And completely exhausted.
Too tired to celebrate.
Going to bed now.
Best of luck to everyone still working! I know you can do it.
We've reached the 3/4 mark for NaNoWriMo
And inquiring minds want to know...
Where do you put your black moment?
I finished a Silhouette Desire this week, written by a multi-published author, and was rather stunned when I reached the last chapter and the characters hadn’t yet had their black moment.
I read on, wondering if there wasn’t going to be one or if the little spat they’d had a couple chapters back was it. Then, low and behold, it appeared. A shocking black moment about 3 pages from the end of the book. I mean it was huge. But by then both characters were so much in love it wasn’t more than a blip and in half a page they were over it and moving on with the rest of their lives, so in love, etc.
Meanwhile, I, the reader, was left staring at “The End” and going, What The F#@$?
The end was rushed. I felt cheated by how fast the hero had a change of heart. The reason for the black moment was never really dealt with by the heroine. All of that’s unacceptable.
I feel cheated. It was as if the author went, whoa, I’m at word 49,100 and I have to finish this book by word 50,000. Or is it lazy writing? Why don’t the editors demand more? If I was an editor and someone turned in a book like that I’d be telling her to back up the truck.
Normally I put the black moment at the end of chapter 9. That leaves 3 chapters for the H/H to struggle through to their HEA. This makes those last 3 chapters torture to write. They love each other. They need to end up together. How do they overcome those obstacles to their love when they’re still committed to those beliefs that keep them apart?
Where do you put your black moment? How black is it?
Where do you put your black moment?I finished a Silhouette Desire this week, written by a multi-published author, and was rather stunned when I reached the last chapter and the characters hadn’t yet had their black moment.
I read on, wondering if there wasn’t going to be one or if the little spat they’d had a couple chapters back was it. Then, low and behold, it appeared. A shocking black moment about 3 pages from the end of the book. I mean it was huge. But by then both characters were so much in love it wasn’t more than a blip and in half a page they were over it and moving on with the rest of their lives, so in love, etc.
Meanwhile, I, the reader, was left staring at “The End” and going, What The F#@$?
The end was rushed. I felt cheated by how fast the hero had a change of heart. The reason for the black moment was never really dealt with by the heroine. All of that’s unacceptable.
I feel cheated. It was as if the author went, whoa, I’m at word 49,100 and I have to finish this book by word 50,000. Or is it lazy writing? Why don’t the editors demand more? If I was an editor and someone turned in a book like that I’d be telling her to back up the truck.
Normally I put the black moment at the end of chapter 9. That leaves 3 chapters for the H/H to struggle through to their HEA. This makes those last 3 chapters torture to write. They love each other. They need to end up together. How do they overcome those obstacles to their love when they’re still committed to those beliefs that keep them apart?
Where do you put your black moment? How black is it?
The end is near
but in a good way...
If you had told me 20 days ago that I could write 40k in such a short period of time, I wouldn't have believed you.
Of course, I'm now nearing the dreaded end chapters. This is where reality hits and I realize, I have no internal conflict keeping the characters apart.
My character arcs aren't arcing.
And the hero's intense emotional realization that he loves the heroine isn't going to happen because he's already behaving like a man in love, instead of a man avoiding love.
Arg!
I hope it's not as bad as I think.
Maybe if I could get to sleep I could set my unconscious mind to the task of figuring it all out. If only the characters would stop bugging me about having their story finished. They're unhappy that I'm not able to get them to the HEA as fast as they'd like.
How do you feel about endings? Love them? Hate them?
If you had told me 20 days ago that I could write 40k in such a short period of time, I wouldn't have believed you.Of course, I'm now nearing the dreaded end chapters. This is where reality hits and I realize, I have no internal conflict keeping the characters apart.
My character arcs aren't arcing.
And the hero's intense emotional realization that he loves the heroine isn't going to happen because he's already behaving like a man in love, instead of a man avoiding love.
Arg!
I hope it's not as bad as I think.
Maybe if I could get to sleep I could set my unconscious mind to the task of figuring it all out. If only the characters would stop bugging me about having their story finished. They're unhappy that I'm not able to get them to the HEA as fast as they'd like.
How do you feel about endings? Love them? Hate them?
Self publish with Harlequin
I saw this and had heart failure. The chance to be published beneath the mighty arm of Harlequin but not go through the agony of querying and waiting and subbing and waiting. It is going to be mighty tempting to a lot of people.
Harlequin is starting a self-publishing venture where you pay between $599 and $1599 to publish your book.
Here's the link. Harlequin Horizons.
More disturbing is the fact that all form rejections from Harlequin will direct you to Harlequin Horizons.
Let me know what your thoughts are.
Update: RWA has determined that Harlequin is now a subsidy/vanity press and they are no longer eligible to receive conference resources. Regarding the 2009 national conference RWA has stated: "Eligible publishers are provided free meeting space for book signings, are given the opportunity to hold editor appointments, and are allowed to offer spotlights on their programs." This means Harlequin will not be participating like this.
I don't know all the ramifications of this change in status, but I can't imagine any of it's going to be good.
