revision

Won’t get fooled again

/ Tracy Abell / 15 Comments

      

What is it about writing stories that renders us
(and by us, I mean, me) clueless?

I’m revising a manuscript I used to think was pretty damned solid
but with the help of my mentor, I’m realizing I’d hit many wrong notes.

The opening chapter is so much better now
which makes me very happy
but also makes me wonder
what the hell was I thinking before?  

How could I miss the obvious?

I felt a bit shame-spirally last night as I contemplated my cluelessness
but am now trying to focus on feeling grateful for a stronger manuscript,
and am reminding myself I will carry this awareness to later projects.

I won’t get fooled again.
            

Friday Five: Notebook Love

/ Tracy Abell / 23 Comments

       

1)  I love spiral-bound notebooks.

2)  I love this notebook I’m using for revisions,
a notebook formerly used by Wildebeest:

3)  I love that I can keep my pen and pencil handy
for immediate use:

4)  I love that I have pages and pages in which to jot any old thought that pops into my
head and that I can rewrite sentences and figure out characterization issues and vomit
out any angst and uncertainty here, and generally just have lots of room to move:

5)  But maybe most of all, I love that the back cover has a drawing by Wildebeest:

              

Clothes pin?

/ Tracy Abell / 11 Comments

     

I’m supposed to be revising right now.
I was, up until two minutes ago
when I tiptoed away from my pages.

The thing is,
the whole project seems pretty stinky right now.

I’m not sure if I should
(A) call it a night before I do more damage or
(B) put a clothes pin on my nose and keep at it.

Maybe I will 
(C) crack open a cold beer and ponder the situation.
             

Exhilaration vs. Hyperventilation

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

           

I love roller coasters.
But I also panic at the thought of roller coasters.

I’m feeling those same mixed emotions as I prepare to embark on this revision.

I’m thrilled at the thought of finally creating the book I’d intended
but also a bit nervous about what I might experience along the way.

I know there will be thrills and spills.
And undoubtedly this revision will involve some screaming
and white knuckles.
Followed by more screaming.
Let’s just hope I don’t ever wet myself,
not even a little bit.

Okay,  here goes . . .

Two on a Tuesday

/ Tracy Abell / 10 Comments

             

ONE:
Heading off this morning to meet for the first time
with my new mentor, Claudia Mills.

She’ll be working with me to revise CLOSE TO HOME,
a MG I love and want to see published.

I’m grateful to the Rocky Mountain Chapter of SCBWI
for instituting this new mentor program.

TWO:
Zippy convinced me to buy hot meats bird seed.
Huh?!

Sunflower Meats, hot chili peppers, and safflower oil.
Supposedly, birds don’t mind the heat but squirrels do.

Zippy thought we’d get a greater variety of birds
if we offered hot meats rather than plain old safflower seeds.

But so far….
no takers.

On the plus side, I haven’t seen any squirrels with pained expressions, either.

(And so you don’t think we’re completely heartless,
we have one of those squirrel corn-cob-thingies available for gnawing).

                        

Compare and contrast

/ Tracy Abell / 31 Comments

Yesterday I didn’t do a bit of writing.
I took the day off.

Instead, I aired out mattresses,
sprayed mini-blinds,
washed windows,
washed and rehung curtains,
and cleaned two bathrooms.

Today I worked on revisions
for about four hours.

I’m trying to decide which day’s work
gives me a greater sense of satisfaction.

My manuscript is almost ready to go.
On the other hand, those windows were really dirty.

Cutting and Pasting

/ Tracy Abell / 50 Comments

Yesterday I had big plans for my revision work
and except for using 12-pt font and choosing the counter over the hair-covered floor,
I stuck to my plan.

Here is my original ending in all its glory.

And here, after hours of agonizing and brain-sweating,
is the cut and paste version of my revised ending.

I don’t think I could’ve slogged through all that without
a huge visual aid.

Word processors are grand
but nothing beats paper and scissors.

Not even rock
(sorry, couldn’t resist).

Seeing the big picture

/ Tracy Abell / 10 Comments

I’m reworking my ending.
I’ve realized it reads like GROUNDHOG DAY.

Similar things happen over and over.
Diluting the action.

But I’ve got so many characters and so many plot lines
I’m not sure how to figure it all out.
It’s a bit intimidating.

I’d like a hovercraft that allows me a bird’s eye view
of everything that happens in those twenty pages.

But I don’t have such a thing so I’m going to settle for
printing out those pages
in larger font
and spreading them out on my floor.

Note to self: vacuum up dog/cat hair, first.

Gnarly Issues

/ Tracy Abell / 33 Comments

           

Not sure if

[info]idaho_laurie

  and   noticed
but today while they were busy revising,
I snuck away.

