Refining my query letter

After reading such blogs as Miss Snark and the query section on the Nanowrimo forums, I'm overhauling my query letter so that it can go find me an agent.  Not much else to say about it, but as it's taking up the majority of my evening, I thought I'd mention it.

I've also removed about ten thousand words from the novel I wrote in November.  Yes, it's a lot, but a whole lot more are going to come out before I'm finished with it.  (Also, I'd like to apologize if any of the people I emailed my first draft to are reading this blog: parts of the novel are painful, aren't they.  It's very wordy.  It's very "tell-y".)

But I'm having a good time, and I can't wait to go back through my story to smooth it out -- to make it actually GOOD.  All in good time.

Mind's Eye by Håkan Nesser

Now that I've stopped writing for a little while, I've got to read a few books.  So I went to my library, and ended up borrowing Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser, who is, apparently, pretty popular in Sweden.  I thought, Good! I like European things, and the description of the story sounded interesting.

The mystery starts out really promising.  Guy wakes up and doesn't know what happened (quite like what I just wrote -- one reason I chose this book), and discovers his wife is dead.  Guy goes to prison, but he didn't do it -- and gets murdered himself (don't worry, this is all in the blurb, so I'm not giving anything important away).  

That's all good.  Interesting.  Okay, now what?

The investigators investigate.  They talk to people.  Halfway though, they're talking to people.  At the 3/4 point, they're talking to people.  At the end, they're talking to people.  

I don't know.  If you read on Amazon, it got really good reviews, but I didn't feel it.  It was sort of like the middle sagged all the way to the end, and all the questioning became really repetitive.  Very much a plot-driven story, since the characters didn't really have lives of their own (not as much as I like -- i.e. they didn't really do any extra-curricular activities that weren't mentioned as a side-note).

Nothing strikingly "wrong" with the story or the writing style, just not my cup of tea.

Grand total: 120k words; just under 450 pages

Whew!

Well, that's done.  I finished the novel last night after pouring 6,400 words into it yesterday.  That's a lot!  But after all that, all the hard work, pushing through the boring parts ... I think the ending tied together really nicely.  I don't think I've left any loose ends, but I'm sure my test readers will tell me if I did.

Editing is going to be an adventure, though.  Not only have I never written 450 pages of anything before, I've never had to make 450 pages look presentable before!  I guess I'll tell you all about it when I get there.  For now, I'm leaving it alone to marinate in all its awesomeness.

And it's weird what music I got hooked on while composing this little (*cough*) tale.  Lady Gaga and Falco.  Why?  Maybe I went a little nuts toward the end of the novel ... but after a while, I was like, "I've really gotta listen to Bad Romance again!!"  So yeah.  Some crazy pop music lead to my crazy word count.  And now I've gotta come down off it somehow.

Still going

115,302 words.  412 pages.

That's the grand total at the moment.  Yep, I'm still working on the novel, and I'm actually ready for it to be done.  Once I've gone back over the thing with a heaping dose of editing, it's going to be a fantastic story -- and depending on how many test readers I get for my first draft, I'll be able to see how well it goes over with my "fans".

I'm even starting to think about other stories to write.  All of them these days have some sort of mystery to them -- just can't figure out how to end a literary novel.  Maybe I should read some more of them?  I don't know.  They're so beautiful, but with me, they ramble.  Just like I'm doing now.

I did it!!

Self-imposed goal of 100 thousand words has just been met!  Take THAT, self!  Told you I could do it.

Now, all I have to do is put an ending on the story. Actually, that might take another ten thousand words.  But hey, since the goal has been met one and a half days early, I'll get to the end when I get to it.  But I'm hoping I'll get to it by next week or so.  Don't want to drag it out and eventually abandon the thing.

Official winner

And now it's official.  While I haven't quite reached the 100 thousand mark, in this contest, it's 50 thousand that matters.  And I nailed it.  In ten days.

