In Progress, Writing

They thought they could come and conquer our world easily. - Kept in Coral

With great reverence, Leander committed the greatest blasphemy of his life. - Tree of Life

In Progress, Editing

When Albin's nursemaid woke him in the dead of night, he knew something even worse than the death of his father had happened. - The Unkindness of Ravens

Clara ought to be home by now, an' my daughter. - And the Dog Died

"Just go, Will," Isabel said, turning her head to look out the window as if he were already gone. - Writ in Snowflakes and Sunshine

Having the king of Achromia's confidence was a heady sensation, but Bertrand had only to think of some of the tasks he'd been assigned to feel his feet become firmly grounded once more. - Pneumatic Knights

The old woman found the naked boy curled up in a semi-truck tire on the beach. - The Old Woman By The Sea

"What a huge, marvelous fish!" John's wife exclaimed. - Out of Focus

Night mist swirled around Valinda's boots as she walked through the empty street. - Vicesteed

07/07/2009 - Tuesday, went to work early, only a little downtime
* Updated the market list from LJ.

07/06/2009 - Monday
* Read Duotrope, WritersWeekly newsletters.
* Updated markets from the above.
* Processed Shroud's form letter “please do not consider this a 'rejection' of your work” rejection of "Good Help is Hard to Find." Am amused.
* Processed Critters crit of Vicesteed, ch. 28.
* Prepped Vicesteed chs. 31-32 for uploading to Minnspec, only to realize while writing summaries that a whole hell of a lot happens in the complete chapter 30, and I should really send that in instead. Prepped chapter 30 for crit, uploaded it, and processed.
* Posted writing log.
* Day of the dead penthius freewriting.

07/05/2009 - Sunday, after getting home from CONvergence.
* Penthius freewriting about a different kind of Walk of Stars.

07/02/2009-07/05/2009 - Thursday-Sunday
At CONvergence, which I think counts as more than enough for those days!

07/02/2009 - Thursday, before CONvergence
* Read Publisher's Lunch.

07/01/2009 - Wednesday, spent most of the morning prepping photos for mailing.
* Read Writing-World, WritersDigest newsletters.
* Recommended writing books - I can vouch for The Writers Guide to Life in the Wild West and On Writing: http://bookstove.com/non-fiction/five-good-books-about-genre-writing-by-actual-authors/

06/30/2009 - Tuesday, no downtime, spent the morning mostly dealing with the repair guy and needing to get into work.
* Posted writing log.
* Created a "To Do Once Pro Writer" file. It felt strange to do that--kind of presumptuous. On the other hand, it really only makes sense to keep a place to record ideas and tactics and useful resources for that level of writing. Things like joining this writing group and that writers organization and using the other service if x happens.
* Loaded Vicesteed ch. 29 up into Critters for critique.
* Processed MNLit's non-win notification. (One is never rejected from contests; one simply didn't win.)
* Processed donation received for Aswiebe's Market List (2 months later. Oy. Seemed late enough I thought a thank-you would be more awkward than otherwise.)
* Processed Alternative Coordinates' personal, "we hope you will submit again" rejection of "These Things Take Time." "While the subject matter is of interest to our readers and the story is well written, the story itself does not fit in well with our current releases." Hrm. I am flattered that I got a mostly positive personal rejection, yet somewhat baffled. My intangibles did not fit in.
* Sent Vicesteed chapters 19-22 to MinnSpecer who volunteered to crit more. Yay!
* Updated "Salvaging Scottwell"'s status to reflect it being passed up the line after edits were completed. Am still more than a little gobsmacked that Eric Flint is going to be reading *my* story.

06/26/2009 - Friday. Parents visiting from out-of-town before they leave for India! No time for writing.
* Read through and answered suggested edits for "Salvaging Scottwell" (Which is now bumped up to the final level! Final answer in a matter of weeks! But seriously--the final editing process means this story's going to be a lot stronger no matter which way it goes.)
* Read Publisher's Lunch newsletter.

06/24/2009 - Wednesday
* Got "The Old Woman By The Sea" set up for editing and duly recorded in my manuscript tracking spreadsheet.
* Cleared out "to edit" folder and tossed old editing notes that were already implemented.
* Processed MinnSpec crits of Vicesteed chs. 29-30(partial).
* Processed Critters crits of Vicesteed ch. 28.
* Read and updated market list from Duotrope, 2 Publishers Lunch, WritersDigest, WritersWeekly, Critters newsletters. (I read fast, and I'm pretty good at getting through writing newsletters, and I find them useful, but I rather boggled today when I discovered I have 24 unread ones in my inbox.)
* Perceiving the foundation of storytelling: http://www.storyispromise.com/wfound.htm (via There Are No Rules' best tweets post at http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/).
* Posted part 2 of my 4th Street Fantasy Convention notes.

