Holy smokes

Tonight, I decided to start Newy, to just see how I like it. 2,500 words later, I am burning to keep on writing, but it's 1 am, and I seriously have to sleep.

Man. I am totally wired right now. I don't want to stop.

This is exciting.

Super Big Gulp

No, I am not ordering a large Dr Pepper from 7-11. (I wish) That is the sound I am making, due to the fact that, today, I started to write my synopsis for Tristan.

I figured I needed a little break from editing, and my hope was that writing the synopsis would help me feel better about Tristan. Well, so far so good. It's really not so bad. The only problem I am running into is keeping it short. As of yet, I am just writing it out in as succinct a way possible, but I am not watching the page count. Well, let's just say I have covered 150 pages of story in 2 pages of synopsis. So, at this rate, I could have to trim down an eight page synopsis to a three page one. Insert the super big gulp here.

Oh well, it's all kind of fun, in a masochistic kind of way.

P.S. Doesn't that picture just make your mouth water?

Pause

So, have any of you seen the movie Click? It is pretty lame, but the concept was way sweet. Basically, the guy gets a remote control for his life. I have often found myself wishing for such a thing. Mainly the pause button. Think of how great it would be to be able to pause life! Dude, that would be so nice.

I guess I have been thinking alot about that lately, because I just want to freakin' finish Tristan. I love him, but I mean COME. ON. It is taking so long. I know that this is largely because I have some big sections that I am totally rewriting. But, still. I long to be done.

If I could just pause life, then I would finally have some time to write for crying out loud. See, it takes me a while to get in "the zone." Lame, I know, but I often find that I am just starting to get going, when it is time to go to bed. Like tonight . . . of course, I had to vent on my blog before I went to sleep, but my writing time is up nonetheless.

Judy strikes again!

Last night, all of the stars aligned. My kids were both in bed by 8:15. Ben and I had a little quality time just after dinner, and now he wanted to go work on the remodeling our bathroom, and I had already done most of the Net stuff that I wanted to do. So, I was faced with almost four hours to write. Huzzah!

Well, I did. I made a lot of progress on edits. But, then, this morning, Judy attacked.

It was partially inspired by the recent post on Nathan's blog. Reading it, I started to question whether my plot was strong enough. Then, with that little opening, Judy squeezed in and began to list off the same old doubts. All day, my mind has been lost in a storm of uncertainty.

*siiiiiiiiigh* I'm neurotic. I know. I just wish that I could feel 100 percent excited about Tristan 100 percent of the time.

And all the while, Newy is chomping at the bit . . .

My workspace

Here is where I build my novel, one word at a time

And Ben . . .

82 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Superior Take the test!

I have long suspected . . .

35 As a 1930s wife, I am Poor Take'>http://www.magatsu.net/maritaltest/">Take the test!

Whew

Sorry, I seriously had to delete that post. Thanks for the input, but after seeing them again today, I'll probably scrap them all. I didn't hate them that much, but they just didn't show any personality. (Taking the pictures by the flowers was Ben's idea. I'm not that glamorous.)

*relaxed sigh* I feel better now. Now, here is a picture that I find much more enjoyable to look at. :)

Great Expectations

One Sunday, Father's Day, I was assigned to speak at my church. It's not the first time, but it was certainly the most scary.

I felt this enormous amount of pressure to be brilliant. Three reasons why:

1, It's Father's Day and you have to have an epic meeting on Father's Day, right?

2, I had this feeling that everyone expected brilliance because, "well, she is a writer."

3, I expected to be able to at least write a good 15 minute talk because, "well, I am a writer."

Well, after hours of stressing, everything went fine. My talk certainly wasn't epic or brilliant, but I at least spoke coherently. And I didn't trip on my way up. Anyway, now its over, and I won't have to speak for a nice, long time.

Writer's Intuition

I figure that if Kiersten can keep up with her blog when she is in Mexico, I should probably throw up a post. I thought I'd give a brief update about my dilemma of Jody vs. Judy.

I pondered recently on the nature of the elusive writer's intuition. Lots of authors talk about it. Apparently, following it is the only way to write your best. So, as Judy and Jody have battled it out in my head, I wondered which one was my true voice. I think I've discovered that it is neither.

My answer was standing right in front of my all along. When I sit down to the computer, I open up Tristan. I don't find myself starting to work on Newy. In fact, I tried once and couldn't write a word. It didn't feel right. It's just not the Newy's time yet. My impulse is to work on Tristan.

So, THAT'S my writer's intuition. It's not a voice in my head. It is my actions, what I do. I don't know if this will means that Tristan will be any more marketable, in fact, probably not. But, I know that I am writing what I am supposed to be writing. And that's enough for me.

Schizophrenia

Long post here, but I need to work this out. I need help. Be my shrink.

