Wednesday, April 6, 2011

When Persistence Becomes A Vice

Don't forget - ATWOP's interview with Chris Womersley, author of the critically acclaimed novel BEREFT, is only just around the corner. I, for one, can't wait.
Stay tuned!

Some of you may recall that I've been undertaking a bit of a self-taught course on Suspense Writing and Plotting 101 these past few months. This was brought on by my realisation that before I went any further with my attempts to massage some life into my manuscript, I needed to step away from my draft, gain some perspective, submerse myself in all things suspense and then write me a new, good and proper outline.

I'm pleased to say that as of last week, I'm done with the immersion therapy, and have started writing and revising again. I've got a lot of work ahead of me but I'm cautiously happy about what I'm doing and I'm definitely on a roll. Yay!

The down side? In less than two weeks my kids begin nineteen days of school holidays, which means this roll I'm on will most likely come to a screeching halt.

So, in order to get as much done as I can before the kids take over the house, I've gone into black out mode. I'm ignoring Facebook, Twitter, all the blogs I subscribe to and even (gulp!) my emails, and I'm getting down to the business of writing my fingers to the bone while I still have time.

Which is all a round about way of explaining why I don't have a post of my own for you today. But what I do have is a link to a most excellent piece by Victoria Strauss, originally posted on Writer Beware.

It's all about the vice of persisting with shopping the same manuscript, year in, year out, without success, and without ever moving on to your next book. I found myself nodding along with much of what Victoria had to say ...


Enjoy, and I'll catch you again when next I surface for air!

4 comments:

  1. Good luck Rachel! Can't wait to see some snips when you emerge from blackout [bg]

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  2. Good luck with the black out! Enjoy all that revising.

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  3. I agree. At times we really need to step away from the manuscript and move onto something else. Months, even years, later we'll take it back out and have a fresh eye for it. Best of luck!

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  4. @ Deniz, E.C. and Mary Mary - thanks for the well wishes, guys! Much appreciated. :-)

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