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Posts Tagged ‘rewrites’

Update

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’ll be “at” WriteOnCon all day tomorrow, learning a lot (as usual) so I’m posting a bit early. And I’m going to keep it short.

I discovered something new this week. I prepared the combined manuscript for Blood Will Tell and Blood Is Thicker (for that promotion I want to do around the launch of Blood Is Thicker).

http://www.dreamstime.com/-image10567743

(I’m starting to really love that cover.) I went to upload the file to Smashwords and guess what? They have a new function, still in beta, that allows you to set the launch date. The book will appear for preorder on several of the sites Smashwords distributes to. Readers will be able to download a sample. But it won’t actually be available until (approximately) the date I set. Woohoo! Love this.

Also, you can read the first seven chapters of Blood is Thicker free on wattpad.

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Bundling

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 11, 2013| 3 Comments »

Part of my plan for the launch of BLOOD IS THICKER is to offer a bundle of both BLOOD WILL TELL and BLOOD IS THICKER at a discounted price. This will be helpful with some reviewers, too.

First thing I need is a cover. Here’s a sneak peak at what I’ve got now:

http://www.dreamstime.com/-image10567743

It’s kind of a mash up of the two covers.

That’s the progress on launch preparations for now. I’ve also been working on my rewrite of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE, although my forward motion on that slowed down a little last week.

Next week is WriteOnCon. If you write, or even think you might want to write, middle grade, young adult, or new adult you really should check this out. It’s online and it’s free. I’ll be hoping to attract some attention for MAGE STORM, so wish me luck.

The first seven chapters of BLOOD IS THICKER are now available on wattpad.

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Getting Serious

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I won’t say I’ve been slacking off, because I’ve certainly been keeping busy. But I have sort of dropped the ball on promoting FIRE AND EARTH

Fire And Earth Cover (Provisional)

and planning the launch of BLOOD IS THICKER.

Blood Is Thicker Cover

I recently read a post by a traditionally published author about the critical launch period. It’s helped clarify things for me. I think I have a better idea of what I need to do when, now.

Since I really need to start at least three months ahead, so I’m pushing my launch date out to November 18. However, in order to line up book reviewers, I’m actually going to have to make it widely available well before that. We’ll just pretend the launch is in November–and you’ll know that it’s really out there before anyone else. Well, except me, of course.

So, what I have to do first is get the various versions out. The catch in that is that I haven’t been completely happy with the formatting of BLOOD IS THICKER. It’s something small. Just a couple of chapter headings that are different than all the others. But it’s not right  and it’s been bugging me. I haven’t succeeded in fixing it, so I’m going to have to go back and just redo the Smashwords formatting. Then I can go ahead and do the Amazon and CreateSpace formats.

I need those to be able to get books to reviewers and start planning some giveaways.

I need to start devoting a specified amount of time every week to these things, even when I’d rather be writing.

Meanwhile, I’m about to wrap things up with THE BARD’S GIFT. In another week or two, I’ll be pulling it back. Then I’ll have to decide what I’m going to do with it–major revision or go indie. I’m getting ready to start querying MAGE STORM. Fingers crossed for WriteOnCon in a little over a week. And I’m still working on the rewrite of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. So, yeah, keeping busy.

The first six chapters of BLOOD IS THICKER are now available free on wattpad.

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Too Much Fun

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on July 28, 2013| 2 Comments »

I’m having a lot of fun with my rewrite of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. I’ve never stopped loving this story or the characters. The execution the first time I wrote it–now that needed a lot of help. It’s amazing as I use the original written in 2008 as a very extended outline.

Wow. Dialog mechanics. Yeah, I didn’t understand that at all. Obviously had no idea what a beat was or how to use it. (For non-writers, a beat, in this context, is a bit of action or body language paired with dialogue which acts as the dialog attribution as well as allowing the characters to interact with each other and the environment. It isn’t necessary to use “he said” for every single line of dialog.)  Showing vs. telling. Yes, I have a much better handle on that on several levels.

I may be having too much fun with this, though. I’ve been playing instead of doing the harder work of planning the launch for BLOOD IS THICKER.

Blood Is Thicker Cover

Blood Is Thicker Cover

I may have to push the launch date out to compensate for this. I also haven’t done what I need to on promoting FIRE AND EARTH.

Fire And Earth Cover (Provisional)

Writing is just so much more fun and it goes fast when you have essentially a 100,000-word outline to work from. That’s the good news. I’ll have this first draft done in record time.

I suppose it doesn’t hurt–could even help–to take a little break every now and then. But I seriously have to force myself back to the work that is outside my comfort zone.

