Light at the End of the Tunnel

Sunlight Bouncing Off of Baltimore Skyscraper

My day in front of the computer on Saturday, which was when I meant to post this blog, was all about plotting and what that means when you're 87 percent done with a manuscript (and on the third round of revisions) and you're hating it (and yes, I mean the book), and I'm also hating the plot. It's too complicated (Notice I'm not mad at my characters. I still love them bunches). But finishing the book is the goal! Then get it out to editors and agents (which I've already done, but still). Rewrites are torture.

But there's a good side to this agonizing process (besides the joy of finishing), I'm learning how to write and finish a book. From first draft (boy, do I know what to avoid next time) to character development and plotting (the torture I'm going through now), etc. and a lot more.

I'm also daydreaming about my next book. After a great critique group session Friday, I created an excel spreadsheet with each scene of the current POS outlined and the key plot points listed and organized. It also includes the sequence of events that provide the suspense for solving the 'crime' and how the bad guys are revealed, and how that fuels the romance and the conflict and compassion between my two main characters - shit - see what I mean?

Too many thoughts.

The bottom line is that this morning I feel like Wonder Woman, and I'm back in control. (It should last an hour).

Here's a list of writer-related sites I've discovered this week that some of you may already know about, but here goes anyway...

Chase the Dream Contest - legit, easy and free
Scott Westerfeld Blog - scroll down and check out some good tips

Sunlight and Cactus and a Polish Poet

(Photo taken by me at the US Botanical Garden in Washington, DC)

As has been the case, I'm working on polishing the manuscript. A polish can also include a couple of new chapters and even a new character. My newest character is a Princess. Always a sign the story is moving along in the right direction when the new character can lay claim to such a title.

But when I was searching for a name to further inspire me, and some sense of historical authenticity surrounding it, I googled Poetry and Apocalypse (which will make sense if the book gets published and you read it:), and found this beautiful piece by Julian Tuwim, a Polish poet.

The Dancing Socrates

I roast in the sun, old wretch…

I lie, and yawn, I stretch.

Old am I, but full of pep:

When I take a slug from the cup

I sing.

My ancient bones bask in the sun's glow,

And my curly, wise, grey head.

In that wise head, like woods in spring

Hums and hums a wiser wine.

Eternal thoughts flow and flow,

Like time.

Kind of ideal when you're writing a vampire story, don't you think?

And by the way, the character's first name is Izabella.

Writing on the Road or What I Found on the Internet

Picture taken in 2004 during my first trip to London in October. I loved the city, and got a chance to see the changing of the guard.

I take a lot of pictures. I also am lucky enough to have done a lot of traveling, although that isn't a perquisite to taking pictures.

I got up this morning after only a few hours sleep, after writing most of the night, and decided to share some of the photos I've taken here on my blog.

We'll start with this one.

But on to the revision wisdom for today. I finished polishing chapter 5, and reworking the first four chapters - that have already been sent to the agent and the editor for consideration. They were minor tweaks, but I just had to do it. The agent sent me a note, and said I should send her updates on my manuscripts. My goal is to send her a fresh 10 to 20 chapters (I know wide gap, but only three new scenes, the rest just polishing, I swear). I plan on finishing a chapter every two days. Do you think that's doable? Well, the bet is on, people! Here we go! I'll report tomorrow - when I have finished chapter 6.

Heaven and Hell

This post is about the thing(s) that torture writers. You'd think it was a walk in the park - if you didn't write, you'd swear it wasn't a big deal. Got an idea for a great book? Write it down. Pull out the old sheet of paper and pen or laptop and keyboard and go at it! But for those of us who write, we know the truth about writing. It's all about heaven and hell, and sometimes (oftentimes) more about living in the nine rings of hell then anything else. Okay, I'm in revisions, thus my angst.

But how come so many people on the planet know so much about the pain and agony of giving birth to a manuscript?

What has prompted me to examine this question in all of its highly frustrating denominations? Nothing slight, I guarantee you.

It's a new Meryl Streep movie (check out stage left - facing your monitor). Or it's the fact that the movie is about Julia Child and Julie Powell and what they went through to get their respective books published, and to establish themselves as writers.

Okay, back to my point. Could it be that the writers community has the best PR on the planet. Not only do we know how much we suffer, we know that half the movie-going public also knows and they love to hear, see, or smell something that reeks of failure just before a great success is born.

Now let me state the obvious. Just finished watching Julie & Julia - and enjoyed it immensely. As I watched, I also wondered did everyone in the theater empathize with the main characters in the same spots where I laughed loudly or held back a sob? I think so. Because the general public has been educated by writers (of fiction, television, film, or whatever) about the writer's life in all of its pain and glory.

Why? Because writers of entertainment enjoy sharing their angst. And that's why everyone in the theater during the two hour movie was an aspiring author. They shared the main characters' failure and success, and that's what made the movie so enjoyable for me - the same way a good book is enjoyed - through character. (Okay, recently I was at a writer's convention and told a lie. I said I approach my books from plot. No, I don't. I do think of a situation and then I create characters to dwell in that situation - but I don't always say here's a character and now what am I going to do with him or her. Right now, I'm doing that in REVISION!

Okay, back to the main point of this post - revisions: heaven or hell? I think you know where I stand.