So. After nearly two and a half years of research, drafting, backwriting, rewriting, drafting, and workshopping, I've decided to put The Manuscript away. Maybe for good.
It's terrifying, because for the last two years I've been working on virtually nothing else. But the fact is, all those hours of research amounted to only about a third of what the novel needs, and despite revision after revision since around a year ago, the novel was still a structural mess. When I started, I absolutely did not have the skill either to flesh out a fully-developed world closely based on real civilizations or to build approximately six interlocking plot arcs into a coherent narrative. The Manuscript shows this.
I think it still has promise if I'm willing to put several more years into it, but I don't think that several years on one novel are what I need as a writer. I've learned a ton about my process by working on it, I had an awesome experience workshopping it in my supervision course at school, and it's given me confidence that I can, eventually, develop into a Real Professional Writer. But there's only so much to be learned from sludging through the revision bog.
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So, now what?
I've got another story that's been sitting on the back burner for quite some time now. I drafted a very confused version of it around March 2013, decided confused was about as good as it was going to get at that point, and consigned it to the depths of my file folder. Remembered it a couple of months ago and started toying with the ideas.
I originally wanted it to be a short story, but it would like to be awkward novella length. I'm going to see if I can wrangle it into a novel. It's deeply disturbing and kind of verges on the horror genre. It would be the first of a number of stories set in the same universe.
I've got a (structurally coherent!) outline and the first two scenes drafted. It's going to be my submission to Viable Paradise. Once I finish drafting the submission (I think the first five scenes will fit) I'm going to throw it up on Google Drive and see if I can bribe a few writerly friends to look it over for me. (I would wink at the people I've marked out as targets, but I don't know if any of them are following the blog just now.) Once I've got some realistic feedback, I'll write my cover letter and send it in -- at the moment trying to write a cover letter feels like diving into an abyss of inadequacy, mostly because I have no idea what anyone will think of this new story.
I think I've written the paragraph that will hook the instructors, though. I think that reading this story has destroyed my sense of reasonable human behavior in a novel, because it's kind of a scary paragraph.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Viable Paradise XVIII: Life
Why hello there. It's been a while, hasn't it? Let me brush the dust off.
A whole lot and a very little has happened over the last...er, seven months. I went to England. I finished my degree. I turned my part-time summer job into a full-time gig, at least for this year. I started looking into applying for the Peace Corps.
Writing? Yeah, that happened too. I've been plugging away at The Manuscript, which has been simultaneously getting more unwieldy, turning more story-shaped, and losing steam.
Not that I've been losing interest -- but I've settled into it. Y'know, feed the monster its tidbit for the day and wander off to other things. I think that's how I would characterize my writing in general since October or so -- a thing to chip away at every day or so without too much attention or concern. It's definitely taken the backseat to Life Things.
Which, well, is that bad? To a certain extent it was necessary -- gotta finish the degree, get some steady work to pay for groceries, start planning for the future, etc. etc. etc. But I don't think I realized the extent to which it had happened until the last week or two.
Last weekend, I discovered Viable Paradise. It's a week-long workshop on Martha's Vineyard, which is not an unreasonable distance from where I live (or an unreasonable amount of time to take off work). The submission requirement is (a) short stor(y/ies), novella, or novel portion of up to 8,000 words -- the first three scenes of The Manuscript happen to clock in at about 7,800. I jumped for it.
But then, this week, I started really doing my research to write a cover letter. And, well...I'm thinking this workshop might be just a wee bit out of my depth. The vast majority of students seem to have some sort of publishing experience, to be -- if not exactly settled into their career -- at least headed somewhere with it. Me? I've barely started. I haven't sent out stories to publishers. What I know about the industry is all theory. I'm almost positive I'd be the youngest person in the room.
Which, well, that's not necessarily a dealbreaker if I can show that I'm knowledgeable and have caliber -- but it got me thinking.
What do I want, as a writer? What would I be looking for if I went to Viable Paradise?
There are the straightforward things, the stuff everyone wants: Craft advice. Tips and tricks about the professional/marketing side of things. Validation.
