So yeah, I know it's a couple days late, bu whatever. I've had more important things to do. Like prepping for the zombie apocalypse. And attending a wedding in the Arizona. And...stuff. But, Happy New Year to everyone, most especially the plethora of my faithful readers!
This is going to be a short post. I finally got started on the final read-through of Kricket's Song, albeit a week or so later than I might have liked. I don't think it's going to take me very long, but it's certainly going to require me to pay close attention to what I'm doing. I'm just trying to polish it, working to get rid of excessive words, make things that are unclear more clear, and essentially trying not to look like an amateur with the writing.
There's a particular document I've found very helpful at this stage of the project, entitled "Hunting Down the Pleonasms" by Allen Guthrie. You can find a reproduction of the document here. It's been reproduced with permission, and I think just about any writer will find it immensely helpful. A lot of it is stuff that we already "know," but that we seem to forget when we get into the heat of writing. I even went so far as to take the advice of printing it out and taping it on the wall next to my computer. I read through it every now and then, usually before I start a writing session, and it's started to get ingrained in my brain--which can only help my writing! I'll also put this link as a permanent one on the right side of my blog.
So anyway, that's where I'm at with Kricket's Song. Once I've finished this polishing session, it will be ready for beta readers. I've already had a couple members from the Absolute Write Water Cooler volunteer to read it for me, so I'm very excited about that. Victims are good, but victims who volunteer are even better! Oh, did I say that out loud...?
Monday, January 2, 2012
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Season's Greetings and Kricket Update
First of all, I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I know it's a little late, but I've been traveling to be with family for the holidays. It'll be busy, but certainly better than spending it alone. I also want to take a moment to wish both of my brothers a very special Christmas; they'll both be spending it away from their families. It's because of guys like them that we can still celebrate Christmas in many areas of the world.
On to Kricket news, I've finished most of the major edits I wanted to accomplish. I still need to figure out how I'm going to rewrite the first few paragraphs of Chapter One. It won't be a major change, but still, it needs to be done right! Once I've done that and let the manuscript sit for a few days, I'll be reading through the whole thing again to look for typos, and to generally clean up the writing, so that it's nice, polished, and not amateurish. At least, that's the hope.
So again, Merry Christmas, and see you all next time!
On to Kricket news, I've finished most of the major edits I wanted to accomplish. I still need to figure out how I'm going to rewrite the first few paragraphs of Chapter One. It won't be a major change, but still, it needs to be done right! Once I've done that and let the manuscript sit for a few days, I'll be reading through the whole thing again to look for typos, and to generally clean up the writing, so that it's nice, polished, and not amateurish. At least, that's the hope.
So again, Merry Christmas, and see you all next time!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Kricket Rough Draft Completed
You read it correctly! I finished the rough draft for Kricket's Song on 12-11-11. Final word count was 97,767. This was quite a bit over the original 90K word count I'd planned for, but not quite as high as I was afraid it might go. According to my research, somewhere between 80 and 90K is what agents are looking for from new writers, but 97K isn't so far out of the ballpark as to not be feasible. The word count will, of course, change before I submit it to agents.
So what's next for Kricket's Song? Well, I've got a list of about 23 edits that need to take place before I have the basic story the way I want it. Some of these were things that changed as I wrote the manuscript, some were ideas that I got after I'd already written those parts, and some where things that I just plain forgot to write in. I'm currently about 30% done with those edits, and I hope to have them done within the next few days, before I get started on my Christmas break.
After the initial edits, I'm going to let the manuscript sit for awhile. If I do any writing at all, it'll be on something completely unrelated to Kricket's Song. If I go back and read through it looking for errors right now, I'll only see what I want to see, instead of what's actually there. So I'll give my brain a break and look at it with fresh eyes a couple weeks later.
After I read through it and polish it up as best as I can, it'll then go to beta readers, who will give me yet another perspective. While the beta readers have it, I'll be researching agents, drafting a query letter, and all the other little things that need to happen for a manuscript to be ready for submission. And after that...well, I guess we'll see!
I already have a LOT of ideas for the sequel to Kricket's Song (although Kricket's Song is designed to be a standalone plot), but I don't have a definite plot laid out for it yet. Right now, that's slated to be my next major project, but we'll see how things go before I officially put it on my active projects list.
As always, I'll try to keep this site updated with my progress. I know it's been awhile since I last posted. My excuse is, I've been busy at work, and all my spare creative energy has gone into the push to get this rough draft done. But let's be honest: blogging is boring when I've got nothing to blog about. I'm not one of those guys that talks about something just to be talking. So, when I have something talk about, I'll post again!
So what's next for Kricket's Song? Well, I've got a list of about 23 edits that need to take place before I have the basic story the way I want it. Some of these were things that changed as I wrote the manuscript, some were ideas that I got after I'd already written those parts, and some where things that I just plain forgot to write in. I'm currently about 30% done with those edits, and I hope to have them done within the next few days, before I get started on my Christmas break.
