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Real Life and its Inevitable Consequences

~ vincentdehaut ~ Leave a comment

The last month has been extremely busy and exhausting – so much that even banging out quick updates for this blog became daunting.

But that’s over. I’m still recuperating, but at least I’m going into the weekend rested enough that working on my writing will be plausible.

So, what are the plans for the next few weeks?

First, I need to do some maintenance on my query spreadsheet – I need to figure out how many of my queries are still live, and who are my next targets. Then I’ll write a long overdue query report (which will probably be depressing, but oh well.)

I’m also going to reread Book the First. It won’t be a full editing pass (although I’ll surely do some edits) but I need to get it back in mind, because I’m considering a few smallish changes. Specifically, I wrote a short prologue that serves as a framing device, and judging from the feedback I received from agents, it’s not working all that well. I want to see if it’s necessary or not to the story.

And while I’m at it, I should probably give the first three chapters another thorough editing pass (and especially chapter 1.) They’re good, but not great, and apparently great is what’s needed to hook agents.

That’s going to be hard, unexciting work, so I’ll keep working on my other books as well. Unless my schedule takes another hit, I think I could have a Shitty First Draft done by late August.

So that’s what I’m looking toward.

Blank Page Anxiety

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I usually have no difficulty writing stories. Blog posts, however, are a bit harder.

Part of that is because there’s just not much to talk about. I’m working on Book the Second, but not as much as I’d like. Book the First hasn’t found an agent yet. And I’ve been very busy lately, so I don’t have the free time to put on more involved blog posts.

We’ll be due for another dispiriting Query Report soon, but I don’t feel like looking at depressing stats at the moment. So I’ll hold off on that.

I could post some gaming pointers, I guess. I’ve always wanted to do some armchair roleplaying game design, so I guess that could be an option for future posts.

Hopefully, of course, I’ll have something interesting to report instead.

End of Year Chores

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As the year comes to a close, I’ve had to put my writing career on hold for a few weeks. Like many people, I have a lot on my plate at the moment, and the little productive time I’ve had to invest in front of a computer has been unfortunately eaten up by the unyelding deadlines I had to meet.

The good news is that my holiday schedule is somewhat relaxed this year (by which I mean I’m working full-time, but don’t have multiple Christmas dinners and New Year parties to attend), and that I get some time off in early January. So I should be able to get started on Book the Second then. My summary bible is good enough, my synopsis is finished (although only in the notebook I work with on the bus – I haven’t typed it yet), and most importantly I’m chomping at the bit, counting down the days until I can afford to get back to writing.

But first there’s some partying to be done. So Happy Holidays, people!

Radio Silence

~ vincentdehaut ~ Leave a comment

On the off chance that someone is reading my blog, I figure I probably should explain my current lack of posting.

It’s nothing serious, just the consequence of adjusting to a new schedule (who knew taking two three-hours-a-week postgrad classes could be that devastating to my already-overloaded weekly planning?) while juggling some time-consuming life events.

The good news is that the blog was the only thing I put on hiatus. I’ve kept at my editing and it’s progressing. I think I should be sending out queries by the end of October (just in time to get started on a new manuscript during NaNoWriMo. Yeah, doing another NaNo while sending out queries and right at the time most of my coursework will be due. That’s sure to end well…)

 

Adventures in Book Publishing

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Soon, I will be a published author.

Maybe. Hopefully.

I do have the huge advantage that my first novel is mostly done. As of today, I still need to copyedit the last few chapters (and to review it to trim those pesky phrases I tend to overuse, and to go back and make sure my dialogue is properly punctuated, and maybe to… well, you get the idea.)

But now’s a great time to start my blog documenting my foray into the wonderful world of writing. I’d have done so earlier, but I figured it should wait until I was certain I’d finish the manuscript. The Internet doesn’t actually need yet another blog about a failed writing project, after all.

So what will this blog be about?

Well, my first few posts should cover the end of my writing-and-revising process. Then, I intend to document the oh-so-absolutely-not-stressful query-sending phase, and (if things go well) the details of securing a publishing deal. At that time, I’ll also start on outlining the sequel to my first book (because of course it’s a series) and then get to work on another, unrelated project. As much as I like my Book 1, I want to be rational about this: if it doesn’t find a home, then its sequel won’t either.

At some point I’ll have to customize this blog too. A default theme just won’t cut it.

But that’s getting slightly ahead of myself. First, I need to hit the publish button on this, then get back to copyediting. Well, maybe I’ll workshop some title ideas too…