Hello everyone,
Backlogs.
I have no idea if that's even the right word for it, so I'll start by explaining what I'm on about.
Last year I wrote 52 drafts. (Nope, I wasn't actually trying to do one a week, no idea how that happened.) 26 of those drafts require no further action. That means they've either been re-written into a new draft, one that's different enough to be listed as a project in it's own right, or they were edited up and submitted for publication.
Therefore, I have still 26 stories from last year that require further action - either editing or re-writing or, in the case of one or two of them, burning to the ground and starting over again with nothing more than the title. (And I have another year before that with almost as many stories requiring attention in it's backlog, but I'm not going there at the moment.)
So, the obvious thing to do would be to work on those 26 before I start anything new. I should knuckle down to re-writes and editing and... Okay, it's not going to happen, so I should probably not even bother telling you what I should do. I need a certain number of first drafts in my life to stay even a little bit sane. Which leaves me wondering what is a realistic aim for dealing with the backlog.
Given a good run at it, I can edit up a finished draft of a novella into a submittable story 2 weeks. Technically that means I could submit 24 novellas in a year if none of them turned out to need complete re-writing and I didn't take any time off - probably not healthy to do that. Even if it was healthy, I'd still be two stories in the red.
Realistic? Well, the aim I've decided on isn't really realistic, but I'd really love to be able to half 2008's backlog during 2009.
Or maybe I should just concentrate on having less of a backlog for the stories I write this year when the next new year comes around?
Hell, the way I'm going. 2010 will be chiming it's way into my life before I've even set this years new years resolution, let alone done anything else!
Okay, enough moaning. I have some fantastic news to share with you. So fantastic I think it deserves a post of it's own.
See below. Hang on, on blogger it will be above, right? *Sigh* I'm sure you know what I mean.
...
Other news:
I finished the lust bite I was first drafting. I couldn't keep the draft down to 10k the way I planned - it turned out to be 14,500 words, which should make the editing interesting, since my stories usually grow a few thousand words during editing and the upper limit is 15k. I'm pretty sure I need to covert half of it to a different point of view, so with any luck that would help with the word count at the same time. Anyway, I'm setting that to one side to be edited at a later date.
So, tomorrow I will be starting a new first draft, and a new editing project.
For editing, I'm torn between working on my TEB anthology story and the first novella in a series that I'm intending to submit to another publisher. Not sure if I'll have time to do them both this month. They're both written, so I'll have to have a read through them and see where they stand.
For writing, a few different possibilities there too. Too many to actually list. I'll let you know when I've made a decision. Given my current ability to make a decision and stick to it, that may take some time.
Oh, and don't forget to check out Dakota's introductory post on Writer's Evolution. Link on the right hand side bar :)
Showing posts with label Wednesday Wonderings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wednesday Wonderings. Show all posts
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Wondering about... new years resolutions
I said I would think about what my resolutions should be and I've been doing what I said.
There are lots of goals I could set.
Someone whose advice I respect suggested it's always a good idea to write for more than one publisher. So I should probably resolve to submit something to someone other than Total-e-bound - either another e-publisher, or there are a few British print publishers I have been looking into that seem quite promising.
I'd also like to finish my Perfect Timing Series. There's another nine submissions to make in that one. And I'd like to sub at least two more Collared stories. And I'd like to send off three more anthology submissions. And I'd like to send off at least two lust bite length stories. And I'd like to make a good start on a new series I'm planning. And... Since that amounts to about three years worth of work already, I'll stop there!
And apart from writing I'd like to do a whole host of other things.
But at the end of all the thinking and making a whole list of things it feels essential that I do in 2009, do you know what my new years resolution is?
I'm going to try not to plan too far in advance. I'm going to concentrate more on enjoying the journey.
It's not actually important to know which project I'll be working on in Decemeber 2009. So, in 2009, I'm going to take everything in smaller chucks and smaller steps.
On Friday I'm planning to post up Five things I'd like to do in 2009 and that's going to be it for me as far as New Years resolutions goes.
Someone sent me a truely lovely e-mail this evening, wishing me a happy new year and she said some beautiful things. If I needed another reminder that to do lists aren't the be all and end all, that was it.
So that's it for me for 2009.
Hope 2009 proves to be a happy, healthy, peaceful and lovely new year for you and yours.
Other news:
I made a biscornu. It's had to discribe one without showing you one, but it's a little tiny needlework project and I had far more fun stitching it than any person rightly should.
No writing yet. I'm going to do the last five hundred words on my Round Robin Chapter and make up my daily 1000 with some work on the synopsis for my lastest M/m project, which I finished the first draft of yesterday.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Wondering about... Christmas and age limits
At what age are you too old to sit on Santa's lap?
You tell me...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Not much to say really, too busy running around in circles to have much time to wonder about this Wednesday, so I just thought I would share :)
Briefly, in other news:
One edit of In the Heat of the Moment done, two left to do before I print.
Finished the first draft of Sealing the Deal yesterday.
Started the first draft of a new story called Parry's War today.
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Wondering about... Two years on
Hi everyone,
It's been a really exciting week so far for me, with my first book coming out on Monday. (Yay, me! - no there really isn't any chance I'm going to stop talking about it any time soon.)
But today I'm not going to talk about now, I'm going to talk about the past. Today is something of an anniversary for me. Two years ago today was the last day I didn't write at least 1000 words.
Now, I know that statement isn't going to make the least bit of sense to anyone who isn't me, so I'll have another go at explaining it.
The advice given out to anyone who says they want to be a writer, is that you should write every day.
Two years ago, I took that advice.
1000 words a day. Every day. No exceptions. Ever.
And, what's more, those 1000 words had to be on my main work-in-progress. No more flittering around between different projects and never finishing any of them. 1000 words on that project every day until it was done.
Tomorrow, I'll be starting my third year of keeping that commitment.
So today I thought I would do a re-cap of everything making that commitment to write every day has brought me so far.
1,841,000 words written in total.
3 stories that I didn't finish. (2 sweet, vanilla regency romances - wonder why they didn't work for me... and a story with a premise that wouldn't let the characters get kinky or having sex without turning into people I didn't like)
72 finished first drafts.
22 re-written stories.
It's been a really exciting week so far for me, with my first book coming out on Monday. (Yay, me! - no there really isn't any chance I'm going to stop talking about it any time soon.)
