Long weekend

So with the 4th of July coming up on a Tuesday, I think almost everyone I know (ok, at least several people) are taking a long weekend. So will I, except I will be working from home on Monday. Unless my parents' condo gets rented in the next few hours, it looks like we will be going down to the beach.

Obviously, I will need to buy some more books to read on the actual beach because I like to keep my computer away from sun, water and especially sand whenever I can help it. =) I can write long-hand in notebooks, but I can't even revise pages because of the wind. That's ok. I need some time to relax and do what I want (which right now includes reading and playing sudoku--both addictive activities).

However, I'm hoping over this five day stretch I can also get a good start on the revision of both my books. Maybe it's good that I have two to work on. They're very different, after all, so I shouldn't confuse them in my mind or anything like that. Then, if I get tired of working on one, I can switch to the other. I have a hard time doing that when actually writing because it requires a switch in voice and characters' heads and stuff like that, but that shouldn't be as much of a problem with revision. Anyway, we'll see how it goes. I hope I get a lot done!

GOALS:

Marla, Book One

• Finish list of changes to be made
• Start going through ms and making and/or marking these changes

Song of the Prophecy

• Finish writing down ideas for changes (which I really should have done already!)
• Write the new first chapter and see how it turns out
• Write/revise more!

Wish me luck!

more changes than i thought

Well, I wrote notes about the changes to the magical system in Marla, Book One which led to thinking about plot concerns, which led to going through my scene outline (a must for anyone writing a novel!) and reminding myself of what happens in each one. This took a long time. The book is over 400 pages long. I only read a couple of scenes, skimmed a few, and scrolled down through most, but it still took awhile. This led to me seeing some problems I hadn't seen in my last revision, and seeing even more things that would need to be changed because of the changes I am making. Fortunately, I have no doubt that it will be a better book after I make these changes, unlike in Song of the Prophecy where I am still not sure.

Anyway, I will be cutting one of the major plot elements of the book because I think it was just a device to add more excitement and to fulfill certain plot necessities. Now I think the same ends will come about in a more natural way, stemming from some things that characters would naturally do. At least I hope so.

The changes I'm making will actually help with a lot of the characterization, however. I know these characters. They've been living with me for over ten years after all, although I'm not sure when these particular incarnations started to coalesce. And sometimes I know what they would feel and how they would react without there being a real reason for it. Or something. It's hard to explain. It's like I knew these ideas were coming before they came and the characters were reacting to something I hadn't written yet. Ok that makes no sense at all. I have better back story now. It makes more sense.

That's it. The back story! Before I knew the characters as they are when the book starts and had come up with some back story for them, but now the back story is a better fit for how the characters are when the story starts. Yes yes yes! That's what happened. My subconscious is more genius than I thought. =) j/k

I'm pleased with my progress, even though I've barely gotten started.

ideas, ideas and more ideas (part 2)

So I talked last week about having some ideas about my book Song of the Prophecy. What I didn't say was that about a month ago I had some ideas to make my very first novel, which doesn't currently have a title--I generally call it Marla, Book One, much better. I started writing it when I was around 14, and it was inspired by some of my favorite authors of the time. I've always been a little worried about it not being orginal enough. Well, I think I came up with some ideas that will make it much better. The world was a pretty general fantasy world, but with these new ideas I think the world will be much more interesting, but I won't have to change the plot that much. Obviously it will be a serious revision and I'll have to go through the whole thing, but it won't be a complete re-write. I'll be able to keep a lot of the bones.

Anyway, so I have all these ideas about Song of the Prophecy AND now I also have all these ideas about Marla, Book One and I'm excited about both of them, so I don't know which to start on.

I know. Isn't this a problem I'd like to have more often? I will think of it as an opportunity, not a problem.

ideas, ideas and more ideas

I have to admit that I was disappointed in the critiques I got from the contest. They weren't as detailed as I would have liked and some of the advice completely missed the mark. But any critique is only a tool for a writer. The person reading your manuscript never knows as much about your story as you do. More so in this case when they were only reading the first twenty-five pages. Often a critique is more useful for identifying problem areas than for figuring out how to fix them. Or a problem they mention may not be the actual problem, but something else is. Anyway, it's up to the author to figure all this out and make the book the best possible.

I found that even though I didn't get a lot of applicable adivce from the critiques, they did identify some possible problem areas, which got me thinking. Hence, the name of this entry. =)

I was hoping not to have to rewrite the beginning again because I've already reworked it several times. However, I think I may have to. Right now, each of the first three chapters (disregarding the prologue) focuses on a major character and their situation. They don't intersect until later (chapter 4 maybe?). Anyway, it's possible that this is too slow a beginning, although I like the idea of concentrating on some character development. I thought of a way to introduce all three characters in the framework of the current first chapter. I'll have to write it out and see how it works. It might be too much information and too many POV that early in the book. I wanted to have a big chunck of Mavelle right away because she's my protagonist, but that may not be possible. Although I could possible introduce the other characters without using their POV, it would just be harder to write. Again, I'll have to experiment some and see what works best.

I WON!

Remember that contest I entered my novel, Song of the Prophecy, in? Well, I won! I got first place in the science fiction & fantasy category. I have to say that I was thrilled. Now, I really have to finish editing the whole thing. They gave me a nice letter that I can include with my query letters that says I won the contest and that the judges thought I was great. I also got a certificate and $100.

More information about the contest and the group that sponsered it can be found at the Maryland Writer's Association Web site.

I also go two critiques, but I haven't read them yet because I'm a little afraid of what they might say. I glanced at them and saw some not so glowing comments. I have to remember that I won and not to take things so seriously.

Nine

Well, we've finished our run of Nine and it was an amazing experience! I met so many great people and I think I also evolved as an actress. Apparently I'm pretty funny. lol.

It was a lot of hard work (rehearsals just eat up your life towards the end) and I got sick towards the end and wasn't sure I'd be back into good singing form in time for opening night. I wasn't back to normal by then, but I could sing.

Anyway, it's been one of the best experiences I've had doing a show. I hope I'll be able to work with everyone again someday.

Next up: Urinetown in the fall. I'll be lucky if I get a part though, because I'm sure the competition will be really tough.

Stuck in the Apple Store

Literally. I'm so bored here! And yes, I know, it's been AGES since I updates. So sue me.

So, my computer has decided to be uncooporative again and I'm stuck here at the Apple Store waiting for my turn to talk to a "Genius." I have to say, they better be able to fix it. I've already had to come here 3 or 4 times since I got the thing, so my patience is wearing thin. Aren't macs supposed to be better than that? My applecare protection plan is almost up too. So at least it didn't decide to crap out on me after that. But this is bad timing. I'm going to the beach next week for a week. And I was planning on writing and working on my web page.

{Oh, by the way, I have a Web page now! It's at www.gaylegillespie.com}

Yes, I'll spend a lot of time reading and laying out on the beach and probably watching tv, but I still NEED my computer. I can't survive without it. Luckily it did let me get in long enough to backup some of my files, so I'm not going completely crazy, but it's still worrisome.

Anyway, it's finally my turn. Hopefully they can fix it!