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The State of My Writing
Jul. 9th, 2009 09:20 amSo, where am I as we pass the midpoint of 2009?
1- I finally got my fourth critique of Murder Ballads while at CONvergence. Due to all of his Wyrdsmiths' experience,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
seanmmurphy prefers to do it face to face. This is not my preferred method, but Sean and I have a smooth rapport with each other. The most unusual part of the experience was that I kept seeing MST3K actors in the corners of my vision while hearing about all of the positives and negatives of my first novel. I kept expecting Crow and Joel to snark at different points. Though that was a little distracting, it was nice to have a gin and tonic during a critique. That's definitely what was missing from my WindyCon workshop.
There really weren't any surprises. Sean gave a critique that almost matchedamberdine's word for word. After 4 critiques of the whole novel and 8 of the first chapter, I have a good idea of the novel's strengths and weaknesses. Sean also gave me some advice that confirmed my own instincts. He suggested that I shelve the novel for a couple of years. I may not go that long, but I think it's a good idea to return to the rewrites after I have some distance. My biggest problem with the novel was that my ambition was far greater than my current skills. I'm confident that I can fix this novel, but I really need some more projects under my belt.
One really cool thing is that Sean printed out my manuscript. It was kind of mind-blowing to see how big it is in paper form.
I want to thank all of my readers. You have all made me a better writer.
2- I have three short stories doing the rounds.
3- I'm starting to make some progress on my children's novel, The Scarlet Queen. It's turning into a very different novel than I had planned. I've been doing a ton of research and world building. I even made an outline, since it turns out that a plot is useful when you're writing a novel. I'm hoping that all of this prep will speed up the actual writing process.
4- I'm still thinking about a super-secret short story project. I need to do some more research to see if my ideas will work.
1- I finally got my fourth critique of Murder Ballads while at CONvergence. Due to all of his Wyrdsmiths' experience,
seanmmurphy prefers to do it face to face. This is not my preferred method, but Sean and I have a smooth rapport with each other. The most unusual part of the experience was that I kept seeing MST3K actors in the corners of my vision while hearing about all of the positives and negatives of my first novel. I kept expecting Crow and Joel to snark at different points. Though that was a little distracting, it was nice to have a gin and tonic during a critique. That's definitely what was missing from my WindyCon workshop. There really weren't any surprises. Sean gave a critique that almost matched
amberdine's word for word. After 4 critiques of the whole novel and 8 of the first chapter, I have a good idea of the novel's strengths and weaknesses. Sean also gave me some advice that confirmed my own instincts. He suggested that I shelve the novel for a couple of years. I may not go that long, but I think it's a good idea to return to the rewrites after I have some distance. My biggest problem with the novel was that my ambition was far greater than my current skills. I'm confident that I can fix this novel, but I really need some more projects under my belt.One really cool thing is that Sean printed out my manuscript. It was kind of mind-blowing to see how big it is in paper form.
I want to thank all of my readers. You have all made me a better writer.
2- I have three short stories doing the rounds.
3- I'm starting to make some progress on my children's novel, The Scarlet Queen. It's turning into a very different novel than I had planned. I've been doing a ton of research and world building. I even made an outline, since it turns out that a plot is useful when you're writing a novel. I'm hoping that all of this prep will speed up the actual writing process.
4- I'm still thinking about a super-secret short story project. I need to do some more research to see if my ideas will work.
