All right, it hasn't made that big a difference. I still don't know about grad school, though I am planning on taking a class in the fall as a nonmatriculated student. And we still don't have an agent.
But at least I'm working on The Pirate's Bride again -- up to 233 pages now, and I can see where I'm going for the near future.
And we entered Veil in an online contest at EditFast. Not really sure what the perks are, but what the heck -- it's good to get it out there.
Which is why we also uploaded the first 3 chapters on HarperCollins' Authonomy site. You can check it out here: www.Authonomy.com/ReadBook.aspx?bookid=21096#chapter
Let's see what happens next...
Showing posts with label Progress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Progress. Show all posts
5.06.2010
1.26.2010
There's a Refrigerator Full of Food... Challenge Yourself!
My longtime friend Alex may recall the title of this post from some witless movie we watched one evening in the early nineties. It made us laugh then, and it makes me laugh now, but it got me thinking tonight when I sat down to write.
The Pirate's Bride is coming along, adding another 11 pages this past week -- again, not bad considering I only had 4 nights instead of 5 to work within. It's pretty good stuff, though some of it could use a massage. That will come, as will the key into the next section that is currently eluding me. Thank goodness, so far, I can count on it to work itself out in my head.
The screenplay, on the other hand, has gone nowhere. I can't quite kick myself hard enough to get to work on it, and that's troublesome since we're A) writing from scratch and B) hoping to submit for the 2010 Nicholl Fellowship competition, with a May 1st deadline.
So... do I challenge us (Jeannine and me) to buckle down, write the screenplay, edit it, workshop it in a group and complete the additional edits in only 4 months? Or do we decide not to send an entry this year? We don't want to send a rough piece -- what would be the point? But should we set the goal and do whatever it takes to achieve it, knowing that pressure sometimes produces a great piece?
It would be a serious time commitment. It would take away from Bride for sure, and no doubt from other projects. Yet it's only a few months, and we have the idea mostly fleshed out.
Decisions, decisions.
The Pirate's Bride is coming along, adding another 11 pages this past week -- again, not bad considering I only had 4 nights instead of 5 to work within. It's pretty good stuff, though some of it could use a massage. That will come, as will the key into the next section that is currently eluding me. Thank goodness, so far, I can count on it to work itself out in my head.
The screenplay, on the other hand, has gone nowhere. I can't quite kick myself hard enough to get to work on it, and that's troublesome since we're A) writing from scratch and B) hoping to submit for the 2010 Nicholl Fellowship competition, with a May 1st deadline.
So... do I challenge us (Jeannine and me) to buckle down, write the screenplay, edit it, workshop it in a group and complete the additional edits in only 4 months? Or do we decide not to send an entry this year? We don't want to send a rough piece -- what would be the point? But should we set the goal and do whatever it takes to achieve it, knowing that pressure sometimes produces a great piece?
It would be a serious time commitment. It would take away from Bride for sure, and no doubt from other projects. Yet it's only a few months, and we have the idea mostly fleshed out.
Decisions, decisions.
9.14.2009
Messing About in the Garden
As I write this, I should be working on The Pirate's Bride, for which I have managed to write about six pages in the past ten days, and a whole paragraph (okay, two) today. Chalk it up to the dental hygeniest appointment this morning, and then the errands I had to run, as well as the lunch I had with my dad to celebrate his birthday. (A larger celebration is planned tomorrow; though today is the actual date, we're celebrating tomorrow night.)
Those aren't much of an excuse, though, especially when I took the time to score 237,100 on Bejewled Blitz and look at my email umpteen times this afternoon. If I could play that game professionally, I think I would --I'd at least be getting a return on my addiction. But I digress...
And that's the problem. I'm digressing a lot these days, and regressing, and procrastinating, and all kinds of other "ing"s. Perhaps the problem with being self-motivated is that when you're not, there's no one to kick you up the backside and tell you to move along.
So I'm telling myself:
MOVE ALONG!
Those aren't much of an excuse, though, especially when I took the time to score 237,100 on Bejewled Blitz and look at my email umpteen times this afternoon. If I could play that game professionally, I think I would --I'd at least be getting a return on my addiction. But I digress...
And that's the problem. I'm digressing a lot these days, and regressing, and procrastinating, and all kinds of other "ing"s. Perhaps the problem with being self-motivated is that when you're not, there's no one to kick you up the backside and tell you to move along.
So I'm telling myself:
MOVE ALONG!
