I’ve expressed the view that my next book, Dissolution would have been a better project to start my writing career. I said that because the subject matter is a serious one - adultery, compounded by the existence of an illegitimate child.

I was so hoping that when I got the edits back, they would be as simple as the ones I did for Contraband. I’m not so lucky this time around. The editor is asking that I round out some plot threads. It’s a good thing I’m working with a printed version, so I can work back and forth, especially since I don’t have a clue which point to tackle first.

Don’t get me wrong, I wrote some details into one scene yesterday, which I think worked really well. I need to do the same thing today. My challenge, as always, is to get moving. I tend to look at the problem from different angles, worry about it and then start writing in a fit of
desperation.

When I do start writing, I’m usually energized and can’t stop until I spill everything that needs to go on the page.

This blog post is a way to get me moving in the right direction. Once I’ve clarified my thoughts here, I can tackle what needs to be done.

I’m gonna write in the stuff that I can now, but based on the editor’s comments - and the subject matter of so many of my novels - I’m going to need to talk to a policeman for some more indepth information than I now have. In fact, I need one I can talk to at the drop of a hat, since I seem to be fascinated with stuff that calls for police presence or expertise.

I also need to set some goals here, some realistic ones, I might add. I want to get the three or four areas written in by weekend. By then, I might have found that police officer I need.

My friends Corra and Sybil reminded me that we’ve now gone half the year, which is a good point to review what I’ve achieved so far. I posted a list of goals on January 5 and I haven’t looked at it much, but I did keep some of the stuff in the back of my mind. Let’s see what I got done.

* Writing time. I noted that I needed more, which I still haven’t got. I planned to complete my last project at the end of February, but got it done by April. I’ve printed it out and I’m in the process of editing it. I’m keeping track of the edits here. This project should be complete in another month or so.

* Article a month for the local newspaper’s literary pages. - Nothing happened here except for a story or two. I plan to get at least a couple done within the next two months.

* Complete sequel to Sweet Music Man/Distractions - I set a deadline of year end for this. I should be able to get it done.

* I wanted to submit a young adult novel in the 2010 Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s Creating Writing Competition. That’s not on since I only managed to get three chapters written since last November.

* Contraband was edited and is now published, so that’s been put to bed. Oh and Sybil made me a cool book trailer. You can see it here.

* Agent search . - The trouble is still lack of time. Within the next 10-15 days I need to start editing Sweet Music Man with a view to finding an agent. I aim to finish editing this novel by the end of July. The agent search will begin in August.

*I’ve taken on additional projects - Annika’s Revenge, Grudge, Lost & Found, and one other that doesn’t yet have a name. I know I can’t possibly write all of these at once, so I’m keeping a blog where I put down ideas as they come. By the time I’m ready to write, I’ll know my characters and the path their stories will take.  Not sure what deadline to put on these projects, but let’s just say maybe in another year or so, I’ll have maybe two of them written.

* My website needs a makeover so bad! I did a great job and then couldn’t load it up. Now I’m using Web Expression, but I don’t like the program, so I play with it for a while and then quit to surf the net. Don’t know when I’ll get this done. I’ve been playing with the thought of using a blog for my official website. I can’t even begin to think of a deadline to get this sorted out. If I had money to pay for this sort of stuff, things would be sweet!

* I was speaking to someone who suggested that I apply for a grant, based on some of the things I want to do for my writing and my books. I must get this done within another fifteen days. I’ve been dawdling too long over it.

Here’s hoping that come December 30, I’ll be able to take most of this stuff off my list. Thanks Corra and Sybil!  There’s nothing like accountability to keep me on track.

In the normal course of our lives, we talk about ‘blessings in disguise’, but until recently I haven’t really thought about what it has meant for me as a writer.

In 2007, I thought I had a salable manuscript, so onward I went with querying. I sent the novel to a publisher who asked to see it. To date, I have not had a response, despite at least two emails questioning what was happening with the manuscript. I took their silence as a hint and moved on.

Looking back, I admit the manuscript was not ready. It was over one hundred thousand words - way too much for a romantic suspense novel. Since then, I’ve pared it down and found another publisher. Considering the plot twists, I can live with the new word count, until, of course, the editor starts snipping.

As part of my research, I try to read novels printed by the publishers I query. I also like to read what other Jamaican writers produce, since my work is a lot different. I went ahead and bought a novel that was published by the company I had queried. Of course, I wanted to know if my work was so bad that it did not even merit an ‘I’m sorry, but this is not what we’re looking for at this time.”

