Tag Archive for 'revision'

Seriously, pay me to do this…please.

Published on July 21, 2010 in reading is delicious and Writing Tags: , , , . ______________________________________

I’m working on my new beginning for my manuscript. This means lots of  bike rides and showers are in order, since those are the only activities that seem to get my brain in super-hyperdrive-creative mode.

Otherwise, I’ve been reading.

Have I told you how much I love reading?

Ahhhhh…reading. 

Reading at stoplights.
Reading in the drive-thru.
Reading when you're waiting on a train.
Reading while someone else is driving.
Reading when I should be sleeping.

I wish my job was to wake up every morning, make some tea, sit on my porch and READ.

If you would like to hire me to do this, I have an extensive reading resume. lol. I seriously drive to work thinking, “How can I earn a living by reading in my pajamas?”

You could do it, too. We could form a Readers Union, requiring benefits and chocolate and tea.

We could go to lunch at bistros and cafes and read! And then we wouldn’t look silly for sitting at a table by ourselves! And maybe the waiter wouldn’t feel sorry for us and ask us what we’re reading and then we could avoid an awkward situation!

See how great it could be???

I think we should make it happen.

Okay–well, I have to get to work…so, uh, see ya around.

Have a great day!

-M♥lly

9 Comments

clap for Tinkerbell

Published on June 30, 2010 in Writing Tags: , , . ______________________________________

So I have this major goal to finish this current revision by the end of June aka 11:59 tonight. Because of my amazingly good behavior, I’ve decided to give myself an extension until 2 am. ((Kari, is that okay???? lol. I’m pretty sure I’m breaking the rules.))

So what I’m saying is, I’m going to be a bum today. I’m banning myself from commenting, lurking, reading, having fun, ANYTHING OTHER THAN REVISION. Well, I am going to work and stuff…and there’s that meeting…but lunch  and all other free time will be devoted to REVISION.

My bumship will last through the weekend, as well, bc I’M GOING OUT OF TOWN, BAYBAY. And all they have is dial up where I’m going.

So don’t forget that I exist or anything. That would be sad.

I’ll be back Monday!!!

AND if you really want to be nice, maybe you can leave me a little encouragement so I don’t feel so alone in my revision prison.

xoxo

M♥lly

PS. Check out Erica Spickard’s
awesome contest!! Ends Friday 7/9/10

5 Comments

simplify

Published on June 2, 2010 in Writing Tags: , , . ______________________________________

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pencil_Eraser.jpg

Sincerest apologies for the changing face of mbwcreates. I’m still working on it…

I am one of those people who like to move the furniture around every couple months — just for a change — until I find the perrrrfect look and then I’ll keep it for a little longer.

It is so late and playing with my blog is the last thing I should be doing.

I’m trying to simplify.

I like chaos. But sometimes it’s not a good thing.

It can overwhelm the viewer.
And chaotic, cluttered plots and casts can nauseate your readers.

I’m pretty sure I’m good at creating clutter overwhelming and nauseating.
(unfortunately.)

So instead of a page full of pretty colored spatters, I now have a tidy little banner of them.

Same goes for my novel. As I’m revising pages to send to critique buddies, I’m trying to cut out the frayed ends and false starts and maybe a few extraneous characters. (Except for Bora…sorry M.G. ;) )

I thought it would be a bit more painful, but every time I snip a person, place, or thing out of my story I always feel like I’ve got a bit more room to breathe. It’s kinda like pruning a garden and then stepping back and seeing how much more aesthetically pleasing it has become.

There will still be chaos. It’s my style in a weird, colorful way. But it will be streamlined and reasonable chaos. (Or maybe that’s an impossibility looking back at that sentence heh.)

So I’m curious:

  • what’s the most painful person, place, or thing you’ve ever cut out of your MS???

.

Peace ♥

12 Comments

Back to being a semi-professional writer

Published on May 24, 2010 in Writing Tags: , , , , . ______________________________________
Apparently, this is an old prototype of the typewriter, the writing ball.
So I’m out of excuses. My new laptop is finally up and running with all of the documents from my old computer loaded onto its hard drive. I’ve got my favorite word-editor uploaded. I’ve found my place where I left off in my revisions.

Time to get back to work!

I stayed up until midnight working on my revisions.
I have to admit it.

I’ve missed this.

IBM Selectric. Just a step above my laptop. ha.

Sure, it was fun acting like a normal person for a few days. I played some really mind-numbing games and read some mind-blowing books.

