pandora/ipod: "get ur freak on" by missy elliott
Inspired by this week's vlog theme of "Where are we now?" over at the YARebels, I thought it was appropriate to do a little update.Well, not from me. Duh. If you watched my vlog this week (and I know you all did, right? RIGHT? *smiles demurely and tries not to look like a psychopath*) you'd know that I have no news to share at the moment, and other than some nebulous research on the Antichrist, no project I'm working on.
No, what I want to know is:
What are you working on?
Give me an update. Are you querying agents? Finishing a manuscript? Researching something new? Waiting to hear back on something? Here's your chance to put it in stone. Got a deadline you need to meet? Tell me and I'll be your personal cheerleader. (That sounded really, really wrong.) Need some motivation to put yourself out there? I'll give you a kick in the bootay. (Again, Gretch, really?)
Yeah. So... Leave me a comment or something!
Ha, I'm dense. It took me a moment to parse the windows 7 icon.
ReplyDeleteMy life is crazy right now! I am:
-Moving to Northern Virginia in a week.
-Trying to sell all my furniture this weekend.
-On my second-to-last day at my job.
-Starting a work-from-home job grading GRE essays as soon as I move.
-Not currently querying (I trunked the novel that I was querying, and am considering it one of those learning experience deals). But itchy to query again.
-5/6ths of the way through my new manuscript. I hope to get it done by August, but with the move, that might be a pipe dream.
I guess that's it. It certainly feels like enough.
Phoebe that's MORE than enough. I don't envy you the move for sure (though I lived just outside DC for three years and totally loved it.) But if you're 5/6ths the way through a rough draft then I say you can totally get it done by August! Well, we'll give you ALL of August to finish it. :D WRITE OR DIE!
ReplyDeleteI have some changes to make on my WIP before I send it to my next beta reader - who is awesome BTW. I just need to make the changes. Maybe next week...
ReplyDeleteGo Nadine! Why do I get the feeling that this will be "the one"?
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks Gretchen! When it comes down to it, I probably WILL write or die!
ReplyDeleteHi Gretchen!
ReplyDeleteLet's see, I put aside the WIP I was working on last month because I was convinced it was a pile of poop and was ready to move on to a Shiny New Idea (which I changed my mind SIX times about, trying to figure out what to work on next!) Now, after having fanilly made my decision on what to work on next, I'm just trying to get up the guts to actually start writing it and I hope to be halfway (or all the way) done with writing the rough draft of my new WIP (which includes my MC being buried alive! :D My only big questions now are, "Why?" and "By whom?") by Augest, when the free online writers conference, WriteOnCon starts!! :D I'll be preying for a miracle (and some guts!) to write this thing by then!
~Breeann
P.S. By the way, thanks so much for e-mailing me back your answers to my interview questions, Gretchen! :D
I finally laid my first novel to rest (though quite reluctantly) as a learning experience. No, I didn't query, but after revising it feels like a big mess of... something *g* and that I need better skills to deal with that than what I have right now. Maybe some time in the future it'll be pulled back out of the dusty drawer.
ReplyDeleteRight now three novel ideas are dancing the tango in my head and each one wants to be written RIGHT THIS SECOND. I'm focussing on an UF Adult, though so far YA has been my thing, because it just won't leave me be. Something about giving the attention to the child that screams the loudest is probably not the right way to go at it, but yeah...
Or let's say I WOULD be focussing on it, if my uni (college) work load wasn't trying to kill me. Anyway. I hope to get the book done and beta-ed and revised and ready for querying at some point this year. And I will query this time!! And rock some serious socks. :D Heh. I hope so at least...
Did this make any sense? I feel rambly.
Hi Gretchen!
ReplyDeleteI know it may sound a little like bs, but I'm really just trying to get inspired right now. As I prepare to right my first manuscript (I'm a teen, so it's okay to be just starting I suppose), I'm really trying to find my voice. I'm outlining like a mad man hoping the pieces will make sense when they're together. My goal is to finish my major gigantic outline by the end of summer, August 18. I'm only a third done. Yikes! I really need to sit down and sink my teeth into it for a while. I'm really excited and nervous to start writing. However I'm not quite sure how I'm going to juggle high school and writing at the same time. That's uncharted waters for me. So it's nothing dire or incredibly interesting, but that is my current situation!
Breeann, that sounds incredible! And BTW, that's exactly what happened to me with BANISH - I wrote 15K, thought it was crap and put it away, then hauled it out after my agent insisted I write it. And it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd remembered!
