Paksworld

It took longer than it should have, thanks to getting sick (at which point my brain goes duuhhhhhhh… and can’t see the sense in a sentence) but Editor Revisions are second-run done.  Now to see if Editor agrees with what I’ve done with what she did.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today has been not-quite-typical but sufficiently full of writing stuff that you might find it interesting.   Though it started not with writing stuff but with the car making odd noises the last time I had it out.

Read the rest of this entry »

Many wise things have been said about putting the same effort into the last part of a task as in the first 90 (or sometimes 99) percent.    To which I can only say “Yeah.  That.”     No book is ever perfect, but the closer the writer comes, the better the reader’s experience.

Yet at some point, the writer must stop…stop writing, stop revising (at least for awhile) and send the book to its Editor, and at some point the Editor must stop…stop asking for more revision, more changes, and then the book goes out in the world as groomed at they both can make it, but both understanding that somewhere something will have been missed.

Read the rest of this entry »

As I sit here bleary-eyed after midnight yet again…I’m issuing a warning to anyone contemplating facing the same situation.  Do Not Try This At Home.  Yeah, eventually, every writer is in this spot, but it’s often (not always!) avoidable and avoidance has many benefits.

Such as a full night’s sleep at least every other night.

Read the rest of this entry »

Just when you think it’s going smoothly and all will sail happily along a flowing tide into the sunset (can you tell it’s late and I’m punchy?  I thought so) ….you find the Scylla and Charybdis of revision in your path.

These problems take various forms, but always present as the writer’s need to show something from various angles/viewpoints/political or social stances…and the reader’s strong desire not to be caught in a whirlpool where the same situation is recounted over and over and over.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fossils and Blind Alleys.    Discovery writers (raises hand, waving wildly) are not filled constantly with the pure essence of creativity, and so spend some time trying to muscle the story into shape.   Intellect (invaluable in revision) with  its conscious logic replaces instinct (invaluable in primary creation)  with its unconscious logic.  Sometimes intellect and instinct agree.  Sometimes they don’t.   When they don’t, instinct is nearly always right…especially in terms of the deep logic of the plot, or “what really happened.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Herewith a post that may grow over the days, for your amusement, as I jot down some details of revising a big book at top speed (also lets me take a short break each time.)

1. How could I have gone over this chapter several times (which I have) and not seen that “he’d had a good” was not a complete clause in that sentence?  A good what??    Adjectives need nouns.   (Nouns often don’t need adjectives, if you use the right noun.)

Read the rest of this entry »

The last “block” of Book III fell into place with the completion of the swordfight at, um, 2:15 am this morning.    So between now and January 1,  there are decisions to be made, and multiple rewrites/cleanups to be done.  More text may need to be added (transition cues, scenes that now,  though not formerly, need enhancement.)     About 4-6 weeks of work is going to have to be accomplished in 10 days, two of which are Christmas Eve (when I have two church services to attend and one to sing in) and Christmas (when I won’t be working on the book–I’ll be sleeping and recovering from Christmas Eve.)  Plus a necessary social thing on 12/26 (annual party at close friend’s house given by her kids…not missing that.)   Hence, “writer as whirlwind.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Whatever the weather where you are, and your attitude about the holiday season…for me it means only three more months until Launch Month (not Launch Day, but Launch Month)  for Kings of the North.

It also means only one month left before turning in Book III, which is ambling along towards the version the editor sees, still untitled.  So unless there are major changes, I’ll be scarce on the blog while keeping the already abraded nose firmly on the relentlessly turning grindstone.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m now well enough to do some serious work on the book–and I thought you’d be amused by one kind of cut/alteration that’s going on now.

This one is about horses.   I’m a horse-enthusiast as many of you know, and I inherited my friend K-‘s  horse, trained to Grand Prix level in dressage and shown at Prix St. George about a year before she died.    I myself had never ridden at that level.   But K- was giving me some lessons on him, in the hope that he would connect better with me (not really–or not for the first five years at least.)   In the process, I learned to ride some advanced movements that were a lot of fun, and obviously would be of use to someone riding a horse in battle.

Read the rest of this entry »