I've got to say, though, with work being what it is (and God forbid I actually talk about it to anyone for fear of getting the boot), and the massive word count I've subjected myself to, I'm pooped.  I'm also stubborn, so I'll write something up here once I reach my goal, or once the month is over.

How did you guys do?

300 pages??

I have never in my life written 300 pages of anything, but today I reached it.

The story is shaping up nicely, and I really think I'll hit 100 thousand by the end of the month.  There's still 7 days left, right?  So I guess I've got about 2,400 words per day left to do.

Now let's get back to it.

Plugging through

210 pages so far.  59 thousand words.  You'd think I'm a little tired of writing right now, and you'd be correct.  But it's raining outside and ... blah blah.  Saving my words for the novel.  Not much else to report. Even though it's at the good part where stuff really starts happening, I'm having a bit of trouble keeping focused.

Passing 50k!

Just a quick note -- just realized I passed 50,000 words!

Very productive

Had a very good time at the write-in on Sunday.  It's not very often I get to hang out with people I have anything in common with (I've got to be honest -- most of my friends live out of town).  So, apparently, being around my fellow wrimos increased my productivity, and I did 5000 words with them.

The story is coming along.  I'm at 45k, and not even halfway through my outline.  My only real problem is that my characters are acting awfully wooden and they aren't talking to each other very much.  I have all 5 of my main characters introduced to the reader and to each other, but they aren't as friendly as I thought they would be.  I'm hoping they'll cooperate more when I edit the thing.

I've been averaging 5000 words a day since the 1st ... do you think I can hit 50,000 by the end of the day?  I think that would be sweet.

Hey!

My word count widget is working!!

Halfway through

I'm officially over halfway done with the NaNoWriMo challenge, and it's only been 5 days.  Also, after I type a sentence or two, I instinctively press "command S", no matter where I'm typing.

The story is nowhere near halfway done, though.  I've finished 89 pages (double spaced), 26k words, and I'm about 20% through my outline.  I'm having a wonderful time doing this (obviously).  Provides the perfect escape from my life.  Yeah, that's not so exciting at the moment.  Cubicles, you know?

No interesting procrastination stories today, because I've actually been pretty diligently writing.  That said, I'd better get back to it because I've only done five thousand today.  Yup.  I'm a dork.

And there goes the command S again.

Day three shmay three

Here's what I'm procrastinating with today.





But seriously


Writing is going well. I topped 17k this evening, and I am DONE today. I know some people can do ten thousand words a day, but I think I'm doing pretty well with my average 5k/day.


Anyway. I'm doing more telling than showing (bad), and my characters are being kinda 
cardboard (also bad). But that's what "they" say December is for. I'm really tempted to go
back and edit a bunch of stuff, but NEVER FEAR! I will be strong and power through the rest of the month without editing, even if I finish this novel and have to start a new one.


Yes. You can tell I'm tired right now. I think I'll watch a little TV and sleep.


P.S. What the heck happened with my formatting today??

Quick update

Hi everyone

Two days in and I'm already a little over 11 thousand words.  Almost twelve thousand.  So far, I've only encountered two characters ... not even side, background characters are around.  Two people total.  I have no idea how I've got so many words with so few people ... I guess we'll see in December if what I've written is worth anything whatsoever.

That's all for now.  Got to get back to work.

And GO!!

So far, so good.  In my self-imposed 100,000 word limit (I've done 50,000 three times already; it's time to challenge myself), I'm already past my daily goal of 3,333 words.  Already on page 15!

Last day before the insanity begins

I thought it would be extremely difficult not to start my novel today, a Saturday, since I'll have a lot of time on my hands.  I've actually decided to instead get some other stuff done which will most likely become neglected over the next month.

Also, I'm writing a little.  Not on my designated "november novel", but notes on my new idea.  Picking out character names, deciding which one lived with which ... and who's the murderer.  It's fun.

