What is That Smell?

Egad. Did I think this junk was good? Yeah, I thought it was better than good. When I wrote it, it seemed terrific. I even read it through a couple of times and made some tiny changes.

Today, I realized I needed to stop for a moment and read through the whole thing as it stands, do some light editing and make sure my timeline made sense. So I printed out what I had and began to review. The first three chapters weren't bad. But chapter four?

It's like I wrote it with a smelly sock over my face.

I've decided the best thing I can do for myself and my work is to let it rest tonight. I'll pick it up tomorrow when I'm fresh.

Maybe I'll be easier to get along with.

Maybe the smelly sock will have some answers.



CR: The Four Last Things by Timothy Hallinan.

It's all better with friends.

I've Birthed a Book!

"I hope that this time I will be able to hold all the threads together, that the characters will evoke a sense of reality, that what I've written will elucidate a theme, that an occasional paragraph will sing, that I can, in a phrase I learned in England, 'bring it off.' This, I believe, is the constant ambition of the writer and his constant prayer."

~ JAMES A. MICHENER

I finished my SFD about 6:30 last night. After pacing (and yeah, flexing a little), I finished printing it out about 9:30.

Now what? My last two attempts are stuck in the proverbial bottomless drawer.

This one is different.

I have about twelve gazillion craft books and workshop notes on editing. Too much data.

The next few days are going to be focused on researching this next giant step. That delay will help with the "settling/stewing" thing I've heard about so often.

Nothing like accomplishing something by doing nothing.

CR: Relentless by Dean Koontz.

Will be crawling through Margie Lawson's Deep Editing system, Chris Roerden's Don't Murder Your Mystery, Browne and King's Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass, with Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird standing by to make me feel better.

It's all better with friends.