Hit Counter

Hi All--
I added a hit counter, so we can see how many people are looking at our blog. :) I did it for my book blog, so I thought I'd do it for us too.
xo
-MMo

Random Susan Thoughts

I once read that the best books come from ideas that have been percolating for a long time, preferably years. I definitely found that to be the case with Mark of Gideon. I started the first chapter, renamed the characters, redid plot outlines over and over again until finally I was ready and it just came out. It was at least five years before I was ready to write it, but by that time it had been brewing so long that it was much better than it would have been had I written it way back when I first tried. So take heart, Tess and Diana! Your efforts are not wasted, they're just necessary steps along the path.

Thanks for keeping us updated on your revision process, Amy! Sounds like a lot of work, but we all know you're up for it!

I'm almost halfway through my "final" (yeah right) revision of Mark of Gideon. Still hoping to be done by the end of April. I'll keep you posted.

If Only....

Actual conversation w/ friend not seen in a while:

her: so, Tess, how is your book thing coming along?

me: I finished Ollie, if that's what you mean. I'm working on another piece now.

her: And which publisher did you choose for Ollie?

me: It doesn't really work that way...you see, it is actually quite difficult to get a pub..

her - cutting me off mid sentence: Don't you think Ollie is good enough for a publisher?

me: it's not that, it's just...

her: seems to me like you should have more faith in your writing.

me: **silence**

In search of voices

Well, I did it. I signed up for Kim Griswell's "Finding Your Voice" workshop, and will be packing my bags soon to head to the Pennsylvania hills. Tess, I read your blog and totally connect with what you're saying...about the place where plot and voice meet. I've been working on a novel for 4 years now, and can't get past the prologue. I have tons of notes, detailed character sketches, descriptions of places, and snippets of scenes - and lots and lots of chapter 1 variations (all scrapped). But it hasn't come together...not yet. I decided maybe there's just too much noise here; it's making it hard to hear the whisper that could be the missing puzzle piece. This will be a serious search for voices. I'll be so upset if I come back still mute!
Sure wish there'd be another wadette there too. I miss you guys!
--Diana

The Invisible Sister

It official. (I've been saying that a lot lately). The new title of my old book is:
The Invisible Sister
Lux St. Clare ~ Book One

The publisher requested I set up a book blog, so I did. In case anyone wants to follow it, here's the link:

http://lux-st-clare.blogspot.com/

I'll be keeping the editing blog on that page now, but will still be checking in here at least as often as Robin.

Ha! That was a funny joke.

Moron Edits: #3

Editing Day 3 (cont'd)
LATER:

Just got the chapter 1 & 2 markups. Gotta love when the editor starts off by saying:
I did your first chapter to show you what you were doing wrong.
Then goes on to highlight every single place you used was, were or had. It probably didn’t help that I went through yesterday and made a lot of those changes, because now I feel like I’ve already fixed stuff that she’s marked up. Plus, I’m not sold that ‘was, were and had’ are the tools of bad writing. It’s seems kind of knee jerk to rule out words completely. She says those words lead to ‘telling’ instead of ‘showing’ and we never want to tell. We were told at Chautauqua that, really, every story needs to do both. Showing is better, but you can’t show everything. And the worst thing is to show and tell the same thing. Do one or the other; just make sure you don’t do both. MS though, is of the belief that any telling is bad.
….
[deep breath]

O-KAY!!

[deeper breath]

I’ll try it.

And I’ll remind myself that I told her to be blunt b/c I was used to critique and didn’t need kid gloves. Still…I have to wonder what the other mss looked like. If mine’s so bad, why was it the winner?

LATER STILL:
Went through and finished the revisions to chapter 1. Still think getting rid of every was/were/had is overkill, but she was right about there being a lot of ‘telling’. Wrote a snotty reply email re was/were/had.

Did not sent the snotty email.

Yet.

sometimes I hear voices...

So,I have been plotting my new novel idea for way too long (like four or five months) and have been struggling mightily with it. I have had the overall concept (girl, graveyard, ghostly happenings but somehow all realistic and not a typical paranormal read) for about a year. I came up with character names. I came up with great plot turns and ideas; but, it has not felt 'right'. Do you know what I am talking about? When plot meets voice and it is a perfect fit? Well, I haven't had it going on. I haven't actually written one single line of this book. Ugh! It has been frustrating! I have a good idea all plotted, but it doesn't feel organic to me...to my voice...to my desire. I mean, if you are going to spend years with a book you should feel emotionally connected to it, right????

