Between querying, job hunting, and planning the trip to Florence, I haven’t had the time to blog and keep up with your blogs. Shame on me, but life off-line cannot be ignored. After a few weeks of emotional rollercoaster that is the querying process, I’ve finally got a new project to keep busy while I wait. For over a month, I’d been juggling with two story ideas in my mind, both equally attractive. However neither of them stood out as the one I wanted to pursue next and since I don’t like working on more than one book at a time I was at a standstill.
Some of my story ideas have come in dreams or I actively formulated them or cultivated them over time. In the midst of trying to figure out which idea to work on next a new idea popped in my head. The idea was spurred by a confrontation with a pair of mean-spirited neighbors (trust me, I’m tempering my description here) in the apartment building where I lived. After said quarrel, the story came to me fully-formed. In one day, I had the first draft of a query letter and a graphical representation of all the main plot points. Characters too. I’m delighted to turn what was an ugly situation into something productive. Plus, I’m really excited about this project.
Over the next few days (or weeks), I’m going to use a technique that Anne at Piedmont Writer implemented to develop the voice and dig deeper into her characters. She did a series a few months back titled In Their Own Words in which she wrote from the first-person point of view of each of her main characters. I’m not sure I’m brave enough to post the results online, but I think the experiment will help me really get to know my characters in advance.
15 comments:
Yay for querying. Been thinking about you a lot, actually. Was afraid I upset you with my comments, even though I LOVED the book. Sending you great query vibes...and great new project vibes too!
Dawn,
I never got your comments. I think I remember you saying that your motherboard crashed and you lost the text. I've worked a lot on the book since the version you saw, so hopefully a vast improvement.
I really enjoyed your excerpt. I hope your book is coming along well.
Ooh, that sounds really interesting! I never thought of doing that.
I'm so jealous about Florence! I've been there twice and both times it's been magic.
Crimey, it's been too long. I haven't been around very much myself. I have been doing way too much and being stretched thinner by the week!! Florence, huh? Very cool. Congrats on that. Take care of yourself...
-Jimmy
Yay for new ideas! Especially ones that turn an annoyance into something good. And Florence? So jealous! :)
This is very exciting!!! I can't wait to hear more about your project and read your posts about your characters! Congrats on finding a new story. I hope this doesn't mean you'll be giving up on the other novel?
Lydia,
I'm really excited to go! I've never been to Italy.
Jimmy,
Sometimes the blog has to take second stage. I've accepted that. :)
Cindy,
This one snuck up on me, so all the more exciting.
Michelle,
I definitely haven't given up on the last one, but I need to get going on the next one as well. Look out for my e-mail. :)
Those pieces written from the first person points of view of your various characters can become part your overall narrative if you use literary cubism to develop your fiction.
Good luck digging.
Hey, thanks for the shout-out, just getting around to last weeks blogs.
And Florence! You lucky dog.
I don't care if you post your character series (well, yeah, I do) but I'd rather see pictures of Florence.
Have a wonderful time.
It is good to see you back again!
I really enjoyed the series Anne did. I hope you find it helpful, too!
I enjoyed reading Anne's In Their Own Words series. Good luck with your new project!
I've had a couple posts in the post in which one of my characters took over, and I'd like to do it again but I can't think of anything for them to talk about...
Amazing how suddenly ideas can come to you. Hope it works out!
Hope your new approach goes well for you. It's hard to keep up a blogging schedule. I struggle with it--all the time. Blessings,
You sure have been very busy lately. Looking forward to reading you writing, especially your quarreling neighbors who at least gave you an idea and some characters so who says there's no such thing as a good [or in your case, helpful] neighbor?
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