June Noveling - Page 2

[Sagesgirl]

Hmm, that's a hard one. I don't really have any advice. That first line is great. Maybe drop the second sentence altogether? It seems a bit unnecessary & perhaps redundant. I think maybe a few of the sentences can be dropped...Here's another version:

His energy penetrated the very walls of the rooms he occupied until you could nearly see the vibrations of the molecules of the structure. You heard his voice and you paid attention. He had a presence, perhaps a charisma, though both terms seemed woefully inadequate. People either loved him or hated him. I loved him.

It needs just a couple of tweaks.



I got a little more than an hour of writing in today, and I've published in my crochet blog. Even got a pattern written up and posted. Nothing in my main blog yet; I think it'll wait til I get the kids to bed. I've been contemplating a post on single moms & college; I just accepted my financial aid awards today. I guess that's a good jumping-off point.

[allgirls]

Thanks. I think I'll work with that. I know what I'm trying to say.

Has anyone checked out this site?

[MommyHawk]

Originally Posted by aikigypsy

I do have scene breaks marked in to the manuscript, and there are several distinct longer sections, in terms of plot. In my fantasy novels, I worked with chapters roughly 3 scenes or 5,000 words long, which would take me about a week to write. My sense is that chapters in romance novels are often shorter than that, and that length doesn't work for me in the writing process, so I figure I'll wait until the book is nearly ready to go and get advice on where to put in the chapter breaks, in the cases where it isn't totally obvious.

Glad to find that people are still here working on their novels. It can be a really slow slog through the middle, can't it?

nak

I think that EDITING is the "slow slog"...I can't seem to stay motivated! :

[MommyHawk]

Originally Posted by allgirls

What do you call a novel that is based in truth and somewhat autobiographical but with some creative license and the names and location is changed to protect the innocent?

I've started a new novel and it's based on an episode in my own life. I've written the first chapter.

So..subbing I guess..lol

Yeah! what you are reffering to is what they call a Roman à clef

[Aufilia]

I'm going to wade back into the noveling with you girls this month, I think. I'm nearly 22 weeks pregnant now and finally can read/write again without wanting to hurl. Woohoo for me! Last night I sat down and revised chapter 4 (of 30) which was where I left off revisions back in March. I hate that I took so much time off doing NOTHING but on the other hand, the long break is probably good for my ability to see the novel with new eyes. Anyhow, that's what I'm telling myself.

[Sagesgirl]

Hey, Stephen King says you should put your novel away for a minimum of something like 6 weeks, so you can look at it with fresh eyes when you edit.

I got about an hour of writing in today, but no blogging thus far, & I didn't get a blog up yesterday. I got sucked in by Ice Road Truckers on Hulu. Did you know they drive on ICE? The narration is repetitive as all heck.

[JennyClaire]

Hey all!

Yeah, it's snailish writing a novel with kids --- I feel as if I'll be lucky to finish (never mind publish) before they leave home...

I work about an hour a day while the two year old is sleeping, sometimes more on weekends....

16K through my first re-write, getting it onto the computer for the first time. I'm getting that "this sucks" feeling again. After I finish my re-write, I'll put the novel to bed for a while before working on it again.

Unlike some of you, this is the only thing I want to work on, don't have any other projects going, although I've recently discovered Facebook.


I asked the below question too late last month to get an answer, but I still need one:
How do you find readers? Local writing groups? Internet writing groups?

[allgirls]

I am so tired. By the time I manage to tidy the house, get out for a walk, take the kids for whatever appointment de jour they have and then go out myself tonight I have no time to write. So we have 2 days of rain approaching and I'm grateful.

I am hitting 10,000 words this week. I am at around 7000.

It is very frustrating, the words are knocking around the inside of my skull wanting to come out and I can't let them because I just don't have time.

Tonight I will aim for an hour...a chapter to finish( a challenging one) and then a chapter that is easier to do.

How do you name your characters? I have some naming/renaming to do and I'm thinking of doing the index card character description thing soon as they describe in "how to write a novel in 100 days".

[Sagesgirl]

I usually start with a name for my main character and build from there. The name of the MC just comes to me. The heroine of the book I am writing right now is Evangeline Aldrich. Evangeline was going to be the name of the baby I lost. I had to give her life somehow. (I know that sounds a little weird, but there you have it.) Aldrich just fit; I wanted a German name and it was the name of my JROTC commander back in high school, a man I really respected. I generally build all the rest of the names off the main character so they sound good together. All her family have Biblical names.

