Extra Days & Artist's Dates

I have a four-day weekend coming up. Do I hole up and write like a crazed woman or go to one of half a dozen events in the greater Colorado Springs area or some combination of the two?

I'm opting for a combo platter. We already have tickets for the Theatreworks production of Hamlet on Sunday. So I think I may go the arts & crafts fair in Manitou Springs Sunday morning. That always counts as a nice Artist's Date event. Shoot, if I'm still having trouble sleeping (yes, it's still an issue), I might be up early enough to catch the balloon festival. But on Saturday I want to spend the day with my writing.

Monday is the Rogue gathering, but I don't have plans for earlier in the day. Tuesday is wide open.

A nice variety of fun things to do and free time. Of course, there is also a possibility of waking up next Wednesday wondering why I didn't get any writing done and didn't really do anything else either. I'm ashamed to say how often that has happened in the past. So I'm putting it out here in order to be held accountable come next Wednesday.

I'm counting on you to keep me honest.

Final Feedback

Well, I received the final feedback for this draft of MMG last night. There will be much more when I start my rounds of queries. Jenny wrote up a great summary with an assignment. Maybe because I'm always harder on myself than anyone else would be comfortable being, it wasn't anywhere nearly as harsh as I thought it would be. Even with my thinking that she was delaying because it was such bad news.

I did wait until this morning to read it. Wanted to just enjoy last night with The Group. We have such a great mix of people now. All different genres and backgrounds, but it works somehow. I hope John decides to join us. He makes a nice addition.

Now I need to go buy a big 3-ring binder (part of my homework) so I can begin working on it this weekend. I'd start sooner, but this is shaping up to be a crazy-making week. Meeting last night (which was wonderful), meeting tonight for PPW, possibly a concert tomorrow night, barbeque at Jonnie and Steve's on Saturday (again, wonderful) and another meeting on Sunday (jury's out on this one). Oh, and maybe dinner with Geoff if he doesn't pick Saturday.

Think I may take Friday off just for me. Sounds like a plan.

Legal Uppers

Amazing how a few hours with certain people can work as a tonic.

I usually go out to dinner with the Sunday Group of the CSFWG on the last Sunday of the month. Yesterday, I sat in on the critique portion as well even though I hadn't read the submissions (although based on the comments, I will go back and read them). Even so, the critiques and suggestions are still helpful. Some of this stuff is just good sense to apply to any kind of writing.

At the dinner portion of the evening, we talked about some of the writing issues and more suggestions were made. But mainly we talked. About writing, of course. About books we're reading and enjoying, or not enjoying, and why. About movies, television. About life in general. We voted on names for Jenny and Shane's baby. We sympathized with Nicole's quest for a flowered dress for a wedding she's attending, because it was obvious that Nicole didn't want to buy a flowered dress. We rehashed the final Harry Potter book. Ali and D.B. talked about going bead shopping together. And we laugh. A lot.

I'm ready to write. I'm ready to work on TNN. A good thing, too, because Jenny hasn't finished with MMG yet. She, too, has been caught up in Pottermania--even moreso because of her job. And I'm really okay with that. Last week I would have been upset. It would have been another reason to be in a bad mood. But I think I'm reaching the point she was talking about a few months ago. I'm ready to rewrite MMG, but I'm not feeling like it's my one and only goal. Like it's the one thing that will make or break me as a writer.

And I'm in a really good mood today. Thanks gang!

That Wasn't So Bad

So last night was the big feedback meeting. Not too many bruises to the ego. But then they are a nice bunch of people.

What made me feel good is that almost everything that was said was something I already thought. That's a good thing. I'd be really worried if what they had problems with actually blindsided me.

Jenny's trying to convince me to wait at least a month after getting all the feedback before I start the final revision. I don't think that's going to happen. I'm a strike-while-the-iron-is-hot kinda writer. I've got to go with it when I'm in the mood.

Until the rest of the feedback comes in, I'll work on TNN. Armed with what I've got so far on MMG, I know what to watch for in TNN. Of course, the trick is to have that information but not let it stop me while I'm writing. Too much editing as you go can be fatal to a project.

