What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

Woke up a 2:30 realizing I had a huge plot hole (practically a sinkhole at this point) in the middle of my story. And I thought the last half of my story was okay...Sigh.

I know I need to rewrite my query letter as I've had no responses and form rejections only with the one I have. I think I need to write it from a different character's viewpoint instead of the one I've chosen. I got to thinking, even though he's not the protagonist, my story is more about Josef the vampire than about Jennie my protagonist, and if I were to write a sequel, or the prequel that I've played around with in my head, both are about Josef. So it would make more sense to write the query focused on him, even if the opening chapter isn't in his point of view (we get to his point of view in chapter three, about twelve or so pages in, but he's in pretty much every chapter throughout the book even when he's not the point of view character). The chapters revolve around three main characters as the story progresses. Toward the end we lose one character and it comes down to Jennie and Josef, and we end the book in his POV. Now I just need to figure out what about him to concentrate on in the query, what would make him stand out from other vampires, besides his wanting to try out farming as a hobby because he's bored?

I've been plowing ahead with a first draft of a new novel. About 15k words in. It's a struggle to just keep going and not worry about things like getting the voice just right, the prose, the world building. I figure I should try getting the story and plot down, then come back and fuss with it and solicit feedback from critiquing partners.

I think a mistake I made with my first novel was writing the first draft with the "door open" so to speak, as I posted chapter-by-chapter on a critiquing site (the critiques only viewable by logged-in members, so not counting as published). I was so new to writing, I had no idea if I was even any good or if the idea and characters held any appeal. I got good feedback and help, and improved a lot as a writer, but it did lead to me second guessing things about the plot, world building, narrative style, characters and so on as sometimes conflicting advice poured in, and I kept getting new ideas and starting over. I did finish, polish and submit eventually, and got a few nibbles, but no agent. I've always wondered if it might have worked better plot wise had I finished a first draft before letting anyone see it

My problem is I am a pantser. Useless at outlining, so I get all kinds of ideas as I write, and some would involve going back and changing things I've already written. So this time I am trying just to insert comments in the margins with the ideas for changes, and go back to where I was.

Wow! I like that comments in the margin idea. Thanks, Roxxsmom.

I decided to start a blog. Spent a cozy afternoon playing with Wordpress and having fun with all the little blocks and widgets. Aware that image and good impressions are vital, I sent it to my sister to check out.

Because my sister, God love her, is the most brutally honest person on the planet.

I'm . . . still alive. Barely.

The blog is getting better, though!

I've been writing a YA novel for the past two years, revising and revising. I'm like on revision 11 by now. I've submitted it to anyone who was interested, but no one was. Now, I'm unemployed, and I can't find a job to save my life. So, to keep myself from going crazy and as sort of a last-ditch effort, I'm self-publishing the novel.

It's like 450 pages long, not in a particular niche genre, and has sections that could easily come across as preachy. I've never published a novel before. Getting a professional cover designer, but couldn't afford an editor or a marketing guy. I know it probably won't be a success, so I keep telling myself, again and again, not to get my hopes up.

But I have a very strong suspicion that when it comes out, whatever the sales are like, they're going to disappoint me. And I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with that.

Afalstein said:

I've been writing a YA novel for the past two years, revising and revising. I'm like on revision 11 by now. I've submitted it to anyone who was interested, but no one was. Now, I'm unemployed, and I can't find a job to save my life. So, to keep myself from going crazy and as sort of a last-ditch effort, I'm self-publishing the novel.

It's like 450 pages long, not in a particular niche genre, and has sections that could easily come across as preachy. I've never published a novel before. Getting a professional cover designer, but couldn't afford an editor or a marketing guy. I know it probably won't be a success, so I keep telling myself, again and again, not to get my hopes up.

But I have a very strong suspicion that when it comes out, whatever the sales are like, they're going to disappoint me. And I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with that.

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Here's something that will cheer you up -it's probable that most of your problems with sales will come from the things I bolded, so if you focus on those, you'll be much more likely to get a result that has a chance of selling. (This goes for whether you eventually trade or self-pub.)

The bit in red? Don't think like that. It's a bit of a swipe to all the self-published writers on site, and it's an extremely outdated view of self-publishing. Also - it's total self-sabotage. You will likely get no m ore sales than youhave family and close friends with that kind of approach.

Writing is one thing - publishing or getting published is totally another. It's hard work. You can't really expect people to pay if you haven't done the hard work.

Lots of luck and lots of strength to you.

afalstein:

One route to success through self publishing is to write in series and to expect that around book #10 you might break even.

You could consider breaking your existing book down into two or three, and go for rapid release while you write the next book(s).

