stephaniecain (
stephaniecain) wrote2010-05-15 03:47 pm
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Projects, Projects Everywhere, and Not a Page to Submit
My best friend in high school always told me I had too many dreams. I wanted to fly helos for the Air Force. I wanted to be an archaeologist. I wanted to be an FBI agent. I wanted to write novels. I wanted to act. I wanted to sing. I wanted to be a cowgirl. My mother, of course, told me that it was good to have that many dreams. Problem was, I ended up majoring in history & creative writing, learning a virtually unemployable skill set. Maybe my best friend was closer to being correct than my mom was. Or maybe it wasn’t that I had too many dreams, but that I couldn’t pick one of those dreams to focus on first.
Something I’ve seen as I read blogs about the publishing world is that a writer should focus on one particular area of writing to make her name. (Never mind that Isaac Asimov published fiction and nonfiction in every single category of the Dewey Decimal system, apparently this isn’t as doable in the 21st Century as it was in the 1950s.) Since I have written epic fantasy, urban fantasy, romance, and crime fiction…this is a problem.
My current dilemma is that my urban fantasy is closest to being ready for publication, plus having three sequels/companion novels written/drafted so I need to revise that one. But I am way more in the mood to work on the epic fantasy, which needs to be completely overhauled and re-WRITTEN from the ground up. A huge project, but especially since I started using Patricia C. Wrede’s world-building questions to inspect and tweak my fantasy world, it’s one I look forward to.
I’ve tried using a bribe to move forward. I’ve told myself to revise the first 50 pages of the urban fantasy, just so I have a good submission packet to query with. Then I can turn my attention to the epic fantasy and make a few submission rounds with the urban fantasy to see if I get any interest. If I get any interest and they want a full manuscript, then I make a really fast revision of the other 100 pages.
We’ll see if this works…
Something I’ve seen as I read blogs about the publishing world is that a writer should focus on one particular area of writing to make her name. (Never mind that Isaac Asimov published fiction and nonfiction in every single category of the Dewey Decimal system, apparently this isn’t as doable in the 21st Century as it was in the 1950s.) Since I have written epic fantasy, urban fantasy, romance, and crime fiction…this is a problem.
My current dilemma is that my urban fantasy is closest to being ready for publication, plus having three sequels/companion novels written/drafted so I need to revise that one. But I am way more in the mood to work on the epic fantasy, which needs to be completely overhauled and re-WRITTEN from the ground up. A huge project, but especially since I started using Patricia C. Wrede’s world-building questions to inspect and tweak my fantasy world, it’s one I look forward to.
I’ve tried using a bribe to move forward. I’ve told myself to revise the first 50 pages of the urban fantasy, just so I have a good submission packet to query with. Then I can turn my attention to the epic fantasy and make a few submission rounds with the urban fantasy to see if I get any interest. If I get any interest and they want a full manuscript, then I make a really fast revision of the other 100 pages.
We’ll see if this works…
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The unvarnished truth is that writing is all about discipline. More about discipline than any other single thing. Writing when you don't want to, when you're sick, when the spark has left the story. Of all the things I wished I had known before I sold, this is the most important. I still would have written, but I'd have gotten into the mindset of a writer a lot earlier.
Here's another unpleasant but true fact. The gig does not get easier. Trust me. Your dilemma now will be your dilemma after you've published, only then, you'll have a deadline screaming in your ear.
My advice? Work on the stuff you can send out soonest. Jot down notes about your other stories when they hit, but just notes. Not pages of them. Then get back to the book that is in front of you.
It's hard to complete the books that you think are almost ready, because there's risk involved in sending them out. But with each fully completed book, you'll have added another layer to your foundation of knowledge and more importantly your foundation of discipline.
It sounds like a great idea to just get your partial ready, but I don't advise this. Finish the book. Polish it. Make sure you know who your sending it to, and that you've met the word count requirements. Agents and editors want the best you can give them, and to rush through the ending isn't going to give you your best chance.
I really believe you have the talent to publish. Seriously. You're good. Now you have to be tough.
jumping in
May I ask about deadlines and work days? Of course with that end date in mind, days probably get as long as they need to be. But do you have a method to how you balance/separate full-time hours of writing vs hours of life?
Thanks!
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You have my sympathy. I know that I'd like to be writing in the original fantasy universe I've been tooling around in for years, but I just don't have what it takes (skills, understanding, the story) to write that...
On the other hand, I have made progress on the YA novel and it's better for the practice I've put in. So I feel pretty good working on that story instead even if the other is still dear to me. My thought is that the epic stuff will benefit from what I learn toiling through the YA novel.
Haha, maybe it'll make the epic less, well, epic and more manageable? Who knows.
*wry grin* I know that I don't quite have the discipline that
Re: jumping in
Revisions, if they're due back quickly, then it can be 12-14 hour days, or until my back and eyes can't take it. Deadlines can be that way, too.
When I start a book, I write about 5 - 7 pages per day, 7 days a week. After the midpoint, I'm usually at 10ppd, and in the race to the finish it's 15-20. Mostly, I take no days off while I'm in a book. But some days I don't write at all. Usually when I realize I've made a wrong turn in my plotting. I then have to do other things so my subconscious can work out where I screwed up and how to fix it.
It's an imperfect system that tends to be the same for me now that I've written for so many years. But I write genre fiction, my books are about 250 ms pages. I need to write 4 to 5 books per year. It's my only income, so there's not a lot of wiggle room.
It also took me a long time to come to this "system" and it's changed a lot over the years. It's unique, as every writer's methods is unique. I had to try a lot of stuff that didn't work to get here.
As far as having a life, I don't have a huge one. I play with the dogs, talk to my LJ friends, my housemate, twitter every day. But I don't see many movies or go many places. When I'm not writing, I do whatever I can to have fun, but it's not a balanced life. For me, it works, and it's comfortable. I know people who write full time and really do have full lives. With husbands/kids whatever. I have no idea how they do that. Although come to think of it, most of them have a second income in their family.
Re: jumping in
I took about 8 months away from working in insurance to see what I could learn on my own. Well, I learned a lot--enough to know I don't have all the pieces to make it work let alone 'comfortable.' Nonetheless I'm going to keep building on what I've gained and see what happens.
My biggest problems were that I increased my volunteer hours (which I don't consider wasted--but definitely caused me to drift from the complete 'work day' of writing) and spacing out when I didn't have an immediate deadline to work toward. I knew those choices weren't adding up to 'professional author'... all that to say, living on savings at least taught me how to wear a tight belt and socializing took a nose dive.
I'd love to ask you more sometime!
(sorry for hijacking your journal, Steph! Good conversation starter. *grin*)
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Ew. *sigh* I suspected that was true, but darn.
Shaper (which really needs a better title, but damned if I can think of a better one) has been rejected by a couple of agents already, and after Colleen Lindsay rejected it, I decided it was time for a major overhaul. I took it with me to the Writers' Digest Editors' Intensive that
Thanks for being tough with me. *G* Your comment also prompted another friend of mine, who wanted to say that but didn't have the guts, to be strict with me too. She said, "Well, now that your real writer friend has said it, I will repeat it." LOL!
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Definitely progress on the YA novel is good, and the YA market is a growing one for sure. Also, when do I get to see that! *makes grabby hands*
I think your task for the Epic Fantasy Novel O Doom is to make that timeline. I'm telling you. Two drafts ago, The Loyalty Factor had a day-by-day timeline of the novel, because otherwise I got all confused.
Re: jumping in
*cough*
Re: jumping in
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Re: jumping in
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