Well, this writer's summer, anyhow.
I started with wanting a week or so of rest. I cleaned. Then I caught the cleaning bug even when I didn't need to clean for the sake of a graduation party. Now I've started the process of cleaning the house, and yet have spent the day so far, on the computer.
I have editing to do, and research for agents, then the querying. I'm thinking it will work best in that order. Much as part of me wants to just send off teh query letters, I know I've seen a few agents who aren't accepting letters right now, and others whose blogs I follow, but who don't accept my genre.
(To explain, I first starting reading agent blogs a couple of years ago when I visited agentquery.com, thinking I'd query for that first novel and be ready to do so as soon as I was done with it. Well, agent query contains links to agent blogs, for some of them. So, in my search for sci fi/fantasy agents, I found blogs, and those blogs had links or comments by other agents, some of whom didn't accept my genre. From there, I have a fairly large list of blogs I visit, and although my first thought it to query those I follow, I immediately remember that that won't work for all of them.)
Anyway, it's Tuesday, for those of you following the calender. I tend to wear my watch, with its reminder of the day and date in addition to the time, but still, I lose track. I've blinked only to find days, weeks, almost entire months having passed with my hardly noticing. This week is nearly half over, which to my mother means the whole week is almost at an end. So I think what I'd like to do is finish with the manic cleaning, so my work space is clean, and so I won't have the rest of the house as an excuse. Then I'll hit the editing. One story just needs a final go-over, fix up the ending a bit, make sure the world-building works (i.e. enough of it, but not too heavy). The other is more recent, but needs a lot more work.
First one first, then query, then hope for the best.
In the midst of that, research short story markets for this secondary world fantasy story with no magic.
In blog-admin updatey-ness: there is a Followers link in the side bar, as well as a Search bar.
Happy writing, people.
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Update: Taste like Pomegranate
Today I translated the last 125 lines of Beowulf, a 3182-line poem in Old English. One of my classmates thinks we should write our professor evaluations in Old English. I totally get a kick out of the thought, but I don't know if I have the time, since perhaps my weakest area (besides the bloody grammar--darn you dative and accusative cases!) is memorizing the vocabulary.
We'll see. I'm working on my ten-page "What I would write on had I more time" paper for Beowulf. And slogging through it, too. I just can't seem to keep my attention on it. But that done, I'll only have to worry about the final next Wednesday and my work at UH is complete.
I graduate--black gown, cap and fancy-schmancy hood--on May 16. Part of me is giddy and squeeing in relief and excitement. I'll be the first one on either side of the family (as far as I know and at least for immediate family) to get a Master's degree. The other part is terrified. I'm taking the summer to focus on querying agents and making my work the best it can be. I won't have the excuse of school or a job taking up so much time that I can't edit. And it is an excuse. After this summer, I start looking for a day job (hence the terror, I have no idea what I want to do or where I want to work, besides writing novels), and at that point, I will work and write and can just shut my cake-hole about being too tired.
I can be kind of mean to myself. ~shrugs~
But the Hounds book has been done, HS is now done and needs an overhaul in one area that will affect the whole book, I have a high fantasy parody/travel narrative complete for my other class, and just finished a short story (self-contained, new characters, and none of them are clamouring for something longer right now, a first!), which is with a few beta readers right now and then goes off on submission for an anthology. I am excited, but trying to keep it to a minimum since I haven't even sent it in yet.
We'll have to see how it goes.
Right then, the women of Beowulf beckon, and the gabby bunch.
We'll see. I'm working on my ten-page "What I would write on had I more time" paper for Beowulf. And slogging through it, too. I just can't seem to keep my attention on it. But that done, I'll only have to worry about the final next Wednesday and my work at UH is complete.
I graduate--black gown, cap and fancy-schmancy hood--on May 16. Part of me is giddy and squeeing in relief and excitement. I'll be the first one on either side of the family (as far as I know and at least for immediate family) to get a Master's degree. The other part is terrified. I'm taking the summer to focus on querying agents and making my work the best it can be. I won't have the excuse of school or a job taking up so much time that I can't edit. And it is an excuse. After this summer, I start looking for a day job (hence the terror, I have no idea what I want to do or where I want to work, besides writing novels), and at that point, I will work and write and can just shut my cake-hole about being too tired.
