The Kidlit Gang's Support and Accountability Thread

DavidBrett said:

I could never do that; silence deafens me, the incessant ringing in my head from the quiet driving me crazy. I need at least some music to work to, usually something to fit my moods or the theme/feel of the book at the moment.

Dave

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Yeah. It totally is a personal preference. To me it usually rises from forgetting to turn on the music while I have earphones on. A couple of hundred words later I realize that silence works well. The only thing I can't do is listen to music with lyrics. It's like someone talking your ear off while you're trying to concentrate. Even when I'm listening to Pandora and a commercial comes on, I literally have to stop and wait for it to be over before I can continue to write.

If you're not one for complete silence, going outside is pretty peaceful without the complete absence of sound. I live in Florida so it's ridiculously hot here and I'm seldom able to do it.

DanielaTorre said:

Ah. Nothing sweeter than getting back on the track. If you need to concentrate, try sound deprivation. It drowns out distractions with silence and you focus on your thoughts. Just put on a pair of headphones. You don't even have to turn the music on. I feel a bit silly doing it, but hey, it's sillier to stare at a blank screen for hours on end. Good luck.

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Hmm.. this sounds like a good idea for coffee shops! For some reason, people always try to talk to me when I try to write in public. I always find music distracting as well (or sitting next to my SO who insists on watching shows or even sports, which I could not care less about, but which still somehow are EXTREMEly distracting..)

The headphones would take care of both of these problems!

You guys, it's been an agonizing week of checking the email. I was supposed to hear about the short list of the Chicken House competition in "late January" but nothing yet. I understood them to say we'd hear either way, and I haven't seen an announcement of a short list on their blog or Twitter, so I'm just trying my best to wait. But every day I'm sure it'll be the day, and yet if I don't have an email by 9 am, I know the business day has ended in England.

In other news, I had re-made a goal to complete a first draft of my WIP by the end of January, and I'm not quite there. I lost a solid week to the flu, and am still trying to finish up the Harry Potter quilt. But I am at 29,000 words on what I think will be somewhere around 36,000 words, so I'm close. Another couple weeks and I'll be there. I don't feel awesome about it, but I had my CP read it when it was around 22,000 to help me brainstorm a plot point and she was very excited and encouraging.

We'll see, but I've got to keep at it, since it looks like I may have to head back into the query trenches.

How's everyone else doing?

Joy - how awful. I know everyone says that you have to be patient in this business, but that doesn't make it any easier. It's like being in line at Disneyland - just as you think you're entering the building to go on the ride, you find out the line snakes around forever in room after room. It's a nightmare of waiting.

I've been on submission for two weeks, which is a blink of an eye in this business, really, and I'm almost a basket case. I try to distract myself by working on something else, reading, going for walks to get away from my computer and the silent torture. But always in the back of my head is the thought that someone is reading my book right now and deciding my fate, and if nobody likes it, then what?

Please let us know as soon as you hear. That is such a huge competition. Do you know how many entries they get each year? Hundreds, probably.

Oh gosh, hugs to everyone playing the waiting game. Which is most likely, everyone here!!

My picture books are released by Bloomsbury next month I can finally say 'this month'!! So all waits do eventually come to an end. 26 days to go!!

I'm working on more picture books, which is very fun. Some are very short ones, plus a couple of longer ones that I've been playing around with for a while.

Meanwhile, I'm moving on to my lower middlegrade WIP. It was fabulous to find that when I reopened the file, I really, really like it. It's very different to DORKBOY, but equally fun, for the younger set.

I'm not sure what direction it will go. After a year working on DORKBOY, it's fun to think in a different voice.

I'm also playing around with an idea for a YA. I dreamed the plot a while ago, and the more I play with it, the more I like it. I've not written YA before, so this is new to me. I find myself drawn to read more YA as I experiment with the voice. I'm starting to love my MC for this story, although I can't find her a name yet.

It doesn't make waiting any easier, but when I bury myself in more projects, I keep things in perspective. In the past, books I thought were definitely going to be the ones snapped up by my publisher ended up on the backburner, while others came to the top of the pile.

I always try to remember that it's not all about publication, it's about the process. And every project helps us develop in our journey to become a better writer.

SheilaJG said:

Do you know how many entries they get each year? Hundreds, probably.

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Yes, they said hundreds. I'd love to know exactly.

I don't generally have a hard time being patient with the business, but what's really difficult is when you're told you'll hear within a certain timeframe and that timeframe passes.

Hang in there, Sheila! If no one likes this one, well then, you'll write the next one. Are you busy working on something to distract yourself?

Congrats Britwriter!!! Remind me when it hits the shelves! Joy, sit tight. It'll happen.

