The Bigger Picture

It's been just over a month since my last post. I meant to post more, but I just kept forgetting. And now, things are finally starting to sort themselves out a bit.

With working, parenting, writing, daycare, and sorting general other family things out, I'm exhausted. But the sun will rise again and that means, we've all just gotta keep on trekking right?

Enough whining. So guess what? I FINALLY finished revisions on a project I've been working on for what feels like FOREVER. Really, it's been about 3 years, I'd say. Now don't think that's all. In the midst of revisions on this project, I've also drafted an entire other manuscript, gotten about halfway done with draft 0 of yet one other project, and done some general outlining on about 6 other story ideas. I'd say that's a pretty productive last 3 years.

That being said, I feel like I've not got much to show for it other than lots of word documents on my computer, a lack of blog posts, and some pretty kick @$$ writerly peeps I've gotten to know.

I guess this sort of random, rambly post is mostly me trying to collect my thoughts around what I've gotten done. In the past few months, I feel like not much, but that's speaking only on the writerly stuff. Family took precedence and I think everyone can understand why. But if I look at the writerly stuff for the last few years, I've been pretty damn productive. Gotta take the victories where I can get them!

Sometimes, you gotta take a look at the bigger picture to help get refocused. What's your bigger pictures looking like?

Begin Again

Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it?

What, like, 3... close to 4 months? Yeah, sorry about that. Things have been a bit hectic to say the least around here. So let's start again, shall we?I know I talk about the Husband and Kidlets a fair bit here, but brace yourself for all the family-ish stuff you're about to get.

Here's a quick recap of my last few months...
 

I had a baby. (3 weeks earlier than planned.)

He actually looks more like this now:

 While on maternity leave, I started revisions on a project.

Mom was diagnosed with late stage cancer.

Revisions went on hold.

Just before Christmas, Grandma lost her battle with cancer.

My brother, sister, and me with Grandma.

Revisions still on hold.

Husband's position at work changed as did his shift ... going from a 12-hour graveyard

to 12-hour day shift. Yay to having him home at night, boo to trying to juggle daycare for the kidlets.

I decided to take an extra week off at the end of my maternity leave ... putting my total time off at 13 weeks. So much had happened in such a short time. I was still adjusting.

I'd been back to work for 2 days and then Mom lost her battle with cancer.

My sister, Mom, and me.

Took another 2 weeks of leave from work.

And now, I'm trying to begin again.

So for now, we are all still reeling a bit and taking some time to figure out what the "new normal" is for our family. Hope you guys bear with my inconsistency for a bit longer.

A couple last thoughts for the moment:

#1) We don't use the word "hate" in our family. It's one of those words we have on the "list of bad words" the kids are not supposed to use. But I have to say, I hate cancer. I always have. I always will. To all those fighting the fight, supporting those who are fighting the fight, or honoring those who've lost their fights, my heart goes out to you. You will always be in my thoughts. And also...

Did I already tell you that?

#2) I wanted to say a quick thanks to you guys who have stuck around, reading, commenting, or just lurking on the blog. I know you're there and even when I wasn't blogging I knew you were there. You guys mean a lot to me and I wanted to make sure you knew how much I appreciate each and every one of you!

Random Stuff Friday

1) OK, I suck. Yeah, I know, it's been a while, but I can't help it. Well, I guess I can, but I've just not been able to get to the blog recently. There's just been so much going on with the end of the summer closing in, lots of things I didn't count on or plan for and I am so a planner that it's basically thrown my entire rhythm off.

2) I have a ton of pictures to share with you guys, but I can't seem to find the memory card they are all on. I was going to show you all the beautifulness that is where we went for our family vacation (to visit my dear authorly friend, Amanda "Auntie Mandy" Bonilla and her family). It was an amazing trip and the kidlets didn't want to come back, crying as we drove away. And in case you didn't already know, Amanda Bonilla has an amazing adult urban fantasy coming out SHAEDES OF GRAY (Dec 2011, Signet).

