Anne Faye

I crossed the 12,000 word mark tonight. I'm currently at 12, 157. My friend said that editing my story would take about a month. Honestly, I'm a bit scared. She is really an incredibly intelligent woman - probably one of the most intelligent women I've ever met. I warned her that my story was of the "popular-fiction" type - nothing erudite in there. But what if she thinks it is totally stupid? What if she thinks that it is one of the worst stories she has ever read? How will I ever face her again? I know - that is just my pride talking. But still - ugh! This is nerve-racking. Why did I ever think I could write novels?

Part of me really wanted to blow off writing today, but I did it anyway. Not much, I admit, but I added about 200 words.

With no work tonight, I ended up writing about 800 words tonight. I'm writing dialog for an extrovert which is a bit of a challenge for me because I am such an introvert. Just writing her talking so much tires me out! LOL

I had taken the past two days off from writing. I was licking my wounds a bit after my rejection. I went back to it today, though, and wrote about 500 words. I also hired an editor to take a hatchet to my other story. I debated back and forth on this one. I absolutely hate spending money on myself, especially in a case like this when it feels like I'm just sending it off into the wind. There are so many other, more important, things to spend money on. I enjoy helping other people, though, so I'm trying to think of it in that light. I hired a friend who has just started an editing business, so I am helping her get her business off of the ground. I told her to be brutal. I really do want to improve in my writing. I hope that she can help me. 

Not that there is really any such thing, but I did receive what in the writing world is considered a "good" rejection today. The editor who was considering my novella said that it just wasn't quite ready yet, although it was an interesting concept. She feels I should have someone critique it, rework it, and then resubmit. She even took the time to send me a marked-up first chapter. I do greatly appreciate her time and feedback, and she even got back to me within the promised three-month time frame. So, overall, I was pretty lucky! I'm not sure where to go from here, but I don't need to decide today. I really wasn't expecting an acceptance, so I'm not very disappointed. I've been praying to write what I should when I should and have things published when and if they should be, so this must have been what was supposed to happen. It isn't the end of the world.  

The American Music Awards are not the most conducive background for writing, but I did get out a few hundred words and crossed the 10,000 word threshold which was my goal for the evening. I'm 1/8th done.

My main character is about to give birth in 1958. I didn't do any writing tonight, but I did watch this fascinating childbirth education video from the 1950s: http://www.theunnecesarean.com/blog/2010/11/1/1950-video-labor-and-childbirth.html

I am up to 9082 words on my writing adventure. One thing I've noticed moving at this more slow pace is that I'm much more prone to editing. Rather than just feverishly moving the story forward, I'm finding myself more determined to get it "right." Spending days working on the same chapter gives me much more time to think about them and want to make changes. Tonight, for example, my 400 words of writing were all additions to previous scenes. I'm also much more likely to change how I phrased something. It's a different way of working, but that is OK - this is a different sort of story for me. I've currently completed three chapters.

I crossed the 8,000 word threshold this evening. I am one-tenth of the way and 31 pages toward my goal. At one level that is really depressing - that I still have so far to go. On the other hand, I have lots of writing to look forward to. Now, my throbbing head and I are going to go to sleep.

I read the new November/December 2010 issue of Writer's Digest today. I'm always so excited to pick up the latest issue at the library. Unfortunately, the articles I wanted to link to weren't up on the website (at least not yet), but I did come across this one on Top 10 Productivity Pitfalls

Current Total - 6761 words. Making progress - slowly but steadily.

Here is a post on an amazing writing story: The Journey Begins Gwen Stewart began writing after a 20 year hiatus and wrote a novel in a week and a half!

I had a good night of writing while listening to the CMA's on TV. I actually had about 1 hour to write after getting my work done. Current word total - 5,642. The words aren't coming that easily, but they are coming. There is a story there. I tend to see the story as a movie in my mind. Converting that movie into words is always the challenge, but I keep working at it. 

Here are some other good quotes from Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance (Artist's Way) Life unfurls one day at a time. It is full of situations that will resolve themselves if we give them enough time and give God a chance to get his hand in. The trick is not to panic. The trick is not to overreact. Life unfolds one day at a time, and we must let it. We do not need to feel that our dreams and God's will for us are at opposite ends of the table. We can consider the possibility that our dreams come from God and that God has a plan for their proper unfolding. When we seek daily spiritual guidance, we are guided toward the next step forward for our art. Sometimes the step is, "Wait. Not now." Sometimes the step is, "Work on something else for a while." When we are open to Divine Guidance, we will receive it. It will come to us as the hunch, the inkling, the itch. It will come to us as timely conversations with others. It will come to us in many ways - bu...

I had picked up Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance (Artist's Way) a couple weeks ago at the library. I've been skimming through it to see if there were any kernels of inspiration before I have to bring it back. I did come across a couple so far: Over the years, writing has become easier, a daily routine. But there many days when my stint at the page still takes all of the courage I can muster. "Please, God, send me ideas," I pray. Then I listen and type out what I hear. "Inspiration" is really as simple as the act of listening and being willing to trust that still small voice. Some days I am willing to trust. Others I am not. On those days, I must pray again. "Please, God, send me the willingness to just listen and write." And then I must listen and then I must write. There is a divine plan of goodness for us and our work, but we must go along with the plan in order that it may transpire. Careers do not unfold in an orderly manner. They...

I got to write today! I'm up to 4,089 words and am working on Chapter Two.

I actually had 45 minutes to write tonight, thanks to being able to get some work done this afternoon. I wrote about 600 words. Current total - 2,560. I'm on page 10.

All around me (at least in the virtual world), people are cranking out words for National Novel Writing Month. Many of them will accomplish their goal of writing a novel in the month, or at the very least write way more than they would have otherwise. I have been there and done that and loved the process. With my current goal of writing 10 minutes a day, I'm definitely taking a different approach with my latest work. Nevertheless, I am writing and that is what matters. I'm currently just under 2000 words. I figure if I average 1000 words a week, it will take me 80 weeks to reach my word count goal - a little more than a year and a half. I'm sure there will be times when my work load might be less and I might be able to write more, but we shall see. Still, I'm looking at finishing this project some time in 2012! Even though I know it will go by quickly, that seems a long way off. In other news, I finished reading The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks today. It was one of...