August 6, 2009 at 11:35 am (Random, editing, writing)
Tags: editing, muse, novel, word count, work in progress, writing
So of course, after deciding on Monday that I would officially take a break from Book Two, my muse stopped by on Tuesday to tap me on the shoulder.
Me: No. I’m not listening to you.
Muse: Don’t be mean and nasty.
Me: You abandoned me!
Muse: And you’re oppressive. But let’s not get bogged down in the details.
Me: That’s just it, though, isn’t it? You never give me details! It’s all so dry and boring.
Muse: …Oh no you didn’t.
So despite my best efforts, Tuesday was spent writing between fits of reading other books, and guess what? I banged out 2,500 words. Exactly 2,500 words.
Figuring that this was a sign, I tried to do the same thing yesterday, but that didn’t quite work either.
Me: Oh Muse! Where are you?
Muse: I’m dry, remember? And boring.
Me: But I have chocolate!
Muse: You always forget that I’m allergic, dimwit.
So I’ve decided to just let it be. (The Beatles still give the best advice.) If the words come, they come. If they don’t, so be it. I don’t have the time to wheedle.
I started editing Book One, however, and this is exactly how I feel. Where did my genius go?! I am very upset about this. I’m pretty sure that it’s been kidnapped (probably by one of the short stories on my hard drive that I’ve been neglecting). If you happen to see said genius anywhere, please let me know. I will give you chocolate.
It’s not as if my muse wants any.
So give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses–tell me about your starts and stops for the week, and your horror stories of writing gone wonky over night. We shall commiserate together.
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July 12, 2009 at 4:38 pm (Publishing, Random, Weekend Wrap-Up, YA, writing)
Tags: library, writing, scholastic, research, contest, hemmingway, word count
I think that I’m going to start a weekly wrap-up discussing my own writing progress as well as a medley of random lit-related articles that I found interesting throughout the week. This is mostly due to the recent revelation that HEMMINGWAY WAS A KGB SPY! SAY WHAT?!
Also this idea from the Atlantic suggesting US Congress agree to subsidize the publication of new authors. Max Fisher fears the loss of the next Faulkner in an industry that is increasingly desperate for the Next Big Thing, and I must say that he has a very good point. Publishers are looking for good books, yes, but they’re also looking for blockbusters. As someone who loves literary fiction, I do worry for the genre. But although the call for tax incentives upon signing new authors would be effective due to the current economy, the current economy (or, really, any realistic economy) will never allow for it. Can you imagine the uproar from tax payers? It’s the old opera question. Subsidizing opera tickets may theoretically allow the general public to be able to afford them, but does the general public really care to see opera, even at discount? Probably not.
Also, as evidenced by the fiction bestsellers noted via USA Today, I think that it’s time for Stephanie Meyer to leave a little room for the new kids. But that probably won’t happen since, according to the The New York Times children’s series list, America is still addicted to vampires in highschool.
In other news, Mariah Irvin released results for her Deux ex Machina contest (held in honor of her own blog’s 100th post) and I won an adorable illustration!
Many thanks, Mariah! I hope that you stick around for another 100 posts and many more after that.
Meanwhile, I’ve been plugging along on my own summer manuscript. I took the weekend off from writing, but I plan to send Grim back to Scholastic this evening and then to pick back up my work-in-progress tomorrow. I’m almost at 40,000 words so far! I’m returning to my grandmother’s on Wednesday so we’ll see how much more I can get done over there this time. Research for it is also going well. I’ve finished reading two books on exorcisms that I bought for research purposes, and today I picked up two reserves from the library. I’m prepared for yet another night of being thoroughly creeped out!
Hope that everyone has had a good weekend. I’ll post again soon–I have a small blog update planned and will get it up before I leave this Wednesday.
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