My self published book in the sig had 42 drafts, FWIW. Based on kindle reads, plenty of folks dip in and dip back out, but plenty of other folks dip in and stay in to the end. In other words, you probably have an audience. Don't give up.

What's on my mind is that I hate writing blurbs.

Has to fit on the back cover and be a short read in the Amazon product description, so it should be less than 150 words. I follow the template of:

1. Introduce MC
2. Set the stage for the primary conflict
3. Show what's at stake
4. Tell the reader why this book is for them

Sounds easy? Sadly, not for me.

I usually rough it out after the plot is done but before starting on the first draft. Then between each draft and edit I revisit it.

Still, it's a pain in the @ss.

mccardey said:

Here's something that will cheer you up -it's probable that most of your problems with sales will come from the things I bolded, so if you focus on those, you'll be much more likely to get a result that has a chance of selling. (This goes for whether you eventually trade or self-pub.)

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All of those things will keep the book from being successful, unfortunately. It's far too long for the genre and audience, nobody wants to be preached at and not going through the proper steps to make the book the best it can be, that's just asking to fail. The problem is, a lot of people who self-publish, they do it because they think it's easier. They're wrong. It's far harder and more time consuming to self-publish than anything else. If you can't get an agent or a publisher interested, then maybe this work isn't fit to be published. Clearly we're seeing someone who hasn't done the proper research to figure out what an audience wants. Just dumping it on Amazon is not how successful writers operate. A book needs to be good no matter how it's released. Either the author needs to do it right or they shouldn't do it at all.

The bit in red? Don't think like that. It's a bit of a swipe to all the self-published writers on site, and it's an extremely outdated view of self-publishing. Also - it's total self-sabotage. You will likely get no m ore sales than you have family and close friends with that kind of approach.

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It's not really self-sabotage, it's a complete misunderstanding of the publishing game. Self-publishing isn't a last resort and the requirements aren't any less than traditional publishing. The book has to be good. The book has to be edited. The book has to have a professional cover. Young adult fiction averages 55-80k. The book described above is around 125k. That's a book just begging to fail. Either it gets fixed to meet audience expectations or it winds up at the very bottom of Amazon's listings like a lot of other books written by writers who self-pubbed as a last resort.

Cephus said:

All of those things will keep the book from being successful, unfortunately. It's far too long for the genre and audience, nobody wants to be preached at and not going through the proper steps to make the book the best it can be, that's just asking to fail. The problem is, a lot of people who self-publish, they do it because they think it's easier. They're wrong. It's far harder and more time consuming to self-publish than anything else. If you can't get an agent or a publisher interested, then maybe this work isn't fit to be published. Clearly we're seeing someone who hasn't done the proper research to figure out what an audience wants. Just dumping it on Amazon is not how successful writers operate. A book needs to be good no matter how it's released. Either the author needs to do it right or they shouldn't do it at all.

It's not really self-sabotage, it's a complete misunderstanding of the publishing game. Self-publishing isn't a last resort and the requirements aren't any less than traditional publishing. The book has to be good. The book has to be edited. The book has to have a professional cover. Young adult fiction averages 55-80k. The book described above is around 125k. That's a book just begging to fail. Either it gets fixed to meet audience expectations or it winds up at the very bottom of Amazon's listings like a lot of other books written by writers who self-pubbed as a last resort.

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That's pretty much what mccardey said, but longer.

And what's on my mind today about my writing is that the words aren't coming for one fiction project, so I'm going to make some notes for a non-fiction project. Always be creating.

I'm half-way through the final final edit of book one. I'm still very happy with it. It won't take me long to finish things up. There are only a couple places I think need extra work.

Now if I could just figure out that query letter thing.

In my paranormal adult book the names for the realms suck big time! A vampire realm is called "Blang" A sunny realm is called "Pield". and a world full of wizards is called, Wizmark.

Okay, Wizmark isn't bad, but Pield and Blang???!!! First of all, Pield sounds like "peeled" and the word "peeled" has nothing to do with a sunny, field-like realm.

And Blang?? That's the worst! Sounds like something from a Barbie Doll pop star movie: "Bling-Blang! We're so gorgeous!" The realm in my book is dark and Victorian England-like.

I will change those names on the second draft, but for now I need to focus on getting words down

MaeZe said:

I'm half-way through the final final edit of book one. I'm still very happy with it. It won't take me long to finish things up. There are only a couple places I think need extra work.

Now if I could just figure out that query letter thing.

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I'm sort of in the same spot, though just shy of half-way and only on my first edit, but I'll get back to that. From what I've read (research is my best friend) the query letter is the best place to be as formulaic and professional as possible. It's like writing a resume, the person reading it has to go through four-dozen of these things before lunch and wants to be able to find the important details ASAP without dancing around the fancy formatting. Again, this is from a position of never having written a Query letter, and being far, far from pulling the trigger on that step.

