HOLY SHIT, they requested to read it from the query letter and synopsis!
They can still reject it; I'm okay with that. I'm squeeing over the fact that I CAN write a query letter and synopsis that don't get rejected. With this validation, the next submission won't be nearly so hard.
The evil commute to go home tonight doesn't seem so bad now.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
2010 Fiction Word Count Week 44 - 46
Week 44
Progress Bar from Writertopia
Week 45
Progress Bar from Writertopia
Week 46
Progress Bar from Writertopia
Progress Bar from Writertopia
Week 45
Progress Bar from Writertopia
Week 46
Progress Bar from Writertopia
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Capt. Kate Short Story Post 11
Submission away, and feeling a lot less wiggy over it. I'm waffling a bit on the theme stuff, because I'm not so sure about it. Fun story to read?, yes. Deeper meaning?, not so sure. The edits were necessary, make for a stronger story. What I need to work on is toning down the inner editor to "hey this could be better?" rather than waving the flaming torch at the idea of submission.
It's time for me to head home (still no connection to the Internet) and if I'm not too bone-dead tired, I may cross some more items off the writing projects list.
It's time for me to head home (still no connection to the Internet) and if I'm not too bone-dead tired, I may cross some more items off the writing projects list.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Capt. Kate Short Story Post 10
In honor of having finished the edits on paper at least, I thought it might amuse people to read the conversation I had about a month ago with my inner Fear Monger. The Fear Monger is played by Fluffmodeus, a character created by R.K. Milholland for his webcomic, Something Positive. I invite you to go read the comic, if you don't understand how an inner issue of mine is best represented by a little blue thing that may or may not be real.
October 19th: Staving Off a Submission Fear Attack
Sweet bloody hell, what is wrong with me?
I feel like I'm about to tell King Kong to put down Fay Wray on the way to the Empire State Building. The only possible outcome is becoming street pizza courtesy of a giant gorilla.
That said, it's probably more useful to stop running from the gorilla and do an psych exercise until this visceral gut reaction realizes it's only a movie.
So what exactly is the problem?
I AM GOING TO SCREW THIS UP!
How?
The story is going to be rejected because I fucked up the query or wrote a blah synopsis or didn't get the postage right!
You have a M.A. in English and have lost count of how many papers you had to turn in with different formatting instructions for nearly every professor. You can follow directions.
Forgot about that.
You didn't get this worked up about "the Hitchhiking Highwayman?"
Because I'm expecting the "thanks but not right for us" email on that one any day now. (And that is the response I got a few weeks after this therapy session.)
And that's not the worst that can happen to "Covenant of the Restless?"
No. They can make fun of it, say I wrote it without a clear antagonist, without a clear theme, without proper grammar because the other M.A. students in the creative writing workshop couldn't recognize proper Elizabethan grammar if it wasn't in the Bible or iambic pentameter, and my protagonist's name! They'll make fun of her name!
First, you need to let go of the idiots not knowing "thou" is the informal second-person pronoun. It's been years now.
Second, reading those forums was a bad idea. You can change her name.
But I picked it because of Shakespeare and Catherine of Aragon!
And you've edited so the Elizabethan grammar is now flavor. Now let go of the anger towards those future unemployed Ph.D.s.
The glut in the market shall be my revenge!
Now for the charges of no clear antagonist or theme....
IT'S TRUE!!!!!!!!!
The practical suggestion is to fill out those answers for the query and then decide if it needs beefing up. For example, Kate could meet the dunter earlier when Thompson and Gilbert are killed. or you could add another member to the party who is killed while they're exploring.
But... but I was done.
If you're this worked up about it, it's not done. You have a new month-long deadline and more word count space to fix it as long as you're not a frothing mess about it.
*Sulks off*
And now I have a game plan, rather than flailing about.
November 16: Game plan or not, there was still enough residual flailing to latch onto all distractions between then and now. But it's done now, except for putting the notes into the manuscript. Let me get started on that now.
October 19th: Staving Off a Submission Fear Attack
Sweet bloody hell, what is wrong with me?
I feel like I'm about to tell King Kong to put down Fay Wray on the way to the Empire State Building. The only possible outcome is becoming street pizza courtesy of a giant gorilla.
That said, it's probably more useful to stop running from the gorilla and do an psych exercise until this visceral gut reaction realizes it's only a movie.
So what exactly is the problem?
I AM GOING TO SCREW THIS UP!How?
The story is going to be rejected because I fucked up the query or wrote a blah synopsis or didn't get the postage right!You have a M.A. in English and have lost count of how many papers you had to turn in with different formatting instructions for nearly every professor. You can follow directions.
Forgot about that.You didn't get this worked up about "the Hitchhiking Highwayman?"
Because I'm expecting the "thanks but not right for us" email on that one any day now. (And that is the response I got a few weeks after this therapy session.)And that's not the worst that can happen to "Covenant of the Restless?"
No. They can make fun of it, say I wrote it without a clear antagonist, without a clear theme, without proper grammar because the other M.A. students in the creative writing workshop couldn't recognize proper Elizabethan grammar if it wasn't in the Bible or iambic pentameter, and my protagonist's name! They'll make fun of her name!First, you need to let go of the idiots not knowing "thou" is the informal second-person pronoun. It's been years now.
