Pep Talk and Competition
March 15th 2010 12:19
Today starts off a brand new week, and it's time to look at the month ahead. You might still be struggling with writing a new opening for your book, or you might be almost to the end of your second draft already. If you're in the latter position, I want to give you a big pat on the back. If you're in the former, don't worry, because that's pretty much where I am too.
Before you start your editing today, make a comprehensive list of all the things you wanted to do when editing your first draft. Check off all the things that you've done so far-things like writing a new first chapter, editing your first few scenes, whatever you managed to do that you wanted to do-and then circle all the things you want to do in the next week.
Once you've figured out what you want to do in the next week, assign each item to one of the days this week. For example, today I'm going to be writing up a couple new versions of chapters three and four for my book and finishing the Phoenix's character questionnaire, and tomorrow I'm going to be writing up questionnaires for Loki, the Demon, and Keeran. When you make this plan, don't think too hard about when during those days you're going to do it-just know that on those days, those things need to get done. You'll find little pockets of time if you look hard enough.
While you're thinking about things to do this week-consider taking part in a little competition:
As you know, I've been working on my novel, Phoenix Falling. I've just written a new version of chapter two, and in this chapter, an Elvish woman falls down a flight of stairs. She curses when she falls, of course, but on writing this scene, I realized that my elves don't have any swear words!
So here's what I want you to do: leave a comment with a swear word here. I want it to look like a swear word, short and full of hard consonants, but I don't want it to look too much like any English swear words. You can either come up with something entirely random, or base it off a swear word in another language. Leave a comment here with your name, email address, and your swear word, and whoever comes up with the most interesting swear word for my novel will get an in depth critique of the first five chapters of their manuscript. If you're not ready to let anyone look at your first five chapters yet, then I'll critique up to three short stories OR the first five chapters of a different manuscript.
Entries for the competition are due by 12:01 AM EST on the twentieth. That's a whole week. May the best swearer win!
Before you start your editing today, make a comprehensive list of all the things you wanted to do when editing your first draft. Check off all the things that you've done so far-things like writing a new first chapter, editing your first few scenes, whatever you managed to do that you wanted to do-and then circle all the things you want to do in the next week.
Once you've figured out what you want to do in the next week, assign each item to one of the days this week. For example, today I'm going to be writing up a couple new versions of chapters three and four for my book and finishing the Phoenix's character questionnaire, and tomorrow I'm going to be writing up questionnaires for Loki, the Demon, and Keeran. When you make this plan, don't think too hard about when during those days you're going to do it-just know that on those days, those things need to get done. You'll find little pockets of time if you look hard enough.
While you're thinking about things to do this week-consider taking part in a little competition:
As you know, I've been working on my novel, Phoenix Falling. I've just written a new version of chapter two, and in this chapter, an Elvish woman falls down a flight of stairs. She curses when she falls, of course, but on writing this scene, I realized that my elves don't have any swear words!
So here's what I want you to do: leave a comment with a swear word here. I want it to look like a swear word, short and full of hard consonants, but I don't want it to look too much like any English swear words. You can either come up with something entirely random, or base it off a swear word in another language. Leave a comment here with your name, email address, and your swear word, and whoever comes up with the most interesting swear word for my novel will get an in depth critique of the first five chapters of their manuscript. If you're not ready to let anyone look at your first five chapters yet, then I'll critique up to three short stories OR the first five chapters of a different manuscript.
Entries for the competition are due by 12:01 AM EST on the twentieth. That's a whole week. May the best swearer win!
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