Expectations vs. Reality

I always wish there was some sort of device that I could hook up to my head, that would translate all the images up there into words. Because seriously, one of the most frustrating parts of writing for me is trying to get what's in my head onto paper. It either doesn't come out right or takes too long to get down or just doesn't live up to my expectations.

When I first started "seriously" writing, I was living under the dreadful misconception that all I needed to do was sit down and write and I'd be done. I knew, of course, that there would be revisions. But I thought of those more as just checking for typos and grammar mistakes. I had NO idea the work involved in crafting a real, publishable book. I had no idea that the REAL work on a book happens after you get that first draft down.

So I was a bit surprised when I sent my manuscript off to my first crit group and realized that it looked more like picture B up there than picture A :D

Now, when revisions get tough, I just try to remind myself that my manuscripts can and will be like the perfect vision I expect...but they will most likely start out like the reality snowman up there and will take a lot of work to make them awesome :) The important thing is that I keep crafting and sculpting until I get there. Because if I give up halfway through, my poor manuscript will always look like Frosty on a bad day :D

Do your expectations ever live up to reality? What do you do when they don't?

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Expectations vs. Reality

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WIP Wednesday

First off - Happy Birthday to my awesome stepson!! He's 21 today, which is blowing my mind. When I married his father he was this adorable freckle-faced little 10 year old :) Now he towers above all of us and has turned into a wonderful young man. :)

Now....in writing news - things went wonky LOL I'm rewriting a novel I wrote a few years ago (as I've told you before). Revisions have been going very well. Then I realized that while they were going well for the OLD storyline, I was getting way off track for the NEW storyline. Not that anything was horrible, and I'd added quite a few new tidbits. But I was 100 pages in and the real crux of the new stuff hadn't really started yet and was bogged down in all this stuff that, while I liked it and it worked well for the other story, was pretty irrelevant to the new story.

I always block out my scenes on post its and put them up on my cork board during revisions, so I can see what I have and more easily determine what needs to change. But for this problem, those didn't really help.

So...I typed up a little mini synopsis for each chapter, printed it out, put it on my cork board, and started rearranging and cutting. It was kind of fun. I had my tape, scissors, red pen, and push pins all laid out. I cut one entire chapter and took another one, cut a few bits out of it and taped them into the synopsi (?) for 2 other chapters...and got rid of the rest of that one. Then I moved a few chapters around so their content fit the flow of the story better.

And then I took all that, made a new little synopsis for each chapter on a post it (one for each chapter), put those on my main cork board, opened my files and went to town. It probably sounds more complicated than it was LOL But it worked great! I'm a very visual and hands-on person. If I can see it and DO it (as opposed to just reading it) I can work things out much quicker.

So, I am now well on my way to getting this puppy where it needs to be :)

Do you have any special little tricks like this that help you when it comes to revisions?

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Wiping Walls and Polishing Manuscripts

So, I was wiping down the walls the other day (please...contain your jealousy of my glamourous life) ;-) and, as often occurs, was reminded of writing.



See, I grabbed a rag just to wipe off some finger prints I saw on the door jamb going into the kitchen. But after I wiped those off, I noticed more over on the back door. And then I noticed more on the doorway leading to the stairs, and then I saw more....well, you see what I mean. Pretty soon I had a bucket of suds and was wiping down every wall, door, and doorway in my house.



I tend to do this with my manuscripts as well. I often go into revisions thinking "everything is pretty good, I just need to make a few tweaks here and there."



And then I get into my pages and notice just a few more things that need some cleaning up...and then a couple more things pop up...and then those things lead to a few more things...and before I know it I've gone in an done a complete overhaul of my whole book :D



This doesn't always happen, of course. But I almost always find more to fix than I thought I needed going in.



Do you do this? Do you go in thinking all you need is a quick wipe down and end up with a bucket and a scrub brush? :D



For me, this actually works well. My preconceived notions help keep me from freaking out when I go into revisions. By the time I realize it needs more work than I thought, I'm already elbow deep into scrubbing and am (usually) pumped to keep going :)

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Body Language

One of my weaknesses as a writer is an over-abundance of body language, particularly in dialogue. It's something I am very aware that I do, yet still, I tend to want to tell the reader every single thing my characters are doing as they speak. Stuff like this (as a really bad example):

Jane snorted. "I think you're stupid."
John frowned. "I think you're stupid too."
Jane folded her arms, her brows creased in anger. "You are such a stupid head."
"Oh yeah," John said, stepping closer, "well you're an even bigger stupid head."
"I can't believe I gave you my pudding cup!" Jane said, stomping her foot.
John laughed and winked his eye. "Well you can't have it back now," he said, sticking out his tongue.

