done, Done, DONE!

I'm done, done, done with my stinky first draft! And it's not as bad as I thought, but there are some mega plot problems to be fixed. A couple of things don't make sense, and it's not a matter of shoring up motivation because there isn't any! Or there isn't any motivation that makes sense. But I'm noodling it around in my head and trust that the answers will come.

I'm trying to take a break from it--do some reading, for pleasure as well as some writing books. Then I'll dive into the rewrite. It's a little scary. You have this vision in your head that you try to put down in your first draft. You *know* it's not working but you console yourself with the fact that you can nail it in your revision. But can you? What if you can't?

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!

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!

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!

Working with a Coach

I'm working with a creativity coach. No, I'm not paying for it--they were looking for volunteers to work with coaches who were taking extra training in creativity coaching (see www.ericmaisel.com). My coach is from Norway and writes absolutely perfect English. I have no sense of who/what she's about because the focus is meant to be on me, and any round-about questions I might ask about her are subtley deflected. Which in and of itself is very interesting--I am so used to concentrating on the other person that this feels quite strange.

One of her first suggestions, after getting a sense of my process, was to get up earlier and write before work. She feels I might be very surprised by the "quality" of my ideas first thing in the morning before I've given away most of my energy to work and family. I will try it. But maybe not right now. Life is really stressful at the moment, and I don't think I need the added stress of trying to wake up earlier.

Plus in a few more weeks it might be a bit lighter earlier...or at least there will be the suggestion of dawn on the horizon. And maybe a little warmer, too. We're keeping the house at 66 during the night to save money and our sinuses. Although one can program the thermometer so perhaps I could just change it.

Modeling

I just read another writing instructor who recommends "modeling" as a method for learning to write. It's James N. Frey in his "How to Write a Damn Good Mystery." It was also recommended by Elizabeth Lyons in her book. I think I need to try this! I hate taking time away from my actual writing, but I'm almost finished with the first draft and will need to put it in the deep chill for a bit before revising. Maybe that would be a good time to try it.

Meanwhile, I'm writing away but my body is beginning to suffer, specifically my shoulder. At work my mouse is on my desk and is just a tad too high--I have to lift my arm/shoulder ever so slightly. It takes a toll after awhile. A massage will help. I can also smear on some of that dreadful smelling Chinese ointments we bought in our tiny little Chinatown area here. They're kind of like Ben Gay. Fortunately hubby doesn't mind the smell.

It's Already February--Who Knew?

Wow, it's been ages since I've updated this. I have a good excuse though--I've been writing my fingers to the bone on my latest wip. I'm now about 10K from the end whereas not too long ago I wondered if it would be another abandoned project. I *always* finished what I started until recently when I abandoned two manuscripts at around the 150 page mark. I will get back to them though. Especially the one--I still keep getting ideas for it.

I'm considering an exercise from James Scott Bell's book called plot drills. You take six books in your genre, read them, and create scene cards for each and every scene. You then read these over and over and over while you assimilate plot and structure. It's a huge investment of time obviously. He thinks it's worth it--and he's selling and I'm not! Perhaps when I finish the current draft, I will set aside the time to do it.

Live & Learn

I've been thinking about my goals for this new year, 2009. I don't want to make any resolutions--they always come across as negative and things you're *not* going to do like smoke or overeat. No, I think goals are much more motivating.

One goal is definitely to finish my cozy mystery manuscript, make revisions and get it circulating with agents. And the sooner the better.

My other goal is to learn. I want to take some good books off my shelf and really study them--do the whole underline in different colored magic markers thing. I want to try "modeling" as described in Elizabeth Lyons' book Manuscript Makeover. And writing riffs from the same volume.

Once and for all I want to see, inside out, how accomplished authors put their books together. Then I'm going to use that knowledge to write another one of my own.

