Season of Revision

Last night I completed the first written draft for DIAC.

Now I enter a new season of revision.

Next to naming my characters, I think the revision step in the writing process is my next favorite. I take the sketch I created and I get to smooth the edges, color in the body, add depth and texture to the face.

It's also incredibly exciting to read the whole story through for the first time. I get to take the whole journey with my characters in one smooth reading.

In addition to completing the first writing step, I also renamed my story. Or rather, I reverted back to a title that is similar to the original title. So DIAC is now titled AHIP. (The original title was AHAW.) I know that the acronyms make no sense if you don't know what they stand for but AHIP, while less direct, is a more accessible title and I think my characters find it less cumbersome. We'll see how I feel about the new title after I've worked through my first revision.

Happy revising to anyone who is currently in the process.

Music

When I write, I often look for music to help direct my mood. It is a rare occasion to write in utter silence.

Music helps me to go to the emotional places that my characters need to go to. For example, I am rarely upset when I have to write about a character who is upset. I don't even know how well I could write if I were upset.

Diac is now within about four chapters of completion. This next chapter is titled Suicide. It is extremely important to hit the right notes with my characters during this scene. I need it to be perfect. In a first draft, some chapters may be allowed to be middling but some must be completely without blemish. In this chapter, Sebastian's emotions need to be spot on.

Do you write to music or do you write in silence?

Love

Do you fall in love with your characters? I do.

I love them as I write them. I love them through their flaws. I love them when they cry and I love them when they laugh.

I have three heroines now and I have enjoyed getting to know each one of them over the years that I have worked to bring them to life on the page.

My first heroine, Abigail, is shy, almost to the point of rudeness. She lacks self-confidence and the esteem to declare what is hers. I enjoyed the journey she and I took to bring her out of her shell and I squealed with delight as she claimed her life as her own. Abigail currently sits in the bottom of a drawer waiting for rewrites but someday I hope to bring her out, improve her, and let her free in the world.

My second heroine, Emmalina, is witty and hardworking. She steps into an unfamiliar world and just takes the bull by the horns. I enjoyed writing her tenacity and grit. She has flaws but she just muscles by the obstacles that are thrown in her way, flaws or no. Emmalina currently sits on my desk, begging to be let loose in the world, eager for the adventure.

My third heroine, E.S.A, is confused and frustrated. She is the first heroine that I have written in first person. I love it! It is a different experience to write through her eyes rather than looking down on her from above. I’ve been able to bring her through the confusion and frustration into a feeling of peace and calmness. Her new found feelings will be put to the test as I finish writing the last third of the story. An old nemesis returns to raise a little hell, perhaps literally, and she deals with heartbreak as she works alongside her lovely, self-destructive brother, Sebastian.

I love all my characters, even the naughty ones.

Do you fall in love with your characters too?

Agent Perspective

I thought it would be interesting to think about what agents probably hear from us nutty, creative writers as we try to hock our wares in the marketplace. How would you answer the following question?

Agent: Why should I represent your work to a publisher?

Fern: My grandma likes it.

Agent: Would your grandmother like anything you wrote?

Fern: Of course. She is my grandma.

Agent: Right.

Agent: Why should I represent your work to a publisher?

Jayne: When you say work, do you mean, like, my idea? Because my idea is original. I own it.

Agent: Can you tell me about your work?

Jayne: It’s awesome, like, literally the best story ever. I mean, it’s all in my head right now. I’ll just jot the story down after I get my advance. I mean, you don’t expect me to produce anything without a little something-something to inspire my creativity, do you?

Agent: I don’t know if I expect you to produce anything.

Jayne: No something- something?

Agent: No.

Agent: Why should I represent your work to a publisher?

Jessica: My high school reunion is coming up and I really ought to have something to show for that last decade.

Agent: So, is it a memoir?

Jessica: A mem-what?

Agent: Okay.

Agent: Why should I represent your work to a publisher?

Finley: I’d like to be a secret agent.

Agent: Oh?

Finley: Yes, I was at this party once and someone mentioned that a great agent cover story is to be an aspiring writer. No one ever asks follow-up questions of aspiring writers.

Agent: Oh. So, then why are you here and not in service?

Finely: Well, I tried the secret agent agency and they turned me down. So, I thought, maybe, that I could at least pretend to be a secret agent when I am at parties by telling people that I am an aspiring writer.

Agent: Uh-huh.

Agent: Why should I represent you work to a publisher?

Travis: I write good.

Agent: Do you mean that you write well?

Travis: No, I write good.

Agent: All right.

Agent: Why should I represent your work to a publisher?

Trina: My boyfriend broke up with me last year. He said he needed space. But, it’s been a whole year. How much space does he need? So, I thought, I’ll just write a bestseller, make gobs of money, he’ll come crawling back on his bruised knees, I’ll take him back, dump him to show him that I mean business, then I’ll take him back for good and we’ll live in our McMansion and make two perfect children, Bobby and Susie.

Agent: Wow. That is a plan, isn’t it?

Trina: Or, I won’t take him back the second time and when Oprah has me on her show to talk about my life-changing bestseller, I will denounce him as a loser. She’ll laugh, of course, we’ll push Gayle aside, and Oprah and I will live in my McMansion, have two dogs that we will refer to as our children, named Bobbie and Susie. I’m okay with either scenario. So, are you going to represent my work?

Agent: I’m sorry. What was your work called again?

Trina: The Girlfriends Guide to Life Planning. I feel so sorry for all the women in the world who wander around with no clue.

Agent: Do you? How ironic.

Trina: My book?

Agent: I’ll get back to you. If you haven’t heard from me in six weeks, know that I loved it, think you will be a wonderful writer one day, blah, blah, blah, but your work is probably better suited for a more talented agent than me, blah, blah, blah.