But today I'm not going to talk about now, I'm going to talk about the past. Today is something of an anniversary for me. Two years ago today was the last day I didn't write at least 1000 words.
Now, I know that statement isn't going to make the least bit of sense to anyone who isn't me, so I'll have another go at explaining it.
The advice given out to anyone who says they want to be a writer, is that you should write every day.
Two years ago, I took that advice.
1000 words a day. Every day. No exceptions. Ever.
And, what's more, those 1000 words had to be on my main work-in-progress. No more flittering around between different projects and never finishing any of them. 1000 words on that project every day until it was done.
Tomorrow, I'll be starting my third year of keeping that commitment.
So today I thought I would do a re-cap of everything making that commitment to write every day has brought me so far.
1,841,000 words written in total.
3 stories that I didn't finish. (2 sweet, vanilla regency romances - wonder why they didn't work for me... and a story with a premise that wouldn't let the characters get kinky or having sex without turning into people I didn't like)
2 projects that have been set aside (meaning I know the ending, but other things have nearer deadlines and had to take priority for a little while)
22 re-written stories.
9 accepted and contracted novells and novels (plus 1 that I was offered the chance to extend or contract and which is going to be extended)
1 published novella. (The Gift - you might have heard me mentioning it a hell of a lot...)
And 1 wip - the story I'm working on at the moment. (It's going quite well.)
So, all in all it's been a really fantastic two years for me and my writing.
Considering I spent the first of those years not even being aware that there was publishers out there that accepted the type of stories I was writing, let alone that they would ever publish me, it really was a leap of faith that started me on the way.
I've never been more thankful that I lept.
Thanks go out to everyone who's helped me over the last two years, and all those who've put up with me too. You know who you are.
Have a great Wednesday everyone.
Kim Dare.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Wondering about... excerpts
What makes a good excerpt?
Frankly, I have no idea.
I've been wondering about it, but I'm yet to reach any sort of conclusion.
Still, I'm quite please with the one TEB has put out for The Gift. It went live today (or maybe yesterday and I just didn't notice until today...)
You can see it here. It's the start of Chapter 1.
You can also see the one I picked for the Hitting the Hotspot blog here.
There's also going to be another one on my website as soon as I get a chance to post it up there. (Link on it's way as soon as the excerpt is actually there to be linked to.)
I've picked up another excerpt that I'll be promoing on different groups etc. (By the way, I'm always looking for new places to promote stories, so if you know of one, please let me know.)
And that's it.
If anyone has any advice about excerpts, feel free to share :)
...
Update on WIPs:
Between Tooth and Paw has been accepted by my editor (Yay!). I turns out it's probably not going to be suitable for the anthology (my two straight guys get a bit too friendly, lol) but it might yet find a place as a stand alone or as part of my Perfect Timing series. Wherever it ends up, it has been accepted. Very excited about that.
Frankly, I have no idea.
I've been wondering about it, but I'm yet to reach any sort of conclusion.
Still, I'm quite please with the one TEB has put out for The Gift. It went live today (or maybe yesterday and I just didn't notice until today...)
You can see it here. It's the start of Chapter 1.
You can also see the one I picked for the Hitting the Hotspot blog here.
There's also going to be another one on my website as soon as I get a chance to post it up there. (Link on it's way as soon as the excerpt is actually there to be linked to.)
I've picked up another excerpt that I'll be promoing on different groups etc. (By the way, I'm always looking for new places to promote stories, so if you know of one, please let me know.)
And that's it.
If anyone has any advice about excerpts, feel free to share :)
...
Update on WIPs:
Between Tooth and Paw has been accepted by my editor (Yay!). I turns out it's probably not going to be suitable for the anthology (my two straight guys get a bit too friendly, lol) but it might yet find a place as a stand alone or as part of my Perfect Timing series. Wherever it ends up, it has been accepted. Very excited about that.
I'm admining like crazy this week, so I don't have an editing WIP to share progress on, but the short I'm writing at the moment is going quite well. I'm over 1/3 of the way through it and I'm hoping to finish it by the end of the week.
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Wondering about: Thanksgiving
I know the holiday isn't until tomorrow, but I'm posting on hitting the hotspot then, so I probably won't be over here to talk about it too. So, for once in my life, I'm ahead of schedule.
If you don't know already, I'm based in the UK. We don't have Thanksgiving. I think the closest we might come is a harvest festival. I remember them from school, and I know some churches still run them, but it's nothing like the scale of celebrations that the US seemed to have at this time of year.
But, I've still got a lot to be thankful for, so I'm giving thanks despite my nationality.
I'm thankful for a lot of things.
I'm thankful for my family. For my health (which isn't perfect now, but which has been a lot worse in the past). For my friends, new and old. For new successes, and for past hard work.
I'm thankful that I'm not one of the people on the news at the moment, that I'm not living in a country racked with war and suffering, that I'm not on the verge of losing everything when a company fails through no fault of my own, that I'm not living in a part of the world that tells me who I have to be and what I have to do with my life.
I'm thankful for a thousand little things that never seem important enough to list inside my head, let alone on a blog anyone could read, but which my life wouldn't be the same without.
I'm thankful that no matter what goes on in the world at large I have the chance to escape into a world where I know everyone will live happily ever after when I sit down to work on a story. And more importantly, I'm thankful that when I sit down to write, I'm free to write whatever I want.
I'm thankful for far too many things to list here on every day, not just one.
And that's it for me.
In more minor news:
I have (thankfully!) finished editing Between Tooth and Paw. I've just printed it out ready to read through and sub on Saturday. I even managed to chop it down to 17 whole words under the maximum word count!
I'm also (once more, thankfully) not too far off finishing my Nanowrimo project - or at least on hitting the 50k mark on it. The actual story is going to go on for at least another 5k after that.
And, because I can't stop talking about it, even when I'm trying to do a sensible, slightly sentimental post, I'm thankful that The Gift is coming out on the eigth of December - seriously, the wait is driving me somewhat insane!
Thank you for reading ;)
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Wondering about... Threesomes
Apparently they're very popular - in erotic romances I mean. Well, rumour has it they are pretty popular in real life too, but I'm supposed to be talking about writing here, so I'll stick to the fictional stuff.
People like reading about them, people like writing them.
I'll admit that the particular type of threesome I'm writing at the moment, MFM (That's the ones where the two guys are straight) isn't the combination that comes most easily to me.
