Stalled

So, the novel is once again on hiatus. (Sigh.) I did some great work at the retreat last month, despite arriving there exhausted and full of self-doubt, pretty much hating my own writing. But by mid-week I’d managed to get past that feeling, and in three days, I edited the next big section, roughly 10,000 words. I came home excited but exhausted again and immediately fell into a funk. (It didn’t help that the prequel story I wrote on spec for an anthology got rejected a few days after my return. I understand the editor’s decision, but it was still a huge disappointment.)

I started reading random bits of the novel a few weeks ago and thought I’d start working on it again, but I’m still feeling out of sorts and worn thin. Work and life have been stressful and not at all conducive to writing — and my recent edits resulted in new plot complications to solve. It’s ironic that each bit of progress seems to move the finish line farther away.

My goal is still to finish revisions by the end of the year. It’s looking less and less likely as the days grind on, but who knows? If I get back on track next month, it’s still completely feasible.

We’ll see.

Wrong character, wrong ending

I wrote a new story last month, and in the process, I committed a basic mistake, one I’d first identified in college (many, many moons ago). I kept trying to write the final key scene, but it just wasn’t working; I tried three times, and each time, the tone was wrong, the feel was wrong — the scene was just wrong. After the third try, I finally recognized the problem: I was writing the wrong ending.

I had envisioned a positive spin at the end, where my narrator heads off into a new chapter of her life with her friend by her side. That was my vision from the beginning — and it was totally wrong. The protagonist’s friend had no reason to go with her; he was against her leaving at all, thought she was making a terrible mistake. For him to suddenly pull up stakes and go with her made no sense; I was trying to write an ending that wasn’t true to the situation or the characters. The secondary character wasn’t who I thought he was, or who I’d wanted him to be.

Once I’d had that revelation, I made an alteration that the story had been suggesting to me all along: that the secondary character was her lover, not her friend, and that leaving him behind was an important part of the story. With those changes in mind, the final scene practically wrote itself.

If you’ve got a scene that just isn’t working, ask yourself what fundamental assumptions you’re trying to impose on it. There’s a good chance at least one of them is wrong.

 

On a roll

It’s been a very long time since I tried to get anything published. I had a few stories printed in obscure places years ago, but after Hurricane Katrina, I just stopped sending things out. It just didn’t seem important anymore.

Last summer, I wrote and sent out one story, a flash piece with the characters from my novel. It got rejected, which was somewhat expected given the competitiveness of the market; still, it was profoundly disappointing. A friend read the story and liked it, but wasn’t entirely sure it was working. So I put it aside and focused on the novel instead.

Fast forward a few months, and I spotted an opportunity that interested me — still very competitive, but I wanted to give it a try. (If you don’t believe me about “very competitive,” read the recap from the editor.) I knew it would be difficult, since I was still editing novel bits for a critique and I was behind schedule — and then my body decided to get sick two days before Christmas. One virus led to another, and I was sick for three weeks. I decided I’d have to take a pass on submitting.

But lo! An eleventh hour reminder from Cat Rambo inspired me, and I decided to give it a shot anyway. I pulled out the most likely candidate from my abandoned stories folder, gave it a 90 minute edit, and sent it on its way.

As I suspected, it didn’t make the cut, but the rejection didn’t really hurt. Editor C.C. Finlay said some kind things about it, which helped, and I think the knowledge that I rushed it out (and therefore can do better) made a difference too. I haven’t gone back to it yet because I’ve got a new story underway — but I will, in time, because I still feel like the story itself is good, even if I haven’t told it properly yet.

Now we’re in February, and — amazingly enough — I’ve sent out a second submission, thus doubling last year’s rate. Yesterday afternoon, Cat Rambo and Amanda C. Davis were impressing me on Twitter with their amazing submission stats, and then last night, I was hunting for something and ran across a flash humor piece I’d written a few years ago. It was a contest entry, and I’d never considered submitting it anywhere else. But it still made me laugh, so I tweaked it a very little bit and sent it out. I have no idea whether the market in question will bite, but I got a little rush from giving it a try. So we’ll see what happens.

And while I doubt I’ll reach the dizzy levels that Amanda and Cat maintain, hopefully I can make a habit of sending out more than one story a year.

Fingers crossed.

Name-play

ID tagsThis past week, I’ve been taking a hard look at character names in my novel draft. (Admittedly, this is something I should have done before I wrote 85,000 words about them — but I’ve never been one to do things the easy way.) I named all my major characters early on, and quite a few of those names reflect the fantasy genre: that is to say, they’re a bit exotic. But some of the other characters (specifically, the non-sorcerers) have much more mundane names, and that’s an issue I need to reconcile.

I’ve started renaming some of the minor characters with the idea that they share a different ethnic background, so they can have a bit of exotic flair in a way that makes sense in the novel. But I’m still debating what to do with the more important minor characters — the ones who’ve developed into more than living props; hanging a new name on them isn’t quite so easy. Of course, a bit of Googling led me to discover that one of those names is a bit of Korean slang that’s very, very rude, which is a great incentive to rechristen that character. Sigh. (I was thinking of renaming him Goran, but having just watched an episode of Firefly, my mind keeps swapping it with “gorram.” Double sigh.)

Then there’s the small matter that virtually none of the characters have a full name; most have first names only. (Like I said, I’m not good at doing things the easy way.) I spent some time the past few days looking through name databases online, trying to find last names for the major players. I’ve been looking at sites with British and Scottish surnames, but it’s been a struggle; the names either seem too mundane or too exotic, rather than the delicate middle ground I’m trying to find. Naming my narrator has been particularly hard, since she has two brothers who also have to fit the name — and I’m debating whether the middle brother needs a new first name as well; all three siblings have first names beginning with A, and I’m a little concerned about confusing my poor readers. But I’m leaning towards leaving his name alone until and unless someone with editor’s credentials tells me otherwise. After working with the character for so long, no other name seems to fit.

Does anyone else find naming characters to be a troublesome and frustrating business?