Sunday, February 17, 2013

It's Been Awhile, but I'm Back

Today, I forced myself to open the Writing folder on my computer and traverse down the tree to the WitchStory folder, where my many versions of Counting Crows lives.  I copied everything into a folder called old except the full manuscript document that I sent to the agents, the one that was rejected because they didn't love it.

To be honest, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  I started by reformatting the word document so that it will work with Kindle; you know--or maybe you don't--setting all the smart quotes to straight quotes, making everything single spaced, and so on.  That felt pretty good, like I had actually accomplished something.  And maybe I did.  Maybe just by reformatting for the Kindle, I have thrown off the misery and self pity (both regarding writing and work) I've been rolling, nay, wallowing in for the past month or so.  It was so bad, I think I scared some of my friends.

And I have to say I have the best friends around.  I got all kinds of pep talks and ego boosters, both in person and in emails, and many kind words.

Anyways, enough about them, this blog is all about me.  [That was sarcasm, btw.]

I then opened an empty word document, the old word, not that damned new notepad editor docx crap, and I jotted down notes about all the editing thoughts I've been having. About what to add, what to get rid of .  I won't tell you what it says, because it will give away the story, but I think there are some good things that will enhance the story.

After all that, I checked Facebook of course, anything to postpone the inevitable editing needed. And then I put the sheets in the wash, and unloaded the dishwasher, and petted BlackBeary (who, btw, now has her own FB page). Started writing this blog.

Finally, I opened the manuscript and started editing.  And you know what? It wasn't as horrible as I had imagined.  After being rejected so much, I had built the idea that it was all shit.  Instead, I realized that my writing is pretty good.  I doubt I'll ever displace Stephen King, but I'm a good writer, and better than some of the authors I read.  I don't head hop.  I don't mix past tense with present, and I don't mix first person and third person.  I just hate it when I'm reading a book written in past tense and suddenly the author jumps straight into the head of the protagonist, taking me into present tense, first person.  It's too jarring, even though it seems to be an acceptable form of writing, and used frequently.  Personally, I think it's a lazy way of writing, and it annoys me. If you need to do that, then write the damned story in present tense, first person.

But enough ranting, I have editing to do, story lines to dream up, characters to talk to [in my head, of course].  I have writing to do.

4 comments:

  1. Welcome back!! Very happy to hear that you are writing again. Can't wait to be able to read your revised version of Counting Crows!!
    - Ken

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  2. Happy to see you back at your writing desk!
    -Sherry

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  3. Thanks, you guys... Like I said, I have some of the best friends around.

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