Just keeping myself honest

Word count for tonight: 1675

Nano = Awesome

I love November, don’t you? Not only is it awesome because the weather is turning, the holidays are coming, but it’s also my birthday month. Oh, and a little thing we like to call Nanowrimo.

I’ll be honest – I’m a Nano fan. Sometimes I’m just not feeling it, but when you have a book to write and are lacking motivation? Nothing can get your ass moving faster than seeing the word counts that your friends are posting. I’m competitive, too, so I like to try and keep up. I don’t mind if I’m not first, but I at least want to stay in the game.

Now here’s the thing about Nano. You’re going to see a lot of people groaning about Nano, especially people in publishing. But your Nano powers can be used for good, too! Not just evil.

Good = Getting motivated. Writing awesome word count. Plotting on a deadline. Writing 50k in one month on a solid project. FIRST DRAFTING.

Bad = Flinging shit on the page just to make wordcount. Working on a completely lame project. Not realizing that you are writing a first draft and then just querying it to everyone that has an email address.

And okay. I have done the ‘write shit just to make wordcount’ thing. And you know what? It is a really really bad habit to break if you are trying to improve your craft. It really is. So don’t do it. So you write 3k less a day than your buddy. It’s a good 3k instead of 3k of “He went to the cabinet. He got some Cheerios. Mmm, Cheerios. He liked Cheerios. They reminded him of Uncle Bob who used to go boating at Lake Tawakoni as a child. Mmm Cheerios.” Don’t bloat your novel. Seriously. You’re not going to be happy with the results.

Also? Pick a project you’re passionate about and one that *has* a solid plot. Because that 10k wall comes up a lot sooner than you’d anticipate, and then you’re left holding a story that’s disintegrating in your hands. And there’s nothing worse than having to start over in week 2.

(And I’ve been there, done that on both)

Anyhoo, here’s my word meter.

I’m on Nano as ‘irysangel’  (the same as my Livejournal) so you can buddy me if you like. Or not, cause that’s cool too (and Nano’s site is horrible for tracking any number of buddies over eight). And in case you’re wondering what I’m working on?

I’M CHEATING!

That’s right. I’m totally cheating. But my deadline for book 3 is coming up ASAP and I’m going to get a head start on it. I already have 10k written in the book, and I need to write another 75k before March 1st. And I have two books coming out between now and then, so yeah. I’m totally cheating. Feel free to laugh and point, but I’m going at it unofficial-like, and I just won’t validate at the end of the month. For me, the goal is to get 50k of usable words, and if that means swimming with the Nano fishes, I’m happy to do so.

Anyhoo, for Day 1, I’m happy with my wordcount. How about you guys? How is your wordcount coming? Share!

Something you should read

Because I’m totally guilty of this too.

How many times have aspiring authors said to ourselves “I really want to publish 3 or 4 books a year because I can totally handle it!” and then get frustrated when this whole publishing thing takes a wee bit longer than we imagine?

*raises hand* Guilty as charged. Yes, I can write fast. Yes, I’ve said this before. Do I have the same perception of how much I can output a year as I did when I was querying?

As Whitney would say, HELL TO THE NO.

Anyhoo, go read. Agent Holly says some pretty awesome stuff. 

http://waxmanagency.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/letting-the-market-speak/

Can’t fight the moonlight

As I write this, it’s dark outside. Far, far too early in the evening (7pm? wtf?) for it to be dark outside. Fall is officially here. Which is all right with me, because I LOVE FALL. Halloween? Love it. Thanksgiving? Love it. My birthday? Love that too, or I did for the first 29 years.

I also love the crisp weather, the changing of the leaves, the fact that I get to wear long sleeves, and pumpkin pie.

(Also? We are about 3 months out from my book release! But who is counting, right?)

At any rate, I finished edits for Agent Holly the other day and decided that this weekend would be THE weekend that I would be a total writing badass. 10k? No sweat. I’d haul out a half-finished project, kick its ass all over town, and then dust off my hands, cheerful at a job well done.
Yeaaaaah. Not so much with that.