Harlequin is starting a self-publishing venture where you pay between $599 and $1599 to publish your book.
Here's the link. Harlequin Horizons.
More disturbing is the fact that all form rejections from Harlequin will direct you to Harlequin Horizons.
Let me know what your thoughts are.
Update: RWA has determined that Harlequin is now a subsidy/vanity press and they are no longer eligible to receive conference resources. Regarding the 2009 national conference RWA has stated: "Eligible publishers are provided free meeting space for book signings, are given the opportunity to hold editor appointments, and are allowed to offer spotlights on their programs." This means Harlequin will not be participating like this.
I don't know all the ramifications of this change in status, but I can't imagine any of it's going to be good.
How I manage Nano
Here's where my accountant genes come into play. Is this pathetic or what? On the other hand, it's keeping me on track as you can see. Even though some days I might write less and others more, I'm trying to maintain the close pace to what I need per day.
I like watching my bars keep on perfect pace with my target line. This is the sort of thing I do at work every day and it seems to be working for a billion dollar corporation. Why not me?
How about you? Do you write what you can each day, knowing you need a certain number of words to finish NaNo in 30 days, or do you just keep going like gangbusters until you hit 50k?
I know people who are done. Others who are stalled. Everyone works a little differently. And it's fun to hear what works and what doesn't.
Happy Friday the 13th
Anyone have a black cat cross their path today?
I can't believe we're closing in on the half way point for NaNo. This has been a fabulous experience for me and not at all what I was expecting. This past year has been rather frustrating in terms of new material written. I feel as if I've been spending a lot of time editing or starting new stuff only to drop it to work on a different project.
For me to have written 20k in a couple weeks is nothing short of amazing. I'm not exactly sure where the book is coming from, but it's pouring out of somewhere.
In fact, I'm so inspired, I was thinking about going back to Bound By Duty and doing a mini-Nano in December to get that one done. I've got about 25k to go and I think after what I've done with the current wip I should be able to write that much.
By the way, I'm loving Tivo. If not for that, I wouldn't have accomplished anywhere near as much as I have. Yes, I'm a TVaholic. It isn't pretty but it's who I am.
Have a great weekend. Happy writing.
What's working for you?
How's NaNo going? Are you learning creative new techniques to get your word count done? Or, are you finding your creativity is geared toward getting out of writing?To keep my word count on track, I've been employing a series of writing sprints. I write for 20 minutes then break for a period of time and go back for another 20 minutes. It seems to be working. Telling myself I don't have to write for more than 20 minutes seems to take the pressure off when I look at my word count for the day and see that I still have 1500 to go, or 700, or even 200.
Sunday, I didn't look at the computer at all. Monday, I made up for the lack by writing over 2800 words and getting myself back on pace.
I've got a spreadsheet and a chart that helps me track my progress as often as I want. Sometimes it's a couple hundred words, sometimes a mere 50. Anything to feel as if I'm making a little progress.
Wouldn't it be great to be able to keep up this pace all the time? If I wrote full time, I'd probably be able to do it. The challenge is a little more daunting when you add in the 40 hours a week I work, the 1-1/2 drive time to and from, my daughter's after school activities. And don't even get me started with the whole cooking dinner and grocery shopping thing.
So, what's working for you?
Still working out my characterization
Something about my heroine's GMC was bothering me. I started her out too sweet, too sheltered, and too self-aware. This is the first of a series about 3 princes. It was originally supposed to be the second book, but after working on Bound By Duty, I realized that the plot wasn't working because I was trying to make the hero something he wasn't.
When I decided to create the series, I decided the over-arching story line would revolve around these three brothers needing to produce their heir to the throne.
The first book is about the eldest brother who will one day be king. He needs a wife who can have children. So, naturally, my heroine is having trouble in that respect. She has fertility issues, but she's in denial. Or at least, now she's in denial. At first I was going to start the book knowing she can't have children. Then I decided it would be a great character arc if she had to deal with the loss of her fertility and what impact that will have on her relationship with the man she by then has come to love.
Pair that with a guy who needs an heir and is afraid to fall in love and lose control again.
Mix in his illegitimate twin daughters who have just lost their mother.
I think it's going to be a challenge to balance sexy with all that angst.
So, how are your conflicts coming?
NaNo isn't a sprint, it's a marathon
Plugging along. Liking the story better and better.
Characters are gaining some dimension.
I just keep telling myself to move forward, one step at a time.
What needs fixing I can do in the next draft.
10% in and I don't hate it.
But it's not quite love yet, either.Started a little rough. I knew the basics of what I wanted to do, but couldn't really get into the characters. And I had an idea about their conflict, but wasn't quite settled on exactly how I was going to go about.
It felt flat.
It was boring back story.
And my characters had no chemistry.
It's getting better, and I keep reminding myself that it's a first draft.
How's everyone else doing?
No NaNo
Ack! It's 1:19 and I've not even started.How's everyone else doing?
Saw the Michael Jackson movie and it was great! I took my daughter. She seemed to like it too.
2:42 - 600 words
6:20 - 1500 words
8:00 - 2200
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