Kissy-face and I gave up TV for a week and ate dinner listening to audio books. It was fantabulous.

But–Life feels kind of meaningless if you aren’t striving towards a dream. I know it for sure now; I write because I have to, because I love to, because I’m driven to.

I don’t care if it ever makes me money or proves that I have talent. (although, that would be nice, right?) I just love writing.

OMG this is the coolest looking thing ever. I want. My birthday is June 4th. Pleeeeeezzzeee.

It feels good to be back.

Wish me luck on my revisions. (I NEED IT!!)

.

.

.

Peace♥

14 Comments

Writer’s excuses

Published on April 26, 2010 in Writing Tags: , , , , , . ______________________________________

So I pretty much forgot that I had an anniversary this weekend. I mean I remembered, but only after I planned out all the hours I wanted to spend working on my revisions.

Needless to say, I did not get as much done as I wanted to.

That made me think of how to be a writer you need to be really strict and organized with yourself if you want to get anything done. BUT most writers are naturally a little more, um, unscheduled.

We can be chaotic if we let ourselves. I mean we hear voices in our heads (of our characters, of course) and we write on napkins in the middle of restaurants so we don’t lose amazing ideas. I love being spontaneous, but I will never achieve the level of writing and revision I want if I let my whims rule my schedule.

I am one of those people that hates wearing a watch—it feels so restricting. I don’t want to think about time. However, I went out and bought a stopwatch to help me stay on track. Have I used it? Heck no, but the idea…

Anyways, I don’t know if you have one of these, but I ran my excuses through my very scientific BS-OMeter at home, and this was what I found:

I need to revise another 20 pages, but I’ll be able to concentrate better if I go eat Chipotle first.

Okay, this is kinda bullcrap because I eat Chipotle like three times a day, so I never really neeeed it, but it is important to be fed and well rested before trying to hone your brain on your story. So why am I always up till 2am working on it???

.


I’ll be able to write better if I just clean the house first.

Total BS. First of all, I am a horrible cleaner, and cleaning my house would take me all day because I get sidetracked too much. That’s what amazing husbands are for (shhhh). Also, once I get into my story, I’m in the zone, I don’t really see or hear the room around me. The important thing is to get your butt in that chair and get into that zone.

.

I can juggle family time and writing time AT ONCE. Go ahead, sweetie-face, pop in that movie. I’ll just sit on the couch, watch the movie, and somehow still type coherently.


ding ding ding. Absolute BS. You will not be able to concentrate. I tried this weekend and I started typing what the characters in the movie were saying, or I’d completely space out, and then the movie would play this really dramatic music and I’d be like, “Wha’d I miss? Wha’d I miss????” booo.

.

Anyways, feel free to share your excuses that keep you from writing. Along with ways you combat them.
My best advice is just to sit there and type. It’s getting into that chair that’s hard for me.

Peace♥

12 Comments

ooohhh weee

Published on April 12, 2010 in Writing Tags: , , , , . ______________________________________
So have you seen that SNL skitty-skit where these celebrities are getting interviewed, but they never get to say anything because this other guy starts singing “ooooohhhh weee what’s up with that? what’s up with that?” WELL THAT’S KINDA WHAT’S GOING ON IN MY HEAD NOW.

Super Cool Conference this weekend. I don’t have time to say much because my husband is cleaning my car and that’s supposed to be my chore, so he must be growing impatient.

Let’s just say, “CURSES TO YOU, WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL WORKBOOK! WHY COULDN’T YOU JUST LET ME BE COMPLACENT WITH MY BASSACKWARD REVISIONS???? WHY DID YOU MAKE ME WANT TO REVISE MORE?

Alsssoooooooo….
Number one #1 #1 #1 TIP from the conference:
Wear a stop watch around your neck and keep track of your writing time. Every time you click over to twitter, surf, or blog, or pick your nose, whatever, stop the timer. Then you will see how little much time you truly spend on writing.
Genius.

Peace♥

1 Comment

Great Self Editing Book

Published on April 6, 2010 in Writing Tags: , , , . ______________________________________

No matter how long you’ve worked on your manuscript or how complete you think it is, it’s not finished until you’ve taken it through the WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL WORKBOOK.

This book is stuffed with priceless exercises to polish your plot and characters.  It will make your story one that people connect with and best of all, don’t want to put down.

The thing I like the most about this book is how Continue reading ‘Great Self Editing Book’

2 Comments

Done Reading

Published on March 2, 2010 in Writing Tags: , , , , . ______________________________________
Finished reading/critiquing one of my critique group buddies’ manuscripts.