What Is It About Deirdre

Okay, what's going on with me and the name Deirdre? I wrote a YA with a protag named Deirdre. That was on purpose, so okay, that's fine. But I've just been re-reading my current work in progress--not the YA but an adult mystery this time--and I have named not one, but TWO minor characters Deirdre! One is the about-to-be-married daughter of a secretary in the police department...the other is a snooty sales clerk at Abigail's, an upscale dress shop.

I toyed briefly with seeing if the two Deirdres could be one and the same, perhaps unleashing some interesting possibilities, but I don't think it's going to work. Alice's daughter is NOT snooty, and I need the sales clerk to be so she can intimidate my protag Gigi.

But seriously, what is with me? Any suggestions for alternate names is appreciated.

Filling the Page

I got some more words done yesterday. Not as many as I would have liked, but still... Part of my problem is "holding back." I usually tend to write "short," and subconsciously I think I am afraid of running out of story before I've filled enough manuscript pages.

But going back over what I've already written, I realize my second draft will be longer as I layer in things I've overlooked--scene setting here, internalizations there. My first draft is relatively bare bones in most places. I guess I need to get the story down and first and then go back and fill in the details.

I'm trying to push myself to finish by the end of January. I'm anxious to get started in a critique group to see what they think of this mess...

Are We Stressed Yet?

I've been hideously stressed lately. No, not the usual holiday stuff, worse than that. I can handle the holiday rigamarole with one hand tied behind my back. No, make that *both* hands tied behind my back! So not many words have hit the page partly because of the time sucking holiday run-around and partly because of the stress.

However...last night when I woke up in the middle of the night for the thousandth time and began to fret and worry and whimper in the dark...I turned my attention to my wip. And lo and behold I got a couple of good ideas! And I remembered most of them come morning...I still think there's one that got away but perhaps when I start scribbling some notes, I can grab hold of its elusive tendrils and bring it back into focus. Meanwhile, I'm pleased with the bonanza of the other ideas.

Panic at the Computer

Had a moment of panic yesterday when strange things began happening to my manuscript (as saved on my flash drive). Lines appeared in the wrong places, some lines were only half visible (as in the bottom half of the letters), etc. I'd save the manuscript on my home computer but there were around 7 or 8 pages that I didn't have anywhere except on the flash drive.

All is well, though. I added the new pages to the manuscript on my hard drive and saved all to both places. I think I messed it up when I pulled out the flash drive and then closed the manuscript--when it tried to "save" there was no where to save it to...so I put the flash back in, and something weird happened.

Finished another scene, and I'm happy about that. Not sure what scene comes next...have to noodle a bit on that one. I'm making slow and somewhat steady progress minus the Thanksgiving holidays.

Home for the Holidays

Like so many others, I will be celebrating Thanksgiving this week, and I doubt I will get any writing done...some thinking--maybe. We are headed back home to NJ (from MI) where it will be a whirlwind of seeing relatives and friends plus my daughter is coming down from Boston where she is at BU!! I am so excited. Haven't seen her since August. It was too expensive to fly her home for four days at Thanksgiving, especially with Christmas coming right afterwards, so we decided we'd all meet in NJ! Yeah!

Chipping Away

I'm not setting any records with words-per-day lately, but I am continuing to chip away at the story. It's growing daily which is all I can ask for. And I find that the more I get into it, the more ideas I have. I would do love so have this completed by January! Then I could jump into revision and possibly be looking at querying by as early as February.

Time to get the fingers on the keys...

Yesterday at lunch I cranked out 350 words. Rather pitiful since I didn't write last night. What did I do? Read a bit. Had a late dinner. Had to sign some papers for investment man. Somehow the evening got away from me. Oh, yes, there was the puppy cam, too. Fortunately the pups are almost ready to go to their new homes so no more distractions from them!

The night before I read the new book I received via Barnes & Noble's used book service (in great shape except it SMELLS like mildew. Have to hold it far away from my nose.) It's Plot & Structure by James Bell (I think he has a middle name in there, but I've forgotten what it is.) Some really interesting tips for brainstorming and enhancing creativity. Can't wait to try some of them. He recommends setting aside a certain amount of time per week to get ideas. Lots of them. So when you pick one, you know it's one you're really in love with.

