Setting up a deadline

I am going to finish the edits on Matt's story, hereby known as "The spandex diaries" by next Friday. I can do this. This means I am going to need beta readers. Beta reading is hard. What do you say when your friend hands you a manuscript and you can't finish it? Or its bad; grammatically, logically, and artistically bad? Or life happens and you run out of time to read? In the interest of keeping friends I'm writing out what I am looking for in a beta reader and what I will (or will not do).

I promise to the following in regards to the critiques of my fellows:

• I will not take it personally if you do not like the work.
• I will be public and grateful for your support, perhaps with fudge, certainly with thank yous.
• I will consider consider carefully any suggestions you make.
• I will make the changes that work best for my work.
• I will offer (time and circumstances allowing) to repay critiques in full if asked.

In return I ask the following:

• Please critique the work not the author.
• If this is something you truly can not stomach (everyone has different taste in books) please polity tell me it isn't for you or that you don't have the time (if you really can't tell me you don't like it).
• Please be honest and blunt.
• Please do not share the story with someone else with out asking me first. Especially do not post any of it online, submit it to any publisher, etc etc etc with out my permission. (Should it go with out saying, probably. In the case of the 1 out of 100 person who doesn't see a problem with this I say it anyways).
  

The Critters group has a good guide on critiquing located here.


Good beta readers are a godsend and those of my friends who have offered to help should be nominated for sainthood. May their names grace the dedication/ acknowledgments of every book I publish. Thank you!

Ticking off another authorly thing...

I made a website. http://sites.google.com/site/dmbeucler/

It's pretty bare bones right now and I'm not particularly planning to add more other then some writing samples at the moment. Having a web site is one of those authorial rites of passage. Like your first zit. It shows your growing into the business but not necessarily that you've grown up.

In other news Wren's Song has reached 11230 words. Editing on the Spandex Diaries has slowed to a crawl. I'm procrastinating on the editing but writing more story. I'm not sure if that is awesome (because new novel) or terrible (novel limbo, the new level of hell).

World building

For Matt's story I didn't have to do much world building. I created the fictional city of Livingston, added in some pertinent buildings and places and organizations. Wren's song is an entirely different world. I know places and people but today things reached a point where I needed to know about magic. Patricia Wrede has a wonderful set of world building articles on the SFWA site. Here is the specific one I am using at the moment.
http://www.sfwa.org/2009/08/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions-magic-and-magicians/

Revisions again

I've finished the last edits by hand on Matt's story. Printing out the pages and having hard copies to read from has made all the difference. It's easier to flip back and forth to check facts and most of your errors jump off the page. My paper copy is riddled with red ink and post-it notes. Two characters are planned to merge into one, my villain is getting more backstory, Matt's goals are getting clearer. All solid forward progress. Now I only need to shove everything back into the computer file, fix my notes and send it off. Only.

Bloody edits

Have I mentioned that my pages edits look like someone died on the other side of the room. Red ink corrections everywhere. I have 2 more pages to edit on Matt's story then the draft 3 rewrite begins. Hopefully this will be the last "closed door" edit and then my merry minions (aka beta readers) can have a go at it.

As far as forward momentum goes I've spent three days in a row writing a thousand words a day. It's slow compared to some but its progress. And once those thousand words are a habit then we can jump to two thousand, or three thousand. Productivity for the win.

The rest of the day is not going to be productive writing wise. Family is visiting and I have cleaning, mowing, cooking and shopping to accomplish before they arrive.

Politics...

only the good kind. I'm not talking Iran, health care or any other jazz. Nope, we are talking 100% made up politics in a 100% made up world. I've been having a fascinating time figuring out what conditions would have to exist to make the countries have the traits the stories need them to have. Queen Victoria, Jacobite revolutions, assassination plots and various Coup D'etat, and this is just the back story.
I am a thousand words into one of the big scenes right now. I've got a couple thousand in outlines, backstory and introduction. As always when I am writing in I remind myself to just get it down on paper. It's far easier to build a story from something then to start from scratch. And no one ever needs to see my first drafts if I don't want them to. That is a comforting thought.
Editing on Matt's story is nearly complete for pass two. I'm juggling the rewrites with Wren's song and I have 3-4 beta readers lined up once it's done. Forward momentum.

More revisions

I've been getting help editing today. I think I might be more productive with out Blair trying to eat the pen or cover up the pages but we are into Chapter 15.

Post it notes are my friends. Reading through this all at once I'm finding where the characters get redundant. I have 3 supporting characters in a place where 2 would work. I think that will be the next revision. I'm layering hints and expanding the back story of my villain. I'm cutting out unnecessary words.

