Old People Writing for Teens, IV

Smiley0501 · May 26, 2012

Had fun at my cousin's wedding - it was small in comparison to a lot of weddings I go to, only 100 people. The bride was a science major/she does science writing so their center pieces were in test tubes and flasks (flowers). I got to dance with the groom twice

(he's my cousin). And all in all it was a fun night (although not a lot of people danced *sigh* My 2 girl cousins and I were on the dance floor alone a lot of the time..) But still fun :snoopy:

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Dorothy · May 26, 2012

Hello, everyone! Been quiet, if you haven't noticed, because my brother flew in from Texas to visit for the week. He just left for Paris today, and my hubby and daughter went to Berlin (daughter has a performance there tomorrow), so it's just me and my son. He's busy playing video games, so I'm free to write, write, write. HOORAY!

Oh, and if any of you are thinking about entering the agent-judged pitch contest on my blog, here are the details: http://we-do-write.blogspot.de/2012/05/three-two-one-pitch-contest.html

Sage · May 26, 2012

Sigh, it's so hot here. It's hard to care about the publishing world when having the laptop on my lap is extra heat.

But, I'm just typing up edits, and then TM will probably be ready for betas!

Smiley0501 · May 26, 2012

Yay Sage!

Get that manuscript ready!

Sage · May 26, 2012

I'm changing everyone's names again, lol

Smiley0501 · May 26, 2012

Oi... good luck and more power to you. And do you mean every character's? I give you a salute, Sage. I could never do that.

My LI had a few names - okay...I should say, I tried to give him a few names. David, Ryan, Tristan. None of them worked. The LI wanted his name to be a girly version of his name, lol. I had agents and pubbed authors tell me that his nickname was 'too girly' and agents would be turned off. *sigh* But I can't bring myself to change it. Plus an agent who I spoke to on the phone said that his name was "sexy" and suited him

So I have faith his name is okay.

Sage · May 26, 2012

Ooh, white-out sounds exciting!

Also, what's his name?

Not everyone's name. I realized one of the kids was Tyler and my MC was Taylor, so Tyler's is changing. I have a couple of Ca names near the end, so I'm changing one of them (to a more interesting name!). And I have a Kara and a Kia, so Kara will be changing, but I haven't figured out what to. And I changed Craig's name again because Nick wasn't right, lol

Smiley0501 · May 26, 2012

I like the name Kara but hey if Kia's more important, change Kara. Craig...you know I haven't heard that name very often (and Nick is pretty popular).
:idea:

You can do it, Sage. And lol I was more worried you were changing Taylor's name than anything else.

The LI is named Cass (or well, Cassidy after Butch Cassidy). :heart:

And as for the white-out, it was very exciting

It was my first/only R+R. Still working on. It's taking me a while, but that's okay. I get too frustrated easily(with myself), like not working faster but I've come to realize everyone works at their own pace. I can't force myself to rush...and I'm not.

Sage · May 26, 2012

Good luck on the R&R!

Yeah, Kia is very significant and Kara's just a temporary distraction, so she gets the name change. Also, Kia's is harder to change because I want it to be kinda nation-less. Kara could be anything.

Craig was a perfect name, but I work with two Craigs and a Justin, and I'm never changing Justin, so it's Craig.

I like the name Cass. I can see how people might find it feminine, but every guy I've seen (mostly on tv shows) with that name have been very male, lol

Smiley0501 · May 26, 2012

Is Taylor-Made sci-fi or dystopian? I can't remember if you've shared...

And thanks. I like Cass, too. I tried to get him to be Sid, but he was not having it. :Shrug:

I like the names Craig and Justin as well. As for Craig I have heard of it but it is not as popular as, say...Justin or Nick or Devon or Ryan, etc. I like that Kia is nation-less (whereas for me Kara brings up very much 'American girl' in my head). Good luck with the name switches - hope the characters approve.

justbishop · May 26, 2012

Smiley0501 said:
I like the name Kara but hey if Kia's more important, change Kara. Craig...you know I haven't heard that name very often (and Nick is pretty popular).
You can do it, Sage. And lol I was more worried you were changing Taylor's name than anything else.

The LI is named Cass (or well, Cassidy after Butch Cassidy).

And as for the white-out, it was very exciting It was my first/only R+R. Still working on. It's taking me a while, but that's okay. I get too frustrated easily(with myself), like not working faster but I've come to realize everyone works at their own pace. I can't force myself to rush...and I'm not.

