My internal editor was right for once....

Hi all! Just want to remind you to drop by tomorrow for our second visitor. Also, if you look to your right, you will see all the months that are available for other writers. So please contact me if you want to book a Friday. :-)




So after blogging myself into a fervor, I opened my story and dared my internal editor to say something.

And he did.

With the smoothness of an executioner's blow, he said:

"Well... congrats... But remember you changed the story?"

Yes. So?

"So where are you headed?"

...

And there it was.

The bastard had a point.

As a card-carrying pantser, I can get very lost very easily.

That is why I have one plotterish rule that I don't deviate from for as long as I am writing Doorways.

Always. I repeat. ALWAYS know where you're going.

I decided to change the order of events in James's side of the story, not realizing how far it would change things.

When the I.E. spoke, I realized that I had been getting myself lost. Badly lost.

No wonder I've been stalling.

Now I'm just glad that I stall rather than write nonsense.

If I didn't there would have been a lot of time wasted.

So here I will say something that I never thought I'd say.

Thanks Ed.

Anyone else get saved by your internal editor?

How does one eat an elephant?

The answer: One bite at a time.

That is the way that I feel about most things that seem huge and impossible to do. I just chip away at it until it's more my size.

It's exactly how I will get to finishing Doorways.

How do I slay the Beast? One word at a time.

I will not stay frozen in fear, wondering why I thought up the story in the first place. (Not for longer than a day, in any case.)

I will not disguise that fear by finding some other things to do instead...

And this draft will be finished at the end of April.

I will not be sitting with the rewrite for another year.

I must say that everything feels better now that I have done something to allay the uncertainty. Now, it's time for me to go face the beast for a bit.

In the mean time... Anyone else feel overwhelmed by their WiP's? What do you do to deal with it?

I've gone and taken the plunge...

I have told many of you before that I have killed my internal editor in the first draft. It was a wonderful time. I could write with wild abandon and just not care about the quality, or gaping plot holes. Or characterization issues.

Or whether my story makes sense to anyone else.

Except, like the Mummy, the bastard just won't stay dead.

He came back with a vengeance that would make Imhotep himself proud.

Remember that sand storm scene?

That as about the scale of the force of the self doubt that hit me last week. It ground my writing to a complete halt.

Fact is, I get scared terrified of the scope of the story that I'm telling.

Wouldn't you?

I have five Main Characters, currently three stories (of which one remains unmentioned but vital), and hundreds of strings that have to remain firmly in my grasp until the end of the fourth (perhaps fifth) book.

It's so bad that I can't even put down a specific plan for what's going on. I have to leave myself general reminders.

Oh yes... I forgot to mention that the story has to make sense to someone with no concept of the back story that stretches back more than a few thousand years...

Not to mention....

I think you get the point and I'm winding myself up again. Suffice it to say that never once have I referred to the story as the Beast lightly.

Anyway... The realization also hit me that I had no idea. As in, I have no idea if my story even made any sense. I had spent so much time working on it that I lost any objectivity that I might have had.

So, I have officially started my search for crit partners... I have even e-mailed a few people who are looking as well. Still, I think that it will be most unfair to go looking elsewhere only when I have you guys.

Therefore, I ask: Any of you looking for a crit partner? Willing to step into my scary convoluted mind? If so, please contact me at mishagericke@gmail.com (mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com).

Planning for April

Today, I want to do something I've been avoiding my whole life...

I'm going to plan a whole month's worth of blogs.

See... the A-Z blogging challenge is coming in April and leaves me in an interesting situation.

I am close enough now that the posts I do now might be recalled if they're repeated in April. And let's face it. Some topics are just too good to leave out...

It would just suck if some of you (my loyal visitors) drop by in April and notice that something I said sounds really familiar...

It would also suck if I had to improvise a random topic because I couldn't think of something starting with a D...

I must warn you though. Some of the topics might have been mentioned in some of my older posts. As I said. Too good to leave out. Still... I will do my best to give my old followers something new.

So... I want to know... Who else is doing the A-Z challenge? How are you approaching it?

Blogfests...

Hi all! I'm so glad that you enjoyed Marjorie's post. This Friday will bring more awesomeness...

I am still taking bookings, so if you want to contribute, please e-mail me at mishagericke@gmail.com (mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com).

In the mean time, here is a short post (for once) where I ask very nicely for you guys to support these awesome blogfests.


So... I was wondering...

What are you doing from February to 30 April?

Well... I'm still going to be rewriting.

You know? To get the rewrite done by 30 April.

And...

I'm signed up to Rach's Second Platform Building Crusade and Lee's A-Z Blogging Challenge.

I would say more, but I believe in letting people speak for themselves, so feel free to go check out both and sign up. It would be wonderful if  I could see some of you there.

;-)

Being a Writer and Owning It

Hi all, welcome to the first guest post on this blog ever. I know that I need a better name for it, so please feel free to shoot with the suggestions.

