Category: livejournal entry

Usually, once I’ve got my outline together, I start writing at the front of the book and work my way right to the end before I get any revisions going. If I jump ahead to the stuff I’m most looking forward to, I generally find I end up having to redo it because ultimately, the context isn’t what I originally thought. And if I were to stop and revise as I went, I’d pretty much spend my whole life repolishing a single Chapter One without ever hitting Chapter Two.

This weekend, though, I went back and began revisions work on Stargazer, despite the fact that I’m about 15K short of the end. I knew a couple of plot arcs had developed in new directions — that happens all the time, and in itself that didn’t worry me. But those new plot elements meant that I had to go back and ask myself about the characters’ motivations, and in a couple of cases, those motivations had changed substantially. I felt like, if I wasn’t in touch with that, any version of the ending I could write would be so flawed that I’d end up having to redo it completely.

So. Saturday morning, I picked up with Chapter One. I didn’t do a full revision, but I straightened things out, refocusing on what I now know is more important. I pretty much worked on that nonstop until Sunday night. (Well, with a few breaks for food and “Singin’ in the Rain,” because there is literally no time when it is not good to stop and watch that movie. I think watching Gene Kelly dance improves your mind, health, spirit, complexion and karma.) And I am so, so glad that I did. Although there are still a few chapters to go, I feel like the story is so much more on-track and has regained its momentum. Or maybe that’s my momentum. Either way, I’m feeling good.

I got the manuscript for Evernight back from the copyeditors this week and have been proofing it in the evenings. Just got done about half an hour ago. And let me tell you something: I am so deeply, humbly grateful that I would run over to 55th St. and start hugging people at HarperCollins if it wouldn’t result in a restraining order.

I mean, I’m a pretty careful writer. I edit. And I re-edit. I research. I have grammar-sharp, plot-wise friends read my manuscript multiple times. I think of myself as creating a fairly clean product. And then the copyedit comes along to remind me, Hi, you know nothing.

The majority of the edits were style things; as a former journalist, I tend to write by AP style, which is not used in most fiction publishing. And some mistakes were the results of previous editing I’d done (moving the location of a scene and thinking I’d caught every later reference to the scene, but discovering I’d missed one), which, although still my error, I don’t feel too bad about; this is the kind of thing you want a new set of eyes for.

But I got the title of an album wrong, and I own that album. There are other numbskull errors too. OK, in the grand scheme of things, not that many, but every single one thwacks me smack in my forehead and shakes me out of my complacency.

Stargazer will get a much tougher read from me — and no doubt copyediting will save my skin there, too —

To make a long story short: Thank God for copyeditors!

But still, after Write-A-Thon 2007, I can report that I got about 22,000 words in during those five days — not bad! My rough drafts are fairly rough things (and I already see that Stargazer is going to require a lot of restructuring), but at this point, the main thing is to get the whole story down, and I’m a lot closer to that. So far this weekend hasn’t been especially productive, but I hope to make up for that tomorrow.

Today, instead of writing, I went to the Natural History Museum, where they have the “Mythical Creatures” exhibit — dragons and mermaids and griffins and the like. It was pretty amazing stuff, really, and thank goodness I was able to retain some self-control in the gift shop. Not only were there adorable stuffed potbellied dragons and remarkably good phoenix puppets, but there was a book called A Field Guide to Demons. Not only did it list most types of demons from folklore around the world, but it also included the time honored methods for exorcising and/or slaying them. I might have to reconsider, return and buy that one after all; as an urban fantasy writer, I could claim it as a valuable research tool —

It’s been much too long since I updated. I hereby blame a grueling set of deadlines at work and a nasty summer cold, both of which contributed to my also falling behind on my novel deadlines. About two weeks ago, I was well on my way to a full-bore panic. However, last weekend I was able to make some progress on Stargazer, and then I finally got done with the big projects at work — which meant I was able to take this Monday and Tuesday off, allowing me five days off in a row when I really have no major plans other than to write. My goal is to reach Chapter 16 by Wednesday evening; if I do that, I’ll be in the home stretch and confident that I’ll have a complete first draft by August 1, my original, self-imposed deadline.

(Granted, this first draft is rougher than rough, but I’ve started making “polish notes” as I go, thinking out the changes I’ll make and putting together an action plan for revisions that I can turn around and start on instantly. So I feel good about it.)

Will I make it? I hope so (and will report in on Wednesday.) I find that when I have a lot of time set aside to write and am healthy/happy enough to actually do it, I work at a faster pace — and it only gets faster the longer I’ve got. There’s a rhythm to it, I think, or maybe it’s simply a matter of catching the book’s mood and being able to live in that for a few days. Does this happen for you guys, too?