Smoking!

Last night I was really smoking. The words were coming so fast and furious I could hardly type fast enough to keep up (and I can type REALLY fast). It was great! The scene isn't quite finished yet, but hopefully at lunch today I'll be able to hammer out the ending. Had a lunch meeting yesterday so I didn't get any words done then, but I did put down almost 900 words last night! WooHoo!

I might actually finish this manuscript yet!

I'm also finding that the more involved I become with it on a consistent basis, the more ideas float to the top of my subconscious--usually to be harvested while showering. What is it about water anyway? I'm not much of a swimmer, but perhaps I should go do some laps and see if pool water works as well as shower water.

Talk Amongst Yourselves

Finished a scene at lunch yesterday. Didn't do a massive amount of writing, but I did some at least.

But then last night when I should have been writing, I was watching Dancing with the Stars instead. Which I've never seen before. But I was so intrigued that I had temporarily managed to keep hubby from clicking the remote and changing the channel that I sat there dumbfounded. He wasn't even *holding* the remote!

I finally shook myself free of the fascination and headed to the computer where I accomplished nothing. Nada. Zilch. Didn't even open my manuscript. Sigh. It's starting a new scene and the first word blues. It's going to need to be another one of those "everyone sits around and discusses the clues" type of scene. I can't afford another tea drinking scene--this one has to be more active. The characters have to be *doing* something besides talking. Maybe I'll set it in the theater. And maybe they think they've been overheard. Make it a little spooky. Yeah, that's the ticket. Ooooh, now I can't wait for lunch to sketch this out!

Giants, Desperate Housewives and Writing

Despite the distractions of the evening Giants game, a really dishy Desperate Housewives and this live "puppy cam" my daughter turned me onto, I managed to get some words down last night! Go, me. Even better, I had fun with it. I love when you know you need a minor character, he/she could be almost anything/anyone (in this case I needed a managing editor for a small town newspaper to impart some information to my protag) and they spring to life in front of your eyes. Devon Singleton turned out to be young (to the surprise of both me and my protag), a new father, a graduate of BU (no surprise there since that's where my daughter is going to school!), have spikey black hair and a hole in his jeans. I thought he was going to be old with hair coming out of his ears, but he just didn't want to be!

Tomorrow starts the 70 Days of Sweat challenge. I'm up for it. Are you?

i DID it

Sat in front of the computer last night, and I WROTE! I have 800 new words in the last three days. Yeah, that's not going to set any records, but I'm getting there. And the 77 days of sweat challenge hasn't even started yet.

Got some good ideas in the shower, too (best place for ideas, I swear, try it, you'll see.) I was thinking about my last scene, two characters are talking. Now you can't have talking heads so they're doing stuff. Ordinary stuff. Then I realized I could use those little break-up-the-dialogue-gestures to say a lot more about the character. Like instead of having Sienna turn her mug of tea (yes, it's a tea drinking scene! Cozies are allowed to have one or two!) around and around in her hands, what if she fiddles with a loose sequin on the long, gauzy skirt she's wearing? Or tucks her hands into the belled sleeves of her diaphonous blouse (AFTER she puts down the mug of tea, of course.) Doesn't that give you a better visual of the character without a lot of tedious description?

Okay, it's not earth shattering. Not rocket science. I'm a slow learner sometimes. And sometimes I reach for what's easy and expedient instead of trying to go deeper. Fortunately I usually make it better in the rewrites. But how cool to get it better in the first draft!

So Shoot Me

Okay, I didn't make my 500 words. Not even 250. More like 150. So shoot me. I coulda, shoulda, woulda done it but...was in a funk. Feeling sorry for myself. Ended up reading instead. So not a total waste...reading Lisa Scottoline for the first time. Wow, great, fresh language.

Today, I promise, going to work hard. Came up with a great plot twist in the shower.

I'm off to write. See 'ya.