Adding all that body language in with the dialogue really isn't necessary. It slows down the pace and the energy of the dialogue. Pick up a favorite book. Flip to a passage of dialogue. There is probably very minimal body language. Without all the body language, the reader is allowed to choreograph the scene for themselves, with the characters' words as their guide. There really is no need for all the extra stage directions :) Something that I tend to forget.

My first drafts are chock full of body language and it's something I spend a lot of time, and several passes, weeding out. Though...I think I'm getting a little better at reigning it in the first time around LOL

How do you feel about body language? Do you add a lot into your dialogue? When reading, do you like knowing every move the characters are making, or do you like supplying that on your own?

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Chunking, Arcing, and Outlining....Oh My!

My crit partners and I got in a discussion the other day about outlining. I'm knee deep in revisions at the moment (and feeling bad because I should be neck deep), so the discussion came at a good time as I am currently outlining my poor little manuscript to death :)

Now, these methods are all new to me, but I absolutely love how they've been working out.

For my first draft, I try to do a bare bones story arc. I draw a little chart that looks like this (ignore the black spot...that was an accidental cut :D)





and I put up 10 or so highlights...the big turning/decision points, climaxes, setbacks, etc, in my story. If I know more specifics here and there, I'll add them in. But just having a few major points to shoot for gives me an idea of where I need to go and what needs to happen. Then I write.

When it's time to edit, I do what I call chunking (not sure if this is the real term or just something I latched onto one day...it's a bit of a mixture of a few techniques I've read about in books or heard from other people).

Basically, I take Post Its and on each one I outline each scene in my book. When writing, I don't separate my scenes into chapters - I leave them as scenes until further into the editing process and then I designate chapters for each one.

Anyhow, on each Post It for each scene I write down who the characters are, whose POV the scene is in, the setting, and what happens in that scene. Then I stick it up on my corkboard, which looks like this (and p.s. I think I need a bigger board...the back is just as full as the front!):




THEN I go through and see what needs to be cut, changed, and added. And I color code. The original scene chunks are all one color Post It (purple this time around). A new scene that needs to be added will be tacked up on a different color Post It (blue this time). And any changes that need to be made to a scene are noted on the Post Its in red pen.

I'm a very visual person, so laying out my whole story in this way allows me to see exactly what I've got going on. It makes it easier for me to spot where changes, additions, and cuts need to be made, and when it's time to rewrite, I can go through each scene and then flip the Post It over when I'm done, so I have a visual of how far I've gone and how far I need to go.

How do you handle writing and revisions?

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My Characters' True Nature

So I was talking to a good friend/crit buddy of mine last night. We are both reworking old novels that have been sitting for several years and we are both just jumping out of skins excited at how our revisions are turning out. Apparently, even if you love a book like it was your own child, letting it sit for a year or three gives you a bit of prospective. I have been slashing away like you wouldn't believe....about 30,000 words so far. In fact, other than the characters and the basic story line, most of the story is brand new.

But we started talking about how I miss some of the scenes between my MC and her love interest but that I just couldn't keep them because the scenes no longer fit the dynamics of their relationship (they were very tender, gushy...love them, but their relationship has more of an edge to it now - there's more mistrust and other stuff going on instead of just straight 'OOOO I LOVE YOU SO MUCH' stuff).

And then we talked about how much I love the new scenes between them. And she pointed something out.

I still know about those scenes that are no longer in the book. Those scenes show how my characters really feel about each other - they show the emotions my characters can no longer afford to show. And all of that comes through in the new scenes.

It made me realize that THIS is probably the reason people do character sketches and fake interviews and bios or character bibles. I've never done one...never wanted to. I get to know my characters through writing them. BUT I have a tendency to let inconsistencies in their makeup slip through. I'm getting much better at catching that (and this is something that I've learned over the last year so it wasn't present when I wrote the first 100 drafts of this novel) :D (p.s. thanks Elana and Christine) :D I'm hoping that I'm just getting better at staying true to my characters...not that it will take several years to really get to know them every time. Because that could be a problem LOL

However, now, when I'm going through reworking these scenes, I am staying true to my characters and who they really are. I'm not forcing them to react the way I want them to react. When I first wrote the book, I wanted a story where they guy got the girl and they stayed together totally in love, totally trusting, through the whole book. But that's not only boring, it just doesn't fit the way real people are....and certainly doesn't fit who my characters are.