I found the book interesting and read it within two days, however, I had a problem with the editing. Too many errors had passed into print. At that time, I consoled myself with the thought that I had had a lucky escape.

A few weeks ago, I saw a second novel from the same author and decided to buy it. I’m reading the book now and know for a fact that the publisher’s silence was indeed a blessing in disguise.

I don’t know how many other writers read the way I do. Firstly, I read for enjoyment. After that, I concentrate on craft - how the novel is plotted, the language the writer uses, the depth of the characters, and whether I’m satisfied at the end.

Few novels make it to print without an error or two in there somewhere, but I was very disturbed by the careless way in which the book was edited. I might have excused it if the book was self-published or they were doing a second print run and couldn’t bother with the expense of a new round of editing, but this was a new work. I’m not sure I understand what might have gone wrong.

I count a fair number of writers as my friends. I’ve never met them face-to-face, but via the writing networks where I’m a member. We are critique partners and read each others work for just about everything. My forte is that I have a good grasp of English. I don’t know many grammatical terms, but I can look at a sentence and know when it needs fixing and how to fix it.

When my manuscript came back to me for editing, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the major part of what I had to do was add commas in some places. I also had to provide deeper explanations for why this or that thing happened, and add a new scene, but I did not have to do any rewrites. Yippee!

I say that to say this. If I, as an ordinary person can present a piece of relatively error free writing, what excuse does a publisher have for sending a book into the world, that nit-pickers like me can savage with a highlighter? I imagine if the writer has read the book and picked up these errors, she would have been cringing through the entire novel.

I’m perfectly aware that there are writers who can’t spell and who don’t know the difference between lie/lay and their/there, among other things. Some of these people are my friends- published writers who hire others to do the job they can’t do, or they hand over their manuscript, knowing an editor will work out all the kinks. In the same way, when I turn my manuscript over to a publisher, I do so with the expectation that they will catch the things I missed.

Two weeks after I got my book, I took time to read it. I noticed a sentence added here and there that enhanced the text. I noted at one point where a sex scene had been removed, that the splicing was not very smooth. I saw mini slip-ups with the typesetting and oh, yes, a few errors we missed on both sides. However, for the most part, I am happy with how the book turned out. Apart from that lingering fear that I’ve written 260 pages of drivel, I can hold the book up proudly and say ‘I wrote this!’

I’m not so sure this fellow writer can unreservedly say the same. Every instance of ‘past’ in the book was left as ‘pass/passed’ - so people were going ‘pass’, looking ‘pass’ and walking ‘pass’. To be truthful, I began to wonder if I had got it wrong.

One character couldn’t ‘bare’ the thought of…There was a ‘sad tragedy’. In a couple of instances, people ‘edged’ when they were meant to ‘hedge’. Commas were scarce in the entire thing, including places where they are a must, eg. before and after names. I’m wondering if some of the rules changed and I’ve been tardy with catching up.

And then there were embellishments that needed to come out, like ‘Hostile rage’ and ‘smirked sarcastically’. I’m at the point where I’m reading with a highlighter in hand. In case you’re wondering why, it’s not that I’m spiteful. I also do some editing and this sort of exercise hones my skills.

To get back on point, don’t think for a moment that I blame the writer; a disservice has been done to her. The final product is the responsibility of the publisher. I’m wondering what I’d do if I found out that my editor was less skilled than me in the editing department. Food for thought, eh?

I have a blog where I’ve started posting my thoughts on books I’ve read. I’ll skip this novel because I might get into trouble. Still, I can’t help but say ‘Thank God!’ this publisher passed me over.

If this rejection wasn’t a blessing in disguise, then I don’t know what is.

So now that I have actual copies of Contraband in hand, I’m back on the inland promotional trail big time. I’ve spoken with the largest book distributor on the island and once they ‘approve’ the novel, I’m good to go.

I spoke with the manager of another bookstore I had contacted previously and I have the go-ahead to bring them copies of the book. I’m sweetening the deal by inserting a book marker in each. Hopefully, they’ll reach the people buying the book. I’ll be sure to leave some in the store as well.

I told myself I wouldn’t do the launch until October when the second book comes out. My girlfriend steamrolled me and kicked that idea to the curb.