Whatever it is, I’m having tremendous fun (writing in the park near my home, in a little shady place where you could believe you’re in the woods instead of Manhattan, white butterflies fluttering all around). If only I really could do this every day!

First of all, the fangs_fur_fey contest has announced its winner, and lucky #102 gets to send her pages to Rachel Vater. I think the pages are terrific and I’m very eager to read the whole book — which, hopefully, we’ll be able to do by picking copies up in the bookstore someday. (Someday soon, I hope. I am concerned for Obie.)

I am a member of the community writers_5, but have rarely been able to answer the questions, as I felt like the honest answers would too spoilery for Evernight. Today, though, I think I can safely answer these:

While going to and from a Cinco de Mayo party, riding the subway, I worked on plotting for the very last book in the Evernight series. Not only did I make a lot of story progress, but something I hadn’t realized about the mythology finally came clear to me — it’s like it was always there, but I just hadn’t seen it — and now I’m on a high. So much can flow from this point, not just in the fourth book but in two and three as well.

There is this incredible sense of mischief, I guess, when you think of something new — it’s almost like you’ve just put one over on reality, coming up with something fictional that nonetheless feels true. Take that, surly bonds of earth.

I would love to have something to post for the first (annual) Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Wretch Day, a movement started within sfwa to share work for free. Why? Because it’s a good way for readers to find writers they like and then, we hope, buy more of their work.

However, I have nothing to offer. I’ve been so wrapped up in completing Evernight (STILL working on synopses) that I’ve had no time to prepare anything shorter, and I’m such a noob to the published-writer thing that I don’t know the rules about posting any snippets of the book itself. So I simply have to promise to play next year (should this become a regular thing) and to spend some quality time this afternoon surfing around and reading all the goodies sure to be posted on LJ.

(Of course, as a fanfic writer, I’ve been giving it away for free since about 1994. So I’m pixel-stained enough for now.)

Does everyone else out there read The Comics Curmudgeon every day? Because if you ever read the comics page of a newspaper — especially if you ever found yourself getting caught up in a soap comic against your will — you will never stop laughing.

I thought I should thank everyone who sent in hooks for the fangs_fur_fey contest — not only because it’s both flattering and humbling that you guys would be willing to listen to our opinions about your writing, but also because it’s been a learning experience for me, too. Asking questions about other people’s clarity or characterization makes me question my own writing, too, and that kind of reexamination is always, always a good thing.

The breadth of the concepts I got to judge, and the sheer ingenuity of some of the ideas, really delighted me. In most cases, I thought the construction of the hook needed more work, but every single entry had something in it that caught my imagination. More than that, anybody who’s willing to have their work critiqued in public deserves kudos. Frankly, I don’t think I could do it. But I tried to offer the kind of advice I’d want to get if I did step up to the plate, and I hope it was constructive for everybody.

We’re judging anonymously, and rightly so, but if anybody who participated has general questions, I’d be happy to answer to the best of my ability. (I didn’t organize the contest — others deserve the credit there — so questions about rules, etc., would best be directed at the community.)

Goal for today: finally write synopses for all four books in the Evernight series.

At long last, I’ve finished the revisions to Evernight, both editorial and self-imposed. The book is the better for it. I simultaneously feel very, very accomplished and very, very tired. Tomorrow I’ll e-mail it in to the editor, and tomorrow night, after drinks/dinner with some friends, I hope to complete some synopses for the whole series for Writers House.

I’m giving myself one week off after that, maybe two. But on or before May 1, the second book in the series (Stargazer) gets underway. As a wise man once said, “Yatta!”

After book revisions (woo!), a trip to Paris (woohoo!) and a nasty bout of the flu (bah humbug), I am again back in the swing of things. During the next week, I’ll complete my final edits to Evernight and gear up to begin the second book, Stargazer (Unless they switch titles on me — who knows?) I’ve got it outlined, and a lot of it is already very clear to me, so I think the writing process on this one is going to be fast and tremendous fun. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

For those of you who might not watch the urban fantasy writers’ comm fangs_fur_fey, but might be interested nonetheless, you should check out the First Ever Hook Contest. Writers in the community (including me) will read and evaluate hooks, and the winner gets a proposal-and-first-fifty-pages review from agent Rachel Vater (raleva31). Read the post, see what the requirements and rules are, and if you’d like to play, please join us!

Besides, those of us trying to write need all the help we can get — and we always have. For proof, check out this 40-year-old article about the “Famous Writers’ School,” a racket that conned the hopeful much as several self-publishing houses, scam agents, etc. do today. I was fascinated by how little the lies had changed. Well worth reading.