Can we call them “no thank yous” rather than rejections?

Anyway, got a “no thank you” on the story I sent out a couple weeks ago. The editor was generous to offer his reasons, and said, “I liked much of the description in your story, but I rarely see a need for the second-person narration.”

Hmmm… really? Is second person not a valid narrative choice? I mean, I wouldn’t use it for every story, but I certainly feel it has its place. And I have to love this particular story in second person, versus what it would feel like in first or third. Maybe I’m wrong. (Anybody feel like taking a quick peek at a 4-page story?) It’s touchy though, because I know a lot of people don’t like it. But then, some people do, don’t they? Any thoughts?

progress report for the week of 11/16:

Let’s try not to let the “no thank you” detract us from what was actually a productive week.

Chapter 4 was born yesterday. It’s a Lexi chapter and she’s freaking hilarious in it. I think one of my favorite things about Lexi is her honesty, and the way she just owns herself, so that she can let these hilarious failures just roll right off of her back. And she needs to, since Danny and Hannah tend to poke fun a bit much. Anyway, chapter 4 was a blast to write and I’m so glad to have it in my novel!

A good bit of chapter 10 was born this week too, which I had to indulge myself and write because it’s one of those “when they fell in love” chapters, and I just can’t resist “when they fell in love” stories.

And if you could see how much of this novel is written, it would look like: chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 19. Yeah, okay, out of order much?

So with a pretty solid framework for chapter 4 and 10, and some random plumping elsewhere, I added about 2000 words to the novel this week. Better than last week!

I actually, finally, went and got my Virginia drivers license and plates! *cues confetti, lol!*

For this week:

- I’d like to walk three times, but it’s going to be pretty rainy… excuses…
- If I decide to stand by my second-person narration choice, then I’ll send that short story straight back out again. I already have somewhere else in mind for it.
- I have another short story (not in second person, lol!) that I’d like to get reacquainted with, now that I’m easing myself out of NaNoWriMo mode and into normal, everyday, writer mode.
- No specific chapter goals, since they quite obviously just come out as they please. I’ll gladly take another 2000 words this week. Sheesh, that sounds so tiny, considering some people (especially in NaNo month) are cranking out 2000 words or more each day. It’s looking like it’s going to be my average though, considering my current situation.

I’m telling you though, once I’m a big-name author, on contract ‘n stuff (we’re allowed to dream around here!), I’m totally getting a part-time nanny!

I’m finding it MUCH harder to get writing done with a three year-old than at any previous age. The “terrible twos” were difficult, in terms of behavior, but the terrible threes are just as terrible, for different reasons. Two year-olds just don’t understand the things they want, which makes things frustrating – but three year-olds understand everything, they know their parents well, and they know just how to get what they want. They’re bold and manipulative and stubborn!

And they don’t nap anymore.

And they don’t sleep through the night because there are monsters in their bedrooms now. And they have bad dreams.

And even though it’s lovely that they’re potty trained, now they’ll wake you up to take them to the potty in the middle of the night. You almost want to tell them, “Oh, just go in your underwear, we’ll pretend it’s like a diaper and we’ll change them in the morning, Mommy needs to SLEEP.” But you don’t.

And they wake up at 7:00, on the dot, every single day, and ready to GO – and keep going, and going, and going…

The amount of involvement he needs is just so much greater. He should be in school this year, but you know, life happened in an epic way this year.

This has to be the hardest age. At one, they were adorable! Do you remember one, with their toddling and babbling? And newborns! My God, newborns were easy! They sleep 16 hours a day! Just strap that sucker to your chest and you’re good to go! Two was trying, because they just don’t understand the world yet – but three is impossible because they do.

Four gets better, right? Somebody tell me four gets better! (Lord, please, lol!) But if nothing else, at least there will be preschool next year. God bless school!

progress report for the week of 11/9:

If a zombie tried to write a novel, she might write about 1200 words in a week.

But they can’t all be great weeks. They can’t all be like last week, where I sat down and wrote about 1200 words in one single hour. Nope, not all hours can be like that. Certainly not. It might be near impossible for me to make my 20,000 words for the month, but I’m not giving up hope just yet. Better weeks will come, they always do.

On a more positive note, part 2 is itching to be written. Which is odd since I don’t have a damn clue what happens in the present narrative of part 2, but all the corresponding flashbacks are screaming at me!

Hey, that’s better than nothing, right? It’s better than being a zombie with no part 2 screaming to be written.

progress report for the week of 11/2:

I think I’ll move my progress reports from Friday to Monday, since I do a lot of my writing on the weekends. And I’ll keep them separate from any other random posts I do. Gotta have some structure up in here!

I’m giving myself an B+ for last week, because it was pretty okay! I could have walked more… but you know, I didn’t.

novel:

One week into NaNoWriMo, and I’ve only done 2200 of my projected 20,000 words. I don’t feel badly about it though, because the words I’ve been getting are good ones! My novel in total is sitting at almost 10,000 words, with most of the whole first section (ch. 1-7) sketched out and/or written. I’m well on track to finish part one this month, and should likely get some work done on part two as well!