“Are you crazy?” she asked. “We’ve waited so long for this and now you don’t want to have a book launch! We’re gonna do it no later than the summer. October? Are you kidding? We have to hit the ground running with this!”

And so on, and so forth.

Sooooo, I guess we’re still having a book launch.

She gave me a brilliant idea while she ranted. I’m going to bind the 3-4 copies I’m using for reviews, so they don’t start looking tacky. I should have that done by tomorrow.

It feels good to be doing something other than editing, writing, and spinning my wheels.

A year ago, I dusted off the first chapter of a novel I wanted to enter in a competition. I didn’t end up submitting it, but I did accept some advice from a rude man who reviewed the chapter. I have to admit what I posted as the first chapter was indeed long at 4,300 words. Not everybody can digest that much of an unpublished novel at one sitting. Me? If I’m reading on the run, 2,500 - 3,000 words are manageable. I’ll do 5,000 if I have some time to spare. I’m going through the first chapter again, exactly a year later and came across the review I mentioned earlier.

The reader told me he was with me up ‘til the time my character hit her office. He didn’t think finding out what she did as an insurance broker was important. Nor did he think it was worth his time to read a paragraph where I mentioned her best friend and her husband, along with her (my character’s) sister.

He went on to tell me he - as the writer - would have skipped an interaction with her assistant and the bad-tempered customer. He suggested I have her go back to the office and…

…spend some time doing flashback thoughts in her cubicle. Then she answers the phone and it’s Christophe, which gets her all upset as you have it.

Interestingly, he also said.

You can work all this information in (assuming it is, indeed, necessary to the story), but you need to do it within the context of some progression of whatever the real story is - which I assumed from the way it started had to do with Anya’s angst about Christophe.

I read his commentary and then read it again after I lost the urge to find him and stab him in the eyes. I made some changes to the chapter, but I like to think about what I write in the context of life as I know it. I could have had my character sitting in her office thinking about the man she lost, however, humans do not exist in a vacuum. In the course of a day at work, I daresay I interact with more than twenty individuals in a number of situations.

In the chapter, I didn’t go in-depth with her job function. She had an antsy client making some unreasonable demands. I dealt with those through instructions to the assistant to prepare a letter and quotation for the client. I know. Who wants to be bogged down by the intricacies of working for an insurance brokerage? While that reader thought that scene unnecessary, he was the sole person who had a problem with it. I decided to keep it, simply because it has much to do with the plot of the story.

We do a diverse amount of things in a day and have hundreds, if not thousands of thoughts. Fiction has to be intriguing to hold the reader and yet there have to exist points of familiarity to which the reader can relate.

Now, I realize that I can’t cram much more than a few sentences of back story into the first chapter, but I think that as the writer it’s my job to know what is necessary to include from the get-go.

I’ve used his suggestions to take a hard look at this chapter. I cut a bit of it and made it into the second chapter, but what was reinforced for me is something that I had to learn very early in my writing journey. It’s smart to listen to those who critique my work, however, I have to trust my instincts, and yet be ruthless as the same time. I’m the only one who knows the story I’m writing and have to exercise judgment on what needs to be in there and what I can do without. I’ll change something if there’s a compelling reason to do so. Otherwise I edit when the editor tells me I’ve got to make adjustments.

I have a few reasons to be relieved today.

Thanks to Alan Miles, my blog is up and running once more. My book, Contraband, was released last Friday.

That project is a five-year adventure, helped along by a band of people I’ve never met, yet I call them friends.

I still marvel at this thing we call the internet. It’s helped me reach individuals I wouldn’t have otherwise. I’ve learned most of what I know about writing through studying material I found on the net. And now, I’ll continue marketing my work, using this wonderful communication tool.

I’m feeling especially grateful. I had a sort of epiphany. The meaning below I took from dictionary.com

e•piph•a•ny

-noun, plural-nies.

a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

I’ve known for some time now that I need more time in which to write. I have completed novels that must be edited and sent on their way into the world. There are other projects I should start writing. And there are those for which I need time to do mind-maps so I can get them out of my brain and posted somewhere.

I’ve spent half my life working for other people. Now, I need to find a way to make a decent living working for myself so as to be able to concentrate on what I enjoy doing.

Initially, I put out feelers to get started with editing for other people. I’ve done nothing more about that. I must move on this and other things.

To borrow a phrase, I need to start living my life on purpose.

