Writer Recharge Update 1
Last week I joined the #WriterRecharge challenge to help keep my writing progress on track, and to encourage others. Each participant identifies writing goals they would like to achieve for the month of February, and then work on achieving them. More details about the challenge can be found here.
My goals for February are:
- Get the novel ready for Beta Readers
- Finish at least one short story
I wanted to keep it simple given the reading I want to get done, as well as the usual family, church, work, life commitments. So, how am I doing so far?
The Novel: I received my First Readers’ feedback, and it wasn’t that bad. They’ve suggested some tweaks, and recommend a re-working of the opening chapters. Gah! Openings! I’ve come up with what I hope is a better start to the novel, so I’ve started working on that, and making some of the other recommended changes. I still have a way to go on this, but I’m very optimistic about finishing before month’s end. Beta Readers, be ready!
The Short Story: I worked some more on the short story. I’m somewhat-pantsing it, so I have no idea how far along I am, but I have the basic story structure in my head, which is good. I should at least have the first draft done by this time next week.
If you want to check out how everyone else is doing, visit the linky list on Sara Biren’s blog today. Your words of encouragement are welcome both here, and on Twitter!
Short stories are definitely not my cup of tea. Maybe someday I’ll try my hand at them again. And I feel you on beginnings. I’ve rewritten the beginning of my current WIP more times than I remember. Four? Five? Six?
I restarted the first draft of this novel a few times, so I’m not entirely surprised the beginning still isn’t quite there. But I think I get a sense of where it should be, so we’ll see how it goes.
Wow, impressive goals. I think I missed your blog last week, but nice to see the progress! Best of luck in the coming week getting your beginning to stick!
Thanks, Kip! I may not have many writing goals for the month, but they are significant for me in terms of my writing “career” (for want of a better term). Actually having a short story I can submit for publication is big for me. As is having a novel ready for Beta Readers. 🙂
Colin, it would be awesome if you blogged about your short story writing process. I’ve always wanted to attempt one, but I have no idea where to start. I might be the wordiest writer ever, which is why I think it’d be a great learning experience for me. So, get on that, would ya? 😉
Best of luck with your goals!
Thank you, Katy! And if it would be helpful, sure I’ll blog about my short story writing process–maybe next month, when I’ve written this one. 🙂
Haha, I hate openings too! I’m always fussing and worrying over that first line ever since one of my creative writing lecturers made a point about how memorable stories can be when you have a killer first line. I think the middle is definitely the worst for me but openings can be so tricky. Best of luck to you!
Thanks, Robin! 🙂
Openings are tricky, partly because what makes for a great opening line depends to some extent (I think) on reader taste and expectations. I thought the opening for INSURGENT was excellent. But other “classic” works–even modern classics–have had okay opening lines, but what pulls you in is not so much the first words, but the first pages. For example, I can’t say I was blown away by the first line of the first Harry Potter book, but by the end of chapter 1, I wanted to keep reading. So, what I’m looking for is not so much a killer opening line (though that would be awesome), but being able to hold the reader’s attention beyond page 5, page 10, page 20…
Opening chapters are so hard. This week I’ve learned I do not write them well. Though the beauty of writing is rewrites! I guess they just take time. Thanks to your readers, you have some direction.
Few of us write knock-out openings the first time, Stephanie–myself included, it seems! 🙂 When I was drafting this novel, I decided where the story would start, but then just wrote. I knew the first lines weren’t the best, but I also knew that if I obsessed over them at the drafting stage, the rest would never get written. So I completely agree–rewrites and revisions are where the craft of writing really shines.
Beta reader reviews are always overwhelming for me but so beneficial. Hope yours go well. I pants’ed my short story too and I really like. Sometimes just letting go and creating is a beautiful thing. 🙂
Good job and Good luck!
Thanks, Kristi–I’m really looking forward to getting this novel off to Betas. I sort-of pantsed this novel in the same way I’m pantsing my short story; that approach appears to work for me, at least at the moment. 🙂
Awesome on the progress! I just had to rework my opening chapter – so frustrating! But worth it when I finally finished 🙂 Happy revising!
Thank you, Jennifer! After that initial,”Aww, you mean it’s not ready yet?” I started digging in, and it’s working out. My First Readers were right–it’s not ready for Betas yet. But hopefully it will be soon! 🙂
Great job on your progress. Sometimes I have the hardest time figuring out the best openings. It’s not easy!
Thanks, Adrianne! Openings are hard, and always have been. Almost as hard as endings… 🙂
You are doing great! And yeah – I know how it goes with openings. I am incredibly dissatisfied with my first chapter. I’ve fixed it fifty times, but I’m sure I’ll fix it fifty more, lol. Good luck in the next week!
Thank you, Alison! There are hundreds of good openings out there, and I’m sure they didn’t all start out that way… so there’s hope for us. 😀
Getting first Beta reader feedback can be so scary, but so good— and it sounds like they gave tangible suggestions, which is awesome!
One of my goals for this year is to tackle a short story— eek! Still too terrified to try my hand at it:)
I’m not quite to Beta Reader stage–my First Readers are kind of like “Alpha Readers” in that they tell me what needs to be fixed to make the novel good enough for Beta Readers. Perhaps that’s the definition of insecurity. 🙂 But you’re right, their feedback was great and very helpful. I really look forward to being able to send this ms out to Betas soon.
Short story? Jump right in and give it a try, Anya. You’ll have a blast. 🙂
I´ve never really worked on a short story, so I´d be excited to hear about your process 🙂 And openings are tough, but you can do it! (I find myself having a hard times with endings too, I tend to rush them…) Best of luck for this week!
Thanks, Elodie! Flash fiction and short stories are such good practice. And if your short story is good enough, you can sell it and see it published. Not only is that a way of making money from your work, but it gives you publishing credit that you can put on a query. A win-win-win! I encourage you to try a short story some time.
My ending needs a little work too, though my First Readers were generally okay with it. We’ll see. 🙂
Hello from Writer Recharge. I’m glad that you got feedback that you felt comfortable with, and that you’re making progress on the short story. Good luck!
Hello, Cynthia! Thank you for your encouragement. 🙂
Openings are so hard, I usually start with far too much information! Good Luck for this week.
Thanks, Alexa! 😀
Openings are notoriously difficult! I redid mine so many times! Good luck with revisions!
I think my opening is better–we’ll see. I’m sure this isn’t the last time I’ll be reviewing it. 🙂 Thanks, Prerna!