Arduous-ity

It's not a word.  But I feel like it should be.  I've spent the past week doing the polishing edits on the Tales manuscript and I have to say:  I am completely, utterly, and almost unbearably sick of my own writing.

I've read it before from other authors, that re-writing, and re-writing, and re-writing, gets to be very tiring, tedious, and exhausting.  But it has to be done.

And the changes I've made are great ones.  I think.

It's always hard to cut words that just aren't working.  Or scenes.  Or chapters  (thankfully chapters mostly happen earlier).  But it is easier to think of making your novel or story better.  Focus on that.  Even though I know exactly what the page says without looking at it, I force myself to open my eyes, because eventually I will see something I haven't seen, and what I do see will be something I can fix to make my book stronger - better.  So I will keep working away at it.  Typo after typo.  Bad sentence after bad sentence.  Fallen brick after fallen brick.  And one day, hopefully, it will be published, on the the shelves, and never get another polish again.

This coming weekend is Thanksgiving, and I'm going to be done by then, because if there is one thing I dislike, it's working on the holidays.  Especially one with pumpkin pie...

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

An End of Season

In a couple days fall will be here.  I have two weeks left in my personal deadline to get the edits back to agent X.  Things are coming to a close.  As I am busy finishing up the final polish on the newest version of my manuscript, this week's post is going to be a sweet ode to the summer which has almost completely passed us by.  This picture I took on a very short trip to a local lake this summer.  I love how the sun reflects on the water.  I love how just looking at the water makes me feel the amber warmth of the sun on my skin.  It was a beautiful evening.

What was your favorite part of summer 2012?

The Power of Water

One of the main elements of my novel is water.  Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch would be nothing if water didn't exist.  But also, the main character wouldn't have her powers.  Sometime after I began writing this book, I realized that I was writing about something that absolutely terrifies me.  That's right, I'm afraid of water.  Maybe it's because my parents put me in swimming lessons when I was too young.  Maybe it's because of that one time my aunt took me down a water-slide and I swallowed a lungful of water. Whatever it was, it stuck.  To this day I hate swimming.

But I do love water.

My favorite thing about water is how it quenches thirst.  My second favourite thing is a cascading waterfall and how awesomely mesmerizing it is to watch gallon after gallon of fresh, clear glacier water come pounding over a cliff.  Whenever I travel, I try to visit a waterfall.  The picture below is from one of the road trips I took this summer.  This waterfall is Takakkaw, in Yoho National Park in British Columbia.  This is one of the most beautiful and accessible waterfalls I've ever been too.  Even though you can drive right up to it, it's still in the middle of nature (unlike certain other falls on the opposite end of the continent).  You could walk right up to the base of Takakkaw, and feel the cold, chilly spray on your skin.  I loved it.

My third favourite element of water is the rain.  I find it clean, refreshing, and rejuvenating no matter how cold it is, or how small and prickly.  Whenever I feel absolutely, completely horrible, I want it to rain.  Because I feel like the rain can be that emotion.  But in the spring, when everything is dusty and grey and my spirits are picking up after a long winter, I want it to rain too because I want everything to be green and bright.  

Water can be many things, and it can mean many different things to many different people.  There is one overall truth that exists for everyone though: we cannot live without water.  It gives us life.  Without it we'd be dust.  

What does water mean to you?

A Priceless Original

Writing Weekend 2012 was an amazing success!  I got through the rest of the rewrites for Tales!  It's been a long hard road, and hopefully I'm approaching the end.  At the very least, I'm approaching a nice, wooden, two-story, solidly built inn with soft, feather beds, and serving delicious bowls of hot lamb stew.  I think I will rest here for a while.  Well, after I do another read-through and edit and send the umpteenth draft of my novel to agent X.

The big milestone had me remembering back to when I finished the first draft in 2009.  WOW.  That was a long time ago.  After I finished, I did a rewrite, then I did another, and another, and...you get the drift.  I took a picture of the first draft I printed out.  There it is sitting pretty in the binder, waiting for my red pen to mark up all the pages.  This last edit I did completely on my computer, which really got me thinking about how I best like to edit, rewrite, read, and write.  I'm pretty sure I like a combination of both paper and plasma....hmmmm....not sure if computer screens are plasma....but either way, I'm sure you get my drift.

