Wondering about... Templates, niceness and editing

Okay, I finally got on to my main computer for a few hours, the one with all the admin for my author website and what not on it. (I've been using my lap top and cwtching up in warmer rooms a lot lately.)

Therefore, I finally have got my three coloum thing worked out on here. If I've done it right, there will be pretty pictures down the left hand side of this blog. (Thanks Tina for the link!) It was the first time I've messed about with Html, so I'm quite pleased that it worked - even if all I did was copy and paste bits of code, lol.

My website has also had a brush up - I'm using a completly new template for that and I think it looks better than the last one I used, so that's good.

It wasn't done with a template, but I've also *touch wood* got the problem with AOL's server and my router worked out, so I am properly on line. I don't think anything got lost in the shuffle, but if you've sent me an e-mail recently and I haven't answered it, if you could give me a nudge to make sure I got it, that would be great.

I'm also involved in a new blog that will get properly up and running next week. It's called Writer's Evolution. Starting next Tuesday I'll be posting there as the resident rookie writer.

Okay, that's my wondering about templates done.

Another thing I've been wondering about is niceness. I know that all the advice is that every story has to have tension and conflict and everything else to make it exciting to read. But at the moment I'm wondering if there is room for something that's just a nice story.

Sometimes I want to be kept on the edge of my seat wondering what will happen to the characters, if and how they will get their happy ending and everything else. But sometimes I want to read, and to write, something that's just a nice story.

Boy meets girl, or boy meets boy. They have fun. They have lots of very nice sex. There's a bit of tension, angst or reality, but nothing that's going to keep anyone awake nights. The minor tension is resolved. They live happily ever after. I don't know if there is room on the market for a story like that.

For better or worse I may well be working on one at the moment...

That brings me on to the last thing I'm wondering about this Wednesday - Editing.

I use track changes on word as I work on each draft. That means whatever I change turns red. The progress from first draft to second draft generally sees a lot of red being applied to the page - some times there hardly a hint of black left, lol. Then each draft goes less red until I'm on draft X and down to correcting the formatting so I have the right type of dash in the right place.

I finished the first draft of one story on Monday. I started editing it yesterday. It's not going red. There are changes, but far fewer than I've ever had before, and that's got me a bit spooked. I have a few theories.

1. I wrote a first draft that's closer to a final draft than I've ever written before - meaning all this trying to improve my writing stuff is actually showing up in visible results all of a sudden.

2. I'm tired and just not seeing and correcting all the problems I usually pick up - meaning I'm dramatically increasing the risk of submitting a sub standard story.

3. Um... not sure there is a three.

Either the first draft was better than I expected, or the edited draft is turning out worse than expected. Those are the only options.

The bugger of it is, I don't know which.

Okay, I'm going to go back and have a go at it again to see if I can get myself any closer to an answer.

Take care everyone, have a good Wednesday.

...

Other news:

I started a new story yesterday - another lust bite length one. Only done 1000 so far, so I'll have to wait until I've done more of it before I can tell you about it.