My Work is Never Done Thread

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Evangeline

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I'm working on rewrites of my sweeping WWI romance, but I'm also prepping to write my first contemporary category romance, toying with a Halloween novella, brainstorming a historical set during the Harlem Renaissance, and working the kinks out of the next book in my Edwardian series. BUSY

I've also self-pubbed a short story I wrote last year, and am pleased with the numbers.On pins and needles about my first review, but I'm focusing on feeling proud for getting something out there.
 

Silver-Midnight

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Well, I'm getting closer to finishing my short story then I just have to work on edits. However, I'm going to take a break between the first draft and edits. I have to work on my first novella/almost novel-like WIP. I'm not even halfway on that. At the same time, I was going to try to finish some of it during NanoWrimo too. I'm kind of busy now so, truthfully, I'm just hoping I'm farther than I am now in December. Haha!
 

Sorin

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I'm working on rewrites of my sweeping WWI romance, but I'm also prepping to write my first contemporary category romance, toying with a Halloween novella, brainstorming a historical set during the Harlem Renaissance, and working the kinks out of the next book in my Edwardian series.

Um, you need to write the Harlem Renaissance historical immediately so that I can be the first one to buy it. :D
 

VanessaNorth

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So... All those edits at once? :D actually, just two this weekend... But mostly done with one and completely done with the other, so, yay! :)

Also... Bold new plans for a stand alone MM contempt. Really excited about it, actually. Plotting it as soon as the edits are back to editors. :)
 

Kitty27

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Bwuahaha! I'm working on it!


Allow me to second that. Get to handling business,madame!


I'm back working on my paranormal romance series. Check my sparkling banner,please!

I'm also working on a historical romance set in the Georgia in the early twentieth century. My Beta liked it and said my love scene made her blush. I LIVE.

I have another historical romance set in Reconstruction Era South in New Orleans. It has elements of magical realism/ insanity/ erotica/hoodoo and crazed obsession. These themes make me quite happy.

I've ignored my romance novels for a long time in favor of my other genres. It feels good to be working on them again.
 

VanessaNorth

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Allow me to second that. Get to handling business,madame!


I'm back working on my paranormal romance series. Check my sparkling banner,please!

I'm also working on a historical romance set in the Georgia in the early twentieth century. My Beta liked it and said my love scene made her blush. I LIVE.

I have another historical romance set in Reconstruction Era South in New Orleans. It has elements of magical realism/ insanity/ erotica/hoodoo and crazed obsession. These themes make me quite happy.

I've ignored my romance novels for a long time in favor of my other genres. It feels good to be working on them again.


Oh god, i wantto read them all!!! Old South sex and magics? Yes please!
 

Silver-Midnight

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Well, I've gotten a little bit farther in my story. Not by much, but it's more than nothing I guess. However, I'm starting to go through that thing again where the words just don't sound "right", if you know what I mean. It's not that I'm writing bad I don't think just that I'm not excited or on the edge of my seat. It could be a POV issue but I really don't know. Has anyone been through this or something like it? What did you do?
 

VanessaNorth

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I'd write through it, honestly. Just keep going. You can always come back and polish later.

Caveat: that's what *I* would do. I take the approach that it's easier to edit a bad patch later than it is to get everything perfect before moving on...But my approach doesn't work for everyone and might make other people crazy. :)
 

ARoyce

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Well, I've gotten a little bit farther in my story. Not by much, but it's more than nothing I guess. However, I'm starting to go through that thing again where the words just don't sound "right", if you know what I mean. It's not that I'm writing bad I don't think just that I'm not excited or on the edge of my seat. It could be a POV issue but I really don't know. Has anyone been through this or something like it? What did you do?

Well, what I tend to do is skip to the next big scene. Sometimes I realize later that the blah scene wasn't really serving a purpose or that I could accomplish the same goals by moving critical pieces elsewhere. Or I find out down the road that I can go back and make the dull scene more significant by embedding details of plot or character that I figured out by writing ahead.

Basically, if I feel like a scene isn't working, I'll set it aside with a mental or sometimes literal "Sometime later" bridge to the next major moment, where I can pick up my energy again.

I don't know if this works for anyone else. It's just what I do.
 

htrent

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I skip, too. When I reach "The end" I go back to the beginning and start revising from there, NOT from the missed scene. When it get to the gap, I usually know by then what needs to go there. Usually it's a bit of subplot.
 

Silver-Midnight

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I'd write through it, honestly. Just keep going. You can always come back and polish later.

Caveat: that's what *I* would do. I take the approach that it's easier to edit a bad patch later than it is to get everything perfect before moving on...But my approach doesn't work for everyone and might make other people crazy. :)

Well, what I tend to do is skip to the next big scene. Sometimes I realize later that the blah scene wasn't really serving a purpose or that I could accomplish the same goals by moving critical pieces elsewhere. Or I find out down the road that I can go back and make the dull scene more significant by embedding details of plot or character that I figured out by writing ahead.

Basically, if I feel like a scene isn't working, I'll set it aside with a mental or sometimes literal "Sometime later" bridge to the next major moment, where I can pick up my energy again.

I don't know if this works for anyone else. It's just what I do.

I skip, too. When I reach "The end" I go back to the beginning and start revising from there, NOT from the missed scene. When it get to the gap, I usually know by then what needs to go there. Usually it's a bit of subplot.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. :D I might just have to grin and bear it and write through it. I did have a plan for this but I ended up taking a slightly different route so, I'm not entirely sure if I can bring that plot in just yet. It might take a minute or so to get there. I guess I can always revise, revise, and revise, if not doing an entire revamp of it. >.< Maybe by the second or third draft things will be a lot better and flow a lot smoother than they are now.
 

