JanNoWriMo 2013

Sonneillon

Autophobic Misanthrope
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 5, 2008
Messages
251
Reaction score
63
Location
Ohio
If your MC doesn't talk much, I could see how that could be limiting. The draft I'm working on now (up to 9K woohoo!) is super dialogue heavy. I'm guessing I'm going to need to go back and add in some action and description along the way.

Congrats on hitting 9K!
 

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
Edited chapter 5 of TEC, and somehow managed to add nearly 300 words. Didn't seem like it.

So I've added nearly 1k words in 5 chapters. Hooray! Probably won't make up the full 7k that I lost in December's edits, but it might get close. And I'm pretty happy with how the book has been reading on this editing pass. I must've done a good job in December. :)
 

VP_Benni

likes a colorful font
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Messages
5,337
Reaction score
242
Location
Probably the library.
If anything, I think college has multiplied my reading time many times over. :tongue But then, I'm taking two lit classes and am reading extra books for my history class on my spare time...

I have such a HUGE reading pile for this weekend. But, instead of working on it today, I went over to Boyfriend's house while he and our friends had their D&D Saturday nerdfest. :D (I've been over MANY Saturdays, and I'm actually fairly certain that this is the first time they've stopped goofing off and started playing the game BEFORE I left :roll:)

So, I have reading to do. :D

~Amber~
 

franky_s

still procrastinating
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 5, 2012
Messages
524
Reaction score
127
I forgot about this forum. :e2smack:

I think I made a goal to get my WIP from 10K up to 25K before Feb. Well I'm up to 22K already so I'm feeling pretty awesome right now.
 

WendyN

8-armed cyborg tree
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
1,904
Reaction score
181
Location
in the mountain's shadow
If anything, I think college has multiplied my reading time many times over. :tongue But then, I'm taking two lit classes and am reading extra books for my history class on my spare time...


I go through spurts with reading. I read a lot in middle school because we had an incentive program... then I read a lot in college after taking a children's lit class that included study of the YA genre (which rekindled my love for it)... and then after my kids were born that's how I spent many late nights nursing and rocking babies.

On the writing front...
I hunkered down and powered through the other big edits I needed for my January draft (I've decided to stop trying to number them since just date them) and sent it out to a beta reader. I'm thinking of asking one or two of my reading-nerd friends to take a look at it, but I'm a bit hesitant to do so...
[?]When you have friends/family read, do you find that they're actually honest about the work that you do and what you need to change or fix? I'm also a bit nervous about letting "IRL" people read my work... somehow it's not as terrible if a stranger reads it, but to think of people I know reading my work terrifies me. But maybe it's time to get a little terrified.
 

VP_Benni

likes a colorful font
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Messages
5,337
Reaction score
242
Location
Probably the library.
I had an abnormal amount of reading homework to do over the weekend. One whole book and bits an pieces of a few others, along with studying for other classes. Not entirely sure how I managed to do it all, but I did. :tongue Now I'm applying for student jobs because I'm poor and I need money. Oh joy. Cover letters kill me...

~Amber~
 

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
Good luck on the job hunt, Vamp. :)

I've realised over the years that I can only do one thing at a time. Either work, study or writing - never 2, let alone all 3.

I'm kind of jealous of people who have the mental and emotional energy to do a bunch of different things. I'd be much better off if I could balance things... I would've completed more novels while working various jobs over the years (instead of doing nothing writing-related while I was there) and I might even have gotten myself a job over the summer to have more money, yet still working on writing.

But I just can't seem to do that. Which leads me to the inevitable conclusion that I need to get rich from writing, so I can just focus on that. :tongue
 

VP_Benni

likes a colorful font
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Messages
5,337
Reaction score
242
Location
Probably the library.
Finished two applications tonight. Good enough. I'm done. I've done enough productive stuff for one weekend. I'll get back to that later. :tongue

Finally decided I want to major in English. (Note that "finally" is referring to "one week into second term of uni" and it really hasn't been that long :tongue) Filled out all the paperwork I need to, but I still need a signature that doesn't belong to me and the only time I can get it while I'm not supposed to be in class is on Friday, so I still have to wait... -.- Also think I'm going to minor in East Asian Studies (my favorite professor teaches in that area and I have a feeling I'm going to take all the classes I need for it anyway) and Comics and Cartoons Studies (recommendation of TWO of my favorite professors, including the first one), so college sounds like it'll be fun in future terms. :)

~Amber~
 

wampuscat

Recovering adjective addict
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
3,130
Reaction score
410
Congrats on hitting 9K!

Thanks, Sonneillon!

I think I made a goal to get my WIP from 10K up to 25K before Feb. Well I'm up to 22K already so I'm feeling pretty awesome right now.

Congrats, franky_s! That's fantastic.

I hit 16K on my first draft today. I'm still a bit behind where I hoped to be this month for a nano month, but between illness and football playoffs, I've been more distracted that anticipated. Not sure I'm going to be able to average almost 1,900 words a day to make 50K, but I can try!


Hope everyone's revisions and editing are going well!
 

franky_s

still procrastinating
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 5, 2012
Messages
524
Reaction score
127
Thanks wampuscat.

Vampyre, I'm also going through cover letter hell. Good luck with it!
I had a job interview today so I've got my fingers crossed for that. Now I have to kick myself off the internet and get some proper writing done.
 

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
724
Reaction score
105
Location
Alberta, Canada
Website
www.bdwilson.ca
I pretty much took the weekend off :tongue Got a little cut time in on the NaNo draft last night, but I think I need to sit down and just plow through. It's taking me way to freaking long, given I'm pretty much just deciding "keep or toss".

I think I made a goal to get my WIP from 10K up to 25K before Feb. Well I'm up to 22K already so I'm feeling pretty awesome right now.