Meanwhile, you can read the first five chapters of BLOOD IS THICKER free on wattpad.

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Golden Oldie

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , on July 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Well, I’ve started a little of my weird Oz story, but it’s not really flowing yet. So, I jumped in the way-back machine (fifty totally meaningless points if you get that reference) and pulled up my first novel (not counting the thing I did in college, of course). It’s THE SHAMAN’S CURSE.

Now, I’ve taken a couple of whacks at rewriting this before. I pulled out part of the story arc and wrote it as a middle grade novel I called MAGIC’S FOOL. I liked that pretty well, but I was persuaded that the age of the protagonist (thirteen in that version) would be a problem. I’m no longer sure that’s true, though. I’ve read other recently-published books that start with thirteen-year-old protagonists.

I tried again with a young adult version which started with the protagonist at fifteen, just like the original. I never got very far with that one.

Then I just got tired of trying to shoehorn the story (which I still love) into either of those categories. I like the original plot line better. Not that it can’t benefit from a few revisions and some tightening. Still, overall it’s the writing in that first version that’s the problem, not the plot.

So, that’s what I’m doing right now. I’m trying a rewrite of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. It’s an interesting experience for a discovery writer to have essentially a 100,000-word outline to work from.

Reminder: You can read the first four chapters of BLOOD IS THICKER free on wattpad. I really have to get down to some serious planning for the launch. I might have to slip the release date back a little if I don’t make some definite plans by the end of this month. I can do that at this point, but it’ll get harder later.

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At Loose Ends

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 17, 2013| 2 Comments »

Well, not really. There’s plenty for me to be working on. But . . . but I’ve finished most of the revisions I was planning to carry me into next month.

  • BLOOD IS THICKER is done and already available on Smashwords. (By the way, my other published stories are on sale on Smashwords through the end of the month. Some are even free. Check them out here and remember to use the coupon code listed right below the price.) You can also read the first three chapters of BLOOD IS THICKER free on wattpad.
  • MAGE STORM is basically done, although I’m still waiting for feedback from a couple of beta readers. I still need to work on the query and pitches some more. The synopsis could probably stand a bit of polish, too.
  • And, surprisingly, I feel like the third draft of MAGIC AND POWER is probably just about the final draft–at least until I can get it in front of a few beta readers. After the last pass, there’s just one more thing I think I need to take a look at. I suspect my characters do a lot of taking deep breaths and breathing out. Using a physical response to show emotion is good, but I probably need to introduce a little more variety there.

So, it looks like I may be starting that weird Oz story about a month sooner than I’d planned. I’m going to have to spend a little time getting myself into the right frame of mind. This one will be in first person and my character has (I hope) a distinct voice. But I don’t like taking more than a few days without doing some actual writing. Gotta keep those writing muscles in shape.

Of course, I also need to continue preparing to officially launch BLOOD IS THICKER (October 20). And continue trying to promote FIRE AND EARTH, mostly by trying to line up reviewers.

Maybe I’m not at such loose ends, after all.

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New Directions

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on March 31, 2013| 2 Comments »

Happy Easter

Then, let me draw your attentiong to new chapters of FIRE AND EARTH and BLOOD WILL TELL that are up on Wattpad.

So, maybe it’s the time of year, but I seem to be taking different directions on a couple of projects. I’ve already blogged about “Magic and Power”, most recently here. There’s another story that I think is going to take a major direction change, too.

When I first got serious about writing, the very first novel I wrote was called THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. The second was a sequel called THE IGNORED PROPHECY. TSC suffered from a great many beginner mistakes, so I set it and TIP aside and worked on other things, but I still love these characters and this story. And as for world building, well, most of those entries under my “Worlds” tab are for this story.

A year or so ago, I pulled TSC out and tried a rewrite of the first third or so of it as a middle grade fantasy. MAGIC’S FOOL. I actually rather liked that version, but then I found out that a 13-year-old protagonist was a non-starter. He’s quite literally an in-between–too old for middle grade and too young for young adult.

Next I tried another go, taking my protagonist up to 15 and making it young adult. That’s not working out as well as I’d hoped.

Well, now I think what I’m going to do is just rewrite it without trying to fit it into any premade mold. It’ll probably still be young adult–at least the first book will be. The character will have “aged out” by the sequel, but so be it. If it turns out to be something that no agent will be interested in, well, the publishing world has changed and there’s always e-publishing. I can live with that.

There will be a few plot changes, I think, in addition to just better technique, but the story will be basically the same. It’s a good story and I’m sticking with it.

