What’s Up Wednesday
It’s time for my weekly What’s Up Wednesday check-in. What’s Up Wednesday is a blog meme hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk (though Erin’s on a blog break at the moment), designed to help blog writer buddies keep in touch in the midst of our busy lives. If you want to join in, check out the details and the linky link widget on Jaime’s blog.
What I’m Reading
ALLEGIANT by Veronica Roth. The last installment of the DIVERGENT trilogy. I pre-ordered it, and Amazon delivered it yesterday. I’ve only just started, so no review… and I’m not sure I’d want to say too much about it anyway (spoilers!). I guess I can say that it’s written from Tris and Tobias’s POV–so far alternating chapters between them. Chapter FOUR is Tobias. I wonder if that was coincidental?
What I’m Writing
Still on the WIP revisions. October is waning, and I’m not at all near the end of my revision phase. In other words, I doubt very much I’ll be through with revisions by the end of the month. But I’m not giving up! Revisions will be done when they are done. I’m not going to rush them just to feel good about meeting a personal deadline. I want a revised manuscript that I’ll be proud to put in the hands of beta readers, no matter how long it takes to achieve that. Hopefully not too long, though!
What Inspires Me Right Now
This isn’t new, but working through my WIP while also reading other books actually gives me confidence (hopefully not misplaced) that I might actually be able to do this writing thing. I may not be the most talented writer in the world, but I don’t think I completely suck either. I suppose that’s a good place to be in.
What Else I’ve Been Up To
The usual stuff, and preparing for my Mum visiting in from the UK in a little less that a week. It’s been about three years since she last visited, so we’re all looking forward to seeing her.
So, what have you been up to?
I’m also getting the feeling I won’t be done my rewrite by the end of the month, but I’d rather take longer than rush it. Hope you have a fantastic visit with your mom!
Thanks, Jennifer! I was trying to get finished by the end of the month so I wouldn’t be working on it while my Mum’s here. Oh well–it’ll just take a bit longer to finish. 🙂
Glad you’ve got confidence, that’s great 🙂
Good luck on your revisions – it’s always better to get them done properly, rather than quickly.
I can’t wait to read Allegiant, hopefully I’ll be able to get it soon!
Thank you, Laura! Yes, I have confidence–this week. 😉 I’ve been looking forward to reading ALLEGIANT for a while, but I have to pace myself. There are other things I need to do; I can’t spend all my time reading. 🙂
I saw some reviews of Allegiant on amazon – i didn’t read them bc of spoilers, but I read the headers and omg, people are so disappointed. They hated how it ended … I’m afraid of reading it lol
How nice that your mom is coming! I hope you have a good time with her 🙂
Really? I’ve only just started into ALLEGIANT. I must confess, while I’m looking forward to seeing how it all resolves, I’m a little leery simply because I didn’t think INSURGENT was as good as DIVERGENT (though it was still good). I’m afraid it’s going to be like THE HUNGER GAMES (at least in my estimation), where it starts out strong and peters out toward the end. We’ll see. 🙂
Thanks–I’m sure we’ll have a great time!
UPDATE: I checked my review of INSURGENT, and it seems I actually liked it BETTER than DIVERGENT! Clearly my memory failed me on this. I didn’t get a chance to re-read INSURGENT before starting ALLEGIANT, so clearly I forgot how good it was. I think my concern still stands: ALLEGIANT could take a nose-dive and be the worst of the three. I hope not. We’ll see… 🙂
Revisions can be tough. I just finished my first round which is actually my easiest round. It’s revising after CPs tear it apart that’s hardest. Keep it up!
I’m jealous you have Allegiant. I’m like 95th in line at the library for it. I’m definitely going to reread the other two first though since I don’t remember much of what happened in the first two. I agree with you though- I felt Insurgent wasn’t as good as Divergent and I felt the same about The Hunger Games. First books usually are the best though IMO.
Thanks, Melanie! I must be some kind of masochist to actually be looking forward to CPs tearing my novel apart. 🙂
Here’s an idea: put a dollar aside for each day you’re waiting for ALLEGIANT at the library. If you still don’t have it by the time you have enough money to buy it, go to your local indie bookstore and buy a copy. If you get it from the library before you have enough money to buy it, get yourself a treat to enjoy while you read! 😉
There are few series I’ve read that have been consistently good start to finish. The first one I always think of where I’ve given 5-stars to each book in the trilogy is LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld. It’s hard to maintain momentum like that through all three novels, which makes me a little nervous to try a series. I haven’t yet, and don’t know if I will.
I think with editing it’s good to take a while with it, especially when you don’t have any deadlines for agents or editors. It’s where you really need to focus and take your time perfecting it to the best of your ability.
Don’t forget… Rowling spent six years on Philospher’s Stone! It’s well worth it in the end. 🙂
You’re absolutely right, of course, Robin. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂
I’m not going to be done with my revisions this month either. It’s great that your making progress!
