Putting on Your Revision Face

I was asked to do some revisions on my manuscript this on Friday. They were nothing impossible, but I'm a nervous person by nature, and I'm always afraid I'll wind up making things worse instead of better.

Which is probably why I go through several stages of revision faces.

The first is outright panic:

You want me to do WHAT?!

But I. Can't. Do. Thaaaat!!!

No, really, how am I supposed to make this happen?

The second is a kind of manic acceptance, when the ideas start to fall into place and I realize I everything might just work out after all. That was me on Saturday.

I've got it! I've got it! I'VE GOT ITTTT!!!

PREPARE TO BE MY BITCH, REVSIONS!

But by Sunday night, when I'd been through two revise-a-thons? It felt like someone had set my eyes on fire.

Now my revisions are safetly in the hands of my capable critique partners, and with any luck, I won't have to repeat the cycle too many more times!

What kinds of stages do you go through when you tackle revisions? Does everyone have a moment of panic, or is it just me?

Avoidance by Writing

Ok, be honest. Does anyone else out there avoid writing with... more writing?

I've noticed a bit of a trend when I don't want to start a project, and also when I don't want to finish one.

When I was writing my 2nd manuscript, I already had an idea for a third simmering in my head. I wrote down some basic plot points, but I didn't want to start the actual story until I'd finished #2, and could better wrap my head around a new character with a different voice. Which was fine, because the characters in #3 didn't seem to be talking much.

Then, I hit the home stretch with #2. On the morning of the day I knew I'd probably finish it, something happened.

My mc from #3 wouldn't shut up.

I know now, and probably that day, if I'm being honest, that this happened because I didn't want to finish #2. I adored the characters, I loved my kissing scenes, and I genuinely enjoyed spending time with it.

But finishing means the honeymoon is over. It means it's time for your betas to point out all the flaws, time for agents to tell you sorry, it's not for me. Time to revise and edit and wonder what you saw in the damn thing in the first place.

So I let myself get lost in #3, if only to avoid the giant pink unfinished elephant in the room.

The same thing happened yesterday. I was off from work, and had every intention of writing #3 like a mofo. But after only 300 words, what did I wind up doing instead? Editing and querying #2 some more. (Which paid off with a couple requests, so woohoo!)

Does this happen to anyone else? Or when you're trying to avoid a project, do you run screaming from the computer altogether?

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Anyone who's attempted to be published knows exactly how much waiting is involved in the process.

First of all, you have to wait for your book to be finished - which, if you're a slow poke like me, can feel like eternity in itself. I mull and ponder and mull some more until I'm happy with a scene. After I've done that with every scene and finally strung together a completed manuscript, I have to go back and edit. Commence more mulling and more pondering and throw in some hair pulling, too.

Then you send the finished product off to your betas, and wait again.

And once they get back to you? You realize "finished" has no place in the same sentence with your manuscript.

So you edit again. And you write your query. And you wait again.

Finally, you're ready to send off your CP-approved query and manuscript. And once you do?

zzzzzzzzzzz.... Huh? What? Oh...

Yep. That's right. You wait again.

Sometimes the wait is worth it, ending up in a request for material. Other times, you'll wait weeks on end for a form rejection. It's the same with submissions: you send them off, floating on a cloud because someone showed interest in your work. But then the days drag on while you wait for that response, and it can all start to feel a little tiresome.

That's where I am right now. And I'm wondering if anyone else starts to get a little bored and disenchanted with the whole process at this stage, or if I've just got a case of Instant Gratification Denied-itis?

I'm trying to concentrate on WiP #3 while I wait, but I'm finding I could use some help drumming up inspiration.

So - can anyone suggest some kind of dark, angsty music to go along with a kind of dark, angsty paranormal story? I'd really appreciate it! And then you can tell me how you keep yourself from going crazy during the waiting game. Thanks, peeps!

What You Get When Writing is on My S**t List

I'm just gonna say it: I'm hating on my WiP in a major way right now.

So I've decided I'm going to spotlight some of my OTHER favorite things, namely ones that never make me miserable. And some of which look damn good shirtless. Here goes:

1) Hotties




Have I mentioned my massive crush
on Tom Welling? A few hundred times?
'Kay, just checking



Oh, heeeey James Marsden, heeeey

Let's see some fancy swordwork, Prince Charming.

2) Fudge Brownie Sundaes

3) Chocolate Chip Cookies

4) The Beach

5) Newport, Rhode Island

6) My Ipod

And lastly, my CP's and their stories. I basically have the best crit group ever, and I am so lucky to know them and to get to read their beautiful writing. So much that I can still wave my pom poms for them, even when I want to take my own ms and flush it down the toilet.

So peeps, do you have have days when you hate on your writing? What are the other things that keep you going?

Update from the (Pre) Query Trenches

So I've been getting some great feedback on WiP #2 from my beta readers. I've been making changes as they suggest them. So far, I haven't felt like anyone's asked for anything unreasonable or overly daunting. I'm actually really happy with the improvements I've made because of them.

Why, then, am I scared you-know-whatless to query this puppy?

I'll tell you why. This time, unlike my first project, I'm not writing about an iffy age group. This WiP is straight up YA. It's also a contemporary romance, not another been-there-done-that paranormal romance that every agent seems to be sick of.

And the worst part? I honestly believe I've done a good job on this. I'm no longer the green rookie I was with my first novel.

So when the rejections come rolling in on number 2, I'll have none of those things as consolation. The only thing I'll be able to tell myself is Gina. You suck.