The only threesome I've written and had accepted by a publisher was a MMM in The Gift. (It's coming out 8th December - less than a month away - incredibly excited about that).
So, it took me a while to sort out the psychology of why two dominant men who aren't with each other would want to share. But I think, with a bit of help from the paranoral world, I've worked that out.
Now I have another completly different problem with this mini genre. Three main characters seems to be playing havoc with my word count. The story is supposed to be 15-20k.
So far I've edited about half the first chapter and that section has doubled in length. All the characters want to have their say - and their fun - they all want it to be their story, for the reader to see their experience.
I'm currently on 17,500 with another 12.5k left to edit, so it looks like there's going to be a lot of cutting out whole scenes in my future if I'm going to keep it under the word could.
But, you know what? I'm actually enjoying editing this story far more than I thought I would. The characters are really coming together. It just might turn out not half bad. Now, if I can convince it to turn into a not half bad story that's less than 20k - that might be a different story.
Either way, I'm hoping it will go off by the end of the month, so I should know sooner rather than later if it will fit the call.
....
Other news in brief:
A Modeal Submissive - my nanowrimo project - is on 33k at the moment. I'll add at least 1k more before the end of the night. That's ticking over on target.
I haven't hit half the plot points that I wanted to include yet and I'm pretty sure one sex scene somehow expanded to fill two whole chapters on it's own. But at least I'm having fun writing it :)
People like reading about them, people like writing them.
I'll admit that the particular type of threesome I'm writing at the moment, MFM (That's the ones where the two guys are straight) isn't the combination that comes most easily to me.
The only threesome I've written and had accepted by a publisher was a MMM in The Gift. (It's coming out 8th December - less than a month away - incredibly excited about that).
So, it took me a while to sort out the psychology of why two dominant men who aren't with each other would want to share. But I think, with a bit of help from the paranoral world, I've worked that out.
Now I have another completly different problem with this mini genre. Three main characters seems to be playing havoc with my word count. The story is supposed to be 15-20k.
So far I've edited about half the first chapter and that section has doubled in length. All the characters want to have their say - and their fun - they all want it to be their story, for the reader to see their experience.
I'm currently on 17,500 with another 12.5k left to edit, so it looks like there's going to be a lot of cutting out whole scenes in my future if I'm going to keep it under the word could.
But, you know what? I'm actually enjoying editing this story far more than I thought I would. The characters are really coming together. It just might turn out not half bad. Now, if I can convince it to turn into a not half bad story that's less than 20k - that might be a different story.
Either way, I'm hoping it will go off by the end of the month, so I should know sooner rather than later if it will fit the call.
....
Other news in brief:
A Modeal Submissive - my nanowrimo project - is on 33k at the moment. I'll add at least 1k more before the end of the night. That's ticking over on target.
I haven't hit half the plot points that I wanted to include yet and I'm pretty sure one sex scene somehow expanded to fill two whole chapters on it's own. But at least I'm having fun writing it :)
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Wondering about... cover art
Not so much wondering as announcing.
I've got cover art!
The cover for The Gift came through to me today - I can't tell you just how excited I am about it - I really love the design.
I forgot to find out who designed it, but I'll let you know when I find out.
Here it is...
Okay, back to writing now :)
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Wondering about... deadlines
Very short post because it's almost midnight and I'm knackered.
I've always liked deadlines. If I just say I want to do something at some point it won't get done. If, on the other hand, I say I'm going to do it by the end of the month, I've got a much better chance.
The Stroke of Twelve went off today - my personal deadline for when I wanted to send one of the possible anthology stories off. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for it.
That also means I've started editing Secret Service ready for my next deadline - November 5th.
I'm also hoping to finish Between Tooth and Paw by the end of the month.
Deadlines are wonderful things when they work.
When they don't work they're a bit of a bugger, but over all I'm strongly in favour of them.
What does everyone else think?
Deadlines: love them or hate them?
I've always liked deadlines. If I just say I want to do something at some point it won't get done. If, on the other hand, I say I'm going to do it by the end of the month, I've got a much better chance.
The Stroke of Twelve went off today - my personal deadline for when I wanted to send one of the possible anthology stories off. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for it.
That also means I've started editing Secret Service ready for my next deadline - November 5th.
I'm also hoping to finish Between Tooth and Paw by the end of the month.
Deadlines are wonderful things when they work.
When they don't work they're a bit of a bugger, but over all I'm strongly in favour of them.
What does everyone else think?
Deadlines: love them or hate them?
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Wondering about... free stories
I've got an idea. It goes something like this...
I'd ask people to send me prompts which could act as starting points for short stories. It could be anything from a photo, to a phrase, or a kink, or a location or anything else.
Everyone who sends a prompt in is then entered into a random draw to win a copy of whatever story I've got coming out that month. (Imagine for a moment that I have something released and on sale at this point, lol.)
Then, every Friday I would pick one prompt from all those sent in and post a story based on it - either on my blog or my website. (Haven't decided which yet.)
It could be called Free Friction Friday, or something like that.
So, what do you think?
Good idea? Bad idea? Doesn't make the slightest amount of sense?
I'm not sure which of the above catagories it fits into either, but it's an idea that's been playing around in the back of my mind for quite a while now, so I might give it a go soon.
...
Other news -
I'm on track to finish the first draft of The Stroke of Twelve (Possible Anthology submission) by the end of the day.
I'm not doing any editing at the moment, because all my energy is going into the writing, but I'll be back editing tomorrow - working on Secret Service (Another possible Anthology submission)
And that's it :)
I'd ask people to send me prompts which could act as starting points for short stories. It could be anything from a photo, to a phrase, or a kink, or a location or anything else.
Everyone who sends a prompt in is then entered into a random draw to win a copy of whatever story I've got coming out that month. (Imagine for a moment that I have something released and on sale at this point, lol.)
Then, every Friday I would pick one prompt from all those sent in and post a story based on it - either on my blog or my website. (Haven't decided which yet.)
It could be called Free Friction Friday, or something like that.
So, what do you think?
Good idea? Bad idea? Doesn't make the slightest amount of sense?
I'm not sure which of the above catagories it fits into either, but it's an idea that's been playing around in the back of my mind for quite a while now, so I might give it a go soon.
...
Other news -
I'm on track to finish the first draft of The Stroke of Twelve (Possible Anthology submission) by the end of the day.