3.04.2009
Circling
Since deciding to chuck the traditional workforce for writing full-time, I think I've developed ADD or ADHD or whatever the hell one fits. My symptoms include an inability to keep my posterior in the chair for more than a few minutes (unless I'm playing an online game or Spider Solitaire) when I'm actually trying to, oh, you know, WRITE.
I never used to be like this: I used to be able to concentrate for hours on whatever I happened to be working on. And I used to be largely indistractable: for example, I used to do homework in front of the T.V., sometimes with music playing simultaneously, and usually with my parents fighting in the background. And in spite of missing a minimum of 36 days of school each year, I still made good grades -- 37th in a class of 250 in high school, magna cum laude in college in a 3-year accelerated program. Imagine what I might have done if I had actually applied myself!
I don't say any of this to boast; I say it with a deep mourning for what used to be. Nowadays, I have to write a few words,then get up and sweep the floor; write a few more words, then go get a drink; write a little more... you get the picture.
Oddly enough, though, I'm still making progress. At least there's that.
I never used to be like this: I used to be able to concentrate for hours on whatever I happened to be working on. And I used to be largely indistractable: for example, I used to do homework in front of the T.V., sometimes with music playing simultaneously, and usually with my parents fighting in the background. And in spite of missing a minimum of 36 days of school each year, I still made good grades -- 37th in a class of 250 in high school, magna cum laude in college in a 3-year accelerated program. Imagine what I might have done if I had actually applied myself!
I don't say any of this to boast; I say it with a deep mourning for what used to be. Nowadays, I have to write a few words,then get up and sweep the floor; write a few more words, then go get a drink; write a little more... you get the picture.
Oddly enough, though, I'm still making progress. At least there's that.
1.28.2009
Just Pick A Direction
I've been working on The Pirate's Bride at all hours of the day and night, mostly 'cuz I can't seem to sleep normal hours.
I've also been working on the synopsis for The Long Black Veil... which is to say, I have a synopsis already, I'm just not sure it's quite right, so I'm rewriting it.
And of course, I've been working on the query letter, too. We sent one, but if we hear nothing (as we've done so far... I know, not quite a week, but I'm impatient), then I'll feel compelled to tweak it before we send the next one.
And now I'm working on the screenplay of LBV. Again, I have one written, but I made at least 50 edits so far in just the first 15 pages.
All of which is to say that I'm working, I'm just not sure I'm making an progress.
I think I might need to get out more... just maybe not at 4 AM.
I've also been working on the synopsis for The Long Black Veil... which is to say, I have a synopsis already, I'm just not sure it's quite right, so I'm rewriting it.
And of course, I've been working on the query letter, too. We sent one, but if we hear nothing (as we've done so far... I know, not quite a week, but I'm impatient), then I'll feel compelled to tweak it before we send the next one.
And now I'm working on the screenplay of LBV. Again, I have one written, but I made at least 50 edits so far in just the first 15 pages.
All of which is to say that I'm working, I'm just not sure I'm making an progress.
I think I might need to get out more... just maybe not at 4 AM.
12.20.2008
I Think I'll Keep My Day... uh...Occupation
A friend of mine writes an exceptional recipe blog that makes meal prep sound almost fun and worthwhile. I personally despise cooking, though I am the chief planner & executioner of this chore in my house (with lots of sous chef assistance from my husband and some salad prep by sis).
Perhaps the bread I recently tried to make sensed my ambivalence. As it oozed across the floured pan like a horror-film escapee, I made an executive decision to toss it out, because though I followed the recipe and even set the bowl on the stove -- ostensibly the warmest place in the house -- for 18 hours, I think the house is too cold to get the dough to set up.
I suppose I could turn up the heat from 67 to 70 degrees... but I don't really need a $350 loaf of bread, which is what would happen from the increase in our utility bill.
Guess I'll try making this again in the summer.
In other news, the writing is going well. Not counting pages these days, but conceptual progress. Harder to quantify but probably more important.
Perhaps the bread I recently tried to make sensed my ambivalence. As it oozed across the floured pan like a horror-film escapee, I made an executive decision to toss it out, because though I followed the recipe and even set the bowl on the stove -- ostensibly the warmest place in the house -- for 18 hours, I think the house is too cold to get the dough to set up.
I suppose I could turn up the heat from 67 to 70 degrees... but I don't really need a $350 loaf of bread, which is what would happen from the increase in our utility bill.
Guess I'll try making this again in the summer.
In other news, the writing is going well. Not counting pages these days, but conceptual progress. Harder to quantify but probably more important.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
