Hitting the pavement

So to speak.

Getting published is harder than it sounds. Unless you're also trying to get published. And you aren't one of those miracle people the rest of us want to toss into a lake, or an outsider who thinks it's such a breeze, you know what I mean.

Writing is the easy part.

It's the rest that takes effort, time, persistence, and a really thick skin. Seriously thick. Plus you then have to listen to all those people asking when you'll be published - asking every week like you wouldn't be screaming it from the hilltops the SECOND that acceptance came in. Honestly.

So I'm spending my free time today looking for publishers. I know who's out there, I've done the research, but now I need specifics. Like what to send where, how much, and to whom.

Where's the easy button when you need it?

Week 5

Happily enough, I've managed to complete some of my last week's goals. (There was a time problem, as in never enough.)

• Germany story is edited and titled
• Contests are researched
• Birthrite-Raven is somewhat edited, but not the part I really wanted to do.

Which will go on this week's goals:

• Edit Birthrite-Raven the beginning of which I really want to take another look at.
• Enter contests previously researched
• Start writing Birthrite-Morganna (plotted, looked at, ignored, replotted...)

I forget what week I'm in...4?

But I know my goals for the week! And isn't that all that counts?

• Edit Germany story (and possibly title it)
• Stare at synopsis file (currently blank) and create a wonderful synopsis to wow and amaze potential editors/agents
• Stop fooling myself and hope for the best when it comes to the synopsis
• Research contests and enter at least 2
• Edit Birthrite - Raven as it's been ages since I last looked at it and think I could change and tweak things to better suit the overall story.

Complete!

I've finished my Germany-set story! OH, happy day, I love it when things are finished.

OK, it's finished as in done but not finished. I haven't gone over it again, not the whole thing. Gotta trim some words, and I think tighten a chapter towards the end - it's missing something and I suspect it's the H/H.

Last, I have to figure out the word count. I know how many words it is, but publishers have a variety of formulas that don't make much sense to be, but what do I know.

Steamy

As it turned out, steamy works. I didn't have to change much, an added sentiment here, an erotic touch there. And boom! They were having sex on the floor of the library. A room in the house, that is, not a building.

This is a short story, and the more I though about it, the more I realized the plot takes off running and doesn't stop until the end. Even then there's a sense of openness, a lack of closure. No, it's not a series, it's the time frame. 1934 does that to a story.

So hot monkey sex on the floor and a fast-paced plot that tears apart my couple. I think I'm set.

Self Editing

Is possibly the hardest thing to do in writing. Isn't everything you write wonderful and quote worthy? Um, no. Not for me. There are some days I write something and even as it's coming out and I can read it on my screen I think "What drivel! What horror! What the hell was I thinking?"

And hit the delete button, tute suite! (OK, am not even remotely sure that's spelled right.)

I have an adverb thing, as in I love and adore them, but apparently they're not 'in' just now. An editor friend did try to warn me, and I did somewhat listen but once all those -ly words (minus the obvious like belly and all) were ignored, it was damn hard to ignore the rest. Highlighted LY everywhere. It was bad.

So that's my project for the week. Go over my stuff - completed, WIPs, current, everything - and change, delete, and modify my adverbs. While I'm doing this, I might go over the opening hook of them, too, since I'll be in the story. Good a time as any to make sure the hook hooks, and doesn't drag along the bottom.

Order

As in the order of things. The writing of them, more specifically. I like to start at chapter 1 page 1 and move swiftly (or at least move) from there. So here I am, writing chapter 1. Then I rewrote it to have a little more umph to it. OK, Check.

Chapter 2. This is where I discovered I'm not as orderly as I thought. Yes, once in a while I have a flash of writer-brilliance and a scene several pages/chapters away magically materializes on my computer screen, needing very little editing once I get to that actual part. I love those moments, they make me all warm and fuzzy and think 'Hey, I am a writer!'

But I digress. Chapter 2 was going and going and going, and once I hit chapter 3, I realized nothing in chapter 2 needed to be there, or at least most of all 7 pages. What's a good writer to do? Naturally, I panicked. Why oh why? I'd spend days (hours at least) doing all that writing and dialog-ing and planning how to get my characters from A to B, and suddenly I realized no. It didn't work. It was all...junk.

Telling not showing. I mean literally telling. Like why the hero and his BFF were talking in front of the building they were supposed to be going into when they could've had this conversation any place/time from the moment they left their home, boarded the train, taken the taxi, arrived. Sure, it wasn't a conversation for other's ears, and people are so nosy no matter where or when, but come on! Go inside already! Why are you talking out here like a pair of idiots casing the joint, and badly at that?

Sigh

So chapter 2 now has less nothingness and more dialog. I wonder, upon umpteenth reading, how much of that dialog will be scrapped and how much will be merged with chapter 3.

Steaminess part 2

Once I find a problem, I have to gnaw on it until it's fixed to my satisfaction. Did I mention I'm a perfectionist? I hate sloppy work no matter the venue, and don't like my name associated with sloppiness. Not the reputation I want in any aspect of my life. (Except the cleanliness of my home office, but that's why there's a door. To close against any onlookers.)

So, steamy sex scenes. Steamy scenes and sexual tension. Coincidentally enough, the Manuscript Mavens have a blog on just that today, which frankly only added fuel to this particular issue and in no way helped resolve it.

I have to have at least one sex scene in this, (OK, I don't have to have, but I want to have to have...basically I want at least one in there, and that's that!) and the setup does allow for it early on. Which is still what bothers me. They know each other, though they haven't met (no, this isn't a 'they just know' each other plot, they really do - through letters.)

I think my problem is…me. I really don’t like it when an author has her characters jump into bed together and then tries to sell me that even in the beginning, they knew. At least work on the relationship after sex! Yup, it’s me.

I might have to stick with my original thought on this; write it and see where it goes. I can always edit in or out later. Right?

March Goals

New month, so much to think about. What should I put to paper (type on my blog) for my goals? I know what my wishlist is:

1. write 40 pages a day
2. complete 3 books in 31 days
3. catch up on sleep

Reality? I'll be lucky if I can hope for normal amounts of sleep and 40 pages total in 31 days. So, reality-based goals for March...

1. Finish Germany-based story
2. Plot the (pesky) details and begin Birthrite 2
3. Update website

Hehe, yeah, that's a new one and something I can work on in an afternoon. Really, I put that on there to make me feel better about meeting these goals.