**UPDATE ... in a conversation earlier this week with 6yo regarding our next family vacation -

Husband: Do you want to go to Disneyland or Auntie Mandy's house?

6yo (no hesitation): Auntie Mandy's house!

End of conversation.

So clearly, you need to see the pics, because apparently Auntie Mandy's is even BETTER than the Happiest Place on Earth. I'll try to get some up next week!

3) Our bank recently updated their website. And it sucks. Like mucho suckage. It takes FOREVER to log in and I can't even figure out how to READ the damn homepage and NOTHING is intuitive and as we speak, I have a window that's been loading for about 5 minutes so I can try to figure out how I can see the balance in our accounts. Seriously, folks, only make the big webpage "improvements" if you're actually going to IMPROVE something. *steps off soap box* Rant over.

4) Our friend "El Jefe" made a comment to me earlier this summer that basically stated that you can learn how to do ANYTHING from YouTube. I'm not a big YouTuber, but I did take his advice and taught myself the basics of crocheting via YouTube, but that's not our big accomplishment for the summer. We love food at our house. (And thanks to the Pots 'n Pens blog, to which I'm lucky enough to be a contributor, I've had a great chance to learn more new recipes - go check it out if you haven't already. **shameless plug!**) Anyway, back to the food and YouTube ... THIS was the big summer achievement:

Homemade Lox! Husband did all the work, I just reaped the rewards of being the taste tester. Our relationship works out best that way most of the time ;) Here it is on a cracker with some veggie cream cheese, capers and red onions on top. YUM!

5) Guilt's rolling in. I owe some CPs revision pages and I should really get to work on those - soon as I'm done with day job stuff today. So I wish you guys much productivity or wordage or relaxing and enjoying one of the last few weekends of the summer. I got stuff to do. Or else someone's gonna come down here and kick my @$$

Have a great weekend everyone!

Oh and if you're still wondering, the bank page STILL hasn't fully loaded.

Post-It Revisionocity: Step 4

Dut, dut, dut, daaaaaah

All right, so we've gone through the manuscript, making the revisions applicable to each post-it, right? Right.

And you didn't remove the post-its yet correct? Okay.

We interrupt this blog post with a very important service announcement:

By the time you've gone through and revised according to post-its, it will have been several days, if not weeks, that have passed. If it isn't, take a few days, maybe a week off from the manuscript anyway. You want to be able to review your newly revised sections with fresh eyes. Or as fresh as possible depending on what your timeline is. DO NOT rush if you don't need to. Seriously, publishing is NOT going anywhere. Just saying.

No we return you to your regularly scheduled blog post.

Now, we're going to start back at PAGE 1 (or wherever your first post-it is).

STEP 4: a) Read through the newly revised section and decide if you approve / need to do anything else. If you approve, go to STEP 4: b). If you don't approve, go to the next post-it with this step.

STEP 4: b) Accept changes.

STEP 4: c) REMOVE (woohoo!) the post-it and stick it on the wall / window / your first born - wherev -optional - STEP 4: d) Determine what the best organization process for you to see the changes you've made. Is it by topic? In chronological order? Totally up to you.

And here is really where you Rinse and Repeat. So you go through this step for EACH post-it through the entire manuscript.

When you've done that, then .... TA-DAH!

You're wall may look something like this:

And your manuscript should be ready to send off to crit partners - HURRAH! HUZZAH! and now you can say .... Good Night! Maybe go find yourself something to eat since I know you locked yourself in a room for the last several weeks with only coffee. Personal experience tells me that food tastes really good when you can think about something other than revising. Just saying.

And then you get your crits back and the whole process starts all over. Well, maybe not exactly this same process, but you get the idea.

A couple side notes ...

***I don't generally print out my whole manuscript for every round of revisions. It's only about 2 or 3 times during the course of the entire revision process depending on how major the revisions are.

***I try to take a couple weeks off in between revision sessions - by that I mean a couple weeks off after I've gone through and accepted a whole set of revisions before I'll start in on another round.

