Random Thoughts

[queenoftheskies]

On Tuesday, it'll have been 10 weeks since I subbed Spilt Milk to Glimmer Train. Someone told me they pretty much only accept from well-known writers, and this is my first submission and all, so I don't have delusions that I'm going to make a sale. However, the same person told me that they offer feedback on submissions, so if that's the case, I think I'll be very excited to hear from them.

My daughter made dinner tonight. Hamburger steaks and red potatoes. Yummy. My hamburger steak had crumbles of bleu cheese in it and is WONDERFUL. (I'm eating while I drive-by post.)

Today, I discovered what I already knew, subconsciously...that I'd started my current novel Phantom Song in the wrong place. I needed something else to happen before my starting point. It all fell into place this morning; I found my starting point and have been happily pecking away at the keys in between real life today.

I'd love to get more written tonight. I need to get my characters out of a precarious position right now and then have a couple more scenes I'd love to get written if there's time.

I should have hit 1/3 of my novel finished, theoretically, this weekend, in order to finish in one month. But, the drive from hell last week left me with no time to get real life things/errands done, and my weekend was filled with those.

Still, I hope to adjust life so where I can get more writing done. I'm just pleased, after many terrible things that have happened recently, that I'm back to writing at least 1,000 words every day. This makes me happy, whether I finish the novel in one month or not.

I'm still going to try to finish it, though. That would make me very happy.

Comments

[dracschick.livejournal.com]

good luck with the writing!

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

It's great that Glimmer Train does offer feedback - makes that long wait time worth it!

It really will. I'm seriously dying for serious feedback. That will be worth more than just about anything at this point!

Glad you found your new starting point in Phantom Song...what triggered you to listen to your subconscious?

Well, when I started the novel last weekend, I picked a point that contained an inciting incident. What better place to start, right?

Except that it felt like an abrupt start to me. I felt like people needed to know more about the characters before that particular scene.

I'd been toying around with the idea of one of the characters going to visit her dead husband (yeah, I know that sounds strange) later in the novel, but realized that it would be the perfect starting point for backstory, introduction to the characters, and also another good point for foreshadowing and plants and another inciting incident.

So, this morning, I just did it. Sat down and started there and I'm very pleased with the results. Hopefully, this will be a good hook and make the rest of the story flow well.

I was also able to include plants into the former opening chapter, so I think the transition won't be as abrupt for the reader when he/she gets there.

And, glad that the words are back with you again! :)

I'm glad too. ::jumps up and down:: I love my words! ::hugs words::

You had a great day, too! Congrats!

[spaceoperadiva.livejournal.com]

The inciting incident starting point is very popular advice, but advice that needs to be tempered somewhat by the genre of novel you're writing. It's easier to start with an inciting incident in a Romance than in Fantasy for example. Even in most period Romances, readers already have some idea of what the world is like, the culture and the expectations.

I'm not saying that it's a good idea to start with a prologue full of world history and a complete genealogy of the cast and crew but some time to develop the setting is needed, IMO, in anything that isn't set in a setting that's very familiar to the common reader.

This is one of those "there really are genre differences" moments, as well as a reminder that novels are not movies (since my favorite writing book is a screenwriting book, it's easy for me to get seduced by the inciting incident idea).

With my Ran Shaipur WIP, I felt like I needed a backhoe to fill in the beginning after trying that stark right on top of the inciting incident starting technique.

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Obviously, since I used to write screenplays, that's where my fascination with the inciting incident comes from. :)

My novels are mostly urban/contemporary fantasy, so I don't have as much world to describe, though I do have backstory that I try to include along with the plot. It's a tight-wire balancing act not to info dump, of course, but I think writers of all types of fantasy face that problem, don't you?

I do agree, though, that there are times when you have to build up to the real inciting incident and have the reader ready/knowledgeable for it.

[evilmissbecky.livejournal.com]

I found my starting point and have been happily pecking away at the keys in between real life today.

That's the greatest feeling in the world, isn't it? When everything else falls away and there's only story. I hope you can continue writing at the pace you want, and that you get to finish it soon.

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's WONDERFUL!!!

If I didn't have the drive from hell since I got transferred at work, I'd sure be able to get a lot more done. :)

[mmarques.livejournal.com]

1,000 words a day with the enormous commute? You're a goddess! All my extra hours at work shouldn't have been an excuse to not edit for the past couple of months.

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Thank you. You're so kind. :)

I really want to get this finished this month, but I don't know where on earth I'm going to find the time.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

I submitted a short to Glimmer Train and got a lot of 'enter our contests' spam but neither feedback nor a definite 'no'. Just as a data point.

[davealaw.livejournal.com]

Best of luck with Glimmer Train, no problem starting with the top. :) It's always the best way to go I figure. Though as far as feedback, I've yet to receive any from the half dozen or submissions I have sent them. I'm guessing that any feedback is really reserved for the "top" and "nearly there" talents. Don't be disappointed if you don't get any.

Dave

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Ah, that explains a lot then. Sounds like the feedback goes to the types of people they would actually request from.

I probably should write this submission off and submit elsewhere. :)

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

How long ago?

Did the status of your submission ever change on the web page where you can track your submission?

Perhaps I should just write this one off to a learning experience.