Saturday, March 29, 2014

April Plan for Success

I have been very lazy I had hoped to have this novel through the first revision by now, but I'm still not done. In order to get this finished by the end of April I have made the following chart for myself. And yes, it is in Excel because I'm that kind of enginerd. So feel free to steal if you need to or please let me know if you have good tips to add. My goal is to stay on schedule at least 75% of the time and that should get me through. We'll see how this goes...


Tuesday
4/1
List the #1st ten things a character does.
Revise at least 3 pages
Wednesday
4/2
Revise query letter
Revise at least 3 pages
Thursday
4/3
Critique Group
Friday
4/4
Do an extra critique
Revise at least 3 pages
Saturday
4/5
Revise 5 pages
Sunday
4/6
Write/revise a scene to develop a minor character
Revise at least 3 pages
Monday
4/7
Work on story summary for 1st half of book
Revise at least 3 pages
Tuesday
4/8
Find 10 adverbs issues and fix them promptly!
Revise at least 3 pages
Wednesday
4/9
Revise 5 pages
Thursday
4/10
Critique Group
Friday
4/11
Write different meals that would be served
Revise at least 3 pages
Saturday
4/12
Read 2 articles on writing
Revise at least 3 pages
Sunday
4/13
Work on story summary for 2nd half of book
Revise at least 3 pages
Monday
4/14
Revise 5 pages
Tuesday
4/15
Write/revise a scene to develop a minor character
Revise at least 3 pages
Wednesday
4/16
Find 10 adverbs issues and fix them promptly!
Revise at least 3 pages
Thursday
4/17
Critique Group
Friday
4/18
Revise query letter
Revise at least 3 pages
Saturday
4/19
Write down everything I love about writing and this book
Revise at least 3 pages
Sunday
4/20
Revise 5 pages
Monday
4/21
Pick a setting and take 10 minutes to describe everything
Revise at least 3 pages
Tuesday
4/22
Try to read 5 other writers online
Revise at least 3 pages
Wednesday
4/23
Write mini character bios
Revise at least 3 pages
Thursday
4/24
Critique Group
Friday
4/25
Play in my story world
Revise at least 3 pages
Saturday
4/26
Write/revise a scene to develop a minor character
Revise at least 3 pages
Sunday
4/27
Describe the major dress in the book for all characters
Revise at least 3 pages
Monday
4/28
Revise 5 pages
Tuesday
4/29
List every person who has been essential to my success
Revise at least 3 pages
Wednesday
4/30
Interview my main characters
Revise at least 3 pages

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Searching for the love of my life...

Otherwise known as the perfect agent.

In the midst of my never-ending editing I have been researching agents. The compulsive nerd in me has made a spreadsheet of agents as I come across them so when the editing is finally done I'm ready to query. This has been almost as fun for me as the actual writing and editing process. As I referenced earlier, I love to learn and research, for me, is a big part of that. I still intend to a post about all the helpful websites I have found, as there have been so many.

Essentially this has culminated in me trying to identify my idea of the perfect agent. I would ultimately be happy if anyone took an interest in me and my book, but in order to find someone I have to decide what would be the best for me.

So what does my ideal mate look like? At this point, I am only looking at women agents. I feel that they would understand my book better, especially since they represent my target audience. I am categorizing this book in the fantasy genre, most fairy tales are. But the perfect agent would have a specific interest in magical realism or high fantasy. So that's the easy part, every agent pretty much has that information available on their website. What am I looking for beyond that? I want someone FUN and QUIRKY like me! That's harder to see. For that, most times, you have to go beyond the company website. Google them, look at their blog, their twitter, or wherever they are.

I haven't been exclusive to my dream agents, which I have found about 5 thus far. I'm searching everyone who meets the criteria because you never know where you might find your perfect agent. The whole process works like a dating match where you have to like me and I have to like you, and dating scares the crap out of me. I haven't dated for at least 13 years... But I guess we'll get to that when I finally am ready to query!

What I'm reading: The Shifter, by Janice Hardy
https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/6316125-the-shifter

The Shifter (Healing Wars, #1)

On my iPod: Chocolate, by The 1975

Sunday, March 9, 2014

So you wrote a book?

I've been secretly writing for about two years now. Most of it has been unpublishable fun stuff. Until last June when I started HB. So I would sit at my computer and write in secret at night when my kids were in bed and no one really knew besides my husband and the people online who read my work. Thank you all! But now, I'm getting close to a point where I'm going to submit and I want to shout it from the rooftops. In practice though, I am slowly divvying it out to people closest to me.

So now when I tell people, I'm getting a lot of questions. What's the book about? When can I read it? So are you going to get it published? I have an idea for a book. Its odd for me, something I've kept so close to my heart, and now I'm just sharing it with everyone. But it feels to get it out there. Even if I have to be terribly embarrassed when I don't ever get it published. Who knows though, maybe it can beat the odds, maybe I'll never sell a single copy. The one thing I'll never feel is regret because at least I did it, at least I tried.

Just finished reading: The Elite, by Kiera Cass

The Elite (The Selection, #2)