***Take a break in the midst of all the revising is not a bad idea. Sometimes even just a few hours away will help clear your head.

***Your crit partners are invaluable every step of the way. Bounce ideas off them, vent to them, cry to them.

Hope this series of posts has been helpful for you to see what my process is. Take what you want from it, leave the rest. And good luck on your post-its!

Post-It Revisionocity: Step 3

Hi! I'm back.

Are you? Got your manuscript all post-it noted? All right, let's get started then.

So where were we . . . oh, yes. Step 3.

You need your post-its, manuscript and your computer for this one.

Step 3: a) Flip to the first post-it note in your manuscript.

Step 3: b) Read your post-it note and determine a few things:

1. Can you read what you wrote? This is really important because, yanno, it's sort of helpful.
2. Do you think the thought you had initially is still the direction the manuscript should go?
3. Do you even remember what you were thinking when you wrote this note? Also very helpful.

Step 3: c) If you answer yes to all of the above questions then turn on your track changes and MAKE THE REVISION! (woohoo! yay! finally!) - but do NOT remove the post-it, I'll explain why later.

And no, it's not later yet.

So have at that manuscript! Hopefully you can read all your notes and remember all you were thinking when you wrote them.

Check back tomorrow for the last step of my Revisionocity process because, nope, I'm totally not done yet.

Post-It Revisionocity: Step 2

You printed out your manuscript.

You read your manuscript.

Now what?

Step 2: a) GET the sticky notes.

I try to be consistent with size if I am focusing equally on everything. If not, then I might use smaller ones for low priority thoughts. Bigger ones for higher priority.

Step 2: b) Identify the WHAT you want to focus on and make sure you have enough post-it colors.

This is one of the THE most important things about this revision process. (Given my love for the post-it, you didn't think I would make them inconsequential to this process, did you??) This will help you sort out what it really is that you need to work on. Make sure you have enough post-it notes to cover off all your key revision points.

You might want to write yourself a little legend so you don't forget what key focus goes with each color. I recommend sticking them in a row on your desk or your wall or your first born or something. Just make sure they stick.

Super Sticky post-it notes are very effective for sticking. Just in case you were wondering.

Step 2: c) Go back through your manuscript now, and stop at each * you marked. Identify each one with the color post-it note focus it goes back to. Also, jot down any initial ideas you have to go with this * & post-it.

Rinse. Repeat.

Just kidding.

Just repeat Step 2c.

I'll wait.

Well, actually, you do that. I'll be back.

While I'm gone, anyone want to share what your favorite revising office suppliers are? Is it the perfect pen? The ever-popular post-its? Or something else?

Post-It Revisionocity: Step 1

Last Thursday I mentioned my revision process. And I was surprised by the number of people who were interested in what that process is.

I don't talk much about the way I do things because, well, it's the way I do things, it's what works for me and not necessarily what will work for you. With that in mind, though, maybe you can find something in all this revisioning talk to help you with the way you do things.

Remember this?

All right, then. Let's talk about how I got there, yeah? Yeah.

Your book's written. Awesome. Feeling accomplished, yes? Me too. Sending it out to the crit partners so they see your genius, right?

And then you get all the feedback from them and you realize ... your genius may be hidden. Beneath lots of "the"s, "that"s, "just"s and the like. Oh, and maybe you can't have the unicorn rescue the princess off the hot air balloon because, well, that might not end so well.

Now we're revising right? So what do you do first? Well, I don't know what you do first, but for me ... it's

STEP 1: a)Print the manuscript

I know, I know, this is a day and age when we are trying to "Save the planet!" and "Conserve the energy!" and "Quit chopping down trees!" I get that. So firstly, I use recycled paper. Secondly, I print everything possible 2-sided. And thirdly, when I'm all done with the pages, I recycle them.

Got your manuscript printed out? Okay, good.

Now,

STEP 1: b)Read it.

This is the first read through I do. I usually keep a blue or purple (or some color other than black) nearby to put a * where I think I might need to do some work. I try not to think too much about the WHAT I might need to do. That's for later. This read through is for plot and pacing and anything huge and gaping that I can use my 2yo, and on occasion my 5yo, to plug up.