Anyway, everyone, please give Marjorie Rivera, our first brave soul. Her blog, Upwards Over the Mountain, is still really new, but I really enjoy my visits there. So go click on over and say hi.

Without further ado, here's her post....




Hello. My name is Marjorie, and I am a writer.



*sits down*


I’m pretty new to this game, but in my (negligible) experience, writing is much more personal than joining the ranks of a profession or industry: it is a permanent state of existence. On most days, though, being a writer feels like a condition. A condition that must be treated with books, pizza, and Luna Bars.

I’m in the embryonic stage of writerhood. So far, this phase has involved admitting to anyone who will listen that I am a writer, reading blogs about writing to distract myself from actually writing, and wondering if I’ve lost my mind. Two and a half years ago, I was copying down law school statistics in my notebook and stacking myself up against the competition. So this would be something of a career change.

Saying those three little words--I’m a writer--automatically removes any hope I have of ever achieving any kind of normalcy. But at least I can stop worrying about being normal. Or rather, I can stop worrying about pretending to be normal and hoping no one will find out that I’m really not. I’m a lot less anxious about this than I was six months ago.

I’m currently studying abroad in Taipei, Taiwan. I’ve been told I speak good Chinese (by very kind and supportive people). But almost every day, the locals I talk to look at me with an expression of bemused pity: Ah. She’s a foreigner. That’s why she said something about a bumblebee when she meant to ask for the check. I’m getting used to that look now, because I’m going to see it for a long, long time. (Ah. She’s a writer. That’s why she appears to be in desperate need of a hug/pizza/alcohol.) Being a writer does not entail endless dreaming of million-dollar book deals. (Okay, maybe sometimes.) It does mean walking around speaking aloud dialogues of characters in a book you want to write and looking like a crazy person who’s talking to herself.

It means checking the page views on your blog when you should be doing homework.


It means wondering if your mom is the only one who likes your writing.


It means watching people younger than you getting published and wondering if that will ever happen to you.


It means looking at short story you wrote last year and realizing it needs a fifth draft. Probably a sixth and a seventh, too.


It means wondering if your writing will ever be good enough.


And yet, there is a tiny part of you, no bigger than a mote, that believes you can do it. Maybe you can pull off this whole writing thing. Somehow.

For some reason, I’ve chosen to listen to the mote.

I wrote in my notebook for two hours tonight in a diner. (Yes, I have found a diner in Taiwan. It is duly called “The Diner”.) The same notebook in which I wrote down those scary law school statistics and tried to budget my meager funds and pined over boys. I paused to eat apple pie and ice cream and look out at the rain and passersby. The act of taking a page and filling it with words was exactly what I needed to have the world make sense again. It was a moment of Peace and Happiness, and it is one of many other similar moments that have helped me understand why I write: because doing anything else is simply lying to myself.

So, yeah. That novel I’ve been thinking about writing for a year? Totally going to write it. After I finish the Chinese homework I’ve been neglecting for the past week.





Thanks so much for contributing, Marjorie.

Anyone who is still interested can contact me at mishagericke@gmail.com (mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com). I have half of March and all of the rest of the year open...

These are a few of my favorite peeves... (when I read)

Hi all! I now have the entire February booked. Remember to drop by tomorrow to meet the first brave soul. :-)

I still have all the Fridays after the 4th of March open, so if you are following the blog and want to post, please contact me at mishagericke@gmail.com (mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com).  

On to the post...




I can forgive a writer anything if he does it well, but if he/she doesn't, I am not responsible for my words and actions. 


If you do number one, rather stay very far away from me.


And no, number one cannot be done well. Trust me.


5) Changing perspective in the course of a book.


This one should be easy. If you start in first person past tense, don't switch to third person past (or worse present) tense unless (maybe) if the view point characters differ.


I understand the logic behind going to third person if the view point character isn't the MC, but there is also a massive flaw to this logic:


Yes, the MC is technically telling us what the other guy or gal experienced. But who died and made the MC omniscient? 

In my opinion, the writer's skill did.

4) Popping a surprise on me from nowhere.

Everyone loves a twist, right?

Oh yes. I adore twists. I love to have picked up on the clues and that I was right about the ending. What I love more is when the twist happens and I can see that the clues were there and I missed them.

What I don't love is when there's a twist and there was no clue whatsoever that this was even possible.

A particular pet peeve: Deus Ex Machina.

If you want to throw in an unpredictable twist, please be so kind as to explain how it happened.

I think the writers think that writers think that they can do anything without the reader noticing. I now advise those writers to see number 1e.

3) Character growth issues. 

As in: There isn't any. 

Call me selfish, but I don't want to spend hours reading about how perfect a character is. 

I want flaws. Many of them.

And don't make things easy for the character. Make him fight for what he wants or believes in. 

I want to be assured that I can do anything if I set my mind to it. 

So no tripping over the switch that turns off the nuke unless it's a comedy please.

2) Unnecessary cruelty to characters.

Ah yes... This almost made number one.

I know that I said that I want to see characters in difficult situations, but there is a line. Pure out torture does not a developed character make.

