Most of the time that I was reading "Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger I enjoyed the novel. I began to care about the characters, with a few exceptions, and I was hopeful that by the end of the book they would redeem themselves in some way. Maybe they'd learn an important lesson, become free like they'd always wanted, fall in love and be loved back, learn to live by themselves -- the possibilities were endless.
It didn't have to be a happy ending, but this ending wasn't good for anybody. You're rooting for these people and then, at the end of the book, you're left feeling ... unresolved. You walk away with the sense that Niffenegger ran out of ideas so she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Well, OK, this will have to do, I guess."
I don't think I've ever finished reading a book and been so cranky. Usually, I'm happy because I came to the end of a long, satisfying journey. This time I felt like my guide left me a mile before the end of a 10-mile tunnel then decided to turn back and let me find my own way out. I walked around the house in a cranky fog, folding laundry and getting ready for bed aimlessly, before I went to sleep.
But, maybe that's the dilemma for a lot of writers. Maybe the end pleased Niffenegger (thought I don't know how) and that's all she was concerned about. Maybe she didn't think about the readers. She knew that by the time she got to page 360 in the 400-page book that she'd gotten us so interested that we were going to read all the way to the end, so what did she care if we didn't like what she did with the rest of the book? Some writers write to make themselves happy and others want to please their readers. Hopefully, you can do both.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Done!
315 pages. Single spaced. That's how long my book is now that it's done. Or, at least, I'm done reading it.
Of course, I say that it's done, but that doesn't mean I won't start reading it again soon or decide to do a little more cutting. There is a point about two-thirds through where I feel like, "Aha! I need to bring people here earlier!" But then I go back and try to find things to cut and I feel like everything leading up to that point is essential to the rest of the story. That doesn't meant I won't change my mind ...
So, now I'm reading all about agents and query letters. I wish I could go back to the fun part -- the writing. But if I want to sell this thing, I've got to do some not-so-fun stuff too. It's intimidating, but it's worth a shot, right?
Of course, I say that it's done, but that doesn't mean I won't start reading it again soon or decide to do a little more cutting. There is a point about two-thirds through where I feel like, "Aha! I need to bring people here earlier!" But then I go back and try to find things to cut and I feel like everything leading up to that point is essential to the rest of the story. That doesn't meant I won't change my mind ...
So, now I'm reading all about agents and query letters. I wish I could go back to the fun part -- the writing. But if I want to sell this thing, I've got to do some not-so-fun stuff too. It's intimidating, but it's worth a shot, right?
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
A Good Excuse This Time
Well, it's been almost a week again since I posted anything here again, but this time I have a really, really good excuse. No, the dog (which I don't have) didn't eat my homework. I was in the hospital.
I went to the emergency room on Sunday morning with severe abdominal cramps and another issue that I won't go into detail with here. The ER doctor suspected that I had colitis and a catscan seemed to confirm her suspicions. Several hours later, I was admitted to the hospital so they could observe me and make me drink four liters of something called "Go Lytely" in preparation for a colonoscopy the next morning.
The gastrointestinal doctor determined on Monday that I had ischemia in my colon. I wasn't in pain anymore by then, but he wanted to get an ultrasound of the veins between my chest and belly to make sure a blood clot didn't cause the ischemia. After another overnight stay in the hospital followed by an early morning ultrasound then lots of waiting for a cardiologist to read the report and look at the ultrasound video, I found out there was no blood clot. The gastrointestinal doctor believes that a new medication I started last week caused the ischemia.
I came home last night and slept very well in my own bed with no one coming in to check my blood pressure, to draw blood or to wake me up just to see if I was sleeping. Including the birth of my son four years ago, this was my second stay in the hospital. I can say with complete confidence that I don't ever want to stay in the hospital again. Unless maybe I'm having another baby, but I don't anticipate that anytime soon.
And after a lot of waiting around for people to perform a procedure or tell me the results of said procedure, I believe that the biggest problem with health care is not the lack of insurance coverage for a big number of people. It's the lack of money to hire enough medical personnel. If there were more nurses and doctors treating patients -- and reliable technology to facilitate their work -- then it wouldn't take so long to assess, diagnose and treat patients. My stay in the hospital should've required only one night in the hospital, not two. It would've cost all of us a lot less time and money.
But the best piece of news out of all of this is that I probably will be fine and have no major problems related to this as long as I avoid that particular medication. I do have to eat a low sodium diet for a while, but even though I love salt, I can handle it. I'd rather not go through that pain again or spend another night in the hospital.
I went to the emergency room on Sunday morning with severe abdominal cramps and another issue that I won't go into detail with here. The ER doctor suspected that I had colitis and a catscan seemed to confirm her suspicions. Several hours later, I was admitted to the hospital so they could observe me and make me drink four liters of something called "Go Lytely" in preparation for a colonoscopy the next morning.
The gastrointestinal doctor determined on Monday that I had ischemia in my colon. I wasn't in pain anymore by then, but he wanted to get an ultrasound of the veins between my chest and belly to make sure a blood clot didn't cause the ischemia. After another overnight stay in the hospital followed by an early morning ultrasound then lots of waiting for a cardiologist to read the report and look at the ultrasound video, I found out there was no blood clot. The gastrointestinal doctor believes that a new medication I started last week caused the ischemia.
I came home last night and slept very well in my own bed with no one coming in to check my blood pressure, to draw blood or to wake me up just to see if I was sleeping. Including the birth of my son four years ago, this was my second stay in the hospital. I can say with complete confidence that I don't ever want to stay in the hospital again. Unless maybe I'm having another baby, but I don't anticipate that anytime soon.
And after a lot of waiting around for people to perform a procedure or tell me the results of said procedure, I believe that the biggest problem with health care is not the lack of insurance coverage for a big number of people. It's the lack of money to hire enough medical personnel. If there were more nurses and doctors treating patients -- and reliable technology to facilitate their work -- then it wouldn't take so long to assess, diagnose and treat patients. My stay in the hospital should've required only one night in the hospital, not two. It would've cost all of us a lot less time and money.
But the best piece of news out of all of this is that I probably will be fine and have no major problems related to this as long as I avoid that particular medication. I do have to eat a low sodium diet for a while, but even though I love salt, I can handle it. I'd rather not go through that pain again or spend another night in the hospital.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Weekly, Not Daily
When I started this blog, I intended to write something here daily. At this point, it's a weekly goal. It's not that I don't put as much value in the blog as I did when I started. It's just that my attention has been diverted elsewhere, mainly to my actual writing, not the writing about writing that I do here.
I'm halfway through the last read of my book. Still liking it, but itching to move on to something else. I've got other books with a few pages to 100-plus pages written that are waiting for me to finish them. But, I'd like to finish reading my first completed book and start sending queries to agents. Not that I expect to have a groundswell of interest in my book, but wouldn't it be awful if an agent asked to read the whole manuscript and I wasn't done reading and editing it yet?
So, here I am reading and reading and reading ... and ready to get going on other projects. That's why I've neglected my blog. I'll try to get back here more often. Stay tuned.
I'm halfway through the last read of my book. Still liking it, but itching to move on to something else. I've got other books with a few pages to 100-plus pages written that are waiting for me to finish them. But, I'd like to finish reading my first completed book and start sending queries to agents. Not that I expect to have a groundswell of interest in my book, but wouldn't it be awful if an agent asked to read the whole manuscript and I wasn't done reading and editing it yet?
So, here I am reading and reading and reading ... and ready to get going on other projects. That's why I've neglected my blog. I'll try to get back here more often. Stay tuned.
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