06/23/2009 - Tuesday, no downtime, dr's apt in the a.m. and then I wasted the rest of it.
* Answered Critter volunteering for RFDR.
* Wrote Pt. 1 of my panel notes from 4th Street Fantasy Convention.

06/22/2009 - Monday
* Thanked natrlobsessions for letting me use leave some of her brain-property in the reclaimed-from-defunct-shared-world story and added info to the notes file for "The Old Woman By The Sea" so that I can let her know when it gets published somewhere.
* Posted writing log.
* Posted about Vicesteed being up for critique at Critters, and emailed those who've been kind enough to express interest in critting chapters in the past.

This past weekend I attended the 4th Street Fantasy Convention, and these are my notes about what I found useful and interesting and what thoughts and ideas I had that were sparked from these panels:
* One-night Stand vs. Round Two
* Children's and YA Fantasy: Not Just for Kids


(Thanks to timprov for letting me play with his camera!)

( Read more... )

This past weekend I attended the 4th Street Fantasy Convention, and these are my notes about what I found useful and interesting and what thoughts and ideas I had that were sparked from these panels:
* How to Sound Smart on Panels.
* How Has Fantasy Changed in the Last 20 Years.
* Reasons Things Go Wrong ... In the Crafting of Stories.

MP3s of the (so far) first two days of panels.



General Notes
This is the second year I attended the restarted convention. They moved the hotel this year. The set-up at the new hotel was great (except that the mikes weren't broadcasting from the speakers on the right side of the room), but I didn't see anywhere that it was at a new hotel, and so was rather worried when it didn't turn out to be anywhere near the airport. It was also a worse place to get to on public transportation, so I was delighted to carpool with mischief03.

In general, the panels were good and useful and I have plenty of notes of things to try and remember. A few people commented, in a displeased way, that this year's panels were more writer-oriented than any other 4th Street they could remember and that was Just Plain Wrong. I'm biased--I like a higher percentage of writer- or academia-oriented panels than fan-oriented panels. Talking with other writerfolk, though, I realized that we all generally thought that last year's 4th Street was more writer-oriented than this year's. It's all in the perspective, I guess.

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If any of you are Critters and looking for something to critique this week, I have a section of Vicesteed up for critique. The queue says "Vicesteed, Chapter 18," but it's actually chapter 28. (Oops.) This is the chapter where Quincy, the private detective hired by the Prime Minister, goes to investigate the aftermath of the explosion at a costume ball and learns all sorts of interesting things.

06/19/2009 - 06/21/2009, Friday - Sunday, was at 4th Street Fantasy Convention.
* 4th Street Fantasy convention. Yes, that counts as doing enough writing-related work!

06/18/2009 - Thursday, full day of work, no downtime.
* Read Publisher's Lunch.
* A simple productivity improvement trick, but useful for writing--I find the two overlap often: http://lifedev.net/2007/05/prepare-for-your-next-task-before-you-take-a-break/

06/17/2009 - Wednesday
* Read Publisher's Lunch newsletter.

06/16/2009 - Tuesday.
* Posted writing log.
* penthius freewriting about a certain kind of pharmacist.
* To people who can't stick with a story all the way through, ever: http://suricattus.livejournal.com/1085652.html
* Finished crits (4 and 5 of 5) for Critters. Now my story can go out tomorrow! Hooray!

06/11/2009 - Thursday. Worked all day. No downtime.
* Added Lone Star Stories to the market deadlist. R.I.P.
* Agent's advice database: http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2009/06/writing-advice-database.html
* Began crit 1 of 5 needed by next Wednesday. Eep. Again with the needing to catch up on all my crits!

06/09/2009 - Tuesday.
* Posted writing log.
* Meh penthius freewriting.
* Updated MinnSpec calendar, files, and message to reflect my no longer being able to attend the workshop this month.

Prompted by Nathan Bransford's question, How Do You Know When Your Novel Is Really Finished? Then I realized I'd written my very own post.

I have a set critiquing procedure, which helps it to be a more objective process for me.

0. (This step is optional, but I do it if I have time and feel like being nice to critiquers.) Skim read it. Remove the most glaring chunks of bad writing and fix inconsistencies.

1. After setting the story aside for at least a month (barring deadlines) and collecting critiques, do a detailed and vicious line-by-line edit. I usually cut 30% of what I've written at this stage.

2. Let it rest a little while and then read it aloud, fixing flow and phrasing and transition problems as you go. Reading aloud tends to shift my mental gears enough to notice things I might have skipped over when reading it quietly. (I have also heard a suggestion to change the font to help this step, and I might try that next time.)

