Two Unexpected Hours

Monday night was our regularly scheduled Pirates' Night. We gather, eat pizza, drink whatever and talk. About books read and movies watched and life lived, but mostly about writing. It's informal. No critiques, although pages are swapped once in a while. A night I look forward to all month.

I arrived at 5:30, ordered my slice of pizza, found a seat and pulled out my manuscript to mark up. I ate the slice while I continued to mark up pages. I wrote missing scenes. Every so often I glanced at the door. Ali had said she'd be + 1, but late. Fleur couldn't make it. But no one else showed up either.

About 7:10, I texted Ali. She was about 15 minutes away. Then I ordered a decaf latte. And I marked up more.

At 7:30 Ali + 1 arrived. I put my marked up pages away, and the usual talking commenced. No one else made it. Life managed to interfere with more than one Pirate this month. Emails had been sent after I'd left work for the day. But the talk was interesting, and the next two hours flew by.

It wasn't until the next morning that I pulled out those marked up pages to see how many there were. Surely I'd made my 30 page goal for the day. Goal + 67! 97 pages in two hours. Two hours I didn't expect to have. Two hours that prove how much can be accomplished if the butt is planted in a chair and a pen is kept in the hand.

And I'd managed to get past the worm hole without being sucked in. You know the point. The place where I'd decide I needed to go back to the beginning and start over. But I just scribbled right past it. I'm now in "new" territory.

This means I'll have revisions done well before the CWC meeting this month. I may even get a second pass (quick though it will have to be) to do more clean up. All because of two hours.

I'm keeping a look out for two more.

If Not Now, When?

As I've stated previously, I've been reading a lot of cozy mysteries lately. The problem I encountered is not exclusive to cozies specifically or to mysteries in general, but it has happened in every one. I think it's something that spans genres. And it drives me buggy.

What is this nefarious writing issue?

The use of present tense words in a past tense narrative.

You might be saying, "Huh?" An example: Betty pondered her relationship with Bill as she stared out the window. She wondered how things had gotten so far out of hand. Bill's phone call this morning upset her so badly, she didn't think she'd ever get over it. But today's blue sky helped cheer her up some. Maybe now she could think things through.

Past tense, right? Pondered, stared and wondered all indicate that we're reading about something that happened in the past. Then "this morning" crops up. Okay, if I'm reading this in the afternoon or evening, I guess "this morning" would be past tense. But it still jars, because I might be reading about that evening and the next day and even a month later within a few pages. The "this morning" I just read about will have happened quite a while ago in the context of the story. Same thing with "today's blue sky" and "now."

Most of the time, leaving out the time stamps can fix it. "Bill's phone call upset her . . ." If it's that important a phone call, you've shown it already, right? So we know where she is time-wise in relation to it. "But the blue sky . . ." "Maybe with a new attitude she could think things through." A little bigger change, but it conveys why she can think better.

It's perfectly fine in dialogue. For the character, it is today. Just not for the reader.

In the big scheme of writing, this probably isn't a huge faux pas. But it bugs me, and I can't be the only one. Do you want to take a chance that the agent or editor you submit to has the same pet peeve?

A Lovely Side Effect

So, you all know that I resigned my position on the Board of Directors of Pikes Peak Writers. Only one column was submitted directly to me. A couple were sent to editor@pikespeakwriters.com which meant I got one and the new editor got one as well. After this issue, that one won't forward to me any longer. Lots less hassle. With the exception of a flurry of activity the first week or so while the new editor asked questions, I sent extra articles I had on hand and information about the reporters, she asked me for the information I sent again, I sent it again, she asked again, etc. Funny how I never received any notification that my email didn't go through. Oh well.

The new editor seems like a nice person. And very optimistic. Yes, I remember being optimistic when I first started, lo these many months ago. I would no longer be working with aspiring authors who had poured their very souls into this master work of under 2,000 words. Their sad little souls. Their sad little, poorly written souls. No, I would be working with reporters. Hard-nosed, hard-drinking, tough-talking reporters.Serious-minded fact-based writers who took pride in their work, but weren't personally invested in it. Reporters. And then I woke up. The reporters were aspiring authors. This reporting gig was waaaaaay down on their list of priorities. As well it should have been. But that meant some less than best efforts. There were exceptions, of course. Linda and Fleur were always reliable and on time and polished like a new penny. And Deb C. really stepped in and stepped up toward the end of my run. Maybe the new editor will have more of those in her future. I hope.

