Archive for the ‘Musings’ Category
Happy birthday, self. This is going to be your year … to enter the Golden Heart contest, to start seeking an agent, to get serious about your writing career.
You never intended to be pushing 40 and not have a published novel under your belt. When you were in high school, you thought you’d have hit it big by at least 35.
Well, sweetie, that mark passed you by three years ago. Now you’re 38 and it’s past time to get back to work on that elusive goal of getting published.
You, my dear, are a romance writer. You’ve tried writing other types of stories, but the romance always creeps in. Better yet, you write romantic comedy. Sure, the experts say there’s not much market for that right now … but in today’s world, we all could use a good laugh. And your stories provide that. So get to work! Get them out there so others can see them!
The only thing holding you back is yourself.
Love, Arlene
I want to know why I seem to get more writing done at Starbucks than I do in my own home.
I guess it’s the distraction factor. At Starbucks, the TV is not on (though there is music), so I don’t get sucked into the lives of those poor hapless guests on “Jerry Springer,” and there are no dogs running around trying to sniff my keyboard every five seconds, so I’m not constantly yelling at them to behave.
Plus, there’s no Internet to distract me from the real reason I turned on my computer. I have gotten better about working first and playing later, but I still let the siren’s call of Facebook get the better of me from time to time.
With the Golden Heart deadline looming and lots of work to do, I have a feeling I’m going to be spending a lot of time at Starbucks. I know I’ll be there Wednesday. It’s my birthday, and some of the gals from NARWA are having a write-in for me.
I can’t wait!
Got my critique back this afternoon, and I was right: The manuscript definitely needs some help.
I’m not going to lie: It was a bit unnerving to see all that “red ink” on my pages. But it was also edifying, because she said a lot of the same things I’ve been thinking.
Just the other day, I started to wonder if I spent too much of the first page and a half setting the scene … and sure enough, Shea suggested I cut the first page or so and start with more action.
She also pointed out that I need to keep the thread about the book Erin gets for her birthday going — and I’d noticed it’s not as strong a presence as I’d like.
As for Brad, she didn’t exactly call him boring … but she did point out that he’s, well, “bland” … and that’s just a nicer word for dull as dirt.
So it looks like I have my work cut out for me. Good thing I’m up for the challenge. I got an e-mail confirmation today from RWA that they’ve received my entry.
Your manuscript, Operation Snag Brad, has been entered in the Contemporary Series Romance Category of the 2010 Golden Heart Contest sponsored by Romance Writers of America, Inc. Please send six copies of the partial manuscript, six synopses, and one full manuscript to (address)
Guess I won’t be getting back to Kari and Damien anytime soon. Fixing up Brad and Erin is going to take up all my free time between now and Dec. 2. 😀
But when I’m done, it should be a much stronger — and hopefully sell-able — story.
The next meeting of my RWA chapter, Northern Arizona Romance Writers of America, is on Saturday, and I can’t wait.
We’re going to have a guest speaker, Linda Style, talk to us about layering stories and subplots.
It should be interesting. It will pose a challenge for my diet, because restaurant meals always do. But I think I’m up for it.
Not much progress to report on the GH entry today. I shipped off my first 15 pages for the critique I won, and am now waiting for it.
I’m beginning to wonder if I get straight to the action quickly enough, though. I guess I’ll find out soon enough.
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