Pop Quiz, How Well Do You Know Me?

Hello, Awesome Bloggers,

A good Tweep of mine, Dorothy Dreyer interviewed me. Read it here for a glimse at Unlocked, my writer's journey, and woolly mammoths.

I  want you know how much I appreciate your support and friendship. Give yourself a cyber squeeze from me, and have a cookie. (When sharing with friends, calories don't count.)

Come, young grasshopper, let's be Ninjas!

Editing? You are not alone. My friend, Ali Cross, has declared this month to be Ninja Novel Revising Month.

Many of us bust our butts during NaNoWriMo and enjoy the friendly competition and encouragement…but then what?

First off, congratulate yourself for having written something because "You can't edit a blank page." — Jodi Picoult

I can hear the whining already, I hate editing, wa wa wa. No. Stop it. Editing is the refiner’s fire where you sift impurities and plain old crap out of your writing.

I struggled with editing until my good friend, Renee Miller took the time to go through my first novel with me. A light bulb went off in my brain and I realized that while editing is hard, and sometimes painful, it’s doable and even—dare I say it—fun!

If you don’t know how to edit, spend a few days and research. Highlight all the ly’s, that’s, and just’s in your WIP and stand back as the screen explodes with a case of the unnecessary-word-pox. Watch for was, were, could and all those other sneaky passives.

Most of the time you can find a more active way of saying what needs said. And all that pretty prose, you favorite bits that are beautiful but add nothing to the plot? Put them straight in the crosshairs of your delete button and pull the trigger. Like Stephen King says, sometimes you have to “kill your darlings” to make the book worth reading.

My goal is to finish COLORLESS by the end of March and have it ready for readers.

What’s your goal? Want to be a Ninja too? You can. Check out these other Ninjas.

In which I help a few kids and have a blast…

At my daughter’s request, I started teaching an after school young writers club. Friday afternoons I meet with 6-10 kids from the 5th-8th grade.

The first week we talked about Dan Wells 7 point story structure. If you have not watched all 5 of his free videos on Youtube, you should. They are awesome. Over the next few weeks we talked about character interviews. They filled in their own 7 points with both heroes and villains, and they interviewed each other.
We talked about grammar a little for some common mistakes, and focused on writing good dialogue. The Nanowrimo site has a terrific lessons for free downloads.

This last week, I was blown away by the quality of their writing.

One wrote a series of journal entries about a girl whose perfect family is falling apart as the parents spiraled toward divorce. Another wrote about a character who suffered from constant pressure from bullies and feared to tell anyone about it lest the cruelty get worse. The topics are far more deep and real than I expected. I’m excited to see what they write next.

After their stories are finished and edited, we’ll bind the stories together and make a book so they each get a copy to keep. I’m a shameless briber by the way. I give them a candy bar every time they complete a chapter.

When I was in 4th grade, I had a teacher that praised my poetry. In 7th grade when my grades were sliding and I had no faith in myself, a teacher asked me if I’d like to be in the honors English class. Why she noticed me, I’ll never know. But I still remember how it changed the way I thought of myself. I hope that when these kids finish this year, they will remember that this was the year they became authors.

Have you stepped out of your comfort zone lately?

Avoid the Ticking Clock Mentality

One of the biggest things I have learned through writing and editing my novel, Coyote Dreams, over the last two years is that a good story is worth the time it takes to polish it. Writing the first draft was an exhilarating adventure. I thrilled at each new twist that unfolded on my screen. Typing 'The End' was a big moment, worthy of the happy dance. However, I've since discovered that writing those two powerful words is somewhat of an oxymoron, since finishing a first draft is actually just the beginning of all the real work.

First, I read it over and made what edits/corrections I could see. Then I sent it out to several readers who sent it back full of enough red marks that I feared its wounds might be fatal. I made the needed edits again and sent it out for a second read. Thankfully I've been blessed with some readers who have a very good eye and were willing to teach me how to be a better writer. These are the edits I'm just now finishing. Huge thanks to Renee Miller and Rita & TJ Webb for this one. Don't know them? Well, you should:
http://www.reneeamiller.blogspot.com/
http://afantasyfiction.blogspot.com/

Soon, I'll send it out for one last read with a new set of readers to get their input. Perfecting my synopsis and query letter will be the focus while I wait. When I get those last reads back, I'll fix whatever I missed (and ignore whatever suggestions I don't agree with).

My goal is to be done by the end of April and research which agent to send my work to. It would be a wasted stamp to send my YA novel to someone who specializes in, say, romance. There is a love triangle in my book, but it’s a first kiss, not the whole she-bang.

I hope to get my first letter back from agents by the end of June. I know most will probably be rejection letters because everyone gets them. I think the key to keeping up moral is to have a plan on what to do with them. I'm going to follow Steven King's lead and spear the things on a nail.

While I wait for someone to accept my manuscript, I'll resume work my next story, Firebug, work on the farm over the summer, and begin the whole process again.

If I had been impatient and thrown my story out there before taking the time to polish it, then rejections would have been guaranteed, and the time invested, wasted.

The time was well spent. When Coyote Dreams goes out, I'll know that it is a story worth reading.