I'm not doing any editing at the moment, because all my energy is going into the writing, but I'll be back editing tomorrow - working on Secret Service (Another possible Anthology submission)
And that's it :)
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Wondering about... series
Series...
I seem to have rather a lot of them in my head, and the numbers keeps growing. The number of books I have planned for each series and the number of different series.
A few are more collections rather than true series - Collared and Perfect Timing both fit into this catagory. They are all stand alone stories that are linked by a theme. Other series on my list follow a cast of characters and their ever expanding circle of friends through several books.
Now, Perfect Timing is the nice organised series I have on the go. It's 12 stories. Three have been accepted, another eight have been written and are either being edited or waiting to be editing. And I'm writing the last one right now.
Collared is more free style. I'm hoping to write four stories a year for that series, but I'm purposely keeping myself flexible. The only rules I've given myself are that I want to alternate m/m and f/m stories and keep each one down to novella length if at all possible.
I'm going finish The Morning After, write two more Collared stories, two anthology submissions, and my Nanowrimo stand alone novel during the rest of this year. My time table is set. I have time to get everything I need to finish this year finished this year.
So, what all this planning and plotting boils down to is... I get to pick a new series to start in the new year. I realise that's still close to three months away, but speaking as someone who has been incredibly strict with themself and not given into the temptation to work on any of the shiney new projects in their head for months, and months, and months, this is still a very, very exciting fact.
I have 17 series on my list to choose from on Januray 1st.
But only if I finish everything I need to do over the next few months.
*Goes off to catch up on everythig that should be done by 15th October*
Wonderful the things that give you motivation at the oddest moments, isn't it?
I seem to have rather a lot of them in my head, and the numbers keeps growing. The number of books I have planned for each series and the number of different series.
A few are more collections rather than true series - Collared and Perfect Timing both fit into this catagory. They are all stand alone stories that are linked by a theme. Other series on my list follow a cast of characters and their ever expanding circle of friends through several books.
Now, Perfect Timing is the nice organised series I have on the go. It's 12 stories. Three have been accepted, another eight have been written and are either being edited or waiting to be editing. And I'm writing the last one right now.
Collared is more free style. I'm hoping to write four stories a year for that series, but I'm purposely keeping myself flexible. The only rules I've given myself are that I want to alternate m/m and f/m stories and keep each one down to novella length if at all possible.
I'm going finish The Morning After, write two more Collared stories, two anthology submissions, and my Nanowrimo stand alone novel during the rest of this year. My time table is set. I have time to get everything I need to finish this year finished this year.
So, what all this planning and plotting boils down to is... I get to pick a new series to start in the new year. I realise that's still close to three months away, but speaking as someone who has been incredibly strict with themself and not given into the temptation to work on any of the shiney new projects in their head for months, and months, and months, this is still a very, very exciting fact.
I have 17 series on my list to choose from on Januray 1st.
But only if I finish everything I need to do over the next few months.
*Goes off to catch up on everythig that should be done by 15th October*
Wonderful the things that give you motivation at the oddest moments, isn't it?
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Wondering about... Brynn Paulin's post
The post that got me wondering is here.
Now, since I've read the post I've thought about it quite a bit.
My first reaction was - what's feminism got to do with anything?
And, after a great deal of thought, that's pretty much what I still think.
As a writer who has a lot of stories featureing dominant men and submissive women, I've come across the idea quite a few times before, and this post reminds me what confuses me about the idea a feminist can't be a submissive.
You see, I don't write about characters, male or female, who do what they do because they want to go back to traditional gender roles.
The women who offer a man their submission during the course of one of my stories don't do so because they are women, they do so because they are submissive. Just as in my m/m stories - one character usually ends up playing the submissive to the other man's dominant. I like writing about kinky people - dominance and submission is usually involved.
Sometimes the submission is purely sexual. One person enjoys wear handcuffs - another person enjoys handcuffing their lover - a good time was had by all. Outside the bedroom (althought perhaps I should say outside their sex life because my characters have never liked to limit themselves to specific locations when the urge strikes them) outside that they are as equal as any two people could be.
At other times the submission becomes a lifestyle choice and last 24/7. But again, it's about sex and psychology, it's not about women should be one way or men should be another.
I write female characters who were constructed to do a great many different things. Some have careers outside the home, some don't - just the same as the male characters. Some like to completly give up control, some just like a side order of power play with their orgasms. It's all about what works for an individual characters, not what I think should or does work for all women. I don't find my female characters are not inclind towards certain things because they are female.
I don't think of myself as a feminist, but I do think of myself who thinks gender is largely irrelevant. I like to look at each person as an individual and consider them that way.
I seem to have strayed quite a way from Brynn's original topic, which was all about Alphas after all.
So, are the men in my books Alpha males?
Some are. Sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes it's one of the problems the characters in the book have to solve.
Some aren't alphas, they are just the men who are a perfect match to their lover. Because being perfect for someone isn't always about the same thing. Some of the men are strong, capable providers. Other characters are better served by having the strength of mind not to care who earns more.
Most of the dominant men are protective and possessive of their lover - but there again so are many of the submissive men and women in my books.
*shrugs*
I suppose for me it can all be explained by the labels I write at the top of a spreadsheet. I don't write male or female, I write dominant or submissive - their gender doesn't really mean a lot to me.
Maybe I'm weird.
Anyway, I'm thining myself around in circles, so I'll leave it there and go on to other news.
No, wait a second. I forgot the classic example. The door. Who should open it?
Well, for me, that's simple - whoever gets to the door first opens it for the other person. Gender aside - it's just good manners not to let the door slam in someone else's face :)
.....
Other news.
Today I had several things on my to do list:
Send Whispers edits back to my editor - Done.
Send You First back to my editor - Done.
Submit Imperial Topaz to my editor - Done.
Attend rather pointless meeting - Done.
All in all a very productive day :)
Although, that said, I haven't actually done any real writing yet - better go and do that now.
Sleep well everyone.
Nos Da.
Now, since I've read the post I've thought about it quite a bit.
My first reaction was - what's feminism got to do with anything?
And, after a great deal of thought, that's pretty much what I still think.
As a writer who has a lot of stories featureing dominant men and submissive women, I've come across the idea quite a few times before, and this post reminds me what confuses me about the idea a feminist can't be a submissive.
You see, I don't write about characters, male or female, who do what they do because they want to go back to traditional gender roles.