3. Submit. If you are blessed enough to get feedback, reread story and decide if suggested changes are right for the story.

4. Pick a number. After the story's been rejected that many times, repeat steps 2-4.

That's my general submission procedure. Step 1 has become slightly more complicated this time around, as I revise my steampunk novel, Vicesteed. People keep reading chapters and then volunteering to critique the whole thing because they want to read it, but I'm already 3/4 of the way through the heavy revisions, which are where I like to use outside feedback.

I guess it's a good problem to have. Promising.

06/08/2009 - Monday. Monday was a out-of-it day. I got nothing done.

06/07/2009 - Sunday
* Read Writers Digest, Duotrope, Ralan's Market Report, Writing-World, WritersMarket, FundsforWriters, FFWSmallMarkets, and Publishers Lunch newsletters and updated writing markets from them.

06/06/2009 - Saturday, my birthday observed! Spent much time cleaning for party.
* Experiments in story promotion - http://yuki-onna.livejournal.com/477013.html
* Posted writing log.
* Penthius freewriting based on the Radiolab podcast.

I don't do a full run-down of everything said during the panels, just the highlights of what seemed most useful to me and thoughts they sparked. Panels in this post: Humor in Feminist Speculative Fiction; Acting for Authors; Writing Science Fiction While Living in an SF Disaster Novel; and Getting It Wrong Gracefully.

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06/01/2009 - Monday, the first day of my new afternoon-only work schedule.
* What this writer sees her job as: http://matociquala.livejournal.com/1627470.html
* Caught up on chapter and plot summaries through Vicesteed ch. 28.
* Submitted Vicesteed chs. 29-30(partial) to Minnspec. Those are the chapters with, respectively, The Big Love Scene, and The Whorehouse Revelation. I'm not sure how I feel about listening to people discuss sex scenes that I wrote. We'll see.
* Processed Withersin's speedy "please submit again" personal rejection of "Road of Dreams." I have heard that editors never-ever include "please submit again" in their form rejection letter, only if they actually mean it, but I am unconvinced.
* Proposed syndicating my Aswiebe's Market List newsletter to a website looking for unpaid SF/F/H columns.
* penthius freewriting about no news.
* Copied Penthius freewritings over to backup file.
* Created a new document for "Kept in Coral," a flash fiction piece I accidentally wrote while doing freewriting.
* Posted Part 2 of my Wiscon panel notes.

05/29/2009 - Friday, no downtime, cleaning for imminent arrival of m-i-l in the morning instead of writing.
* Read 2 FFWSmallMarkets, FundsforWriters, 2 WritersDigest, Critters, WritersWeekly, Writing-World, 2 Duotrope newsletters.
* Posted writing log.
* penthius freewriting about kidnapping an assistant (was feeling overwhelmed at work).
* Updated market list from Duotrope and old Duotrope newsletter.
* A handy trick for figuring out when to use who or whom: http://blog.writersdigest.com/qq/Who+Vs+Whom.aspx

I don't do a full run-down of everything said during the panels, just the highlights of what seemed most useful to me and thoughts they sparked. Panels in this post: Ask a Pro; Write Here!; The Obligatory Workshop Panel; and The Rules: Use or Abuse Them.

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This post is my general impressions, lessons learned, and part 1 of my panel notes. I don't do a full run-down of everything said during the panels, just the highlights of what seemed most useful to me and thoughts they sparked. Panels in this post: Writing in the Recession; So You Want to Be Published? Are You Your Own Biggest Roadblock?; Reinventing the Adventure; and Let's Build a World.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS
Most of the attendees were significantly older than I am; there was a noticeable generation gap. The quality of the panels was a mixed bag--some were very good, some were very fannish. It was impossible to go to all the ones that sounded interesting. It would be really great if MP3s of panels were made available later. Nice also for people who didn't make it or aren't sure if it'll be their kind of thing. I started randomly suggesting this to people in hopes that somebody will actually do this later! I didn't get involved in many of the "great conversations" that people keep mentioning, but that's mostly my own fault. I tried to go to all the panel slots, which didn't leave much time for socializing, and I couldn't linger long at parties since standing for too long is uncomfortable due to my knee injury.

LESSONS LEARNED
1. The ConSuite does not open before the first panel starts, so if you require breakfast and/or caffeine, remember that you'll need to make your own arrangements.
2. The breakfast pasty at the pasty shop = not that good.
3. Some panels end up mostly being people recommending books. If you want an hour and a half of this, great. If not, people tend to post the lists later. Read the panel description carefully.
4. You need cash (or checks) for the Dealer's Room, not a credit card.
5. Pack an umbrella.
6. Most female-types dress up for the evening parties, esp. the night of the Fancy Dress Party.
7. The Haiku Earring Party is fabulous, but remember to take a picture of your earrings beside the haiku that earned you them.
8. Don't assume you'll run into people you know are there--or at least not when you're not hurrying off to a panel. Make arrangements to meet for lunch/dinner.
9. Learn which rooms are the largest. Panels scheduled for those rooms are expected to be popular (and therefore, probably useful or entertaining).

