This week I continue the painful revision of my WIP. I move forward in little packets of about 50 words. I've sliced out a 2000 word scene and am slowly replacing it with something that actually moves the story forward. This is another brick in the wall of achieving phenomenal success in novel writing or perhaps another brick in the wall of stupendous failure -- I'm not about halves. I comfort myself with the bravery of trying.
I had lunch with friends Candy Fite, Nisha Coker, J., SCBWI BV RA Liz Mertz, and Tammy Hensel. J. said some profound stuff to me about writing what excites and infuses the soul. I'm working on that deep honesty. What does my heart yearn to write above all things? I'm not sure. I'm thinking about that. Something inside me want to dive into far flung universes and fantastical stuff. It feels like a good road, but I worry I might be too mundane to pull this off. Do you worry about stuff that?
On another note, I've learned so much about accepting all of me in the last couple of years that I'm going to toss out a thought or two. I think Walt Whitman was getting at something I've discovered too. He said this: "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself; I am large -- I contain multitudes." I am the bravest person I know and the biggest chicken too. I can rise up and fall just as hard in the same hour. I am certainly multitudes, and some of the folks in this crowd aren't worth two cents, I just accept it.
Well, that is is some wandering blogging. I hope something connects.
Here is a doodle:
Quote for the week:
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
from Still I'll Rise by Maya Angelou
5 comments:
Your chicken and flowers make me happy. Yes, I, too contain multitudes. I am avoiding revision like the plague ... it's a mountain of work. Yet, that is what I want to do most. I hope yours will go smoothly. I did read Holly Lisle's essay on how she does revisions. Maybe it will help you too.
So where is the Holly Lisle's essay? I look around online and there was the complex course decription like 21 weeks to you best novel but she can do it in a month. It sounded like a similar approach as the Darcy Pattison revision course too. I'm not sure whtat is the best approach. Just thinking...
I hope you get rain because no rain is coming this way today. Sigh.
Molly
Here's the short FREE article: http://hollylisle.com/how-to-revise-a-novel/
Hey, how is it in Molly's World today? Nisha and I met this morning, and it got me thinking about you, the Brazos group, lunch and all that jazz. Btw, THANK YOU for putting my link up on your post!
Lately, it seems I'm having a writing slump, along with a genre inner-crisis. What is it I want to write?
This post resonated with me, and I just wanted to say hello. Hope it's okay, I'm now stalking your blog. :))
Hi Candy, Sorry I haven't replied to this. I'm glad you and Nisha are meeting that definitely the road to success. You are certainly welcome for the link. I noted that Nisha has a blog too. I will link to her down the road.
On what to write, I was able to cut ties with genre when I realized that I was really about theme. Many successful authors write in multiple genres. Write what excites you, what you have energy for and that will lead you down the road you are supposed to go. Peace. Molly
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