The women who offer a man their submission during the course of one of my stories don't do so because they are women, they do so because they are submissive. Just as in my m/m stories - one character usually ends up playing the submissive to the other man's dominant. I like writing about kinky people - dominance and submission is usually involved.
Sometimes the submission is purely sexual. One person enjoys wear handcuffs - another person enjoys handcuffing their lover - a good time was had by all. Outside the bedroom (althought perhaps I should say outside their sex life because my characters have never liked to limit themselves to specific locations when the urge strikes them) outside that they are as equal as any two people could be.
At other times the submission becomes a lifestyle choice and last 24/7. But again, it's about sex and psychology, it's not about women should be one way or men should be another.
I write female characters who were constructed to do a great many different things. Some have careers outside the home, some don't - just the same as the male characters. Some like to completly give up control, some just like a side order of power play with their orgasms. It's all about what works for an individual characters, not what I think should or does work for all women. I don't find my female characters are not inclind towards certain things because they are female.
I don't think of myself as a feminist, but I do think of myself who thinks gender is largely irrelevant. I like to look at each person as an individual and consider them that way.
I seem to have strayed quite a way from Brynn's original topic, which was all about Alphas after all.
So, are the men in my books Alpha males?
Some are. Sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes it's one of the problems the characters in the book have to solve.
Some aren't alphas, they are just the men who are a perfect match to their lover. Because being perfect for someone isn't always about the same thing. Some of the men are strong, capable providers. Other characters are better served by having the strength of mind not to care who earns more.
Most of the dominant men are protective and possessive of their lover - but there again so are many of the submissive men and women in my books.
*shrugs*
I suppose for me it can all be explained by the labels I write at the top of a spreadsheet. I don't write male or female, I write dominant or submissive - their gender doesn't really mean a lot to me.
Maybe I'm weird.
Anyway, I'm thining myself around in circles, so I'll leave it there and go on to other news.
No, wait a second. I forgot the classic example. The door. Who should open it?
Well, for me, that's simple - whoever gets to the door first opens it for the other person. Gender aside - it's just good manners not to let the door slam in someone else's face :)
.....
Other news.
Today I had several things on my to do list:
Send Whispers edits back to my editor - Done.
Send You First back to my editor - Done.
Submit Imperial Topaz to my editor - Done.
Attend rather pointless meeting - Done.
All in all a very productive day :)
Although, that said, I haven't actually done any real writing yet - better go and do that now.
Sleep well everyone.
Nos Da.
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Wondering... what the new month will bring
I have a to do list for October. This won't surprise anyone who knows me. I have a To do list for pretty much every.
I even have a story that revolves around a To do list. It's called Time To Do and it's just been accepted by Total-e-bound. It's the third book in the Perfect Timing Series and due to come out on the 25th May 2009. It's a m/m BDSM story revolving around two university students who've been friends for ever, but who's releationship is about to change beyond all recognition. I'll have the blurb for you in due course.
My to do list doesn't contain quite the number of interesting items as the one in the book, but here's my writing to do list for the month anyway:
Write 1,000 words a day, 50,000 over the month - This is pretty much the same as every other month.
Editing Aims:
Do whatever edits my editor sends to me - Not sure if I've got any coming through or not, but I'll put it on the list just in case.
Re-write, edit, polish, write a synopsis for and submit All Grown Up – Book 4 in Time series to TEB - I think I'm going to add about 10,000 words, making it novel length.
Re-write, edit, polish, write a synopsis for and submit Imperial Topaz – Book 2 in Collared series to TEB - I'm adding 3-5,000 words to this one to make it novella length.
Writing Aims:
Write By the Hour – Perfect Timing book 12 - It's going to be 30,000 words. Anyone who was around last month might remember this was on my two do list for September too.
Write a short story - Collared book 3 or Anthology Sub. Either would be about 15,000 words.
Other Aims:
Try to get some of the Collared stories into some sort of order. At the moment, I've got lots of story ideas all in a messy heap - I really need to work out what order I'm going to tackle them on. A few are trying to stage a rebellion and form themselves into an entirely different series, so I'm not sure what to do about them yet.
And that's it.
Happy October, everyone.
I even have a story that revolves around a To do list. It's called Time To Do and it's just been accepted by Total-e-bound. It's the third book in the Perfect Timing Series and due to come out on the 25th May 2009. It's a m/m BDSM story revolving around two university students who've been friends for ever, but who's releationship is about to change beyond all recognition. I'll have the blurb for you in due course.
My to do list doesn't contain quite the number of interesting items as the one in the book, but here's my writing to do list for the month anyway:
Write 1,000 words a day, 50,000 over the month - This is pretty much the same as every other month.
Editing Aims:
Do whatever edits my editor sends to me - Not sure if I've got any coming through or not, but I'll put it on the list just in case.
Re-write, edit, polish, write a synopsis for and submit All Grown Up – Book 4 in Time series to TEB - I think I'm going to add about 10,000 words, making it novel length.
Re-write, edit, polish, write a synopsis for and submit Imperial Topaz – Book 2 in Collared series to TEB - I'm adding 3-5,000 words to this one to make it novella length.
Writing Aims:
Write By the Hour – Perfect Timing book 12 - It's going to be 30,000 words. Anyone who was around last month might remember this was on my two do list for September too.
Write a short story - Collared book 3 or Anthology Sub. Either would be about 15,000 words.
Other Aims:
Try to get some of the Collared stories into some sort of order. At the moment, I've got lots of story ideas all in a messy heap - I really need to work out what order I'm going to tackle them on. A few are trying to stage a rebellion and form themselves into an entirely different series, so I'm not sure what to do about them yet.
And that's it.
Happy October, everyone.
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Wondering about... Titles
I don't know if anyone else gets this trouble, but I either get a title in my head right away or it just doesn't happen at all.
I have a lot of titles that I'm longing to use and no real story to go with them yet. I've then got a whole other list of stories that I can't work out titles for.
The story I'm editing at the moment is currently called, For the Duration. Before that it was called Time to Do. I keep switching back and forth between the titles again and again. They both fit in with the theme of time (the novella is for the Perfect Timing series), and both titles fit the book.
The problem is neither of them really zings, if you know what I mean? They are okay. What I'm really looking for is something that's a hell of a lot better than okay.
Anyone got any good ideas on ways to come up with titles? I've got the rest of the series named, but this one book is proving to be a bit of a bugger.