This always takes me a few days. Up to a week or so depending on what's going on at home / day job / life ... you know. So while I give you guys until ... oh, tomorrow, to read your manuscripts and catch up to where I'm at in the process, who already prints out their manuscript for revisions?

What's your Step 1?

Post-It Love

UPDATE: I've had lots of you ask me what my process is and what all the post-its are etc ... so I came up with a plan. Stay tuned for more deets next week!

I watched Eclipse the other day.

And when I was done watching it ... I couldn't even come up with anything witty to tweet. So I just went off to work on my revisions.

Working on revisions reminded me about something I love: office supplies. Specifically, I really like post-it notes. Like, really. For the last round of revisions on one of my projects, I was doing some work around 5 specific points. Lucky me, I had 5 post-it note colors. Woohoo!

After some bonding with my printed out manuscript, during which I learned that when they say post-it notes are "super sticky" they're not jok

ing, this is what my office wall ended up looking like at the end of those revisions.

This was a new process for me, but I really liked it. And it worked well to keep my thoughts organized by key points or characters. Color-coding works, people!

So what's your revision process? Any easy-peasy tips to make things go smooth and easy? Yeah, I was just joking about that last part.

A Journey

I think it's safe to say most of us have been trudging along in this publication journey for a while now. It's the "a while" part that is open to interpretation, right?

There are all those success stories we hear, the ones where an author's written a book in just a few weeks that led to a multi-gazillion-dollar-deal, complete with glitter and sprinkles and loads of chocolate flavored confetti falling from the sky.

And then you think, dude, I could totally do that.

You scribble your book down. Jump on what you think is the Amtrak train straight for NYC where you just know your book is going to get an agent-editor-multi-bazillion-dollar (bigger than gazillion, you see) - deal and you'll have a parade and instead of throwing out candy to the masses you will throw chocolate covered words to help other writers achieve their dreams.

But. (Did you expect there not to be a "but?")

The train stops. You get out. And this is so not NYC.

You stand on the platform. And Platform 9 3/4, it's not.

You look around. Yep, still an Amtrak. In your hands, yep, still holding your gonna-be-a-NYT-bestseller. So you go over to find the conductor to get some information. And what do you learn? You've landed in Editsville. The conductor hands you a map and you see that this train stops in Editsville, Revision City, Rewriteston, Letitstewabit and then loops back around to Editsville again.

You've just missed the connection from Editsville to NYC.

The conductor asks, "Didn't anyone tell you that?"

You say, "Uh, no."

The conductor just shakes his head in apology and ambles away.

You stand there thinking, Uh, this is so not the trip I was planning. And then you look at your ticket. Everything looks okay and then you see some fine print beneath the destination.

Amtrak: Home to N

YC

with stops

With stops?!?!?!? You have a WTF moment. As in, Ms. NYT Bestseller just wrote her book in three and a half days and wtf, she is on the NYT Bestseller list and I can't even catch a freakin' break! Don't these people know I am the next (insert trend of your choice here). [You can insert lots more expletives, if you'd like. The moment is rather fitting.]

So your choices? Sit around Editsville eating weird Chocofake Rejection bars or you get back on the train. When you arrive in Revision City and are frustrated. Your options here? Sit around and eat the new White Chocofake Hopeless bars, or get back on the train. As tasty as that sounds, I'd vote the train.

Frustration turns to anger. Anger turns to resolve. And somewhere between Revision City and Rewriteston you break out your soon-to-be NYT Bestseller. You read through your ms as you chug along on the train. You find improvements you can make. You run into some peeps and they help you make it even better. So then, when you notice you've arrived in Editsville (umpteenth loops later) you realize something: You're in the right place. It's the right time. And you can get on the right train! And then you remember to check your ticket for the fine print again, just as the train pulls away from the platform.

Amtrak: Editsville to NYC

with stops

Great. What'd you think? That this whole getting published thing was easy???

