Revision Surprises

Good thing I got up early this morning, because I forgot to set up a blog post for today! I've been deep in revisions for Crow's Rest. Here's a cover design I did last year, just for fun:

One of the steps I wanted to do for revisions this time around was to use Martha Alderson's Blockbuster Plots method to chart the scenes in my book. I had tried it for my first book but didn't get very far--it can be kind of tedious, and I felt like I'd gotten the insights I needed just from charting the first 4 chapters.

But this time around I stuck it out, and I'm glad I did! Found all kinds of inconsistencies. Like my timeline was off; I had a single day that lasted like 40 hours, eep. And I had one of those writer faux pas, where my MC suffered an injury that wasn't ever mentioned again. Oops.

I also found a few scenes that were not necessary, which is where this type of revision tool really shines. Once you see the entire book laid out in tables, it's easy to see where your momentum lags or where you're being self-indulgent with characters and scenes.

So over the next week I'll be finishing the edits and getting pages out to my beta readers in preparation for querying in February. I'll also have an announcement next week (no, not an agent-y announcement) so check back for some news!

Point of View

I start my creative writing certificate this weekend with an intensive course on dialogue and point of view. I feel fairly confident about my dialogue (I used to think dialogue was my weakness, so I worked on it) but I have a confession about POV: I nearly always write in first-person for fiction.

First-person has even crept into my articles occasionally, but only if the magazine's guidelines state they have a conversational or folksy style. Gardening magazines seem to like first person, for that "chatting over the fence" feel.

Anyway, one of our assignments is to bring in 250 words of our own writing--not a polished piece, but one that we feel we are having trouble with. That will definitely mean one of my third-person pieces (I've never tackled second-person). I'll probably bring in one of my picture books since the sample only needs to be 250 words.

And I'm a little bit nervous, which I haven't felt about my writing in a while. That means I'm being pushed out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing!

Anybody else venture out of their comfort zone, and if so did you discover a talent you didn't know you had?

Contests at New Guard Literary Review

Two new contests forwarded to me by Christina Mercer, who failed to post them on her own blog in a timely manner, so that makes them fair game (bwah ha ha):

MACHIGONNE FICTION CONTEST: $1,000 for an exceptional work of literary or experimental fiction. Submit 2,500-5,000 words of prose. Novel excerpts welcomed. JUDGE: Good for the Jews author DEBRA SPARK. Deadline: October 1, 2010

KNIGHTVILLE POETRY CONTEST: $1,000 for an exceptional work of narrative or experimental poetry. Submit up to 70 lines per poem. Three poems per entry. JUDGE: Former U.S. Poet Laureate DONALD HALL. Deadline: November 1, 2010

The New Guard is a newly-formed independent literary review in Maine.

Contest to win a manuscript critique from Barbara Poelle

Yes, that's a critique from Slithery Barbara Poelle, a coveted agent. This contest is through Sophie Littlefield's blog.

First prize is the critique, a signed copy of A Bad Day for Pretty by Sophie Littlefield, and some racy nail polish. Enter your first 5 sentences by following the instructions.

Notice that there are 3 separate rounds you can enter, so you can enter more than one work that way. I'm entering today, so that will be part of round two.

Luck, everyone! (A typo made that read "Lick, everyone!" the first time I typed it. That works for me, too.)

When the Emotional Well Runs Dry

I found something helpful the other day via GotYA . It's The Bookshelf Muse's Emotion Thesaurus

It's meant as a helpful writer's tool, so that you have a whole list of ways for your characters to show emotion. Without being repetitive or cliched, hopefully.

"I can totally use this!" I say, with a feeling of breathlessness (indicating happiness/joy). I think that might come across as sarcastic, but I don't mean it that way, I guess I have some more work to do.