I just hit send on my Presents entry

Whoohoo!

Don't know if it's any good. Don't really care. I figure the numbers are going to be too high to have a shot.

Anyone want to take bets on how many entries they receive this time?

The first contest it was 650 or so. The next one was Modern Heat only and 150. They've limited it to one entry per person so that should lower the numbers somewhat.

I'm going to guess 595.

Anyone else?

Oh, Synopsis, how we loathe thee!

Well, that's not exactly true.

If I'm in the right groove, I enjoy the challenge of distilling the story down into about 600 words. There's something beautiful about a well crafted synopsis that gets the story across, but also shows off a little of my writing personality.

But at the moment, I'm struggling. Not with the story or the characters, but with the length. It's a true art to pack 50,000 words worth of conflict, characterization, plot and romance into 600 words and make it so you want to read the story.

How much do you tell? What do you leave out?

It's truly a balancing act.

I usually start with too much plot detail and end up cutting that out. Eventually I get to where I'm only focusing on the inner conflict and the romance between the hero and heroine, but some days that takes longer than other.

How about you? What's your secret for working out the synopsis and how many words do you take to tell the story?

In between

I'm in my least favorite place in the world.

Between books.

Suspended between:

"That was a great story!"

and

"This idea sucks!"

I used to love beginnings. I embraced them with enthusiasm. The number of possible stories waiting to be told are endless. Which one to choose?

Unfortunately, I'm trying to be practical. If I want a career at this, I really need to consider what makes the most sense for me to be working on.

I'm gearing up for NaNoWriMo (50,000 words in one month, have I lost my mind?) by working out the characterizations and rough plot for my next book. On one hand, knowing where the book will end up is going to keep me from grinding to a halt in the middle. On the other hand, I'm taking such a clinical approach to the story that the creative fire that usually catapults me into a book isn't there.

Usually when I settle on a story, I get all tingly thinking of the characters and what hoops I'm going to make them jump through. So far, that hasn't happened with this story. I think it's because I don't have a real strong feel for the characters yet. I probably won't until I sit down to grind through the first few thousand words.

How about you? Are you gearing up to NaNoWriMo by working on plot, characters, etc? Or are you just going to PYBICHOK and start?

Are we there yet?

As I edit A Case of Meddling for the I don't know what-th time, I can't help but think about all those people who wrote a book, their first or second, and sold it.

On Miss Snark's First Victim's blog, I read a success story about how Ginger Clark signed a new client after requesting her work from one of the Secret Agent contests. The client was 15 years old. Yes, you heard me. 15 years old. How could she have lived enough in 15 years to be able to write a gripping, thoughtful book? And know enough about grammar, characterization, plot, tension, etc. to have not one but multiple agents interested in signing her.

As I head into my third decade as a writer, still unpublished, I marvel at how many words I've put on the page. Settling into another deep edit of this book and seeing all the ways it can be improved, I'm able to appreciate how far I've come and all I've learned in the process.

But I can't help but ask: Am I there yet?

YA final in the Golden Rose

I wasn't expecting this. In fact, I'd stopped working on the YA because so much of the feedback I'd received was negative. That makes this final especially sweet. And the fact that it was the longest entry to date (50 pages) means that I'm more than a first chapter girl. Yeah!

Do you recycle?

And by that I don't mean cans and plastic. I mean stories. Do you rework stories or write brand new ones?

Last year I subbed a requested book to Silhouette after making extensive revisions to the plot based on an editor's suggestions. About the same time, I fell beneath Donald Maass' evil influence (kidding, love the guy) and filled the book with tension, conflict and characterization. Way too much for my 50K word category book. The hero ended up being way too unlikeable because I didn't have room to balance his darkness with something light. The heroine wasn't sympathetic because I couldn't go into depth about her backstory and develop her the way she deserved to be developed.

I let the plot overwhelm my story and didn't sink far enough into the characters.

I knew when I sent it that it wouldn't be a good fit for category. I wasn't telling the right story. I was trying to fit these wonderful characters into a very tiny box. I said at the time that I would expand it into a single title. And that's what I'm going to do.

Some of the plot is going to stay, but I'm going to approach it from a different angle and let both the hero and heroine develop more. Their love story won't change at all. They are still the same people. But I'm going to let them interact with other characters more.

So, do you recycle? Or do you move on?

Today's goal: Setting goals for a major rewrite.
Yesterday's achievement: Sent last Golden Rose judged entry back
What I'm grateful for: Characters that capture your imagination.
Quote: "I'm an idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way." -Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967), Incidentals (1907)