A.M. Jenkins's Blog, page 27

Did not work on the swordfighting ms today, because there...

Did not work on the swordfighting ms today, because there was no time to sort out which versions to send to son's laptop before I had to leave. Instead I worked on the former GN, picking up where I left off on whichever day it was that I left off on. At the moment I'm at a very familiar place in the writing process with that ms, because I've got a bunch of scenes that I don't know how to tie together. So I look at them and try to see a common thread--one overriding point they come together t...

Finally sent in sample chapter, two days past the deadlin...

Finally sent in sample chapter, two days past the deadline I set. It just sucked so bad, it would have been unprofessional to put it on someone's desk and expect them to spend work time reading and responding to me about it. I still am not thrilled with it, but it's readable. There's a point in w-f-h and in auditions where you have to just say "scr*w it," and send it in anyway, but I'll be d*mned if I'll send in something I know is a painful slog of a read.

So anyway, while I was working on th...

Have been working on two writing projects that are polar ...

Have been working on two writing projects that are polar opposites. What's funny is that maybe they both suck! Ha ha!

So I started reading through, and realized suddenly what ...

So I started reading through, and realized suddenly what I've done to myself. I'd thought that this format was maybe about equal with regular prose as far as effort--harder than cut-line-type stuff*, but easier than regular prose because of the simplicity, since each page basically has one idea. But as I read today, I thought, Hey, this ms could be good. It has the possibility of actually being good, if I fix this and that and move such-and-such here and tweak so-and-so. But here's what I als...

Suddenly am incredibly antsy. I worked on the middle of t...

Suddenly am incredibly antsy. I worked on the middle of the former GN, and it took a slightly different direction this time around, and I can't tell whether to follow it or not. I really, really just want to work on something that I can immerse myself in--but none of my WIPs provide that at this moment, not in their current states. Hence the antsiness. It's hard to sit still, hard to sit down at all. Argh.

Printed out the first 65 pages, but didn't read past the ...

Printed out the first 65 pages, but didn't read past the first page because the first page sucks. Really bad. The first page is the prologue/frame before the real story starts. It needs to be right, or it needs to be gone.

So I sat down to rewrite it, thinking, "Okay, what is the point here?"

Basically, I decided, the point of this page is to lay out the reason for the book. As I tried to fix it, I reminded myself that the end frame needs to come back around to this same point. I also realized ...

Spent yesterday puttering around in the Paris section. Th...

Spent yesterday puttering around in the Paris section. That section is really missing something, but I don't know what it is yet. I'm hoping it'll come to me in a flash. I know it's something that will break up the pacing and rhythm of scene after scene of dialog, something heavier that makes a stronger point. Maybe something firmly grounded in scene--I dunno. It just feels too floaty right now.

The question is, since I'm a little bit at loose ends, should I print out and read through some of ...

Have been working a little bit every day, mostly wanderin...

Have been working a little bit every day, mostly wandering around in the middle, trying to get a feel for what my point is. I know some of the things that need to happen, but can't quite figure out how to write them, or how they move the story forward except as plot. I don't know whether it's best to get something down so I can then work with it, or to not do anything till I have a stronger sense of direction. Right now I seem to be trying the "get something down" method.

I know a lot of trade writers look down on work-for-hire,...

I know a lot of trade writers look down on work-for-hire, but I owe it an immeasurable debt, if only for one thing it taught me about myself: My thinking is very often overcomplicated at first. I learned that from my readers' theater scripts editor, who has a gift for paring ideas down so that they're perfectly suited to format. I'd come up with some idea, and he'd tweak it by saying, "Yeah, but that's too complicated. Why don't you just have so-and-so happen, big climax, show the characters ...

This is one of those days where any writing time is chopp...

This is one of those days where any writing time is chopped up into small pieces.

I'm thinking about the frame, because I woke up this morning with an idea of how it could go. I'm starting with a heading that sets the scene, then I have about half a page (standard margins) in Troy during the siege. Then the story proper starts with a heading that re-sets the scene (ten years earlier, different place) and goes into the centered formating.

The very end of the story proper (haven't written it yet;...