Monday, March 23, 2009

Something Smells

Do you smell that? I was writing one of my penultimate scenes the other day and realized I was actually making a face! I was wrinkling my nose and my mouth was pursed up the way it gets when something tastes bad. Yes, my first draft writing was so bad that it actually smelled!

A second read a couple of days later revealed that it really wasn't *that* bad. Not great, but not absolutely stinky either.

Honestly, I was writing and making a face...kind of blew me away when I realized it!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Three Scenes, People!

I am about three scenes from The End--give or take a few. I just got back from a walk with the dog (gorgeous day here in Michigan) during which I ran through those scenes in my head. They should be pretty easy to write. Fun, too. Then I can sink my teeth into the rewrite.

I have "Don't Murder Your Mystery" by Chris Roerden on my desk to be read. I hope to apply her tips and tricks to my rewrite. I will need to put the manuscript away for a week or two anyway to gain some distance. Then I want to print it out and read it through. I'm sure I've forgotten entire scenes!

I know it needs some work from an organizational standpoint. And I'll have to be sure to wrap up all subplots and dangling clues. And give my main character a personality. Ha!

Fun stuff ahead!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

In Sight of "The End"

Finally, I am only a couple of chapters away from The End. And I feel a strange reluctance to finish for some reason! Which is ridiculous because I'm hardly done with this manuscript--just beginning actually. I'll probably come in at 70K which means adding another 5 to 10K in the rewrite. That's fine because I write very spare the first time around. I need to do tons of editing and rewriting.

My protag needs to develop some sort of personality in this second draft! She's a bit bland. I need to ratchet up the other characters as well. But I enjoy that part. Now that I've got the action more or less block out, I can concentrate on the details.

And a title. I need a title. Two actually. I envision this as part of a series so the series needs a name and this manuscript needs a title.

Fun stuff ahead!