Looking ahead to 2012

December 31st, 2011 by Theresa

 

 

No, it won’t be the end of the world.

It will be a beginning, a reset button if you will. This is the time where we as North Americans make New Year’s Resolutions to be better people, quit smoking, shed unwanted pounds and a whole host of other quirks we don’t like about ourselves.  As many of us know, we last about a month in the new year to give up changing for the better.  I am indeed one of these people. Next year, I’m going to do something different.

My only true resolution for 2012 is to work  S.M.A.R.T.E.R.

In that way of thinking here’s what I endeavor to achieve:

  • 1. 12-15 new blog posts next year – one a month and a few extras just in case something cool happens!
  • 2.  Three manuscripts to cross the finish line – critiques, revised, submitted. One every four months.  (See the  Million Word March Meter)
  • 3. More chatting with you! Be it email, Twitter, Facebook , Tumblr or Google+ weekly.  This will include pictures as I can!
  • 4. Connecting with new readers and authors throught the year. Posting on the various forums I’ve joined in the past year at least twice.

 

ANNNND those are the smartes goals I can make. See you next year!

Theresa

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Enter Title Here ( editor’s note: rewrite title )

September 2nd, 2011 by Theresa

This is it. This is the big blog post where I quote one of the greatest writers in the world. The one! The Only!

No.. Hmmm that’s not it. Let’s try that again.

This is it. This is the big blog post where I quote one of the greatest writers in the world. The one! The Only!

This is it. This is where I vowed not to sully name of  the super fantastic writer and best selling author….

Nah. The flow is off there. Hmm… Let me take another stab at it…

This is it. This is where I vowed not to sully name of  the super fantastic writer and best selling author….

Christina Dodd, one of the many authors I look up to, said something interesting on her Facebook account back in April.

How do I get my ideas?

 

As a budding author, I’m sure most of you can see why this one stuck with me. I know that I’m in Ira Glass’s Gap right now.  I’ve got great ideas… but right now I’m not doing so well in getting them on the page. Add in the great words of Christina and I’ve got the winning combination: Strip my ideas, synopsis, outlines, and horrible horrible first drafts down to the basics. Write it again, ahem, correctly. Above all? Keep going.

It’s gonna get better folks.

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There, there… It’s all over now…..

June 20th, 2011 by Theresa

The End.

Never in my life was I so glad to type those words.

So I failed the “challenge.” It was friendly competition, but the lesson still stings. It took me 11 weeks to finish my short story.  I pushed myself through fatigue and sickness. At the very end I got just plain mad – dropped some “f” bombs and typed until my fingers jerked by themselves in spasms. But it’s over, all done.

To be clear, the story that I burned to write, that kept me up at night, I wish to never ever see again. I lost my plot halfway through, I think. Sub plots that I didn’t notice appeared. And the ending? It’s so  lame even I don’t think it can be fixed. But it’s over, all done.

All that’s left now is to send it off to be critiqued (to be read as ripped to shreds, set on fire and put out with Kool-Aid ) and put it in the rewrite pile. My plan was to get it done and sent off to a publisher now. Fat chance of that. I wouldn’t show this manuscript to my dog – and she can’t read ( that I know of ). But it’s over, all done.

The moral of this story is a life lesson – nothing so grand as how to plot, or what to do to fix a broken manuscript. This one is pretty simple – know thyself.  I know now how I work even with what I believe to be the simplest of tasks. Yeah.. I won’t be promising any editor or publisher anything in less than 12 weeks from this point on. Even then that will be pushing it for editing, critiques and rewrites.

 

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Still plugging away

March 27th, 2011 by Theresa

I may not finish my MarNo but I’m happy with the results. Most of the expansion is done. Just one or two big pushes left to add the big finish. I’m a lot farther on it than I would have been a month ago!  Taking it one page of edits at a time.

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