I sent the boys out to see a movie this weekend, and I took some solid writing time to focus on my novel. I used to spend Sunday afternoons with my writers group back in Michigan. But since we moved, I haven’t done anything with my Sunday afternoons, so it was great to reclaim that time for myself. Sunday afternoons = MINE!

So in my writing time, I sat down to get some solid work done on chapters 4 or 5, hoping for some framework to fill out during the week. And BOOM, hello, chapter 6 pours out of my fingers instead! Four pages, and over a thousand words, and a good sketchy rough draft of it! Okay, well we’ll take it!

Welcome to the world chapter 6! You’re thoughtful and endearing and a little bit funny, and I thank you for existing

validation:

I went browsing through some old, old drafts of my first couple novel attempts. Oh my poor, poor writers group who had to read that nonsense! (Nonsense isn’t nice, I know – it did have spirit. But it was a mess, and it was going nowhere important.)

I feel a thousand times grateful I scrapped that novel and moved onto this one. Some of the characters have the same names, but they’re not even the same people. They have a story now, where things happen, where they make choices and life has consequences. This novel is a thousand times better. A thousand times more important.

I think I’ve just “found my voice,” as they say. I used to think that was bullshit, but it’s not. I didn’t have it then, but I have it now. And I’ve found something to say. (Whose quote is that? I read that somewhere recently – somebody clever said it, “Don’t just find your voice, but find something to say.”)

But anyway, I’ve found my story, and I can’t wait to share it, I love it so much! When I wrote The Short Story That Killed My Novel, I was so afraid to start all over again, and mad almost, because of all the work I’d put into my first attempts. But now I’m just grateful.

playing this week:

“Disarm” by the Smashing Pumpkins, inspired by my chapter 3 and a great love for some Pumpkins! Such a great song! And quite easy to play, or at least easier than the last time I tried

not a photographer:

I’m still endlessly amused that there’s a ravine outside my apartment

and finally, to do this week:

Chapters 4 or 5, plump up and polish the existing chapters. Other stuff I’ve been putting off for a really long time… More walking than I did this week (blah!).

I didn’t jump on the Twitter bandwagon for the longest time. I’d assumed it was for professional people, you know, people who work in offices? And here I am, stay-at-home mommy/48% novelist, covered in snot and food and other questionable substances for most of the day. But then, let’s remember, I am also (and have been for about seven years now!) a pretty hardcore blogger chick! I love social media! So why not Twitter?

Twitter is fun, of course. You can follow whoever you want! I’m following John Mayer, *swoon*. It feels a little bit ridiculous, but if you check out his page, you’ll see that probably about two-and-a-half million other women have the same idea, lol!

I’m also following Ingrid Michaelson, who is equally adorable and just an interesting person all around, in addition to her musical genius. I wanted to tweet to her to say that I am enjoying her new album, Everybody, very much, but then I got shy and didn’t, lol! She probably wouldn’t have seen it anyway with her 30,000 followers.

I considered giving up twitter this week, in honor of NaNoWriMo, and an attempt to put more of my time to good use, but I failed miserably. Twitter is just so useful! I use my twitter feed basically like a free-form open journal – if Dylan says something cute, or does something infuriating, if I have half of a thought I want to share, something that doesn’t quite measure up to a whole blog entry, or something that might turn into a blog entry later.

It’s nice to have voices answering back during the days, when most times, it’s just me and this three year-old. (Believe me, Dylan answers back! But not exactly in the capacity a functional adult needs.)

Twitter is, if anything, helping me embrace the professional side of my chosen “career.” I’m finding all these other writers freely swapping ideas and articles, and just generally talking about their days. Today, for example, I found this very eye-opening article in my Twitter feed, on the profits of a best-selling book. Or lack thereof, to be precise. (Not that this should surprise us…)

But these are all people writing and publishing their work, and I feel privileged to sort of “stand in the same room” with them, and listen to what they have to say.

These are two I found to start (I’ve only been at this a couple weeks). Both are accomplished authors who freely share an abundance of information and thoughtful blog posts out of the kindness of their hearts:
@aswinn, blog: Allison Winn Scotch.
@escottwrites, blog: Elizabeth Scott.
Both of whom I probably found via Nova, @novaren, who writes her own very useful blog. Nova who I found via Courtney, I think. Do you see how this works?

But the best thing about Twitter is that it’s linked from one person’s page, to another, to another. Most people keep their tweets open, so if you find something interesting, you just start following. It feels a little voyeuristic to start, but I think most people tweet as a sort of open experience – there is also an option to have your tweets kept private and viewed by friends only.

So, I’m on twitter, and I’m enjoying it very much! Come join me if you want