Rewriting these scenes and letting my characters' true natures shine out is just unbelievably exciting. *happy sigh* It's moments like this that really drive home to me why I do what I do :)

How about you? Have you ever tried to force a character to do something he/she/it just wouldn't do? Do you have trouble staying consistent? And do you do character sketches, etc before writing? I'm still not sure I have the desire to do one, but I can definitely see it's merits.

And how are my fellow NaNoers doing? I got my goal in last night so I am now up to.....

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Thirty Word Thursday

The labour of writing and rewriting...is the due exacted by every good book from its author, even if he knows from the 
beginning exactly what he wants to say.
~ G. M. Trevelyan

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Off to the Editor

Monday was a momentous day in the McLean household. My very first soon-to-be-published book was packed up and sent on its way to my editor. I thought you might like to know how the whole "getting the manuscript ready for publication" process works....at least for Non-fiction (in my short experience, in any case).

First of all, after my agent had worked her magic, my contract arrived in the mail. I had a very big SQUEE moment (which repeats every so often as I realize how real this whole thing actually is) :D

Along with my signed contract came a welcome packet from my publisher. This included a welcome letter, an author questionnaire, and information letters from the marketing, production, foreign rights, and editorial departments, with a contact sheet for everyone in the company I may need to get a hold of.

The author questionnaire is a big packet of questions about my book, my intended market, and little old me. I got to write the blurb for the book, a bio for me, some interview questions should anyone need to refer to them, and there were spots for things like publications/companies/reviewers I felt should be made aware of my book, any endorsements I may have received, and any avenues I might have access to (such as radio/tv interviews, conventions or conferences I might be speaking at, that sort of thing).

Basically, they wanted to know about me, my book, and how I might be able to help market my book.

Then, I got down to some serious editing. Before signing the contract, my publisher had mentioned a few changes and additions they wanted made to the manuscript and we agreed upon a deadline for the final manuscript to be sent in. (I am very happy to report that my manuscript is complete early - woohooo!)

So I set about getting my lovely little book all ready. And last week, it happened. The final "i" was dotted, the final "t" was crossed - I had printed the book out, let it sit, and gone through it again, slowly, with a red marker, and made it as good (not perfect, because that will never happen *snort*) as I could get it.

I printed out a nice, clean, and oh-so-pretty copy for my editor's shredding pleasure. Also, I sent a CD that contains each of my chapters and material as separate files. And she's all ready to go:





Once my editor goes through it, I'll get edits. From what I've heard from my writer buddies' experience, these usually appear in the form of a letter (and I suppose the edits necessary will dictate the length of that letter LOL) Another deadline will be set for the new revisions to be completed by, and then, once my manuscript has been approved by everyone, it will go to production.

I'm actually sort of surprised by how quickly the last half of this will take place. My book will be released in Jan. Which means, it will be printed by Dec (at the latest, I am assuming, since my publisher will ship the book to stores 2 weeks before its actual release). My deadline for this first round isn't until Sept 1 (so I'm a month early). Which means, any other revisions necessary will take place between Sept and Nov....which doesn't seem like much time *eep!*  Here's hoping they won't need many changes :D

Anyhow, that is my pre-production experience up to this point. Really, I just wanted to show you the oh so pretty picture of my manuscript LOL I just *heart* it :D

How is everyone's projects going? I am having a blast focusing on fiction again. Juggling two novels and fielding my family's "but I thought you just finished" comments.....poor little darlings.....stuck with a writer as a wife and mom. I think I'll go get them some chocolate :D

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Blog Chain: Revision Decisions

This blog chain topic was chosen by the lovely Sarah Bromley who wants to know:


How do you handle revisions? Do you revise as you're writing, or do you wait until you've gone through beta readers and crit partners to revise? How soon after you finish do you begin your revisions?

For me, it sort of depends on the project. Poetry, I revise immediately after finishing, sometimes before I've finished. Non-fiction, I only have one, sometimes two, crit partners read that stuff, and I usually revise as soon as they've read each chapter, while writing the next. But non-fiction is much easier for me to deal with, in general. It's not as personal, there aren't any plot holes or character developments, or "hard" stuff to fix. Revisions mostly consist of adding more or less explanations, rewording or reorganizing....stuff that isn't too difficult to do.

