PROGRESS. PROGRESS. PROGRESS.

As you read in my last post on the 27th, I’ve gotten back the edits for Chapters 35-39 on Thursday, after which I sent the real final chapter to my editor. I received this final chapter back from my editor, she said she liked the different way in which I ended the story.
Anyway today I entered her edits into my actual manuscript and asked two questions regarding them. The great thing is she has already answered them. Right now she’d like me to finish entering her edits, polish the manuscript off, and move it along to get published. This is something I definitely want to do more sooner than later.

As far as my muses are concerned, I’m well underway starting my second novel. Yesterday I wrote one chapter consisting of six pages and about 1,400 words; and today I got five pages written, with about 1,300 words. So with these eleven pages and 2,700 words done in two days, if I can keep this rate up, I might be able to complete this yet untitled writing endeavor in about a month or at the most two. This is barring any distractions such as my muses telling me to write something for the YA novel they had given me at the same time as the one I’m currently working on.

I’ll be posting daily progress notes on my twitter every morning, so follow me here = http://www.twitter.com/mypennameonly

My current writing endeavor will be a contemporary romance with paranormal elements throughout.

EVERYTHING'S GOING AS PLANNED !!!

As I said in my of post of  Sunday. September 23:

“It’s about 1:30 here on the east coast, so later this morning when I wake up I’ll be sending a total of four chapters to my editor; leaving the final chapter as a “surpise”/second ending to my novel. As it stands now I have about 260 pages / 66,900 words.”

When I received her edits on Tuesday and she had responded like I thought she would, she didn’t expect the ending I had written at the end of Chapter 39, and said she liked it a lot, and like me she’s looking to seeing my book in print.

With her edits in hand on this past Tuesday, I sent the real last chapter, Chapter 40.  When I did, I told her that I had been untruthful by telling her she had read/edit everything for my novel.  You might say that I fooled her, and you would be right. I also told her that I couldn’t end my story on such a sad note, and that I still had a "loose" end that I haven't taken care of yet, and that she’ll see it was when she reads it.

Reading her response this time, I smiled.  She called me a brat for having kept her hanging in the way I did, and that I was sooooo “bad” for doing it. Given this, I can’t wait until she reads his, all four pages of it.

The other thing I did this past Monday was to start writing one of the two ideas my muses gave me while I was finally approaching my typing that elusive final period.  One of the ideas my muses gave me was for another YA, the other was for a contemporary paranormal romance.  The contemporary one seemed clearer in my mind, so I began writing and wrote three pages with about 925 words.  With this novel beginning its journey to the day its final elusive period gets typed, I wonder with my muses will allow me to write both stories at the same period. If I do try to write both of these same stories at the same time, I know my muses will be fighting to see which one gets worked on each day. So anyway, its Thursday and I’m enjoy having nothing to do regarding writing, and I’ll wait a few more days before I jump back in, that is unless I get the urge to write something again…you know how those muses can be.  J

THINGS JUST SEEM TO HAVE A WAY OF HAPPENING

When I made my last post yesterday [9/22/12] I still had no real idea of which way I should go to reach being able to type that final elusive period for my first YA Paranormal/Time Table/First Kiss romance novel.  And boy, how much a difference a few hours can make. This afternoon, I mentally chopped what I needed to say/cover into small pieces, and then tried to form a picture using as few pieces as possible.  And voila, once I had this picture formulated in my mind, I sat down to type it out.  Little did I realized that this would become a marathon typing session.  Typing for almost six hours, I typed  fifteen pages and approximately 3,750 words, which included that elusive final period.

It’s about 1:30 here on the east coast, so later this morning when I wake up I’ll be sending a total of four chapters to my editor; leaving the final chapter as a “surpise”/second ending to my novel. As it stands now I have about 260 pages / 66,900 words.

This means that Monday, I’ll be starting the next phase for my novel…getting someone to design the cover.

So right now, I’d like to thank everything who has followed me through my trials and tribulations as I completed this part of my journey in becoming an author.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

Why is this happening? This is a question for which I can’t fathom the reason. Usually, I write something once and aside from tweaking it a little, it remains written. Of course it goes without saying that from time to time I’ve, like almost every author has done, deleted an entire scene. Yet for some reason I can’t seem to write these last few pages. I write it and it seems quite good, but then I go back and delete it, and this has not just happen once, it has occurred three times it the past five days since my last post.