After the initial edits, I'm going to let the manuscript sit for awhile. If I do any writing at all, it'll be on something completely unrelated to Kricket's Song. If I go back and read through it looking for errors right now, I'll only see what I want to see, instead of what's actually there. So I'll give my brain a break and look at it with fresh eyes a couple weeks later.
After I read through it and polish it up as best as I can, it'll then go to beta readers, who will give me yet another perspective. While the beta readers have it, I'll be researching agents, drafting a query letter, and all the other little things that need to happen for a manuscript to be ready for submission. And after that...well, I guess we'll see!
I already have a LOT of ideas for the sequel to Kricket's Song (although Kricket's Song is designed to be a standalone plot), but I don't have a definite plot laid out for it yet. Right now, that's slated to be my next major project, but we'll see how things go before I officially put it on my active projects list.
As always, I'll try to keep this site updated with my progress. I know it's been awhile since I last posted. My excuse is, I've been busy at work, and all my spare creative energy has gone into the push to get this rough draft done. But let's be honest: blogging is boring when I've got nothing to blog about. I'm not one of those guys that talks about something just to be talking. So, when I have something talk about, I'll post again!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
The End is Nigh...
The end of the first draft of Kricket's Song, that is!
Yes, yes, I know, I haven't posted in like three weeks. Maybe more. I'm going to make a blatantly obvious excuse here, and say that it's because I was focusing so much of my creative effort on Kricket's Song. And that's at least partly true. For those of you who haven't been watching the little progress gauge over there on the right side of the blog, it's been positively skyrocketing upward. The first draft is literally approaching the final stages!
I'm excited about it, if you couldn't tell. Creatively speaking, I've been eating, sleeping, drinking, and breathing Kricket's Song for much of the past seven months (seven months tomorrow!). It's been an absolute joy to work on, but I'm excited to get it done. I don't think it's going to require any major rewrites, and the flaws that I've identified already have solutions waiting to be implemented, for the most part. Of course, this is a noob talking, so I could be wrong. I'm not worried about THAT just yet.
The buildup for the final climax is happening now, and within the next two or three chapters, Kricket's crew will be starting the final mission of mind-blowing epic awesomeness. Or at least, I HOPE it will be that good. I'm still estimating about 90,000 total words, which leaves me about 15,000 to go. I can't see it going more than a few thousand over, all told. That total will come back down some during editing, no doubt.
Regardless, the end of this stage is in sight. Then it'll be time to start planning the next book while I give Kricket a break. Then I'll be editing Kricket and getting it ready to submit to agents. I feel a lot more confident about this manuscript than I ever did with The Serenity Solution. The story really came together well, and while I'm not naive enough to think it doesn't need some serious polishing, I believe it holds a great deal of promise for the not-too-distant future.
My goal is to have the first draft done before the end of the year, which shouldn't be a problem at this pace. I'd like to have it ready to go to beta readers by the end of the year. Then I could possibly have it out to agents before spring of next year. We'll see, so stay tuned!
Yes, yes, I know, I haven't posted in like three weeks. Maybe more. I'm going to make a blatantly obvious excuse here, and say that it's because I was focusing so much of my creative effort on Kricket's Song. And that's at least partly true. For those of you who haven't been watching the little progress gauge over there on the right side of the blog, it's been positively skyrocketing upward. The first draft is literally approaching the final stages!
I'm excited about it, if you couldn't tell. Creatively speaking, I've been eating, sleeping, drinking, and breathing Kricket's Song for much of the past seven months (seven months tomorrow!). It's been an absolute joy to work on, but I'm excited to get it done. I don't think it's going to require any major rewrites, and the flaws that I've identified already have solutions waiting to be implemented, for the most part. Of course, this is a noob talking, so I could be wrong. I'm not worried about THAT just yet.
The buildup for the final climax is happening now, and within the next two or three chapters, Kricket's crew will be starting the final mission of mind-blowing epic awesomeness. Or at least, I HOPE it will be that good. I'm still estimating about 90,000 total words, which leaves me about 15,000 to go. I can't see it going more than a few thousand over, all told. That total will come back down some during editing, no doubt.
Regardless, the end of this stage is in sight. Then it'll be time to start planning the next book while I give Kricket a break. Then I'll be editing Kricket and getting it ready to submit to agents. I feel a lot more confident about this manuscript than I ever did with The Serenity Solution. The story really came together well, and while I'm not naive enough to think it doesn't need some serious polishing, I believe it holds a great deal of promise for the not-too-distant future.
My goal is to have the first draft done before the end of the year, which shouldn't be a problem at this pace. I'd like to have it ready to go to beta readers by the end of the year. Then I could possibly have it out to agents before spring of next year. We'll see, so stay tuned!
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