writing course

the large publishing house, the one that had the novel contest is starting a virtual writers' course. the curiculum is tailored to each and every writer's needs. 

there will be tasks and lectures on various aspects of writing.

-

the bottom line? is that the course sounded great, but due to the high fee, was out of my reach.

and just guess what happened today?

three writers who took part in the novel contest were selected to enter the course free of any charge.

guess what, i am one of them.

i can't tell you just how excited i am.

-

i will surely let you know about some details as the course commences.

some more info

ahem, i am better informed as of now :)

Copper Moon was found good by one of the two editors (that is one positive reaction) and has not yet been seen by the publishing house main editor (sorry for not being familiar with the English terms, but i think you get the meaning :)

-

the story now will get read by the second editor.

if s/he accepts it, my novel goes to the main editor.

if s/h finds it good, too - the novel will be published as an e-book.

and the main editor might find it good enough for paper.

-

publishing on paper is expensive, more expensive than on e-material, anyone can see that, but i've been told that if the first (electronic) story does well, my second story might get easily published on paper.

-

so this is where we are now.

more news on that by the end of this month.

-

i find the option about the 'second novel' a bit funny, and out-of-reach, because i don't just write a novel on order and i don't write it easily ... :))

another good news

next friday, the writers' group i attend will hold a meeting with one of the editors, who accepted my story. of course, the reason for asking her to attend our regular meeting is not my story :)

-

she will be here to give a short lecture about editors, about what editors expect from authors, about the inevitable cooperation between editor and author and so on.

on a side note, my copper moon will be acknowledged for having been selected for an e-book edition as well.

-

howl along with me :)

for i am excited.

at the end of the second round the editors UPDATE: one of the editors chose my writing to get published as an e-book.

i know next to nothing about e-books.

i don't know if this ruins/lessens/alters the chances of getting it printed in a traditional book.

for when it comes to e-material, i for example, don't spend a penny.

ahem, i know, it is quite a debated issue, so let's not talk about it :)))

still...

i am EXCITED, excited and excited a bit more, and i howl for two reasons:

1

it is full moon

2

full moon has a definite key position in my story. if it was of any doubt for any of you, my Margaret is a werewolf :)))

being excited is one thing, and i am still to hear your similar stories. share any of your strange reactions when your first/second short story/novel/thing was accepted/published.

the second round

now my story is in the second round. it is currently being revised by an editor, but at the same time, the second chapter is now public for readers, practically to anyone. within a couple of days i get to know whether my writing gets to the third round. if it gets a negative response from one editor, it is over. if it gets a positive reaction, it goes to the second editor. this is how the selection works in this competition.

- - 

one of the readers commented. he said that the first chapter was disappointing to the point of being unreadble for him, but this second chapter was something completely different. he quoted some of my lines saying how much he liked them... go figure :))) 

- -

another reader, a woman said she found my sentences two short, and was expecting something interesting to happen. but that never did. i agreed with her: the length of the sentences are in reverse order with the intensity of the story. if you write in long, winding sentences, your story slows down. short sentences suggest intense action. well, i had short sentences, but nothing intense happened. i agree, this might disappoint the reader.

- -

the third reader, another woman disliked the characters and did not found enough motive for their behaviour. she liked that the reader is introduced into the mind of Nancy, but i think she was expecting some action instead. there was a metaphore which she did not noticed for example and found it confusing. at the same time she was right saying that some explanations are necessary for the readers' involvement. - -

the first round

as you may have gathered from some of the posts below, a publishing house was asking for my story.

there were 54 contestants and i shared some readers' opinion about the first few pages.

now the first round is officially over and 13 authors had to say goodbye.

guess what, i'm in among the 41 to go for the second round! yay!

:)

the first few feedbacks

the first two chapters of my novel called 'Copper Moon' were published on a website of a publishing house. they are having a challenge for a month, i guess: each day a new novel (the first 10 thousand characters of it) are published and the readers are encouraged to read, comment and criticize the excerpts.

the publishing house does not really relies on the results of the public - they have their own editors to evaluate the writings.

those who are found good by the editors will get published, either on paper or on e-book, or both.

-

well, today was my day and so far i have a ratio of 1 (positive) to 3 (negative) comments.

mind you, those that disliked my novel were phrasing their opinion quite matter-of-factly, so nothing intrusive or personal. the most important failures of my novel, according to these people, are: the unexplainable time and event shifts; overflow of poetic description, which they found boring; and finally they found it hard to follow, they thought it was obscure and fuzzy.

-

the one person who liked it said my sentences are gorgeous and that she liked my style.

-

i guess both parties have just points.

-

go figure.

-

and i'm just learning the way to react and accept these reactions.

not easy, not easy.

-

one moment i'm all 'my writing sucks and these people have pointed out my flaws so correctly....', while in another moment i'm seeking potential ways of improvement, while yet in another moment i'm all 'what the hell do these people know about my protagonist, anyway?', and in yet another again: 'jeez, it's not enough if i know a lot about my mc, i have to make other people know more about her in the right and proper way.'

-

happy thanksgiving for those who celebrate it!

NaNo 2011: a decision

i call it quits.

as official.

well, may be, later on, or next November.

-

i am not heavy hearted, or anything.

this decision just seemed logical for many reasons:

1-lack of strong drive to write the story. feeling unprepared.

2-being excited about the possible new jobs

3-being occupied by many really important tasks around 'the opening of the season'

-

okay, i'm moving on.

implying i'm gathering new elements, analyzing experiments and emotions from the past - all these will later be incorporated into my story.

as for a working title, i am thinking about Lunae Saturni, latin for Moons of Saturnus :)

i wish to connect/relate events and/or people in the story to certain different moons. i fancy about getting information about the celestial objects and find relation to certain issues/persons/plotlines within my story.

i think it sounds nice and may, yes, may turn out great in writing, provided that the writing is good. :)

-

note to myself: what is this new found obsession with moons?

reality check :)

do i like the thing i wrote in 2010?

yes.

do i like the idea i was about to write about in 2011 as much as i liked the idea of copper moon?

no.

do i feel the drive, the need to write as much as i felt in 2010 about copper moon?

no. not ever near.

do i have two job offers pending?

yes.

are they quite good?

yes.

have they appeared quite out of the blue?

yes, very much.

did i have any job possibilities in 2010?

no.

does our family have financial problems this year?

very much, yes.

do i prefer being reasonal?

yes.

do i give up on NaNo 2011 altogether?

no.

it this self-interview over?

yes.

did you like it?

-

oh, shoot.

dear visitor, take a look at the sidebar :(

see me in shame for not having written a word in this year's NaNo...

-

but.

but!

-

the thing i wrote in 2010 got the interest of an editor. she asked me to send it in and now i have a couple of days to polish it.

i think it is quite reasonable to stick to reality.

i have copper moon and it might get some publicity.

i rather care about something that is within reach and only needs a bit of touch* here and there - than letting it go for something that does not even exist...

-

and it's only the second day...

-

* i know, i know...that littler touch here and there might take days or weeks...pondering, re-phrasing, re-structuring... whatever...

copper moon _is_, the other thing (the novel i am supposed to write in 2011) is not.