And so, we’ve reached the waning

That’s mid-nano, for everyone who doesn’t know. Mid-nano is when everyone begins running out of juice. Luckily for me, I’ve reached mid-nano in the first week. Bragging? Maybe just a bit. Moreover, I’ve got the mid-nano blues, but instead of a “this is too hard” kind of blues, I’ve got the “why am I bothering” sort.

Don’t get me wrong. I like my new story. It was one I was going to write anyway. It’s the third in a trilogy. No one’s bought the first yet, no one may ever buy it, but I really love the universe I’ve created, so I’m going to keep writing books in it, even while writing other things.

I had an epiphany while writing it the other day. I’m working very hard right now, both to keep up with the nano (my goal is two weeks to 50K) and to edit my other novel that I’m submitting to my writing group. For a week, it felt wonderful. I could almost fool myself into believing that I was writing for work. (I call writing my job now, but most people that I’ve run into only use the word “job” if it includes the word “money”.) And I could pretend I was busy-busy because I had a publisher somewhere who was waiting for my draft. I imagined that I had deadlines that weren’t arbitrary, that weren’t created by me. Nano has a definite deadline, but I’m playing with that one, too, making it arbitrary.

I guess the fantasy is the thing that’s waning, and it’s making me a little melancholy. Not to worry, I’m sure I’ll be back on the horse again soon. At the moment, I’m mourning the loss of the fantasy more than anything.

Just a reminder…

Your nano novel must be edited, heavily, before you even think of sending it anywhere. I just read that many people finish and then stick it in an envelope. Please don’t do this. Even the people who run nano acknowledge that 50K written in one month will have more than its share of problems….and sex scenes. Edit, kids, edit.

Nano fee-vah

I will pass 20K today. My husband ordered wrist splints so I can ward off carpal tunnel. I love him. ^_^

Why do I go so fast? I thought I might try to do nano in a week, but now I think two weeks might be more realistic. It’s so fun I don’t have time to worry about rejection, but that might be a bad thing, at least a little. I’ve got to start submitting again and not be so focused on one thing at a time.

Just passed 16K

And I’m not done for the day.

Oooohhhh, Lordy!

Some people on the nano forms are done, like, over 80K done. I’m blown away. If I’m sore, their hands must be falling off.

Writing group is receiving my new project well. I’m very glad. I got a rejection from another magazine, but I’ve been so busy that it hasn’t gotten me down. There, a sure-fire way to fight rejection for ya, just keep writing.

14000 words and counting

Pity me. Pity my poor wrists.

8000 and counting

My sleep has already suffered some from nano. I fear this blog will suffer second. I’m off to do some more nanoing now. Ack!

Some useful links and info

The United States Copyright Office. You can do it yourself.

The Library of Congress page for publishers. Lots of helpful info, including how to register with The Library of Congress.

The Absolute Write forums. Whenever you search for an agent or editor, you’ll get at least one hit off these forums. You might have to wade through some off-topic comments, but this is usually a great place to find info from people who’ve queried and researched said agents or editors.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. I’ll try to think of some others later.

Info Dumping

I’ve been thinking a lot about info dumping lately. It’s generally frowned upon, I know, but sometimes there’s no easy way to work a definition of something into the narrative or into a conversation without sounding forced. I like to try to feed my reader information gradually. I feel like if all the answers are provided up front, the narrative gets lost, and all the reader is left with is pages and pages of backstory, explanation and exposition and what the character is actually DOING in that moment is pushed to the side.

I’m becoming a fan of the info snippet. The, “She’d been a falconler for the past three of her nineteen years.” Just slipped that age in there, but it wasn’t really worked in, not so that someone said, “You’re only nineteen” or something like that. I don’t mind the occasionally telling in a narrative if it’s just something the reader needs to know. I just think it’s important not to slip too much in at the beginning. If you want to tell everything about the character in the first chapter, I think a lot of that information is going to get forgotten, and you’ll just have to remind the reader later.

Of course, that could be me and my general laxness in writing descriptions at times. I like to be in the heart of the action, and to only be away from the immediacy of a situation for short bursts.

Editing, submitting and nanoing, oh my

Soon, I’ll be doing all three. It is exciting and terrifying, but things are going well, so I want to try and handle it. I’m continuing editing my current project, and I hope to be halfway through my initial edits by the first week or so of November. By that time, I should be a week into my nano, and since my fab writing group is having a midnight nano kick-off, I should be able to get a jump start that should leave me with plenty of time to coast through nano.

I’ve fallen off a bit on the submitting to magazines front, mostly because I’m editing my newest novel, that and my older projects really need some help, even now that my cover letter has my Crossed Genres credit in it. Eeeeee, that still puts a smile on my face.

Well, if anyone else needs any help motivating yourself to write, drop me a line and I’ll see what I can come up with. I’ll be in the digital world, peering at the back of your neck until you get to work. 0__0 <–Behold my cyber eyes!

Sloooooowly

That’s how editing my new project is going at the moment. While I’m away editing, enjoy this post from the Rejectionist.

Hopefully, I’ll be back with faster news on Sunday. Happy Friday, everybody!