Good job! :)
 

WendyN

8-armed cyborg tree
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
1,904
Reaction score
181
Location
in the mountain's shadow
Just finished another read-through of the first part of my WIP, working on solidifying some of my characterization of my MC.

In between chapters, I've been trying to work on my query letter, which is quickly becoming the bane of my existence. So far it looks like:
Paragraph 1: One 40-word sentence introducing the MC
Paragraph 2: One 20-word and one more 40-word sentence describing the main conflict (which no matter how I slice it up seems to be three conflicts rolled into one)
Paragraph 3: One 20-word sentence describing the format, title, word count, genre, etc.

...I'm sooo not happy with it. I have some pretty major twists that come about 1/2 and 3/4 of the way into the novel, and I'm not sure how to allude to them without being way too vague, or giving away the surprise. Aside from the surface conflict, the MC is also going through some internal conflict of her own, and I'm struggling with how to sum that up without sounding cliche about her "discovering her place in the world" or "finding where she belongs."

Looks like it's time to take a break before my head explodes :p
 

wampuscat

Recovering adjective addict
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
3,130
Reaction score
410
Just finished another read-through of the first part of my WIP, working on solidifying some of my characterization of my MC.

In between chapters, I've been trying to work on my query letter, which is quickly becoming the bane of my existence. So far it looks like:
Paragraph 1: One 40-word sentence introducing the MC
Paragraph 2: One 20-word and one more 40-word sentence describing the main conflict (which no matter how I slice it up seems to be three conflicts rolled into one)
Paragraph 3: One 20-word sentence describing the format, title, word count, genre, etc.

...I'm sooo not happy with it. I have some pretty major twists that come about 1/2 and 3/4 of the way into the novel, and I'm not sure how to allude to them without being way too vague, or giving away the surprise. Aside from the surface conflict, the MC is also going through some internal conflict of her own, and I'm struggling with how to sum that up without sounding cliche about her "discovering her place in the world" or "finding where she belongs."

Looks like it's time to take a break before my head explodes :p

I have no idea what your book is about, but if I were you, I'd try writing one version of the query that stops just after that twist halfway through.

I'm terrible at writing queries, but I'm trying to practice by writing them for my WIPs, even the ideas I don't even have full plots for yet, and critting in QLH. Good luck!
 

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
I know that for synopses, you're supposed to say what happens, not leave the person you're subbing to going, "Wait, how does it end?!" Would queries be the same?

I mean, surely the person accepting submissions wants to know what's going to happen in the story before asking to read more of it?

If it were me, I'd mention the plot twists, maybe with a bit of a disclaimer like, "The MC is thrown a curve ball when..."

Just my 2c. :)
 

wampuscat

Recovering adjective addict
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
3,130
Reaction score
410
I know that for synopses, you're supposed to say what happens, not leave the person you're subbing to going, "Wait, how does it end?!" Would queries be the same?

I mean, surely the person accepting submissions wants to know what's going to happen in the story before asking to read more of it?

If it were me, I'd mention the plot twists, maybe with a bit of a disclaimer like, "The MC is thrown a curve ball when..."

Just my 2c. :)

I've heard and/or read several agents say that it's perfectly fine to focus on just the first 50 pages, or even less, in the query. In QLH, I've heard that a query should say who your MC is, what your MC wants, what's stopping him from getting it, and how he must overcome that thing. I think reducing a novel to 250 words and including two significant twists might be ambitious. Someone might be able to do it, but that someone is likely not me. :)

I believe it may be different for a cover letter, which I think is more often requested by UK agents, but again, I'm a query rookie and may be wrong. ETA: Just noticed you are in Australia. Have no idea how things work there in querying.
 
Last edited:

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
The Australian agents and publishers I've submitted to haven't asked for a query letter in the style of US publishers. We're more like the UK.

They want generally a synopsis, some author details in the body of the email (or 1 page on hard copy) and sometimes the first few chapters or X number of pages, right from the get go.

So yeah, I've not written a query letter before.
 

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
Edited chapter 7, which was another long one, and added about 280 words to it. This brings me to exactly 58,400 words, which I thought was a nice round number. :)

7 down, 20 to go. I'm a fraction over 1/4 of the way there!

Also, I'm rethinking self-e-pubbing and may wind up submitting this novel to agents/publishers all over again, now that it's sooooo much better than it was when I last submitted it.

Kind of frustrated... I have to spend money and jump through hoops just to get the relevant identification stuff to self-pub on Amazon. It's a once-off expense/hoop-jumping, but it'll add probably a few months to my wait before I can upload anything.

Not sure what to do with my writing right now... All I can do is edit while I decide what I want to do.
 

franky_s

still procrastinating
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 5, 2012
Messages
524
Reaction score
127
The people I interviewed with yesterday have called me in for a third interview. That's fantastic but... they want me to do a 15 minute presentation. I hate doing presentations, especially to people I don't know very well. And I've only got a day to prepare.

I feel sick.
 

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
Edited chapter 8, which was a short one. Added 50 words. I feel like I could've made it better somehow, but I don't know quite how. In the end, it was a well-written chapter anyway.
 

Silver-Midnight

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 19, 2011
Messages
4,910
Reaction score
279
Location
rising from the depths of a cup of coffee
Well, I got a lot of my work done I think. But I still have more to do. However, I think I'm going to take a small nap or something first. Kind of tired.

--

As far as writing goes. I just can't seem to really get an idea. I usually try to write with at least a summary or some kind synopsis. Mostly so I know what the plot is and I don't spend a lot of time lagging in certain areas and/or just sitting waiting for the idea to fully come to be. But so far, I've got nothing. Bah.