Lots of Work to Do

The weekend was a whirlwind of writing seminars, critique sessions and agent panels. I had the chance to read some of my work and have it read aloud then critiqued. Most importantly, I got some great feedback at the San Diego Writers Conference.

The areas that I suspected were weak were confirmed, which tells my instincts are leading me to the right places. Also, people reacted to my writing in unexpected ways. After a particularly powerful scene was read the other people in the room were speechless. People liked it and responded to it emotionally, telling me that the scene wasn't overly dramatic, as I feared.

In another case, they liked my lead character, but they wanted more action in the opening pages, confirming my own suspicions. And in another instance, a character that I was afraid might be inauthentic struck a chord with the other writers and the instructor in the room. They wanted to know more about her.

So, now I feel more confident and empowered to keep going on all of the projects I put out there for comments. But, where do I begin? Well, I have to finish revisions at the beginning of my book and send the first three chapters to an agent who requested them. She may have been trying to be polite, but I'm going to look at the silver lining and assume she was interested in my story. You just never know.

The conference was even better than I anticipated and now I want to go to more conferences. But then, when would I write?

Time For It All

Today was the first day of the San Diego Writers Conference. First, I have to say I'm totally inspired and empowered to keep doing what I'm doing. At the same time, I'm totally overwhelmed by it all -- everything it takes to get published and then to actually sell your book once it is in print (and online).

I am just totally amazed by how well-read the people are at these conferences. I feel like such a slacker! How does anyone have the time to read 8 million books and write profusely? And attend conferences? And go to writing groups?

I'm trying to chalk up my relatively limited amount of reading and writing to the fact that I work full time and have a husband and a kid. There are only so many hours in a day!

But, I'm trying. I'm reading my own genre and other genres whenever I can and writing whenever I can -- just enough that I don't feel too guilty about the time it takes away from my family and just enough that I actually get something accomplished.

Talk about work-life balance! It's work-life-writing balance!

One Last Edit

I'm giving my book one last quick read-through before I convert it to a read-only document and burn it to some CDs to give out at the San Diego Writer Conference in case I meet an agent who's interested in reading it. It may be wishful thinking, but it's better to be prepared than to say, "Let me mail it to you ..."

So, I'm in the process of cutting more from the story. I think it makes it a better book, but that doesn't make it less painful. I'm holding on to scenes that I love but have to cut in the interest of brevity. The book is still probably far too long, but what can I say? I'm prolific like that.

Writers Conference Here I Come

I bit the bullet and plunked down $400 to go to the San Diego Writers Conference next weekend. I figure it's great networking and should teach me a lot of what I don't know about publishing and story writing.

I just hope I don't end up feeling like a big phony, since I'm still pretty new at this. I have one completed book and about four others in very early stages. Hopefully, I'll be able to blend in with the writers who've been doing this for a few decades, not just a few years.

I'm really nervous. And I'm rushing to finish one last read-through and editing job for my book. I want to load it onto some memory sticks or CDs to hand out at the conference, in case anyone sounds like they want to read it. You just never know.

I'm excited. It seems like a grown-up, semi-professional, writerly thing to do. Guess I better figure out how to schmooze!

Done! Again!

I'm done reading and editing my book. I can't read it anymore. It's probably still far too long, but I've cut everything that's not essential to the story at this point. It's time to start looking for an agent.

Every time I read it, I like it a little more. I keep finding little nuggets that I think will appeal to different people. And I've been thinking about where I could take my two characters in a second and third book. It could easily become a three-part romance, if a publisher is interested in where I might take the story.

I'm anxious to find an agent to get the whole publishing process started, but I'm also anxious to start working on one of the other three or four novels I have in different stages of writing. I love, love, love the characters I've been living with for the last several months, but I'm ready to live in some other worlds for a while.

I'm resisting the urge to start reading one of the books stacked on my bedside table while I start sending queries to potential agents, but I've been known to give in to literary temptation pretty easily. I do need something to read during my lunch breaks though ...

New Year, New Books

I've been obsessed with reading this week, but not my own book. I read the "Hunger Games" series -- yes, all three books -- by Suzanne Collins and then I read "Knit Two," the sequel to "Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs.

Before I start reading another book -- "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barbery is next on my list -- I plan to read as much as possible of my own novel this weekend. I'm making solid progress, but I still need to cut it down a bit more. I'm beginning to think I need to have another friend or two read it to give me some feedback.

Fortunately, tonight is a rare phenomenon. It's past 10 p.m. and I still have a fair amount of energy left, so I'm doing laundry and reading, reading, reading. Fun, fun, fun.

I'm trying to keep in mind that the payoff when I finish editing my book is that I can start working on others that have been waiting to snag my attention again. It's been a while since I visited some of my other stories, but I think about them often.

Occasionally I write down some of the ideas that come to me in the shower or at work so that I remember to work them into those other books when I pull them up on my computer screen at home again. Someday soon, I hope.