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Nearly impossible to concentrate


Cuppa-Tea

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I noticed from the "Getting to Know You" thread that there are a few writers on this forum. I'm in the middle of my first fantasy adventure novel. I stopped working on it for a couple of weeks, but started up again this morning. I have no desire to do anything else right now... all these mundane things make me want to scream... who cares about showers or meals or laundry or even - God help me - patiently coloring Thomas pictures with my son (as I just finished doing) when the story is unfolding in my mind. I'm afraid that if I don't catch it on paper while the ideas are fresh, they will drift away and be lost on the current of my day.

At least I got Elinor, my heroine, out of the trunk where the Bad Guy was keeping her hidden while smuggling her out of town. Kind of like Bilbo's barrels. But drier.

It's so awful having a project like this that takes so long to complete, in which your whole heart and soul are invested, and not be able to share it with anyone other than little hints. It's like starting a dollhouse and not being able to post any pics or say anything about the progress until it is completely finished.

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It's so awful having a project like this that takes so long to complete, in which your whole heart and soul are invested, and not be able to share it with anyone other than little hints.

The good news is that you should be sharing it -- agents want to hear that your novel has been workshopped, been to conferences, etc. Many won't even look at a sample chapter if they haven't met you at a writers' conference. And as you already know, you'll need an agent to get a publisher to look at the manuscript, as very few publishing houses will consider "over the transom" submissions. So it's defnitely worthwhile for you to join an in-person or online writer's circle to start your networking.

Doing the workshop/conference/networking process is no guarantee that you'll get the book published, but it does vastly increase your chances of success. (Genre romance novels are probably the one fiction area where this is much less true, since Harlequin actively solicits submissions from new writers.)

Good luck and have fun!

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Thanks, Calamari! I'm still working on the (very) rough draft so at this point, I can't show anyone. Any negative comments would be not just discouraging but irrelevant, since I'm still developing the plot, theme, etc. Eventually I will probably try to get it published, but for now it's just for fun. I honestly can't think of a publisher who would want it, however.

The purpose of the project is to help boost my confidence by proving to myself that I can develop an idea completely and write an entire manuscript.

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(Genre romance novels are probably the one fiction area where this is much less true, since Harlequin actively solicits submissions from new writers.)
That hit a mental sore toe with me. Two of my highschool classmates have become published writers. Lucia writes wonderfully researched historical novels (Shadow Patriots, Mary's Land, Light a Distant Fire, to name a few) and Pam churns out Harlequin novels at the rate of several a year, and our supposedly literate reunion committee puts them on equal footing! (I read a Harlequin novel once, when we had our bookstore; I read at least one of every type of novel we got in so I could talk intelligently with the customers. Some were difficult to keep my lunch down, and I never made it past the opening sentences of the romance novels)
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Lucia writes wonderfully researched historical novels (Shadow Patriots, Mary's Land, Light a Distant Fire, to name a few) and Pam churns out Harlequin novels at the rate of several a year, and our supposedly literate reunion committee puts them on equal footing!

Oh dear! While I respect category romance novelists -- writing a novel on their timelines is hard work, even if it's relatively formulaic! -- the two writers just don't have the same lives at all. It's similar to the difference between running your own company (Lucia) and being middle-management at someone else's firm (Pam) in terms of what's demanded of them and what support they get.

I've encountered well-written romance novels... but... how popular fiction portrays "business" gets on my nerves, so I mostly read non-fiction anyway.

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The purpose of the project is to help boost my confidence by proving to myself that I can develop an idea completely and write an entire manuscript.

Good for you Christine!! I think the most important thing is that you honor your personal need to create and fulfill your dream. Listen to your muse and be true to your desires, and things will all come together as they should.

Deb

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Well, I need escape from reality so I read mostly fiction. I've been living in the Cotswolds with Agatha Raisin for several months now (M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin mystery series.) She's an anti-protagonist, meaning that she has so many character flaws that you kind of don't like her, but then again you do. Those of you who don't like fiction might enjoy these. They are slightly gritty and quite humorous, Agatha's cantankerousness offsetting the beauty of the Cotswold village setting. One of the things I really like about M.C. Beaton is that she always bumps off really awful people so you don't feel bad for the victim.

Regarding romance novels, I read several dozen of them as reasearch in order to attempt writing one several years ago. Some were quite good, some were okay and some I couldn't get past the first chapter. It really depends on the author's style and the publisher's guidelines. I'm amazed by how much control the publishers have over the story - I didn't realize that until I requested guidelines.

I have to admit, I thought it would be easy to write a romance but it was actually very difficult and I temporarily gave up. All that sighing and hand-holding and she thought and he thought takes a lot of effort to come out smoothly. At least for me it did because it's so unlike my normal style. So now I hand it to the people who can write that stuff and pull it off. Any working writer who earns money is doing better than me!

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I have to admit, I thought it would be easy to write a romance but it was actually very difficult and I temporarily gave up. All that sighing and hand-holding and she thought and he thought takes a lot of effort to come out smoothly. At least for me it did because it's so unlike my normal style.

Exactly! I cannot write a sexy scene to save my life! Well, not without cracking up giggling.

You're actually substantially nearer being publishable (which I know isn't your goal now, but why not, maybe, eventually?) just because you recognize that writing can be hard. There was one group where I got so frustrated with the people who'd talk about how "it just flows" and then show off their unpunctuated, misspelled, incoherent ramblings, and what do you say to that to be supportive? Incoherent notes, sure; but when that's their "final" draft?