I'll probably read something today and treat myself to some clean clothes.  And even thought it's Halloween, I can't see myself giving a care since I'm A) too old to ask for candy and B) I have no kids to take around asking for candy.  I don't anticipate any kids coming to my door, either.

Good luck to all my NaNoWriMo followers!  November is going to be a lot of fun.  Aim for your 1667 words a day, and you'll be just fine.  (I should know ... not only did I participate once before, but I imposed the challenge on myself two other times all by myself and "won" each time.)

A new plot

Oi.  A new plot snuck up on me a few weeks ago, and it's developing really nicely.  However, I already have a nice, very detailed outline to work from in November.  Maybe the same thing will happen this year that happened last year: I'll finish my planned story 2 weeks in and then start on the new plot in the second half of the month.  Last year, I was unemployed, though ... this year, I'll probably be doing overtime.  Eh... it can't hurt to have too many plots, right?

It started as just a murder mystery, but a ghost story has sort of crept into it.  I've wanted to do a ghost story for a while (especially dealing with spirit photography), but couldn't think of a non-cheesy way to approach it.  This murder plot coupled with a ghostly sub-plot complement each other nicely; while the amateur sleuth is trying to figure out who killed her friend, she's also got to reconcile her feelings about the afterlife and if her murdered friend is still in her apartment.

I still need a title for this thing.  I can't keep calling it "New Idea" ...

Edit:
Ah, I've got a title:  Die once, and then ...

It's actually taken from a Bible verse which some use to prove there are no ghosts.  But it's got all the elements of a murder mystery in it as well.  We'll see if it sticks.

Finishing touches before the ... beginning.

Only a week to go before NaNoWriMo starts.  I wish I could do more right now than tinker around with an outline I'm not even going to use in November (because, if you remember, the out line I'll be using has long since been finished).

So I'm stocking up on good music to keep me going during November.  Lots of Turkish pop (especially Murat Boz and Gökhan Özen) and wordless soundtrack stuff (I'm really loving the Bleu soundtrack because of its sadness ... it fits certain scenes).  I've also stocked up on some lovely flavored coffee creamers.  

Procrastination?

I've gotten a little done in planning another story.  They come up whenever they feel like it, so I have to take care of them when they do.  This one is a murder mystery.

I'm only getting so far with it, though.  I have the beginning.  I have (I think) a pretty creative murder.  What I don't have is a middle and an end.  But these things eventually fall into place.  In the meantime, I'm writing down little details I think of.  Even if I don't know where to put them right now, they might just fit in later.

It's still just about half a month to NaNoWriMo, so I can't get started writing my main project the way I really want to.  What have I been procrastinating with?  Check it out:

moar funny pictures

Am I wrong?  I was watching Demetri Martin the other day thinking, "Wow, he totally reminds me of someone..." and I figured it out today when I watched a Shahid Kapoor movie this afternoon while I wasn't writing.

Also, I'm pretty sure I'm giving up on the novel I finished earlier this year, which I refer to as "Exchange".  It doesn't even have a proper title.  It's not keeping my interest while I edit.  I don't know.  Maybe later I'll polish it up and it'll be good, or maybe I can chalk it up to practice and push it aside.  (It really was excellent practice.)

NaNoWriMo site updated for 2009!

Weird thing to be excited about, maybe, but I'm excited.  The forums are clean and ready for November.

Even though I've already finished the outline for the novel I want to write during the program, I'm filling my time answering other people's questions and (of course) coming up with a new novel idea, which is threatening to distract me way, way too much.  Maybe I'll work out some of the details of the new idea during October, write Awake during November, and tackle this new idea head-on in January?  We'll see.

Anyway -- I hope some of the people over at National Novel Writing Month meander over here and check me out.  Yes.  Good times for all.

Reading a Movie

Departing slightly from my literary slant.

Just saw the movie New York last night ... starring John Abraham as Sam, Katrina Kaif as Maya, and Philadelpha, PA as New York.  That's right.  Almost every single scene was filmed in downtown Philadelphia, which is fine because if you don't live here, you won't do what I did while watching.  Oh look! There's the Comcast Building!  Oohh, the giant clothespin!!  The Shops at Liberty Place -- I was there this morning!  And so on.  It was a bit distracting from the story, but in a nice way.

