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.

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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.

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

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i guess both parties have just points.

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go figure.

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

not easy, not easy.

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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.'

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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.

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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'

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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. :)

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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?

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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...

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but.

but!

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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...

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and it's only the second day...

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* 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.

what is it?

it happened just a couple of hours after having lamented here on the lack of ideas....
i had to take a train and then had to walk 30 minutes...
i watched the signs of autumn around me....
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i was asking myself the following questions:
1-
why do i suddenly find my original idea for NaNo'11 somewhat boring?
(a post-apocalyptic half-romance, half-realistic story centered around a middle aged woman who has nearly lost everything but her faith?)
is it, and/or the setting truly boring?
is it overrepresented/overshared in/by movies/modern literature?
what is you opinion?
2-
can i come up with something i, the writer-to-be like?
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answers to question 1 are kindly waited/appreciated among the comments of this post, thank you very much :)
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one potential answer to question 2 was this: whoa, yes, and i started scribbling frantically on the street, not really caring about the passers-by. mind you there were not many of them, you see, it was a bit raining :) :)
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so i have this other idea: it's about a half human, half other-wordly creature, and their species is about to invade the earth.
what dou you think about it?
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i'm not so sure :(

in 2010 is ventured into NaNo-land, because i had an idea in my head, an idea that would not leave me. it grew in my head and all i did was letting it out with the help of NaNo's community and rules.

2010 November was painful and funny, rewarding and challenging a the same time.

i got attracted to it :)

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i was, and still am toying with the idea of doing NaNo again.

trouble is that i lack any strong idea, any notino that would refuse to eave me.

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this time last year i was scribbling notes to self about the future story, was writing outlines and sketching characters. at present i don't seem to have any of these moments :(

NaNo again... ?

it is inevitable...

we all see it coming...

november, the month of NaNo.

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do you plan to participate?

what are your plans?

(share as much as you feel appropriate)

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as for me, i have not written anything long since the NaNo in 2010.

that piece is still not finished.

something at the back of my head keeps telling me that it is unwise to start a new project without finishing the old one(s)... any pros and cons?

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i do have a plan for 2011, though...

in a post apocalyptic setting, it's a story about someone evaluating his (her?) former life and personal connections, relationships to lovers and friends.

i am still lacking the main purpose, hee.

an ice-breaker

wow, just today i sent a 10 thousand-character piece of Copper Moon to a publisher/editor/whatever. she is a reliable person, not just 'some random people from the street', so i knew what i was doing, don't worry about me :)

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i consider it a small step on my way.

and yes i know, this is just the beginning.

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finally, i am turning my mind again to that writing.

a little hiatus

i know it's been a while - this note is only a short reminder that i am still alive out here :)

now i have another writing project going on, and i am planning to return to revise Copper Moon.

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when i finished writing while doing NaNo in November 2010, i totally believed that i would revise the short story in December, or January at the latest.

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but life interfered... and my lazyness...

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i did some re-readings, some minor revisions, but most of the writing remained untouched. i am still aware of the elements of the story/polt/characters/events that needs major or minor polishing, and i hope to finish it some time later on.

i have some notes, suggestions for corrections and i still have the story in my head. which is a sure sign that Copper Moon is not yet finished - :)

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there is hope, isn't there?

:)

Jerom and his story

yesterday i wrote a short story called Jerom's story.

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here's the synopsis:

Jerom finds himself locked in a mental asylum. most of his inmates are criminals. Jerom is convinced he himself is not insane.

he makes friends, starts to feel at home, but still does not know why he is locked up here in the first place.

on a rainy day he starts hearing voices talking to him.

eventually, he becomes insane.

the staff finds out and reassures him in his (new?) state of mind.

Jerom finds being insane a great way to feel happy about being locked in.

he no longer cares about the reason.

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now, i planned to have a second part and a third part, too.

in the 2nd part, the reader finds out about the reason Jerom is in the asylum, that is, when the crime is described.

in the 3rd part, the reader finds out about Jerom's background, uhm, like a neglecting and/or abusive relative or something like that.

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now, i don't think i want to write part 2 and 3.

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my reasons:

to keep the intensity of part one, part 2 should be gory and sick. i don't think i want to write that way.

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part 3 on the other hand, should be a cover-up for Jerom's sin.

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and i don't think i want to give Jerom a pat on the shoulder. i don't think i want to take away the guilt. if Jerom did wrong, he should be punished. if Jerom, say, mutilated and or killed his wife, or set a little baby on fire - this is crime and evil. i don't want to give hims redemption by saying: 'oh, you poor Jerom, you did have a nasty childhood'.

