Raven's View

Honest, there still is life in me. Here I am with Sunday's check in - not only is it a day late, but it's the first I've done for several weeks for this Round.

What happened to me? Life got in the way. I found out that my landlord's grandaughter needed my apartment, so that she could move in and look after him. I was given July 1 vacancy date, a good warning, but I had assumed I would be here for a few more years. Nope, now I have to deal with finding a new place and packing. Too bad this had to happen right in the middle of an ambitious schedule for editing and publishing my novel. I thought I could have it all, but after a few sleepless nights I decided to manage my stress and dial back the editing hours a bit. 

So - the June launch is not likely going to happen, but I have still kept at it. Second edit is now done and off to my beta reader. I went through first and reviewed all the Scenes to see if the scene/sequel labels would help them. After that, they were rearranged, pumped up, toned down, slotted into chapters, then send for review.  I've started a third edit pass, to incorporate some of the beta feedback and check for things like character development and dialogue/narrative balance, and finally send it to my publisher. He'll have edits I'm sure, hopefully minor at this stage. Then it's merge those in, off to copy editor, review, off to proofreader, review, off to Amazon and Smashwords, and LAUNCH! Oh - and be showered with fame and fortune.  

I'm still doing other things like book clubs and coffee at my cafe and my walks and Doctor Who - just not as much. Tonight I went downtown for a book reading. Seven authors, all fiction, all different, all good. I think it's important to listen to other author's styles, paying attention to what works for you, what doesn't. I also met a number of interesting people too - good contacts for their own sake but also as potential reviewers when Kirk's Landing gets online.

I'm really focusing on my editing of my first novel, Kirk's Landing (formerly known as Due North). Deadline to get this second edit to my publisher is this Friday - still do-able I think. 

I've already gone through and added some structure to it, some Turning Points, a Three Act framework. Now I've looked at each Scene to see if it's a scene or sequel - or maybe neither. What are those? I found this on several sites - here's one link. I'll summarize for you.

scene:

• action, conflict, plot points
• building blocks - Goal of POV character (part of overall goal), conflict, outcome/disaster
• goal - wants to acquire or escape from something - physical or mental/emotional
• conflict - direct or indirect opposition by thing/person. Circumstances (no gas, lost letter.) Argument. Being ignored. Be direct result of earlier occurrence, and an obstacle to goal
• outcome/disaster - keep pressure on character. Partial success. Even a victory can be hollow and missing something

sequel:

• reaction to action, characters react to conflict
• tension, threat of conflict
• building blocks - reaction, dilemma, decision
• reaction - char responds emotionally. Internal thoughts, talks, actions, tone of writing
• dilemma- what could I do now, how fix the disaster 
• decision - decides what to do next, sets up goal for next scene. Can take or not take action. Can be short term, or long range goal. Can state or imply it.  

I know this started a couple of days ago but I thought I'd wait until the check in, to also put up my goals, because I'm busy-busy-busy! 

"Busy" is one of my pet peeves, we're all busy doing something. It boils down to commitment, priorities, and time management. This coming ROW80, though, I will be basically 'busy' editing. As some have heard, I have a publisher for my first two novels, written for the 2010 and 2011 NaNoWriMo sessions. We're scheduled to get the first one launched in June - Amazon as well as some print - so I'm editing. Editing a lot. This was my first novel, my first writing endeavour really, so it has a lot of cleaning up to be done. The second novel is scheduled for a September release, but it much better, even as a first draft. This is a good thing, given that between writing the two of them I read a lot about writing and practiced via Flash Fiction stories. 

I'll go into my goals for this  Round shortly, but basically my time will be divided between time editing and time not editing. Writing, reading, checking writerly blogs, grandchildren visits, walking, music in a pub, watching the new Doctor Who season, eating, sleeping - those are all on the 'not editing' side of the ledger. Including this blog post, so I'll need to get a move on.