that I need a clearer picture of what my book is "about" so that I can pitch it at some point. She liked the sound of what I described, though it was in a very segmented way, and said that the first chapter made the book sound very interesting. She even asked what my name was so she could look for the book if it ever came out. I was more than willing to relinquish information because I don't usually talk about my book that much in detail, even though I blog about writing it on a pretty regular basis.

At any rate, it was an interesting conversation and I hope as my confidence grows as a writer I'll be able to have more of these types of conversations. Then, of course, my popularity will boom and I will be a best-seller in no time. Ha!

Words every writer wants to hear

Last night was my bi-weekly Writers Group meeting and I brought the first chapter of my Thomas Redpool story. After sharing most of it aloud, I stopped and waited for feedback and heard, from a published author, some words that I think every writer craves desperately to hear.

"I've never heard anything like this before."

Of course, he meant that in a positive way, and I appreciate any feedback whether positive or merely constructive criticism. But pardon me while I do a little bit of a jig. I literally fell asleep smiling last night, thinking of the prospects of this project and of my future.

It's just another nudge of encouragement that I can really do this. It felt really good.

Setting Goals

I think, to avoid getting bogged down any further in the 75-95% portion of the project, I am going to skip ahead to the ending as much as possible, much like the folks do during NaNoWriMo. I am going to set the following goals (deadlines, really):

- By the end of April, I want to be done with the "writing" portion
- By the end of May, I want to be done with the "editing" portion of the full draft #1
- By the end of June, I want to have a readable, submittable draft
- By the end of July, I want to submit to a publisher, probably DAW books

I think these are attainable if I focus really hard and allow myself a few indulgences (particularly after buying the PS3). Writing is hard to do at home, but editing I should be able to do with relative ease since most of the highlighting and scribbling is done on a hard copy printout. I want to finish this novel and now I have assigned myself a reasonable timeframe of doing so.

Another 50k milestone

At Starbucks last night, I passed the 50000 word mark on "part 2" of my novel project. On the one hand, I'm intensely proud of this, even though "part 2" will eventually be absorbed into the larger novel to make one [giant] book. On the other, I'm becoming increasingly aware of how much more work this project is going to need before being flagged as complete. It's quite staggering, really.

Even more staggering is that I'm passing 50000 words on "part 2," a place where in my part 1 I halted production of the first draft and began the editing and revising phase. I still have quite a bit of story to tell, so my emotions are very mixed about this particular milestone. I think that if I try even harder to focus on finishing this project in the next month or two, I can do it, and start trying again to get the new project published. I'm really eager to start that process but the novel isn't done yet. Not after the restructuring, redrawing of the world map, combination, and impending re-working of the supplemental "world" info and alternate storylines.

It may not sound like it from what I've said here, but this is fun.

Things I've Learned About Colorado

I come from a fairly modest background. My parents were (are?) religious, but not cram-it-down-your-throat religious, besides I rebelled against that quite awhile ago. We were always middle class and my home was full of siblings and love. I say all of this because I want to mention that I grew up in [Northern] California, a place that is little more than myth in a lot of Americans' minds. I grew up in an agricultural community, a very small town, and I think I developed a very independent and neutral view of things. Good sportsmanship, and all that.

When I moved to Utah, I had to adapt to a place where people where not friendly with one another. Neighbors didn't know each other much, or if they did they were actually friends and churchmates attending the same "ward." People didn't talk to each other in the Blockbuster checkout line to swap movie opinions or make suggestions - God forbid that you tell me you saw this movie!

Colorado is a bit of a different place than any I've ever lived before. Right from the moment I moved here I realized this but it has been very hard to pinpoint exactly why. People, most people, are certainly more friendly here than in Utah, particularly on the religion issue, but it's so much more than that.

The biggest thing I've realized about Colorado lately is that people are completely unafraid to voice their discontent. Not that we're all complainers, it's just that we're very vocal about it. We boo the other team coming on to the field at college football games. We boo a hockey player who almost killed someone every time he touches the puck. Bad sportsmanship aside, it actually feels quite good to be able to have that outlet and voice your discontent. There is, of course, a limit to how much a person can take.

Without going into too much detail about why, I'll just say that I was recently selected to sample a new blank-label beer. Sort of a focus group, I guess, and I was very interested. I went to pick up my six-pack of "test beer" today and, much to everyone's chagrin, the mobile distributing vehicle was actually at a different store than they said they were going to be. Once I went to the second store and found them, I was relieved - I just wanted to fill out my survey, sign my waiver, and take my brand new six-pack home for consumption. Estimated time: less than five minutes.

Unfortunately, a couple of people felt like voicing how disappointed they were about having to travel to the second store. At one point, they actually complained about having to "drive across town during rush hour traffic." Now, I'll admit that I was a bit bewildered and a little annoyed that the "free beer truck" wasn't where it should have been, but honestly by the time I saw the heaps of bottles of beer that no one but a brewmaster had ever tried before, all of that fell away. Again, unfortunately, I was basically behind in line while I waited for these people to finish their tirade (which was quite obviously a guilt trip for more than their deserved share of free beer) so that I could get on with my life. Total time: fifteen minutes.

I'm not really one to try to silence the voice of discontentment (since most of the time it's my voice, afterall) but this event really drew into focus something that had been hanging on the edge of my mind for some time. It may seem harsh to say this, but I'm a little astonished that people would actually complain while literally inches away from 72 ounces of free beer, the likes of which that probably twenty or less people had ever tried before.

And I had to share this tale of ridiculousness, and the adjoining reality of Colorado, with you.

T.D. Newton guest hosting, part 2

Pipes & Pints has posted part 2 of the writing/literature series. In this "episode" the topics include blogging, journalism, and storytelling.

Direct link here:
http://pipesandpints.mypodcast.com/2008/03/Liturature_Part_2-88138.html

"What Chance has the New Writer?"

This morning I read an entry of The Writer's Perspective by Maria Schneider that I had to share.

This article, though over 40 years old, discusses the same things we face today as writers trying to "break into the market." It's fantastic in the sense that reading it helps us to realize the same problems we face today about how to write, what to write, editing, and selling our work are the same problems that potential authors have always faced.

I would encourage anyone with a novel project to read this.
Direct link:

http://www.writersdigest.com/writersperspective/My+Archival+Wanderings+Erle+Stanley+Gardner+Advice.aspx