I named the hero in honor of an old friend of mine, & iirc his last name came about because I was listening to a song by the Bellamy brothers when I was trying to figure out what to name him. I am horrible at picking last names.

The weres in my story are named with a sort of theme. I came up with it before I came up with the idea for this story, in fact. They all have very old-fashioned names: Claire and Gerald Diefenholz are the alpha couple. They're the only ones right now, but I'll keep it similar to that. They're all going to get last names that fit in this part of Texas--German, Mexican, Polish, etc. Somewhere there will be some Friesenhahns. There are always Friesenhahns in my stories--it's one of those bizarre names that is everywhere in this area.

[Aufilia]

Originally Posted by Sagesgirl

Hey, Stephen King says you should put your novel away for a minimum of something like 6 weeks, so you can look at it with fresh eyes when you edit.

That's what I keep telling myself.

Originally Posted by JennyClaire

How do you find readers? Local writing groups? Internet writing groups?

I did an Internet group before I found a local group, and it was ok. (The Critters online working for SF/F, if it matters.) Then I started signing up for workshops at local SF/F conventions, and after the 2nd one I was invited to join a local group. That was about 5 years ago and I'm still with them.

Originally Posted by allgirls

How do you name your characters? I have some naming/renaming to do and I'm thinking of doing the index card character description thing soon as they describe in "how to write a novel in 100 days".

It really varies. Sometimes the right name just comes to me. Sometimes I surf baby name websites and either take names I like or just use them for inspiration. I like behindthename.com for that because you can look up names by ethnicity pretty easily, so you can see names that came from the same root/tongue together.


In me news, I finished revision chapter 5 (took 3 nights) and started chapter 6. Not sure if I'm going to get to the novel tonight or not, I feel really bloated and a bit blargh-y, which really wrecks my concentration & motivation.

[KissyStarfish]

Hi ladies! : This has been a weird month for writing for me, and sounds like I may not be alone in that. lol. I thought my novel was dead in the water at just under 17000 words and felt adrift and floundering. So, I put it away for a week or so and just thought and waited. Seems that I was trying too hard, and had a goody two shoes element in the story that ended up feeling false, so I am revising, and the whole story is breathing again! *Hugs* to everyone through the ups and downs of writing, summertime, and mumhood! : :

[allgirls]

I'm stuck on a chapter. It's pure fiction and I have two paragraphs.

think I'll jump ahead to the non fiction chapter...maybe it'll work to give me some ideas.

[JennyClaire]

Originally Posted by Aufilia

I like behindthename.com for that because you can look up names by ethnicity pretty easily, so you can see names that came from the same root/tongue together.

Thanks for the link --- I may need that for a few characters who are crying out to be renamed.

So, do you feel an "in-person" writing group gets you better critiquing than one online? My novel is general fiction. I'm so scared to have anyone read my stuff (because it sucks); but also strangely paranoid that it's going to get ripped off, which seems more likely without a face to face interaction.
:

[Aufilia]

Originally Posted by KissyStarfish

So, I put it away for a week or so and just thought and waited. Seems that I was trying too hard, and had a goody two shoes element in the story that ended up feeling false, so I am revising, and the whole story is breathing again! *Hugs* to everyone through the ups and downs of writing, summertime, and mumhood! : :

Yay for finding a solution to your trouble! Hope you're still dashing along.

Originally Posted by allgirls

I'm stuck on a chapter. It's pure fiction and I have two paragraphs.

think I'll jump ahead to the non fiction chapter...maybe it'll work to give me some ideas.

In the first draft of my novel I know I skipped a bunch of stuff that I couldn't quite figure out the first time through, then went back and filled in later.

Originally Posted by JennyClaire

So, do you feel an "in-person" writing group gets you better critiquing than one online? My novel is general fiction. I'm so scared to have anyone read my stuff (because it sucks); but also strangely paranoid that it's going to get ripped off, which seems more likely without a face to face interaction. :

I think it depends on how the group forms. With Critters, it's an open workshop and anybody can join, which means you have people at all levels and some (in my experience, most!) of them have no idea how to do a good critique. At least half the crits I got where simply lists of typo corrections!

