Deadlines

Sometimes it's hard to write without a deadline. Well, I asked for it, I got it. My advanced fiction writing class will put me to hard work, asking for ten pages a week. Not that I don't already write at least that, but when you know someone else will be reading it, even if it's just supposed to be unedited, I'm going to make it decent. Plus we'll have two short stories edited in class, perfect for my Clarion deadline, not to mention good for getting into Odyssey.

So today I wrote an awesome addition to my prologue. I figure, why shouldn't the class work for me, right? My ten pages will be novel pages. At that rate, I'll have at least 100 pages by the end of class. That's a good part of the novel. Good thing for deadlines.

My short story When Thoughts Come Alive is now officially on the Critters queue as well, set for review by mid-February.

I also heard about a terrific organization from one of the guy's in class. It's Endicott Studio, a nonprofit started by Terri Windling where all of the sales from the site are donated to organizations working with abused, homeless, and at-risk children. You can link to books from here and buy on Amazon to get a great book and make the donation. They also have a terrific blog with tons of fairytale-inspired artwork, reading, and music suggestions. All with an inspiring message.

Now back to finishing that prologue.

Critters

I finally signed up for the online writer's workshop Critters. Everyone at the Fantasy Matters conference recommended it, and some of the authors, like Jim C. Hines, post their work there for critique.

Critters is for Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror writing, and it's free. You can post your stories for critique as long as you write at least one review of someone else's work each week. The downside is the queue runs about a month out, but you can move to the top by writing the most qualifying critiques in a week- by which "qualifying" means the critique is at least 300 words and turned in on Tuesday rather than Wednesday. If I want something reviewed before the Clarion deadline, which I do, I'll have to move to the top.

Tomorrow I start the Advanced Fiction Writing class at the University of Wi-Madison. It should be a good comparison to Critters-- academia vs. genre specific workshops.

As for the novel, I started the prologue. I'll post a preview here soon.

The King Begins

As I'm going through my plot grid, I know something is missing in my story. I can feel it. So I started to draw. Now I haven't drawn for ages, but I think it's my new way to get unstuck from things. I have so much imagery floating around in my head, getting it down on paper makes it concrete and I see what is missing.

So here is a little plot preview: The king, having just escaped with his lizards, and a few flat men thrown in...


Click the drawing and it will enlarge in a pop-up.

Back to Plot

Today I started work again on the novel's plot. A few months ago I'd taped scraps of paper to my closet door and listed every main event in the novel. I ended up with hundreds of papers, lined up and scribbled on. Here's part of what I'm looking at now:


I left this behind while working on short story projects, and it's fun to come back to, although I'm often wondering what on earth I was talking about. For instance, a slip of paper reads: "Olander builds the Enchantment Box. He puts Grandpa George's name inside to test it out." And what happens? I can't remember. I hope to find the outcome on some other scrap of paper.

In the meantime, I'm going through the plot line and kicking out anything that no longer fits, filling in plot holes. To do this, I'm using a J.K. Rowling grid technique she showed off in a 60 Minutes interview (2002): Take a piece of lined spiral notebook paper, mark three columns- one for months, one for chapter title, and one for plot strand, adding in sub plot strands on the paper's back. We'll see how this works to organize the plot pace and events.

The Barber Shop; Part 1

At first, I think the barber couldn’t be more out of his mind, offering me a free haircut and shave on New Year’s Day. Who on Earth is open New Year’s Day? Besides, the last thing I want is to be stuck with this hangover, small-talking about some barber’s grandkids visiting over the holidays.

I had wandered by his shop before-peered through the window as he stood on top his overturned milk crate to reach a stick man’s flattop, hopping down with so much zeal, I’d thought him to be much younger than the man before me now.

He looks just like a pig. His pink skin pulls tight and shiny to the back of his balding head, his round nose pugs enough to stop his wire-frames from slipping. A line digs deep across his wide forehead while he smiles.

“Free?” I ask.

He pats my shoulder like an old friend, holding open his shop’s glass door. “Be my pleasure.”

The wind howls, blows open the bottom flaps of my overcoat, stinging my legs. I step inside and sneeze quickly, three times.

Dust coats the magazine table in the entryway. The shop feels warm and relaxing, numbing my cheeks, but empty, like no customer has stopped by for years. I stomp the snow from my Sorel boots and sneeze again.

“Gazoontite.” The barber offers me a checkered handkerchief from his white jacket pocket.

“No thanks,” I say, wiping my nose with a fat, leather-gloved hand. I notice the dark wood paneled walls. They give the impression of a small room, but the shop stretches long and narrow, so five chairs fit comfortably in a line. The bright overhead fluorescents are turned off, and a table lamp illuminates the last chair. It makes me uneasy, like walking into a stranger’s living room.

Welcome

This is a place to discuss novel and story writing-so it won't all be swimming, but out there, for someone other than myself to learn from. Enjoy.