Showing posts with label word count. Show all posts
Showing posts with label word count. Show all posts
Monday, October 28, 2013
Titles are hard.
It started out longer, then I cut it down to stop showing everything that was going on since I wanted it to be illustrated, but even with that it's about 1200 words. Most agents won't consider PBs unless they're under 1k, and some even draw the line at 750 words. And oh have I tried to cut it down; sadly the story just won't allow it. So I have a cute story that needs illustrations, and everything I've seen says it's nearly impossible to get an early reader or chapter book published if it's a standalone. *sigh*
But writing is what I do, so I'll put it on the shelf and hold onto it, and maybe some day it'll get published. I really hope so. The whole thing started with the first line, and I just couldn't get it out of my head: "Once upon a time in a land called Suburbia, there lived a well-dressed man who had a daughter with a fondness for cats." Once I started writing, it turned into this story about a man who gets a visit from a talking cat after his daughter makes a wish to upgrade for a tail, and I just ran with it. And it feels so good to have created something new after two years of nothing but paper writing and literature reading. Of course I still don't have a title for it, which is a tad frustrating, but hopefully I'll think of something soonish.
On another note, edits for The Sandman's Apprentice are coming along, or they were before midterms hit and I had tests and papers out the wazoo. Still playing catch-up there, but I work in time with the MS where I can, and I'm just glad I still love the story, even if parts of it are dreadful. I also started a new story the other day. It came to me with a line, and I'm not entirely sure what it'll be just yet, but it feels like YA so far. I think it may be in a different world than our own, so I'll get to do some real world-building again, and I love that.
Anywho, I have to go do teacher things now because this semester has been terrible, which means I have to rework all my syllabi and adjust the schedules and assignments if I want my students to succeed. What fun!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
WIP Wednesday
I don't have much progress to report on The Sandman's Apprentice other than to say that I've started draft #2. I seem to be basically re-writing it so far. I'll copy a paragraph from the first draft and put it a few lines down to remind me of what's happening at this point in the story and then I just write it all over again. A few things change, the prose gets tightened, and I make it more realistic and flow better.
My chapter breaks are changing. A chunk that was 2,200 words is now 1,200 and is so much cleaner and more realistic. I love turning a great story into an actual book. There's nothing like knowing that what you're working on is (going to be) publishable material.
So that's where I'm at, going a little slower than I'd like. How are things with all of you?
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
WIP Wednesday and a Blog Award
I mentioned on Friday that I got the Versatile Blogger Award from Amparo Ortiz and Katrina Lantz; both ladies are amazing. Go check them out. :) Thanks so much for thinking of me!!
Like just about every other award, this one has a handful of rules, but I'm not going to follow them. Here they are anyway, haha:
Okay, here are the rules I must follow:
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
WIP Wednesday
The current project, abbreviated TSA, is now 60 words exactly from 25k, which, ya know, kind of really bothers me. I thought about writing a bunch of crap or typing 'blah' repeatedly just to get there. I resisted!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Late WiP Wednesday
This brings my total word count to 17,150. I feel like I'm making progress even though I haven't really had time to do much. Hopefully things will pick back up after New York. I should be dying to write by then anyway. :) (It is now 11:29 PM. Take that, Universe!)
How are things going for all of you?
Thursday, September 10, 2009
WiP Wednesday late Thursday night.
I got 1000 words down yesterday which was fantastic but I didn't find time to blog so yea. Anyway I realized that the two final chapters I had planned were really just one chapter so I sat down and finished the sucker today and finally got to type THE END. Such a great feeling. *happy dance!!!*
Rise of the Phoenix is 55,450 words and 225 pages for the draft number 1. There is so much more I need to add than I need to cut and I'm super freaking psyched. Draft 2 here I come!!
In other news, Glee and Supernatural rocked my socks off. Can't wait for next week!
Do you have any TV shows you watch to relax?