I really enjoyed this story.  I’ve been cramming so much reading through my feeble brain lately that I’ve become quite ruthless regarding whether a story is boring or not.  This one is not.

I was somehow emotionally connected with dead rodents and rooting them on until the end.  Plus, the end wasn’t completely predictable, which is great.  I mean, of course, the hero saves the day, but there’s a twist.  Fun and unusual characters, creative settings where children don’t often get taken in books, plenty of gross-out humor, and a bit of mythology.  I would love to see this on the shelf or even on the screen.  I kept picturing Nightmare Before Christmas-ish animation.  This book is definitely marketable to boys and girls, and I’ve read lots of agents’ blogs asking for literature for boys.

Now, I want to go back through my notes and make sure I meant every one of them.  This is my first manuscript-long critique, so I’m really anxious to see what she expected compared to what I’m delivering.

Also…
A while back I stumbled upon a great resource for grammar, but I forgot to bookmark it.  Well, I found it again: The Lynch Guide to Grammar and Style. Nice, brief descriptions that are easily readable. I’ve found so many great grammar websites that aren’t very visually appealing or clean, and I’m a visual person, so I really liked the simplicity of this one.

And I’m just wondering if anyone else saw the “nerd war” about Star Wars between Nathan Bransford and anonymous in the comments of his blog today? I love Star Wars (please, don’t judge me), so I thought it was hilarious.

0 Comments

Revision

Published on February 26, 2010 in Writing Tags: , , , . ______________________________________

I am reading like a fiend. Working on a peer’s MS and trying to stay caught up on my fiction reading list.

I had to go to the nonfiction section of the library last week…it was so weird. All those numbers on the spines (involuntary shudder).

No it’s not that bad. I went to the nonfiction section because I’m supposed to be working on a grammar critique, and while I was an ace at grammar in college, things can get a little fuzzy with time. Also, there are so many different opinions when it comes to grammar.

So, to my husband’s disbelief, I brought home The Comma Sutra. COMMA! It’s not the book you’re thinking of. Also, I brought home Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. My head is spinning from the forcing myself to read a book with no plot line, but I feel much more confident that I’m not making my punctuation preferences up.

Also, it’s fun to read Eats, Shoots, and Leaves with a British accent in your head.

Here are a couple online references I found helpful for a quick overview:

Junket Studies’ 11 Rules of Writing

Daily Writing Tips’ English Grammar 101

And the always helpful Nathan Bransford has a great post on a general
(non grammar) revision checklist.

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Revision, step one

Published on February 4, 2010 in Writing Tags: , , , . ______________________________________
Goal: have step one done by Saturday morning – 2/6/10
Feelings: This is daunting and impossible. Why did I write so much? Hey, some of this isn’t half bad…ooh, I forgot about that part…

Step One:
Based on several blogs and articles I’ve read on revision, I’ve decided to attempt a 4 step process:

1) Correct grammar and awkward phrasing

2) Correct Plot/ Character Consistency

3) Check sentence length and subject placement

4) Final reread

Of course, these steps encompass much more than their brief description above indicates.

Some blogs make revision feel so overwhelming, unending, and impractical, that it’s no mystery why so many authors just give up or do a crappy job at revision. I liked Holly Lisle’s article about it, which was detailed enough to be realistic, but simple enough to keep my head from spinning. Another article I liked was Holt Uncensored’s post “The Ten Mistakes Writer’s Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do).” Of course, Mary Kole has volumes of great advice from her December “Revision-O-Rama” series. I definitely recommend reading any and every thing posted under her Revision category.

My first step is to read through the manuscript, fairly quickly, but thoroughly enough to catch most of the grammar and punctuation error errors. A lot of the time, I’m reading this outloud, or pretending to do so in my head so I can catch sentences that just don’t roll easily, or descriptions that are vague/over used.

To speed up step 2, as I read, I’m making a list of threads and elements that I like but maybe forgot to carry through to the end of the novel. I’m also finding good fodder for the subplots of my novel’s sequel, if I was to write one.

The other list I’m making is of all the characters introduced, along with the descriptions and histories I mention in the book. I know much more about my characters in my head than the audience does, and I think it’s good to make sure I know exactly how much I’ve revealed. This also helps check that the characters stay consistent to the end of the text, or have a valid reason for changing.

All this by Saturday…and my Thursday lunch is over, so I bid you adieu.
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