Instead, I spent about 6 hours on Saturday staring at the same few pages over and over again. Normally when I pick up a ‘dropped’ project (one that I’ve had to spend a few weeks away from), I can reacclimate myself by re-reading and editing the pages I have in order to make the story a little more cohesive. My first drafts are heinous, after all, so there’s a lot to nudge into shape. Then, by the time I get to the part where I left off, it’s easier to jump back in.

Couldn’t do it. After six hours, I had 10 pages edited and was in a terrible mood. I grumped to my husband, who wanted to know why I was beating myself up over a story I don’t even have a contract for. I had no answer for him.

So I took the day off. And I re-read Meljean Brook’s DEMON BOUND (one of my favorite romances of this decade). Watched a movie. Re-read an old project that I loved (my 3rd novel ever) but is too derivative to salvage. And pulled out a different story.

This time, I like the edits. Go figure. Is it that I took a brain refresh? Or is it the project?

Who can say, right? Either way, I’m not going to peer at it too closely for fear that it will dry up once more.

Nanowrimo!

The Nano boards just opened up again yesterday! Is anyone planning on participating? I’ll be either working on Book 3 of my series or a spec project just for me.

Anyone else planning how to spend their November?

It’s a Mad, Mad World…of edits.

Just sent off the latest round of edits to my agent. Poor thing has to read my manuscript AGAIN. Bless her heart for being so patient. Anyhoo – Fall is finally here in Texas, and I am loving the weather. What I am not loving is the fact that all my sweaters have shrank. No, not like that. I mean I ran them in the dryer too many times last year, and the hem goes from below the ass to somewhere around my midriff (but the sleeves remain crazily long). It’s bizarre. And then my clothes look stupid.

Clearly this will involve shopping.

Speaking of shopping, guess what else came out yesterday? Michelle Rowen’s first Young Adult novel:

Michelle is hilarious, and I expect the book to be as full-on funny as she is. It’s the story of a teenager who learns that not only is her dad a demon, but he’s also the demon king, and she’s his heir. And of course there are hot guys in it. This pretty much hits my check-list of awesome. Paranormal? Check. Fish out of water? Check. Hot mysterious guys? Check. Little book, you are mine!

Bad habits

I’ve noticed I’m a great big failure when it comes to forming good habits lately.

I haven’t balanced my checkbook in months.
I keep forgetting to blog.
I’ve been having upwards of 5 cups of coffee every day. (*twitch*)
I haven’t been writing EVERY day.
Or editing all that stuff I said I would.
I’ve been re-reading books instead of reading all the new ones on my TBR pile.
I’ve bought a few books, then thought, “Jeez, I’m never going to read that one.”
I had pizza for lunch.
My gym membership card has dust on it.
So do my gym shoes.
And my duster.
And my vacuum.
I’ve been leaving dishes in the sink.
I haven’t been self-promoting very much — I always see those self promo threads on message-boards or Amazon or whatever and think “Should I?” but then I walk away. There’s a fine line between self promo and douchebaggery, and I tend to overshoot. Best to just avoid entirely unless you have the delicate skill of Self Promo, and I do not have it.
I’ve been watching TV shows ONLINE instead of when they come on, thus torpedo-ing the Nielsen rankings of my favorite shows.
I’ve been playing far, far too much Left4Dead (new patch tonight!).

So what about you? Someone else tell me their bad habits so I don’t feel like the only doofus around.

Editing. Again.

Am editing UNNATURAL again. Well, except now it’s called VANISHING ACT but my brain can’t seem to wrap around that. So what is more glamorous than reading and editing a manuscript twelve times?

Why, thirteen times!

Luckily, my agent’s notes were spot on, so this draft has been fairly painless thus far. Sure, I bitch, but if I didn’t, what could I possibly talk about?

Other than that, no news on this end. Glad that Mercury is no longer in retrograde.

(It’s not…is it? Eep.)

I can make you love me, little story…

For me, writing starts with a scene. I’ll see something in my mind so clearly that I won’t be able to get past it unless I write it down. And from there, the story spirals outward. Somewhere in the middle, I’ll outline to make sure I don’t forget anything, but overall it’s an organic process.

