tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post2451156247825257179..comments2024-03-28T02:36:36.432-04:00Comments on Writers Who Kill: Sounding Retreat to Write Another DayJim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-62674150537975224932012-04-01T11:57:55.200-04:002012-04-01T11:57:55.200-04:00Thanks, Anita! Yes, I think it's something we ...Thanks, Anita! Yes, I think it's something we all run into sooner or later.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-10113050971761580542012-04-01T08:46:54.252-04:002012-04-01T08:46:54.252-04:00Linda, I would guess we've all been there. Goo...Linda, I would guess we've all been there. Good for you for recognizing the problem as soon as you did. Best of luck with the series.Anita Pagehttp://www.anitapagewriter.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-82070160454260396252012-03-31T20:53:24.026-04:002012-03-31T20:53:24.026-04:00Jacqueline, you are so right! Never throw it out w...Jacqueline, you are so right! Never throw it out while in despair. Just set it aside for consideration after you've done something else.<br /><br />EB, I count my blessings for my great agent every day. I know how lucky I was not to have gone through a chunk of first draft before seeing the problem. I wrote my first two novels without the chance to propose them first, so I know what you're talking about.<br /><br />Nathan is right about finding someone good to look at your work. The tricky thing is to find the right someone who can give you the kind of feedback a professional reader like and agent or editor would.<br /><br />Jenny, thanks for dropping by. Jenny is one of the folks who make the International Thriller Writers Debut Authors Program such an immensely helpful, great success. And she knows more than a little about writing a novel on spec and being stymied until a professional took an interest after reading it!<br /><br />Again, many thanks, Warren, for filling in for me in comments today. I appreciate it greatly.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-54564501115898820612012-03-31T20:42:23.307-04:002012-03-31T20:42:23.307-04:00Thank you all for stopping by and for your comment...Thank you all for stopping by and for your comments--and especially thanks to Warren for stepping in while I was gone. I am still out of town, of course, but the literary festival I've been in Iowa City for, running a book table for a literary magazine and small press all day and giving a reading this evening is done for the day.<br /><br />Norma, I'm so glad you've found what you needed to make the new sequel to your first published book work! Wishing you great good luck with that!<br /><br />Gloria, how I envy you getting to attend Seascape with such great faculty! I'm so glad it's been quite helpful on your current book.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-6562984543411812412012-03-31T19:26:41.445-04:002012-03-31T19:26:41.445-04:00Hi Linda, this is a great piece. As Jenny says, i...Hi Linda, this is a great piece. As Jenny says, it takes courage to know when something is wrong and take the time to make it right. And thankfully word processors allow us to "throw things out" without actually deleting. This is very liberating. <br /><br />To respond to E. B. Davis, I think you can accomplish a lot without an agent. You can write a little bit and show it to people whose opinion counts (not necessarily friends and family, who will always tell you what you want to hear). Good luck!Nathan @ Nortia Presshttp://www.nortiapress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-33123502765253828272012-03-31T17:44:57.623-04:002012-03-31T17:44:57.623-04:00I admire Linda's courage in being able to set ...I admire Linda's courage in being able to set something so invested in aside. I know the next book will be all the greater for this--and as Jacqueline says, no writer ever throws anything away.jenny milchmanhttp://suspenseyourdisbelief.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-62682356262132195562012-03-31T15:58:38.656-04:002012-03-31T15:58:38.656-04:00Thanks to those who comment. Great advice from Ja...Thanks to those who comment. Great advice from Jacqueline. Don't throw away your work. I may well come in handy later on.Warren Bullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07789270258599769915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-49088634501312768922012-03-31T12:12:45.921-04:002012-03-31T12:12:45.921-04:00This is the reason that I wish fiction worked like...This is the reason that I wish fiction worked like non-fiction. Until you have a relationship with an agent/publisher, fiction writers can't propose books. I have a lot of concepts that I'd like to propose, but I have to write the book before anyone will look at it. If the concept isn't right, I've lost a year of work. So, Linda--don't fee failure, feel gratitude that you've saved time. Sure, you'd like to come up with a winner everytime, but since you have those relationships, relationships that unpublished authors don't yet have, you've saved time in your career. You'll come up with the right plot and further your characters' arcs without writing the wrong book.E. B. Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16746747050278597888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-53653925708019691822012-03-31T11:23:32.103-04:002012-03-31T11:23:32.103-04:00Hi, Linda and Warren,
I think this has happened a...Hi, Linda and Warren,<br /><br />I think this has happened at one time or another to all of us who write. A good rule is to put the manuscript aside and come back to it with fresh eyes at a later date. Just don't throw it out! You never know when a brilliant idea will strike for rewriting or rethinking.<br /><br />Best,<br /><br />Jacqueline Seewald<br />DEATH LEGACY--new release from Five Star/GaleJacqueline Seewaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09177500620940251009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-34383698869491073372012-03-31T10:40:25.896-04:002012-03-31T10:40:25.896-04:00Yes, I had several middle-grade books that weren&#...Yes, I had several middle-grade books that weren't working. Someday I want to get back to them now that I have more writing experience and work on them again.<br /><br />Also, at Seascape last week, something as simple as changing the title of my book was an eureka moment when it was suggested in the group meeting. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make me feel much more positive about the book and its plot.Gloria Aldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581719606924364447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-92085600218944847502012-03-31T10:06:53.667-04:002012-03-31T10:06:53.667-04:00I have definitely reached this spot. Several times...I have definitely reached this spot. Several times. I have several chapters of several books that I decided didn't work part way through. Finally, I'm starting a new sequel to my first one published, and I think I've got it. I hope. <br /><br />Okay, there are way too many personal pronouns in that paragraph!Norma Husshttp://www.normahuss.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-84177668186775605072012-03-31T08:30:23.748-04:002012-03-31T08:30:23.748-04:00Linda cannot be with us today. I think her blog s...Linda cannot be with us today. I think her blog shows how as writers we have to be open and willing to recognize when we get off track in our writing and brave enough to abandon work we have labored and sweated over to start againWarren Bullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07789270258599769915noreply@blogger.com