What Goes Down Always Comes Back Up

I'm making good progress on FI. Last night I took a step back to sketch out all of the pieces I have left--seeing how they all fit together. I've had to lose some stuff I absolutely love, but I have a very clear picture of where I need to go from here on out. It's a pretty well-marked path, so I'm hoping I don't get lost along the way. (g)

Jenna said she was preparing for my next freak-out session. I do wish I could give her a schedule. :)

Anywho -- some good things to celebrate:

--I've managed to save the senior dance! (yay -- yippee and huzzah!) It'll be modified, but now it makes more sense in the overall story -- and well, it doesn't stick out like the sore thumb it was. (g)

--I filled in an important piece that explains one of my character's motivations. Makes everything flow that much better now.

--I have many, many scenes that need to be revised/tweaked, but I think I only have _four or five_ new ones left to write. (!!!!) Oh, I need to tack on little bits here and there -- transitions -- but four or five more scenes.. Good Gawd, I'm getting close.

--As much as I'll probably eat my words--maybe even by tomorrow--I'm glad I did this rewrite. My writing is stronger and the story is better for it. There have been times--and there will be plenty of more times in my future--that I've wanted to pull my hair out, but deep down I know this was good for me. I've learned a lot. And as I told Jenna, if DA doesn't want this book when I'm finished...fuch it. I'll find someone else who does. :) Yeah. (But I really, really, really hope he loves it as much as I do!)

--I've decided--with 100% certainty--that I have to write the prequel to this book someday. I want to see Drew and Maddy meet. Every time I put in a little bit of their backstory, I CRAVE time to tell their story. It's slowly filling in, so hopefully I'll have that chance someday.

--I had a really great idea pop up for book 4 or 5. I love it so much I almost started working on it last night. But no, book 1 first. :)

--I've made progress. Always cause for a celebration!

Have a good night.

Let's Kick Chicken Little Back To His Coop

A great post by Janet Reid: HERE about why we SHOULD NOT PANIC regarding all this bruhaha about Black Wednesday.

I've been saying this for a long time now -- the economy may be bad, but the panic everyone is letting take hold of them is making things MUCH MUCH worse. Chill, people. Chill.

It's scary, yeah, but seriously...let's break it down:

1. Good books WILL get published. (The publisher's have all said this.)

2. We should all be striving to write good books.

3. If our book isn't good enough to get published, then it doesn't matter what the state of the book industry is. We're not ready.


On a personal note -- I simply can't worry about this crap right now. I have a book to write. I'm scared enough about the idea of it not being good enough, irregardless of the economy. You can say I'm sticking my head in the sand...I'm okay with that. Hopefully I'll be able to get this dang book finished while I'm in hiding.

Baaaah!

Winter has officially arrived with our first accumulated snow. To add insult to injury, we also had a nice sheet of ice all over the roads. It took me 40 minutes to get to work--making me late--when it usually takes about 10. Granted, I saw a woman stop in front of me and slide a good 6 inches to the right (that when she was probably going 2 miles an hour)...but goodness.

It doesn't really put me in a good frame of mind to work this morning. And my good mood is usually tenuous at best when I arrive anyway.

I want summer. I miss fall. Come on spring.

(Okay, I wouldn't grouse this much normally -- I love snow (for at least the first month of winter! Swear!)

The Best Lunch Break Ever

Have you ever read a scene you think is going to need a lot of work and feel yourself completely engrossed -- edge of your seat tense -- wanting to know what happens next?

I just read through a scene that I worked on for a very long time. I "finished" it this weekend and thought it had some issues I'd have to cope with before it was final draft ready. There are still a few bumps, but this thing read really well. It gave me shivers. :) It felt like someone else had written it.

Gah, I love this feeling. I'm so excited to finish this book.

I can't wait to get home so I can discover what comes next (I still have to write the next transition between this and another big chunk).

Happy writing to everyone! :)

I Wanna Be A Punker Rocker, Too!

Thanks to Nina for introducing me to Sandi Thom's "I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker!"



What a voice!

Is It Me?

Or does anyone else miss the pic of Ty?

FI Update

I know it probably doesn't seem like I've been focused on writing (it may have something to do with my plethora of really random posts the last week or two), but I have been trying to keep to some sort of schedule.

I've also spent a good chunk o' time pulling out my hair and stressing about my filing system.

{Quick aside: With the first version of FI, I literally wrote the first 80-90% of the book in _one_ file. You read that right. One file -- scenes all randomly out of order, placed as I wrote them. I know that sounds like a logistical nightmare, but it worked great for me. I knew exactly where every scene was--similar to how the person in your office who has the messiest desk knows exactly where that small post-it with that email addy on it is. You know someone like that, don't you?

Anyway, I tried breaking up this version into separate files, and I'm so screwed up. I have a million versions floating around and I _really_ need to go through them and delete/move the irrelevant ones to an entirely different place. But that would take hours and right now I just can't justify the time. Sigh. Next time I'm going back to my tried and true. One big fat file (backed up many times, of course (g). And printed at strategic times. :)}

I'm making good progress, though. The MS is hovering around the 85-90K mark now. There are some things I know will need to be cut, but I'm just trying to push through to the end at this point. I keep saying I'm close, and it honestly feels like I am, but this time I really am getting close. This puppy WILL be finished before Christmas, and ready to go out to D.A. sometime soon after the New Year. I'm not going to rush it just to get it to him, but I'm going to give this book 100% of my attention from here on out. My friends won't even know my name by time I get back in contact. (g) Not that they've seen much of me the way it is. :) As for sleep...what? Who needs sleep?! Not me.

On that note...I'm going to get in a few hours now. I'm starting to pull the next few chapters together--plugging in any holes and adding transitions to make it all flow together. It's tough, tedious work...but alas, it needs to be done.

Sometimes I really envy linear writers. You see this stuff as you go. Me, I have to wait until the very end to see those pages all together. It's such a great feeling. I'm holding on to the memory of the first time I finished this blasted book...those nicely stacked pages...MY STORY. Yes.

Okay..I'm off!