~ * ~

All right, that was my so totally long-winded way of saying that while we hear lots and lots of success stories about those people who landed huge deals or seem to "have all the luck in the world," guess what?

We have no idea what their Amtrak ride was like, or how long it took, or what kind of an emotional rollercoaster it was. Okay, that's not entirely true. We get a reader's digest version of what they've lived through. Usually it's been edited to a significant degree, because no one wants to hear the crappy parts of the story, but what it comes down to is that everyone's journey is different. And sometimes it's hard to remember that.

Yes, we get frustrated, we get jealous. Yes, I said it. You don't have to deny it. But that's a post for another day. Like maybe tomorrow.

So yeah. Remember, we're all on a train. Sometimes people jump on and off, but each of our individual tickets is completely unique. Sort of like the tickets the kids get on the Polar Express.

Brain Pain is Lame

That sort of rhymes. Almost.

But it IS totally true. Thank you all for your nice words and get well wishes.

My brain is doing much better now and was even functional enough for me to make it to the other side of the mountain for a loverly lunch with some writing peeps earlier today.

I have found something that does NOTHING to help cure brain pain.

That is ... your internet going down because your provider has switched from copper cables to fiber optics and FORGOT TO TELL YOU!?!?! Who does that?? Seriously.

So after I was fully recovered from the migraine, all ready to get back on my blogging feet, I found ... I had no internet. For almost 3 days.

Blogs went unwritten.

Twitter went barely touched. (Only updated because I am setup for text to tweet .. lol!)

And, most sad of all, crops went unharvested, resulting in a withery, wilted farm.

BUT there was a sunny side to this. You see, without the distraction of the internet, calling, whispering, taunting me, I was able to bust out the red pen and printed copy of my ms and .... that's right, REVISE!

So, yes, for every brain pain and down DSL-line, there is a bright side. And it's rewriting your book!

Er... that sounded so much better in my head. But trust me. It's a good thing!

Food for Thought

I don't cook. Well, I can't cook very well, so generally, I opt out when there's an option. The husband recently changed shifts and I am now in a position where I have to cook dinner. Every night.

 

Did I mention I don't cook?

 

It's been a couple months now and pretty consistently, I've been making dinner on week nights. So far I haven't killed anyone. Great news, right? And no one's even gotten sick. Just a bonus on top of the no one dying thing. Sweet!

 

Why am I talking about this, you ask? Well, aside from my general randomness, as I was making dinner the other night I started thinking about how many books include meals. Homecooked or takeout, food's important. In one of my revision-state mss, there's a scene with some takeout, though the food isn't specifically described, one of my crit-buddies asked what was in my MC's takeout box.

 

Then I started thinking about how sometimes it is the most minor of details that I remember. It may not be completely pivotal, but how much does the "scent of those chocolate chip cookies wafting through the kitchen" ground your scene and make it just a little more real?

 

Off the top of my head, I can think clearly of at least 3 different scenes involving cooking where the scenes were vivid enough to stick in my head, despite how long ago I read the books.

• City of Bones: Isabelle's making some funky fish soup when Clary brings Simon to the Institute.
• This Lullaby: All the gourmet food is burnt on the BBQ when Remy introduces Dexter to her family.
• Wicked Lovely: Seth and Aislinn are making spaghetti during a pretty important conversation.

So what's the menu like in your projects?

 

Because, yanno, breakfast (and lunch and dinner and mid-AM/PM snacks) is/are the most important meal(s) of the day. Oh, and a character's gotta eat!

WiP Wednesday: So Many Stories, So Little Time

First things first: Today is my last FULL work day of the week! Huzzah! Tomorrow is a half day and then we're getting our family pictures done. And Friday I'm off because it's the baby's (E) 1st birthday and we're having a family day. Okay, gloating over my last work day done. Moving on...

I've been trying to focus, I really have. With my current wip I'm just over the halfway point, I think. Right about 36K words and I'm looking at hitting around 70K with it.