It might not be true, but I'll think it is.

So, peeps. Any tips on how to kick the querying boogie man's butt when you really just want to hide in the closet, hug your ms to your chest and rock back and forth? (Kidding. Sort of.)

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

First, I want to apologize for not being able to hop around and return your lovely comments this week - my internet was all sorts of wonky and it refused to allow it.

Having said that, I want to talk about douchebags. Again. Because some of you may remember my Take The Anti-Douchebag Challenge post, where I ranted and raved about the epidemic of douchebag male mc's in YA literature. And after all that, do you know what I did in my own YA novel?

Yup. I went and wrote a douchebag.

I didn't do it on purpose. Apparently, I have this bad habit of being biased toward The Boy Who Gets The Girl in my stories. And The Other Boy? Gets totally crapped on as a result.

I feel like I need to make the reader side with me, side with my choice of Happy Ending. But then I wind up... not giving them one. Oops.

As much as I love my poor Other Boy, he's received three votes of douchebag from my Betas so far (even after the CH 3 revisions Leigh Ann - hold me). So back I go to my revision cave in attempt to make him as lovable (but flawed) as I originally intended.

Has this ever happened to you, peeps? Have you ever written the very thing you claim to hate?

Why Crit Partners Need to Be Honest

The short answer? Because you're not doing anyone a favor if you're pumping up writing you know can be better.

It's the reason our moms can't be our crit partners. Crit is something you need to give AND receive with an open mind, and you're probably not going to get it from someone who's afraid to step on your toes, just a little.  Just a little being the operative phrase.  There is no need for mean in crit work.

Having said that, take my first draft of my finished ms, for example.

My very first beta reader, Aleeza Rauf, was very honest in telling me that, while she loved the characters and the story, the first half moved too slowly, and that an integral character needed to be introduced much sooner.  I knew she was right, but I had already trimmed over 10,000 words, and had no idea where I'd be able to snip more.  I thought I could trim another 1000 at most.

Know how many words went on the chopping block?  Six. Thousand.  And I don't miss a single, superfluous one.  And that pivotal scene? I moved it up two whole chapters, along with a bit of other re-arrangements throughout the novel.

By the time I sent it off for another beta read, I was very proud of the changes.  Changes, which, if Aleeza hadn't been honest, might not have been made.

My second beta reader, Heidi Windmiller, is basically a genius.  Don't bother to argue, Heidi, because you are. I was floored by her ability to see both minor details, individual story arcs, and the big picture, all at once.  She pointed out spots where my pacing could be picked up or even slowed down, where action or dialogue felt repetetive, or even diction too similar between the two main characters.  And at the same time, she told me how my characters made her laugh, how engrossed she was in the plot. 

More changes for the better ensued, thanks to honest, fair, constructive crit. 

It's probably why my third crit partner, Leigh Ann Kopans, wound up being my biggest cheerleader -because she got to read the best draft yet.  Even so, she helped me make one of the hugest realizations to date: my love triangle was never really a love triangle. I was so biased toward The Boy Who Wins Her Heart, I'd completely written off the other as a viable option.  Ironically enough, she'd done the same in her novel, and we both had our huzzah moment while e-mailing back and forth rallying for The Other Boy in each other's stories.  Furious re-writes, e-mail exchanges, new kissing scenes, and hilarity ensued. 

In case you were wondering, said "kissing scenes" = freaking awesome. Mine AND hers.  You haven't lived until someone asks you exactly how much tongue action went down in a kiss.  But that's a blog post for another day.

So, I think you get the point.  You have to be able to showcase the pros in someone's work while also pointing out the cons, or you're robbing them of the chance to improve.  Telling someone they're "there" when they're not defeats the whole purpose of a critique.  The satisfaction of TRULYgetting "there" will last a peson a lot longer than any hot air you might pump them with.

But enough of the heavy stuff.  To read Leigh Ann's hilarious take on my critique of her novel, (and echoing my sentiments) go here and here.

Happy Critiquing and Revising!

If You're Boring and You Know It... Go Back to the Revision Cave

I hope I'm not the only one who has these moments: the ones where you're re-reading your painstaking work, and find yourself thinking, God, that sentence is so bland!  Or, geez, if that was supposed to be funny, holy epic fail.

What I want to know is, how does it happen?  Why does the first draft always sound so good in my head, until I read it a second time?  After all the years I've been writing, shouldn't it be sort of... effortless?

I'd really like to be immune to sucking.  I think I've earned it.

Unfortunately, the only thing worse than being UNhappy with your own writing, is being pretty happy with it, and then having someone tell you it's "almost there" instead of "there."

I had the good fortune to receive a critique of my first ten pages from an agent recently.  And while she didn't request more material, she told me she loved the concept and the challenge and that she'd welcome my query once I'd made some revisions.  Specifically, she loved my character's voice, but wanted it more consistent, and more of it.  Dripping with it, as she put it.  I'd actually been afraid this character's voice was a little over the top, and this agent actually wanted it moreso.  Color me baffled. 

I thought I'd wittled away anything that screamed "I'M BORING!" or "GINA IS AN AMATEUR!", but in reality, I'd only almost done it.  And we all know how well almost cuts it.  It doesn't.

So, while I know no one's world is going to collapse if my blog posting gets a little spotty over the next couple weeks, I just wanted to put it out there that I"ll be retreating to my revision cave. Feel free to throw me a pity party when I tell you that the cave is a tiny room on the top floor of a split level with no airconditioning :(  

My ms is officially a No-Boredom Zone.  Wish me luck!