Anthology Piece: Done

Sort of. It has a beginning, a middle and an end, but it also has numerous errors and typos that I have neither the time nor the inclination to sort out now. I'll deal with it once I get back from holiday. At least this proves that I can get things done to a deadline when I have to. And I happen to think that the ending is particularly good (note: not well written at this point, perhaps, but still good)

Although that pesky coin doesn't show up much. It may as well not be there, but I'm not sure how much of a problem that is. Meh. I'll deal with that when I get back, too.

Plus I'll hopefully have something from Hub Mag (who I am waiting to hear from, and who I emailed to let them know I'm away for two weeks) by then. I'm sure there was someone else I was waiting to hear from, too, but without access to a copy of excel (which I don't have here), I can't be certain. They were a non-paying place, though, so they can wait.

Anthology Progress Report

This morning, I had about 700 words and a rough idea. Tonight, I have a four hundred word synopsis and 0 words of story. So much for that 5K target, eh?

Well, I can probably crack out a few thousand tomorrow (two before lunch and two after). Since I have a full synopsis, I might go for the "key scenes first, transitional and filler later" approach. This is leaving me with my work cut out, trying to have something presentable by the 20th of July (fairly firm target; I can only stretch it by a single day). I wouldn't show my first drafts to anyone. They're hideous.

We shall see.

Submission Resent

JWP have "The Swords of Winter" back, so I'll just have to wait and see what they think of the rewritten version.

Personally, I'm not sure what I think. It's probably a better story, although I think it may have lost something of the sense of confusion I was trying to create first time around. But if I sell it, I'm not sure I'll care all that much.

Still haven't made a start on the anthology story, and now I really have to get something for that done this week. I do at least feel that I have an idea now, and it's one I'm happier with than I was with any of the others. (By which I of course mean that it actually is a story idea.)

So, target for tomorrow: 5000 words on that, and a complete outline of the remainder of the plot (assuming 5K doesn't cover it, which I don't think it will)

Response from JWP

JWP responded already. So quickly, in fact, that it wasn't until the third time I read the e-mail (it's a rejection, but one with an invitation to do rewrite and send it back) that I realised who it was from. One of the criticisms is that it opens with dialogue, and the piece I had it confused with doesn't (and has been out three weeks longer, which is why I was confused. That and because these response emails always send me into a minor panic).

Well, I think this changes my target for today. I'm off to do the first part of this rewrite now, after which I'll do something non-writing related for a few hours (housework! score!) and then I'll try and get the anthology story moving, before probably going back to a few more hours of housework, then a proof read of "The Swords of Winter", after which I'll send it back out again.

Or at least, that's the plan.

Target Number Two: In Progress

I've now managed to read through the info, although I won't pretend to remember even a quarter of it. I even think I have an idea or two coming to life somewhere, but I'm not really certain, and I don't have enough to start writing with. I realised after the update that followed the completion of Target Number One that I wasn never planning to write six thousand today, but rather tomorrow. Still, it would obviously be good if I could get cracking today, maybe even finish a rough draft over the weekend.

Somehow, though, I doubt that will happen. I mean, I didn't call this place Procrastination Central for nothing.

Critiquing

I've just finished writing a 1700 word crit of a 2500 word piece (although this is not specifically about that crit). It's taken me over an hour, which is not unusual when I hit the nit-picking, pain-in-the-arse flow.

I think my crits come in two types. They're either excessively short and can basically be summed up as "I liked it", or they're hellishly mean, raking every last word and comma over the coals. The first type are no real help to anyone, and the second type take forever to write and leave me feeling like the world's meanest bastard.

At least with the Den, unlike at FW, I know that everyone I'm critiquing actually cares about their work and knows how to take negative feedback.

But I also know that I am prone to using word choices and sentence structures that are unorthodox because I feel that they add something. I don't want to be a hypocrite and tell everyone else they can't do that (not that I'm under the impression anyone would listen to me if I ever let my head get that big), and neither do I want to stifle all creativity by enforcing every rule at every opportunity (again, I'm not saying I could do that, just that I don't want it to appear that I'm trying to).

I wish I could write critiques where I ignore glaring typos and focus on plot and characters. I just can't seem to silence my inner know-it-all, and I end up bogged down in details, forgetting the points of the story that need work. I know somebody has to do that, and that it's not actually important that there are people better than me because it's still better than nothing and nobody is perfect. But I also know that I should try to make my critiques as useful as possible, otherwise it's not fair to expect top notch crits on my own work. And I need those crits to keep my feet on the ground.

Target Number One: Complete

JWP now have (or should have) "The Swords of Winter". No idea what they're going to make of it, but that's not really the point. The point was that it's out there, I did it, I made another submission.

Now to move on to goal number two, in which I read a load of threads I should have already read. Although I am taking a few hours off to pick up my prescription and post my grandmother's birthday card. I think that if I start reading at 3 (it's 1.15 now) I'll be done by 7. Then dinner, and then I can hopefully get moving with some kind of writing for the anthology. I said 6k yesterday, but that would be 4 or 5 hours worth of writing, which is maybe a bit ambitious. Then again, it's also possible I'm being too pessimistic about how long it will take me to read all the information.

We shall see. The important point is that I made another submission, and the spreadsheet now has as many lines for "pending" as it does for "rejected".

First Objective Met

Maybe it was the setting of a definitive, attainable goal (finish editting before going to bed), but I've finally done it. "The Swords of Winter" is edited and I'm almost ready to send it out again. It may be two in the morning and it may have taken three hours to do a half-hour job, but it has been done.

All that's left is the final check tomorrow morning for any stupid errors my itchy eyeballs and drained mind have missed, followed by any special formatting JWP want on their submissions, and that'll be another row on the spreadsheet.

Setting Some Goals

Procrastination is the single biggest stumbling block I face. As of right now, I have three things I want/need to do.

1) Finish editing "The Swords of Winter" and send it out somewhere. Anywhere. The important part is getting it out there.

2) Catch up on the Dragon's Den collaboration anthology stuff. There's a lot I haven't read and I still have no idea what I'm going to write about. I basically have a week to do it in, so I should get on with that.

3) Finish editing and expanding "The Wretched Heart". It's been on my desk for about a year, and I really should do something with it. I'll probably take a hard copy on holiday with me.

4) Write a piece tailored to Black Gate. I might try to do a hand-written version of this on holiday too.

As for number one, I should be able to finish the editing before I go to bed. In fact, that sounds like an excellent plan. Finish the editing tonight and then do one final sweep tomorrow morning before sending it out. I'm currently thinking JWP might be a good place, but I'm not really sure about that. They seem to be on a fast turn around right now, and I did get an extremely positive rejection from Black Gate. If I get another rejection, I'll see what my fellow Denizens think.

For number two, well, I'm just a slacker so far. I have to do it, and that's all there is. I can read and formulate an idea tomorrow, and hopefully write most of it on Sunday. Let's aim for six thousand words. I probably won't get much done on Monday, maybe not Tuesday either. But by Wednesday I'll be able to finish at least a rough first draft. Sounds like a plan.

Number three: the holiday should prove a good time to finish this edit. At least, I hope it will. Jamie will more than likely be supportive of me, and if nothing else there's always two flights to fill.

Number four is more to not lose the opportunity presented by Black Gate's invitation to avoid the slush pile. Sounds like something I should try to move on quite quickly. I think I have an idea, and if I finish numbers one and two before I go away, I might try to make a start on this before France, but only if I think I can make decent headway. Otherwise, I'll withdraw it to the late August/early September period, along with completing the three Nevosa stories (or just one long story, as it could be seen).

I'm hoping these goals will help me acheive something. We shall see