@admin
Active 2 weeks, 3 days ago-
Daedalus replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 4 months ago
Well done Elle. I’m impressed with all these publications. I still haven’t had one since my first nearly four years ago, despite a concerted effort recently. I did have a very kind rejection from Barren Magazine recently, which still counts as ‘a miss is as good as a mile’.
-
-
Seconded!
-
Happy Christmas!
-
-
And to you and all the Denizens
-
-
Raine replied to the topic Getting An Agent Blog in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 7 years, 5 months ago
Yeah, do post an update when you have time, @philippaeast! I’d love to hear how it’s worked doing such big edits with your agent as editor. I didn’t really get much of that with mine, so would be interested to hear how it’s been.
-
Raine posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 5 months agoFirst day of school hols, which means a final, wonderful end to all the school xmas events (slides into exhaustion coma…) AND I am now ALONE till sunday, for which YAAAAAY!!!
I’m half way through the book edit and have cut from 120k to 110k. Which means I’m on target to get to 100k… so far. I want to get to 99k for that subliminal 5figure…[Read more]
-
Great work, Raine! Sounds like you are definitely on track, well done. Fingers crossed for the next 11,000 xx
-
-
Daedalus replied to the topic For Those in Peril… in the forum Blogs 7 years, 5 months ago
The Penlee lifeboat disaster was 37 years ago today, Twitter reminds me. If you haven’t read Richard’s blog about it, above, I highly recommend you do
-
Raine posted an update 7 years, 5 months ago
A wee reminder that the Monthly Comp is sitting waiting for your seasonal musings… Perfect for fitting in between mince pies. Although mince pies are the food of satan, so I’ll be giving them a miss.
-
Raine posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 5 months agoHad a lot of NoMo here recently. But that was to be expected. And today I have the mini home sick, so am going to attempt to edit against a backdrop of Attenborough programmes!! Actually, despite the painful slowness, I figured out a couple of key plot changes that I think will go miles towards addressing the issue of the final stakes not being…[Read more]
-
Sounds really good progress @raine despite all the frustrations. And every cloud has a silver lining 🙂
-
Well done, Raine. So pleased you have managed to steal back a little space and time for yourself. And thrilled that you’ve untangled that problem of the stakes. That must feel great! I am so sorry about the migraines. I am in awe of how you work despite them. x
-
-
-
Raine posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 5 months agoI’ve a few NoMo days (xmas, health, rubbish stuff), but managed to edit two chapters yesterday and transcribe them today. I am checking my % cut after each chapter, and making a graph. Yes I know. I’m a scientist, don’t @ me, as they say. It’s actually really encouraging, as well as being pretty…
Hoping for two more chapters edited this pm
-
Xmas is not not conducive to writing, Raine, except Christmas cards but it sounds as though you are doing well.
-
Nice work, @raine. That really sounds on track, despite the NoMo days (I’m having a NoMo Day today). I hope overall you aren’t finding the trimming too painful
-
Ooh, graphs. What sort of graph? Yes I had a NoMo day yesterday too, but that’s ok. It’s that time of year after all. ANY progress is a great achievement, I’d say.
-
-
-
-
Raine replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 5 months ago
Well done @stevie! That’s great news, and now get that thing out to magazines – it’s clearly ready to be out in the world!!
-
Daedalus replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 5 months ago
Well done Stevie, that’s a great accolade. And nice to have the story in your back pocket too.
Be amazed at yourself – the link works!
-
Daedalus posted an update 7 years, 5 months ago
A poem, for our new bot friends…
This is just goto PRINT
I have input the plums
That were in the
Folder
And which IF
You were probably THEN
Saving for breakfastForgive me
They were SQR
So EXP and so RND-
I’m changing my name to jhnlty and starting a group – should be very popular.
-
🙂
-
Hello. I’m rn. Less a bot than a nanobot.
-
BLLM here. Sounds like what I say when I really want to swear but we have company.
-
-
-
-
-
Daedalus posted an update 7 years, 5 months ago
“Writing a book is like filling a teapot with an eye dropper. Only every now and then the teapot springs leaks and there’s always a risk your elbow will knock it off the counter and it will shatter on the floor.” ~V.E. Schwab
-
I have cats. My teapot spends most of its time getting knocked to the floor…
-
Oh God, this analogy is all too apt….
-
Ah yes. So true.
-
-
-
-
Raine replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 5 months ago
Just spotted this – well done both @elle and @hilary! How was the launch? I’ve only read out to my writing group, so you are very brave!
-
Daedalus posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 5 months agoMy SloMo has virtually been NoMo so far. Interrupted sleep patterns and disruption from house repairs, not to mention preparations for puppy, have just left me with little mental energy in the evenings. Nice to hear about and vicariously enjoy other people’s progress though!