I can be kind of mean to myself. ~shrugs~
But the Hounds book has been done, HS is now done and needs an overhaul in one area that will affect the whole book, I have a high fantasy parody/travel narrative complete for my other class, and just finished a short story (self-contained, new characters, and none of them are clamouring for something longer right now, a first!), which is with a few beta readers right now and then goes off on submission for an anthology. I am excited, but trying to keep it to a minimum since I haven't even sent it in yet.
We'll have to see how it goes.
Right then, the women of Beowulf beckon, and the gabby bunch.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Yearly Resolutions, It’s Starting to be a Tradition for Me By Now
2006 I finished my first novel, a fantasy set in a medieval styled world. I’d started it in high school with a friend. I completed it as my undergraduate honors thesis.
After graduating with my BA, I got real impatient real fast and began another novel, an urban fantasy centering around humans and the fae. By December I finished the first of that. The months following I edited it and brought, five pages a week for the most part, to my writer’s group. Some time over the summer of 2007 I brought them the last of it. I still feel like it needs more editing, but I did get through one big round.
Now I’ve finished my third semester of the Master’s program. MA in English with a concentration in creative writing. My thesis is another novel, urban fantasy, with werewolves and gods/goddesses. I’m about halfway through it, and I want to finish the first draft before January 14, 2009, the first day I go back to class for my last semester. By Mid-May (technically by March or April), I will have a full draft, revised a couple of times.
Between January 2007 and November 2008 I also worked at a part-time job that just began demanding too much time for me to focus on school and writing. I’m not working right now, but I may get a part-time job on campus. We’ll see.
Which leads me to resolutions. I don’t (read: I usually don’t) achieve all my resolutions, but I like having something there, in print, something to move towards. I may not have accomplished what I set out to this year, but I’ve made progressed. That’s good.
So for 2009:
January through May—focus on school and finishing the werewolf UF. Graduate.
May through August—I will wait on getting a job, at least until after the summer (if I can help it) an focus on polishing the two urban fantasy novels. Start querying them with agents. Maybe I’ll start with the faerie one, since I already have ideas for a second and third book.
August/September—if I haven’t yet, start looking for a full-time job. Write Book 2 of the Fae UF if I haven’t started that yet.
October through December—writing Books 2 and 3, querying, hopefully by this time I will have an agent and we’ll be working on getting something out to publishers. (Is it too much to hope by this time next year, I may have an agent and a publisher?)
The resolutions are very detailed, but I think that’s just more evidence that this is the time to get off my keister and start querying. There’s some editing that needs to happen first, but I can’t get bogged down in that and avoid the next step.
So on that note, I will try to take those next steps.
And to you writers out there, good luck in 2009. May you have inspiration and luck in your writing and publication.
Happy writing.
See you on the other side,
Sabrina
After graduating with my BA, I got real impatient real fast and began another novel, an urban fantasy centering around humans and the fae. By December I finished the first of that. The months following I edited it and brought, five pages a week for the most part, to my writer’s group. Some time over the summer of 2007 I brought them the last of it. I still feel like it needs more editing, but I did get through one big round.
Now I’ve finished my third semester of the Master’s program. MA in English with a concentration in creative writing. My thesis is another novel, urban fantasy, with werewolves and gods/goddesses. I’m about halfway through it, and I want to finish the first draft before January 14, 2009, the first day I go back to class for my last semester. By Mid-May (technically by March or April), I will have a full draft, revised a couple of times.
Between January 2007 and November 2008 I also worked at a part-time job that just began demanding too much time for me to focus on school and writing. I’m not working right now, but I may get a part-time job on campus. We’ll see.
Which leads me to resolutions. I don’t (read: I usually don’t) achieve all my resolutions, but I like having something there, in print, something to move towards. I may not have accomplished what I set out to this year, but I’ve made progressed. That’s good.
So for 2009:
January through May—focus on school and finishing the werewolf UF. Graduate.
May through August—I will wait on getting a job, at least until after the summer (if I can help it) an focus on polishing the two urban fantasy novels. Start querying them with agents. Maybe I’ll start with the faerie one, since I already have ideas for a second and third book.
August/September—if I haven’t yet, start looking for a full-time job. Write Book 2 of the Fae UF if I haven’t started that yet.