ReplyDeleteCarolin, if it's any consolation, my first novel O'DONNELL WITH TWO L'S was a big steaming pile o' crap...and I queried it to hell and back! So I hear you. As for the WIPs I also advise going with the idea that's at the front of your brain. Love your analogy of the child who screams the loudest. SO TRUE! /bootay shake
ReplyDeleteMatt, that's fantastic! I didn't start writing until I was in my 30's (oh man, did I really just date myself like that????) and I'm always amazed by you teens who write. I wasn't nearly that functional when I was in high school!
ReplyDeleteHave you checked out both Hannah Moskowitz's and Kody Keplinger's blogs? (Links in my sidebar under YAREBELS). They both sold their first books when they were still in high school and they both talk a lot about the struggled of being a young writer. I bet you'll find some inspiration there!
Matt--I am impressed by any teen that wants to write. Hell--I'm impressed with any teen that wants to READ. Mine don't--which is utterly embarrassing since I am obsessed with books--reading and writing them. I used to write as a teen, but without the internet (you think YOU'RE dating yourself, Gretchen? Ha!) I had no contact with other similar humans so it was a dark secret. Besides I was way too interested in becoming a rock star, even though I had zero talent.
ReplyDeleteWell--here is where I am at. Still looking for a new agent, but with some glimmerings of interest, I am now totally rewriting the ms I thought was done. And really enjoying it. I also am going to be writing a picture book this summer and I have my next WIP that I am totally into.
I am making this summer my own personal writer's intensive. Got a nice new laptop on which to do that!
Hiya Gretchen! :D
ReplyDeleteUm...
I'm only about eight chapters away from finishing this first draft! I'm really excited to get to revising (we'll see how I feel once I actually get there).
I'm about to start an internship at my local newspaper. Kind of nervous about screwing that up.
I start my senior year of high school in less than three weeks. So I have to start getting ready for that (including the three summer assignments I have yet to start).
Lisa, isn't it amazing how a shiny new laptop can be the biggest writing inspiration of all? And a picture book? Wow. That takes balls. Seirously! GO YOU!
ReplyDeleteM.J. - another high school writer! You guys are amazing. Internships and almost-completed manuscripts? I can barely handle that kind of schedule as an adult! Good for you!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm working on a few things, but I've got one story with alternating points of view that takes precedence. Still, I've to have all of my projects finished before the summer's end, because I've an externship this fall that's going to take up all my time. I really want to be finished with all of them by September 15th. It's actually all coming along pretty well.
ReplyDeleteGretchen, thank you! I may not have the self-discipline to crank out a novel within weeks like Hannah does, but both blogs have been helpful to me already! I haven't seen Kody's before, I'm just checking it out now. So far it's great! Thanks so much for the advice and support. I'm liking this new cheerleader thing ;)
ReplyDeleteLisa, thanks so much! I have to say, I'm not sure what I would do without the internet. Outside of the interwebz, I don't know any other writers. I love the online writing community so much. Everyone, from blogs to forums to youtube, is incredibly supportive!
M.J. - Wow, you really have your hands full! A newspaper internship? That's so cool! What a great opportunity to hone your writing skills. I can only wish my community had something like that. Good luck in your Senior Year!
Frank, I have a manuscript sitting around waiting for revisions that in multiple POV so I utterly commiserate with your situation! Still, I loved the challenge of it, and the ability to get inside more than one character. It was aweosme.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your deadline! Sounds totally doable (says she who currently has no deadlines to speak of...)
Matt, when I started to write my first novel I (a) knew nothing about writing and (b) knew no other writers. The Interwebz provided both. I'm eternally grateful and determined to give back!
ReplyDeleteHello Gretchen! =]
ReplyDeleteRight now, I'm revising the first volume of my novel. I tired to start querying, but that's the hardest thing I could ever do, especially for an ongoing series. I honestly don't know where to start. :(
Hello!
ReplyDeleteMy short story was recently published in an anthology. My WIP is in the hands of two lovely agents, but after reading through it again I think I'll be revising the ending a bit more.
Thanks for asking!
Trying to get my WIP into some recognizable order. At this point, I've written it so many times, so many different ways, there are ghosts of past drafts all over the place. And it's frustrating as hell. So, still writing new stuff on it, while trying to make the rest work.
ReplyDeleteRockie,
ReplyDeleteMy own personal bit of advice is to make sure the first novel in your series is a stand alone novel. Series can be a tough sell these days. A "stand alone novel with series potential" might have a better chance of catching someone's eye. Good luck!
L.J. that's AMAZING about the anthology. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Fingers crossed for your querying novel!
ReplyDeleteChandler, you know I'm ready to read that WIP whenever you need it. WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!
ReplyDelete