Look! Over There!

It's sci-fi week at How to Write Badly Well, one of the cleverest writing blogs I've seen. Check it out!

New bed micro blog

My new bed will be here in T minus 4 days.

Translation:

I will no longer be sleeping on my mattress, on the floor, as of Saturday morning.

Yippee!

Revisions

I thought I'd talk a little about the revision process I'm going through right now. It's very official and awesome, but you can use it if you want.*

1. I read through the draft and made notes. This seems to be the starting point suggested by every workshop I have ever read. For good reason.
   
2. Now I had a good idea of what needed to be fixed. I even had some good ideas. I opened Scrivener.
   
3. I stared.
   
4. I stared some more.
   
5. I whined to my friends, crit group, sister, and cat before staring a little more.
6. I began to lay blame. I wrote the first draft too fast! I read too many articles and blogs and workshops about how to revise, and now I can't do it! Ahhhh!
7. Completely by accident, a new writing group formed. I decided, upon our first meeting of writing "independently together" that I would write a synopsis for my story. Without referring again to the draft or the notes I made. The only rule: fill in every plot hole with something. With a list of possible somethings. No pretty, shiny synopsis with voice; more like boring synopsis you read so you know what's going on in the ballet you are about to see. Bare bones. I did it. It brought me back into the narrative.
   
8. I stared at Scrivener for a bit. Then, keeping the project open, I started an entirely new one. Blank document. Clean slate. I started writing. Before closing the laptop for the evening, I reviewed my work and made some changes.
   
9. Next session, I reviewed again. Made some changes. Wrote some more.
   
10. I have been and will continue repeating 8 until finished.
    

Right now I'm pretty happy with the quality of the work I'm doing. I needed to get away from the shaky bones of ideas that were already on the page in order to begin a true rewrite. It still fits, basically, to the outline of the scene already on the page (at least for the moment, that is going to change soon), but it also addresses the notes I made on the first draft.

My one rule for the revision process? Even if I only write one sentence, I have to look at and add something to the story every day. It's slow and steady. I can feel it calling me, so it's not really a problem to do that. But it's imperative for me to live in that world right now, to stay connected to the characters.

So, I had some difficulty getting started but I'm on the right track now, and feeling good!

*I recommend skipping steps 3-5 if at all possible.

Unsubscribing Micro Blog

Offenses that result in the removal of your blog from my Google Reader:

• Constant negativity
• Consistently toooo loooong
  
• Gettin' all political, a lot (I enjoy it in manageable and respectful doses)
• Forgetting that too many rants and overreactions - to anything - can come off as unprofessional, even on a blog. Maybe especially on a blog.

Just sayin'.

An example of someone who balances these things really well? Jim C. Hines. Entertaining, informative, reflective and fun. One of my favorite blogs! (And I really, really like blogs).

He's not the most attentive editor, but my lap is warm!

Publishing News

In order of importance, of course.

My flash piece "Conversation with a Giant" has been accepted for publication in Every Day Fiction on February 24! Check it out! This is a fun flash magazine. They put out a new story every day of the year, and some of them are quite good. I'm very excited to join their ranks! I will definitely post a link here when it comes out so you can all rush and give it five stars!

Ok, slightly less important than my story, the whole Amazon/Macmillan debacle. No, I don't have a rant like most people. I just want to point you to Nathan Bransford, whose roundup on the situation is level headed and unemotional. I know, I know, as writers we are supposed to get in touch with our emotions and let 'em out. And I understand that it has implications for individual authors, and that it isn't their fault. Of course I feel for them! But the bottom line is, this is a business. These are corporations throwing their weight around because Apple frightens them. They're trying to figure out how to proceed with all of this.

It's not that I think what happened was right. I guess I'm just not that surprised. I mean, most booksellers choose what they sell, right? They could choose to skip any Macmillan title at any given time. Fact. So yeah, while it would be awfully strange for them to skip an entire publisher, they could do it. Would everyone freak out if that happened? Maybe. But because Amazon stocks everything, it's craziness of mythic proportion. And everything that involves e-books and Amazon turns into screaming, red-faced bloggers.

More power to them. I'd rather sit back and watch.

By the way, I'm willing to pay $14.99 for some e-books. Just sayin'.

A Nice Weekend

Friday: Saw a man catch his coat on fire in a bar. He accidentally put it down on top of a votive candle. They had to pour water over it.

Saturday: Wheeled my cat to the vet in my granny cart (don't worry he was in his carrier). New York is weird.

Sunday: Church, french toast, nap, Gilmore Girls and writing.

Monday morning: Warm cat on lap who does not want to move.