Herein lies the problem, and I've mentioned it before: I have writer's ADD. Seriously. As I've said, I've been working diligently on 4LW for several weeks now, thanks to the Writer's Throwdown Challenge and my willing myself to concentrate on just the one project. That's where the problem is.

Working on one project at a time is simply NOT in my nature. I'm through and through a Gemini and because of that, I am a multi-tasker by heart. I can't help it. Where is all this random rambling going, you ask? Well...

I started a new project. Well, not started, exactly, it's been there for a while, sitting around for the last year with just over 5K words in it and I had a thought the other day that didn't fit into 4LW and I wrote it all down and realized yesterday where it goes. So now, again, I have 3 projects running at various stages.

JM: (YA Contemp Fic) Finishing up revisions then will set aside to cure

4LW: (YA Contemp Fic) About 51% complete at 36,103 words

and the new-old one Grace totally a working title and actually doesn't mean anything so don't read anything into it...

Grace: (YA ... something. Not sure yet where this is going.) I have no idea how complete it is, but currently it has 8,366 words

My goal is to finish revisions of JM by the end of the month. I've had some great feedback and am currently working that through the ms. I also am really trying to focus on 4LW. I'd like to have a completed first draft by July, then the real fun starts. (I'm totally an editor at heart.) And Grace, well that will just have to figure out what it wants me to do with it. I have some thoughts, but nothing solid and I hope it doesn't end up back in my unfinished projects folder.

On a different note, we had a family trip to the bookstore last night and one of the books P got actually kinda makes me think of myself. The Very Busy Spider ... Very busy indeed. The other one she picked out was Panda Bear, Panda Bear What Do You See?.

Me? I picked up a couple new books too, you'll have to stay tuned to my Recent Reads to find out what I picked up.

Okay, Happy Busy Wednesday!

Work in Progress Wednesday: What Happened?!?

New words (since last update post): 0
Chapters edited (since last update post): 1

The other day I said I needed to change my #RSthrowdown goals for the week. Well, I wasn't kidding. Since then, I've written virtually no new words on my WiP and have been diligently editing away on the completed ms: JM. In fact, I've been so diligently revising/editing said completed ms that it appears I may have another couple rounds of editing to do once I really tell myself that I can't ADD anymore. Not one more sentence. Or line. Or word. When I thought JM was complete, it came in just barely over 89K words. And now? In the midst of revisions/editing round 3? Last night I was barely able to shave it down to a good even 90K. What?! How did this happen? I keep asking myself the same the question.

I think the new stuff is good. Better than what was (or clearly was not) there before. I thought I was getting close to being done. Ha! Yeah. Maybe next week.

Also, I only got the 1 chapter edited last night because I wanted to spend some time with the fam because I'll be traveling with work for the next couple of weeks and so fam time will be limited to the weekends I'm home. But I wanted to share a great moment with our 3-yo (P) @ the grocery store:

P: Can we get popsicles?
Me: If you want. But we're going to the bookstore. [said popsicles would melt with the 75 degree weather we've been have in SLC]
P: But we don't have popsicles at home.
Me: You can pick. Do you want to get popsicles and go straight home or do you want to go to the bookstore?
P: *finger pressed to lips* Hmmm. I want to go to the bookstore. We can just get popsicles next time.
Me: You are so my kid.

I did pick up a couple books at the bookstore (P wanted the uber-expensive version of The Hungry Caterpillar and nothing else, so she had to settle for a promise of taking her to get her her very own library card.).

I've heard some great things about - both YA fantasy. I'm primarily read YA contemporary fiction, but lately I've really been trying to stay openminded about the "other worlds" that are other genres. We'll see how it goes and I'll definitely give my thoughts on here. Stay tuned!

So while I'm on the road, blog posts will probably be even more sporadic than they already are - though I have been trying to be consistent a couple days a week. I'm trying to get things together so I can just get some posts scheduled, but not sure if I'll have enough time. I'll be back in the swing of things mid-May. With all the flights, maybe I'll get some good writing done.

Okay all, have a great Wednesday!