100%

The last few months I have kept myself sane by working on what I term "the prequel" but even it has reached that point where you have to either develop a structure and take the project seriously or keep writing for fun and acknowledge that most of what you have done will later be undone when you try to transform "fun" into a marketable piece.

I never came to terms with this when the final book in my series started kicking about in my mind again, more like an emotional haunting, where I find myself trapped in the characters' angst.

So what does this mean?

I heard fabulous news from a colleague of mine from the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group (GLVWG), Kathryn Craft, whom I respect as a writer and for her diplomacy, wisdom and personality. She signed with an agent at Donald Maass' agency.

She had queried 129 agents prior to the one who signed her.

Meanwhile, other friends wait for news from small publishers, agents and contests. Other friends walk the "Indie" route and explore E-publishing, self-publishing and developing their own small presses.

And then people ask me what I'm doing. I'm sitting on my work.

I am still not confident the concept is 100% and I am close to nailing down what it should be. I want to see more of where the publishing industry is going. When I enter this game again, I hope to have three solid manuscripts and other projects in the works. That way if one doesn't sell, I have two others to hawk. And if the first one sells, I have the material for a multi-book deal.

But the key here is 100%. Because I think-- in anything in life-- you must stand behind it and be 100% confident. If you're not, those you're trying to impress will find your weakness and exploit it and crush you.

Research

Besides the poem I wrote about my tooth, my writing time has been limited. I'm formulating a lot of ideas right now on how to revise my manuscripts, who to submit to next and what I'd like to do with my very brief pre-summer vacation. Summer class starts Monday.

I have many ideas and not much focus or energy, so I flit from idea to idea trying to find one that sticks. I have several ideas inspired by The Write Stuff and by the conference's keynote speaker agent Donald Maass. Those are for the manuscript I finished a month ago. I also have some concerns about Manipulations, the book I've been pitching, that I'd like to address. Primarily, the bad guy got tougher in book two and I think he needs to reflect that in book one.

I've resisted diving too far into Galen's back story because of the research I knew it would entail. Today I thought I'd read the passages that relate to his past and see if they spurred any idea of how I could strengthen them. I found something in this:


"A Huguenot couple had lost their daughter to a fever that their eldest son now had. They had traveled with him and his brother from the south of England. Hesper healed the boy. ... When it came time for the family to return to England, and escape the Irish climate, they offered the baby as payment. Or so Hesper had told him."

In my head I heard this voice say, "She lied."

I knew Galen's family were Huguenots from Bretagne (Brittany, the north of France). But what if the whole story was hooey? What if they fled Bretagne for some other reason? What if they left the south of England for the same reason?

I started with a quick internet search via the iPhone and discovered revolts in Bretagne, legends of Ankou, tidbits about the landscape and the language, and now I'm at the college library looking for more.

And Ankou? I haven't researched him here yet but he's Death, the Reaper. A skeleton in a shroud and flat Breton hat with an upturned scythe and an oxcart...

Sometimes with the right research, the story amazingly tumbles together as if you knew it all along.

Working toward the end

I have three more chapters to revise of Courting Apparitions. And probably adding a prologue.

It was hard to get that far. During this past weekend, I wanted it over.

I've reached some of those points where things still aren't right. My critique group is pointing out flaws that my heart has known for a while... Donald Maass and his wife Lisa have given me ideas of how to strengthen the whole thing... And this means a fourth draft.

These are changes that may impact the ending.

So, why go on? Why not start over?

Why?

Because I believe in finishing. I believe in seeing it through to the end if only to prove that I can. Many can't. I want to see if the characters have any last surprises before I retreat to the beginning and impose my will upon them again.

This book has always been my problem child, but now it has merit. Someone had asked me at the conference if I planned on released book two to the world before book one, a tribute to Star Wars, and I had never pondered that. I could.

If I pitched book two to agents, and followed with book three, those books have more excitement and danger than book one. And book one explains why these characters went to so much trouble for each other in more depth. It certainly makes me wonder...

Tension

Donald Maass listed action scenes and sex scenes as scenes people skim. Part of this has to do with tension, and heightening the tension and pacing it. Part of it has to do with the expected nature of what unfolds.

I have a process for sex scenes. I write them, and about half way through I decide it stinks and I don't want to go on and I force myself to finish. Next, I read it and cut about 3/4 of the action out. Then I read it again and put other action and some thoughts back in. And usually a finally round of edits for ease of reading language.

But action. UGH.

Those are big battle scenes that we can't model quite so accurately off our real lives. I have sex, but I don't often slay villains or sacrifice young girls to pagan gods.

It's part imagination, part physics, and part creative editing so you don't provide every detail but enough to keep the reader informed and interested.

And lots of danger. I'm working on a big scene right now and there will be more on this when I finally get it right... because right now... it's not

Post-conference GLVWG column

Welcome to the Middle

The close of March cleaves a sharp division in GLVWG, those who attended the conference and those who did not. If you’re following the messages on our general membership message board, you’ve read the kudos and inside jokes (“Jon, put that microphone down!”) and the reactions to tips from our presenters and our keynote, Donald Maass.
If you did not attend, you might feel a tad left out right now. If you did attend, you’re probably still super-motivated. If you volunteered at the conference, you might still be tired and suffering from caffeine withdrawal. (And with that, let me thank everyone who served. Tammy Burke and her troops did a fantastic job and from what I saw the board was also very willing to help in any capacity they could.)
I realized something at the conference after Lisa Rector-Maass’ workshop on “middles” and with some augmentation from Donald Maass’ presentations.
We have reached our middles. Not our manuscripts or our characters, but us. We have hopes, dreams, goals, and conflicts. No matter where we’ve come from, what we’ve achieved or what we really hope to do, we haven’t reached our final scene. We all have more to come. We all want more.
According to our presenters, the middle of our manuscripts can always have more. Our middles should have more, too. Not the kind of middle that requires a trip to the gym. Not the kind of middle riddled with strife and catastrophe, although some people certainly have that. Like our protagonists, we must face our middles with more effort, a never-give-up attitude and a new plan in the midst of mounting challenges.
My protagonist would never disappoint his friends or family. I need to give him that same advantage, not to give up on him and his story. By the time I see everyone in April, I think those who attended the conference will have tons of new pages and edits. Those people will be exhausted and smiling.
For those who did not attend, look at the middle of your manuscript. Do the characters experience tension on every page? Do even the secondary characters have small plot lines that weave them into the story? Do you take your characters to places of great loss or joy? You can’t take the comfortable road of storytelling. Not in the current marketplace.
Happy writing and may your revisions be fruitful.

Momentum

Look at that title.

Momentum.

I didn't have any. Now all I want is to rearrange my entire life to renew my commitment to my writing.

I'm typing this on my iPhone. So, don't expect a long entry but do you want to know what made the difference? Not what, but who...

Donald Maass.

He spoke this weekend at the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group's Write Stuff conference and gave an intense two-day workshop. He is dynamic. I was blown away!

And I got a request from another prestigious agency for a full manuscript which I submitted whilE still in the hotel.

More later.