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what's your opinion?

the hunt for copper moon

basic situation:

at home we have two computers.

one for me (work and hobbies like blogging and writing) and one for my son (for playing). the second one has some internal problems so the sound comes out distorted.

this computer has a great monitor, but it sometimes just decides to go wrong.

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about two weeks ago:

my computer said hello and was unable to find disk c and d...

fortunately, these are on a mobile rack, so i was able to switch to the second computer and was happy to see that my manuscript of the novel, along with some other writings (that are unavailable anywhere else) are still readable and manageable.

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until this very day, when this second computer just does not find racks e and f (those named c and d on the first computer)

it might or might not mean that i lost my writing.

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i might or might not go mad

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i hate computers.

kind of a whining

there was this guy on the online literary site who saw a couple of paragraphs from my manuscript. he was quite unimpressed i guess.

he kept telling me it was 'bad', the 'words were unsuitable', and finally that 'even an 8-year old does better'.

i see his point: he doesn't like my writing.

no problem with that.

but for god's sake.

putting his opinion this way is anything but helpful.

i asked him a couple of times to make his point clearer.

i asked him to name actual failures.

like... 'the verb in the second sentence (in paragraph 3) does not suit the action.' or.... 'when Margaret seeks advice from his father, there are too many blah sentences between them'...

like... i think you get it.

but no, he kept repeating that is was bad completely and kept referring to people who decided to throw away complete manuscripts....

so, i kindly asked him to leave it alone.

just leave it alone.

changing the names

i think I mentioned earlier that i wished to change the names of the characters. i thought i would write the novel in English, but i opted for higher diversity of vocabulary and deeper expression of thoughts so i wrote it in Hungarian.

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in a literary website some people commented that names are unimportant as long as there is a great story going on, while others used the old 'nomen est omen' argument to encourage me to choose carefully.

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the main character, a former Sarah, is going by Margaret, but now I am seeking a fine Hungarian alternative.

i think i get a great one by Greta, which is of German origin and has the same feeling: 'a' Greta sounds strong, yet close to nature. it feels like a feminie name that has no connection to any major religion. (this issue was the main reason to reject 'Sarah' - although a name i do like very much.

also Greta has a clear reference to Margaret.

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her mother is going by Nancy at the moment, but that must surely go.

there isn't anything similar in the Hungarian, so i have to invent and use something else instead.

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her father, now Kyle - the same situation.

i think i'll try Attila, which is a Hungarian name meaning father. Attila, the hun has a dubious reputation. some historians say he was good, some go for bad. some even venture into saying that the huns have nothing to do with the hungarians.

the same goes to Margaret/Greta's father: Nancy thinks he was attractive and seducing on one hand and flirtatious and careless on the other.

as Margaret/Greta has received quite a bunch of remarkable genes from his father, the simile may go further on...

i think Attila will do.

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what's your opinion?

how do you choose names?

or do characters with specific names just appear seemingly out of nowhere, begging you to be writing about them?

revision and title

yesterday i broke my habit of not revising my NaNo manuscript.

i started to revise it right in December, but found everything to my liking, so i decided it was not the time to revise, so i quit and have not revised/reread ever since.

but behold!

just yesterday i browsed my computer and somehow chapter 7 caught my eyes.

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i read it at once in one reading (it is only 2300+ words) and...

i felt the same emotions between the characters i had felt when i was writing it in November.

chapter 7 is about the main character saying goodbye to all that ties her to her present life. to her friends, family (what is left of it, that is...), work, the flat she lives in, her landlady, her present lover, and a man she she also loves.

i recall having written this chapter almost entirely in tears, because it is so moving. or, so i felt. i don't know what reaction it will have on future readers, if there would be any, but it definitely made a strong impression on me.

yesterday's big surprise was that the words, that is, of chapter 7, still have the same impression on me when i read it.

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now don't get me wrong. i am not saying that i am overwhelmed by my writing's quality. it's just that it makes me feel the same way over and over again.

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question 1

do you think i am ready to revise?

should i wait some more - or is it already too late?

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question 2

the Hungarian title translates to 'Pebbles of the Moon', or 'Moon Pebbles'

which one sounds better?

you see, i don't really get the difference between the two suggestions. do you?

if none of these sounds great, the book will go by the title 'Copper Moon'

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mwah-hah-hah

'the book'

it is not even translated to English.

:)

writing

all right, this is just a short check-in to make you see that i am alive.
i just don't seem to find time to toy with my manuscript, but, well, later on, sometimes...
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in the meantime i sometimes do write, but whatever i write i write in hungarian.
i know i am not what people call a prolific writer.