We Got Fleur!

Just a quick one to say that Fleur is now blogging. Check her out at:

http://yasleuth.blogspot.com/

heh

Ack! Goals, Again.

It feels like I've just written the goals for one month before it's time to do it all over again.

How'd I do for January?

--Finish really really rough draft of TNN (DONE)
--Rewrite MMG (About 1/3)
--Write flash piece for anthology (Did 2)
--Read first book in Divine Comedy (DONE)
--Do CWC critique (1/1)
--UGWP critiques (3/3)

For February?

--FINISH rewrite of MMG
--Clean up enough of Vesta from NaNo to submit to CWC this month (added)
--Complete CWC critique
--UGWP critique

It's a short month, what can I say?

Frustrating and Fascinating

This is one of those days when we all cannibalize each other's blogs. But it's a good topic.

Revision. Or as Jenny says, re-vision. Looking at your work in a new way. It sucks. It revitalizes. It hurts. It inspires. It's both frustrating and fascinating.

Another Jenny comment was that we have to write the stuff that needs to be cut later. I found that helpful now that I'm about a third of the way through MMG rewrites. I'm slashing and hacking, and adding and tweaking. And all the while thinking "Why didn't I realize that I didn't need this crap?" But I did need it. I needed to write those words because they were what led to the words that I'm keeping. If it hadn't been for the 15-page funeral scene that was cut, I wouldn't have the cleaning out the house scene which stayed. If I hadn't written Thanksgiving (cut), I wouldn't have done Christmas (stays).

The good part of a critique group, especially one as thorough, talented and honest as CWC, is that you find out what didn't work and what did. The bad part is that you tend to hear the same things 4-5 times. And it starts to feel like water torture. Just that drip drip drip of what was wrong--because none of us are egotists so we tend to gloss over the what worked part. Which can turn into the feeling that nothing worked. But in Ali's case--as in all the stories that have been submitted so far--only a tiny portion of the whole didn't work.

What I'm going to take away from this discussion is the re-visioning of revision. Look at MMG with new eyes (because, frankly, the old ones were getting pretty tired of the story and that can be death to the process).

And, Ali, do ignore Juan.

Because Neil Asked

The one Coraline trailer he really likes.

Randomness

There have been so many things going on lately. Big things like our new President. Little things like knitting gloves. Things in between like a birthday party for my favorite 4-year-old. I keep thinking I should have enough material for a long, deeply thought-out post, but the truth is that all of this stuff just seems to crowd each other out. One minute a party is asking for attention. The next it's the idea that double-pointed knitting needles are one of the greatest inventions of all time.

I'd claim ADD, throw up my hands and have an excuse for not getting anything done, but we all know that I can focus like a laser (almost typed Lazar) when I put my mind to it. I think what the main roadblock has been is that the BIG thing has occupied a lot of my thoughts in the last few weeks. What it might mean for the country, indeed, the world. How high hopes, including mine, are and how that is going to both help and hurt Mr. Obama. Because we are a nation inflicted with a form of ADD. Yes, we're going to support him. Yes, we're willing to wait. Yes, we know it'll be hard work and what can I do to help. And, wait a minute? Didn't he say he was going to fix the economy? No, I don't remember saying anything about being willing to sacrifice and be patient and helping out. So that worries me a bit. But this isn't a political blog.

All I can think of to say about knitting gloves is that it's near instant gratification, unlike sweaters and afghans. If the cat agrees to sit on the arm of my chair instead of my lap, I can knock out one a night. You'll see my running count on the side bar. She's not cooperating. But the rhythm of knitting is soothing, therapeutic even. And double-pointed needles are a wonder. The knitting just goes round and round, seamlessly.

Elizabeth is a wonder. Not that I'm biased at all. Cute, smart and funny. Mostly funny. She can be so serious one minute and a complete goof the next. And she's at the age where she's making up stories. They go from first person to third to second within one sentence. Her cast of characters gets unwieldy and she drops characters without warning. But they are exciting tales of giant girls with green skin who climb mountains with Ariel and Belle (pronounced Bell-le). Somehow we never seem to reach the end of the story. And I think that's a good thing.

Facebook never ceases to amaze. Just a little over a month on it and I've reconnected with people from former jobs, other social networks (I guess that's what you'd call the old AOL MST3K message boards) and from high school. And here's a question: How can I not remember a guy from my graduating class when there were only 125 kids in it? Weird.

So that's the update for this week, such as it is. I'll try to be more focused next week. We'll see how that works out for me.

I Hate It When They're Right

So, I've been chugging along on my MMG rewrites, pretty happy with the results. Until I realized that I'm 85 pages in and Kitty's only had one brief contact with the man who will change her life. Now I believe it's important to show her life before the change. But 85 pages? How can I shorten it? Ah, cut one of the holiday gatherings and move any important info to the other one. Great idea.

The problem is that that was one of the comments made by several of my readers from the first time through. Thanksgiving and Christmas with the family was too repetitive, and I should cut one or the other. I balked (as I have been known to do on one or two occasions). They were both important. She was with different relatives at each one. It gave me a chance to introduce two different hauntings.

But they were right, dammit. I can just rejigger the hauntings.

This is all by way of saying that I'm extremely thankful for my writing friends. Now I just need to listen to them from the get-go. Although I do think the normal reaction is to question what they're saying. And that's not necessarily a bad thing as long as I make myself justify why I disagree. If the answer doesn't serve the story, it's not a valid reason.

Reading Goals

I gave my writing goals a week ago. Guess it's time to think about my reading goals for the year. Not that I think we necessarily need goals. Reading for fun is, well, fun and worthwhile for that simple fact. But I do like a challenge and find that I usually come away from one having not only learned something but having had some fun, too.

So, in addition to the ones I pick up just because, I would like to tackle the following this year:

--Read more non-fiction. I tend to only read non-fiction when I'm researching a book. While that's groovy, I'd like to read a little more on current events, history, biography, whatever that has nothing to do with what I'm planning to write. If it creeps in later, so be it.
--Read a couple craft books--writing, that is. There were a few years, back in the beginning of this writer's journey, when I read one craft book after another. Then they all start to bleed into each other. It's probably been a couple years since I read one. Time to pick up a couple old favorites and delve into a few I haven't read before.
--Read some classics. This will include The Divine Comedy, The Iliad and The Odyssey. I've had them on my shelf for years, but haven't gotten around to them. It's time.

Not awfully specific, but enough to give me a rough guideline. Kinda like my writing outlines.