If you can get into a group that forms from, say, a class or workshop, then you at least know the other members have a certain basic level of knowledge, you know? I have a friend who has an online novel crit group that formed after a workshop that she loves. I was in an online post-workshop group for awhile, too, but there was 1 member I just could NOT stand, so that didn't work for me.

I do love my in-person group, but again, I think it's going to vary because groups form for different reasons and have different working methods. I would not, for example, join a group where manuscripts are read aloud often because I don't think that's a good way to present a manuscript that's intended to be read on paper. My group doesn't do that except when we have a just-for-fun challenge, about once a year. My group works well, I think, because everyone has the same goal (selling SF/F at the pro level) and because the personalities in the group work.

[eastkygal]

Allgirls - Thanks for the pointers on making goals for myself of 1 hour and 1 blog. That was really helpful... My mind doesn't like to make things that easy. Right now I'm over analyzing exercise and rest... what gives.

The names for my characters seem to just come to me. I'm writing from many real life characters in this novel. It is historical so some I rename and some I don't. They are my relatives and have all passed away, so I don't have a strong need to rename. Anyway, I find phone books helpful. I write regional pieces most of which are set in Appalachia (Kentucky) so my phone book gives me lots of ideas for names. Sometimes baby name books can be helpful.

I am working on my second novel idea only until it is finished. It is the one I got the grant for. It seems to be flowing much easier than when I attempted working on my 1st idea. I'm at 5,500 words and still writing chapter one, which seems promising to me. Having been to the places and writing with actual places in mind is so helpful. I think I should do that for all of my pieces. Write a real place, but rename it and change up things.

I'm hoping I can get a good work up of it in 5 months. That would be awesome.

[allgirls]

yes, now if I could stick to my own daily writing goals all would be good...lol.

I have to clean my house. I know it sounds crazy but I'm really going crazy knowing it's so messy. So I'm cleaning upstairs and then the downstairs and if I get time to write today, great, if not I'll have to deal because it's a mess. Otherwise, I'll write eventually.

[remijo]

Hi! My novel has been dead in the water for a while. I was down with knee surgery (which ironically would have been a great time to write but I got nothing accomplished) and then found out I was pregnant, and well...you know how it goes.

I currently have 68,000 words and my novel is flowing along pretty well. I write because I love to write, I don't know if my writing is good enough to publish. Right now, my genre is SF/F but I have dabbled in a lot and will one day write my memoirs - my crowning masterpiece (said with a healthy dose of sarcasm).

Nice to meet all of you writing mamas!

[MommyHawk]

here's my two cents

* watch stretching out your sentences. "vibrations of the structure of the molecules"...condense, condense, condense

Here is my reworking ideas for the following:

"His energy penetrated the very walls of the rooms in which he occupied. You'd swear you could see molecular structural vibrations. You didn't just feel him in the room. You heard his voice. You paid attention. He had a presence - perhaps a charisma - though both terms seemed woefully inadequate. People either loved him or hated him. I loved him."

or second one

His energy penetrated the very walls of the rooms until you were certain you saw molecular structural vibrations. You heard his voice. You paid attention. He had a presence - perhaps a charisma - though both terms seemed woefully inadequate. People either loved him or hated him. I loved him.[/QUOTE]

personally, the second sounds more solid to me. Less words, more powerful descriptives. We already know he's in the room, so you don't really need to say that he's in the room.

I'm intrigued! I want to read more!!

[MommyHawk]

Originally Posted by Aufilia

I'm going to wade back into the noveling with you girls this month, I think. I'm nearly 22 weeks pregnant now and finally can read/write again without wanting to hurl. Woohoo for me! Last night I sat down and revised chapter 4 (of 30) which was where I left off revisions back in March. I hate that I took so much time off doing NOTHING but on the other hand, the long break is probably good for my ability to see the novel with new eyes. Anyhow, that's what I'm telling myself.

welcome back!!

[allgirls]

My irl editor friend looked at that sample, made some changes and said "whatever you do, leave in the line "he did not inspire indifference" and everybody here took it out. She loved it.

I guess I'll have to make some decisions myself.

I haven't worked on the novel but I'll get back to it this week. It's been crazy busy buy my house is so much cleaner: