Posts Tagged ‘Check-in’
I’ve been having lots of family fun on vacation. Driving around the country, exploring Mall of America, playing games with the kids …
But I’ve had next to no time to write. One day when I fired up the computer, the Boyfriend interrupted me about 10 minutes later. I’d just finished re-reading the last scene written to refresh my memory. No new writing got done.
Guess that’s why “they” say you shouldn’t stop to reread what you’ve written. (Who “they” are, I’m not certain. But I have heard that particular piece of advice before.)
Oh well. I’ll be back home and back to the old grind of my day job soon enough, and then I’ll get back into my writing routine. It shouldn’t be too hard, because Bethany and Cody are still chattering away in my head.
When I get back, it’ll also be time to get started on the next NARWA newsletter … and work on my goals for our next meeting. I believe I said, “revise BDB to incorporate judges’ comments” and “send out at least 2 queries on Meg & Matt.”
Busy, busy, busy. And I’ll only get busier when I head home at the end of the week.
Now that I’ve had time to synthesize my score sheets from the last contest I entered, I’m pleased to say I’m on the right track.
No, I did not final. The max score was a 161; mine was 130-something.
That being said, I wasn’t displeased with the results. That was my gut reaction when I read through the score sheets the first time; it didn’t change when I reread them a couple of days later.
I got at least a 3 (average) in every category. I also got plenty of 4s and even a few 5s.
I think I can safely say I’m on the right track. The judges liked the concept and at least one said they liked my writing style.
Now, all I have to do is revise, using the feedback to make the story even better. (Since it’s going to be a GH entry, I want it to be as perfect as possible … and the comments should help.)
Maybe I ought to take the hard copy of the MS with me on vacation so I can get started …
During our last NARWA carpool, we were chatting away when my friends decided I was organized.
My first thought? “Yeah, right.” I believe I said something like, “You wouldn’t say that if you saw my desk at work.”
That’s true. My desk is one of the messiest in the newsroom, with piles and piles of stuff. My bedroom is the same way: stuff everywhere. Of course, I do know right where to find most things, so I guess you could call it “organized chaos.”
And yes, I am that girl — the one who has an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of her word count progress.
I have to use that silly program somehow, since I paid an arm and a leg for it in my Office package. I bought it for the Word, but refuse to have TWO unused programs. Since I have no idea how to set up Entourage, Excel it is. I’ve even figured out how to create cool charts to show my progress.
Hmm. If that makes me organized, I’m guilty as charged. Especially now that I’m focusing on treating writing like my day job so it’ll become my day job, I’ve been keeping track.
And I have been busy: Since deciding last year to enter the Golden Heart, I’ve …
- Revised Brad & Erin’s story and sent out several queries on it. (Received one nibble, which resulted in a rejection.)
- Entered it in the Golden Heart, where it received solidly average scores.
- Taken part in my first NaNoWriMo, writing about 25,000 words.
- Finished the first draft of my first single-title length novel.
- Edited it into a second draft, written a synopsis and query and submitted it to a handful of agents. (Two wanted to see more.)
- Expanded Cassie and Dustin’s story to the proper length for category romance, editing and revising as I went along.
- Done the same for Bree and Mike’s story.
- Written about two-thirds of Meg and Matt, finishing a first draft.
- Crafted the dreaded query and synopsis for Meg and Matt.
- Started a second single-title story, a sequel to the first.
Wow, I have been busy. Four series manuscripts and one single-title … Now all I need to do is find someone who’s interested in publishing one — or all — of them.
Let the organizing continue! 😉
That’s approximately how much I’ve written on Bethany and Cody’s story … and I have yet to get them to the island so their adventure can begin. They’ve been taking a side trip, with Beth’s mom attempting a reconciliation.
I guess since I have a total of at least 90K words, I’m still OK. I know they need to make it to the island soon, though.
I’m headed off on vacation in a few short hours — to Texas, then Oklahoma and Minnesota — with the Boyfriend, his mother and his kids. (It’ll be the first time I meet them.)
Still, I’m taking the laptop and hope to find plenty of time to write while I’m gone. Maybe I’ll even manage to get Beth and Cody to Bora Bora!
I sure hope so.
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