But with books under contract, this doesn’t always work. You have to turn in something early (sometimes months and months early) before the writing has even started. You essentially have to draft the story in short form (my synopses are usually less than 5 pages), sit on it for about 4 or 5 months, and then you get to write it.

This is troubling for me (and anyone else that is an organic/pantser writer). You can outline anything in the world that you want. Coming up with stories is sometimes the EASY part.

Getting enthusiastic enough about it six months down the line? Enthusiastic enough to spend 90k with it? A little tricky.

I’ve run into this situation before. Right now, actually. I promised to write a story about a certain topic (nothing contracted, mind you, just a side project) but that was MONTHS AGO, dude. And I’m not excited about the story. But it’s something I want to try, so I knew I had to give it a shot.

And now I’m 9k in and absolutely loving (LOVING) the story and the characters. But it wasn’t easy to get to that point. I had to break myself in.

First step: Visualize.

I’m a big fan of visuals. If I don’t have a mental image of the character already, I flip around the internet looking for something to associate with the character. Sometimes it’s a picture of really great hair. Sometimes it’s a hand holding a sword. Whatever. Doesn’t matter. It needs to be something that evokes that particular story with me. For a long time, I made Livejournal icons for different stories and went with those – well, until I stopped paying for livejournal (*shakes fist at paid accounts and all their goodies*). Now, I switch out my desktop background on a regular basis with different thematic pictures that represent my story, and I pick actors that might share mannerisms or a photo that makes me think of the character.

And okay, sometimes I use Dean & Sam & Castiel as inspiration. A lot. Don’t hate!

Next Step: Getting to know you.

If I’m going to write a story about these two chuckleheads, I have to know them. Again, not part of my normal process. I do astrology charts (even though I feel dumb for doing so), I pick a tarot card for them. I pick an archetype and flesh it out.
And then I write a long, tl;dr boring-ass essay about their history. The end. I’m not picking what kind of ice cream they’d like, or what kind of tree they’d be if they were a tree…I hate that stuff. But I find that if I write out a character’s history, it changes their personality. Maybe I wanted Olivia to be light-hearted and sassy, but when I write out her history…she is anything but the laughing type. That’s ok too. All you need to do is learn enough about them to wiggle your way into the story.

Third Step: Slog your way through the beginning.

There’s really no way of getting around the writing. The first two steps were mostly cat-waxing and author noodling. They’re a big waste of time except for one thing – they mentally prepare you to dive in. It’s kind of like sticking your toe in the pool. You know it’s cold and you’re going to hate that dive in, but you’ve got to do it at some point.

So you just start writing. And it sounds awful as it makes its way on to paper, and it IS. There’s no getting around the awful. But you have to keep writing. And keep writing. And somewhere along the lines, you’re going to get excited about these characters. They’re going to matter. You’re going to have FUN sending them through the wringer.

Just write. I guess I could have summed this post up in two words, right? But keep on writing, because if the fun doesn’t come to you, you have to go to the fun. Or something. You can still make it work, even if you have to come up with a different ‘method’. All that matters is getting the story down on paper.

And this is all very srs bzns stuff, isn’t it? Blah. For silliness, check out http://www.theoddshots.com.

You know you are losing it when…

Conversation at the Myles house this morning:

Me, in a towel, hair wet: GAAAAH!

Husband: What?

Me: You didn’t open the door to the bathroom!

Husband: I wasn’t in the bathroom.

Me: Yes, you WERE. And now it’s all steamy in there because you took a shower and now I CAN’T FIX MY HAIR. I AM SO MAD AT YOU.

Him: I didn’t take a shower.

Me: YES YOU DID.

Him: No, you did. That’s why your hair is wet.

Me: …

Him: …and that’s why you’re wearing a towel.

Me: Oh. Well, nevermind.

Him: You know, I thought you were joking at first. That’s kind of sad.

Me: I need coffee.

Clearly, yours truly is running on empty lately. But! I have a present for the like, three people that still read my blog. I wrote you another zombie fairy tale!

This one features the Princess and the Pea. If you like it, leave me a comment and let me know. I’m needy like that.

Here you go: http://jillmyles.com/free-stories/the-princess-and-the-zomb-pea