Archive for the ‘Work in progress’ Category

I think I’ve already established to my readers that I love history. Why else would I write historicals. But I really thoroughly enjoy history. I have recently acquired, through renting, the HBO series John Adams. I have watched all but the last episode. I am enthralled. The first night that I watched it, I stayed up until 1 am reading about him on Wikipedia. That led to more reading on other revolutionaries. Sure, I could chalk it up to research for the series, but honestly, I was having fun.

In doing so, I reinforced knowledge I already had, and gained further insight to the men of that time. Having done this ‘research,’ as I watched the rest of the series, save the last episode, I found the series very close in line with what I’ve read, even down to the quotes from certain figures, namely, King George III. Although it’s History, the story draws me in. It’s so encompassing to ‘witness’ the events, as it were, and take them into my psyche.

I don’t know if I could ever convey the conviction I feel for the Nation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a laid back gal, but I love being an American. I love how this came to be. And adding to this emotion, this passion, is the conviction of those who began it.

So much interesting trivia among those pages, and those episodes. Pay close attention, I gathered more information for my next scavenger hunt. (One such fact relates to the question of date of death for Adams and Jefferson. Did you know another president from that time died on the same date five years later?)

Anyhoo, I’ve spilled my guts and brain on this topic. How does this pertain to my writing. Well, it could come in handy. I mean, the whole series is before during or soon thereafter the events depicted. And I liked doing that research.

Now, to research for the sweet scenes. ha ha. Lucky Mr. G. Royals.

So, who hasn’t made a few in their life, eh? I know I have, and I’ll continue to do so. However, at any venture, I know that I strive to do my best. The same was two or three years ago when I wrote First Love First Aid. It is a cute short story about a nurse who falls in love with her employer. It’s kitchy, cliche. And awful. Well, not very awful, but a bit.

None the less, I still have pride in my work. Am I proud of writing something that years later is making me cringe for just a second? No. I’m proud of the fact that I can recognize the growth that occurred since it was created.

That is why in my recent contest, I included a signed copy of it in the prize package. I hope that the cuteness of the story makes the reader enjoy it; I pray they forgive me of the grammatical and spelling errors still present that neither myself nor the editor saw the first few times before it was set in internet stone.

Most of all, I hope that it isn’t as cringe-worthy as I no longer think it is because I want readers to want more. I promise I’ve improved. And I’ll show you.

How do any of you feel about your former writing?

So. I decided that it is imperative for my current WIP be entered into a contest. (I haven’t paid yet, but I will) With that motivation behind me, pushing me, I realized that the required first chapter or first 25 pages is NOT ready. For a week I’ve been hemming and hawing about it. I procrastinated enough. But I did make a painful decision. I decided that I had to cut out the debris. Let loose the detritus that was my superflous prose. It was all info dump. What is that, you say? Well, it was mostly information that I had thought was pertinent to the story. But it was all back story told as it happened. It didn’t move the story forward. In fact, it backpedalled. So, somehow, I will have to craft the most important threads of that forsaken 30-50 pages (I know! A lot!) into the forward momentum of the rest of the story. If I do it right, I can sprinkle some here and there and reveal bits of character for the H/h as I go. That would go so much farther in connecting with them, instead of me telling you how to get there.

And speaking of telling. I have GOT to stop doing that. Bad writer, Bad, bad. I know to use my senses. And I’m improving, but, still a lot of polishing to do. I decided at my halfway word count goal (151 pages so far out of a hopeful 300, at least) to start editing now. Because if I go on without editing, that might mean massive, and I mean ginormous rewrites. My tired little brain can’t wrap around that. I’d feel much better if I got things honed now and moved forward from there.

I even devised a clever little scheme. In the work in total so far I color coded the segments in pink for her, purple for him and brown for other scenes. After I did that I reordered some of them and didn’t color code what I haven’t transfered yet. What I have is started the book in a different spot, much later than I had earlier. This way, you drop right in the middle of ACTION baby, instead of waiting for it to happen. I know this is a smart move. Besides, all of the flotsam and jetsam is political or inconsequential. Further proof that it will NOT move the story.

I just hope that despite the fact that the H/h do not meet within those first 27 pages isn’t going to hurt my chances. At least they’re both introduced to the reader… We’ll see. I’m awaiting feedback from my good buddies. Come on people, pretty please and thank you, I have a deadline.