Saturday, September 24, 2016

Buddy, can you spare some bail? by Kait Carson


I am currently incarcerated. No, I haven’t committed an unspeakable crime. At least not yet, I’m assuming there is still time. Given the stuff that’s resident on my hard drive…well, let’s just say a visit from NSA could be in my future.

Instead, I’m wishing I were in solitary confinement instead of with the general population. I figure that would keep the rest of the world safe from my snarls. No such luck. Instead, I’ve got to deal with a husband, cats, birds, and—oh yeah—a day job. Add to that the fact that I spent last week flat on my back with some kind of mystery virus and you’ll understand--jail is hell.

You see, I’m in book jail. The bars and locks are of my own creation. So they say. I don’t buy it. Really, is it my fault that I’m 30,000 words short of my goal? And haven’t begun the edits necessary to turn a yucky first draft into a shining star? In my defense, I have two secret weapons in my quest to go from words on the page to story to die for. The first is that I edit as I go, at least this time I did. The second is I have two stellar editors, both of whom are wonderful writers in their own right and who do not fear to tell it like it is.

So, here’s my prediction. The 30k will materialize this week. Well, maybe not, but definitely by mid next week. When I’m on a roll, I can knock off 5k in a sitting, and that’s before and after the day job. I’ve done 10k on a good weekend day. I’ll lock myself away in my office do the pesky chapter editing to seek out and destroy the overused words, passive voice, head hops (there’s always a few—this book is in first person), and make those chapters shine. That will take two full weekend days and a week of slogging before and after work. That done, it’s time to read aloud. Usually ten chapters at a sitting. There go four more days. By then, I’ve got another weekend ahead and it’s time to put the book in Shawn Coyne’s story grid. I do that as I write too, but by checking the gridding after the book is done, I can see if I missed anything and find story holes. Then off to my editors (who double as betas) by mid-October at the latest.

So you see, book jail. And worse, I’ve convicted myself. Next book, I promise, I’ll be ready way ahead of deadline! Yeah, as if.  Did someone tell you writing was a glamorous life? Shoot ‘em. I’ll write the story about it.

11 comments:

  1. Ha! You've got this. See you on the other side!

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  2. Wow 5K a day? 10K on a weekend. I can cover those distances jogging, but no way can I write that quickly. Maybe it’s because I’m a pantser and so have to learnt the story as I write? Yep, that’s what I’m going to tell myself. Okkay, I'm back to the story, wondering what my protag will do in the next scene.

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  3. Go go go! Deadlines are empowering and energizing.

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  4. Wow! Kait, you scare me. It's one thing writing when you have all the time in the world, and a completely different thing when you have a deadline. I think I would be paralyzed. Good luck!

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  5. I've discovered I'm always behind where I think I should be in my writing, and I never feel like I have finished, since I think I should give the work to one more person to critique and I should do one more edit. But eventually I just have to shut it down, at least temporarily.

    Deadlines do help--sometimes I set an artificial one for myself. But having them imposed must be a huge issue. Sounds like you've got a good handle on it, though.

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  6. @Jim - LOL - I'm a pantser too, but I'm trying to be an outliner. I was writing a chapter today and when I got to a certain point, I knew that when Hayden opened her hotel room door, the room would be trashed. It wasn't in my plans, and I don't know who did it, but it happened anyway! I am a fast writer, sometimes. I bullet point my chapters (I write in Scrivener) and then go from there with each chapter.

    @Margaret - Yes, they are. I kind of like deadlines!

    @Grace, nope, not paralyzing, you would find it energizing. There's nothing else to do!

    @KM - I never feel finished either. There's always one more thing somewhere. An extra storyline, a character who needs more purpose. Deadline are invigorating, and scary, and I'm always convinced I'll never make it - but if that's true, WHY do I DO this to myself--everytime!

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  7. Kait, one of the good things about being self published is I don't have to worry about deadlines. However, I do get frustrated like right now when a whole lot of other things have kept me from working on my book for a good three weeks. Before that I was on a roll, although never have I written as many words as you have in a day. I also edit as I go, and make the changes my three critique partners suggest, and then later when the book is finished and I'm formatting it into book size.

    P.S. I finished Death by Sunken Treasure the other night and thoroughly enjoyed it as well as
    the surprise ending.

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  8. 10K in a weekend day! Impressive - and inspiring! You've done it before, you can do it again! Go girl, go!
    I was intrigued by Story Grid and just did some googling. Sounds like it's a tool that works for you. How did you discover it?
    Now get off the Internet and back in the slammer ;)

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  9. I think of times like this when someone tells me, "I could write a book."

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  10. @Gloria - thank you for the kind words about DBST. It was a fun book to write and I have to tell you--the killer wasn't discovered by the author until the 3rd draft when I swear, the villain was laughing out loud and told me who did it! I was embarrassed to say the least.

    I too am indie published so I understand what you mean. For my first indie, I took three years, for the second I set myself two deadlines, a finish the draft deadline and a publication deadline. I made the publication deadline - the first draft took longer than anticipated!

    @Shari - those 10k in a day are desperation words, believe me. One of my favorite books as a child was The Little Engine Who Could. As I'm planning out 10k days, I'm saying, "I think I can, I think I can" and the image of that big-eyed coal burner is stuck in my mind.

    I heard of The Story Grid from one of my beta readers/editors. She uses it for her books. I hadn't heard of it, but as soon as I saw the mechanics, I was hooked. You're supposed to use it after you draft, but I find it helpful as I draft so I can keep track of the beats.

    @Warren - LOL - no, I think you are far more organized and disciplined than I!

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