Done and Done
Posted on | July 28, 2010 | 2 Comments
My first submission for the term has been turned in.
Twice.
I forgot to number the pages, and I think I still had a bunch of highlighted words in the text. I overuse certain words: darkness, stumble, was, is, he, she. Okay those last two are just for funsies, but I do overuse words. I actually found “skedaddle” twice in the text. Who says that stuff? This is an interesting experiment for me this time. It’s a new novel, or WIP (work in progress) that takes place in Portland. The main character is based of me (ahhh writers and their ego). Even her dogs are Puck and Pip. Oh, and they are beagles. I’m so original. What different about this one is the tense (present) and the point of view (1st person). I am very very comfy writing in 3rd/past, but my lovely DeMentor recommended that I change it. So far it works, although I find myself having a hard time stopping the action to put in things that the main character notices. When is it really good to put in detail about a fight? Or when should the action stop to explain something? How do you balance the need for pacing with the need to keep the reader informed? I guess this is all a balance I will learn to maintain.
Or I will just switch the motherfucker back into 3rd/past.
I’m also going to take a stab at outlining this. That is kind of scary for me. I’m a “pantser” writer. I write by the seat of my pants, never planning, just seeing where the words take me. Now, this is fine and all, but I’ve noticed I start the books with one main character and end up writing about another one entirely. That’s a tad distracting when you intend to tell a story. That happened with the last book I started writing (which has been shelved until I finish this monster). I had a great hero, who turned out to be a great villain, who ended up overshadowed by another great character.
Le sigh.
Such is the life of a writer.
So, I sent an email to my crit partners and my DeMentor with the cleaned up, numbered version of my submission. All before midnight.
I’m notorious for turning things in late. I would rather be notorious for being an awesome writer, or particularly good at storytelling. Alas, no, I’m the girl with 10000000 excuses and inconsistent prose. I’m not beating myself up here, it’s the truth. When I have time to edit, which I like way more than the actual writing, I’m proud of what I turn out. But when I wait until the last minute to shit out some half-baked text, and then try to edit it, well the end result is somewhere between awful and embarrassing. I’ve promised myself that I will work ahead this term. It’s my last one, for real, so I should give it my all.
Now, I have some travel plans coming up this week. Unfortunately the flight was booked for last week, so I spent a frantic hour on the phone with the family trying to rectify the situation. It’s fixed. I’m still going to see them, but my new flight leaves an hour earlier. Doh! That’s going to be a long ass day, let me tell you. I’m going to work from 6:00 – 2:00 and then head to the airport to fly out. Let’s hear it for coffee! Wheeee!
Now, I should try to get some sleep, but that pot of coffee I drank so I could stay up and get my submission done has woken my brain. Where’s my off switch? In a bottle of wine, of course. But even I know that’s a bad idea.
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July 28th, 2010 @ 1:23 pm
I’m also a “pantser” writer. Heh heh. Glad you got it submitted though. I need to write more. I’d probably be happier.
July 28th, 2010 @ 2:21 pm
Did you stop writing when you graduated? That is a fear I have, that without the deadlines and the ass-riding, I won’t keep pursing this.