Ever have one of those weeks where hurting a body part IS CONSIDERED A GOOD THING?My friends, the preceding line was originally the opening salvo to a short post that was supposed to announce the verdict from Monday's post, which was that a short mini-vacation was I to undertake from the Cyber World. Instead, I decided to partake in a meaty swerve and turn this into one of my legendary brain dumps from yesteryear.
Through the magic of Mr. Wizard the Lizard and Space Ghost from Coast to Coast, along with a healthy dose of that wonderful elixir called Alone Time that I took this past Sunday, I am now ready to face the world with a maladjusted attitude and a moldy tongue.
Seriously though, besides those figments of my IMAGINATION that cropped up a mere thirty seconds ago while I was composing this blog post, I actually spent Sunday doing something incredibly tedious yet wonderfully exhilarating.
I edited for grammar and spelling, I took a plethora of notes and more importantly, I was able to plant butt into chair and rewrite this particular passage from my book.
Not only did I do all of those nifty things while sitting outside on a smurfy Saturday and a seriously unseasonal Sunday (overcast with temps somewhere in the hi 50's/lo 60's), but I also spent a little time surfing New Pages, which is a funky website/clearing house for all things related to writing (mostly literary, college and independent) and music (mostly independent).
And what was the end result of this surfing? Three contests, two for novellas and one for books that meet the page count range of 150-200. While I have a decent story that will fit the novella word count range (20-45K) the problem with that story is trying figure out what its about. Yup, you guessed right: I wrote an entire story from beginning to end, with two separate plots that actually come together quite nicely at the end...and I haven't a clue on what the freakin' thing is all about.
As for the book contest, this thing is actually a godsend, because sometimes in order for me to do something I don't really like to do (like editing/rewriting) I need a particular something to shoot for. Doesn't really matter whether or not that particular something pans out in the end, so long as its a concrete destination, I'm happy.
So, I have a deadline of October 15th for the one book contest I want to do, and October 1st for the novellas. I do have another book contest lined up, but that requires a minimum of 150 and I'm barely sitting at 149.
All in all, it wound up being a most productive weekend and I'm looking forward to a psychotic three days of editing/re-writing and wasting a cartridge of toner to print out a clean copy of my book, with the weekend being spent making one ugly and expensive copy for this contest.
Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention the one crucial item that helped put me into this good frame of mind: my friends. I managed to hook up with a couple of friends last week via FB and e-mail, and without them, I don't think I would be in the decent frame of mind that I'm currently monkeying around with.
To them, I give a great big THANKEE
To everyone else, thanks for stopping by today and remember, if you're gonna sweat, make sure you're doing it for all the right reasons.
Glad you're feeling OK about things. That pic is going to burn my retinas, though. As for writing and rewriting, I love the rewriting myself.
ReplyDeleteJust checking in after my hiatus to see what's happening here at the mountain. You are definitely in the writing zone, a great place to be. I know what you mean about needing something to shoot for. I find that I often work better with a specific destination in mind, and deadlines help too. Good luck, and keep on writing!
ReplyDeletehaha... If you're gonna sweat, make sure you're doing it for the right reasons... I like that. I hope you continue to monkey around with a decent frame of mind. :-)
ReplyDeleteExhilaration from doing what you love - a great thing. :)
ReplyDeleteGood friends, good writing, good alone time - yeah - that's about as good as it gets :)
ReplyDeleteWell it sounds like you have plenty of material to poke through and edit. It sure beats a blank page. Best of luck.
ReplyDeleteCharles: Thanks. I think that pic is gonna burn my retinas as well. I didn't think that the "large" size would be quite so...large. Actually its a recycled pic from a post back in 2008 when this long suffering Met fan was watching his team implode.
ReplyDeleteI find its a bit tougher rewriting anything longer than a couple of sentences, and that prologue was the biggest chunk of re-writing that I have do for the entire book.
Joanne: Welcome back from your hiatus, hope that your batteries are recharged and refreshed.
I very rarely write with a specific goal/deadline in mind, because frankly I don't do that well under that kind of pressure, but I figure that since I was doing a second round of editing anyways, it would help to have something to shoot for this time around.
Extra O: I always monkey around in a indecent frame of mind. :D
Lynn: Very much so. I putzed around for a couple of weeks and I decided that this past weekend, come hell or high water, I was going to do an entire run through from beginning to end with this thing.
Talon: Absitively posolutely. :D
David: Most definitely. I belatedly discovered that the novella I wanted to submit needs a ginormous overhaul. I was reading it this week, and I couldn't believe how disjointed it was in certain spots. Live and learn as they say.
Glad things are going better! Now if you'll excuse me, I have lots of your writing to catch up on...
ReplyDeleteR: Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAnd not a problem. Got loads of re-writing to catch up on myself.
I'm like you, nothing like a deadline to ditch writer's block :-). Good for you, Georgie, keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteYou're certainly very goal driven n like deadlines. Hope it all goes All Write!
ReplyDeleteSometimes caring friends is the best part of trying times- Lucky you to have them!
Jewel: Thanks. I really needed to find something to light a fire under my butt because I didn't (and still don't) relish the thought of doing 149 pages of editing/re-writing, and this should work out just fine.
ReplyDeleteSnaggle: Thanks. Having friends like that can really make facing whatever daunting problems you got a little less daunting.
Good luck with the contests!
ReplyDeleteAnd, I know exactly what you mean about needing a destination.
Mama Z: Thanks, although right now I'm gonna pass on these novella contests. Deadline is October 1st and the story I want to enter needs a major gut and rewrite.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll have more luck with the book contest as I'm already halfway through the editing/rewrite as it is and I should have it done by the weekend.
I found it's best to put a recently finished piece aside for months and it is amazing what new angle you can discover.
ReplyDeleteDavid: So very true. The down time for Line 21 from finishing the first draft to tackling the second round of editing was about 4 1/2 months, and by the time I got back to it, I had an entire book of notes and almost a half dozen continuity/plot rewrites at the fingertips (had a copy to edit and what not during my various work breaks and the weekends).
ReplyDeleteAs for that novella of mine, I had put it aside for about year, so by the time I actually started looking at it last week, I was immmediately able to see a multitude of problems that I probably wouldn't have seen had I not put it aside to begin with.
I like deadlines in general. I do get things done when I have a date looming overhead. By the way, my husband rarely looks over my shoulder when I blog. Guess his reaction when he noticed the picture on this blog post? LOL.
ReplyDeleteKelly: Yeah, that dog picture was a little too much. I definitely won't use that particular size anymore.
ReplyDeleteI normally don't do well with deadlines, unless I know what kind of deadline I got to begin with. If it's flexible, I'm good. Concrete, not so good.