So, I decided to forget it. Let it go. Someone else can write this paranormal book, but it ain't gonna be me, ya know??? Then I went to bed last night. I was tired. It had been a long day at work and home.

That is when I heard voices (ok, not really voices, but a strong impression and set of ideas). Adalee came to me and told me that she is NOT living in that house on the cemetery. Those are NOT her parents. She is just the girl next door. She has a totally different set if issues and that wierd/gifted family next door is where her best friend lives. Ta!da! I woke up with clairity. For the first time in MONTHS! Almost everything I knew about this story is wrong - but the story is there, and I will be the one to write it. Psycho? Maybe, but that's how I work.
---Tess

Moron Edits: #2

3-1-09
Editing Day 3:

Email from MS (titles and names changed to protect the innocent):
We have a few concerns about the name of the book. I personally didn't know what a XXXXX was and had to look it up. There are a lot of kids who won't know either. Would you be willing to change it to something else like,
Jimmy Little in Search of the Iron XXXXX? Or anything else you might think of.

I sent some suggestions. I wasn’t set on The Iron XXXXX. I like the title, but could live with something else. I really don’t like “Jimmy Little and…” I’d prefer not to have his name in the title. However, maybe having Jimmy’s name as a title creates brand loyalty, in which case I certainly defer to more experienced marketing minds.

My suggestions for other names, however, generated this response:
Mara likes The Legend of the Two. I'm not real crazy about any of them. Which do you like?

I sent some other suggestions. I asked if having an iconic cover, with a big picture of a XXXXX on the front wouldn’t help clear up the ‘what is a XXXXX’ issue. No word back yet--it’s Sunday after all.

I imagine the press release will be held up by the change in title, so it may be a while yet before I can tell anyone. I must be patient, Grasshopper.

BTW--I went through the first chapter and changed most of the ‘was, were & had’s to action verbs. Also--deleted most of the adverbs. I have to say--I don’t miss the passive verbs, and my concern that I’d end up with awkward sentence structures in order to get rid of them…mostly not an issue.

I said ok.
I tried it.
I agree it’s better. Yay me!

LATER:
MS likes the little blurb of history I sent her about the XXXXX:
In the Middle Ages, they tested witches by poking them with a XXXXX to see if they bled. If they bled, they were innocent. If they didn't, they were witches. A guy named Matthew Hopkins, called the "witch-finder general" supposedly had one with a retractable blade...which meant no one bled, and all were declared witches.

She & MCF want a paragraph like this (more age appropriate) to be included in the book. Also, MS likes the title: Jimmy Little and His Invisible Sister.
hmm…
Say ok.
Try it.

(More from this day's edits later. The post was too long.)

Moron Edits: Day 1

02-27-09
Editing: Day 1

My editor, MS, emailed the first of the editing notes:
This is your first chapter. I highlighted all the was, were, and hads. I may have missed some. I also highlighted the adverbs. I wanted you to see all of them. You will be rewriting to get rid of most of them if not all of them. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

I was surprised! I try to avoid adverbs, but I was shocked to see how many had wiggled their way in. Plus, I counted sixty-one was, were and had’s in this chapter. Wondering if I still made this mistake, I checked my WIP. It wasn’t much better. I guess I’ll have to go through all my MSS with a fine-tooth was-comb. It’s odd, because when I check the reading level, I always have 0% passive sentences.

LATER:
Ok--so I read the first pages of a bunch of famous, award winning kids books (Tiger Rising, The Wizard in the Tree, Harry Potter, etc.) and you know what I found? Lots and lots of was, were and had. There are seven ‘was’ or ‘had’s in the first paragraph of The Giver. Hmmm. If ‘was, were and had’ are good enough for the Newberry Judges, why can’t I use them?

LATER STILL:
Ok--I’ve decided to take to heart what Linda Sue Park said about her experience with revision requests.
Step One: Listen to the critique. Say “Ok”.
Whether you agree or not, just say, “Ok.” Sometimes, you’ll say it through gritted teeth. Sometimes, you’ll say it loud. Sometimes, you might only be able to nod gently, so as not to dislodge the tears from your eyes. However you manage it, just say “Ok.”
Step Two: Try it.
You might be convinced the advice is the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard. You might think it would ruin your book. You might even think, “I can’t wait to do this so I can show this [editor, agent, critique partner] just how stupid a request this is.” Whatever you think of the advice, try it.
Just.
Try.
It.
Linda Sue said of all the revision suggestions and requests she’s had on her books, she could remember only one time a revision didn’t make the book better.