"Trust your process." I made that comment to Nicole last night, and I need to heed it myself.

Feedback

It's essential for a writer. My first reader is always Carrie, the woman who cuts my hair. What's great about her, aside from her skill with a pair of scissors and a blowdryer, is that she reads a lot. So I get feedback from the reader's perspective, not the writer's. I think we sometimes get too caught up in what other writers think and forget about the majority of the readers out there.

But, on the other hand, writers see things that a casual reader won't, but that an agent or editor might. So it's also very important to put our words in front of other writers. Then to listen to their feedback. Another thing I've noticed in my years of being a member of a critique group is that the ones who tend to need the most revisions are the very ones who don't listen. They argue back. Or, worse I think, you see them shut down. Just stop paying attention. In some cases, they quit the group altogether. Maybe this life isn't really for them.

So tomorrow night I get my feedback on MMG. And I'm just a little nervous about that. I already know it needs work. Quite a bit, in my opinion. But I need to hear what The Group says. I need to listen to what The Group says. Take notes. Answer questions. But don't talk back or explain or argue. Process it all for a few days--should be easy since Miss Elizabeth and her parents are visiting from Wednesday through Saturday. Then dive in and fix.

Carrie has decided to sit in. It'll be nice to have the Readers represented. She's fascinated by the process and The Group all want a Carrie of their own. She may soon have more reading than she knows what to do with. I think she'd like that.

Bad Groups

I know Ali just posted on her blog about groups, but I'm going to piggyback on that.

I've mentioned before how much I appreciate The Group. My admiration is even stronger today after an encounter I had last night. Several people met at a restaurant in town. Most did not know each other. There was no real structure to the gathering--on purpose. For me it fell flat.

Most of the writers there are experienced, a few multi-published. Yet they seemed unable to maintain a conversation about writing without continued references to themselves. "In MY book, I...." They seemed to take it as an opportunity to promote themselves and their work. Now, that's okay to an extent, but not what I'm looking for.

Further, they seemed fairly clueless about what's in the marketplace right now and how the publishing industry works. And these were the published ones. They all have gone through small presses, which may explain why the promos. I don't believe that a writer needs to have the NYT bestseller list memorized, but at least have an idea of who's big at any given moment. And read something, for pity sake. In your genre and outside of it.

Okay, I feel a little better now. I did write and thank The Group for being the way they are.

The Group Strikes Again!

Last night was the official First Monday gathering of The Group. It occurs to me this morning that it may have been our one year anniversary. I'll have to look up whether we met for the first time in June or July of last year.

I arrived a little early to go over new novel ideas. I'd narrowed it down to four and was seeing if I could write a quick sketch outlining the main storyline for each one. If not, then the idea isn't ripe enough to pick. Jenny and Shane arrived while I was pondering and asked what I was doing.

"Looking at story ideas to see which one I'm using for my next project."

Jenny, "Let's hear 'em."

I read one. They nodded politely, asked a couple questions. Mary arrived and the conversation changed. A writer's nightmare happened to her a few weeks ago--complete computer meltdown. Latest revisions, gone.

Fleur and D.B. showed up and the discussion shifted again. Just when I thought it was safe, Jenny said, "So what are your other ideas?" After a brief explanation to bring Mary, D.B. and Fleur up to speed, I read my other three ideas. One in particular sparked everyone's interest. Then Jenny said, "You should put that together with the first one." Brilliance!

The fitting of the two, seemly unrelated, ideas is just what I needed to get excited about starting a new project. And I have to admit, I don't think I would have put them together on my own. Yet, there it was, just waiting for someone to discover the fit.

I love and respect each and every person in this group. We are not a critique group per se, although we do read and comment on each other's work. It's more like a support group--one that encourages a bad habit. Some months we have more people show up than others. Bret and Fran attend sporadically. Nicole is usually a regular, but had to be out of town. Ali shows up as often as she can. Everyone has a unique take on this crazy business of writing and we represent a broad range of genres.

It just works. And I'm so glad it does.