October through December—writing Books 2 and 3, querying, hopefully by this time I will have an agent and we’ll be working on getting something out to publishers. (Is it too much to hope by this time next year, I may have an agent and a publisher?)
The resolutions are very detailed, but I think that’s just more evidence that this is the time to get off my keister and start querying. There’s some editing that needs to happen first, but I can’t get bogged down in that and avoid the next step.
So on that note, I will try to take those next steps.
And to you writers out there, good luck in 2009. May you have inspiration and luck in your writing and publication.
Happy writing.
See you on the other side,
Sabrina
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Near the end of my first half-week of vacation
Here is me, hoping that by keeping track of my word counts, it will somehow fuel me to keep writing more and more. ~my stomach growls in protest~
Day 1--Thursday 12/18 (since wednesday was a run-around kind of day): started at about 16,000, ended the day on 20,292
Total word count for the day: 4,292 words
Mitigating circumstances: This was all essentially transcription of what I'd written longhand over the course of this semester. So none of it, possibly barring a few sentences at the end.
On the other hand: Good way to start this break, and I had no idea I'd written that much longhand.
Day 2--Friday 12/19: started at 20,292, ended on 25,544 (yes, I'm being a little redundant)
Total word count for the day: 5,252 words
Mitigating circumstances: I was distracted by a trip outside and a long lunch, and distracted myself with computer games.
On the other hand: I see this as a very good word count for one day. I'm hoping to maintain this for at least a while.
To reach between 80,000 and 100,000 before I start up with school again, I should be writing between 2,800 and 3,600 words a day. This doesn't include the two big holidays and their eves. But I know that there will be days when I just write that much, and there will be days where I will go and lose most of my writing time. So I will take as many of these 5,000-word days as I can get. Preemptive strike.
Happy writing, all.
Day 1--Thursday 12/18 (since wednesday was a run-around kind of day): started at about 16,000, ended the day on 20,292
Total word count for the day: 4,292 words
Mitigating circumstances: This was all essentially transcription of what I'd written longhand over the course of this semester. So none of it, possibly barring a few sentences at the end.
On the other hand: Good way to start this break, and I had no idea I'd written that much longhand.
Day 2--Friday 12/19: started at 20,292, ended on 25,544 (yes, I'm being a little redundant)
Total word count for the day: 5,252 words
Mitigating circumstances: I was distracted by a trip outside and a long lunch, and distracted myself with computer games.
On the other hand: I see this as a very good word count for one day. I'm hoping to maintain this for at least a while.
To reach between 80,000 and 100,000 before I start up with school again, I should be writing between 2,800 and 3,600 words a day. This doesn't include the two big holidays and their eves. But I know that there will be days when I just write that much, and there will be days where I will go and lose most of my writing time. So I will take as many of these 5,000-word days as I can get. Preemptive strike.
Happy writing, all.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
The Semester is Almost Over and Here's Where I Stand
Due by Friday: a 20-page paper and a novella. Next Tuesday: a final exam. Before the start of next semester, my goal is to have the first draft of HS done.
Here's where I currently stand:
No translations done for this Tuesday's class yet.
3,300 words (9 1/2 pages double-spaced) done on the paper--I find it really interesting--I'm looking at the twist endings on three fairly modern retellings of fairy tales. Makes me want to write about more than just the endings, so right now the hardest part is concentrating on a portion of the story and not the whole thing.
13,377 words done on the novella. I believe the range is between 20,000 and 60,000. I feel like I may be closer to the latter by the time I'm done, there's a whole middle chunk of the story which I still need to write.
15, 700 words on the novel, HS. That's 30 pages single-spaced. Not bad, but I think the trickiest part will come when this semester is over and I try to finish this draft by January 12, when school starts up again. I should figure out the last major scenes and calculate how many pages I "ought" to write each day. Even if I don't follow that at all, sometimes the page or word count just helps me focus.
So, in order to work on the novella and novel, the analytical paper comes first. Do it and get it out of the way. I'm off.
Happy writing.
Here's where I currently stand:
No translations done for this Tuesday's class yet.
3,300 words (9 1/2 pages double-spaced) done on the paper--I find it really interesting--I'm looking at the twist endings on three fairly modern retellings of fairy tales. Makes me want to write about more than just the endings, so right now the hardest part is concentrating on a portion of the story and not the whole thing.
