This NaNoNewb wants to know: Are you in?

I am a total NaNoWriMo Newbie. I've WANTED to do it a million times before, but November for me usually means being buried deep in revisions, peering out of my revisions cave every now and then in the direction of the NaNoWriMo camp, all wistful. (The last couple of years, I participated in NaNoReviMo instead. :))

But this year, the planets all aligned, and I AM IN! Who else is?

If you've done it before, do you have any advice for any of us NaNoNewbs? I think I could use all of the advice I can get, because I AM DETERMINED TO WIN.

If you're doing NaNoWriMo this year, friend me! My NaNoName is PeggyEddleman. Let's hang out with 117,000 other writers and write a bazillion words in a short amount of time together. It'll be a blast.



P.S. Want to see my query letter, read about how I wrote it and why it worked for my agent? Carl Hackman has a new series called Queries that Hooked an Agent, and he recently featured mine.

Quotes & Cookies: The First Time

"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right
the first time, unlike, say, brain surgery."

~Robert Cormier

Ha! I have to admit, the term "Dude-- it's not brain surgery," has never come to mind in regards to writing for me. But dude, it's not brain surgery. It's SUCH a good thing to remember! Especially if you just came off intense revisions, where you made your book all pretty, and slaved over each sentence to make sure it flows just so and accomplishes heaps. (Erm-- anyone else really struggle most with remembering that a first draft stinks when you've just spent forever revising?)

So that's my new mantra, going right above my monitor. IT'S NOT BRAIN SURGERY. The first draft can be far from right, and that's just how it should be.

I was going to give us cookies. Honest. And then I saw this, and I wanted to sink my teeth into soft, gooey, crunchy, sweet, (is that sea salt?! yum!) salty goodness. So today is brought to you by Quotes and Caramel Apples.

photo credit: QuintanaRoo via photopin cc

Happy fall, everyone!

Let's update each other, shall we?

Hi hi hi! Long time no see! How was your New Years? What did you do? We did with our kids the same thing my parents did with us growing up--- we ate homemade pizza, played board games for many, many hours, and toasted the new year with sparkling cider at midnight. I love it every bit as much as I did when I was a kid.

Since it's been so long, how about we update each other? I'll start. (Or you can skip down to the comments, and you start.)

SKY JUMPERS Book 2

Last week I turned book 2 into my editor. There are a lot of factors that make book 2s difficult--- someday I might post about that. Needless to say, there are times that I thought it might kill me, and there's an incredible weight lifted to have it turned in. It makes me want to tackle everything I've been putting off all at once. :)

Goal: To never finish a book so close to deadline again. Especially if that deadline is January 1.

Cover

Just in case you're wondering how everything is going with my cover... it's coming along nicely. :) My editor and my cover team rock beyond the telling of it, and have been working so hard for the past ten months to get it just right. Cover illustrator #3 (yes, number THREE) is working on it now, and I'm telling you, this is going to be the one. I've seen his first color sketch, and it's incredible. I can't wait for it to be finished! And don't worry that you might miss the reveal. Trust me-- I'll be shouting about it from the rooftops.

Goal: Patience. I've had my book deal for 14 months so far... what's a couple more?

Blog

My poor, poor neglected blog. Sometimes I'll go into my stats and see that people click through all the page tabs at the top, and I cringe. Those puppies haven't been updated in a year and a half! It's a little embarrassing.

Goal: To get back to posting regularly, reading blogs, and revamping all those things on my blog that are in good need of a revamping. Or, in some cases, an initial vamping.

Website

Getting an actual website is my current focus, and I'm so excited to jump into it! I have no idea what I'm going to do just yet, but I'm voting for something awesome. Anyone have any tips? Suggestions on what to include or who to use? Author websites you've seen that you love? I'll take it all.

Goal: To make peggyeddleman.com rock. And have it do something other than just lead you back to here. ;)

What's new with you? Did you set any goals / resolutions? (Or are you anti-New Years resolutions? I totally understand that, too.) And are you as in the mood to do all those things on your to-do list that you've been ignoring as I am?




photo credit: Leo Reynolds via photopin cc

One year from today! And the implications thereof.

Guess what happens exactly one year from TODAY?

My book releases!

Yes. I'm a little excited.

It feels like I've had my book deal for FOREVER (it's been 10 months and one week), yet I still have a year to go. In case you were wondering, yes, a year and ten months is a crazy long time when you're waiting for your book to come out! And yes, it's a completely normal length of time to wait if you're with a big publisher. Many of the people in the Lucky 13s have wait times over two years long. But now, to have that number be a year or less, feels MAGICAL. (Seriously-- anyone need any magic done? Today I feel like I could do it.)

