Sunday, March 28, 2010

Evil Editor

Submitted a short bit on the Evil Editor blog yesterday. Very interesting website. The comments are worth reading.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Marion Zimmer Bradley

Read an old middle grade story by her today. Not a terrible story, but not great. Reading stories that are not as good as my best efforts gives me some comfort. I can write better than that.

Gardening

Got my garden started today. Took a shovel, turned under last fall's compost, made three beds and planted carrots and a bunch of Japanese green leafy veggies. It is supposed to turn cold again this weekend, snow and maybe even get below freezing. Nothing I planted will be harmed by any of that.

Some of the lettuce I planted last spring I let go to seed. So now lots of tiny baby lettuce is growing on that small plot. It worked out well last year when I did the same, so I will just let it grow and see what I get. Volunteer lettuce. A lot of good veggies will grow up year after year if you just let them go to seed. You don't need fancy 'heirloom' seeds to start with either. In a couple of years you have your own home grown heirloom varieties, as the various strains cross pollinate.

What does this have with writing a novel? Not much, except that I put off sending a new batch of queries to agents. I am letting my current query age and mature, like whiskey in an oak cask.

Tonight I will look the query over one more time, do some final research on agents to see who I want to try it out on, and send some off. I expect more rejections. I have full confidence in the book, but less in my ability to condense the story down to one page.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Why Write

Because it's fun. I wrote a lot before I actually got down and finished a novel.

I have two more novels in the works, about half finished for one, and less than that for the second. Both have some promise, but I tend to get stuck and stop writing on a project, then take it up again months or even years later. A long gap like that doesn't seem to hurt the story flow. It helps in some ways, as I can go back and revise with less emotional attachment to a particular bit that I loved when I wrote it, but much later realize is overwrought.

I stopped working on those two and concentrated on the one I actually finished, so they have been sitting untouched now for over two years. I am getting excited to start a new novel, and haven't decided if I want to write a sequel to my finished novel, work on one of my old efforts, or start something new.

I have been dabbling with a few ideas, one a murder mystery. I have read few murder mysteries, so either I am coming at it with a fresh outlook, or am simply over my head. Easy answer. But the first chapter just flowed off my fingertips so easily.

I have an idea for a bronze-age adventure story, probably with fantasy elements. That grabs me more, but is proving harder to write. I need to sit down and plot it out a bit. My normal writing style is to create a character and just start in telling about him/her. The story evolves from the character's life. If the first chapter flows, I can worry about creating an interesting story that someone else might like to read. But the person comes first.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Rejections!

Four submissions to agents, four rejections. So far so good. For a first novel I don't expect my genius to be instantly appreciated. I am currently revising (threw out the old one and wrote a completely new one) my query.

I have also revamped the story, took a later chapter and moved it to the front, front-loading the action. So my former first chapter, which you can read in an earlier post below, has become my second chapter, and the former third chapter is now the first chapter. I think the way I had it flowed better, actually, but when an agent asks for the first chapter, and they don't get any action, it doesn't hook them in.

My new rule is 'Start with a body on the first page, maybe the first paragraph or even the first line'. I started a new story like this the other day, and it actually seems to work.