What's your favourite way to do each writerly activity?

Oh lookie, here she is all shiny and RED!

Writing Weekend 2012

So this weekend I would normally participate in the 3-Day Novel Writing Contest, which is a great source of inspiration for writers aspiring or otherwise.  If you've never heard of it you can check it out here:  http://www.3daynovel.com/

But this year I'm not writing a novel, I'm re-writing one. Specifically for Agent X who requested some changes and a re-submittal.  My goal this weekend is to keep my but in the chair until are the changes are made.  Currently, I'm on chapter 15.  I think there are 27 chapters, so this put me a teeny bit more than halfway through.  I want to get finished today, which is going to make for a very long day.  Realistically, I won't be done until the end of the long weekend - hence why I'm naming this writing weekend 2012.

In order to keep myself motivated, I've brought home the following treats as rewards:  Kernels popcorn, chocolates, and this wonderful breakfast that I just went for a morning walk to retrieve.  It's a whole wheat scone with dates and nuts from my local bakery (which I have deliciously coated in butter, a handfull of raspberries (which I picked up at the grocery store), and a cup of Lady Jane Grey tea (which was a gift from a friend - whom I'm very grateful for).  I've attached a picture so you can drool too:

One thing I noticed on my walk to the bakery this morning, was how eerily quiet the streets are on a Saturday.  But maybe that's a blog for another time.  Today I need to get re-writing.

Stick This

When it comes to writing, there are many required tools, such as paper and pen, but there are also many additional tools, which may not be required but that add a lot to the creative process - at least mine.  Currently, I'm working on edits to my Young Adult novel Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch.  My required editing tool is a red, purple, or pink pen.  My favourite is purple.  Some preferred editing tools are sticky notes, paper clips, highlighters, and a trash bin.  That last is actually a lie.  I'm a hoarder of manuscripts.  I keep each and every copy of every novel and novel version that I write.  Seriously. I'm running out of room.  And if I ever get the kind of time to be the writer I want to be, I'm going to have to buy an entire house just to have a place to put the masses of paper.  And no, I cannot do all my editing electronically, just like I can't read everything electronically.  I love paper.  I surround myself with paper.  I found these sticky notes at Chapters, and was thrilled to see two of my favourite things come together: paper and paris.  These sticky notes are heaven, they actually make me look forward to the most-dreaded task of editing.  What kind of writing tools do you use?

A Little Letter

Today I'm going to come out and post one of the many rejections I've received through the years as I've tried to publish my novels (some short stories and poems were thrown in there too).  Going through my email today, I came upon this one, short and sweet, from and agency I won't name as even rejectionist deserve their privacy, no?  

Every rejections hurt.  And often it's the rejections with all the words that hurt the most.  Or at least that is what I used to think.  Then I worked harder, longer, and learnt more about writing and publishing and decided it is the rejections without all the words that hurt the most, because they don't teach you anything.

So what I'm really going to do, is show two rejections.  One is a rejection of one of my novels, and one is a rejection of a short story.  Which type of rejection do you prefer (if you prefer any type of rejection at all)?

Dear J.E. Hunter,

Thank you for your email.  While your project sounds interesting, I don’t think it is right for my list at this time. 

I appreciate your querying us, and wish you good luck in finding the right agent who can successfully champion your work.

Sincerely,

Agent XX

XX Literary Agency

(The following is an abbreviated version of the actual letter)

Dear J.E.Hunter

Thank you for sending us your story The Storm.

After a close reading, we have determined that it will not be a good fit for XX Magazine.  There are many reasons why stories get rejected.  We look for the most effective combination of plot, characters, emotion and originality.  Some stories have one or two of these traits, but only a few have them all.

Comments:

The premise and setting of the story are SF cliches, so you need strong characters and more vibrant dialog to rise above the cliche.  Your opening is a long expository lump, where you tell everything that you should be showing the reader.  And the ending doesn't ring true.  

Yours very truly,

XX Editor

The second letter wasn't dated, but I can tell you that it came back to me a number of years ago.  I'm pretty sure it made me cry.  But now, when I look back at it.  I can see that I took all of those comments to heart, got my butt in gear, read more books on writing, worked with a writer in residence, and practised, practised, practised.  And I am much better for it.  Give me longer letters any day.