Deadline Nipping at My Heels

Jan. 3

That's the final date that I can sign up for the San Diego State Writers Conference at the early bird rate and submit the first 10 pages of my two books for review by agents and editors. I have only 5 more full days before that deadline to make sure that my 10 pages are in acceptable form to send off to professional critics. Yikes!

I think I'm set on the first 10 pages of my young adult novel, but the first 10 pages of my book that I would categorize at this point as women's fiction is still a work in progress. I got it back from a friend who read it for me -- my second friend to do so -- and now I'm editing and adding things as per her suggestions. I'm almost done, but I'm still hesitant to send my pages off for professional critiques.

My biggest fear, of course, is that the agents will tell me when we meet at the conference at the end of January that I'm a hack. That there's not enough description or there's too much. That the characters are poorly drawn or the reader can't sympathize with them. Etc., etc., etc.

But then, I'll never know one way or the other unless I work up the nerve to send in my work. It's now or never, I guess.

Great Writing

I just finished reading "A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness. It was one of those books I couldn't put down, because I was so enthralled with the story and the flawless writing. Also, it's 579 pages and I had only one week to read it before it was due back at the library. I should know better than to check out books that long when they're only on loan from the library for a week, but I guess it's extra motivation to keep reading.

The writing was so good, though. The kind that makes me realize how much my own writing is lacking. It makes me feel inspired and untalented at the same time. My writing will never reach that level, but hopefully my storytelling makes up for what the writing lacks.

It's a difficult balance, because I want people to understand what's going on with the characters and not spend so much time reading a description of what's going on in the scene. I don't like to read books that get carried away with describing a room or what-have-you. I don't want to spend so much time describing something so that it feels like all the details are getting in the way of telling the reader what's happening, but I want them to be able to picture what's going on while the action is under way.

Harkness' book borders on too much description for my taste, but it's necessary for the type of historical fiction that she's crafted. Most of the time she stops providing details of the study or the magnificent creatures her main character is surrounded by before I forget what they were doing when the witch stopped to take in the scene or people around her.

Once again, I'm in awe of another writer. And now it's time to focus on my own work, because I've got a writing conference deadline breathing down my neck.

It's the Little Things

I am in the middle of a week and a half of hell at work -- lots of projects due before I take off for a week and a half to hang out with my son during his break from school. I am exhausted. All I want to do when I get home is read or watch "Glee," but I have work to do. *Sigh*

Plus, it's that time of year -- Christmas. It should be a happy time, but for now it's stressful. We've got a few more presents to buy, lots of presents to wrap and endless fundraisers at my son's school. There are just so many things to remember between work and home that my brain is ready to explode.

Last night, I just wanted to zone out, but I also wanted (or needed) to read through some research for a story that was due today. However, I also had to help my son with a school project that was also due the next day. Just what I needed -- one more thing to do, right?!

In the end I'm glad I had that excuse to take a break from thinking about me and all of the nagging projects taking up space in my self-absorbed brain. I accomplished something -- my son's homework -- and spent time with my kid, who had to wait for me to get home from work late, yet again.

And, I had fun. We had to decorate a gingerbread man and he wanted to make it a ninja. I had to put my creative-thinking hat on and figure out how to cut out a ninja costume for our paper ninja-bread man. It was a nice break from the insanity of the season.

Still, I can hardly wait for the 12 days-in-a-row that I will have off from work in a few days. Just four more days in the office to go and then I can refocus on the writing I try do to in my "spare" time.

Read, Edit, Repeat; Read, Edit, Repeat ...

I'm blasting through my second read on my second book, my young adult novel, because the second reader on my first book gave back my manuscript over the weekend with lots of good notes in it. I can't wait to dig in and address her suggestions (and fix the handful of typos she found), but I've got to finish my second round of edits on book no. 2 first.

Fortunately, I don't have any other books that aren't my own that I'm dying to read at the moment, so my distractions are relatively limited. Time is a-ticking. I've got to get ready to submit my first 10 pages of both books for agent/editor readers coming to the San Diego State Writers Conference in January.

I don't think I'm going to have time to let anyone read book no. 2 before I submit it for professional input at the conference, so I'm taking a risk there, but I think what I have is fairly solid at this point. The more I read it, the better I feel about it. What a relief!