13,377 words done on the novella. I believe the range is between 20,000 and 60,000. I feel like I may be closer to the latter by the time I'm done, there's a whole middle chunk of the story which I still need to write.
15, 700 words on the novel, HS. That's 30 pages single-spaced. Not bad, but I think the trickiest part will come when this semester is over and I try to finish this draft by January 12, when school starts up again. I should figure out the last major scenes and calculate how many pages I "ought" to write each day. Even if I don't follow that at all, sometimes the page or word count just helps me focus.
So, in order to work on the novella and novel, the analytical paper comes first. Do it and get it out of the way. I'm off.
Happy writing.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Reexamining my Life at the end of 23
I don't work at the part-time job until the afternoon today, so I've had these early hours to do some stuff with my computer I've been meaning to do and never got around to doing. That didn't really work out, so I was site-surfing. Drifting over to Justine Larbalestier's blog (I never did post about her Magic trilogy, but suffice it to say, I enjoyed all three and it was interesting to see the shift between the viewpoints and understanding of language--that's an awkward way to put it, but I mean the difference in the POV of the two Australian characters versus the New York one), and she writes about blogging.
For some reason, that got me thinking about my life. My birthday is coming up in just a few days. Not the end of the month (I get that question a lot), but near enough to still receive the jokes. I'll be turning 24. I am a graduate student in the English department, working towards a master's degree with a concentration in creative writing, mostly as an additional impetus to keep me writing. I work part-time at a retail shipping/packing/copy and fax place. And I have not mailed out a single query letter yet despite finishing drafts for two novels.
Sometimes it feels as if I'm thinking too far ahead for where I'm at right now. (I'm not quite sure how this connects to Justine's post, just that the thought came to me then). At the same time, I am still working towards my goal, and in terms of blogger, I'm not the complete lurker I used to be, reading everything and never participating in the conversation. Introverted much?
But anyway, I'm almost 24 and have been writing since elementary school. I want to make it a career. I feel like I need to set some goals for myself.
February is almost over, but let's say, I will finish this round of editing by the end of March and will finish reading both writing books and at least two of the novels on my immediate list of things to read (I found Mark Del Franco's website and blog via his agent's blog a few weeks ago, and yesterday found and bought his first book, Unshapely Things). Often it feels like I have no time to read novels after work, school and homework, but my manga kick has slowed considerably, though I still enjoy it, and I find that I really want to pick up novels again. The prospect of 300-400 pages doesn't make me balk like it had been for a while there (I don't really know where that feeling came from, but I'm glad it's going away).
And it's twenty minutes later than I meant to be online, so I'll post this and then I'm off to edit for a little before doing some reading for one of my courses.
For some reason, that got me thinking about my life. My birthday is coming up in just a few days. Not the end of the month (I get that question a lot), but near enough to still receive the jokes. I'll be turning 24. I am a graduate student in the English department, working towards a master's degree with a concentration in creative writing, mostly as an additional impetus to keep me writing. I work part-time at a retail shipping/packing/copy and fax place. And I have not mailed out a single query letter yet despite finishing drafts for two novels.
Sometimes it feels as if I'm thinking too far ahead for where I'm at right now. (I'm not quite sure how this connects to Justine's post, just that the thought came to me then). At the same time, I am still working towards my goal, and in terms of blogger, I'm not the complete lurker I used to be, reading everything and never participating in the conversation. Introverted much?
But anyway, I'm almost 24 and have been writing since elementary school. I want to make it a career. I feel like I need to set some goals for myself.
February is almost over, but let's say, I will finish this round of editing by the end of March and will finish reading both writing books and at least two of the novels on my immediate list of things to read (I found Mark Del Franco's website and blog via his agent's blog a few weeks ago, and yesterday found and bought his first book, Unshapely Things). Often it feels like I have no time to read novels after work, school and homework, but my manga kick has slowed considerably, though I still enjoy it, and I find that I really want to pick up novels again. The prospect of 300-400 pages doesn't make me balk like it had been for a while there (I don't really know where that feeling came from, but I'm glad it's going away).
And it's twenty minutes later than I meant to be online, so I'll post this and then I'm off to edit for a little before doing some reading for one of my courses.
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