My big ol' but

(Note: This post was originally titled "I have a problem with my but" -- I was a little worried about what Google would bring. Even now, I am a bit concerned.)

Last week, I asked if anyone had experience with AutoCrit or any other editing software. I wanted a program that would flag if I had repeated words or phrases and similar glitches because, frankly, after eight drafts, I am just a tad bit overfamiliar with my manuscript. And overfamiliarity breeds typos.

I signed up for AutoCrit ($47 for a 1 year membership) and ran a few chapters through. With the wizard, you cut and paste a single chapter in (or up to 5000 words at a time) and select the report you want to run.   I selected the report on overused words (-ly adverbs, just, that, conjunctive phrases, was construction and so on) on one chapter and noticed the conjunctive beginning box was checked. When I looked through the highlighted, I found a whole bunch of buts. I'd never noticed this glitch in my writing before so I went back to my manuscript and highlighted every but in there.

597.

At first I wasn't sure whether it was a problem, so I went to Strunk and White and asked them. As usual, they sniffed down their noses and said "The too frequent use of but as a conjunction leads to the fault (of) loose sentences. Loose sentences are common in easy, unstudied writing. The danger is that there may be too many of them."

S**t, if you'll pardon the pun.

I am now much better friends with yet, however, although, and except.

But that's OK.

Starting Over

I'm revising again. AGAIN. I've revised once before based on an agent's feedback and while the revision addressed some problems at the end of the book, there are still some pacing issues in the first 50 pages (again, more feedback from that wonderful agent who is being extremely generous with her time).

Those first chapters are a problem. I've revised them many times but, although things have improved, they're just not good enough. So I've reached a conclusion: they have to go.

That's right. Gone. I am going to throw them away and start fresh. After a several difficult days of muttering to myself and frantic highlighting and scribbling in the margins of the latest draft, I came up with a lot of reasons why this is necessary:

• Those chapters were written four years ago. The rest of the book (where there are far fewer problems) was written last year. I know I am a much better writer now, the way that a dancer is better for practicing every day.
• They have been picked apart and put back together so many times that they don't flow they way they should.
• Trying to fix the problem using what is there is clearly not working. I need to approach those chapters in a new way and I can't do that with the old words staring at me.
• I know my characters and better. Because of this, I can communicate the backstory and motivation much more effectively and efficiently now.

I have to admit that when I decided this, I felt sick. I thought I was finished. I wanted what's there to be good enough. There is still a lot of writing in those chapters that I like (I may use some of it, but I will make that decision AFTER I finish the new chapters). But it has to be done. And the more I think about it, the more eager I am to start writing. There is that thrill of possibility in writing something new. I am optimistic that it will show and make the book much stronger.

Fingers crossed.

What about you? Have you ever done this? How did it work out for you?

Long time coming

I finished the revised draft of my manuscript a few weeks ago. Right after I clicked the 'Send' button to get it out to the agents waiting for it, I updated my Facebook status, which is how I've kept my friends and family up-to-date on my writing process. Out of curiousity, I looked back at my status updates from the past year and a timeline of writing my novel emerged. I'm a big nerd when it comes to stuff like this, so I thought I would break it down here, starting with when the idea hit. Note that the during the years-long gaps, I wasn't writing at all.

• Spring 1992 – write ‘Night Words,’ a 20-page short story
• Fall 2002 -- decide to turn 'Night Words' into a novel. Do an extensive outline with 17 chapters.
• Fall 2006 – complete three chapters of ‘Night Words’ and submit it to a (very) small opening pages competition; selected as the winner of the suspense category, and also given Reader’s Favorite award.
• February 19, 2009 -- Start working on 'Night Words' full time.
• May 31, 2009 -- Complete beta draft (renamed The Shadow Scribe); 67,000 words; 24 chapters; submitt to 8 beta readers
• August 3, 2009 -- All feedback received and digested; begin revision
• October 1, 2009 -- The Shadow Scribe is commended in the Yeovil Literary Prize
• October 19, 2009 -- Complete 'final' draft; 78,000 words, 24 chapters
• October 20, 2009 -- Send out first queries
• October - December 2009 -- Receive 6 full requests and 2 partials.
• December 2009 -- one partial and four fulls rejected, but one with feedback and invitation to resubmit with changes
• Decmber 15, 2009 -- begin revision (massive restructuring with rewrites)
• January 4, 2010 -- contacted by remaining two agents with fulls; arrange to send revised manuscript when ready
• January 24, 2010 -- complete revision; 80,000 words, 30 chapters; send to one reliable beta reader
• February 14, 2010 -- receive feedback from beta
• February 19, 2010 -- complete 'final final' draft; 82,000 words, 31 chapters; sent to agents
• March 1, 2010 -- waiting, waiting, waiting....