When the publisher told me my manuscript was on the way back to me, I hoped that I wouldn’t have to make many changes.  Luckily, I didn’t.  But what I do have to work at is wrapping up some stuff I thought I was complete.

I hinted at some of the stuff in conversation, thinking those ends were nicely wrapped up; however my publisher thinks otherwise.  The hanging threads need to be sewn up tight, leaving no doubt as to the outcome of two critical situations in the novel.

The facilitator at the workshop  I used to attend always warned the group never to write down to the reader.  Always assume the reader is more intelligent than you are, he used to say.  I’m wondering if I took a good saying too far.  Nonetheless, I’ve learned some good things from this experience.

1.    Don’t gloss over solutions: Better to write in what I consider tiny details that could turn out to be important in terms of leaving the reader satisfied.

2.    Don’t be sloppy: In the story, one of my characters is abducted.  The men who did it got nabbed, but I never mentioned how the accusation was laid against the kidnappers and how the police tied that crime to the heroine’s uncle, except to say that he knew his cohorts would finger him to save themselves.   That’s one of the things I have to fix.

3.    Never stop learning: Like a lot of other writers, I’m learning on the job.  When I went through
the manuscript , I noted that the editor added a lot of comma’s I missed the first time around.

In the interim, I’d done some more editing and put most of the commas in, so that wasn’t a
hardship.  The point is that I’ve improved in my craft, so much so that I got most of the commas
in the right places.  I’m a firm believer in learning something new every day, and I figure as long
as I’m writing, I have tons more that I need to know.

4.    Beware improper document formatting: Somehow, I ended up with a nightmarish situation, wherein I had double spaces in my double spaced manuscript.  The extra spaces refused to go away, no matter what I did.

My writing pals gave wonderful advice, which should have worked, but all to no avail.  I started the document in Word 2003 and eventually transferred it over to Word 2007, so I’m not sure at what point my file might have got corrupted.  After half the day spent deleting spaces one paragraph at a time, I’m not willing to take on that kind of horror again.  I plan to be very, very careful with formatting my manuscripts.

5.    A manuscript is never, ever complete: no matter that at some point, usually after the 50th or so read, the body of work in question feels as if nothing can possibly be out of place.  The editor put in some simple questions, which made me realize that I hadn’t shown how the character felt about a particular situation, or a significant bit of news.

Needless to say, I’ll still feel there’s stuff to edit an I will want to edit the book when I have it in my hand.

6.   Spare some of your ‘had’s and ‘wases’: Unpublished writers tend to be hard on each other for the dreaded ‘was’ and the loose use of ‘had’, but hey, like other writers about to be published, I’ve come to realize that sometimes there’s no getting around them.  I’ve gone to the point where I avoided the use of these two words at the peril of having my sentences sound unnatural.  I’m not advocating going overboard, but if my story is compelling enough and I limit myself, then there’s nothing wrong with making use of ‘had’ and ‘was’.

7.    Relax and enjoy the ride: I’m now ready to admit, I’ll never cross every ‘t’ and dot every ‘i’, but I’ll come as close as I can to submitting the perfect best possible manuscript every time.

If I can remember this stuff for my next manuscript then I’ll be way ahead of this game.  Hope this will help you as you navigate through your work-in-progress.

I’m sure you’ve had one of those days when you really should be… insert the appropriate ending here…instead of idling at the keyboard.

I really should be editing, but I doubt that’s gonna happen tonight. I got my fair share of word juggling done earlier this evening and thought I’d do some more when I got home.  But ‘herself’ refuses to cooperate.  My batteries need re-charging, I think.

Sooo, I’ve answered email and checked out Facebook, plus the other places where I’m supposed to be networking.  I’d be lying if I said I did anything useful though.  Think I’m just tired.

Nonetheless, I’m turning over ideas for the next scene of the novel-in-progress. My heroine was kidnapped, and at chapter’s end, had a gun pointed at her. Now for the life of me, I haven’t figured out what the hero is doing in the following chapter, other than wondering why she disappeared.  Meantime, I’m visualizing how my seductress manages to escape in her follow-up chapter.

I’m one of those writers who almost never writes out of sequence — well, except for love scenes — but anyway, if I get bored waiting for the hero’s material to shake loose, I might just get on with writing the escape chapter next.

