Novel revision

My writing partner and I have completed writing draft 3 of our novel and have begun polishing it up, adding tension, increasing characterization, and adding backstory to highlight the universal theme. Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon is our guide. Amazing how the story plot came together in draft 3, as chapters and the story ending emerged. I reviewed our progress and noticed we spent approximately 3 months on drafts 1 & 2 each after more than a year of riff writing and producing our first crappy copy. If we keep the same revision pace, we'll have draft 4 ready by September. Writing is a wonderful, fun, and creative process.

New Project - Letters from 1940-41

For the past several months I've been working on a new writing project. A year ago my two sisters and I found and read letters our parents had written to each other before they were married. I'm using the thirty-three letters as the basis for a novella length piece. The letters are the root of the love story between my parents. Interspersed between these are a series of dialogues between my two sisters and I as we took turns reading the letters to each other. The final piece is a narrative written from Mom's POV. Inspiration for the piece comes from Carol Shield's book, The Stone Diaries in which she uses a similar format to tell the story. I am well on my way to having a completed first draft which I will send to my sisters for critical feedback and additions that come to them. This is a 'Creative non-fiction' piece. The dialogue between we sisters is based on our own reactions as we read the letters. The narrative comes from family lore and my creative imagination.

On Rejections

Since my story Twenty Forty-Six was accepted for publication the rejections sting less. Recently two of my stories were rejected but both editors offered praise for my writing. And encouraged me to continue writing and submitting stories. One editor said a story was confusing and offered suggestions on improving it. Most helpful as I rewrite the piece for submission to another publication. I appreciate the feedback and encouraging words. I continue writing and submitting my short stories. The learning process never ends.

Success in six months!

Six months since my last post. Implemented my plan to write, revise, and send out short stories to publishers. Six months later I received an email from Fountain Magazine informing me I'd won "Honorable Mention" in their 2014 writing contest. Yippie! Not only will my story Twenty Forty-Six be published in Fountain Magazine's 100th issue this summer, a cash prize of $200 was awarded too! Publication and money. So excited. Now I can call myself an author, not simply a writer. Inspired I move forward writing, revising, and sending off my short stories to publishers.

Sending Out Stories

Throughout the summer I diligently wrote, revised, and rewrote scenes for our book with my writing partner. We added a forth writing day and write together over the internet. Recently we decided we each needed to get a few short stories or articles published. I have a dozen or so pieces in various drafts and started reviewing and rewriting these. My writing partner and I critique each other's pieces. We see ourselves as our own mini critique group. We encourage each other and hold each other accountable for sending out stories. We are committed to sending out two stories/articles each month. This is the motivation I need to get my stories out to publishers. Acceptance or rejection of my stories is not what matters. Just sending out my stories is important.

Life Interrupts Art

Three months. Life interrupts! When last I posted in March, my coauthor was on a three week vacation. The week she returned my dear out-of-state friend came for a two-week visit. May brought family events and travel issues. But come June, life settled and my coauthor and I devised a writing schedule -  we write Mon. Tues., and Thurs. mornings from 9:30 to 12:30. Three days a week is manageable as we organize the main plot and subplot scenes along the story timeline. Together we write new scenes as well as rewrite previous ones, brainstorm ideas and clarify scene goals. Joy-joy-joy it is, writing again.

Write something each day

My co-author is on a three week vacation so I have turned my writing attention to other projects, an advantage of having several writing pieces at different levels of development. I continue reorganizing Dubious Grief writing scenes and letting the material flow. I've given up trying to impose a predetermined structure on the story. For my historical novel I'm mostly done with the research and now think about how my protagonist will react to specific events and write short snippets to develop into scenes later. I write whatever interests me on a daily basis. My goal is simply to write, write, write something every day.