I've been looking forward to seeing this movie for almost a year because last year, I read in the paper that a Bollywood movie was going to be shot in downtown Philly, gave the time and place, and so I went to check it out.  There weren't any actors on the street because they were on the roof of one of the high rises -- BUT, there were two hellicoptors hovering between two buildings, which was quite interesting, and I shot my own video of it (remind me to find it and maybe I'll post it here -- found this photo online ... i didn't take this one, but it's very similar to what I got).  Needless to say, when that scene came up in the movie last night, I was beside myself.  I was a building's height away from one of my favorite actors.

Interesting movie -- not sure how much of it was factual and how much was sensationalized, but enough to get you thinking.  I recommend it -- Netflix has it, not sure about your local rental store, since it's foreign.

Back to work

Today was unbelievably good in terms of getting my butt in gear and getting some work done on Exchange.  If you follow me on Facebook, you've already read about the coffee shop I went to this morning and enjoyed.  I mean, the sign out front said "Gingerbread Frappe" ... how could I not go in?  I might just be off Starbucks forever now ... so delicious ...

And because I wrote the first draft of Exchange back at the beginning of this year, I was listening to different music than I listen to these days (changes with the season, sort of), I had to go back to that music to get "into character".  Lots of German synth-pop.  I forgot how much I love Peter Heppner.

1 Easy - Peter Heppner

Anyway, without any distractions, I was able to get back into my "zen" place and smooth out a few pages. 14 pages done (altogether ... I probably did 5 today)!  150 to go ...

Questionnaire about writing!

My friend Christina over at Consider the Coffee tagged me to answer a few questions about writing!  Without further adieu, here are my answers:

What word do you use too much in your writing?

your basic filler words, mostly: than, said, I, the main character's first name,



Which words do you consider overused in stuff you read?

depends on the genre and time period it was written in. ... although, most of the books i've read recently have been pretty good about word diversity. it bothers me, though, when an author uses a really good word, and then overuses that word. ruins it.


What's your favourite piece of writing (written by you)?

at the moment, my favorite piece is "Awake", even though it's only in its outline stage. but i've had the plot around me for quite a long time and i'm in love with that little world ;)


Regrets, do you have a few? Is there anything you wish you hadn't written?

there is one, and it's been published! i have a feeling it might have gotten me out of a few legitimate jobs because when you search my name in google, it's the first thing that comes up.


How has your writing made a difference?

for me, other than God and my earthly relationships, writing is my absolute favorite thing to do. it takes me out of whatever might be bothering me ... a quiet little place in my head in my own world with my own fabricated people.


Favourite words

snarky. it just sounds like exactly what it is :)


Least favourite words

i'll have to say "swear words" too ... sadly, they've got their place sometimes (a time for everything, right?), but when they're over-repeated (such as in some movies), it takes me right out of the story.
... and it's not one word, but when a "bad guy" says, "time to die!" it just smacks of cheesiness.


Do you have a writing mentor, role model or inspiration?

it keeps changing. i like Jhumpa Lahiri a lot for modern stuff. Oscar Wilde has always been my favorite "classic" writer. and as strange as it might sound, the TV show Lost has inspired a lot of my writing ... it's an incredibly crafted plot!


Writing Ambition?

I would love to be published and be able to quit my day job ;) maybe it'll work out better than my rock star ambition!

Telling ... too much telling!

::sigh::
Since I've been working on my outline for so long, I'm super used to throwing ideas out and arranging them, not in making them sound good.  Now I'm working on Exchange, and I'm having to slowly break out of that.

Lots of revisions using AutoCrit.  Love that website.

I kinda missed these characters.  Hopefully, in revisiting them, I'll get another idea for them and write something else in the spring.  I guess every writer goes through this, but I'm a little afraid of running out of ideas.

