Written June 2, 2009

Guess it’s finally time to write about the writing conference I attended the second week of May. It was the Colorado Christian Writers’ Conference and amazing. I was exhausted and overwhelmed much of the time, but at the same time was affirmed in my craft, knowledge and call. Although this affirmation does not mean I suddenly know for certain I am “destined” to be a full time writer, it does mean I won’t be letting this dream go without a fight.

And what does this fight look like? It means attacking my “Isaiah” story and stripping it back down and tossing the ending (or moving the ending up since it’s not really strong enough to be a great climactic ending). It means cutting ¼ of what I wrote for that story and reorganizing the rest. It means, for this one WIP, I have a minimum of seven more months until it’s submission worthy and who knows how long beyond that until it’s publishable (if ever, though I’m pretty attached to this story so I don’t think it will ever fade into the background).

This fight also means learning something new – the dreaded short story. If the publishing world was hard before, it is now nearly impossible without a platform and some writing credentials. This means I have a lot to do such as figuring out how to get more people to read my blog (not sure how I’ll do that yet). Also, the magazine world is a bit easier to get into, though the pay is minimal if anything. Magazines prefer short stories. I don’t know how to write a short story. :p

So in the midst of redoing my “Isaiah” book, which has returned to its original title Hand of Freedom, I must start figuring out how to write short stories. Oh, and I haven’t left my “Talia” project yet, either. I guess I’m going to have to figure out this balance between projects pretty quick now or it’ll be ten more years before I get a book out. Of course, if I can figure out the balance and the short stories, this will also mean I’m getting more written and the messages in my heart are getting to people wrapped beautifully (I hope) in deep characters, exciting plot, and emotional relevance.

Now to figure this out…

Written March 13, 2009

So how am I doing balancing two projects. Well, so-so. Tells you a lot, right? 

It’s a struggle still. I have broken bits of ideas for what I’m currently writing, my “Talia” project, while I’m also reading editing books and going through my “Isaiah” project piece by piece (not much fun :p). This is making for some interesting crossover. I’ll be looking at how to add sensory details to a scene in my “Isaiah” project and just want to add this brilliant plot twist which would mean re-working the entire manuscript. Probably not a good idea. But then as I’m writing on my “Talia” project I find my critical eye is getting a little worse leaving me dissatisfied with many scenes because of weak description, not enough detail, or poor word choice. This leaves me dreading the actually creation process.

I haven’t given up yet, I’m just still trying to learn how to keep the explosion ideas focused on the “Talia” project and the critical eye focused only on the “Isaiah” project. One of those issues of balance that I’ve never been very good at.

I think my 3-day weekends will be a huge help in finding this balance and actually getting a decent amount of work done on both projects. I would love to have “Isaiah” ready for a professional editor by this summer (if I can save the money for it) knowing it is the best work I have ever done and as solid in all the pivotal areas (characterization, pace, description, dialogue and suspense) as I am currently capable of – but that means a lot more work is ahead of me for this project. I would also love to have the first draft of “Talia” completed at the same time so I can do the first read-through and broad edits (like plot holes, weak characters, and dropped threads).

At this point, though, I have barely 5,000 words on my “Talia” project and with a goal of 70,000 to 80,000 words, I’ve got a ways to go. Also, I’ve only gotten through 8 chapters of “Isaiah” and out of 38, that’s not much of a dent and I think the last two chapters I did I was too tired and probably should do them again. Argh.

But I am not quitting and I will go one step at a time, just like I’ve been learning in my personal life lately. And when I fail to complete a step, I get to try again. The world doesn’t end and my chance at “success” has not passed me by. My choice is to persevere even when I’m discouraged, even when life pulls me away and my body keeps me in bed for 12+ hours a day. I came back to the states to write and it would be pretty sad if I give up just because life hasn’t gone as smoothly as I’d hoped. Guess I’m finding how strong I am, or at least how strong I trust Him who made me.