Second, reading those forums was a bad idea. You can change her name.
But I picked it because of Shakespeare and Catherine of Aragon!And you've edited so the Elizabethan grammar is now flavor. Now let go of the anger towards those future unemployed Ph.D.s.
The glut in the market shall be my revenge!Now for the charges of no clear antagonist or theme....
IT'S TRUE!!!!!!!!!The practical suggestion is to fill out those answers for the query and then decide if it needs beefing up. For example, Kate could meet the dunter earlier when Thompson and Gilbert are killed. or you could add another member to the party who is killed while they're exploring.
But... but I was done.If you're this worked up about it, it's not done. You have a new month-long deadline and more word count space to fix it as long as you're not a frothing mess about it.
*Sulks off*And now I have a game plan, rather than flailing about.
November 16: Game plan or not, there was still enough residual flailing to latch onto all distractions between then and now. But it's done now, except for putting the notes into the manuscript. Let me get started on that now.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Stellar Gift of Death Post 61
NPI Day 31: 334 words
Stellar Gift of Death
Progress Bar from Writertopia
METRICS
New Words: 334
Chapter Thirteen total: 334
Total words for the first draft: 50,175
What I hate about my writing: Getting distracted so easily.
The Good: Finished NPI with a grand total of 9845 words added to my narrative.
The Bad: I got slightly distracted trying to find a program to build solar systems. I've got another one to try out.
Fave line: “Maybe I wouldn’t if they hadn’t assigned a persona for the Chief that yells at me.”
What I'm looking forward to: Playing with StarGen (the new program).
What I'm not looking forward to: Describing this latest world.
Stellar Gift of Death
Progress Bar from Writertopia
METRICS
New Words: 334
Chapter Thirteen total: 334
Total words for the first draft: 50,175
What I hate about my writing: Getting distracted so easily.
The Good: Finished NPI with a grand total of 9845 words added to my narrative.
The Bad: I got slightly distracted trying to find a program to build solar systems. I've got another one to try out.
Fave line: “Maybe I wouldn’t if they hadn’t assigned a persona for the Chief that yells at me.”
What I'm looking forward to: Playing with StarGen (the new program).
What I'm not looking forward to: Describing this latest world.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Stellar Gift of Death Post 60
NPI Day 29: 0 words - Day of Reprieve
NPI Day 30: 275 words
Stellar Gift of Death
Progress Bar from Writertopia
Well, my unspoken desire to not use any days of reprieve didn't happen. I woke up late Friday and never could catch enough time to sit down and write.
Today I tried something different. Instead of throwing myself at the narrative, I'm spending the time and word count on building the next planet my protagonists will travel to. Hopefully, this will help me visualize the scenery and write the description the first time around.
Then I had an attack of math, as in "did I do these astronomical formulas correctly?" Aggravating, so I did waste time looking to see if someone has invented a program that would let me plug in the variables I want and take care of making it scientifically sound. I downloaded AstroSynthesis, but I don't know if I did something wrong when I tried it out or if it's a problem with the program. I'll see what happens with it after I reboot.
NPI Day 30: 275 words
Stellar Gift of Death
Progress Bar from Writertopia
Well, my unspoken desire to not use any days of reprieve didn't happen. I woke up late Friday and never could catch enough time to sit down and write.
Today I tried something different. Instead of throwing myself at the narrative, I'm spending the time and word count on building the next planet my protagonists will travel to. Hopefully, this will help me visualize the scenery and write the description the first time around.
Then I had an attack of math, as in "did I do these astronomical formulas correctly?" Aggravating, so I did waste time looking to see if someone has invented a program that would let me plug in the variables I want and take care of making it scientifically sound. I downloaded AstroSynthesis, but I don't know if I did something wrong when I tried it out or if it's a problem with the program. I'll see what happens with it after I reboot.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Stellar Gift of Death Post 59
NPI Day 28: 327 words
Stellar Gift of Death
Progress Bar from Writertopia
METRICS
New Words: 327
Chapter Twelve total words: 3414
Total words for the first draft: 49,841
What I hate about my writing: Nothing today.
The Good: Finished Chapter Twelve!
The Bad: Funeral for a family friend today.
Fave line: His violet eyes scanned the screen. “The Military Academy Museum of Centri. That system is only eight hours away from Pathic.” Now he looked at her and pulled back before their noses collided. “Is this a new clue?”
What I'm looking forward to: Taking the rest of today and finishing up some projects I have backlogged.
What I'm not looking forward to: Housework.
Stellar Gift of Death
Progress Bar from Writertopia
METRICS
New Words: 327
Chapter Twelve total words: 3414
Total words for the first draft: 49,841
What I hate about my writing: Nothing today.
The Good: Finished Chapter Twelve!
The Bad: Funeral for a family friend today.
Fave line: His violet eyes scanned the screen. “The Military Academy Museum of Centri. That system is only eight hours away from Pathic.” Now he looked at her and pulled back before their noses collided. “Is this a new clue?”
What I'm looking forward to: Taking the rest of today and finishing up some projects I have backlogged.
What I'm not looking forward to: Housework.
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