There's a lot of implications, though, that come with the one year before mark that I can't say I had thought of before this point. Let me tell you where I'm at right now:

• Book 1 has been fully content-edited. 
• Book 1 has gone through the first round of copy edits, and ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies that go out to reviewers) are printed based off of that. It has gone to production for ARCs, even though they won't be out until spring. It has also gone back to copy edits for the second round. At this point, other than a few sentence wording things, it's pretty much set in stone.
• Book 1 HAD a cover.... until it was shown at list launch early August, and they decided that the cover wasn't strong enough for the book, so they started over with a different illustrator. That's a story for another time, but basically, it would've had a cover by now, if it went according to plan.
• Book 2 is two-thirds of the way drafted.

What does that have to do with anything, might you ask? A lot, actually. Like many, my books will come out almost exactly a year apart, which means books two and three will be on roughly the same schedule. Which means that when my book releases a year from now, this is what will be happening:

• Book 2 will be fully edited
• Book 2 will have gone through copy edits, and onto production
• Book 2 will likely have a cover
• Book 3 will be in the drafting stage.

Why that is significant?

Let's talk about reviews. Or, more importantly, constructive reviews. Have you ever read a book that was great except for one thing? Let's say it's an annoying tic the main character has that drives the general population nuts. Or something in the plot or with the world that seems to not fit, and desperately needs some explanation in the next book. By the time people start reading the book, and reviews start coming in, the next book is already to the point where everything is pretty much set in stone. So anything that needs to be addressed specifically, for the sake of the reader, can't be addressed until the third book.

Kind of mind-blowing, no? (Does it freak me out? A little. Yes.)(But it also helps stave off the Sophomore Slump, which is TOTALLY a story for another day.)

For a moment, I'm going to forget all that. Right now I need to go make one of those paper chains you made in December in elementary school to count down the days until Christmas by ripping off one link of the chain every day. Only this one will count down the days until TTBB releases. Then I'm going to wrap it around the walls in my office. And around... and around....

Quotes and Cookies: Sandcastles

Today's quote is one that I really needed to hear. I've been drafting book 2, and it is SO HARD. And it's feeling SO SLOPPY. And like so many elements are missing. After working on the uberly-polished book 1 for so long, it's feeling like this one is just wrong. But then I read this:

Rob McCready / CC BY 2.0

“When writing a first draft I remind myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.”

~Shannon Hale

And now I feel a million times better. I'm just putting in the sand! And later--- LATER is when I build the sandcastle. It doesn't have to be a sandcastle at the beginning! It's okay that everything's mostly plot right now, and I haven't included nearly enough character development or setting or even conflict. It's all about shoveling the sand. It kind of makes it all better, doesn't it?

If you've written more than one book, do you find it hard to go from working on edits to drafting, because drafting is so much less polished? Or is that just me?

While you're telling me, have a cookie!

Used with permission from www.beckyhiggins.com

Have a incredibly awesome weekend, everyone!

B is for Before or After you're done drafting

A couple of weeks ago, I met with my writing group and submitted my call to action chapter. I write MG, and I like writing stories where the families AREN'T all dysfunctional, and where the adults AREN'T idiots. (For the record, I think the absent parent totally has a place in MG literature. Just not EVERY place, know what I mean?)(And yay Random House for believing in a story with functioning families.) But lemme tell you, it's INFINITELY harder to get the kids to a point where they can go be heroes and save the day and do dangerous things when non-dysfunctional adults are around. (Someday I may write a post about parents...)

Anyway, my group didn't think my reasons for letting MC and BFF leave on a three-week dangerous trek across bandit-infested plains was strong enough, no matter what the stakes were, or how necessary it was. So, after talking through it, I realized that the only way adults reading this would buy letting MC and BFF go was if one of the parents also joined. (And it matters A LOT to me that adults can read this and get the same enjoyment as kids, and not find plot issues.) But changing that meant changing where I went with the plot for the next five chapters. (Since the parent has to get injured and head back so the kids can still be the heroes, and you'll totally forget I just said that in the 2 1/2 years before this particular book hits shelves, right? ;)) With that big of a change, I was SO VERY GLAD I am sending them my chapters as I write them.

But that way isn't for everyone! Another guy in my group won't send us anything he hasn't finished, because it's as bad for him to do it while drafting as it is good for me to do it while drafting.