My mind is being torn apart by two separate thought processes. As you all know, I have been working on revising a YA epic fantasy novel that has yet to be named, but I refer to it as Tristan. Anyway, I love Tristan, he's my baby. He's the first novel I ever completed. However, I still have a ways to go on the editing. *sigh* It's taking longer than I thought. And, lately, I have been reading about how the market for epic fantasy is shrinking.
I have also been questioning myself as to whether or not Tristan is just a little cliche in it's concept. In a nut shell: A boy discovers that he is one of four special guardians who protect the borders of the lone magical nation.
I really tried to shake things up a bit. There are many things that are unique, but sometimes I have this nagging thought that an agent will only see the somewhat familiar concept and deem it cliche. And then send a form rejection letter.

Here's the shake up. In recent weeks I have been cooking an idea for a new novel. This idea is, if I do say so myself, dynamite. YA still, but contemporary and much more light hearted. I'll call her Newy. I LOVE the concept. It's pretty unique. I don't think I've seen anything like it.
And, here's the big thing: Newy is much more marketable than Tristan. I have a pretty good idea of where I am going with it, so I think I could write her pretty fast. Obviously, however, she is still just an idea scribbled out on several pages of my Moleskine. Not a single word actually written. Not even a plot outline.

So, there are two different people in my head, and they are constantly battling over control of my thoughts.

Judy: Ditch Tristan. It's good, but just not marketable right now. You are wasting time editing a novel that will never get published. Look, we all love him. He taught us a lot. So, let's consider him as your practise novel. The novel that taught you how to write a novel.
Work on Newy. She's really good, and so much more marketable. Also, now that you've worked through the process of writing, you could get her out fast. Strike now, while the iron is hot. Use your precious little writing time to work on something that could really be published.

Jody: Hey, hey, calm down here. You are just letting your nerves get to you. Tristan is a really good story. True, you have work to do, but not that much. If you focus your efforts, you can finish edits by July, send it to your readers, revise again in August, and have queries out by September.
If you start Newy, you won't even have the first draft done by September. Just wait. You can start Newy as soon as you begin querying Tristan. Newy will still be just as marketable, and just as good in a few months.
Don't throw away all of the work you have done. Don't give up. You're so close. You are just freaking out right now. Even if Tristan is not as marketable, even if he doesn't get published, it will still be a really good experience for you to complete the editing process and send out queries. You will learn a lot. So, just stay the course, and you will be glad that you did.

The trouble is, a different times, each one of them seems to ring true, as my "writer's intuition" speaking to me. Moments when Judy is in control, I feel really strongly that I should put Tristan in a drawer for now. But, when Jody is in control, I am equally passionate about finishing Tristan and getting him out onto the market.

WHO IS RIGHT????? I don't know. I don't know what to do. All I know is this: my writing time is very limited. I don't think I can work on both simultaneously. But, maybe I can. I just don't know anything. I feel so confused. HELP!!!!!!!!!!

Mish Mash

Well, the short story is coming along great. It's kind of weird to think that I will actually be done soon. You mean, it won't take me a year? I'm glad though. It's been a great study on how to move a story along, and how to integrate exposition, because you only have 20-30 pages in which to do it. Also, I think this can be a good practise try at submitting a story to places/getting used to rejection.

In the meantime, here is a cute new pic of my nephew/son. :)

New Story

So, at Natalie's great suggestion, I put aside my Tristan novel for a little while, and started work on a new story. The short story I mentioned earlier. It's really nice to put my energy into something else.

I mean, I love my Tristan story, but I don't want to put my whole life into it, only to have it rejected across the board. Obviously, I shouldn't doom it to utter rejection yet. I haven't even submitted a single query. But, I just want to make sure that I have other things that I am working on, so that in the event that things never pan out with Tristan, I'll move right onto the next project.

I think this story is a good one to ease myself into. It's just a short story . . . for now. Anyway, I thought I'd give a little taste. It's SciFi. Post Apocalyptic to be exact.

Since it's a short, I know it's got to hook you right off the bat. Any critiques of this opening? Oh, and please, don't feel like you have to be nice.

*The lights in the side corridors of Constancy Wing always flickered, and sometimes didn’t work at all—a fact that Sparrow found rather ironic. Today, as she followed Cadre786 to her self-criticism chamber, a single bulb sputtered yellow light down on them. The rest were dark.

Sparrow grimaced. A bad sign. That probably meant the air channels weren’t working right either, and on a summer day like this, those chambers get to be like ovens. Sparrow could already feel sweat beading on her temples and above her top lip. She rubbed a hand over her swollen belly. The child shifted with her touch. You aren’t going to make it any better, you know.

Cadre786 stopped in front of the chamber door and pressed his palm against the control pad.
"The Committee has decided to give you an extra three hours this session, Technician305." The corner of his mouth curled up in a smirk as he waited for the print to process.
"We have hopes that, perhaps with a bit more time, you will find within yourself genuine submission to the Truth."*