What else?
I've re-jigged my website a bit if anyone wants to have a look. Feel free to drop a comment here if you notice anywhere I've screwed it up.
By the Hour, the last one in the time series (I like that title, by the way) is being restarted from scratch because the original start couldn't be re-written to fit the way I want the story to develope.
For the Duration, or whatever it ends up being called, is going through another edit today and tomorrow. Hopefully I can to my last big edit on Friday and have it off to my editor on the weekend.
I have a lot of titles that I'm longing to use and no real story to go with them yet. I've then got a whole other list of stories that I can't work out titles for.
The story I'm editing at the moment is currently called, For the Duration. Before that it was called Time to Do. I keep switching back and forth between the titles again and again. They both fit in with the theme of time (the novella is for the Perfect Timing series), and both titles fit the book.
The problem is neither of them really zings, if you know what I mean? They are okay. What I'm really looking for is something that's a hell of a lot better than okay.
Anyone got any good ideas on ways to come up with titles? I've got the rest of the series named, but this one book is proving to be a bit of a bugger.
What else?
I've re-jigged my website a bit if anyone wants to have a look. Feel free to drop a comment here if you notice anywhere I've screwed it up.
By the Hour, the last one in the time series (I like that title, by the way) is being restarted from scratch because the original start couldn't be re-written to fit the way I want the story to develope.
For the Duration, or whatever it ends up being called, is going through another edit today and tomorrow. Hopefully I can to my last big edit on Friday and have it off to my editor on the weekend.
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Wondering about... Characters Names
In my experiece the idea for a story starts with a snippet of dialogue. Before to long I have a character who said that dialogue firmly in my mind. I know what he or she looks like, sounds like, thinks and feels. Soon after that I usually know what they want out of life and how the plot is going to make sure they get it . And of course, by this time another character has sprung into existance to make sure they enjoy the journey.Then comes the hard bit. These 3D, fully fleshed out, complicated people who live inside my head have to have a name.
I can't just keep calling them xxx and yyy for ever. Or guy 1 and guy 2, or he and she. Although I've been known to write out the whole plot using any combination of those labels for characters.
The name has to be right.
The right name will make a character complete. The wrong name will kill off the person inside my head.
Sometimes it takes a few minutes to hit on the right name. Sometimes it takes hours.
Those hours are usually spent looking through either benind the name or reading the name section of The Reader Digest Great Encycolpedic Dictionary.
Today I also invested in 40,001 Best Bady Names , so I see a lot of thumbing through that book in my future too.
My name is in there. Since we're talking about names, I will say I like mine. I like that it can apply equally to a guy or a girl. I like that it can't be shortened. It's also wonderfully easy to spell. No one can quite agree where it comes from or what it means. I've heard celtic, english and asian (usually koreen or vietnamese) origins bandied about and a thousand and one different meanings attched to it, but I think the truth is no one really knows.
Maybe that'sI like to get the meaning and the origin right when I name my characters, but for me the most important thing of all it's the sound of the name. The name has to sound like the characters personality or everything falls apart.
I'm naming the Characters in Hot + Wet at the moment. There are 4 m/m and 4 m/f novellas in that series. That's 8 guys and 4 girls to name.
The series is set is Wales, so there are a lot of Welsh names on my list of possibles. Being bias, I like Welsh names, so I'm in my element here.
The Welsh language has 7 vowels (y and w are the extra ones in case your wondering) and it gives a lovely soft, sensual sound to a lot of the names when they're pronounced properly. The names also show up in the titles of each novella, so it's important I get them right.
I'd better go off and do that now.
Other news before I go...
For the Duration - it's coming along well. I'm almost through my first edit. It's growing a bit during edits, but I don't think it will flip over from a novalla into a novel.
Time Out - it's getting there. I'm 21,000 words into this re-write. 3 chapters left to go.
And that's it. On Friday, no doubt I will still be naming characters, so expect to hear five things about that :)
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Wondering about planning.
Well, things are going reasonably well at the moment *touch wood*
Whispers has been printed out. Final read throughs are underway. The synopsis and blurb are scheduled to be written on Friday. It will wing it's way to my editor on the weekend.
Time Out is still doing it's own thing, but seems to be enjoying itself so I'm not too concerned.
According to my to do list for the month I have 5 days left to finish this draft of it. I need to add 5-10k. There's also about 10k in the middle that really just meanders about without adding much to the story, so it needs to be re-written.
With this in mind, I've turned my wonderings for the day towards planning stories. I do find it useful to know what the basic point of each chapter is. Not pages of detailed plans, but a nice little paragrpah saying from X's point of view Y happens and this is important because Z.
The only problem is, sometimes it's impossible to know what the big theme of the story is until your on your third or fourth re-write, so planning before that is pointless.
During the writing process there is usually a moment of clarity - when the story clicks and, for the first time since you sat down at the computer, you have some idea what you're doing.
Take Time Out as an example. I usually start in the begining of a story and write until I reach the end. This time I re-wrote the begining of the story, now I'm added a whole new ending before I go back to re-write the middle. It turns out for this story, I need to know where they end up before I can work on the exact details that get them there.
Whispers was similar. I had to get to the end of the story before I could see clearly how it should have started and developed towards that ending.
Sometimes that's just the way it works.
I suppose my point is there's a difference between the most efficient way to write a book and the most effective way.
It would be efficent to sit down and plan the whole thing out and then just follow the plan.
But it's more effective to be flexible and listen to how the story grows and develops as you write it. I think you get a better story as the end result that way.
Just my tuppence worth for the day :)
Whispers has been printed out. Final read throughs are underway. The synopsis and blurb are scheduled to be written on Friday. It will wing it's way to my editor on the weekend.
Time Out is still doing it's own thing, but seems to be enjoying itself so I'm not too concerned.
According to my to do list for the month I have 5 days left to finish this draft of it. I need to add 5-10k. There's also about 10k in the middle that really just meanders about without adding much to the story, so it needs to be re-written.
With this in mind, I've turned my wonderings for the day towards planning stories. I do find it useful to know what the basic point of each chapter is. Not pages of detailed plans, but a nice little paragrpah saying from X's point of view Y happens and this is important because Z.
The only problem is, sometimes it's impossible to know what the big theme of the story is until your on your third or fourth re-write, so planning before that is pointless.
During the writing process there is usually a moment of clarity - when the story clicks and, for the first time since you sat down at the computer, you have some idea what you're doing.