-
Gah, @daedalus, that’s rough. But maybe trust that your writing brain will be whirring away in the background and when you have the time and energy again, the ideas will be there.
-
Thanks @philippaeast, I hope so. The other day I really wanted to just drop everything and start reading through my WIsortofP so that’s probably a good sign. I feel I should just read it through without making any notes, let alone editing, to try and read it as much like a reader might, and get a feel for what I might cut without overthinking it.…[Read more]
-
Do it Daeds.
-
@daedalus I’m pleased the impetus is there. That IS a good sign. And I think an “open-minded reader’s” read would be a great place to start. (Tip: If you’re like me, lock up the pencils / pens before you start. I find it so hard to resist marking stuff up and it always gets in the way of absorbing the story as a whole)
-
-
-
-
Raine posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 5 months agoI’ve decided, in light of switching to editing, that I’m to spend 1-2 hours a (writing) day editing, and the rest working on short stories or transcribing. Should help me keep my editing focus, fingers crossed. Did my first two chapters yesterday…
-
I like the plan, @raine. Slow (SloMo) and steady. I’m also switching it up – spending a couple of hours mentally revising elements of book one and then an hour or so sketching ideas for book 2. I switch sides of the table in between!
-
Ps well done on the two chapters. What kind of editing are you doing?
-
Ta. x. Edit is a general tighten up to try to shrink the total. But I’ve also decided to cut out a character who just wasn’t quite pulling his weight. I’m hoping that helps the whole thing streamline, but it makes the whole thing very line-edit level. Tempting, like you say above, to just keep going when there’s time. But I don’t think that would…[Read more]
-
Oof that does sound hard. I know what you mean about changing one thing affecting everything. Sounds like you,are making brave decisions though with the tightening. I hope it is starting to feel more streamlined (streamlined is such a good word. That’s how we want stories to feel, I think. You know, a sort of organic elegance).
-
-
-
-
-
Daedalus replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 5 months ago
Exciting about the antho launch Hil, have fun!
-
Daedalus posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 5 months agoAll I did today was trim 500 words from a short story so I could submit it to Barren magazine, which has an upper limit of 4000 words. It was worth doing as it tightened the prose a bit, and I spotted a few mistakes as well, which was unsettling as I’d submitted that version a couple of times. I’m pleased I did that much tbh, as it’s been a diffi…[Read more]
-
Well done Daeds and I hope you have a less disturbed day today.
-
Thanks Jane. The main problem is that they get here early so I have to be up early, so my usual sleep patterns are ruined and I’m permanently exhausted
-
I hate the getting up early and having to talk to strangers in my house!
-
Me too.
-
Me three
-
Me a billion. I feel your pain. Great work on the short story though, and good luck for the submission
-
-
-
-
-
-
Raine posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 5 months agoGoal of 1k words today have mutated into a goal of just getting through the day in one piece. And possibly printing out an MS. I’ve been told I need to trim it back by 10-15k. Which is a little daunting, and like @philippaeast with her more esoteric edits, I need to make sure I am doing this in short enough bursts that I am genuinely paying…[Read more]
-
I have had to do major trimming in the past, Raine, and actually found it quite liberating once I had got into the right frame of mind.
-
Hi @raine. I feel your pain! Is that comment about trimming one that you have only just received? If so, then it might need a little time to digest. Is it a change that you are, in principle, in accord with? Do you think it’s a case of losing some scenes / a subplot line, or more a case of just tightening everything and trimming words throughout?…[Read more]
-
-
Daedalus posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 5 months agoTrue to form I am late to the party with this. I had a very good start to NaNo and a terrible end – but the good start enabled me to finish the first draft of a novel I’d been working on since 2013. It’s currently a 178,000 word monster, but I will use SloMo to start the long editing process, and also to write a couple of shorts.
-
Oh wow, @daedalus, that’s a HUGE achievement. Congratulations on getting that whole draft done. SlowMo editing. I like it. And the shorts too.
-
Thanks @philippaeast – I don’t think I will set a target for the amount to edit, as I’ve no idea what’s realistic. I’ll just try to do some every day. Like yours, my editing will be pretty structural, looking at character arcs, in their own right and in relation to others. As well as seeing if it’s possible to lose about 50,000 words.
-
-
-
Raine posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 5 months agoSo my aim for today was to post this month’s challenge and get the shopping done. And I have just done both. So now I am covered in cats and physically unable to get myself more tea. *weeps*
Tmrw, I am hoping for 1000 words…
-
Good stuff, @raine! I sometimes refer to those kinds of tasks as “clearing the decks” work. Like, getting that pesky stuff done so that I have a clear run of time in which to get my head down. “Clearing the decks” work is important work, not procrastination, because it’s a means to the end of getting the creative work done successfully. AT least,…[Read more]
-
- Load More