But the lovely side effect of resigning? Loads less email to wade through. My name is now off the BOD and Steering Committee lists. It will drop from the Volunteer list soon (because I'm no longer allowed to volunteer for ANYTHING). But even better is that the email I do get because I'm a member still and on the PPW loop doesn't have to paid attention to if I don't want. I don't have an obligation to keep up with topics and make sure I send congratulations for every announcement. And that means more time.

I resigned because of time, I know. But I was thinking of the schlepping to meetings and reading submissions and editing and looking at layouts and scrambling to get more content to fill up the issue and all that good stuff. I didn't think about less email and what that would mean.

Are you on any email loops that you don't need to be? I'm thinking of another one I'm on that may be the next to go. Hey, I've got to do something so I have time for Facebook and Twitter.

Tension

"Grandage is alive to the fact that uncontrolled rage is profoundly uninteresting to watch: If emotions boil over, tension evaporates. " David Benedict of Variety reviewing Grandage's production of Othello with Ewan McGregor as Iago.

There were two revelations in that statement for me. The first is that it may be why I don't particularly care for most reality shows. Especially the "I'm Better Than Everyone Else So I Can Treat Them Like Shit" shows. The people seem to be cast because they have no emotional control. And it's boring. Put one person in the mix who is polite and helpful, but plotting something for later and it gets a little more interesting.

The other is with regard to writing, of course. The long slow simmer is what builds tension. And it can be incredibly hard to do. But it has me thinking about both Vesta and MMG. I will be more aware of this in the rewrite process (and it'll be there in the back of my mind for the first draft of every book from here on out).

Update to Intrusions

What did I tell you?

I sent my acceptances and rejections out. Almost immediately, one of the guys I rejected came back and said that he'd be happy to revise but he didn't understand my comment that the story was spotty. Did I mean uneven? And if so, he needed clarification. This is a person who has supposedly--I didn't take the time to Google him--been nominated for a couple Edgars. Right.

I now know why agents and editors can be so terse in their rejection letters. They are saying, "No, thank you." That's it. Once you throw in the "Your writing has promise" or "Maybe with a little work", you as the editor are screwed. Because they just keep coming back. I have taken the line with "please keep submitting" out of the rejection letter. It is now simply, your story doesn't work for us. Period.

The other response I got to a rejection was another story. Immediately. Okay, let's get this straight. You sent me your best work two weeks ago. I have sent a rejection to that work and your second (or third or fourth) best work is going to impress me? I did read it. Two typos and 3 POV shifts in the first 6 paragraphs. It doesn't get any better.

So to quote the much missed Miss Snark, "No means no."

The good part of this is that I am now SO ready to start working on my own stuff. And reading things from the Pirates. You guys don't know how good you are.

Intrusions

I'm a big one for lecturing people on not letting too much intrude on their writing time. Looks like I need to sit down and have a heart to heart with myself.

This is always a pretty slow week for me at work. We've done all the mid-month stuff and it's not yet time to gear up for end of month. So what to do today except, oh I don't know, write?

Except I have some other commitments to see to. So I've been reading submissions for Apollo's Lyre and responding. I am definitely seeing a trend. People submit, are accepted and immediately submit something else. Not a bad thing if second submission is as good or better than first (and that means you, Frank!), but if the first acceptance was pretty much because we had to have something to publish and said author's didn't exactly suck, well....the next one is never better, let me tell ya. I believe this is a similar phenomenon to the people who are rejected and immediately send in a different story with all the same flaws. Frustrating. And tiring.

And then I had some clean-up work to do for PPW. Submit my volunteer hours. Have a Sweet Success story published on the web because, somehow, it didn't get included in the November print edition. Apologize to person who achieved the success, profusely. Send out a reminder of the deadline for the January issue. And think about what my editorial will be for January. Should probably write a draft. Ain't gonna happen today.

I've said before, and I'll say again, the editing is rewarding work. We do put out some really useful information in the PPW NewsMagazine. And when I get a so-so submission to AL and give feedback to the author who then turns it into a great piece of short fiction, what a high! And I love when an awesome piece shows up out of nowhere. But editing is not my passion. That's my writing. And I need to remember to protect my passion.

I'll be finished with the other stuff in less than an hour (mainly because I'm not writing my editorial right now). That leaves two hours to work on Vesta before I go home. And, if I tape Chuck and Heroes, I'll have a couple more hours tonight.

Okay, I feel better now. I did my have-tos and can still get some want-tos done.

Lecture over.