It's been a while...

I've not abandoned the blog, I promise. Tomorrow is a Sunday, which means if I have time between Easter festivities I will be posting a journal. ("I know! I'll have a feature! That'll make sure I post regularly." Oh, over-optomistic self. Ha. And again, I say, Ha.) For tonight, I'll do some other stuff I promised I'd do.

Beta'ing. So, My first ever Beta partner and I finished reading each other's work a few months ago, I finished editing my way through her comments, and I haven't touched Accidents since (except to do some self-conscious editing. I can't help myself.) On the experience of having work critiqued, it was very constructive and encouraging, and I think I had a good partner. I wish I had a partner I knew a better, since it's a little easier to do cross-examination with a friend. There were a few things, mostly small, on which I very strongly disagreed, and I had to just take it as a difference in taste/lack of understanding.

On the experience of critiqueing - I've done it before, on a smaller scale, but I find it very rewarding to get deep into the nitty-gritty bits of a story and try to make it shine its absolute brightest. It was a good story (outside my prefered genre by a fair margin, but what can you do?) and I don't for a second regret the time spent with the characters. I always knew I liked editing, but this kind of makes me think I might have the stamina for it, I mean professionally. I'd love so much to work with an editor...

The maiden Beta voyage deemed successful, I am now one step closer to being query-ready. I thought I'd have queried by now, this time last year, but there's still a little more I want to tweak. My goal is to get it going by this summer. Fingers crossed!

It's a New Year...

I should get some sort of award. "Latest New Year Post". Isn't there a wall of shame somewhere for people like me?

Anyway.

I'm not gonna do a list of resolutions, because I don't like to be disappointed or disappoint others. However there are a few things I'm planning. Tentatively.

1. I would like to blog twice or thrice a week. Because my current level of suck here is just ridiculous.

2. I want to read all the classics on my TBR list (To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, some Shakespeare, and finish Huck Finn and Dorian Gray).

3. I want to be more outgoing; comment more, interact, etc.

4. I want to query for Accidents and complete at least two first drafts.

That's all. At least, all the interweb related ones.

In other news, I finally found a beta partner. Her name is Writein and we met on Absolute Write (wonderful forums, an awesome query workshop and lively discussions) on a third party's beta reader request thread. I'll see if I can scrounge up a post about betas and editing after we've finished each others books.

And, with a B&N giftcard graciously given by my aunt, I've read Personal Demons, Ink Exchange, House of Many Ways, and am about a third through with Dorian Gray (I also bought Danger Days, new album of awesome, but I can't start talking about that or I swear I will gush). House of Many Ways was wonderful; even better than Castle in the Air, but not quite as good as Howl's Moving Castle, I thought. Ink Exchange was really neat, and I'll probably be reading more Melissa Marr soon. Personal Demons was great, but dunno if I'm gonna read Original Sin. Got a few funny looks carrying that book around, but it's worth it. Dorian Gray is an example of why I don't need drugs - a future favorite, I think. Probably all of these will show up in the English Journals posts eventually, but my journal is now being graded for the last quarter, which is why I didn't post one tonight. When I get it back, the next two will be for Pegasus by Robin McKinley. (Edit: I lied. They're actually about Living Dead Girl. I'll get to Pegasus eventually.)

Happy New Year. Anyone have any fun resolutions (or tentative plans) for 2011?

Music and Writing

A few days ago, I was getting ready to edit a scene from my WIP and literally couldn't bring myself to start until I brought some music up in the background. I'm one of those authors who finds it much easier to write with music. It often reinforces and/or inspires certain characters or relationships, regardless of if the songs themselves are mentioned in the book.

That being said - My Chemical Romance has been my favorite band for several years. They have a brand new album out, and I've done more than I usually would to celebrate the occasion, partly because of the band, but partly because this album has already been an inspiration, from the time I heard the promo for the very first single. I won't be able to buy the CD 'til I get some funds (Christmas money is never saved with me), but I've watched every video, including one with the entire album on it (you can see why I love this band, yes?) and I'm excited. Very, very excited. There is one driving force behind this excitement: Spade.

I haven't talked about Spade much, and I won't, because it's not my project. Well, I'm co-author, but it's not my baby/brain-child, the idea came from a friend that just got too busy to do all the writing herself. I offered to help, and she offered to let me. It's my fall-back project for when I'm stuck on my own stuff, or just need a break.

Like MCR's new album, Danger Days, Spade is a dystopian set in California (though it's more governmental breakdown than true disaster story), and it has it's light/dark moments. We don't have masks, dracs, or blasters, but we do have a kidnapping, copious amounts of thievery, and rebellion. While hearing Danger Days for the first time, I thought continually about Spade, the characters and what I love about them, and about that book.

There was once a rather self-indulgent scene early in Spade where a large group of characters start bawling out 'Teenagers', a MCR song, when it came on the radio. Now, in my mind, that scene that probably won't make it past revisions has 'Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na)' in it, instead. Whenever I think about the two MCs, I feel like 'The Only Hope For Me is You' and 'Sing' are their songs, their hope and their message. And that's what I love about MCR, about this album, and about music. It rings true to me as a fan, a person, and a creator, and it makes me want to write and draw and get up in front of people and scream my lungs out. That's my definition of good music.

So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, thanks go out to MCR, for breaking the rules, making this album, and bringing back the sunshine and color. It's been a trip watching them grow as artists and leeching off their inspiration.

In closing, MCR rocks, dystopians are fun, and this was an unusually long blog post. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Insert one long, satisfying scream

That's what editting feels like. All of the annoyance and pain you went through writing in the first paste, doubled over with the neccesity to nit-pick, escaping in a drawn-out burst of energy, praying you'll get it all done before your breath runs out. And then, in the silence, the sense of accomplishment is renewed, and you can look at your (hopefully) improved work with pride.

Okay, so I'm not done editting yet. It takes a long time to edit 70,000 words. But I'm plugging away at it, getting it done so I can start looking for some outside feedback and then - finally - sending it out to agencies. My English teacher is reading it as I edit, but he's so busy that he doesn't mind how long it's taking. =P I recently finished reading his book, which he is also editting, so we've had some interesting literary convos. Take my advice, if you're a young writer: don't just talk to other young writers. Find some older, more experienced, perhaps even published authors to talk to. It shouldn't be that hard; between two of my aunts, I could get connected with dozens of published writers. Ask you relatives or teachers or even librarians if there are any local authors you could contact with writing questions. Even if it's not extremely helpful, it's a good connection, and it gives you experience in "talking shop" with other writers.

Anyhow, while the editting scene is interesting only to me, the artsy side of my life is a little less dry. I've found this cool little shop - Feels Like Ohm (yay, puns) - that sells local art, among other things, in my town. I've talked to the owner and I'm planning on bringing in some stuff for her to look at soon. Hah, if my stuff sells well, maybe I can draw instead of work this summer.

I love this blog. It's so much fun to talk to myself. <3