The Good, Bad and Ugly

Today was a series of ups and downs. It can be classified as Good, Bad, and Ugly.

The Good: I FINALLY finished editing one of my novel manuscripts today. Woo-hoo! It took me 7 whole days to edit all 218 pages. I tried to get it done in 5 days, but by Friday, when I had EVERY INTENTION of staying up all night working on it, I kept drifting off to sleep in my chair and losing my place. I also knew I could not possibly edit if I was too mentally exhausted. It would not be as good of a job. And, besides, I still had to edit extra material for the book. Stuff I wanted to add. So I put it off for the next day. Saturday passed with very little editing getting done, mainly because it was my daughter's birthday and I wanted to spend time with her. By today, I was feeling nervous about being able to finish the job. But I was DETERMINED to do it! I even stayed in my pajamas until I got it done -- and I did! Yay! What a HUGE relief to be done with that. Now, tomorrow, I start the edits on another one. Woo yeah!

The Bad: Found out today that I didn't win the "dialogue only" contest. Aw, nuts! Well, I gave it a shot. But now I'm confused as to what to do with my story. Should I revise it to make it a regular story? Or leave it as a dialogue story? Hm, decisions, decisions. I asked one of my sisters if she will read the story and she said to send it. I am hoping she can give me feedback on what I should do with it. Maybe leave it to collect dust on my hard drive.

The Ugly: I came across a blog-mag (if that is even the right term!) that is now open to submissions of poetry. I read the poems on there and got an idea of what kinds of poems they want. I decided to go for it and submit some poems. But that reading also had me coming up with new poems to write. One of the poems was...okay. And the other one was not so okay. The words were just wrong. When I finished writing it, I knew it wasn't "right." The words I used were not the right words to convey what I was trying to say. I left it alone for a while and when I came back to it later, I did change some words. Still, it was not right. It wasn't ready. I will see if giving it extra time to "breathe" will help me to revise it better or maybe getting some feedback. Whichever comes first. Only when the words are right will I submit it.

Tonight, my daughter and I went outside to stare up at the Harvest Moon. It was beautiful. We've been doing that ever since she was a baby, going outside and staring up at the moon. That's our way of sharing something magical.

One VERY productive day inspires one very can-do atitude

Yesterday was a VERY busy day in this writer's life. I'm glad I had such a productive day yesterday, because there are things going on today and I don't know how much I'll manage to get done. Probably not as much as yesterday, and for this reason I'm grateful for yesterday. It can make up for all the other things I might not be able to do today! I'm not blogging about it in order to "brag," or anything. It's just so that I can talk about a couple of things from yesterday as well as take a look at all the things I managed to do.

And what a bunch of things they were! Wow! Honestly, I don't know how I fit it all into one day. (Well, I was up past midnight wrapping up the last thing, so maybe that's how I managed to do all of them!) In addition to taking care of my kids and doing the domestic responsibilities. I am just really, really surprised that I managed to do so much. I did more things yesterday than I normally do in one day! Instead of 3-5 things, I did seven.

One of the things I did was write and submit a sample for a Web site. I got a reply for one of the jobs I applied for before being accepted at Suite101.com, and they wanted a sample from me. I'll admit, this initial request for the job made me pretty uncomfortable, but after I discussed my concerns with one of the reps, I felt better about doing it and went through with it. We'll see how that turns out.

I also worked on the Revisions book, worked on the RGT book, fired off a query to a magazine (my goal was to send three queries but I could only submit one), did editing in a manuscript and wrote up a short article.

I also did the networking thing, which will turn into "the promotion thing" after a new book comes out. The networking took up a considerable amount of time. Still, I know it's important to network. And it even inspired a new book idea. Hooray! I've been wanting a new idea for a writing book. The Revisions book is my third writing book, and I kept wondering, what kind of writing book will I do after this one? Right then and there, I couldn't think of anything. So I was delighted when I got this idea for my next writing book. Woot-woot! Still, I have YET to check and see if it has been done already. I will have to look into that. If it hasn't been done already, then, it's on! Erm...next year, maybe. Haha.

Even though I wasn't sure if that kind of book has been done yet, I still wrote up the outline for it. And I realized that, up until the time I actually start writing it and putting it together, I can spend this time putting what the book teaches to the test. I can use my own writing career as the "guinea pig" and try out everything this book will cover. What an exciting experiment this will be!

Today is the last day to enter the "dialogue only" short story contest. I am entering and must remember to send in my story. I've made a note of it on my "to do" list for today.

I was reading a writer friend's blog yesterday, and she noted how she's making preparations to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, and it happens every November. I have participated in the past. The first time I tried out, I had to stop because work came up. The second time, I got distracted with other things and abandoned the project. The third time, I did complete my novel, but it didn't come in at the required 50K words. This hung over me as I debated whether or not I should participate this year. My first thought when I asked myself that question was 'My plate's already overflowing! The last thing I need this year is YET ANOTHER book project going on!' (I don't know what it is about me, but I can never just work on only one thing. I need a variety of things going on and more than one book project going on. Somehow or another, I work better that way. Maybe it's a Gemini thing!) And add to this the fact that I don't have a new novel idea that I want to work on right now. Well, sure, I have ideas, but my mindset is on the middle grade paranormal mystery series I have written two books for so far. I want to write the next book in that series, if there was anything for me to write for fiction. But the publisher hasn't gotten back to me yet about the first book and those books are not 50,000 words. If I do NaNoWriMo, then I'll have to go over my list of book ideas and see if any of the novel ideas grab me. I love the novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo last year and I'm anxious to see it in print ONE of these days (after these OTHER four books get taken care of first). I want to experience that excitement with writing fiction again. The adrenaline rush of writing a whole 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Besides, by the time November gets here, I really SHOULD have one of my current book projects done and sent in to the publisher. I'll be one book lighter! If I can manage the two books now, how will adding my Nano novel be any different?

This excitement made me move away from my initial reservations over being able to do NaNoWriMo again. I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something. And as far as even being able to find time to work on it every day, I can only look at how productive I was yesterday. At how I was able to do SO MUCH and find a way to fit all of those writing tasks into my day. This gives me confidence that I WILL be able to do NaNoWriMo this year. That I WILL be able to find time for it. NaNoWriMo 2009? Bring it on!

Could you pitch your book in 3 sentences?

The Knight Agency is holding a contest! The "Book in a Nutshell Competition" challenges writers to pitch their book in only three sentences.

Yep, you read that right. Anyone who's game has just THREE SENTENCES (150 words max.) to pitch their manuscript to an agent.

From the blog: "Twenty of the best submissions will be chosen and requested by various agents who will then give feedback on your work...and it may even lead to possible representation."

Details:

Enter TKA's Book In a Nutshell Competition!

I have received a rejection from TKA for one of my novels in the past. Reading the comments, I gather I'm go for pitching a different manuscript. I have no idea how I could sum up my story in 3 sentences. But this is a fun diversion and of course I'm gonna give it a shot.

Boomers-Write First Annual Short Story Contest!

Check out the Boomers-Write First Annual Short Story Contest!

Start off the New Year with a little extra cash in your pocket!
Enter the Boomers-Write short story contest today by going to
http://www.boomers-write.com/contests.html

Deadline for entries is Dec. 31, 2008 and winners will be announced January 30, 2009.

Looking forward to reading your stories soon.