Pros to critiquing while drafting

• You can get a sense of whether or not what you have planned will is going to work, or if you need to rethink things before spending the time writing it.
• It can keep you motivated to keep writing!
• When you hear what people have to say about your current chapter / chunk, it can give you ideas and excitement for what you're about to write

Cons to critiquing while drafting

• If you are a pantser, it can make you change directions in your book. Then after you submit your next chapter / chunk, it can make you want to change directions again.
• If you hear too much criticism, it can make you want to quit writing that story.
• It can be hard to listen to the voice in your own head when there are too many other voices competing.

Have you figured out which works best for you?

I've Got a Theory: How to send an inner editor on vacation

Many thanks to LisaAnn at Kicked, Cornered, Bitten and Chased for the Versatile Blogger award and the kind words. Thanks, Lisa!

I've gone through a few different inner editors. I even came up with a theory about how you can fire your inner editor. I still wholeheartedly believe in that theory. And now I've got another theory to go along with it.

When I first started writing, my inner editor was Miss Stakeless. She was tough. She made me get my wording close to perfect the first time. She made me stop and think about every single sentence as I wrote it. She made me vary my sentence structures as I went. Why? Because she knew that in my revision process, wording didn't tend to change much. I hate hate hated it. But I totally understand why she did it.

But I still jumped for joy the day I was able to fire her and to hire Auntie Em. Because she made cookies in the brain kitchens while I worked, and I just happen to work really well to the smell of baking cookies. And she'd only check on me every 9-11 minutes. I was sad to see her go, but she still has a standing offer to take over my brain kitchens anytime she wants.

She left because I finally cajoled my dream inner editor to move in. (Yes, there was much cheering. The brain dudes in my army even hosted a party in the streets of my brain.) His name is Dood, and he's a surfer. I really, really loved getting Dood, because he is perfectly willing to surf while I write, and not check in very often. Yet he drops everything and helps non-stop when I'm ready to go to editing mode. He's quite the dream.

My problem? I went into a very intense editing mode for many months. Then I drafted a new book for a bit, then I went into an even more scrutinizing edit.

So when I was ready to start TTBB Book 2, I was afraid. Afraid that since I had been in such a strong editing/revising mode, and not a drafting mode, I was going to start drafting and find that Dood had moved out, and Miss Stakeless had taken his place again. But, I plunged in anyway, and guess what I found? My revising skills had increased enough during the intense editing phase that Dood felt he could take a vacation while I drafted! Apparently, he has enough faith in me. Not faith that I won't mess up the draft. I think he's pretty sure that's a good possibility. He's got faith that when he returns, WE CAN FIX IT.

Ahh. Bliss.

So here's my theory: Delving deep into the revision caves isn't going to cripple your ability to write. You may feel a little rusty, but spending so much time on revisions actually makes you a better writer. And makes your inner editor more confident in your abilities.

Do you find that to be the case? Or have you just not had the heart (or the guts) to fire that one inner editor that thinks (s)he needs to rap your knuckles every time you make a mistake? (If that's the case, I really feel for you. I don't know about you, but my knuckles are pansies. There should probably be a Fire Your Inner Editor Support Group.)

That New Story High

I know several of you love to work on more than one project at a time-- either writing one project while editing another, or writing multiple manuscripts at the same time.

I don't.

It's not that one way is better than another. It's more of a one-way-works-best-for-you-and-another-doesn't kind of thing. I tend to put all my focus into the book I'm writing, then decide what book I'm going to write next. While I'm editing the first book, the second book percolates. When I'm mostly through editing, I pour my focus into the next book.

I've been revising for MONTHS. I love revising. I really, really love it. Revising comes with its own special high, just knowing that your book is that much better than it was before you started the revision.

But amidst the revision highs, I had almost forgotten how sweet the NEW BOOK high is. That high when you wake up in the morning already thinking about it. That high when you figure out the next scene. That high when the writing just works. That high that comes from creating a slice of the world that hadn't existed and bringing to life people to populate it. That high from creating something out of nothing. Know what I mean?

Where are you? Living off a writing-induced high? Or looking longingly at the memory of it? Or, even better, I'd imagine, living off dual editing and drafting highs? Gosh, I hope you've got either a writing high or a revising high going on, because there's just nothing quite like it.

Quotes and Cookies: Get it Written

“Don't get it right, just get it written” 

~James Thurber

I don't know about you guys, but I need that taped to my computer screen. REVISING IS FOR LATER. Trying to get it right the first time siphons creative energy. Right can give you writer's block. (Maybe it should be renamed to Righter's Block!)

Give that demanding inner editor the boot and just get it written! (But maybe give him/her a cookie before you kick them out.)

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/06/30/no-bake-chocolate-peanut-butter-oatmeal-cookies/