Back Into the Fray

Remember how I entered those contest and lost? Well, after a month or so of edits and wound-licking, my skin is thicker and the MS is stronger. I've actually started a second novel *gasp* and have left the first alone for a few weeks now.

I entered a wonderful Critique Partner mixer, and hope to land one or two great CP's to help me polish that first MS. It needs new sets of eyes on it. Ones that aren't so attached to every word.

I've also discovered Get off my lawn con. It's a wonderful new online forum for writer's of adult fiction. Query advice, pitch tips, contest links, and just about everything else an aspiring writer could hope for. It's run by one of the amazing minds behind QueryKombat, and I look forward to wasting away many hours staring at the various forum threads.

In the meantime, I'm trying to get more serious about writing. I even tried giving myself a daily word count goal. It didn't work. Too many distractions. I can find a million reasons to be sitting anywhere other than in front of my computer. The biggest one just turned three years old and always wants to build pillow forts and play hide and seek. I tried getting up early to write before he wakes up, but most of what I put on the page that early in the morning is rubbish. I've tried waiting for him to fall asleep before I begin to write, but the call of my bed is too strong, and I usually only last for thirty minutes before climbing beneath the covers.

The big distraction starts preschool in two short weeks. The mommy in me cries every day because she will lose him for six hours every week. The writer in me is dancing, eager to put each of those hours to work.  Using Netflix movies as "research" counts as work, right?

The Mighty Procrastinator

We've all heard the lamentations of the distractions technology can pose. The internet is an amazing thing, and an invaluable tool...most of the time.

Each time I finally find a few minutes to sit down at my computer to write, the internet calls to me. So far, I haven't managed to resist a single time.  Take this blog post, for instance. I'm trying to beef up the MS, yet again, when I realize I haven't posted to this blog in more than two weeks. Better write something up before I forget, right? There's no better time than the present.

And then there's Facebook and Twitter and Reddit. So many wonderful ways to waste away my precious writing time.

I must learn to be strong in the face of temptation. I'd disable my wifi while I was writing, but then I'd have to lug out my thesaurus and do my writing research via old newspapers. Actually, research that way would require a trip up to West Carthage to look at local maps. Ain't nobody got time for that. The internet must stay on. I just have to learn to turn a deaf ear to its call.

It's just so much more fun to browse Reddit than it is to stare at this MS.

Write!

At some point, I will be forced to leave my first MS alone. That day is not today. The edits continue, and I feel my story grows stronger every time I take a virtual pen to it. Many days I find that I don't even want to look at it anymore, but I'm muddling through. I'm too stubborn to abandon it.

New ideas are screaming to be written down. Some have found their way into notebooks, others onto scraps of paper. A snippet of a story is currently stuck to the side of my fridge, where I jotted it down on my grocery list pad while I was cooking. I'm determined that each of them will one day get the same attention that I give this MS. Is it a sign of strong resolve or that I'm overly obsessive? I can't really say.

One thing I can be certain of, is the importance of always having paper close at hand. I find myself jotting down ideas everywhere. The world is filled with moments that deserve to be captured. The trick is discovering the words that give those moments the best tribute. Some days those words come more freely than others.

It's all about the edits

The word count has surpassed the 60K mark! In fact, I'm over 62k. It's still not even close to being as long as it should be, but it's beefing up quite nicely. I've read this thing so many times, that I don't know if I'm even capable of catching mistakes as I go. It may be time to set it aside for a bit.

I've got a few new story ideas that I'm very excited about. I've been so wrapped up in the Farmer MS that I let it leech all of the creative juices from new projects. I think it's time to let them loose.

I think I'm also going to give myself a daily word count goal. Goals are a good thing, and I need to learn to push them on myself. A daily word count makes me accountable for something. I think I need a little kick to keep me in gear, and I'm hoping this is a step in the right direction. I need to treat this more like a job and less like a hobby. Success is not a passive endeavor. It has to be fought for. My armor is shined and ready. Let's do this.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

I was vanquished in my last QueryKombat round, which means I won't be advancing to round 3.  This contest elimination has the brightest silver lining ever.  Once you're knocked out of the Kombat, the agent requests for your MS are revealed.  What did this mean for me? A lovely lady at the Jane Rotrosen Agency has requested the first 30 pages. She liked the query and first 250 words enough that she wants to read more.

I sent her an email on Wednesday. I've been making furious edits to the remainder of the MS in the meantime. It needs to be pristine if she requests to see the full after reading those 30 pages. My inbox is now a source of endless torment. Every email could be her response. I think I'm more anxious right now than I was at any stage of the contests.

Jane Rotrosen represents some really big names in Women's Fiction, including one of my favorite authors, Sarah Addison Allen. Getting a full MS request from them would be huge. A rejection will certainly sting, but I'm trying to stay positive. It's been an emotional roller coaster for me, and it's only been two days.

Ooh, what's that? A new email? (Spoiler: It was a 'magical cure for cradle cap.') Maybe hers will be the next one.

Gracious Defeat

Amazon posted the semi-finalists for the ABNA contest. I'm not shocked that I'm not on this list. My Publisher's Weekly review wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either.  Was I sad to see my name wasn't on the list? Yes. Surprised? Not at all. A lukewarm review won't get you far.

Round Two of QueryKombat begins tomorrow. I'm excited to see the feedback I receive on the revisions. I'm hoping they are for the better.  The judges of the first round gave such pointed criticism, so I think I took my revisions in the right direction. I guess we'll see tomorrow.

I'm actively changing the MS, even while the contests are underway.  I finally gave full copies to a few beta readers.  They have also already offered some very valuable feedback.  I feel like my novel improves every day, and I'm excited to be writing again.  That is probably the greatest reward I've received from these contests.  I have also learned a lesson that I wish I had known earlier in the game. Don't sit on your MS. Share it.  The more readers you have, the more mistakes and plot holes are found before an agent ever sees it. I believe I will present a much more polished novel when I query agents now. My confidence in the MS, and my writing in general, is rising. It feels good.

My first rejection letter

So, it may have been a rejection email, but it still counts.  Received a reply from an agent today that she was passing on the MS.  Word count is too low.  It's not something I haven't heard before.  It looks like I really need to take a look at it, and add some additional scenes, or a sub-plot, to beef up the word count.

I'm surprised that the rejection didn't sting.  Perhaps it was because the agent let me down gently.  Maybe, deep down, I know it still needs work.  I think the criticism I've received from Query Kombat helped open my eyes to some of the MS's weaknesses.

This just mean I need to work harder and whip this thing into shape before I send out any additional queries. I'm so ready to do this.