So in theory, it took me 18 years to write The Shadow Scribe. In practice, it took exactly one year (February 19 -- how weird is that?!)  from the point where I seriously buckled down and started writing to the point where I had a manuscript I knew was 'finished' (noting of course that there could be agent-requested and editor-requested changes, if I should be so lucky to get to that point).

What about you? How long has it taken you with your projects?

And the horses are in the starting gate...

Have you been to a horse race before? There is a moment when the horses are led to the starting gate. Some walk in placidly, some jump in, some seem to refuse point blank and have to be forced in. Once they are in, they skitter about and the tension is palpable. I feel like one of those horses.

Tomorrow, I will start my concerted effort on Draft 3. I have been dying to get at it for weeks but having the kids at home, visitors, and other things have stopped me from doing any more than little edits here and there.

I am jumpy. I am nervous. I am excited. I am scared.

Let me at it.

I may not win the race. But I am certainly going to finish.

Giving in to the inevitable...

It was going to happen. We all knew it; some knew it before others. It was only a matter of time before I started to blog. Like I really need something else to distract me from what I should really be doing, which is writing. A book. Not a blog. But I'll chalk it up as the first step to building 'my platform'. For those of you who don't know the oh-so-complicated world of publishing a novel, your platform is your presence out in the book-buying world. Ideally, you'll have a flashy website that thousands visit every week, thereby giving you your potential buyers of your novel. At the barest minimum, you have a blog. So here we go.

Today has been a day of a little high and a little low. I sold 'Spa Break' to Woman's Weekly, a woman's mag in the UK, the same one that published my other short story 'The Way to a Man's Heart' back in 2006 (not exactly prolific am I?). The money is minimal (but I'm not in it for the big bucks anyway) and it is hardly a prestigious literary publication. But it is read by 350,000 people each week and it is rather competitive from a writer's perspective. So I'm not complaining. Actually, I'm pretty chuffed! One more thing to put on my writer's resume.

As for the little low, I found out today that neither of my novels-in-progress were shortlisted for the Yeovil Literary Prize. Well, shoot.

WOMAN OVERBOARD was a long shot, I know that. It is far from polished (and VERY far from finished) and I really shouldn't have wasted the entry fee submitting it. But I figured I'd put it out there as it was chick lit and the contest was judged by Katie Fforde who writes great chick lit. After all, what if something in it just resonated for her? Sometimes that is all it takes. Clearly not the case here though. S'okay. I'll get over it.

But I am a bit disappointed that NIGHT WORDS (or HERALDSGREEN HOUSE or UPON THE SHADOWED PAGE or whatever it is I'm calling my WIP this week -- another post on that very soon) didn't even make it to the short list. However, after discussing the second draft with four of my readers over the past weeks, I know that the first six chapters are not the strongest of the book. And I also think that my synopsis is not as good as I can make it. And that is what this contest was judging (I sent the first 15,000 words). So if I wasn't motivated to fix the first quarter of the book before this news, I certainly am now. Truly, I am STOKED for fixing the book. I can't wait to get stuck in to the third draft because I know that I can make it better, thanks to the great advice of my fantabulous readers.

Highs and lows. I think this blog will be mostly about the highs and lows of this process. The writing, the feedback, the editing, the submitting, the rejections, the rejections, the rejections, and with any luck, the ultimate high of getting this silly little novel of mine published.

Thanks for joining me on the journey.