Clarity
I've been stewing lately (well, for months) about not really knowing where I am with my writing.
It's annoying, because it's all my writing and it should be easy for me to remember. I finally sat down with a pen and paper and discovered why I'm a bit spacy about it all.
I have 22 projects on my hard drive. TWENTY-FRIGGING-TWO.
PLUS ideas/concepts/scenes for at least three more, and a couple dozen short stories that range from a few paragraphs to polished.
Assuming a *minimum* of 10 named characters per project, that's at least 220 people running around in my head demanding my attention. That cacophony alone could account for the fog my head has been in. *wry smile*
Now, eight of that 22 can be set aside because they are scripts that will never see the light of day; they're my way of learning to write dialogue that moves the action forward (a difficult skill on which I have a tentative fingertip-edge clue). For recording purposes, however:
Four of those scripts are complete, four unfinished; two of the unfinished are musicals and the rest are just weird. We'll call them comedic dramas/dark comedy and leave it at that) "An agoraphobe with a secret (she hunts rapists and partially castrates them) is fanatically devoted to a bitter chef's competition until she discovers one of her failed targets is scripted to win. Incensed, she joins an stoner-laden enviro-terrorist group that plans to disrupt the show in an effort to stop the shopping mall it is being used to advertise." Yeah. THAT weird. Welcome to my brain. Can we go now?
*ahem* I digress.
* Fourteen are fiction novel projects.
* Five of those are unfinished (Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror*).
* Nine are actual manuscripts in zero to final draft form. (5 suspense, 2 SciFi Space opera, 1 Fantasy, 1 Urban fantasy). ** (those characters are *especially* raucous/sulky/busy, should you really want to know).
* Five have seen critique group help; partial to full. (Suspense, Space Opera, Fantasy).
* Two of those are in final rewrite prep; rewrite incomplete/not started. (both Suspense).
* One is currently in crit group (Space Opera).
* One is ready to query (EXECUTED ABSOLUTION in seventh revision; Suspense).
I've re-started my hunt for agents. I started back in 2006? -- awhile back -- and then realized my writing really, really, really wasn't ready. I think I'm there now. The agent I liked the most has left the business; I've started from scratch.
Okay then.
My focus for 2012 should be to Get my work out there:
* read the blogs and websites of the agents I've found, keep looking, and create a list in "best to least best fit with my personality" order.
* Query EXECUTED ABSOLUTION repeatedly.
Finish the Nine:
* Organize and finish the two prepped rewrites (CIVIL RETRIBUTION and BLEEDING IRIS)
* Finish the one in crit group (NINTH PLANET'S CHILDREN)
* Organize and prep rewrites for the ones that make the most sense to complete:***
- SECOND PLANET's MOHAWK
- TWELFTH PLANET's KIN
- ELEMENTAL
- FOR PATRIOTIC SKIES
- MODULAR EDUCATION
Whoof. Pretty sure I can't complete all that in a year. However, there's no reason not to try; I'll get more done if I aim high. At least I've got a healthy wide foundation to build on.
.............
* I've been working on the horror off and on for 10 years; with any luck it will be the only one I write. I'm not sure I want to spend the necessary mental and emotional toil to polish a horror novel, especially that one. But it would be nice to get that story entirely OUT of my head and GONE.
** I know I'm supposed to focus on one area, but I'll go homicidally nuts if I have to just write suspense, and a little loopy if I only write fantasy or space opera. I have to have both.
*** Because they're part of either the Space Opera series or the Iris Woosley series. And because of the sentient mushroom.
It's annoying, because it's all my writing and it should be easy for me to remember. I finally sat down with a pen and paper and discovered why I'm a bit spacy about it all.
I have 22 projects on my hard drive. TWENTY-FRIGGING-TWO.
PLUS ideas/concepts/scenes for at least three more, and a couple dozen short stories that range from a few paragraphs to polished.
Assuming a *minimum* of 10 named characters per project, that's at least 220 people running around in my head demanding my attention. That cacophony alone could account for the fog my head has been in. *wry smile*
Now, eight of that 22 can be set aside because they are scripts that will never see the light of day; they're my way of learning to write dialogue that moves the action forward (a difficult skill on which I have a tentative fingertip-edge clue). For recording purposes, however:
Four of those scripts are complete, four unfinished; two of the unfinished are musicals and the rest are just weird. We'll call them comedic dramas/dark comedy and leave it at that) "An agoraphobe with a secret (she hunts rapists and partially castrates them) is fanatically devoted to a bitter chef's competition until she discovers one of her failed targets is scripted to win. Incensed, she joins an stoner-laden enviro-terrorist group that plans to disrupt the show in an effort to stop the shopping mall it is being used to advertise." Yeah. THAT weird. Welcome to my brain. Can we go now?
*ahem* I digress.
* Fourteen are fiction novel projects.
* Five of those are unfinished (Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror*).
* Nine are actual manuscripts in zero to final draft form. (5 suspense, 2 SciFi Space opera, 1 Fantasy, 1 Urban fantasy). ** (those characters are *especially* raucous/sulky/busy, should you really want to know).
* Five have seen critique group help; partial to full. (Suspense, Space Opera, Fantasy).
* Two of those are in final rewrite prep; rewrite incomplete/not started. (both Suspense).
* One is currently in crit group (Space Opera).
* One is ready to query (EXECUTED ABSOLUTION in seventh revision; Suspense).
I've re-started my hunt for agents. I started back in 2006? -- awhile back -- and then realized my writing really, really, really wasn't ready. I think I'm there now. The agent I liked the most has left the business; I've started from scratch.
Okay then.
My focus for 2012 should be to Get my work out there:
* read the blogs and websites of the agents I've found, keep looking, and create a list in "best to least best fit with my personality" order.
* Query EXECUTED ABSOLUTION repeatedly.
Finish the Nine:
* Organize and finish the two prepped rewrites (CIVIL RETRIBUTION and BLEEDING IRIS)
* Finish the one in crit group (NINTH PLANET'S CHILDREN)
* Organize and prep rewrites for the ones that make the most sense to complete:***
- SECOND PLANET's MOHAWK
- TWELFTH PLANET's KIN
- ELEMENTAL
- FOR PATRIOTIC SKIES
- MODULAR EDUCATION
Whoof. Pretty sure I can't complete all that in a year. However, there's no reason not to try; I'll get more done if I aim high. At least I've got a healthy wide foundation to build on.
.............
* I've been working on the horror off and on for 10 years; with any luck it will be the only one I write. I'm not sure I want to spend the necessary mental and emotional toil to polish a horror novel, especially that one. But it would be nice to get that story entirely OUT of my head and GONE.
** I know I'm supposed to focus on one area, but I'll go homicidally nuts if I have to just write suspense, and a little loopy if I only write fantasy or space opera. I have to have both.
*** Because they're part of either the Space Opera series or the Iris Woosley series. And because of the sentient mushroom.