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Thursday, November 4, 2010

November Goals

I don't even know what happened to October...but November is here and it is will be in double digits before I know it.

And, so far, the month has been.....well......to hectic for words...and not in the good-I-have-a-new-book-deal-agent-whatever kind of way, more like the bad my-water-heater-just-broke-on-Halloween-and-at-work-there-was-dog-in-my-office-on-Monday kind of way.

Don't even ask.

Anyway, before the month slips away, I thought I'd better grab on to it and make some goals. No matter how crazy the writing gets, it always makes me more sane just to have it around, you know?

So, the goals are sparse (for me anyway) but they exist.

1. PiBoIDMo- That's right, I am not NaNoing this year...but I am trying to write a picture book idea down every day. So far, I am 4 for 4...and I REALLY like all of them! This is just the kind of thing I need right now. No commitment to any particular idea....just a bit of a flirt session with the muse. If you want to join up, check out Tara Lazar's blog.

2. First Revision of Keelie of the Lake. The first revision consists of hammering out the structure of the book. When I write a novel, I don't write in chapters. I write in "parts", like maybe 4 parts, or 5. Then, when the first draft is done, I go back through and decide where the chapters should break...and what the actual structure of the book might look like. It's also the time where I revisit the manifesto (kind of like the bible of the book) and see if I am staying true to the plot...the characters....the theme....or anything else that applies. Once the first revision is done, it starts to feel more like a viable manuscript. (I imagine that I am Dr. Frankenstein and I have all the parts sewn together, but now I need throw the switch, attract some lightening and yell, "It's Alive!!!")


And that's kind of it.

and the reality is I probably won't even get it done......sigh.

But every step along the path gets me closer....

hrh

10 comments:

Matthew MacNish said...

It's so cool to "know" an author of picture books. Best of luck with all your goals!

Jessie Oliveros said...

Yes, I would have a bad month too if there was a dog stuck in my water heater.

Anne Spollen said...

Yes, sigh, I know that kind of busy.

But cool NaNo interpretation of the picture book idea. The only problem with that is you seem like you have more ideas for writing than time to write them...again, I know that, too.

But good luck with your goals!

storyqueen said...

Matthew-you are too sweet! And it is very cool to know all of the people out in cyber land!

Jessie-Okay, I'll admit it. That was one confusing sentence. And there were no dogs harmed in the writing of this blog. (But I am glad we get to start a new week tomorrow!)

Anne-True, but the reality is that they all won't be Good Ideas...some are going to stink and I just won't know it until I sit down and have some tea with it. (But then I leave the lame ones behind and work with the few Truly Good Ideas.)

Lydia Kang said...

Three cheers towards throwing that switch! Mwa-hahahahah!

Laura Pauling said...

I can't believe it's November with Christmas right around the corner. Setting goals is good. I love the idea of just writing down an idea a day and then going back to them later. Good luck with revisions!

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Ths year does seem to be flying by. Congrats on 4 shiny new ideas. :)

Lisa Gail Green said...

Best of luck during Nano!! I really believe it can loose some great creativity.

Christina Lee said...

ooh I like the idea of writing down ideas!

Julie Dao said...

What a great idea for a NaNo alternative! For my part (because I'm not NaNoing this year either) I'm working on my story at least half an hour every single day. Even if it's just writing down an idea or fleshing out a chapter. So far, so good!