tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038741495635767257.post4748460312892034889..comments2023-10-18T04:10:14.756-05:00Comments on Writing in the Dreamstate: Long time comingJenna Wallacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591399291903261245noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038741495635767257.post-53577341377733597692010-03-02T12:00:36.186-06:002010-03-02T12:00:36.186-06:00You are so right, Laurel. It's the focus. What...You are so right, Laurel. It's the focus. What I find the strangest about finishing is that it feels like there is an empty room in my head. My characters and story lived there for so long, I almost don't know what to do now that they've moved out. I now have a 'For Rent' sign hung out for my next novel.Jenna Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07591399291903261245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3038741495635767257.post-5953249002754062342010-03-02T09:43:18.094-06:002010-03-02T09:43:18.094-06:00I now totally <3 you!! I also got the idea for ...I now totally <3 you!! I also got the idea for my two current WIPs in 1992! How weird is that? <br />I wrote up lots of notes and stuffed them in a drawer. In the following decade I wrote and published mostly poetry. I wrote nothing at all from 2000-05, then started kicking around the idea of working with these old, old characters again (I was a twitchy SAHM then). I wrote my first draft in about 14 months, over 2006-07, revised and started test marketing in '08-'09 and got a lot of rejections on the novel. In that period I also submitted some short pieces and they WERE published. In '09 I joined two writing groups that are helping me to substantially rewrite. I hope to get back into marketing again by midsummer.<br /><br />What amazed me is how fast I drafted the last half of the book--11 chapters in 4 months, working full days, just 3 days a week. I now have a PT job that cuts into my writing hours, and revising is far slower than drafting. But I agree that focus is crucial in finishing a writing project.Laurel Garverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03657218435228802535noreply@blogger.com