I read Corra’s blog today, which reminded me that I have a character blog I’ve been ignoring.  Gotta get on that too, because I have some story material percolating in the background. She suggested I link to it from my blog page. Excellent idea.  Then, I’d remember sometimes that the thing exists.

But for now I have to concentrate on the edits for Contraband. After that, I’m free to swan off in any direction I like…or so I think.

More anon…

I said I’d come back to talk about what I have on the front burner in the writing department for 2010.  I don’t want to burden myself with too many goals, some of which might be impossible to achieve.

*  I definitely must make more writing time.  I’m on deadline for a project and need to pick up the pace there.  I must have that book written by the end of February, so I can do several edits, before I send it on its way.

*  I plan to write an article a month for the local newspaper’s literary pages.  Last year, I was almost on target with this.

*  The sequel to Sweet Music Man/Distractions is begging me to finish it.  I need to make time for that.  This is the least demanding of my projects, so I’m still thinking about what time line to set for completion.  I just know I have to finish this before year end.

*  I shelved the young adult novel I planned to write for NaNo and went with book two above.  I need to start putting some ideas together for this next in the series of three books.  I really wanted to enter this book in the 2010 Jamaica Cultural Development Commission Creating Writing Competition. I might be living in a dream world to think I’ll get this written and edited by July.  Realistically, I might have to sit out the novel segment this year, despite what my extremely competitive self is telling me. I better focus on a short story.

*  The edited version of Contraband is on its way to me.  That has top priority.

*  I need to find me an agent.  The trouble is the lack of time.  Based on my output already — and in a perfect world — I should be writing full-time.  Both my YA novels won awards in the competition mentioned above. I need to edit them and get them to an agent. In these days of vampires, witches and  kids with super-powers, I wonder how well coming-of-age novels will do.

*  I’d also like to find an agent for Sweet Music Man/Distractions, after I’m done editing.  Adultery is a ticklish subject and I’ve found that some people don’t seem able to separate fiction from their personal beliefs long enough to enjoy a story.  Let’s just say I’m putting this on my list of things to do so that I don’t forget it.  If I can see it on a list, I’ll get around to doing it.

On another note — I have to do something about my hair.  Sometimes, I think I have quicksilver in my head.  Got me a great haircut and my hightlights were beautiful.  Then on Friday night I got home and pulled out a box of permanent hair colour I’ve had for a while.  The colour listed was Brown Sable and the hair segment on the box showing the likely results had brown hair.  I ain’t lying.  I applied this stuff — forgetting to separate my highlighted section which is mostly in the front.

On Saturday morning, I woke to a head full of jet black hair.  To put it mildly, I’ve been concerned ever since. What to do now?  Can’t use any more permanent colour for a while, but hair the colour of midnight is just not exciting to look at.  ‘Course, my stylist had a whale of a time with this.  There’s hell to pay for being an impulsive soul.

Sigh.

With a book coming out in April of this year, I should be working on the stand-alone sequel.  Note I said should.  I’ve got six chapters done and put them up for critiques at the workshop where I’m a member. 

In the past, I would have completed twice the amount of chapters in the time I’ve been fiddling with this new story.  I admit that I’m not as focused as I used to be, which I find peculiar.  Before I got a book contract, I worked harder.  I was always on a story, trying to write chapters as quickly as possible to satisfy my readers. 

Thing is, I’m not as focused now.  Partly because I have so many things going on in my head.  I’m thinking about the various things I can do to get my name and book cover out there. I’m also working out how to generate demand, to ensure good sales. 

I can’t deny it, I also like to browse the net.   Not random sites, mind you, just a few places where I hang out daily.  But I’m finally admitting to myself how much time I waste doing that, and this is stuff I do several times per day - mostly when I’m bored or between tasks. 

I started a chapter last night, but then I decided to ‘check on things’ before I got down to writing this morning.  I did an-hour-and-a-half worth of surfing and interacting and I didn’t got a single word written. 
Now, the book in question is scheduled for release in October;  I told myself I’d get it done by the end of February, edited by the end of April and off to the publisher, so they’d have five months with it. Ideally, I wanted them to have it six months in advance.  That’s definitely not possible.

But I know what I need to do to stay on track.  Cram email, Facebook, Twitter, and what not, into two time slots for the day and limit myself to those periods.  I’ll consider rewarding myself with a third slot AFTER I’ve got another ten chapters or so written.  It’s the only way I’m gonna get anything done. 

How do you keep yourself from wandering the net all day long?