On my front, I just posted my MG Fantasy on the Beta forum. *hyperventilates* I did it without thinking about it, but now I'm ruminating. Oh god. What have I done.

My goal for the week is to hit 25K.

I know it's already Thursday, but I only have 614 words left.

I was all set to hit that goal last week, but then bad things happened. I don't remember what they were exactly... work, home, schedules, back--my brain is sort of shot for short-term memory. But for some reason, I haven't written anything in a week.

I was supposed to get back on track this week, but I need a kick in the pants. So 25K by the end of the week!

My rebuild of EF 1 is coming along awesomely; with the casefiles added, it'll be about 37k again. After that, I just need to make some scene and character adjustments and it'll be ready to send off!

Not as hard as I'd feared, and definitely not tedious. I'm actually enjoying myself, adding different sides to everything.

Hope everything goes well for everyone else

Dave

Did you hit your goal, Heza?

I found out I did not move on in that competition, which was obviously disappointing, but it was exciting for a while!

Just sent out a few new queries for that manuscript, which I had basically shelved, but my CP gave me a bit of a kick in the booty.

I've reached 30,500 on my WIP and in the name of all that is good and holy, I SWEAR I will have a draft by the end of February.

Joy, I'm sorry about the competition. They are such a roller coaster ride, aren't they?

Dave, just send your new ms over and I'm happy to read.

I had a fabulous writing evening last night. Suddenly got inspired for some new picture book ideas, and came up with an idea for the end of one that had been really challenging me.

The new end is sooooo unbelievably cute. And funny.

What was interesting was that I'd played with it so much and felt brain-dead. Yesterday was earmarked for writing, but we ended up at a cat rescue, and came home with a new kitty (named Cupcake, can you believe how cute that is?!)

I was feeling a little stressed as the day was slipping away, and I hadn't sat down to write. Yet when I did settle to the computer and start writing, the ending just came to me, so naturally it didn't feel that it had ever been an issue.

Just goes to show that sometimes a break is what you need, to let your ideas settle and the subconscious take over.

Usually I second-guess my writing, but although I know this one might need a little editing, I also know that the ending is now perfect, for that story.

Now, if only Cupcake would come out from under the bed.....

JoyMC said:

Did you hit your goal, Heza?

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I did! It was a really busy weekend, too, so I'm glad I didn't put more pressure on myself than that. It's nice to finally be successful. Thanks for checking on me, Joy. I'm sorry to hear about the contest, but you made as far as you did when a lot of other books didn't. That, in itself, is something to be proud and excited about!

Congrats on the good evening of writing. Britwriter. And congratulations, also, on your new kitty and good luck with the settling in! (Also, we need pictures of kitties.)

JoyMC said:

Did you hit your goal, Heza?

I found out I did not move on in that competition, which was obviously disappointing, but it was exciting for a while!

Just sent out a few new queries for that manuscript, which I had basically shelved, but my CP gave me a bit of a kick in the booty.

I've reached 30,500 on my WIP and in the name of all that is good and holy, I SWEAR I will have a draft by the end of February.

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That sucks Joy, but it's still something to be very, very proud of. You're making a name for yourself which is fantastic. I aspire to reach your level sooner or later. Full sail ahead with your WIP! Don't slack. There are still plenty of days left in February. The exciting parts are during edits, me thinks. I'm still enjoying it.

heza said:

I did! It was a really busy weekend, too, so I'm glad I didn't put more pressure on myself than that. It's nice to finally be successful.

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Congrats on the goal accomplishment Hez. Is this something new you're working on, or is the goal on edits? Let me know if you ever need someone to look at anything. I'm still learning but hey, fresh pair of eyes help.


Hey David, that goes for you too. I enjoyed EF a lot. Wish you much success on the edits.

Me? Well I'm really busy with school and work but I'm still waiting to hear on betas. I want to continue working on my next ms which I only have about 2000 words in, but I have so many other things to do that I'm going nuts. I really need to make a schedule for myself. I'm studying microbial genetics right now and it's a handful. Stupid pharmacy school aspirations. Oh well. It'll be for the best.

DanielaTorre said:

Congrats on the goal accomplishment Hez. Is this something new you're working on, or is the goal on edits? Let me know if you ever need someone to look at anything. I'm still learning but hey, fresh pair of eyes help.

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I'm actually 5K away from being halfway done with my first draft of my WIP. Writing for me is a terribly slow process (for a lot of reasons). I will certainly let you (all you) know when I've finally got something that can be looked at!