Not because I wanted to avoid my revisions
but because I was in a tangled situation
and had gone as far as I could go.

I needed word from afar.

So I went outside and tackled my garden-run-amok.
Tore out some stuff that needed to go.

Two and one-half hours later when I went inside,
there was a shift.
I’d received word.

And now my tangle is one step closer to resolution.

All hail the Implements of Destruction!
Both literary and garden-ary.
           

My gift to you . . .

/ Tracy Abell / 20 Comments

    

If you happen to be stuck on your work-in-progress
(maybe because you set it aside for a month or so
while working on another project),
I feel your pain.

I’ve been spinning my wheels trying to get traction
on this second draft.
I was ready to give up, convinced the story sucked beyond belief.

But then . . .

I sat down and wrote out a timeline for the book.
And now I can see my way again
because I remember what needs to happen
and when it needs to happen.

Such a simple solution
yet it took me quite some time to figure it out.
Which is why I’m sharing this with you.

If you’re in that bad, scary place in your project
try mapping out the chronology.
Maybe, just maybe, you’ll be on your way again.

Edited to add:
Oh, and you know what else is helpful?
Writing the day/time after chapter heading.
For instance: CHAPTER THIRTEEN (Thurs after school).
Yep.  I’m just full of epiphanies.

                      

Banishing The Doubts

/ Tracy Abell / 7 Comments

  

The best remedy for The Doubts is liking your project as you revise.
Thinking to yourself "Hey, this isn’t too bad!"
Or maybe just "Hey, this isn’t too bad." (minus the exclamation point).

I am SO grateful for these glimmers right now.
Whether they’re exclamatory, or not.

              
           

Procrastination, Nevermore

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

Okay, so it’s a grackle rather than a raven.
And I’m no Poe.

Nonetheless.

I hereby pledge to tackle my revisions today.
I pledge to crack the characterization/plotting code
that has stymied me these past weeks and fueled my ongoing procrastination.

I will prevail.

My feathered friend assures me this is so.  


                    

Research or Time Suck?

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

I’m reading this right now
to help me figure out character motivation
and resolve a plot issue.

It turns out catchers are an interesting breed
and I’m enjoying the book
which makes me wonder
if I’ve moved beyond Research
into Procrastination.

     

Hard Work

/ Tracy Abell / 11 Comments

On Saturday I reintroduced the 1000 Words/Day rule
which puts me at 3000 words on my WIP.
I’m also shooting for the 1 Chapter/Day rule on my revisions.
So far, so good.

We all know the writing life can be difficult.
At times we feel as if we’re banging our heads on walls.
Guess what?

This flicker literally bangs his head.  Everyday.  For hours and hours.

And because today is another WINDY day in Colorado, he’s banging his head
in HIGH winds (notice ruffled feathers on head and back)

Now that’s hard work.

         

Voices

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

Panicked today as I worked on draft 2 of my project.
The voice just isn’t there.
(And yes, I caught the irony of panic following so close on the heels of this).

The project I just finished is Full of Voice but this current project, not at all.
I started wondering if that was all the voice I had in me,
if possibly the voice had run dry.  Or hoarse.  Something like that.

So I went back to that last project and read bits of draft 1.
No voice.
Draft 2.  No voice.
Draft 3 didn’t have it, either, and by then I didn’t even want (or need) to know about the 4th.

The moral of this story: 
WHEN IN DOUBT, TAKE A STROLL THROUGH YOUR CRAPOLA; YOU JUST MIGHT FEEL ALL BETTER.
(at least temporarily)
                 

Synopsis Love

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

I’ve discovered something wonderful:

When I write a synopsis just for me, it’s fun. 
Enjoyable.  Downright liberating.

I have a complete poo-riddled first draft of a middle-grade novel
and am now writing a synopsis to help iron out some issues.

As long as you don’t have to worry about someone else reading it,
synopsis is a relaxing way to map your way out of the wilderness.

Who woulda thunk?

        

Revision Angst

/ Tracy Abell / 22 Comments

I’m having one of those moments.
One of those "this is crap, who are you trying to kid?!" moments.
One of those "what made you think you could pull this off?" moments.
One of those "this isn’t even close to working so you might as well
go fill out an application at Taco Smell" moments.

I hate these moments.
But I know they always pass.
Especially when I read those vile criticisms aloud in R’s voice.

Okay, now I’m smiling again.  
Thanks for listening.

I gotta get back to it.

    

Happiness

/ Tracy Abell / 11 Comments

Today I finished reading through my manuscript and inserting notations.
I’m ready to tackle revisions.
This makes me very happy.
I went to YouTube and plugged in "happiness."
This is what popped (hopped?) up:  Happiness by Goldfrapp.
Enjoy.

