long overdue update
Greetings, people of the internet! Contrary to appearances, I have not in fact vanished into a cave/black hole/Bermuda Triangle/other location without a wifi connection these past two months. I have simply been busy. Not truly so busy as to not have any time at all to post an update, but let's just pretend, shall we? After all, here's a long list illustrating merely some of the many things I've been occupied with:
Online Fiction Class: The online class consumed more time than I was expecting, but in a good way. Over the past nine weeks, we've studied character and plot techniques, read and discussed published stories, submitted scenes and stories of our own, and critiqued each other's work. The quality of feedback and discussion has been very high, and I've learned a lot from my instructors and classmates. There's one week left in the class, and then it's likely at least some of the members will stay in touch and trade critiques in the future. The textbook for the course, Deepening Fiction, is an excellent guidebook for improving as a writer, and I recommend it, even with the high price tag.
Now here's where you get impressed: The major project for the class was a story or chapter of up to 5,000 words, and I wrote a whole entire story in under 2,500 words! I will now answer to the new title of Lisa the Concise, thank you. The story's a pretty decent early draft, if I do say so myself, and feedback from the class concurs. I received many useful and somewhat contradictory suggestions for improvement, and I'm working on a revision now.
The Extent of the Damage: Speaking of revision, there's that novel I'm theoretically rewriting. I haven't gotten to the actual rewrite part yet, but there has been much brainstorming and rearranging of index cards, a smattering of research, and occasional flashes of brilliance. Plus daily pangs of doubt about the entire project. But in two more weeks, real writing will begin. Hold me to this.
Writing Room: You know what I didn't do? I haven't tackled any of that remaining writing room cleanup, which mostly consists of a whole lot of filing. In the plus column, there has been no negative progress, and the room is still as pristine (except for the boxes of paperwork) as it was two months ago. I continue to experience a thrill of satisfaction every time I walk into the room, and I've enjoyed many hours of writing productivity there.
WritersTalk: You know what I did? I accidentally volunteered for the editorial staff of my writing club newsletter. (Oops, I'm not listed there -- guess I'd better submit a photo and statement). I've been putting my mad copyediting and proofreading skillz to work and also discovering how rusty I am at journalism.
Exercise: I'm very suggestible when it comes to exercising. Someone says Couch-to-5K, I run. Someone says One Hundred Pushups, I push up. But I'm a fickle cult member. I've done only a couple of half-hearted runs this year, and I'd nearly forgotten that pushups exist.
This year, I follow the The Church of the Rope. I jump, and you can, too! To iphy's excellent advice, I'll add this inspirational message: No matter how poorly you jump rope, you'll probably do it more skillfully than me, so don't give up. I've managed to jump rope four times a week for a bunch of weeks in a row, and I'm very gradually figuring out how to not trip constantly.
Querying: Yup. (Oh, I'm such a tease. I promise, when there's something to tell, I'll tell.)
So, that's got to be enough of an excuse for not posting, right?
Online Fiction Class: The online class consumed more time than I was expecting, but in a good way. Over the past nine weeks, we've studied character and plot techniques, read and discussed published stories, submitted scenes and stories of our own, and critiqued each other's work. The quality of feedback and discussion has been very high, and I've learned a lot from my instructors and classmates. There's one week left in the class, and then it's likely at least some of the members will stay in touch and trade critiques in the future. The textbook for the course, Deepening Fiction, is an excellent guidebook for improving as a writer, and I recommend it, even with the high price tag.
Now here's where you get impressed: The major project for the class was a story or chapter of up to 5,000 words, and I wrote a whole entire story in under 2,500 words! I will now answer to the new title of Lisa the Concise, thank you. The story's a pretty decent early draft, if I do say so myself, and feedback from the class concurs. I received many useful and somewhat contradictory suggestions for improvement, and I'm working on a revision now.
The Extent of the Damage: Speaking of revision, there's that novel I'm theoretically rewriting. I haven't gotten to the actual rewrite part yet, but there has been much brainstorming and rearranging of index cards, a smattering of research, and occasional flashes of brilliance. Plus daily pangs of doubt about the entire project. But in two more weeks, real writing will begin. Hold me to this.
Writing Room: You know what I didn't do? I haven't tackled any of that remaining writing room cleanup, which mostly consists of a whole lot of filing. In the plus column, there has been no negative progress, and the room is still as pristine (except for the boxes of paperwork) as it was two months ago. I continue to experience a thrill of satisfaction every time I walk into the room, and I've enjoyed many hours of writing productivity there.
WritersTalk: You know what I did? I accidentally volunteered for the editorial staff of my writing club newsletter. (Oops, I'm not listed there -- guess I'd better submit a photo and statement). I've been putting my mad copyediting and proofreading skillz to work and also discovering how rusty I am at journalism.
Exercise: I'm very suggestible when it comes to exercising. Someone says Couch-to-5K, I run. Someone says One Hundred Pushups, I push up. But I'm a fickle cult member. I've done only a couple of half-hearted runs this year, and I'd nearly forgotten that pushups exist.
This year, I follow the The Church of the Rope. I jump, and you can, too! To iphy's excellent advice, I'll add this inspirational message: No matter how poorly you jump rope, you'll probably do it more skillfully than me, so don't give up. I've managed to jump rope four times a week for a bunch of weeks in a row, and I'm very gradually figuring out how to not trip constantly.
Querying: Yup. (Oh, I'm such a tease. I promise, when there's something to tell, I'll tell.)
So, that's got to be enough of an excuse for not posting, right?