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
WiP Wednesday
On RotP I've written a whopping 5,366 new words since last Wed. but I'll admit I'm working on it now. So, as of this particular moment I have a total of 51,764 words. Sadly I'm not happy with this number, I thought I'd make more progress this week. :(
In other news, this week I:
- had a root canal (lots of fun there!)
- had one of my best friends lose his father to a heart attack
- ordered flowers for said friend's family
- picked figs
- took pictures of wedding decorations (for my brother's)
- took pictures of me in possible dresses for wedding (for his fiance's other bride's maids)
- started talking to an old friend/ex-boyfriend
- read Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Lose
- added even more books to my TBR list
- packed/organized stuff for moving back to the dorm
What have you done this week? Been super busy or totally bored?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Work in Progress Wednesday
It's a week of firsts for me here on the blog. :) Yesterday was my first attempt at a decent summary for Teaser Tuesday and today, as you're all well aware, is WiP Wednesday.
This week, last night in particular was huge for me. My WiP, Rise of the Phoenix broke 40k! I started the summer with less than 20k and with less than a month to go before move-in day and the beginning of classes, I'm super excited at all the progress I've made.
Yesterday I wrote 2000 words, most after 9PM. I'm still trying not to do a happy dance. :P Especially considering the large amount of time and energy I put in to rearranging the living room. *sigh*
My goal is to get 50k or finish the 1st draft before Aug. 17th; I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Editing is fairly nonexistent right now, I'm focusing on getting the whole thing out before I rip it to shreds. So, naturally, I have a list of things that pop into my head that I need to fix or add or delete.
My friend Brooke is working on her own project and my super-excited Facebook status updates have been motivating her to write; she broke 11k last night! We keep cheering each other on, it's great to have writing friends!
What have you accomplished this week? Did you set any new goals this week?
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Procrastination, Progress, and Goals
So then the internet is calling me and it's like,
"Hey, you know you wanna blog. Do it. DO. IT." And I cave. The next hour or more (usually more) is spent reading every new post of every blog I follow. I think there's like fifty of them. No lie. And then if it's a weekend and no one is updating, I twitter and I facebook. But there isn't ever much going on on either of those networks and I rarely myspace. *sigh* So I return to staring at my WiP.
I know where it is and what needs to happen next and where it needs to go but for some reason I just can't write it. I try. It's crap. I don't try. I feel bad because I know I should be writing, that's the only way I'm ever going to get done. Grr. GRR.
So I decided to take a little break from trying to write on the WiP and revisited the flash fiction I wrote that one night I couldn't sleep. It was a 650 word scene. Now it's 2350. I think I can get back to the WiP now that I've been productive at something else.
Do you ever feel like you need to work on something else in order to get back to making progress on your WiP? I mean, I know everyone takes breaks were they just don't work on it, But do you ever just say "screw it" for a day or two and write something else? Is that why some of you have more than one WiP? Does splitting your focus help you out?
Since the 6th I've added about 10k, and I haven't touched it at all in a few days. I do believe it's time to get back to writing. School starts in less than a month, what d'you thinks a good goal to set? 50k before Aug. 19? I think I'll try.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Word count.
Anyway, I'm sitting here working on my WiP, again, and I keep thinking about word count. Again. I keep reading that you should do the 25o words per page thing but that tells you that you've got more words than you really do, because you never fill every single line of every single page. So why do agents like to have the inflated word count? It's silly and I've read it a dozen times but for some reason it still just bugs me.
If I use the word count in Microsoft Word it gives me 31,350-ish but if I do the multiplying using the 250 words per page I get 34,250. That's a big difference. Do agents just not care? Are they really just wanting to know how many pages you've got?
Am I thinking about this way too much? Ok, ok, stop nodding your heads at me. I know, I know. Word count isn't a huge deal, it's the story that matters. I'm just curious about these things.
Do you have a gap between the word count in Word and the 250 rule?
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