FebNoWriMo!

bdwilson

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Hit my second milestone, which is nice. Started the last third, and remembered that this part is kind of a mess.

I've got a two chapter version and a five chapter version of the same events. I did make notes on the paper copy while trying to decide which pieces I was going to keep, but I'm not sure how I thought I'd make sense of them when I got to it. Treasure maps are easier to decipher :tongue

Oh well.

Finished this editing pass!! Then, last night as I was drifting off to sleep, I came up with another awesome line to add in, so after I typed it in this morning, I declared the February draft officially 'done' (*cue Hallelujah chorus*).

Whoot! Good job :partyguy:
 

Caitlin Black

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I've been reading about query letters for the last half hour, and it seems that the sheer volume of information that needs to go into it is at odds with the small nature of it (1 page).

Hrm. I think I have enough information to go on with, but it's making me nervous... I've never written a proper query before!

I think I'll give writing one a go tomorrow. It's nearly dinner time, and I'm useless after dinner.
 

shayla.mist

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no writing the whole last week! O_O I have an excuse though. I got my edits from the pub so I need to revise my manuscript. I have the feeling I'll take advantage of this to procrastinate. Oh, wait, I already did! (>_<)
 

WendyN

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Cliff - Yikes, that narrows it down quickly, huh?

And, yes... I tweeted the other day that writing a query letter is like solving a sudoku puzzle... you have to fit everything in just right in order for it to work, and if you get one part wrong, it seems to mess up the whole thing and sometimes you're better scratching it and starting all over. Ugh. If you look at my drafts in QLH, you'll kind of see my process...

Draft #1 - all over the place, too much info

Draft #2 - finally sat down and found a formula that worked for me:

"In (title of book), (protagonist wants X), but (along comes Y that makes the protagonist's needs impossible to fulfill without sacrificing everything)."

I did a couple bullet points to brainstorm what fits in each section, then wrote it up, making draft 2 a bit dry, but clear and concise.

Draft #3 - I took draft 2 and tried sitting down and writing the same info from MC's 1st person perspective, then went and changed it to 3rd person. Much more voice.

Currently working on Draft #4, which seems to be just cleaning up a couple phrases (there's one that I still can't seem to get just right, but after that, I'm calling it done)


bdWilson - yay for hitting milestones!


On my to-do list:
- Try to cut two dozen words out of my query to use it as a pitch for Pitchapalooza (deadline: 2/28)
- Researching agents. My list is getting longer, but I know it'll need some cutting, esp. in the case where there's multiple agents at the same agency that all cover sci-fi, since it seems to be frowned upon to query more than one of the same agency.
- Chapter-by-chapter outline, in preparation for writing a synopsis.
- Research how to write a synopsis. Also, check to see how long my preferred agents prefer their synopses.
 

bettielee

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ok, that post above me just scerred me....

I came here to say I'm finally getting back into the swing of thinking of writing as fun again instead of this scary thing I have to do everyday....

I am not even thinking about going thru piles and piles of agents again...

oh...but it is a necessary evil. The fairies aren't going to find you an agent, sadly. It takes work and research and all that good stuff.

A very good post, WKlein. I like your formula there.
 

Caitlin Black

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Yeah, the query/synopsis/submission part of writing is something I, so far, do not enjoy.

Okay... So today, I think all I have to do is write a decent query! (Easier said than done...)
 

ucf612

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I haven't been meeting my daily goals but I'm almost done with chapter 3 of my re-writes for one book. I won a 3 chapter critique so I really want to get those chapters top notch and send them off. Then work on the rest of the novel. I'm so happy to just be excited about this book again, I couldn't care less about my actual goals. I'm making progress and that's good enough for me right now.
 

WendyN

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Cliff -- DO IT!

As for me... got back some comments from a beta on a chunk of the novel, working on a few minor edits based on that. In anticipation of sending over the next chunk to him, I read through it again and found about 5-6 typos. Yikes. It must be demons in my computer, because they were really obvious ones that I'm sure I should have caught before.

