Jun 25

Revisions, Revisions

Posted: under Crown of Renewal, Revisions, the writing life.
Tags: , ,  June 25th, 2013

Editor’s revision letter has now joined Agent’s revision comments and I am vanishing into the depths of Crown to work on the first level of revision, the deep structural, or foundation…and then the connection between that and the top level (some rooms, as mentioned before, are being added to the whole)…and then the top or finish level.  Read the rest of this entry »

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May 24

Nitpicking

Posted: under Crown of Renewal, Revisions, the writing life.
Tags: ,  May 24th, 2013

So today, the nitpicking round it is ongoing, and it’s…always interesting.   Nitpicking has various uses.  One of them can be shortening a book that’s too long (too long defined by publishing economics.)   I think I’ve posted before about some of the shortening strategies.   But this book isn’t too long, so nitpicking is aimed at other goals.   Tyops of course, like that one right there.   Not just letter reversals and misspelled words, but words mistakenly typed in place of others.  “Heard” for “herd.”    “Policed” for “pleased.”  (Don’t ask how I did that one…I don’t know.   Brain burp.  It wasn’t in this book.)   Anything that sticks out as awkward, bothersome, annoying, confusing.   For instance:

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May 23

At the Finish

Posted: under Crown of Renewal, Good News, the writing life.
Tags: ,  May 23rd, 2013

Crown of Renewal, by a nose, despite all the obstacles in its path as reported in breathless gasps by Crown’s disheveled jockey: Read the rest of this entry »

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May 19

Turning Into the Home Stretch

Posted: under Crown of Renewal, the writing life.
Tags: ,  May 19th, 2013

It’s been a very trying race for Crown of Renewal‘s jockey, as we were blocked,  forced back, had mud kicked onto us, tried to find holes…had those holes abruptly filled by another horse’s big broad butt,   were bumped hard, found other holes, some of which led nowhere at all except to more bumping and fending off other jockeys’ whips.    In fact, all the other horses in the race were trouble:  Fickle Fate,  Interruption,  New Assignment,  HellVirus,  Bad Timing,  Pain in the Neck,  Complication, Accident, Family Crisis.  All ridden by jockeys with the intent of ruining Crown‘s race.  Read the rest of this entry »

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May 16

A Research Note

Posted: under Craft, Crown of Renewal.
Tags: ,  May 16th, 2013

The hierarchy of writing-research starts with personal experience.    If you have ever cooked a meal,  mucked out a stall,  driven a car, or fallen out of a tree, you have a wealth of sensory inputs as well as intellectual understanding of those experiences available to use in a story.   You know, in the most direct way, what it’s like.

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May 13

Braiding…Start at the Very Beginning

Posted: under Craft, Crown of Renewal.
Tags: , ,  May 13th, 2013

After multiple false starts, the braid is well on its way…and it gets easier as it goes along.    It would have been nice to be here a month ago…no, two months ago…but all the braids back then tangled into impenetrable knots.   And all because I kept starting at the wrong point.    If you mistake the beginning,  nothing else fits.

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Apr 24

We Have Title for Book V

Posted: under Crown of Renewal, Revisions, Website Notice.
Tags: ,  April 24th, 2013

Editor has approved the title for Book V:  Crown of Renewal.    Scheduled to release late May 2014, though that’s always subject to change .   You will soon notice that title as a category (like, um, for this post.)

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