I loved the first Divergent book but I haven’t read the second yet. Hopefully I will someday. There are just so many good books to read. I hope that you have a great visit. My mom is coming to visit next month 🙂
I could be discouraged at how long it’s taking to get through the revisions, but since I’m quite a way through the novel, and I’m enjoying it, I have incentive to keep going. It’ll get done–maybe not as soon as I hoped–but soon, hopefully!
There are always too many books and not enough time! INSURGENT was a really good read, so I encourage you to check it out.
Thanks, Sarah! 🙂
Revisions are tricky like that. You think you’ve got it and theeeeen… nope, you gotta factor in extra edits and the month you thought it would take winds up taking six. Hang in there!
Have a lovely time with your mum!
Yes–I thought I was giving myself plenty of time. But no, seems like it’s taking longer than I thought. Oh well.
Thanks, Cole! 🙂
I’ve still not read any of the Divergent trilogy. I picked up the books in Waterstones but my trick of reading a few random pages didn’t work. I’ve not got the Divergent bug yet!
To each their own–I know not everybody is as in awe of the LEVIATHAN series as I am. And there are some people who don’t see what all the fuss is about with Doctor Who! (Can you believe it?) Maybe when you’re in the mood for a bit of dystopia, read the first few chapters of DIVERGENT. So far, IMO, it’s the best of the series. The final verdict on that is out until I finish ALLEGIANT. 🙂
UPDATE: As I noted above, after going back and re-reading my review of INSURGENT, it seems I liked it more than DIVERGENT, so logically I would have to consider INSURGENT the best of the series so far. But you can’t read INSURGENT without reading DIVERGENT, so you may as well start from the beginning. 🙂
I’m reading ALLEGIANT too!
“I may not be the most talented writer in the world, but I don’t think I completely suck either.” <– This is usually my mindset too. Some days I feel like I'm absolutely awful and then there are the few days during which I think I might actually be pretty good at this thing, but yes. I know what you mean about that confidence that reading published novels can give. And I highly doubt yours is misplaced, Colin.
Have a great week!
Thank you, Katy! 🙂
I love that you find inspiration comparing your writing to others. I often feel like I have to good of taste, I know my book writing can be better and want to over critisize it, but then I also think a lot of best selling books could be better so there you have it.
Thanks, Kate. I hope you don’t think I read books thinking, “Oh, my writing is sooo much better than that!” I read a lot of books that I don’t think my writing comes close to touching. But then there are books that I really think I could have written better (in all humility). Between those two, there’s a place called “I can write, and possibly well enough to be published.” 🙂
So jealous that you’re reading Allegiant. 🙂 I pre-ordered from B&N so it won’t be here until Friday. I already have plans to lock myself away this weekend and read it. Revisions being done when they’re done is a good way to look at things.
I tell ya, Amazon Prime is a GREAT deal. The amount of money I’ve saved in shipping costs alone more than pays for it. And with guaranteed 2-day shipping! I’ve actually had books ship next day. Probably one of the best investments I’ve made in recent years.
Enough advertizing for Amazon! I hope you enjoy ALLEGIANT. It’ll be interesting to compare notes after we’ve all finished reading it. 🙂
HA! I bet Tobias’ chapter number was coincidental. 🙂 And this: ” I may not be the most talented writer in the world, but I don’t think I completely suck either.” Yes. That’s sometimes what gets me through a day of writing. Thank you for that reminder. Good luck with those revisions!
Thank you, Alison. I have written stuff that sucks, but the fact that I recognize the sucky writing also encourages me. Also, remembering that even the most talented writers have editors go through their work before it hits the shelves, so we rarely get to see their worst sucky parts. 🙂
Enjoy ALLEGIANT, Colin! I read DIVERGENT and unfortunately couldn’t get into it, but from what I hear, the latest book is terrific. Although I would avoid Twitter if I were you… I hear there have been a lot of spoilers there.
Thanks, Julie! I’m trying to avoid spoilers, so I appreciate the Twitter tip. 🙂
I just finished the second book in the Divergent series and ended up skimming the second half of the book. It’s not bad by any means, but it could not capture my interest. I might try again some time, but I think I need my fix of more contemporary-set stories for awhile. I like that Tobias’ chapter is Four.
Revising is so fickle, it can take forever or not so much time. I think every project is different.
As I reminded myself, I actually preferred the second book over the first, though both were excellent. I understand DIVERGENT isn’t for everyone, so if it doesn’t grab you, don’t sweat it. I would certainly say they’re worth reading if you want some YA dystopian, but if that’s not something you enjoy, then don’t worry about it. 🙂
I think part of the slowness of revisions is the nature of this novel. Also life is busy at the moment too. I’m determined to finish, though!
Reading books while working on my WIP inspires me as well. I don’t kow about giving me confidence, but it definantely helps me write 🙂
It definitely helps me. Good fiction encourages me to do better, and bad fiction gives me hope that there may yet be room for me in the publishing world. 🙂