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Back to Revision Land

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 13, 2013| 2 Comments »

Well, it was nice while it lasted, but it looks like I’m leaving the first draft behind for a while and heading back into revision land.

I think I mentioned here before that I’m a first alternate in Pitch Wars with FIRE AND EARTH. I got the revision notes back from my mentor on Friday and I’ve been digesting them for the last day or so. Some of them I completely agree with, but one in particular has taken me awhile to come around to. She says I started the story in the wrong place–by about eight chapters. Yikes. And then use some of the saved words to further develop the characters, side characters, and their goals and conflicts, as well as more showing of emotions.

But, you know, she has a point and what she identifies as the inciting incident may be a better choice than what I thought was the inciting incident. Now, I don’t know yet if I’m going to be able to delete all of that. There are some things in there I really do believe the reader needs to know to understand what’s driving the characters. But I’ve already identified–and cut–quite a lot that isn’t really necessary. I might be able to work in some of the rest later in the story.

I’ve got a lot of work to do on this. And I have to try to do as much as possible by the 20th, because where the story really starts will determine what the first 250 words are. Duh! (Also, you know, it’s just good form to have a completed ms for things like this just in case an agent makes a request.) Plus I need to write a 35-word pitch. I have about four possibilities right now and frankly, they all suck. This is not the part of writing I’m good at. I really like the description by a critique partner (thank you MattLeo) that trying to boil the story down to 35 words is necessarily like trying to decide which blind man had hold of the most interesting part of the elephant.

Plus, the reader critiques of THE BARD’S GIFT are starting to come in much earlier than I expected. (I was planning on the end of the month.) I think that’s good. It takes longer to read a story to critique it and I only sent it out on (I think) the 30th of December. I’m taking that to mean that the story kept them reading.

Back to work with a vengeance.

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Back to Writing Stuff

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on January 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Okay, enough goals for the new year and holidays and birthdays. Back to the important stuff–writing.

THE BARD’S GIFT is out to readers. I’ve even gotten my first response back–and it was a good one. I’m still waiting for feedback on FIRE AND EARTH and MAGE STORM. So, it’s time to move on with something new.

Right now, I’m working on the rewrite of last year’s MAGIC’S FOOL, which was itself a partial rewrite of my first (serious) novel, THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. Since the main character’s age (13) was going to be a show-stopper with agents, this time he’s a couple of years older and it’s a boy-oriented young adult story. I feel better about that after reading David Farland’s NIGHTENGALE. It’s a balance between writing some new material and reusing a good bit of what I wrote last year, so it’s going pretty fast. 

Meanwhile, I’m letting a couple of shiny new ideas percolate in my subconscious. I love them both, but neither of them is quite ripe. I’m still mostly a discovery writer, but I know better than to start in on a novel-length story without a reasonable idea of where I want it to go–and what it’s central problem is. One is a sort of Oz story–if Oz was more like a magical Jurassic Park than Munchkinland and Dorothy wasn’t sure if she could trust the scarecrow, cowardly lion, or tinman. The other is a secret history of King Arthur–with dragons.

Here’s to a successful and productive 2013.

Cowardly Lion's Courage Medal

Cowardly Lion’s Courage Medal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Looking Forward

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 2, 2013| 1 Comment »

I gave up making resolutions a couple of years ago. No one keeps them. Instead, I try to make goals. Goals–good ones, anyway–are concrete and are able to be broken down into achievable steps. There’s a much better chance of at least making progress toward a goal than there is of keeping a resolution. At least, there is for me. So, here are my writing goals for 2013:

  1. Get THE BARD’S GIFT in shape to start querying it. It’s going out for critiques this month. Then revisions and polish. Plus, of course, getting the query in shape and writing the evil synopsis.
  2. Get MAGE STORM into shape to start querying it again. It’s been off the market since last March. This one is still in the hands of a very thorough critique partner.
  3. FIRE AND EARTH, too. This one is currently in the hands of a mentor from Pitch Wars. Once I hear back, beat it into shape and get it out there again. If I haven’t found an agent for one of the above by the end of 2013, I’ll e-publish FIRE AND EARTH.
  4. Whip BLOOD IS THICKER into shape and e-publish it.
  5. Enter Writers of the Future at least one quarter.
  6. Write the first drafts of two new novels. One will be the rewrite of MAGIC’S FOOL (which I have outlined and ready to go). The other will likely be one of the two shiny new ideas that came to me in the last couple of months. I’m excited by both of them, but I have more world building and prep work to do before either is really ready to go.
  7. Learn and improve.

I have a list of personal goals, too, but this post is already long enough.

Happy–and productive and successful–New Year!

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