Tomorrow's goal is to finish the last 14 pages of edits and start plugging them into the computer. Then we write more, add new scenes, flesh it out, build it up, print it out and repeat. I am hoping draft 3 will be able to go out and be read by others for feedback. Small forward progress though.

Revising

I'm about half way through the second pass. I printed everything out and I'm proceeding to red ink bleed all over the manuscript and tag it with post its. I love office supplies. I sat on the urge to buy new red ink pens for this revision. I did end up with plastic tabs to mark out the chapter divides. Warms the cockles of my ever organizing heart.

The biggest weapon in my editing arsenal is my voice. I wait till the house is to myself and I read parts of the manuscript out loud. The places where I added to many adjectives or skipped a word jump out more. The dull spots scream for attention.

I'm layering themes in right now. When I first started writing I had this belief that once I wrote the story, that part would not change. Sure, the words would change. I could always find a clever new way to say something, but the story had to come out whole. That's crap and that one discovery has fixed so many things in my writing.

I have cut out two whole sub plots from the first incarnation (bogged down the story). I've changed the character's gender, made a minor character into a major one, and changed the villain from the initial concept. This pass through I'm making sure that the changes I made stay consistent. For me looking at each draft as building a layer of the story, like an animator creating levels of cells to film, helps to keep me moving on the story. Otherwise I wander off into the labyrinth of "it's not perfect" and get lost. It's not perfect yet, but it will be.

The last first draft post....

Project: Superhero YA novel
Starting Word Count: 34027
New Words: 802
Present Total Word Count: 34829
Goal: 50000ish


Observations: Draft 1 is done. I know there is more to add but until I finish editing all the plots that I added and took out I'm having a hard time knitting everything together. The Final word count (including some outlining) ended up at 34,829.

Resolutions: Start revising…. I keep saying I’m going to put it in a drawer and wait a week or so but honestly it’s been long enough since I looked at the beginning bits that I’m ready to go… and have gone.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: Did some shopping, spent much quality time with the husband and even weeded a bit.

Reason for Stopping: Draft 1 is done… and I’m working on draft 2 which is at 35013 words right now. Since I’m writing into the story and hacking out whole sections (including outline, synopsis, and plot notes) as I go this is actually fair progress.

Word counts again

Project: Superhero YA novel
Starting Word Count: 34027
New Words: 487
Present Total Word Count: 34514
Goal: 50000ish


Observations: Finding a clever way to end this is the hardest part. (This is a compilation of a few days worth of writing right now as I was in NC for a week and working on marketing projects.)

Resolutions: Finish the climax tomorrow or tonight.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: So far not so much except business emails. Next stop is gardening though.

Reason for Stopping: Hit a brick wall and needed to get the garden started.

Another progress post

Project: Superhero YA novel
Starting Word Count: 33048
New Words: 1100
Present Total Word Count: about 34100
Goal: 50000ish


Observations: This is today's and yesterday's totals. I wrote yesterday... just not so much. Chapter 20 is done and chapter 21 is close. I think they are bother going to end up shortish but their are action and the cuts are in good places. Even though my outline has changed... I love writing into my outline. It means I never sit there and go... what do I write next. I always have some goal. Also today was the exercise in writing while babysitting. I have the 5 year old and the 10 month old to take care of and about 5 hours of time. I am pretty proud of the progress, and the children were fed, entertained and no catastrophes happened. It makes me hope that when I have children I will be able to steal enough time to write.

Resolutions: Finish up chapter 21 Monday and get 22 started at least. Hells I'd love to plow through to the end... but we'll see. I've got some other things going.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: No gardening today. I babysat for 5 hours and now I am packing up for the Exiles game.

Reason for Stopping: Had to go home and get things together for Exiles this weekend.

Current progress

Project: Superhero YA novel
Starting Word Count: 31366
New Words: 1682
Present Total Word Count: 33048
Goal: 50000ish


Observations: I went with writing Maisie as male in this chapter and the character is coming out more. I've talked before about writing badly but plowing through to get the plot down on paper. Yeah this stuff is bad. But I can see how to fix it and the rewrite is going to be better... I hope.

Resolutions: Tomorrow I do want to get to chapter 20. This is the vital chapter. Everything is revealed here.... I have most of an outline on that. I think it will end up with some holes ala [insert clever line here] but if I can make everything tie together reasonably logically I will be happy. Even if the writing sucks. I can prosery after I'm done holding the live wires and trying to macrame with them thank you very much.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: I planted blackberry bushes, tore out bushes and gardened for 3 hours straight. I ache.

Reason for Stopping: Finished chapter 19.