Word Nerd's new writers group met again on Saturday and it was great to really get into the critiquing. It's a neat bunch of people and Word Nerd's excited to be working with them.
And so Word Nerd said she would have pages ready to pass out at the Aug. 9 meeting. Which means that she needs to get pages ready to pass out at the Aug. 9 meeting.
For the last few weeks, Word Nerd has completely fallen off the revision bandwagon. Not that that is hard to do because Word Nerd doesn't like revisions. They are un-fun and require lots of thinking and evaluating and hard cuts to parts of the story that Word Nerd likes as a writer but that don't move the plot ahead.
But it's not getting done and Word Nerd's not going to make her goal of having it ready for an agent by early 2009 if she doesn't get a move on.
So the pages are going to the group.
That's the point.
Showing posts with label HCAWriters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HCAWriters. Show all posts
28 July 2008
10 July 2008
Writers Group Launch
Saturday is it.
Word Nerd's new writers group is officially starting.
She is excited and nervous about this all at the same time.
First, it's exciting because, hey! new writing friends to bounce ideas off of.
Second, it makes her nervous because hey! new writing friends who might hate everything she puts on paper.
So far, it's a small group which is a good thing. When Word Nerd helped launch the Oshkosh Writers Club, 40-some people came to the first meeting. This group has been by application only and it looks like a neat mix of people who have applied and are coming -- some memoirists, a few fiction writers and a poet or two.
If you are in the Indy area and want to know more, drop a comment with your e-mail. There's still some room in the group.
Word Nerd's new writers group is officially starting.
She is excited and nervous about this all at the same time.
First, it's exciting because, hey! new writing friends to bounce ideas off of.
Second, it makes her nervous because hey! new writing friends who might hate everything she puts on paper.
So far, it's a small group which is a good thing. When Word Nerd helped launch the Oshkosh Writers Club, 40-some people came to the first meeting. This group has been by application only and it looks like a neat mix of people who have applied and are coming -- some memoirists, a few fiction writers and a poet or two.
If you are in the Indy area and want to know more, drop a comment with your e-mail. There's still some room in the group.
08 July 2008
Editing
The Editing Meter over there --> shows that Word Nerd has edited half her novel-in-progress. This is deceptive.
What's been happening lately is that Word Nerd is going through all the chapters twice. While she's technically looked at and made some small fixes to Chs. 13-17, she really needs to go back and hit them harder.
Hopefully, this can start tonight, with printing out the chapters and at least getting through ch. 13 again with a much more intense level of scrutiny. The middle of the book is tough, because it needs to keep the plot moving along, build tension, but for this particular book -- be an interesting lull because the character grows complacent during this part of the story so that when she acts later, it's too late. (makes perfect sense, right?)
Anyhow, the middle of the book was also written while Word Nerd was going through a pretty big life transition of leaving her reporting job for a year in poverty 400 miles away. If the middle of the book feels like the author is keeping a big secret, it's because when she first drafted it, she was --that horrible time of knowing that she was sending out job applications and having interviews for other things that her current bosses knew nothing about. Ditto for the protagonist... only more of it for her is that she is the one being kept in the dark, that things are moving around her that she doesn't fully know about and can't stop.
This second-pass editing is where Word Nerd really rips chunks of the story out and inserts new stuff. Expect the Word Count Fluctuator to start jumping around soon.
This is such hard work. Word Nerd's new writing group starts Saturday and she's really looking forward to more community. More on that later...
What's been happening lately is that Word Nerd is going through all the chapters twice. While she's technically looked at and made some small fixes to Chs. 13-17, she really needs to go back and hit them harder.
Hopefully, this can start tonight, with printing out the chapters and at least getting through ch. 13 again with a much more intense level of scrutiny. The middle of the book is tough, because it needs to keep the plot moving along, build tension, but for this particular book -- be an interesting lull because the character grows complacent during this part of the story so that when she acts later, it's too late. (makes perfect sense, right?)
Anyhow, the middle of the book was also written while Word Nerd was going through a pretty big life transition of leaving her reporting job for a year in poverty 400 miles away. If the middle of the book feels like the author is keeping a big secret, it's because when she first drafted it, she was --that horrible time of knowing that she was sending out job applications and having interviews for other things that her current bosses knew nothing about. Ditto for the protagonist... only more of it for her is that she is the one being kept in the dark, that things are moving around her that she doesn't fully know about and can't stop.
This second-pass editing is where Word Nerd really rips chunks of the story out and inserts new stuff. Expect the Word Count Fluctuator to start jumping around soon.
This is such hard work. Word Nerd's new writing group starts Saturday and she's really looking forward to more community. More on that later...
16 May 2008
One, Singular New Chapter
Word Nerd is finally finally done drafting the new chapter for her novel. The new Chapter Nine. This new chapter took far, far, far too long to write. There was the false start. And then there was the putting it off because she was reading Stephenie Meyer's "The Host." Done with that, Word Nerd thought last night it was high time to buckle down and finish this chapter.
Here's what she learned:
First. It's kind of tricky to get back into the rhythm of the characters and write full tilt. When doing the original draft, all the main characters -- Sedine, Taorin, Preben, Lefra, etc. -- were very alive in her head and so writing them was no big deal. Now, in the editing phase, their actual voices are quieter so that Word Nerd's internal editor can speak more freely. Adding in the chapter meant muting the editor and returning the characters to the forefront.
Second. The novel is better for having this chapter. Shocker. The gap between the original chs. 8 and 9 was too big, too much skipped information. Now, the original ch. 8 and now-chapter 10 hang together much better.
Third. The BIC writing plan works. (This being the butt-in-chair plan). This chapter took too long because Word Nerd wasn't making herself sit there and just write it. Ditto for the editing.
Fourth. The first revisions won't be done by the end of May. Now, sometime in June is the target date for the first pass through. Slower than hoped for, but not too bad. Given also that most TV shows end for the season next week, Word Nerd can't blame Bones or House or (ahem) American Idol for why she's not making progress.
Fifth. Word Nerd can't wait for her newly launched critique group to get underway because she needs some outside perspectives.
Here's what she learned:
First. It's kind of tricky to get back into the rhythm of the characters and write full tilt. When doing the original draft, all the main characters -- Sedine, Taorin, Preben, Lefra, etc. -- were very alive in her head and so writing them was no big deal. Now, in the editing phase, their actual voices are quieter so that Word Nerd's internal editor can speak more freely. Adding in the chapter meant muting the editor and returning the characters to the forefront.
Second. The novel is better for having this chapter. Shocker. The gap between the original chs. 8 and 9 was too big, too much skipped information. Now, the original ch. 8 and now-chapter 10 hang together much better.
Third. The BIC writing plan works. (This being the butt-in-chair plan). This chapter took too long because Word Nerd wasn't making herself sit there and just write it. Ditto for the editing.
Fourth. The first revisions won't be done by the end of May. Now, sometime in June is the target date for the first pass through. Slower than hoped for, but not too bad. Given also that most TV shows end for the season next week, Word Nerd can't blame Bones or House or (ahem) American Idol for why she's not making progress.
Fifth. Word Nerd can't wait for her newly launched critique group to get underway because she needs some outside perspectives.
08 May 2008
New Writers Group
Indianapolis blog readers!
Word Nerd and the Harrison Center for the Arts are setting up a new writers group.
Writers in any genre are encouraged to apply. For group information and application submission guidelines, e-mail HCAWriters@gmail.com for information.
Word Nerd and the Harrison Center for the Arts are setting up a new writers group.
Writers in any genre are encouraged to apply. For group information and application submission guidelines, e-mail HCAWriters@gmail.com for information.
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