Posts Tagged ‘GH’
Today I thought I was ready to print my full MS for the GH entry. Unfortunately, it was the first time I’d noticed that all my pages were 1.5-spaced instead of double-spaced.
That’s ALL the pages — in the full MS and what I thought was getting close to a perfect GH entry.
When I put my 45 pages into double-spaced format, they suddenly grew to 57 pages — and that’s much too long. (With a six-page synopsis, I can only have 49 pages in my entry — and I can’t cut down the synopsis any more.)
Of course, I now have to find a new hook to end my entry on. I think it’s on the new Page 47, but I’m not sure. I don’t like it nearly as much as the old hook, but I don’t want to end on Page 49, because that’s even less of a hook … and I can’t end it much before Page 47 without cutting out a crucial scene.
This is a problem I can overcome. And I’m glad I noticed now instead of AFTER I sent it off. That would be a crappy way to get disqualified!
On the NaNo front, I wrote about a thousand more words today. That gives me 64 more pages than I had last month. Not too shabby!
That’s what my blog is doing … I haven’t been giving it as much attention as I should, I guess.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been giving the NaNo the attention it needs, either. After a great write-in with friends Wednesday morning (at which the MS topped 10,400 words), I was woefully lazy on Thursday and Friday. This morning, I managed to write another couple hundred words …
The good news is I realized this morning (as I lamented my lack of progress over the last few days) that I have 55 more pages of Blind Date Bride than I did before I started the NaNo on Nov. 1.
So I might not be where I should be word-count wise, but I’m much better off than I’d be had I not signed up for NaNo.
As for the GH entry, I spent some time last night making the edits from my last read-through. It looks like I’m going to be shipping off 500+ pages, though (6 copies of the 45-page entry, 6 copies of a 6-page synopsis and a 216-page full MS).
Wow! That’s a lot of pages. Wonder how much that’ll cost me?
No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth … even if it might seem like I did. I’ve been busy, busy, busy trying to balance my writing life with the day job and my attempt to hit my goal weight (which I’m still 15 pounds away from, darn it).
I still wonder if I might have bitten off more than I can chew this month, but I’m trying my darnedest.
A quick update:
• The NaNo MS is up to nearly 10,500 words (and that’s 10,500 more words than I had at the beginning of November!).
• I’ve printed out another paper copy of the GH entry (pages and synopsis) to read through tonight. I plan to make any final changes and hit the post office tomorrow. It’s payday, and I need to pay for the mailing while I have the money to do it!
That’s what I’ve been up to. How about you?
I've signed up, for better or worse.
… But I did decide to go ahead and sign up for the NaNoWriMo. I figured that, if nothing else, it’d spur me to finish the last 40,000 words I need to write on “Blind Date Bride” so I can enter it in next year’s GH.
Now it’s Day 3, and I’ve still only written about 2,000 words. That already puts me hopelessly behind.
Even worse, now that I’ve let Kari and Damien out to play, I’m having trouble shutting them up long enough to go back and put the finishing touches on this year’s GH entry featuring Erin and the not-nearly-as-boring anymore Brad. (He’s come a long way in the last few months!)
I got some very good — and much appreciated — feedback on those pages from Anne Marie, one of the GH winners from 09. Needless to say, I’m taking her advice because she knows what she’s doing! 😀
To finish 50,000 words in 30 days, I need to write 1,667 a day. Since I only need about 40,000 words, I don’t have to write quite that much … it works out to 1,333 a day.
At 1,994 after Day 2, I’m not as far behind as I could be. I may even catch up later, when I get off work.
Hope springs eternal! 😀
P.S. If any of my blog readers (of which I’m sure there are a few) are doing the NaNo and want to add me as a buddy, my username is arlenemarie. Novel title: Blind Date Bride.
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