Take Time Out as an example. I usually start in the begining of a story and write until I reach the end. This time I re-wrote the begining of the story, now I'm added a whole new ending before I go back to re-write the middle. It turns out for this story, I need to know where they end up before I can work on the exact details that get them there.
Whispers was similar. I had to get to the end of the story before I could see clearly how it should have started and developed towards that ending.
Sometimes that's just the way it works.
I suppose my point is there's a difference between the most efficient way to write a book and the most effective way.
It would be efficent to sit down and plan the whole thing out and then just follow the plan.
But it's more effective to be flexible and listen to how the story grows and develops as you write it. I think you get a better story as the end result that way.
Just my tuppence worth for the day :)
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Wondering about the wonderful world of re-writes
As I mentioned when I started the blog, I wrote for quite a while before I started editing anything or submitting it to publishers.
So I have a lot of first drafts lying around on my hard drive waiting to be edited up. My two main writing projects for the month (The last two for the Perfect Timing Series) are re-writes of two of these old drafts.
The one I'm grappling with at the moment is called Time Out. It's a m/m BDSM novel. I wrote the first draft February 2007.
At the time I thought it was the best thing I'd ever written. I'm not sure how to discribe just how pleased I was with the story without slipping into cliches. I really thought it was chocolate.
So, when I sat down to work on it yesterday I thought I was onto a good thing. A bit of spit and polish. Add a few thousand words to bring it up to the word count I want. Tidy up a few loose ends. An easy job. By the weekend I'd move onto my next writing project way ahead of schedule.
Ha!
It turns out the story I thought was chocolate is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard. All the wondeful things I remember about the story just melted away under.
In short, the story really, really sucks.
But! There is hope.
Well, there better bloody well be hope for the story, because I still love it. I don't know how much of the original will be left by the time I've finished with it, but the core - the idea I first fell for when I started writing it - that's going to somehow survive.
Within the next two weeks the story is going to turn into what I remember it being.
Okay, now that I've given myself that little pep talk (Didn't you hear the rousing Hollywood theme music kick in half way though?) in other news...
I finished the re-write of Whispers yesterday. I've put that to one side for a day or two. I'm going to start editing it on Friday.
So I have a lot of first drafts lying around on my hard drive waiting to be edited up. My two main writing projects for the month (The last two for the Perfect Timing Series) are re-writes of two of these old drafts.
The one I'm grappling with at the moment is called Time Out. It's a m/m BDSM novel. I wrote the first draft February 2007.
At the time I thought it was the best thing I'd ever written. I'm not sure how to discribe just how pleased I was with the story without slipping into cliches. I really thought it was chocolate.
So, when I sat down to work on it yesterday I thought I was onto a good thing. A bit of spit and polish. Add a few thousand words to bring it up to the word count I want. Tidy up a few loose ends. An easy job. By the weekend I'd move onto my next writing project way ahead of schedule.
Ha!
It turns out the story I thought was chocolate is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard. All the wondeful things I remember about the story just melted away under.
In short, the story really, really sucks.
But! There is hope.
Well, there better bloody well be hope for the story, because I still love it. I don't know how much of the original will be left by the time I've finished with it, but the core - the idea I first fell for when I started writing it - that's going to somehow survive.
Within the next two weeks the story is going to turn into what I remember it being.
Okay, now that I've given myself that little pep talk (Didn't you hear the rousing Hollywood theme music kick in half way though?) in other news...
I finished the re-write of Whispers yesterday. I've put that to one side for a day or two. I'm going to start editing it on Friday.
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Wednesday Wonderings 4
Hi everyone,
The topic for the day is indeed organising writing projects.
I have a spread sheet where I list all the stories I've writen or want to write in the future. I just counted them up and I have a grand total of 150 storys and story ideas.
A grand total of two of these have been accepted for publication. Two more are out there waiting for a verdict. One more will go out at the end of this month.
Now for the math. At the moment I'm trying to send off one or more a month. Lets call it one to keep the math simple. I'm aiming to submit 12 stories a year. So, it is going to take me about 12.5 years to submit them all at that rate. And I'm not even taking into account all the ideas I keep adding to the tally.
On the one hand, it is great to know I'm not going to run out of things to write about for quite a while. On the other hand, I feel a bit...
I don't really know how to discribe it. I try to be practical and organised. For me that means I onlt work on one first draft at a time and one editing project at a time. I've tried to put them in some sort of order.
The first drafts of the Perfect Timing series should be finished in September.
During October and December I'm hoping to do the first drafts and major re-writes for another series I have in the works called Hot + Wet.
November is Nanowrimo (more about how much I love Nano closer to the date!) and I've set that month aside to work on a stand alone novel called Model Submissive.
At the same time I'm editing up Perfect Timing for submission to Total-e-bound.
So, the chances of my having time to work on anything else for the rest of this year are somewhat slim.
And when I think about that I just feel... well, what about the other projects in my to do list?
I start working out that if I do X and then Y and then Z, and soon I realise it will be a decade or so before I get to work on some of them. Can I really put those ideas on the back burner for that long? What if I don't remember what I liked about the idea and the characters when I finally come to write them? What if... and this is the one that really does worry me... What if someone else writes the stories first?
I don't know why I'm telling you all this. Maybe because I wonder if there are other writers out there who feel the same way? Maybe it just does everyone good to have a moan now and again - even if they haven't actually got anything to moan about.
I'll leave you in peace now.
What do I intend to do with myself until I speak to you next?
Well, today I'm doing the synopsis and blurb for Silent Night (1700 words) and adding to my first draft of Quick Learner (1500 - 2000 words).
Tomorrow I'll be adding the last section (another 1500 - 2000 words) to finish off Quick Learner.
Friday I'll be talking to you again :)
The topic for the day is indeed organising writing projects.
I have a spread sheet where I list all the stories I've writen or want to write in the future. I just counted them up and I have a grand total of 150 storys and story ideas.
A grand total of two of these have been accepted for publication. Two more are out there waiting for a verdict. One more will go out at the end of this month.
Now for the math. At the moment I'm trying to send off one or more a month. Lets call it one to keep the math simple. I'm aiming to submit 12 stories a year. So, it is going to take me about 12.5 years to submit them all at that rate. And I'm not even taking into account all the ideas I keep adding to the tally.