The main idea I have on how to end the story has remained the same. When I woke this morning I realized it hasn’t been the wording which has driven me to write and then deleted these last pages, it has been the length.

The length? I’m well in the parameters for the genre I’m writing in, then it must be something else. Could it be the amount of detail I’ve written?

The amount of detail? I’ve had no real problem with this issue since I first began writing this novel several months ago. I’ve done through writing unforeseen and unwanted side trips away from the storyline and then deleting them with a whimper.

My current, self-imposed deadline for typing that elusive final period is Monday night. This way I should be able to get the last chapters of manuscript back from my editor. I’ll just have to rest this morning and until the afternoon, clearing my mind [hopefully] from all other matters and distractions, and keeping my pen and paper close at hand in case any of my muses comes up with an idea to help me.

THE FINAL PATH HAS BEEN DETERMINED

Last Thursday I had a setback, which I wrote about in my last post, when I realized that the last chapter and a half I had written had to be placed in the proverbial cylindrical file. But soon got rectified as I wrote eleven pages that day and the next; and the weekend had been filled with prior commitment which allowed only three additional pages.

This might sound like the past weekend has been a total waste of time with no movement towards my typing that elusive final period, however it allow me time to significantly map out the final pages. The last two to four is now intended to be an epilogue of sorts, but since it’s a YA novel it will be merely another numbered chapter which will bring a “loose end” I had created previously back to the forefront and to conclusion.

All in all, I see myself still needing to write thirteen more pages, which will give me a total of 260 pages and approximately 67,000 words. And once that final elusive period gets type, this last batch of pages will be off to my editor, and at the same time I will begin to work with the graphic designer I plan to use to do the cover for my book.

This will now bring my to do list down to: writing an eighty to a hundred word synopsis, author blurb, and last but not least I’ll have to determine a price for my book for both a printed/Kindle copy of the book, which I’m probably to a poll for on the LinkedIn groups I belong to.

A SETBACK AND MOVEMENT FORWARDS AGAIN

One thing about taking a break from what you’re writing is that when you go back to it, you see it would a “new” set of eyes. Unfortunately, when I got back to finally finish writing and typing that final elusive period for my first YA romance novel, I realized I had to chuck the last chapter and a half I’d written. With several pages now in the proverbial circular file, the dreaded nemesis of every writer, writer’s block, raised its sinister head.

As those of you who are writers know, there are dozens of ways to beat this foe back. One of the ways I’ve found to do it is having to focus on writing something different than my novel. That’s why I love following Laura McHale Holland’s flash fiction blog and thinking of a good response for each entry. Her blog entry this week has helped me once again by allowing me to overcome this episode of writer’s blog.

http://lauramchaleholland.com/flash-fiction/slip-away/#comments

OOPS - I'VE FORGOTTEN TO POST IN ALMOST FOUR WEEKS

With my other half on vacation my regular daily routine of being on the internet, managing my groups on LinkedIn, twitter, and of course my writing went by the wayside. When I finally returned to it, I had a backlog which took several days before I could get back on track. With the backlog out of the way I finally returned to my writing. However, I first had to re-read [and do some more tweaking along the way] my entire manuscript to refresh my memory of what I've written. But, as always, little things kept on interfering with my desire to finally type that ELUSIVE FINAL period for my novel.

Being ready to continue on my quest, new element has arisen; my editor went on vacation, and won’t return until the end of next week. So with approximately twelve more pages to go I figure the best thing to do is to outline my next novel(s) with the ideas my muses had given me, and spend two days next week concentrating my writing solely on my first novel.

This time lag is also allowing me to begin my quest for someone to do the cover for my book, so I'm searching the net, asking people I know for suggestions. I'd like to get someone who lives no more than thirty minutes away from where I live, so we can talk face to face instead of the impersonal use of the phone.

Next time, I’m definitely going to make a little room to do posts on my blog, even if it’s just saying some about my vacation.