Like anything you like to do, there are days when it's all easy and fun, and there are also days when it's an effort to move ahead, get better, get it "just right" and so on. Even a good day of writing left me more tired than a bad day of statistical analysis does.

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Statistical analysis???? You have got to be kidding. That's what I used to do, before I became a SAHM. I worked on clinical trials. What is your area of expertise?

The really frustrating thing is that when I read over what I had written this morning... it sounds like a romance novel!!!! (pulling my hair in frustration) AAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!! Okay, take a deep breath. I can revise it later.

Which is not meant to offend anyone who reads romances. I know they are very popular. I just didn't intend to write one this time!

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I analyze investment opportunities -- so, financial statements, various ratios among financial numbers. This week will probably be mostly descriptive stats to characterize different funds, but there are other projects that involve more predictive analysis. This is part of a career change, so I'm still somewhat of a beginner. But I also have my little non-investment hobby project for online pals on another site, where I have an excuse to trot out chi-squared and Welch's t-test and the like.

Getting tone right in a scene can be a beast... the scene can be perfectly well-written and yet not do what you want it to do! And characters do tend to slip their leash on first drafts.

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I analyze investment opportunities -- so, financial statements, various ratios among financial numbers. This week will probably be mostly descriptive stats to characterize different funds, but there are other projects that involve more predictive analysis. This is part of a career change, so I'm still somewhat of a beginner. But I also have my little non-investment hobby project for online pals on another site, where I have an excuse to trot out chi-squared and Welch's t-test and the like.

Getting tone right in a scene can be a beast... the scene can be perfectly well-written and yet not do what you want it to do! And characters do tend to slip their leash on first drafts.

That's great, Calamari! Best of luck with your new career. A lot of what I did was small sample cohorts on cancer patients, so I used a lot of Kruskal-Wallis tests and one I can't even recall the name of now, it's been so long. For the larger, randomized studies I just used whatever formula the Ph.D. statistician gave me and plugged it into the computer! I wish I knew more about finance, though. Much of my job was just cleaning and programming the data, and helping design the studies to collect good info in the first place. And reading protocols. Lots and lots of protocols!

Regarding the writing stuff: I have a friend who has some editing experience, who called this morning about something else, so I read my pages to her and she gave me some good feedback for revising today's scene. I do not suffer from over-confidence about my writing; I actually keep away from writer's groups and publications like Writer's Digest because they make me feel so inadequate. It's an effort not to just give up, but I keep telling myself that it is better to try and fail than to not try at all.

I'm just sick and tired of hearing how hard it is to get published and how perfect you have to be to make it. That's why I say I'm just writing for myself, otherwise I'd absolutely give up because it's so discouraging.

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Good job! That is so awesome that you are writing. :wave: I think being completely focused on writing can really help it turn out.

I can relate, at least a little! I love to write and even started several stories. But although I have a lot of great ideas, I am sooo slow at writing and I get stumped a lot! Then I stop. I am glad you are able to do it. It would be so neat to have a completed manuscript!

I have a fun story to share with you! My husband and I have been married for four years. On our honeymoon we spent a lot of time driving which of course left us a lot of time to talk. My husband has always had a passion for writing and reading and has written a lot. Currently he was working on a certain novel (only in his head, he hadn’t started writing it yet) and he started telling me the plot. Long story short we have been working on the history for this story for four years and it is an amazing story, in my totally unbiased opinion. :thumb: I am so excited because now finally after so long planning he really took off writing it this year. He comes home and the first thing I say (after “I love you, how was your day”) is, “Are you going to write tonight?” with an excited look on my face. He is on chapter three or four, I can’t remember. It may not be much so far but it is coming along pretty quick. I help with plot, story, and I draw pictures of the characters. That is how I try to help out. Anyway, I love it!

I have been nervous about the getting it published part because I don’t know much about it but I hear it is hard to get it done and often publishers want to completely change your work before publishing it. :) Sad. But I figure it took us four years to start really writing it so it will probably be awhile before we have to start worrying about that. It is interesting to hear experience with that. What are some things you guys recommend to help? I had never even heard of writers conferences or agents for this.

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My advice at the moment is not to do anything but what you are doing... just write the bleepin' manuscript the best way you can. Finish it, revise it, then revise it again. Then maybe see about going to a writer's conference and/or finding a local writer's group that can help you with the next step. You can find lots of info on line. I follow Tricia Goyer's blog - I think it's mywritingmentor.blogspot.com. She is a successful Christian author who writes historical dramas and has set up this blog to help newbie writers like me.

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My advice at the moment is not to do anything but what you are doing... just write the bleepin' manuscript the best way you can. Finish it, revise it, then revise it again. Then maybe see about going to a writer's conference and/or finding a local writer's group that can help you with the next step. You can find lots of info on line. I follow Tricia Goyer's blog - I think it's mywritingmentor.blogspot.com. She is a successful Christian author who writes historical dramas and has set up this blog to help newbie writers like me.

Good! I like that advice! I will check out Tricia Goyers blog too.

Keep us updated on your book!

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Thank you... you too! I'd love to hear more about it when you are ready. You can visit my blog christinescottage.blogspot.com.

What I was trying to say before is that if you start thinking about professional editing, finding an agent and publishing at this point - so early in the creative process - it will just take all the joy out of the writing part. Enjoy it! It sounds like you already are. That stuff will come later. And if you don't feel up to the expense and agony of getting published with a major publishing house, you can, for a few hundred dollars, self-publish your book to share with family and friends. At least that's what I've been told. It won't be a blockbuster, but it will be in print!

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