Love the name Cass for a guy! There is a minor character in my WIP named Cass as well, but she's a girl.

Sage · May 26, 2012

Smiley0501 said:
Is Taylor-Made sci-fi or dystopian? I can't remember if you've shared...

And thanks. I like Cass, too. I tried to get him to be Sid, but he was not having it.

I like the names Craig and Justin as well. As for Craig I have heard of it but it is not as popular as, say...Justin or Nick or Devon or Ryan, etc. I like that Kia is nation-less (whereas for me Kara brings up very much 'American girl' in my head). Good luck with the name switches - hope the characters approve.

TM is definitely sci-fi, but there's the slightest hint of dystopia.

Sid feels like a very different name from Cass to me, not nearly as attractive as I expect a Cass to be.

AmandaS · May 26, 2012

Smiley0501 said:
The LI is named Cass (or well, Cassidy after Butch Cassidy).

Barging into this thread just to say I really love the name Cass for a guy. Good choice. :Thumbs:

Smiley0501 · May 26, 2012

Thank you guys!! :hooray:

So many of my friends told me that Cass was too girly and not a sexy/mysterious/attractive guy's name. They told me to change it to Sid. I grumbled but stood my ground.

*sighs with relief that you all think it's sexy too*

Also, Sage- are you going to self-pub TM or try to go traditional? (Not that it matters, LS seems to be doing well

)

Sage · May 26, 2012

Oh, no, I could never self-pub anything. I can't sell a thing.

I'm going to try to get an agent and more conventional publishing for TM, but I haven't ruled out e-publishing for it or other books of mine.

Smiley0501 · May 26, 2012

Agh sorry I forgot that you went through a pub for LS. *blushes furiously in embarrassment*

Good luck with TM.

I feel like e-publishing (and small pubs and even self pubbing) is becoming less the black sheep of the publishing industry family. Whatever you do will be the right thing for Taylor & co.

Sage · May 26, 2012

This pass is done! I think it's beta time!

Sage · May 26, 2012

Ugh, I feel awful 'cuz I know someone here offered to beta, but I can't find it in the thread or in my reps. So please PM or rep me if it was you (or if wasn't, but you're interested anyway is cool too

)

Smiley0501 · May 26, 2012

Yay, Sage, for getting that pass done! :snoopy:

I ~wish~ I could beta! Good luck finding those who wanted to beta read for you.

I'm already beta-ing for someone (and doing a shizz job at it because...) I'm swamped with my own revisions.

:rant:

Right now I am in the ^%$$# mood of revisions. You know the times where you're like "why bother this sucks people have sold books with similar storylines ugh I can't do this ugh why why why do I even try"

Dorothy · May 27, 2012

I wish I could beta for you too, Sage. I love your writing and love the idea of your story. Unfortunately, I'm swamped with writing a sequel plus a round of edits is coming to me in a couple of weeks. Better for me not to think about it too much or else I'll pass out from being overwhelmed, lol.

Smiley0501 · May 27, 2012

BTW Dorothy - I *love* your title!

So clever and cute.

JSSchley · May 27, 2012

Congratulations, Sage! Sigh...the beta stage.

In good news, I think I'm actually going to work this morning. That counts, right?

Sage · May 27, 2012

Aw, thanks, guys. I totally know it's a busy time of year. I always seem to find the busy time to ask for betas (I almost always am looking during NaNo, probably because that's when I aim to finish edits on my summer WIPs, lol)

Dorothy · May 27, 2012

Smiley0501 said:
BTW Dorothy - I *love* your title! So clever and cute.

Thanks so much!

justbishop · May 27, 2012

So when do you guys know that you're ready for a beta read? I've thought "this is as polished as I can possibly make it" several times and sent my WIP out to betas, only to have someone's feedback spur a complete rewrite of a chapter, or the addition of a completely new one. Then at that point, I need to do the beta thing all over again to be sure I haven't ruined the flow of the plot, or created character inconsistencies, or made introduced a new character that now needs more "screen" time to seem believable.

Also, I'm so much happier with my first chapter now that I've posted in SYW and rewritten it based on the feedback it got, but I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to improve my other chapters. It was so helpful to see how multiple critters picked up on the same issues, but I can't very well post every chapter in my WIP and expect that sort of help, and I'm having a hard time applying the concepts of what was said to other portions of my story. Or is that what multiple beta readers are for?

Old People Writing for Teens, IV

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