Momentum. It's all about momentum.

[mousme]

::Stuff about writing follows, uncut. If you don't want to read it, you may want to skip this whole post.::

I started writing again last night, after doing No Writing At All since the end of November. NaNoWriMo kind of burnt me out. Remind me never to produce 100,000 words in a month again unless I'm getting paid for it, okay?

Right. Onward.

So now that I'm writing again, I'm going to try and maintain my momentum. Writing for me is always about momentum. An author in motion will tend to remain in motion, and all that. I chucked about 3,000 words of Crisse, des Zombies! last night (shoved them unceremoniously into another word processing document, where they will likely stew for all eternity), and wrote nearly 4,000 more last night and this morning to compensate. I feel less like I'm going backwards now that I've "made up" those 3,000 words, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to move past this difficult bit with which I'm having problems.

I also hand-wrote a new instalment of Beyond the Pale while at work. i have no idea how long it is, but I know that 6-7 pages of handwriting usually gets me to roughly the right length for an instalment, and I've brought it to an appropriate cliffhanger. I'm looking forward to finishing this story arc and moving into the next one, because there are exciting things up ahead.

Question for author-types on my flist: For the first time in my life I'm facing the very real possibility that I might finish a novel that I'm working on. Trouble is, I am not at all good at the whole revision thing. I have a very, very rough first draft on my hands, and no idea how to go about turning it into a second draft. Any tips/techniques/answers concerning the meaning of life?

More writing tonight when I get home, I think. It's all about momentum, after all.

Comments

[d-and-cats.livejournal.com]

djs_specs asked me to take a pass at this since I just started submitting my second novel to agents a couple of weeks back. Not sure how useful you'll find the suggestions, but, here goes.

1). Find two or three people who are willing to read your novel and provide you with their honest opinions about it. This is not the time to get someone who will spare your feelings. If you don't know anyone, your best bet is probably http://www.critters.org/ (http://www.critters.org/). They expect you to pay by doing some critiquing, but them's the breaks.
2). Give yourself some time to get some distance. It takes about a month to get through the queue at Critters, so that should be about right.
3). Once you have read the critiques you get, sit down with a copy of them handy and read the novel with them in hand. Note which ones you agree with, which ones you disagree with, and which ones are mistakes caused by places where your writing is unclear.
4). Once you've finished your read through, make a list of changes that need to be made. Give them at least a week or two to stew in your brain.
5). Go through your novel and make your changes. It may take more than one pass.
6). If possible, get the people who critiqued you before to look at it again.
7). Rinse, repeat as necessary.

Hope this helps.

[bodhifox.livejournal.com]

I'm a writer, not an author. But I'm enjoying reading your work!

[conscioussoul.livejournal.com]

I have done some pre-final readings and commenting for another friend of mine, some time ago, so I now the drill.
Now, english isn't my 1st language, so I can offer you help for the story logic, the reader's feelings and so on, but probably not for grammar, syntax and so on.
Let me know if you want me to give it a reading :) I'd be happy to :)

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

Wow, if I had the answer to the meaning of life I'd be alot happier than I am, I think. So alas, I can't give that to you, but the basic steps/tips involved in rewriting a draft are:

Leave it alone for a while. Then reread it, patch what you can see is cracked and in need of clarification or expansion or tightening up.

Hand it to trusted readers and, as your commentor above says, ask for honest feedback re. style, delivery, structure, storyline, etc. A reader who isn't the author always, always picks up on things yor brain automatically inserts or corrects: missing info, leaps of logic etc, becuse they don't possess all the knowledge you possess.

Receive crits, mull them over. Ask for clarification if required.

Decide which ones apply; deal with the problems they highlight as best you can. Ask for feedback or input if you need it.

Hand the story back to your readers, and perhaps some new ones for fresh insight. How may times you do this depends on what's broken or an obstacle. A good reader will give you crits that suggest solutions (i.e. not dead-end crits like "this doesn't work" or "I don't like this") and/or clearly lay out the problems.

Throughout the process, take lots of deep breaths, give yourself a lot more credit than you are apt to give, and take breaks from it too if you need them. Time is your friend. It helps you gain perspective about the piece. Rewrites suck because they're all about what's broken. Going too deeply into them can make you forget about all the other awesome stuff about the work you've created.

You have plenty of writer-type/publishing-related friends who know how to do proper reads and crits, who will be honest and fair (because otherwise what's the point?), and who would be happy to help you out. Most of us are huge ASOTLD fans, too.

Also? This icon is perfect. (I say that a lot about your icons, don't I?)

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

ARGH!

That should read "a lot". I am fanatical about that. It's *not* a single word. Damned spacebar.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

I don't see the typo. My brain must be auto-correcting. :)

My icon is a curtana icon. They are awesome.

Thank you for all the super-helpful suggestions!

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

Her icons are indeed teh awesome. This cats one is good too. I need a similar one that says "nibbled to death by ducks".

*checks*

Duh! I put that icon post in my memories and promptly forgot about it. I am a sad case indeed.

[owldaughter.livejournal.com]

And "your brain". Gawd, this day sucks.