Committed

Committed.  Perhaps I should be anyway. With a straight jacket and a padded room.  No, I don't like Jello.  Shhhhhh....

Shari has successfully twisted my arm and I promised her that I would do NaNoWriMo2011 with her.  Of coarse, she already has an outline for her story.  She already has an outline! 
I've only got the most basic of ideas for mine.  I have decided that I can not continue with the Piper story until I have done more editing on the original.  So that means I get to write something new.  And I do have a basic idea.  Basic.  It has been something that I have considered, literally, since I was a kid.  Maybe not the story, but the idea of the story. 
I threw the idea past Shari last night, via Skype, and she liked it.  She even had some ideas for me to develop the plot.  There is still quite a bit of work to do.  I have always thought about writing it from the point of view of a teenager.  But it occurred to me today that was only because when I dreamt it up I *was* a teenager.  So, does it change now that I'm an **cough** adult?   The dynamics could certainly be different that way.  And there are characters to throw in..(aka, husband and kids and coworkers...). And the interests of the main character would have certainly changed since childhood.  I think I'll do that.  Thanks for talking me into it!

Shari blew past us as we typed up a storm in our weekly word games last year.  She even had a late start.  What she had that I didn't have was an outline.  She already had her story mapped out when she started typing it up.  She knew how many chapters she wanted to write and what was in each one. She even knew, basically, how many words belonged in each one.  And she has already put that together for this year.  Already! 
I think I would like to try it that way.  She assured me that I have 2 *whole* months to put one together!  They way she said it didn't sound anything like *ONLY TWO MONTHS!!!*.  But that is how I'm feeling.   I guess I had better get cracking then.  I could use some outline advice.  Let me know if anyone has any tips.  Of coarse, a plot and some characters would be nice too.  Let me know if you have any of those to spare as well.

Happy OUTLINING!  Get busy!  Get the crazy car ready for me at the end of November! 

Time?

My story was on my mind this morning for the first time in a while.  I'm hoping I can still rescue it, and I will be taking a look at it again this summer.  But it's also time to get serious about brainstorming the next one. I have a few basic ideas that need developed.  Our family will be taking a trip in a few weeks.  I plan to have pen and paper with me so I can work out outlines while travelling.  Plans like that never go as I think they will, so we will see, and I will be prepared.

It's almost summer.  It hit me yesterday that everything will be changing soon.  I usually like change.  I'm not looking forward to it this time.  I feel like I just got here, and I'm not ready for everything to be different yet.  Not much to be done but to muddle through it all and make the best of it.  I'm sure it's a good change and positive things will come from it somehow. 

New project?

There is a new writing project on the drawing board.  Someone I admire would like me to write some very special books with her.  These books would be geared towards children and travel.  I'm very excited to work out details with her and draw up some outlines.  This is not a small undertaking, I'm sure.  I hope that I can keep up with her cleverness.  More information to come during the summer.

No Work!

It has been a while since I last wrote....anything.  I haven't been good at updating blogs or facebook.  I've not written thank you notes for my fantastic birthday.  And I haven't picked up my Nano. 

I'm not too busy.  Well, I'm not any busier than normal anyway.  I should be able to carve out some time to edit.   I have done the first 6 or 7 Chapters already.  But I'm stuck on the next one.  I don't like it at all.  And I have come to the decision that I either have to rewrite the whole chapter or scrap it entirely.  I'm not ready to throw that work in the trash yet, so I think I'm just going to ignore it for the moment and move on to the next one.  If Allen (who is graciously reviewing my first draft with me) isn't confused by now, he will be when I skip a chapter when I send him something new.

So, I guess I'm back on this bandwagon again.  The next Nano chapter should be on its way to Allen shortly.  And if he is confused by it, he'd better tell me how so I can fix the previous chapter.  And if he doesn't notice... well, maybe that chapter is unneccesary then.

What not to do....

I'm not a published author, self published or otherwise.  I do, however, believe that if I were published and had the opportunity to be reviewed by someone who reviews and recommends self published and indie books, I would be able to handle myself better than the author here, whether the review was negative or not.

http://booksandpals.blogspot.com/2011/03/greek-seaman-jacqueline-howett.html

I would have read this book.  The reviewer said it was a good story.  I like a good story.  I can get over bad grammar (because that is often how we speak these days) and sometimes I can get over poor punctuation (though I do tend to be less patient with that).  I can't get over her outburst at receiving a poor review.  Her outburst has cost her more readers than just me. 

I hope she sells some books.  I hope, first, she gets an editor.  Even if it's a friend of hers who is reading and making notes for her.  There is always room for improvement.  Mostly,  I hope she learned a lesson.  And I thank her for the one I have learned.  Take the criticism and use it to be better.  Not everyone will like what I've written.  More people won't than will, I'm willing to bet.  I hope that those people won't be bothered to read it though, or comment on it.  But if they do, I hope I'm good enough to "be a duck" and let it roll off. 

Titled

I've titled my novel.  The last 2 years I've just been calling it "Piper's Story".  Mainly because I didn't know where it was leading.  I knew the basics of my characters, but I didn't know where the story was going to go.  It's hard to title it if you don't know those details.  I don't know how all the Nano authors are able to post a title before they have posted any progress at all on their story.  I suppose if you have an outline, you have a good idea where you will end up and a title could be derived.  But I'm a pantser... I knew the basics and that was it. 

And it stressed me out to not have a name for this story.  But yesterday I came up with 2 names.  One I liked more than the other.  And with a bit of help from Allen, I shortened it a bit and have a real title! 

In Plain Sight. 

Now more editing is in order.  I'm excited about it again.  And I've jotted down notes for 2011 Nanowrimo. 

Looking forward to sharing.  Shariware, I'll be ready to share with you by my birthday!  Looking forward to a copy of yours as well.  Allen, I'll be printing In Plain Sight for you as well.  Looking forward to comments.

Similar style

I read the book that my friend thought was similar to mine.  It was right up my alley.  It was a quick read and the author has a similar writing style to me.  Though I think I tend to add more detail.  Maybe I add too much?  I did find the Chapter that my friend thought was like my first chapter.  I see why she thought that too.  But I wouldn't have picked up on that without her input.  So I don't feel like they are too similar.   I look forward to reading the next in the series, just to see where the story goes.  At the same time, I could end the series after reading the first book and never move on.  I think I look forward to it because the first chapter of the second book is included at the end of the first book.  Kind of as a hook.  I wonder if I'd be as interested in reading the next one if I hadn't already read that chapter. 

It gives me something to think about as I edit my own novel.

Out of curiosity, is anyone planning to do the April Nano event?  I'm not, because it is a script writing event and I haven't the slightest clue on how to write a script, never mind what I would write about.   But I did get a brainstorm on next years Nano while sitting in the airport.  I read a news paper report regarding Stephen King's new novel. He is writing a story that is something that I have totally considered in the past.  He will do it soo much better than I ever could have.  Check it out here.  It looks fantastic!