( Panel Notes )

Boosting the signal! 4th Street Fantasy is a really good, small con for SF/F writers--so far I've attended 4th Street, CONvergence, and Wiscon, and 4th Street was the most useful of the lot for sparking story/technique ideas. My brain fizzed for weeks afterward.

Reposting:
Today is the deadline for registration for Fourth Street Fantasy Convention, though [the webmaster will] probably leave online registration open through Memorial Day and 'til Noon or so on Tuesday. The deadline for room reservations is Tuesday, May 27th.

Fourth Street is a small convention for people who are serious about good fantasy and good books– serious about reading them, serious about writing them, serious about appreciating them in all their various forms. It’s also for people who are serious about having a good time. It’s a weekend of high-quality, high-intensity, mind-stretching fun, focused on books– there’s a single track of programming that is at the heart of it all. When everyone sees the same panels, it leads to fascinating conversations in the consuite, hotel bar, and corridors. Jane Yolen's written a poem about Fourth Street, Neil Gaiman has said nice things about the con in his online journal.

Fourth Street Fantasy Convention was held in the Twin Cities from 1986 through 1995, then went on an extended break. Lydia Nickerson decided to revive the convention so it returned last June and was great fun. Elise Matthesen is chairing the con this year; Steven Brust & Beth Meacham are putting together programming for the convention and lots of other fine folks are working on it. (Me? I'm just the webmaster.)

This year Fourth Street Fantasy Convention will be held on the weekend of June 19th through 21st at the Doubletree Park Place in St. Louis Park, Minnesota which is a suburb near Minneapolis. (Years ago, Fourth Street was held in the same hotel when it was a Sheraton).

Memberships cost $70 in advance-- this membership fee includes a Sunday brunch that should be really nice. We have a membership cap of 250 members; if we have memberships available at the door, they'll cost $100.

We don't have a guest of honor this year, but there are lots of cool professionals in the field who have already registered who will be part of the conversation at the convention including Dana Baird, Steven Brust, Lois McMaster Bujold, Pamela Dean, Marissa Lingen, Beth Meacham, Michael Merriam, Sarah Monette, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Sharyn November, Kathryn Sullivan, Jo Walton, Patricia C. Wrede, and plenty of others.

You can find out more on the convention website and in the LJ community 4th_st_fantasy. If you still have questions or want to volunteer, get in touch with someone on the committee.

I went to the program activity, "Write Here!" which had some writing exercises (character-creation, round robin writing, and all starting from the same story idea) etc that resulted in not one, but two story germs that had expanded a bit beyond what a usual germ is allowed--about a page in each case.

I really should have remembered that I am pathologically incapable of leaving a story unfinished.*

I don't have this problem with the story seeds I create, so maybe I'll try to categorize them like that in my mind. I don't know, though--they took on a little more life than I usually let my story seeds get. But I don't really need to write an alien-invasion story, or a humorous fantasy about a way-too-easygoing dragon.

* No, really. I have one unfinished story that I gave up on because I decided it was fatally flawed. It sits in a file in my filing cabinet, and it still bothers me. Someday, I'll go back and finish it. I know this. Note that this doesn't mean I finish things soon, just that someday, they will eventually be done.

05/20/2009 - Wednesday, no downtime
* Processed "The Radiator Burped" acceptance through various spreadsheets.
* Finished 1 crit for Wiscon.

05/19/2009 - Tuesday, almost all downtime
* Read aloud through "The Radiator Burped" and made small changes to the final draft. Emailed final draft to editor. Signed publication contract and mailed it off.
* Posted writing logs.
* Added "The Radiator Burped" pub date to my writing calendar.
* penthius freewriting inspired by a graffiti-painted subway.
* Started work on Wiscon crit.

And now I have to do the last two Wiscon crits in the next few hours at work. Then go home and pack, and then--I'm off. Yoicks*! Tallyho!


* Yes, I had to look up how to spell that properly. Because I am compulsive like that.

It is way too easy to let "extra time in the morning to work on writing" turn into "extra time in the morning to sleep in." I've been letting it do that and I need to stop it. (Especially since today I have to 1) do 2 crits for Wiscon, and 2) pack, and 3) do all the misc. chores that have to get done before I go, like paying bills.)

In an unrelated note, there were chive deviled eggs with bacon waiting for me in the lunchroom when I got into work today. Just sayin'.

I like my new job arrangement.