But specific to me? Well, what's the next step for me as a writer? It occurs to me that 'MOAR WORKSHOP MORE LEARNING MORE CLASSES' is probably not the end answer. I've sort of come to the point where my first goals have been met. B.A.? Check. See if you can write a novel? Check -- I know I'm capable of finishing The Manuscript, although I've still got a long way to go.
The next obvious step is to get to know the market. Draw up some short stories. Start sending them around. See if I can at least garner some personalized rejections. That's a matter of work and practice on my part, not something a high-level program like VP is going to help me with -- if anything, it's something I should have accomplished before I apply.
So here's my plan: Still give the VP application a try, because why not. I can always try again another year if they don't think I'm ready. Draft a cover letter, fix up the outline of The Manuscript (the last one dates from before some significant plot changes), and give the first three scenes a good polish. Then: SET THE MANUSCRIPT ASIDE and start working on some smaller stuff. Start applying what I've learned from The Manuscript and from my workshop classes, and start submitting.
Also, start keeping up my online presence. Again. The Internet is not a thing I'm consistent about.
A whole lot and a very little has happened over the last...er, seven months. I went to England. I finished my degree. I turned my part-time summer job into a full-time gig, at least for this year. I started looking into applying for the Peace Corps.
Writing? Yeah, that happened too. I've been plugging away at The Manuscript, which has been simultaneously getting more unwieldy, turning more story-shaped, and losing steam.
Not that I've been losing interest -- but I've settled into it. Y'know, feed the monster its tidbit for the day and wander off to other things. I think that's how I would characterize my writing in general since October or so -- a thing to chip away at every day or so without too much attention or concern. It's definitely taken the backseat to Life Things.
Which, well, is that bad? To a certain extent it was necessary -- gotta finish the degree, get some steady work to pay for groceries, start planning for the future, etc. etc. etc. But I don't think I realized the extent to which it had happened until the last week or two.
Last weekend, I discovered Viable Paradise. It's a week-long workshop on Martha's Vineyard, which is not an unreasonable distance from where I live (or an unreasonable amount of time to take off work). The submission requirement is (a) short stor(y/ies), novella, or novel portion of up to 8,000 words -- the first three scenes of The Manuscript happen to clock in at about 7,800. I jumped for it.
But then, this week, I started really doing my research to write a cover letter. And, well...I'm thinking this workshop might be just a wee bit out of my depth. The vast majority of students seem to have some sort of publishing experience, to be -- if not exactly settled into their career -- at least headed somewhere with it. Me? I've barely started. I haven't sent out stories to publishers. What I know about the industry is all theory. I'm almost positive I'd be the youngest person in the room.
Which, well, that's not necessarily a dealbreaker if I can show that I'm knowledgeable and have caliber -- but it got me thinking.
What do I want, as a writer? What would I be looking for if I went to Viable Paradise?
There are the straightforward things, the stuff everyone wants: Craft advice. Tips and tricks about the professional/marketing side of things. Validation.
But specific to me? Well, what's the next step for me as a writer? It occurs to me that 'MOAR WORKSHOP MORE LEARNING MORE CLASSES' is probably not the end answer. I've sort of come to the point where my first goals have been met. B.A.? Check. See if you can write a novel? Check -- I know I'm capable of finishing The Manuscript, although I've still got a long way to go.
The next obvious step is to get to know the market. Draw up some short stories. Start sending them around. See if I can at least garner some personalized rejections. That's a matter of work and practice on my part, not something a high-level program like VP is going to help me with -- if anything, it's something I should have accomplished before I apply.
So here's my plan: Still give the VP application a try, because why not. I can always try again another year if they don't think I'm ready. Draft a cover letter, fix up the outline of The Manuscript (the last one dates from before some significant plot changes), and give the first three scenes a good polish. Then: SET THE MANUSCRIPT ASIDE and start working on some smaller stuff. Start applying what I've learned from The Manuscript and from my workshop classes, and start submitting.
Also, start keeping up my online presence. Again. The Internet is not a thing I'm consistent about.
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