I'm up to 89 potential agents (at 60 different agencies). I still want to check out www.publishersmarketplace.com, www.writers.net, and www.writersdigest.com -- hopefully those will help me narrow down my top choices. It looks like the norm for synopses is 1 or 1-2 pages, so a one page synopsis it is (or, will be, once I figure out how to write it).
 

Caitlin Black

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Cliff -- DO IT!

As for me... got back some comments from a beta on a chunk of the novel, working on a few minor edits based on that. In anticipation of sending over the next chunk to him, I read through it again and found about 5-6 typos. Yikes. It must be demons in my computer, because they were really obvious ones that I'm sure I should have caught before.

I'm up to 89 potential agents (at 60 different agencies). I still want to check out www.publishersmarketplace.com, www.writers.net, and www.writersdigest.com -- hopefully those will help me narrow down my top choices. It looks like the norm for synopses is 1 or 1-2 pages, so a one page synopsis it is (or, will be, once I figure out how to write it).

There's a guide for writing a synopsis somewhere on AW, I know... I'm pretty sure there was one in either FAQs, BWQ, or somesuch place. But I *think* I saw a link to one in QLH (sitckied). Maybe. I only ventured in there once.

As for sharing my query... I showed it to someone on AW, who has decided to help me make it sparkle (she likes working on them, it seems). So she's already sent me an email with lots of red in it, which I need to fix up and send back to her, when she'll send me another one with (hopefully) less red, etc. Need to do that today.

Once it's got the all-clear from her, I may post it in QLH.
 

Caitlin Black

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Edited my query letter and sent it off to the person helping me. I think while I wait for a response, I might try to get a synopsis written... I can't put it off with the rationalisation that I'll do it after the query is good enough... That could be a few days still, and I'm running out of time if I want to submit before I go back to Uni.
 

Caitlin Black

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Wrote a synopsis... Not sure if it's any good, but I do know that it's about 5 or 6 lines too long. Dang!

This was my attempt at a 1-page synopsis. I may wind up writing a 2-pager once I get this one sorted, but the 1-pager is more Universal for who I can send it to...

Need to start cutting a bit from it, but first I thought I'd check if I have an email from my Query Letter Angel. :)
 

WendyN

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Wrote myself an outline of my entire story last night in preparation for putting together a synopsis. Still haven't bit the bullet with that one, but I didn't get my big Tuesday night editing chunk of time that I normally do, so it might have to wait until next week.

Also starting to stress about coming up with a pen name. Some of the agent pages and interviews I've been looking at say that they prefer writers have some sort of web presence, but aside from here and nanowrimo, I've kind of kept off the grid, purposefully. I'd be willing to establish a web presence under a pseudonym, but then there's the problem of actually coming up with one. Hrmmmm....
 

bdwilson

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Finished (I hope) chopping up the repeated sections, and now get to try and smoosh it all together in some semblance of order. It's kinda of like doing a jigsaw when you've lost the box.

I'm hoping the notes I made on the page actually do tell me which sections I thought would work in different places. Right now it looks like I was just numbering things for fun :tongue
 

Caitlin Black

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What are you studying, Silver? Sounds like whatever it is, there's far too much homework!

I probably won't get much done today. Going out for most of the day to visit dad. Normally it'd be a 4-hour drive to see him and stepmum, because they live out in the country, but they're down in the city for a week. So yeah, going out for lunch and probably sitting around where they're staying for a few hours.
 

SianaBlackwood

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I've finished all the planning for my March project. I'll go over it again in the last couple of days of the month, but right now I'm not sure what do do with myself. Randomly start writing something else? Start some planning for the project after this one? Lie around doing nothing productive and try to decide whether I prefer Roy Khan or Tommy Karevik?
 

Silver-Midnight

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What are you studying, Silver? Sounds like whatever it is, there's far too much homework!.
Well, my major is Chemistry.

Well, it's homework for my other classes really. Right now, I'm mostly studying for a test. It's getting really close to mid-term. So, I have a bunch tests coming up. Or at least, quite a few tests coming up. So, I'm doing a lot of studying right now. Though there is homework mixed in with it. :D