My critique partners have finished the full manuscript for Normal. The verdict?

It doesn't suck!Hallelujah! Actually, they were even more positive about the not-sucking. They were outright enthusiastic. The ending worked. Celeste's evolution as a character worked. Most of the subplots worked. Note the "most" there. All five reviewers agreed that ( Read more... )

I have had a hard time balancing the whole writing/family time this week. Part of it is that I don't know if I'll get to see my folks again this year so I want to enjoy every minute of this that I can. However, I'm still dealing with Writer Guilt because I haven't gotten much done. Booooo Writer Guilt.

I did write a rough draft of the Normal ( Read more... )

“Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why it’s so hard.”
-David McCullough

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I'm enjoying the presence of family and trying to squeeze in writing/editing/critiquing whenever I can. I must start on the new Normal synopsis this week and I'm not looking forward to it. Maybe the problem is that whole "thinking clearly"

I'm thrilled to see my Mountain Magic promotion announcement getting so many comments. I know it's an unusual approach, and I wasn't sure how it'd be received. You guys rock. I can't wait to see what recipes you share ( Read more... )

"It is impossible to discourage the real writers-they
don’t give a damn what you say, they’re going to write."
-Sinclair Lewis

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The subject says it. Yesterday I finished the action-packed rough draft of Normal 8.0. It came in at 89,000 words. Now, I know it's still very rough. There are a few scenes in the middle that I need to shape up ( Read more... )

I'm alive and trying hard to meet my self-imposed deadline for completing Normal 8.0 (which would be especially hard if I was dead). I'm at the start of chapter 21 and at almost 85,000 words, with the climax midway. Much blood has been shed, a knee cap shattered, bowels blasted with a gun shot, and the really gritty action is about to start.

"Easy reading is damn hard writing." -Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Normal is done up to chapter 20. The climax is about to start. I had a gap in the chain of events I wasn't sure how to fill. In the story, something happened in the afternoon but I couldn't have the rest of the climax resolve until the next day. I finally had an idea last night on ( Read more... )

More progress in Normal. I finished chapter 17 today and have a word count of about 70,000 words. The pacing seems okay; a few major revelations are about to come out, immediately followed by the climax. But oh man, this draft is so rough. I think one of the major issues in revising will be making Celeste's emotional development and motivations ( Read more... )

It's Sunday, therefore it must be quote day.

Most people won't realize that writing is a craft. You have to take your apprenticeship in it like anything else. -- Katherine Anne Porter
I'm glad it's Sunday. I spent Friday and Saturday dealing with one of the worst migraines I've had in months. One of those where I think, "If I ever need to write a ( Read more... )

After a week or three of heavy revising, I develop a condition I call Itchy Brain Syndrome. It's like the editing side of my brain switches off, and a torrent of fresh ideas pour out from my right brain. Fiction, nonfiction, whatever. It's as though some part of my mind is saying, "Please, for the love of all that is holy, give the novel a rest and ( Read more... )