Random Tidbit and Decisions on Workshop Submission

Tidbit from conferences I've attended - Agents have said that they sometimes get very well-polished first couple of chapters with a query letter but when they ask for a partial or full, the rest of the writing is a mess.  So, we need to make sure our whole book is ready to go.

And now to my dilemma -
My challenge today is to select 5,000 words for my last workshop of the OWC program.  Do I resubmit the first couple of chapters to get more feedback on it after making some small changes to it or do I submit a portion later in the book that hasn't been read as often and has larger chunks that I've added to it?

Benefits to submitting the early stuff - I would have another read of the first two chapters which would help with submissions to agents.
Problems with it - I've had it read many times before.  Each time it gets better but what about the other portions?

Benefits to submitting the later stuff - Although it has also been read, there are some new portions that I added based on feedback I received. If an agent wants to read more material, it would be good to have more polished portions throughout the book.
Problems with it - If I can't get an agent past the beginning portion of the book, the rest won't matter anyway.

Off to go decide now...

Stanford's OWC - Applications for the new cohort due June 6, 2014!

So, I've already mentioned this program several times but you have less than a month to apply for the new cohort.  If you've been thinking about it - Do it!  It is awesome.  I love it.  The other people in it were smart, fun, impressive people.  The teachers were incredible. And each course had a workshop component where you get feedback on your own writing in addition to other valuable writing exercises.

Here is the information from the email I received this week for Stanford's OWC:

"Applications are now being accepted. The deadline to apply is June 6, 2014, 5:00pm PDT. The application details are listed below. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

• Register for OWA 001 and pay the non-refundable $80 application fee on the Continuing Studies website.
  
• Complete your application packet (download here) and email it to: continuingstudies@stanford.edu as one scanned file. We no longer accept applications by postal mail or fax.
  
• Your application must include the following (incomplete applications will NOT be accepted):
  • A completed Application Checklist
  • References and Education
  • Policies and Honor Code
  • A Statement of Purpose
  • A Writing Sample (3000 - 6000 words)
  • Sample Classroom Feedback

Application materials will NOT be returned to the applicant. Please email the completed application packet to:continuingstudies@stanford.edu. Upon receipt of your full packet and verification of enrollment OWA 001, you will receive a confirmation email.
For more information about the Online Writing Certificate Program in Novel Writing, please visit:csp.stanford.edu/writingcertificate."

Writing Update

Book 3 is now up to 70,000 words.  Woohoo!

Now, I'm not saying it's any good…because it's not.  But my goal for this weekend is to "finish" the first horrible draft so I at least know what is going to happen in it and then I can officially start plotting out book 4 (even thought I've been working on it already too.)  By doing these drafts now, I know some things I have to add in book 1 to make sure they aren't deux ex machina when I need them in book 3-5.

One of the things about each of my  "books" in my "series"  (quotes are due to them not being official books in a series yet…aka published) is that they each take place over a small slice of the main character's life.  I really appreciated how one of my writing teachers at Stanford's OWC shared that there is the arc of the character's whole life (picture an arc like a rainbow) but our stories are a slice out of it.  In my case, my series will look at a chunk of Kayla's life over five years but each individual book is a very small slice within that already small part of her life. 

Now, some of the stuff that comes before the slice that I'm sharing is important to understand the character but I can't cram the whole first part of the arc into the beginning of the story.  I need to fit in little tidbits here and there so that the reader can better appreciate the slice they are reading.  (Why do I suddenly want a slice of pizza now???)

I have a 5,000 word rewrite from book 1 due on Sunday for my One-on-One Tutorial.  It is so hard to select which portion to submit.   I love getting feedback on pieces of the story from people that are genuinely interested in seeing it become a stronger piece of fiction.

I was talking to a person who had never done a workshop before in writing.  She was concerned about people taking her ideas or being too harsh.  I can understand those concerns but once you get that feedback and use it, you start to realize the huge difference it can make in your writing.  So, I encourage all of you to find a group of aspiring writers willing to do workshops where you "sandwich" the criticisms between praise.  

BTW- Having friends and family read your writing is not the same as a workshop.  People who are not reading your work-in-progress (WIP) from a writing perspective do not necessarily know how to comment on your writing and the flow of your story.    They might point out typos but they won't necessarily point out the holes in the plot, the confusing portions, the overly verbose sections, or other issues.  You need people that can be critical but still supportive.  

My desire to keep that type of workshop-circle-of-writers is one of the reasons I wanted to pursue the MFA.  It sounds like workshops are a large portion of the brief residencies and I am looking forward to new people reading my works-in-progress while keeping in contact with OWC folks too.

Book Con 2014

The Book Expo America will be in NYC at the end of this month.

Us regular, not-yet-published-and-not-yet-in-the-industry folk can participate for a very reasonable $30 for the Saturday BookCon.  Sounds super cool!

Some of the incredible MG, YA, and non-MG/YA authors will be there.