Exchange

For those of you who read and loved The Silent Treatment (pictured to the right in printed book form), I wrote another "episode" back in February, featuring the same basic characters.  This is sort of my answer to Nancy Drew.

Since I finished up with my mammoth outline for Awake (which I'll be doing the first draft for in November ... but you already knew that), I needed something to occupy my time.  Exchange has been happily sitting in my "novels" folder for quite a few months now, and I figure it's about time to get it polished up and send it out to work.

Outlines, Audiobooks, and other rambling stuff

The Outline (again)

Yes, I got my outline to 50,000 words (and worked much too hard to make the number exact). It's excessive, and I'm guessing the finished product won't be much longer than that. Although, I've got to add all the dialogue, so that could take up a few thousand more words. I think the story itself is nice and solid now. When I wrote it before, I only got up to 40,000 words, and there were way too many plot gaps for it to be considered good at all. Ask me on December 1st if the monstrous outline was worth it.

Audiobooks

In an effort to keep my brain happily occupied at work while I'm doing things that don't require much thought, I've been looking for something worthwhile to listen to. I found a very good website called LibriVox, which specializes in making public domain (i.e. classic) books available free to the public. Today, I started listening to the German version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the guy who reads it makes me love the German language more than I thought I would (very expressive ... beautiful voice).

Yes, I understand a little German. In listening to this book (got through 3 and a half chapters before I went home), I understood about half of it. It helps a lot that I'm familiar with the story already.

But the website (LibriVox) has mostly English books. I haven't listened to any of the others yet, but I'm looking forward to letting my brain occupy itself with some classics while my hands sort the mail/email at work.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

I'd really forgotten how much I enjoyed this story. I've read it 2 or 3 times already, and saw a movie version of it (from 1945). I didn't like that movie because Dorian didn't show any emotions ... I don't think that's an accurate portrayal of the character because even though Dorian became evil, that doesn't necessarily mean he's got a blank face all the time.

I even got to thinking that my current project, Awake, is sci-fi/fantasy in the same way that The Picture of Dorian Gray is sci-fi/fantasy. That is, a tiny plot point is supernatural, and the rest of the story is rooted in reality. I enjoy reading things like that because I don't have to learn a completely new world or alien races, etc. (such as Lord of the Rings -- which I loved, by the way).

Awake is also a mystery in the same way that the TV show Lost is a mystery. There's no "whodunnit" to figure out, just a big "what the heck just happened??" As such, it's extremely difficult to categorize my story. Is it urban fantasy? mystery? literary ... something? Ah, you guys don't know because I'm not giving out any plot details, am I? I like that to be a secret because ... I just do.

I guess genre placement doesn't matter a whole lot, and I'm not worried about it. But when it comes to submission (It'll get to that point probably this time next year once I'm done with the tedious and numerous edits), it helps to pick out who to send it to. Anyway. Doesn't matter. Thanks for reading all this rambling!

Waiting

Even though my word count is climbing to a ridiculous level (mostly in part to the "distraction from reality" it provides me), it seems like I'm waiting on stuff right now. I have "The Silent Treatment" out there talking to agents -- although right now it's at one place which doesn't allow simultaneous submissions. They might like it, they might not. They're "going steady" right now.

I'm also really looking forward to November where I'll participate in my second NaNoWriMo. The outline I've been spending my free time working on (see above) is what I'll be working on during the challenge.

So stress, right? It's not fun. But sometimes writing is like going to another world ... even more than watching TV or a really good movie. Since writing takes a lot of thought and imagination, it often blocks the "bad thoughts" ... or at least I can incorporate said problem into some sort of plot. *

Speaking of NaNoWriMo, I've got to say that the forums on that website have been extremely helpful. Whether I'm trying to figure out what a 911 dispatcher would say or just want to browse overheard dialogue, I couldn't have asked for a better help. Maybe this year I'll actually participate in the in-town gatherings ... meeting some 3-D people in a non-work environment would be nice!

