What I'm Up To

Happy 2013! I'm personally looking forward to this year. No reason. Just am.

I haven't been online much recently because I'm getting a new manuscript together in a rather unusual way.

Many of you might be having this problem - you're trying to write something and all you can think is agentagentagent or readerreaderreader or publishedpublishedpublished and you can't seem to get those chants out of your head. That's what happened to me. My work wasn't nearly as "me" as my initial writing, and it lost its fun, no matter what I tried. So I took the agent-reader-published craziness out of the equation and began writing in a notebook. I know. Old school, right?

But wait! There's more!

Years ago I bought a gorgeous bronze notebook with symbols and carvings on the cover. It looks like something out of a magic realm. I was waiting to use it for something special. I figured now was as good a time as any.

So what I'm doing - wait for it - is scribbling down the first draft of a scene in some cheap notebooks, then writing it out again in my bronze book. The rewrite includes perfecting my sentence structure and using stronger vocabulary. Focusing on the craft as well as getting the words down. Yes, it's madness. Yes, it takes twice as long. And this novel isn't going to be short, either. But querying is in the distant future using this method, so that's mostly gone from my mind. Now I only worry about the story.

The other reason I'm doing this is because I'm prone to rushing to finish manuscripts. And with wonderful contests and agent crits constantly up for grabs, it becomes sorely tempting to submit too early. (Hands up, come on, who else is guilty of this?)

By writing in notebooks, there's no possible chance for me to put my work into contests. I can concentrate on my story first and foremost, which, at this point in my writing life, is what I need to do.

Will this method get me back on track? I'll keep you posted.

So. Anyone else struggling with writing things more so than usual?

And Suddenly - October

Yikes! When did October happen? It's school holidays here in Western Australia, so I've been plugging away at my new book, NaNo-style. I'm writing 6,000 words a day in the hopes I'll finish it before I have to go back to work and spend weekdays with little munchkins.

My latest project isn't my best work in terms of "homg this is literary genius let's put it in a museum and study it in English classrooms for all time." More, it's my best work in terms of "homg this book is so much fun I can tell the author loved writing every word and I can't stop laughing because these characters are AWESOME."

I was aiming for the first version with all my other manuscripts. Tell you a secret: I prefer the second way. Maybe it'll flop, and no agent will touch it lest they catch my crazy. Or, hey, maybe people will think my crazy is Pure. Genuis. (Shut up, I can dream.) Regardless, I'm still having more fun writing than I have in a very long time.

Stepping Back

I've been posting less recently, especially on "How To" topics when it comes to writing. This is mostly due to the publisher's comments to write my own story, without worrying about the rules and crits. So I figure, if I'm not reading up on the rules, why should I be writing them?

I have to admit, though, that the other, darker part of the reason I haven't posted is due to the fact that I've lost a little (read: a lot) of confidence in my writing. Yes, I'm writing a manuscript from the heart, so the story conventions aren't being followed by the book. But I've been doing this for so long now that I wonder if I could just keep writing and writing and never be published. I've kind of hit that point where getting published has taken a backseat to a more wishful fantasy-type place (instead of the reality it is during querying), and I'm just writing this story because I have to. I'm taking my time, I'm plodding along, and there's no real panic to get an agent. For now, that's the best way to go, right?

And, you know, on that far away day when I'm actually making some kind of living writing books, I'm going to wish for all the time in the world to work on a manuscript, rather than living with deadlines. Suppose I'd better enjoy it while I can...

Two Announcements!

It's been a while since I've done a personal post. I thought I'd better update you on the two AWESOME things that happened yesterday:

Exciting news one:

Have you joined SCBWI yet? I thought nah, it's more an American thing. I thought nah, I'm in a teeny tiny isolated city - it's not worth paying money for conferences I can't attend.

And then I joined.

And there's a branch in my teeny tiny city.

And better than that, there was a callout to meet with Sarah Foster, managing director of Walker Books.

And I got in.

I get to meet with Sarah Foster and talk about my latest WiP for twenty minutes. She will read and crit my first ten pages and synopsis. Some people have snagged publishing contracts this way.

Now I'm not looking specifically for a publishing contract, but wouldn't you say this is a mighty fine opportunity? Wouldn't you like a similar opportunity?

Get out there. Join SCBWI. It's worth it.

Exciting news two:

I am now officially an intern at Twelfth Planet Press, a boutique Australian publishing company run by one of the most successful, hard-working women I know. I found out yesterday, and by this morning I was swamped with emails of things to do. Not a lot of it makes much sense to me (there may have been panicked tears for a bit there), but I'm going to sit down today and go through it slowly, googling the terms I don't understand.

My first jobs involve making up a sales kit for a distributor and writing a feature article for a blog. It's so great to see this side of the publishing world, and while I'm slightly terrified, I'm also really, really excited. I hope to do the best job I can, and I'm looking forward to the learning experience that comes with it. I think this will definitely make me a better, more worldly writer.

And that's the news!