glitter_n_gore

So, that experiment I was trying with outlining versus not--I've discovered, now with a more definite sense of certainty, that outlining in my case is a very, very bad idea. I could not get through one chapter once I got to the actual writing part on that project. Not one chapter.

However, I'm not sorry I tried it, because that's useful to know about myself I guess. It's really better in my case if I just write. And I'm not giving up on that story entirely--just can't deal with it right now, so it's going into the Trunk until further notice.

Anyways, what with my experiment and a number of other things going awry, this is what I have on the table as of now:

The Candelabrum: Revised, reformatted, and sent away again. Now waiting for a response. Wish me luck!

The Fire Worker: Up to 43k, and working out some revisions in my head for when I go back for a second-draft sweep. I say "in my head" because I've been trying not to monkey around with manuscripts at all until that first draft is completely finished. It's not easy. With the pantsing thing especially, I inevitably wind up with a number of plot holes that need filling in once I go back, and once I work out what they are I want to fix them immediately. Which I will, eventually, but the more important thing is finishing the draft. If it's complete, and has an ending, even if that ending winds up changing, then I have something I can work with.

Now, since those two are the only "current" projects I have, I feel myself flailing. Two projects, one of which is a short story that I'm for all intents and purposes "done" with at least for the moment, feels way too low. As anyone who's followed this blog for a significant length of time probably knows by now, I generally keep at least three or four going at once.

Which means I have a couple of options here--I can feed one of the plot bunnies (I always have a gracious plenty of those); OR I could take out one of my previous manuscripts and give it a good, clean overhaul and put it back in the queue. I'm thinking of one in particular that I think has loads of potential, but got put on hold once I reached the synopsis-writing stage and uncovered a number of plotting oversights that needed fixing. It's been resting for about a year. Maybe it's time to dust it off and polish it up.

I'm hesitant to do both until I get that draft finished. A girl has to have boundaries, after all.


Last book read: Wondrous Strange, by Lesley Livingston

Currently on: The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro

First, check out this interview with Luke Walker about his new ebook, The Red Girl.

Second, in the continuing spirit of Women in Horror Month, fellow Houndie Night Flyer has posted on a spotlight on author Sarah Langon on her shiny new blog. Check that out as well.

In other news, I have now read two--count 'em, two--of the books in my TBR pile: L. A. Banks's Minion and Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Crossing 'em off the list now.

Anyways, since I haven't done one of these in far too long, here's a progress report on what I'm actually working on writing-wise:


Novels:

Fire Worker--previously known as "Demigeists," so obviously the first piece of news on this one is I changed the title. The reason being that "demigeists," these neat little fun-sized ghosties I made up that travel through mirrors and steal souls very, very gradually, while still worth a shot eventually I think, just aren't going to work in the context I worked out. The total wordcount so far is 28,000. I'm about at the halfway mark.

Early Risers--Currently standing at 13,000 words, and passing the Plot Twist. Which, this being a zombie story, means the outbreak is getting worse. Another issue is I realized I haven't described what my protagonist looks like yet. I tend to be lax with physical descriptions for some reason, particularly for POV characters. I don't know why. I'll figure something out, I hope.

Shorts:

Doppelganger--four rejections so far, all form, no takers. I took another look at it and decided the beginning was weak, so I'm putting it back into the editing stage before sending it anywhere else.

The Candelabrum--3,000 after the second round of edits, and now I'm scouring my lists for where to send it. Wish me luck!

First, an update on my progress, now that November is nearly over:

My two complete short stories, "Doppelganger" and "Early Risers," have been submitted and subsequently rejected. Moving on to the next markets for each now.

My two novel-sized WIPs, "Demigeists" and the expanded version of "Early Risers," are at 11,000 and 5,000 words, respectively. Not quite where I wanted to be right now, but slow and steady.

My in-progress short story, "The Candelabrum," is almost finished at 3,000 words, and I'm now struggling with whether I want to kill off my MC entirely, or let her go with a lifelong cloud of guilt hanging over her. It's a toss-up. I'm one scene from finished. (Maybe one and a half.)

So, about short stories versus novels--the submission process isn't wildly different, but different enough that I've discovered some pros and cons of each. Since short stories are what I'm submitting at the moment, I'll go with that process.

Pros:

-No query-writing. At most, magazines, ezines and anthologies ask for a brief cover letter, which is so simple it feels like cheating. All you need is something like, "Dear Editor, enclosed is My Story, it is X words long and in X genre. Thank you for reading!" And if it's a paper submission, an SASE enclosed as well. That's it.

-No synopsis. I feel I don't need to explain this one.

-Lower printer/ink costs. Because they're, well, shorter. Less paper, you see.

Cons:

-Slower response times. This took me by surprise, actually, but many magazines and ezines keep you waiting for a matter of months. The longest I've seen is a projected 10 month wait time. On the other hand, the shortest was just two weeks, so maybe this isn't as bad as I imagine it to be.

-No simultaneous submissions. With rare exceptions, what this means is you stay waiting with one story in the queue, and until you hear back from that publisher, you can't send it anywhere else. This might be why the wait time feels slower to me, since you aren't hearing back from multiple places on the same manuscript like you would with novels and agents.

The lack of synopsis is a HUGE plus. But so far, it hasn't gotten me picked up by anyone yet.

Onward!