Fiction, ahhh yes, fiction. That's an entirely different story. Honestly, I'm still trying to find the revision technique that works best for me. I always go through something several times before I send it out to my crit partners. I'll generally go through a chapter the day after writing it and then let it sit for a day or so more before going through it again. And then I'll send it off, when it's as good as I can get it.

Once my crit partners have marked it up, I tend to want to fix something as soon as I know there's something wrong. However, I've discovered this doesn't always work well. Because my crit partners might mark up stuff in chapter three that I'll spend days revising only to find out that I need to cut the entire scene a couple weeks later because a revision in chapter seven changed the whole plotline.

So, for my new WIP, I am going to try and let the revisions wait until the whole book has been edited by my crit partners. And then, I'll go through chapter by chapter and see what needs to be done. It'll be hard to keep my OC tendencies in check, but dangit, I'm gonna try! :)

Be sure to check out Laura's answer from yesterday and swing by Shaun's tomorrow to see how he deals with revisions.

And speaking of Shaun, stay tuned next week for our Author Spotlight Week featuring him!! We'll be giving away signed copies of his book as well, so don't miss it!!

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Thirty Word Thursday

(first off, happy birthday to my baby! My little Ryanna turns 5 today :) Such a big girl now!)

"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time...You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile."


Robert Cormier

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Thirty Word Thursday

"Writing is rewriting. To fall in love with the first draft to the point where one cannot change it is to greatly enhance the prospects of never publishing."


Richard North Patterson

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WIP Wednesday

Oops, it's Wednesday. LOL Oye, real life getting busy :)

Well, quick WIP update....I'm loving outlining...but I'm not so sure it works for me. But I want it to - badly. I spend a good 8 months on revisions after the initial 2 or 3 months of writing draft. I do NOT want to spend an entire year on one manuscript anymore. But outlining seems to kill the drive to write the story.

So, I have two options at the moment.

1. Word vomit draft one and then outline during the beginning of the revision process (thanks for that term, Elana LOL). This option is what I'm leaning toward as it will allow me to get the story out but still organizes things in time to be efficient in the revising arena.

2. Continue trying to outline before draft 1. This one I'm not so sure about. However, my fabulous crit partner and agent buddy Christine recommended an outlining book that is on its way to my house as we speak. I will give it a shot, 'cause hey, I'm will to try just about everything once :)

So, for now, no progress on the fiction WIP. The NF book is getting much closer to being done but work stalled out for a week or so as I dealt with some Real Life stuff. IF I can get all my ducks in a row here, I should be done with revisions on that this week and then will just need to finish up the 4 new chapters we are adding (and they are, thank goodness, at least partially finished).

Then, manuscript off to my editor and I can focus the summer on fiction. Woohoo!

How about you all? How are your projects going? Have any of you tried outlining to find it just doesn't work? Do you outline at all, during any stage of the process?

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Practice Makes Publishable

I've always heard the expression "Practice Makes Perfect," and, being a borderline perfectionist, generally try (and fail) to apply that saying to many aspects of my life.

Over the years, I've had to learn to let that expectation of perfection go. I'm never going to be the perfect wife, or mother, or human being, though I will continue to try my best.

Now, I think I am finally ready to admit that I need to stop trying to apply this to my writing. It's never going to be perfect. Even if my next book hits the NYT Bestseller list and outsells the entire Harry Potter and Twilight series put together....I'm still going to open that book one day and find something I want to change.

It will never be perfect.

And that's okay. It doesn't need to be perfect. It needs to be publishable.

How do I make it publishable?

Practice. Writing more and more. Taking my next WIP and the WIP after that and the WIP after that, and pouring my heart, soul, and sweat into them. Hard work, revisions, more hard work, more revisions, confidence, persistence, faith, more hard work, and more revisions.

Very few people sell the first thing they've ever written. A first novel, maybe. But I bet they've written short stories or poetry or essays or something else before. At the very least, they've rewritten that first novel within an inch of its life. 

I've known people who have let this idea of perfection paralyze them to the point that they refuse to query a wonderful book because they don't think it's ready. They let this unobtainable goal keep them from sharing their incredible stories.

There's no such thing as perfection - especially when it comes to our writing. What one person thinks is perfect, someone else is going to hate. And what we think is perfect now, we may cut without hesitation six months later.

So, should we give up altogether?

NEVAH!!!!! :D

Practice. Keep writing. Shelve it all if you need to, but keep writing.

Practice may not make it perfect. But it will make it publishable.