My only suggestion is to take advantage of the Query letter experienced humans on the site and post yours for the purposes of primping and preening it to perfection.


My mind is on editing. I'm going through my book chapter by chapter using Pro-writing Aid to find word repeats, long sentences, etc. but after that I've got nothing. I'm a mechanical engineer. I'm good at math, but grammar is not my forte. I can read through my chapters and not see that I've used the same word to start the last five sentences, or if I'm using the wrong subject or a split infinitive or too many 'or's. Without biting the bullet on hiring an editor, what's my next recourse? Should I take an 'Advanced English Grammar' course online and hope I'm detached enough from my own writing to pick up the whoopsies without getting lost in my story?


Tulip Mama <3

Been distracting myself with short stories, feeling my murder novel looking over my shoulder, giving me the evil eye. I hit a major block and stepped back. Unfortunately I haven’t found the desire to return to it, and that’s unnerving. It just falls flat. Have I erred in sticking too close to the true story? Should I have changed all the names and embellished the daylights out of it? How do I make myself finish it?

The Second Moon said:

In my paranormal adult book the names for the realms suck big time! A vampire realm is called "Blang" A sunny realm is called "Pield". and a world full of wizards is called, Wizmark.

Okay, Wizmark isn't bad, but Pield and Blang???!!! First of all, Pield sounds like "peeled" and the word "peeled" has nothing to do with a sunny, field-like realm.

And Blang?? That's the worst! Sounds like something from a Barbie Doll pop star movie: "Bling-Blang! We're so gorgeous!" The realm in my book is dark and Victorian England-like.

I will change those names on the second draft, but for now I need to focus on getting words down

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I do that all the time. If I can't come up with a good name in a chapter, whether it's a person or a street or a city or whatever, I don't slow down, I just use <name> on the page until I can come back and do a find/replace with something better in revision.

Cephus said:

I do that all the time. If I can't come up with a good name in a chapter, whether it's a person or a street or a city or whatever, I don't slow down, I just use <name> on the page until I can come back and do a find/replace with something better in revision.

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Yes, that's very good advice, Moon. If you find yourself getting stuck on inconsequential things, put a pin in them (I use add comments) and you can come back to them later. You might well find that the questions answer themselves as the writing goes on.

For myself: I'm in edits, and today I'm reworking the entrance of my young girl character. I've been so looking forward to this.

There are fantasy name generators for everything. Here is one example:

https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/

Get up, get some caffeine, hit Facebook, first thing? "Oh, she writes romances so she wouldn't know what a book is, anyway."

I told them flat out "f*ck you".

MORAL OF THE STORY: She was just kidding and we can't take a joke and it's our fault we weren't born with a sense of humor AND QUIT TRYING TO TELL ME YOU CAN'T READ INTENT ONLINE WITHOUT INFLECTION AND TONE OF VOICE BECAUSE IT SHOULD COME ACROSS IN THE CHOICE OF FONT AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN I'M MAKING A JOKE.

*end scene*

Oh my!

I still really like my book but it's too long and not long enough to cut in half. I'm hoping my new beta reader will help me decide what to cut, which parts drag that could be shortened.

Plus I just watched Knives Out (excellent, by the way) and all those twists at the end, I might have to work harder on revising my ending.

One thing the Knives Out ending did help me with, all the action at the end need not be key to what the story is about, meaning in the query letter. I have to not worry so much about all those stories where the protagonist goes on a quest. I told myself at the beginning I wasn't writing a story about a chosen one, or a fierce female protagonist with an incredible weapon skill. I really need that to sink in as I figure out that query.

Maeze, re KNIVES OUT ending. Only my opinion, but even though I enjoyed the movie, I don't think the ending was realistic. Anyone else care to chime in?

TeresaRose said:

Maeze, re KNIVES OUT ending. Only my opinion, but even though I enjoyed the movie, I don't think the ending was realistic. Anyone else care to chime in?

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Not the right thread but I need to comment, Knives Out was like SnowPiercer, it wasn't meant to be realistic. I know there's a name for it, maybe someone else knows what it is, magical realism or something?

One more week of dog-sitting madness and I might be able to get some real work done. Wrote a 1500 word short, edits pending. I’ve felt so bad, consuming without creating but I’ve had little energy or time for anything else. Many days I think “How can I keep up the struggle? Is it really worth cramming this into an already packed schedule?” Trying to tell myself it’s just a natural dip in my spirits brought on by external stress. But it’s hard when the stress never seems to end.

I'm happily writing flash fiction and short stories. I'm considering different ideas and formats.

I fear I'm going to have to rewrite the first chapter once again.

The more I think about it, I know I'm going to have to rewrite it.