Plus, Cary Elwes (who my main character, Kayla, thinks is hot for an old guy) will be there too.

http://www.thebookcon.com

May 31, 2014 in NYC

One-on-One Update

So the One-on-One tutorial through Stanford's OWC program is totally awesome!  (Gosh, you can tell I was a teen in So. Cal. during the 80's, right?)

Anyway,  my instructor has given some incredible insights into my story and I've been busy chopping 10,000 words!  Yikes!  I was apparently a bit long-winded towards the beginning of my story and needed to get to the action a bit faster.  So, I used some "Literary Spanx" (as my instructor called it) and condensed the first 60 pages down to 40.  She reread some of the sections and gave a few more suggestions of what to chop and edit a bit more.  Some of my favorite lines have been chopped so I am trying to deal with that right now but it builds character, right?  :)

I've also been able to get up to 50,000 words on book 3 - so, two-thirds through it approximately.  For some reason, I am concerned that this book will be more challenging to get up to 75-85K.  I'm not sure why that is the case.  Right now I've written all the major scenes and will need to go back and add some more detail and flow.   I am hoping to get to 60,000 words this weekend.

I prefer to do fast drafts to get everything down and then go back and edit.  Of course, the editing is very difficult for me.  Yuck! I hate it…I mean, it is a wonderful opportunity to grow as a writer.  Yeah, that's what I meant.

April update

Greetings!

I am currently in my One-on-One Tutorial through Stanford’s OWC program (a totally awesome program for writers.)    I should get feedback on my current draft of Primed today.  The version I submitted was 95,000ish words and I expect part of the comments will be to cut certain sections that move a bit too slow.

The good thing about having had a couple of weeks with the instructor reading book 1 was that I have finished a first draft of book 2, and am now about ¼ of the way through book 3.  I’ve also written a few more scenes for book 4 and 5 and have a much clearer idea of what happens at the very end of book 5.  (I’ve known some of the plot points since the very beginning but there is something cool about officially having an outline of the last third of the last book in the series.)

I have also been accepted to Spalding University’s MFA Writing for Children and Young Adults.  Woohoo!  This summer’s residency takes place in Prague and Berlin. I’ve already started reading the books and am totally excited that for the MFA, I get to read some kid’s books.  How cool is that! (Don’t worry, we also have other literature we have to read too.)  Now,  If I can just figure out where my passport is now…

 

 

Well, Let's see. It's been a few years since I last wrote on this blog. Here is a summary of what I've been doing during that passage of time (in the writing realm):

 -Finished first draft of Primed in Spring 2009 -Backspace conference May 2010 Great conference - although time with agents reading/commenting on first two pages made me want to curl up in a fetal position in the closet of the hotel. Talk about getting critiqued.

 -In Spring 2012, purchased and read through a couple of Margie Lawson's courses: http://www.margielawson.com/lawson-writers-academy-courses They were useful in giving specific techniques to apply to writing and examples of how they looked in stories. The examples helped me to apply the techniques better than other books that just gave summaries of what to do.

 -In Spring 2012, had www.fictionfixitshop.com read and comment on my first 10 pages. It was great to get a fresh pair of eyes to give me feedback and suggestions on how to improve it.

 -Backspace conference May 2012 Enjoy the conference again. Still had tough criticism on first two pages. Realized that in my effort to edit, I had lost my unique voice and had to put it back. The second day of the conference I had a newly re-edited first five pages. I had a one-on-one with an agent for 15 minutes that was really useful and encouraging. When I feel ready to query, I will try to query her.

 -June 2012 I applied and was accepted to Stanford's Online Writing Certificate Program. It is a two-year program and I am currently in the second year. https://continuingstudies.stanford.edu/writingcertificate/intro.php All I can say is - Wow! What a great program!

Well, I can say more than that... It has been quite an experience to have cohort members that are all taking the courses with me and have read various portions over the past year and a half. As of right now, about half of my work-in-progress has been read and commented on by many different people (typically 10-15 people in each workshop). There are also discussion board topics, literature readings, and video conferencing that is involved. Officially, I have one more class and then a one-on-one tutorial where my whole book will be read and I will receive feedback on it. There is an optional course for my cohort that I am contemplating taking before the one-on-one.

 So, now what?

Well, I am trying to determine if I want to pursue a Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) since I have enjoyed the Stanford program so much. I have identified a program that sounds like it would be a great way to continue with a similar structure that I am used to but now need to figure out if it is the best plan for me or not.

 In the mean time, Primed is much better than it was and I hope it will continue to improve as I continue to work on it. At least for the first 150 pages, I feel that I would be comfortable letting anyone (well, almost anyone) read it. The second half of the book needs work but I am starting to see it come into a more well-formed shape.

 By summer of next year, I hope to have 300ish pages that won't embarras me. So, there you have it - a summary of what I've been doing since the last time I wrote anything.