Books & Pianos

Wednesday night, my writing buddy came over with her finished synopsis. We celebrated. My daughter and granddaughter were over also. They are both used to listening to the ravings of writers, so they fit in well with our celebration. 

Of course, the synopsis was a draft, but it was finished, nonetheless, and that is a very difficult thing to do, if you've ever written a synopsis. My friend's was five pages. So I read it out loud. My granddaughter decided we needed musical accompaniment. She is only six and can't read music, but loves to 'create' piano pieces. As I read of the villain, she used the lower keys. As I read of the hero, she used the middle keys. As I read of the doves, she used the trilling upper keys. We howled. It felt like one of those silent movies. Thankfully, my friend was open to using different mediums with her work.

When I finished reading the synopsis, she asked for feedback. My daughter, who is as smart as a whip, said the MS had her at .... Which was about a page and a third from the beginning. I agreed. 

Cutting a synopsis is a painful thing, but my friend took it all in stride. She left it with me and I tried to hone it today. The first part needed almost no changes, but I could, the further along the synopsis I went, I could see just where my friend had begun to frazzle. I knew the story and the characters backwards and forwards since she's been sharing her book with me for the last year, so it was easy enough, for me since I did not sweat blood to write it, to put it in bullet form and then flesh it out. This cut two pages worth.

I gave it to my friend tonight. She was grateful, but I could tell not too excited. I'm sure things I cut are things she thought were important. Thankfully, we have been working together long enough that we both have the deepest respect for each other and our writing abilities. 

I can't wait to see what the finished version looks like, but I know it will be great. The important thing is - she is sooooo much further along than just a month ago. I do believe she'll be able to send it to her agent within the next couple of weeks. She's got her pitch done and her character pages, the synopsis, and the first five chapters are edited and ready to go.

Life is good.

PS - I got an incredible letter today. I'll share it with you tomorrow, but I just had to say that, after yesterday's post, the mail lifted my spirits one hundrefold!

Silence

There are people who crave it. People who look for it. People who spend week-ends wallowing in it.

Silence can be a good thing -- but not after you've read your first chapter of your MS to a critique group.

I went to a new one tonight. They do not require a period of waiting, as some groups do, so I brought Ch. 1 of 'Blue,' and read it to them.

There was silence. A long period of silence. Longer than I had anticipated. In fact, I had not even expected silence.

Oh dear God! There is that expectation thing again! Back to the Four Agreements, Sharron......

After what seemed like hours, but was probably only seconds, someone thought I should add a bit more description. Another comment or two and then a very polite, thank you for reading to us.

I am trying not to be....

Hell - I'm discouraged. I want to chuck 'Blue' and chuck writing and chuck just everything.

I'll get over it. Thank God. 

Writing sucks. Not real writing. Real writing is fun and suspenseful and euphoric.

The writing process - the part after the book or the chapter or the paragraph is written - sucks. 

You know I do not like to plunge into darkness here. So I won't. I'll go on writing 'Blue.' I have spent way too much time with it and have had many positive comments regarding it. 

This new group was super friendly. I felt comfortable with them - til a point - but I will go back. I'm not sure if I'll bring something else to share - at least not for the next meeting. *g*

I am working on Ch. 20 of 'Blue.' There's a few things that need fleshing out. (I wish the ice cream store was open.) *g*

Life is silence.

Looking Back

I suppose I should qualify this post by saying, I know I am a stubborn woman. I sometimes think that is a good thing; I sometimes think it is a bad thing.

Right now - I'm leaning towards the good thing.

At class today, the teacher critiqued a couple chapters of 'The Other Side.' She still says it's very good and it still gives her the willies. That's fun. To give your teacher the willies.

She had only a couple parts she wanted fleshed out and then sat back, and with a grin - not a smile, but a full-fledged grin, said this work was so superior to the first MS I presented her way back in 2010. 

This should have (if I want to go to the 'should have' hell) caused a flurry of pride and hope. It did not. It made me a little upset. My stubborn streak rose ten thousand feet into the air and stayed there. I thought, it was a good book. I still want to try to get it published. I thought it was written very well indeed.

Being stubborn, I decided, with a hint of scraped pride, to look at the book again. I pulled it up in the computer, read the prologue, and thought, hm, this is good. A wee bit over the top in hyperbole and such, but still good. 

I'm afraid to look at Chapter One. *g*

I started writing 'Blue' because I wanted to learn POV. In the aforementioned book, I'd used a few POVs. My teacher/editor thought I'd gone way overboard with them. 'Blue' is turning out quite well, though it does not receive the same adulation from my teacher as does 'The Other Side,' but it is an entirely different genre. 

I'm going to look at Ch. One of the old MS and see how it is. I'm expecting to find it not quite as good as I thought, but I still think it will be good.

I do have difficulty thinking anything I write is less than stellar. Pride. I know it's a trait that's needed by a writer, so I won't beat myself over the head with recriminations, but I will try to approach the chapter with an open mind. And with the knowledge that I've learnt over these past many years.

Life is looking forward.

Joy-Filled

I find I am joy-filled today. No apparent reason. Unless it's the new puppy. Been wanting one for awhile, as a companion, and to bounce my story ideas off. *g*

He's about a year old. A shidoodle. Black with little specks of white and bits of brown for a 'beard.' He is the sweetest personality. But I will confess, I prayed hard that I'd find a 'good' dog. I named him Pippin. He reminds me of the character in 'Lord of the Rings.' A sprinkle of mischief in the midst of loving commitment.

Speaking of commitment, my writing buddy is coming over on Wednesday. She went out of town to complete her synopsis. And she did. We talked via phone about how the 'honing' went. She was very happy that she was able to 'give up' some parts so that it was succinct.

I remember I had to kill off a character a few years ago. I went out of town to do it. I knew I couldn't do it in a 'normal' writing space. I needed to pull away and give myself time to sort through the emotions and such of the deed. It took me three days and a lot of tears, but I killed her off. I think she was pleased at how it worked out. A good death scene. *g*

This writing business is beyond strange. It pulls me into situations and characters and such that I would never see or do in my 'real' life. I have so many incredible experiences in my writing. I go to other places, I meet other people, I live in my writing.

Thankfully, I have discovered this is no aberrant behavior. A lot of writers do the same thing. Not that I am hiding from life, I can't keep my calendar straight most days, but writing brings such an thrill, a sense of exultation, a deep mourning, a cutting into my very being. All of the experiences are incredible Pretty hard, but worth it.

I've got my writing class tomorrow afternoon, so I've got a about six MS to read. I've got to get cracking. I won't be able to do what I usually do - read each MS twice - since I just got them today, but I'll do my best. My fellow students deserve it. And I know they'll do the same for my MS.

I am so behind in emails and such, I can't believe it. But I am editing. That's the important thing.

Life is flowing.

PS - another blasted plot bunny hit me and I want to start on that one. Think it's going to be an adult Romance. We'll see. I jotted the gist down in my text on my cell. *g*