Me? Well I'm really busy with school and work but I'm still waiting to hear on betas. I want to continue working on my next ms which I only have about 2000 words in, but I have so many other things to do that I'm going nuts. I really need to make a schedule for myself. I'm studying microbial genetics right now and it's a handful. Stupid pharmacy school aspirations. Oh well. It'll be for the best.

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Microbial gen... ew. That sounds hard. I'm not a science-y type. That's why all my book ideas are fantasy! Good luck with class.

(I'll try to get feedback to you sometime this coming weekend.)

heza said:

I'm actually 5K away from being halfway done with my first draft of my WIP. Writing for me is a terribly slow process (for a lot of reasons). I will certainly let you (all you) know when I've finally got something that can be looked at!

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I'm the same way. Super slow. I also tend to change the sequence of events while I'm writing. It doesn't help that if I'm not happy with the plot direction, I scrap it and start over again from a previous point.

OMG! I'm so embarrassed. I was skimming over my ms and I forgot to change a placeholder name of one of the characters I had. I couldn't think of a name for one of the teachers so I but the placeholder name of "Bracegirdle" (one of the hobbit families from LOTR) and forgot to change one instance of it. So anybody reading it would stumble across a random name and be like WTF. Who's Bracegirdle?

God, I'm so glad I caught that. The name was officially changed on the third draft to "Miss Bridge" not Bracegirdle. Oh, and there's a random "Mr. Hans" in there too. I had initially given the janitor this name and decided against it but forgot to change it. So there's a Mr. Hans nobody has a clue about. Aw man. So many embarrassing mistakes. I'm having so much fun with edits.

Anyone have embarrassing ms stories they'd like to share?

DanielaTorre said:

Anyone have embarrassing ms stories they'd like to share?

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My most embarrassing issue with typos is that I often type carelessly when I'm in a hurry. And I'll end up with things like:

(Should be) that it --> (ends up being) tha tit.

So I have a lot of random mammaries in my draft. It's sad that I have to put that word in my Search&Replace list.

heza said:

My most embarrassing issue with typos is that I often type carelessly when I'm in a hurry. And I'll end up with things like:

(Should be) that it --> (ends up being) tha tit.

So I have a lot of random mammaries in my draft. It's sad that I have to put that word in my Search&Replace list.

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It reminds me when I transcribed my entire first draft into a second draft and had inadvertently typed "shit" instead of "shut". Boy would my face be read if that ever made it to print.

Retyping an entire draft has its perks, but I keep finding missing words. Also "his" sometimes becomes "this". Oh, and for some reason (an quite frequently) I type "put" and "but" interchangeably. WHY? The letters aren't even close to each other! I think I did this on my previous post.

It's like my brain completely skips certain words. Jeezy Creezy.

HOLY CRAP, I ACTUALLY FINISHED IT!!! It's DONE,and it ain't HALF BAD!!!! XDD

That's right, everyone, I've finally competed the NEW final draft of EF 1 after having to start over from an old copy. I've added scenes, edited the timeline, changed a things, thrown in non-fictional casefiles, and it's all DONE.

At 41,102 words, it's 8k more than the original draft, and only 2/3 of that is casefiles. I'm really happy to finally have it behind me (again), and I will be backing the heck outta it when I send it to my awesome betas tomorrow morning.

After the week is through I should have enough feedback to go ahead and confidently send the finished thing to the agent (Molly Hawn, for those keeping track).

Now to calm down, relax and get back to writing my fantasy with the giant robots....

Or EF 2

Dave

Congratulations David!!!!!

Hope she likes it and we're able to see it on shelves soon!

Didn't I email you writery the other betas? I wanted your feedback on the new additions...

I'm so pleased. Today I took the time to write out a super detailed outline of the murky middle section I had skipped over in my draft. Now that it's all sorted out, I feel like I'll fly through drafting it. Yay!

Well done, Joy! Middles can be troublesome creatures if not tamed. Then again, I find it a delicate balance when planning: too little, and I come back to vague notes that don't help at all. Too much, and I feel like I've already written the story, leaving no room to surprise myself with character-driven divergents, etc. So I usually write fresh from my head first, then plan for the revisions onwards after I've seen what works and what didn't.

Congrats again!

Dave

DavidBrett said:

Didn't I email you writery the other betas? I wanted your feedback on the new additions...

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Nope. Don't believe I got it. If you'd like to send it over, by all means feel free. I just don't know how soon I can get back to you. My schedule is getting fuller and fuller lately.

JoyMC said:

I'm so pleased. Today I took the time to write out a super detailed outline of the murky middle section I had skipped over in my draft. Now that it's all sorted out, I feel like I'll fly through drafting it. Yay!

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I find micro outlines to work wonders. I plan to do the same to my "murky climax". LOL.