             

Relief

/ Tracy Abell / 20 Comments

Today I finally sat down and worked with the MG I want to revise.   For the past almost two months I took notes as ideas percolated but I knew better than to touch the manuscript for fear of making BlearyBrain-induced mistakes. 

I kept wondering if I was finally ready to get out the pen and scissors, and as the days passed without touching the ms I began to think I’d never screw up the courage to give it another try.

But today I tried and it felt good.  The revisions are going to be lots of work but I’m confident I can do the job.  And the best part is I still love the story.  It’s good.  And when I’m done, it’s going to be even better.

The miracle of revision.

              

Grief Timeline

/ Tracy Abell / 36 Comments

Today is four weeks since my dad died.  Early on, several people who do grief counseling told me my thought processes would be messed up/foggy for three weeks.  It’s true.  They were.  Are.

This morning for the first time I not only itched to get working again but felt as if I could do some decent work.  I’ve fallen out of my 1000 words/day habit and haven’t started revising my funny MG boy book.  However, last week I wrote up notes and thoughts surrounding draft 1 of another book (BB) and printed those out so I could hit the ground running on draft 2 when I pull it out again in several months.  I forced myself to do this because I was sure that project was the culprit taking up valuable space in my brain, keeping me from the revisions and writing 1k words/day on a new project.

So this morning, free from that other project, I felt the itch.  Not only that, I felt like my old writer self feeling the itch.  Me and the itch.  I decided it was time to do some scratching, time to get serious about those revisions. 

I opened my laptop and started reading through revisions notes I’ve taken over the past four weeks.  Suddenly, I felt teary and panicked and overwhelmingly tired.  And I knew I wasn’t quite ready.

I closed the laptop and took a nap.

I’m sure I was right about the other project taking up valuable real estate in my head.  But I obviously still need a little more time to make a little more space for my grief.

Patience isn’t one of my strengths but in this case, I guess I don’t really have a choice.  It just means I’ll have more time for watching birds in the feeder.  That is, until the Cooper’s Hawk arrives to sit on my back fence and all the juncos and sparrows and finches disappear until the coast is clear. 

Eventually they’ll be back, and so will I.

                      

Revolutionary Progress

/ Tracy Abell / 9 Comments

I’m making progress on a couple fronts:

Number one, thanks to the revolutionaries who responded to yesterday’s post regarding LJ Overwhelm, I’m determined to wash that angst right out of my hair.  Thank you, friends!

Number Two, thanks to Wildebeest and Zebu being at camp for ten days I’m getting serious about my revisions.  So serious, in fact, that for the last two days (um, that’s counting today) I haven’t turned on my desktop until late afternoon when my writing work was done.  What a concept!  No internet play until the work is done!  Revolutionary!

I can’t read any journals now, though, because I’m off to visit R, but you know what?  Even though I’m doing a drive-by post, I don’t feel any guilt at all!  Now that’s progress! 

And here’s hoping you’re all making headway in your lives and work, too!

                

Friday Feel-Goods

/ Tracy Abell / 29 Comments

1)  Yesterday I sent a letter to the editor in support of paper ballots and hand-counts.  Today the Denver Post published my letter but edited out several key sentences (my letter was over the word count).  I called the letters editor to let him know I was unhappy with what he cut and that I would’ve preferred cutting the letter myself.  He offered his direct email address for submitting future letters and said he’d let me see edits before publishing my letters.  Then a couple minutes later I received an email from him letting me know that he’d restored my letter in its entirety for the newspaper’s online version.  Plus he let me know he’d like more letters from me regarding verifiable voting because it was an important issue, one of great concern to the Post.  I’m so glad I took the time to call.

2)  Today is sunny and warm.  For the first time in forever, I’m going out on the trails to run.  It might be muddy in places but I’m willing to risk running in 15-pound shoes just to get off the streets and into the open space.

3)  Revisions are moving slowly on my middle-grade but I’m making progress.  I’ve read the opening pages about a billion times and whenever I read a certain line on page four, I crack up.  I might be the only one who thinks it’s funny but for the time being, I consider it a good sign.

4)  My shoulder and back muscles are sore because last night I did circuit training for the first time in about three weeks.  Sore is good because it reminds me I did all those push-ups.

5)  Wildebeest wasn’t turning in assignments so now has to have a weekly progress report signed by all teachers.  Last night he checked the online portal to make sure he had everything done but discovered a science assignment incorrectly marked “missing.”  He immediately wrote a note to himself and stapled it to the blank progress report so he’d remember to straighten out the no-name mix-up with his teacher.  Believe me, that’s a big WOW coming from him.

Here’s wishing lots of feel-good moments for everyone this weekend.