Catégorie : Writing project

Diary of a writing project. Day 58: About dogs and farts, and not at all about writing

Word count goal for this week: 47 500 words
Word count so far: 33 886 words

It’s going slooow.

I find it hard to sit down and write this week. I write anyways, but every time it’s a struggle, and a very disappointing one.

All I can do at this point is not work harder on the current writing project, but take some time off, recollect, gather my strength and make a triumphant comeback back Sunday night.

I feel like spending my days and night curled up in bed with a novel, a cup of tea and the old greyhound I use to babysit sometimes.
He was quite something, that dog. He would come over for some hugs and kisses, then fall asleep in a strange position. And dang, before we found out he had some bad worms in is guts, did he farted some bad mojo around.

My hubby-to-be and his ex brought him back from a shelter in Vermont, way back when.
We couldn’t babysit him anymore, and two or three years after that, she finally gave him away. I was pregnant then, and we lived in a very small condo, so we couldn’t take him with us.
Shortly after she gave it away, he died of a heart attack.

He had a good life, after the racing tracks of course.

I do miss my friend’s big brown eyes and crazy farts though.

I don’t think having him around would make me write more. But it would certainly help me smile.

Dear writer friends, thanks for reading!

Diary of a writing project. Day 55: Does this book still has​ a chance at being traditionally​ published?

Word count goal for the week: 47 500 words
Word count so far: 32 806 words

Revision is a bliss. For me anyway.
Even though I’m revising the rough draft, it feels so good to work on making the writing better and the characters more layered.

One of my favorite part of writing a story is making the story better. Adding more details without being info-dumpy. Trying different angles for a character’s answer to a conflict, to an unpredictable event.
Isn’t that what writing is supposed to be in the first place?
A fun way to try to make good art, a great way to contribute and help the world smile a little and wonder a lot.

I think my writing goals are slowly shifting. Of course, I will really work hard at finishing the rough first draft before December 31st, and I will keep writing this journal (seriously, one of the best writing tip I tried this year, keeping a diary of this writing project; it really motivates me to write each day, even if it’s just a little).
But.
The stress of finishing as soon as possible to send it off to the publishers « at the right time » is slowly vanishing.

A recent visit to my local indie bookstore helped a lot in that manner.

There’s nothing like my book on their shelves.
The books all look the same.
They all sound the same.

Does it mean I have a better chance? Au contraire. It means publishers can’t afford to take a risk on something that’s not « what the readers want ».

I did my research, I know I can sell this book to at least three publishers. But I think if this book is gonna make it, it’s because its gonna beat-sheet perfect, written in a unique voice, and surfing on classics tropes everybody enjoys, but with the must-have twist and « wow » factor.

In my mind, and taking a realistic look at what I have to work on, a book like that might take more than six months to complete…

Better sleep on it I guess.

Thank you so much for reading, dear writer friends, and until next time…