A change of plans

I’ve had to re-plan my 2012 project a little.  I’ve started draft 2 of Traitor, and it’s coming along well.  However my original plan to rewrite about 85% of it has turned into the realisation that I might as well rewrite the whole thing.

So, since Traitor is acting like a first draft, I’m putting Freedom on hold and dusting off an old novella of mine, The Vessel.  It’s something unusual for me, an urban fantasy set in Australia.  I really liked the story and the protagonist, so I’m looking forward to revisiting it.  Heaven only knows what I’ll do with it when it’s rewritten, but there are a couple of people wanting to find out what happened so I might as well finish it for them.

This gives me something to actually revise during the revision phase.

End of January check in

It’s the end of the month.  My read-through is complete, my spreadsheet has been filled out and I am ready to embark on draft 2.

Here are some stats on my progress so far.

Total scenes in first draft: 69

Total wordcount in first draft: 83,000

Number of scenes that made it to draft 2: 31

Points of view dropped: 1

Subplots discarded: 2

Characters expunged: 11 (!!)

Characters merged: 2

Cliches obliterated: 3

Times I loved the story: very few

Times I bemoaned my decision to be a writer: lots

Times I required alcohol: most of them

Bright moments of hope for my career: one and a half

Cups of coffee consumed: 4 hot, 1 cold

Plotting for my new story is on track, but I think it will be a while before I start writing as I have a lot of new writing to do on the revision piece.  But that’s okay.  I have all year.

How about you?  How did you do?  How are you feeling? Are you even still here?  Post about your progress below, or link to a blog post of your own.

Small miracles

37,000 words into the read through and I finally found a scene that might, just might be good enough to make it into the second draft.

Halle-freakin’-luljah.

 

 

From words to art

Words into art

The Columbia Art League is currently holding an exhibition of art based on stories in Hint Fiction: An anthology of stories in 25 words or fewer.  I was one of the lucky authors to have their story turned into art.

Read more about the exhibition at editor Robert Swartwood’s blog.

(Click on the picture for a better view.)

It’s rather lovely to think of your words inspiring an artist to create in a different medium.  I’m quite chuffed.

I especially like that it’s not so much art about my story, but art about reading my story.  The book and the bookends are part of the art.  Lovely.

Limbo

I don’t know about you, but my writing progress tends to go in fits and starts.  I’ll be rabbiting along, getting nowhere, and then I’ll write something amazing which sells fast and I will feel like I’ve made progress, like I’ve reached a new level in my writing.

And then I’ll rabbit along at that level for a while, feeling like I’m going nowhere again.

I’m at the rabbiting stage at the moment.  I’ve made some good sales, I can see improvement in my writing, but I’m not producing the amazing writing that I aspire to.  I feel like I am in writing limbo.

There are three ways to make progress in any skill.  One is practice, which you have to do a LOT.  The second is self-learning, where you concentrate on one particular skill until you’ve improved it.  The last one is learning from another, whether it’s a mentor, a writing course or a workshop.

I feel like I’m in need of that sort of learning.  I’ve been practicing like a manic.  I read the best, and I try to learn as much as I can about how the best writers do it.

But in terms of the third way to progress, I’m stuck.  There aren’t that many workshops and courses available where I am, and most of them are for beginning writers.  And as for SFF writers, well…they are few and far between.

So, I’m in limbo.  Back to writing and subbing and trying to get somewhere.

P.S. Apparently this is my 150th post.  Woo!

Which novel should I write next?

I’m halfway through the latest novella and now I’m thinking about where to go next.  So help me out by picking one of the options below:

I need to…

…read and sign a contract.

Review a proof.

Explain why I chose a particular title, or change it.

Write two bios (Aargh!)

Create an author photo. (AAAAAARGH!)

Find markets for 4 stories, work out what they want in submission formatting, and submit.

Maybe I can send the family out to hunt the Snark.  That should keep them occupied long enough…

What’s your writing list like?

First sale of the year

Issue 6

I’ve been a bit lax with my submissions this year due to the trans-continental move.  But I finally got my act together and started submitting again this week.

So my first sale of the year is “Rebirth” to A cappella Zoo.  They’re very much a “strange” market, but I read one of their issues last year and found it fascinating.

They’re open to submissions until the end of May, so if you have an odd, offbeat story languishing on your hard drive, consider submitting to ACZ.  And don’t forget to track your submission progress through Duotrope’s Digest (it’s free!).

Shock Totem Cover Art

The cover art for Shock Totem #3 (which will have my story Day Job) has been released. I’ve had this in my inbox for ages, but just haven’t managed to get it onto the blog. (Click to embiggen.)

The issue comes out in print on January 1, 2011.  I’m looking forward to seeing what else is in there.

What do you think of the artwork?  Unfortunately I have no idea who the artist is, so I can’t provide a link.

 

Hint Fiction: An anthology of stories in 25 words or fewer

My contributor copy of this anthology arrived the other day and I’ve been devouring it in small bites – very good for the literary waistline.  It’s a cracker of a book, and I’m embarassed to say that, when I submitted, I really had no idea what it was.

So now I feel like the backwater cousin among such names as Joyce Carol Oats and Tess Gerritsen and J.A Konrath.  But it’s certainly a nice place to be, even if I am hovering beside the punch bowl and eating all the vol-au-vents.

But the anthology is brilliant – I read some stories out to my husband on the way home (25 word stories are just right for car reading and discussion) and we were alternately amused and touched.  It’s amazing the depth of feeling you can get in 25 words.

You can find out more about the anthology at Robert Swartwood’s site, or pick it up at Amazon.  Read the review in The New Yorker for more of an idea. There’s also a giveaway at Goodreads.  I think it would make a great Christmas gift for that hard-to-buy-for person.