So... no killing of families and/or friends unless it is what is driving the story forward... And even then, be very careful.

If you do decide to kill families and friends, don't kill his pet gerbil too.

Seriously. There is a line. Don't go there.

1) If the writer underestimates my intelligence.

This had to be number one. After all, it happens in so many situations and in so many forms.

But reading wise, these are a few of my favorite peeves...

a) Dumbing down the dialogue. If your character is supposed to be smart, don't make him/her say something stupid. Because no character will look remotely as stupid as the writer will.
b) This is especially for MG and YA writers. Don't write down to readers, now! You will one day learn that patronizing children is a very silly thing to do. After all, you do want them to buy your book, right? And what would you be if they don't?
c) Connected to the above, don't beat people over the head with the moral of the story. If people don't figure the moral out on their own, they won't care.
d) Narrators that have to explain every. single. thing. It's OK... I think I can keep up.
e) Doing things that you think no one will notice. Guess what. We do.

In fact I can say that e goes above the term peeve straight into something that will make me spit on the writer's name...  

So what makes your blood pressure rise when you read?

Chop... chop... chop...

Hi all! I'm still waiting for that special brave soul who wants to contribute on the third Friday in January. But any other Fridays in March except for the first one is open. So, if you follow me (or have just clicked follow) and want to get you blog a bit further out there, please contact me at mishagericke@gmail.com (mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com) to book a Friday or to submit posts.

I cannot wait for Friday. :-)




So... During the course of my rewrite, a new character has made her appearance despite my efforts to prevent this.

I have planned. I have outlined. I have sworn to myself that I would keep the cast from the first draft.

But... None of it worked. Quinlan, who appeared in the first draft has been growing in stature in my mind and his sister has pitched up as well.

Both are really quirky and completely unplanned.

I knew by the time I finished the rough draft that I would like to expand Quinn's role, but as I started the rewrite, I realized that I couldn't have him and another of my favorites (Eoin). After a lot of wondering, I decided that Eoin filled a place in the book that could be redistributed to Quinn, Darrion and Gawain. Which made him much too expendable. To my sadness, I decided to give him the chop in the rewrites.

Still, it makes me a little worried, because I always thought that he would be more interesting in the sequels. But that does not blunt the point that he is frankly taking up too much space. Between him and Quinlan, he is just that little (fatal) bit duller.

Then... in my rewrite, I required someone to bring Callan some clothes. In walked one of the most intriguing supporting characters that I have ever written. But I knew that she would take up too much place. Sigh...

But  wants her. *cries*

On the other hand, I realized that if Eoin had to go, his sister had no reason to stay, except to be Gawain's love interest. Oh wait... He had his own thoughts on that... So... Eoin's sister is now redundant. 

Chop chop.

At this point, I feel the need to mention that the new character was Quinlan's sister before I even knew about her. So no... I didn't just replace one brother and sister pair. I removed two characters and replaced them with others.

I still think that Eoin and Faye will find their way back though... Can't wait to see what happens.

What about you? Have you ever had to make harsh choices about your characters? How did you come to your decision? How did it work out?

Rewriting

Hi all!

Firstly, a big welcome and thank you to all of the new faces that have joined up recently. I hope that you enjoy it here.

Just want to remind you all to contact me for a GPF slot. And remember, you need to please be a follower before you can post. I need one more blogger for the third week of February. If you are interested , please contact me at mishagericke@gmail.com (mishagericke(AT)gmail(dot)com).

Thanks to everyone who have shown interest so far. This is going to be awesome.

Then, I have finally joined twitter. So if you want to see my convoluted ramblings, go follow me @MishaMFB. I will follow you in return.

Finally, I am sorry for my absence yesterday, my Internet went fuzzy because it was the end of the month.

Back to the blog.


When I opened this post, I realized to my horror that I have no idea about a topic.

Luckily, it didn't take that long for me to realize that I have mentioned almost nothing about my progress.

So how am I doing?

Well...

My rewrite and first draft coincide only on the first chapter. The rest have been shifted, deleted and added to within an inch of their lives. In fact, I am finding very little of my original work that is falling into the pacing and structure as I envisaged it.

Good side to this is that I haven't been this excited about the story in a long time. The cleaning up has done wonders for the book and the plot holes are slowly being filled or removed.

So far I am absolutely loving the rewriting experience, although it doesn't really offer the same sort of exhilaration as creating something from scratch. Yes, things are substantially changed, but it still comes from a story already written. But it is especially gratifying to know that the story is getting better now.

I must say that there are some issues with the structure, but it has already been improved this time around. Hopefully I will sort out the rest when I start to edit.
Will I make my 30 April goal? At this rate, I'll make it by the end of February. On the other hand, I'm not sure if I can maintain the rate at this time though, since we have guests again. Still, in exchange for seeing these wonderful three people, I am willing to finish a little later.

What about you? Any of you rewriting? How are things going for you? And for those who are editing, querying and creating?