What are your thoughts? Do you practice to make perfect? Do you still hold on to the dream that someday that book of yours will stand as a shining example of literary perfection? Or have you come to the conclusion that something may be excellent, but there's no such thing as perfect?

Do you strive for perfection, or for publication?

(and a quick personal note: Happy Anniversary Mr. McLean! :) You've bravely put up with being married to a writer for 9 years. Kudos :D  )

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Just Suck it Up and Do It!!!

There has been a lot of talk around the blogosphere lately about fear and pushing through it to meet your goals. So I thought I'd throw in my two cents, such as they are.

This is actually something one of my writer friends/crit partners/agent buddies/ real life bestie and I talk about constantly. Oh, if you could only read the emails that fly between us. *sigh*

However, we've more or less come up with the conclusion that all this emotional intensity (to use Christine's phrase) is just a part of who we are. I think creative people in general, and writers in particular, are just wired to feel things in that extra special, super intense way. It's a job requirement. You have to be able to feel in order to make your reader feel as well.

But, with that intensity comes a lot of fear - fear of failure, fear of success, fear that you aren't good enough, fear that you are but no one will know it...

All those feelings are valid and even good for your writing. I think that fear is what helps add the extra spice to your work, the special zing of emotion that has your readers laughing or crying along with you. And I think it pushes us to make our work as perfect as it can be....makes us revise time and again, makes us agonize over finding that exact right WORD.

The problem arises when the fear stops you from doing what you are meant to do. When your fear of finishing that manuscript becomes so crippling you shove it under a bed or Heaven forbid, hit delete. When your fear of rejection causes you to walk away from the computer instead of hitting send. When your fear of criticism has you tossing your manuscript away or sending something unpolished and unready into the world instead of having a crit partner look it over.

So how do you get over the fear? How do you make yourself push past it? Well, I, for one, chant my new mantra....JUST SUCK IT UP AND DO IT!

What, you're tired? Too bad! Just suck it up and do it!

What, you're afraid you won't get the edits right and will have to revise again? Well, guess what, you are probably right. So Just suck it up and do it!!

What, you're afraid your crit partners are going to take their red pens and SHRED your manuscript? They've done it before and they'll do it again. So Just suck it up and do it!

Fear has it's place in our lives, and it's not always a bad thing. But you can't let it stop you. Roll with it. Grab it by the hand and tell it you love it. Buy it some flowers and make kissy faces at it. Stick your tongue out or give it the finger. Do whatever you have to do to make peace with your fear....and then suck it up and just do it. Cause no one is going to do it for you and chances are, they wouldn't do it as well as you even if they could. Make fear your new BFF and show it what you're made of.

What about you? Do you have any techniques for conquering, or at least dealing, with your fears?

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No Tears, No Dice

 




I may have posted this quote before, but I think it is awesome enough for a second run.


What lasts in the reader's mine is not the phrase but the effect the 
phrase created: laughter, tears, pain, joy. 
If the phrase is not affecting the reader, what's it doing there? 
Make it do its job or cut it without mercy or remorse.
~ Isaac Asimov


I love, LOVE, this quote. Cutting material is one of the hardest parts of writing. Especially when the stuff you are cutting isn't bad. Sometimes it's really good stuff! But it may not be doing its job for one reason or another and so....it has to go.


When I started out writing (for the purpose of publication, in any case), I had pages - a LOT of pages -  that I needed to cut in order to get the pace of my story moving. It wasn't bad stuff. Most of it was description. Really beautiful description (if I do say so myself *ahem*). But it didn't do anything for the story. It wasn't needed to help the plot along. In fact, I was describing rooms of a house that the character would never go in. It certainly didn't evoke any kind of response in my readers, except perhaps boredom, which I REALLY wasn't going for.


So, it got cut.


Now, that was a more clear cut case - but I've had instances that weren't as easy to spot. I had a conversation in my last book that I really loved. I thought it was funny and showed a playful moment between two of my characters. It didn't move the plot along - meaning, it wasn't introducing any new information about the stsoryline. But I ended up leaving it in the book, with a few tweaks. I did change it up a bit so that there were some plot-moving elements. The main reason I left it in the story was because, after taking a poll of all my readers, I found it was evoking the response I was going for. The parts of the conversation that weren't helping to evoke that response got cut. The stuff that worked, stayed.


Have you had material that you've really loved that you had to cut because it wasn't producing the desired response?  Were you able to save it or did it end up in the great red-marked chop pile in the sky?

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