Becky Black

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Phew, no more editing for a while! I feel like I've done nothing but editing for YEARS! Well okay, a few months. And of course when I say no more for a while, I mean aside from the line edits for my next release...

I've just finished and submitted a novel to my current publisher. The full is with my editor now. It's a bit of a tricky story that one. The characters are rather damaged and still have a lot of healing to do by the end of the book - assuming that they aren't both murdered within a month of the end of the book... Anyway, fingers crossed.

Meanwhile I'm still waiting to hear back about the one from the pitch session. Since I wasn't even expecting to be submitting that until now, I'm managing to be be quite patient. Like I'm two months ahead of the game with it.

Next up! A few days off to refresh my brain (I say "days off", I'm going to brainstorm some blog post ideas) and this weekend start on the outline of the story I plan to write for NaNoWriMo. And possibly do some brainstorming on bunnies for after that. I have a really rampant bunny eating my brain right now. It's about zombies. Early days, but I think it will be the first novel I write next year. You know when you get one and though it still needs loads of work to get the idea fully formed, you just know you will definitely write it one day soon. This appears to be one of those.
 

htrent

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I'm trying to push through on a short novel I'm sick of looking at. I'm sure I'll like the second draft better, but right now it's a thorn in my side.

Also got edits to do before the 8th. Those should be pretty easy, but they are going to throw me out of my groove for a couple of days at least.
 

aikigypsy

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Hi!

I'm new here but wanted to introduce myself to this part of AW. I mostly write fantasy of one kind or another, but I am about to embark on a major structural revision of a Regency historical romance that I drafted a few years ago. I don't think my first set of revisions did it much good! Anyway, I'm now in the re-plotting, diagraming, and outlining phase and I hope to finish this revision by the end of the year, but I'm not going to go nuts pushing through to that point, because sometimes I can only squeeze a couple of hours out of the week to work on my fiction (have two small children and occasional paid article-writing work).
 

Calle Jay

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Currently, I'm trying to finish the last 30K on a story I'm thinking of subbing to Harlequin, the last 12K on a Christmas story for Astraea (by 9/30), and doing the final edits on my second-in-series romantic suspense I'm self-pubbing on 10/9. I also need to start the book cover for the romantic suspense...I'm trying to average 5K or more words per day!

I want to start the next paranormal in my series (60K estimate) for NaNo so am hoping to get the other projects out of the way...
 

ARoyce

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Finished writing my synopsis for Book 2 and sent it to my agent. Awesome Agent has already sent it back with some suggestions! I have to say it felt kind of strange writing the synopsis before the actual book (I have approx 12k of the book started). Once Awesome Agent and I are both happy with the synopsis, it will go to my editor for his feedback.

Then I can really dive into Book 2.

I think I also need to start a Facebook author page, but I'm dragging my feet a little.

And Book 1 is in copy-editing right now so I'm curious to see how much needs to be done there.

I hope everyone is chugging along!!
 

Becky Black

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Just when I had everything planned ahead and on track...
:e2bike2:

The zombie story has decided, "sorry you are going to write me next. NO ARGUMENTS!"

So, slight rearrangement of the plans. Now outlining the zombies ready for November. I normally like to live with an idea & characters for a bit longer before I write them, but this one is quite insistent.
 

Marumae

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After nearly a year off and much waffling on what to write and what not to write, I've picked up my romantic fantasy magnum opus again and an attempting to finish it. I have more done on it then any other story I have, so I'm going to see it through to the bitter (very far off) end.
 

Ann_Mayburn

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Another 20ish k to go on my Valentines Day MS then onto the next book in my Kyrimian Cycle series for Loose Id. And possible a big ass RnR in the middle. ;)
 

Becky Black

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NaNoWriMo only two sleeps away now! (Since I'm far too old to stay up to wait for midnight and start then.) My outline is done. I am primed! And I haven't managed to write a bunch of blog posts for November to get ahead of myself, so will have to squeeze some short ones in somewhere. And I will have the first edits on the most recent book I sold come through at some point in November. Yep, work, never done! I will have to take advantage of all extra writing time I can get my hands on.
 

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In lieu of NaNo this year, I will be re-writing the manuscript I wrote during last year's marathon.

Good luck to everyone that will be participating, I will be cheering you on.
 

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I'm stuck. My day job got more demanding (in an excellent way, but still - demanding), I have to move (b/c of excellent job demands), I had to have minor surgery... and I let myself stop writing. I'm still in the middle of all the turmoil, so I'm still within my self-allowed hiatus, but my mood is weird.

I want to WRITE!!! But since I've given myself the excuse to stop, I seem to be allowing myself to be distracted. I tried to solve it by saying I could write whatever I felt like, and now I have four MS each a quarter done, in three different genres, and I don't seem inspired to go any further on any of them.

Aaaaargh! It's not writer's block, I don't think, it's just... laziness. I'm trying to keep from making extra demands on myself and adding stress to my life, but without the demands, apparently I get nothing done...

But. I will persevere. I've got two YAs - one a sort of scaled-down version of La Femme Nikita, one a more realistic romance between an angsty girl and a hockey stud; one het romance - the start of a multi-book epic in which an assortment of members of a ranching family find love (but I shouldn't write this b/c my het stuff doesn't sell well); one m/m romance - I tried to set myself a challenge, so I've got to find a way to make an Anglican priest fall in love with the man who killed his (the priest's) brother. It's giving me an excuse to go to church this Sunday - I'm an atheist, but I like the singing!

So, yeah, my work is never done - because I start a new project before anything gets finished!!!
 
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