On the one hand, it is great to know I'm not going to run out of things to write about for quite a while. On the other hand, I feel a bit...
I don't really know how to discribe it. I try to be practical and organised. For me that means I onlt work on one first draft at a time and one editing project at a time. I've tried to put them in some sort of order.
The first drafts of the Perfect Timing series should be finished in September.
During October and December I'm hoping to do the first drafts and major re-writes for another series I have in the works called Hot + Wet.
November is Nanowrimo (more about how much I love Nano closer to the date!) and I've set that month aside to work on a stand alone novel called Model Submissive.
At the same time I'm editing up Perfect Timing for submission to Total-e-bound.
So, the chances of my having time to work on anything else for the rest of this year are somewhat slim.
And when I think about that I just feel... well, what about the other projects in my to do list?
I start working out that if I do X and then Y and then Z, and soon I realise it will be a decade or so before I get to work on some of them. Can I really put those ideas on the back burner for that long? What if I don't remember what I liked about the idea and the characters when I finally come to write them? What if... and this is the one that really does worry me... What if someone else writes the stories first?
I don't know why I'm telling you all this. Maybe because I wonder if there are other writers out there who feel the same way? Maybe it just does everyone good to have a moan now and again - even if they haven't actually got anything to moan about.
I'll leave you in peace now.
What do I intend to do with myself until I speak to you next?
Well, today I'm doing the synopsis and blurb for Silent Night (1700 words) and adding to my first draft of Quick Learner (1500 - 2000 words).
Tomorrow I'll be adding the last section (another 1500 - 2000 words) to finish off Quick Learner.
Friday I'll be talking to you again :)
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Wednesday Wonderings 3
Hello everyone,
The topic of the day is... *thinks for a little while and tries to come up with something to talk about* Oh, yes. There actually was something.
Sex.
More specifically writing about sex.
I belong to a main stream critiquing group. There are a few other writers on there who write erotic romance, but most people don't.
There's been a lot of talk on the message boards on if you should include sex scenes in your stories and, if you are going to, do you cut the whole thing down to just one line or do you get down to brass tacks and tell the reader exactly what goes where, and just what are you supposed to call different bits of anotomy?
Quite a lot of people seem to be of the opinion you shouldn't put sex scenes in stories - they don't like reading sex scenes, they don't want to know what the characters get up to once their clothes hit the floor, and since everyone old enough to read about sex should have a pretty firm grasp of the mechanics there's no point anyway.
Well, since I write erotic romance, I suppose you can guess my opinion on this, but I'm going to give you a summery anyway.
First Q - should the sex scene be included?
If you're putting sex in there for the sake of it, surprising enough, my answer is no. The sex scene should add something to the story or you're just wasting words. I'm not saying every single sex scene has to have an earth shattering effect on the plot, but it should tell you something about the characters and the situation. If it does that, it deserves a place in the story.
Second Q - one line synopsis of events or fourty pages of who did what to whom?
Depends on the scene, but 99.999% of the time I like detail. That's where the characters come to life. Because yes, everyone does know the mechanics. But that doesn't mean there's no point writing the sex scene. That's a bit like saying there's no point recounting a conversation between characters because every reader knows how to talk. The fact the characters are talking isn't that interesting - not until you start to listen to what they have to say.
Third Q - what should I call a, um, you know, a man's... um... ?
Well, you don't call it anything. You are writing for the point of view of a particular character. No one gives a damn what you call any bit of anatomy. They want to know what the character calls it. You're inside the character's mind - let them tell you what it is.
I've written some characters who have no trouble calling a spade a spade or a cock a cock. Other characters would blush at the very thought, and they'd rush off to find another word at the earliest opportinuty. That's okay, some characters are easily embarrassed. In the same way, some characters like to make love while others prefer to screw. As long as they're both having fun, it's no problem.
Which leads me to my main point. In my stories I'm not writing about sex. I'm writing about a particular characters experience of sex.
Because isn't that a big part of why people read and why people write? It's the chance to walk a mile in another man's shoes - or to lay a night in another man's bed as the case may be...
The topic of the day is... *thinks for a little while and tries to come up with something to talk about* Oh, yes. There actually was something.
Sex.
More specifically writing about sex.
I belong to a main stream critiquing group. There are a few other writers on there who write erotic romance, but most people don't.
There's been a lot of talk on the message boards on if you should include sex scenes in your stories and, if you are going to, do you cut the whole thing down to just one line or do you get down to brass tacks and tell the reader exactly what goes where, and just what are you supposed to call different bits of anotomy?
Quite a lot of people seem to be of the opinion you shouldn't put sex scenes in stories - they don't like reading sex scenes, they don't want to know what the characters get up to once their clothes hit the floor, and since everyone old enough to read about sex should have a pretty firm grasp of the mechanics there's no point anyway.
Well, since I write erotic romance, I suppose you can guess my opinion on this, but I'm going to give you a summery anyway.
First Q - should the sex scene be included?
If you're putting sex in there for the sake of it, surprising enough, my answer is no. The sex scene should add something to the story or you're just wasting words. I'm not saying every single sex scene has to have an earth shattering effect on the plot, but it should tell you something about the characters and the situation. If it does that, it deserves a place in the story.
Second Q - one line synopsis of events or fourty pages of who did what to whom?
Depends on the scene, but 99.999% of the time I like detail. That's where the characters come to life. Because yes, everyone does know the mechanics. But that doesn't mean there's no point writing the sex scene. That's a bit like saying there's no point recounting a conversation between characters because every reader knows how to talk. The fact the characters are talking isn't that interesting - not until you start to listen to what they have to say.
Third Q - what should I call a, um, you know, a man's... um... ?
Well, you don't call it anything. You are writing for the point of view of a particular character. No one gives a damn what you call any bit of anatomy. They want to know what the character calls it. You're inside the character's mind - let them tell you what it is.
I've written some characters who have no trouble calling a spade a spade or a cock a cock. Other characters would blush at the very thought, and they'd rush off to find another word at the earliest opportinuty. That's okay, some characters are easily embarrassed. In the same way, some characters like to make love while others prefer to screw. As long as they're both having fun, it's no problem.
Which leads me to my main point. In my stories I'm not writing about sex. I'm writing about a particular characters experience of sex.
Because isn't that a big part of why people read and why people write? It's the chance to walk a mile in another man's shoes - or to lay a night in another man's bed as the case may be...
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