Lest I start blabbing, I'll leave the update here.

*Note: Just because I use some of my own experiences in the stuff I write, there's always, ALWAYS enough fiction thrown in so that you can never assume I've gone through exactly what you've read.

It's come to this

I've posted my trusty word count widget to the right regarding my monstrous outline word count. I'm having so much fun with this story that it's bordering on addiction. Maybe this is bad for me.

This outline is almost a novel by itself

I'm over 34,000 words at the moment on the outline for "Awake". I've said this about previous projects before, but I'm not sure if the length of this outline means I'll have an extremely long novel when I'm finished, or if it means I've just about said everything I can say. We'll see.

The plot has gone past the climax now, and I'm working out how everything winds down to a satisfying ending. Thinking about using an epilogue.

Awake!

Nothing really to report, but I've been having a good time outlining my latest creation. It is called "Awake" (as you can probably tell from the title of this post). So far, the outline is 26,000 words, which is about the length of a novella. This thing is getting crazy.

A Physical Copy

Who would have thought I'd be so excited about a single, physical copy of my story ... looking like a real live book? It's a good thickness (as you can see from the previous post, where I have it between other, "officially" published books by authors I enjoy), and it's got my name on the cover. What could be better?

(I guess what could be better is if I found this same book at Barnes and Noble or on the NY bestseller list. ... maybe later.)

Even though I've read the darn thing about 50 times by now (because of the extensive editing I put it through in just a short time), opening the cover and sneaking out a few paragraphs is more enjoyable than I thought it would be.

Even though the above-mentioned project has come to an end, I still have two other stories (at least) in various stages of done-ness. One is a sequel (or second in a series) to The Silent Treatment, using the same main characters, but moving them to Germany (because who wouldn't want to go to Germany??), and kidnapping one of them. What is a mystery series without a good kidnap? This story is in its rough draft stage, and I haven't looked at it since February.

The second project is a rewrite of something I've been messing around with for the better part of a decade. Though I've "written" the story TWICE now, it's again in its outline stage. Each time it gets better ... I have high hopes for the third try. It follows five people who wake up in a locked museum. If I told you any more, I'd have to kill you. All I can say is that from the time the characters wake up to the time the mystery is finally resolved, I'm hoping to leave my dear readers with a "wow, that was ... wild" feeling. In a good way.

Every time I re-work the story (which I've titled Awake, since first the characters physically wake up, but then they become conscious of what they've actually experienced), I realize it goes a lot further than I thought. Either this novel is what's going to make me famous, or it's complete crap that won't ever see the light of day. I guess we'll find out!

Submitting Fiction

That time has come again. I've written a novel, edited it, got my mom to read it, got a few friends of mine to say, "I'm too busy to read it, but I promise I will", and now I'm querying literary agents.

I've also taken advantage of NaNoWriMo and CreateSpace's free proof copy offer, so I should be seeing a paperback of The Silent Treatment in the mail in a little while. Even though it's just for me and won't actually be on sale, it's quite exciting. I'll be able to put it on my bookshelf in the "S" section.

<-- like this!

Fif-tee thou-sand! *crash*

Ok, I did it.

ZZzzzzz.....

Word count

Ugh. As you can see, the word count is getting up there for this month. I'm right on track with daily quotas ... usually I can't stop before I reach 2000 words, and I make 3000 a day sometimes. But I'm running into a real problem! My outline is almost finished. I'm on the cusp of the climax and I still have 20,000 more to go. Did I skimp at the beginning? I might have been too excited to get started ...

Stupid?

It's like an addiction. If you'll observe the panel to your right, you'll see that I'm once again going for the 50,000 word mark in February.

That's right. The shortest month. And this month, I have plenty of other stuff to do. But you know, sometimes when you're the busiest, you need the biggest escape. This is it for me. It's also a sequel (or beginning of a series) to the one I did in November. Yay mysteries!