Hello again, dreamers.  Another busy week lies ahead, but I’m looking forward to it.  It feels good to be a writer again.  Now, let’s get down to business.  Here’s what’s in store this week:

The Pioneer

I learn a little more about this story every day, and indeed I feel I fall in love a little bit more each day as well.

As intended, I’ve begun the process of revising phase one.  Also as intended, the process has become less of a revision than a rewrite.  When writing a novel, I’ve found it’s easy to fall into a trap where one continually rewrites what one has, rather than proceeding with the story, ultimately getting stalled along the way.  This time is different, though: I feel good about what I have overall.  The substance of the plot thus far is certainly sound.  As such, it’s not so much a matter of me rewriting what I have so much as finding a better way to say it.  And in that regard, I feel I’m succeeding.

Now that I have a solid framework to go on, the writing is significantly easier.  Though I’m eager to get on with the next phase of the novel, I don’t want to run the risk of getting comfortable with phase one as it is.  I need a solid foundation to build upon, and I feel I’m finding it at last.

Last week gave me a lot of time to think about where the story is going, and that has helped as well.  I’ve finally stretched beyond the rough framework I had before and found a clear path forward.  Much remains to be done, but for this week, the focus will be on cleaning up phase one, and beginning phase two.

Wide Horizon

Feels like it’s been a while since that title appeared on one of these posts.  But it’s back on the radar, as the time has finally come: I’m preparing to publish my debut novel.  Or seek publishing, rather.

August is going to be a very busy month for me as far as writing goes.  To a first-timer such as myself, the entire process of publication can seem daunting…and reading “success stories” in Writer’s Digest about someone who found an agent and got published after sending out more than two hundred query letters does little to calm one’s nerves.  Luckily, I believe I’ve found a sensible starting point, thanks to a friend who clued me in on Pitch Wars.

Pitch Wars is a website geared toward first-time authors.  Participants submit their manuscript, a synopsis, and a query letter, which are then reviewed by “mentors”: literary agents, editors, and published authors with experience in what will work and what won’t.  Over the course of the process, authors receive guidance from their mentors, helping them to refine their pitch.  If an agent sees something they like, they may choose to take an author on as a client.  However, even if that doesn’t happen (which seems likely), I’ll still get a lot of help figuring out how, exactly, to sell my novel.

The process of publishing a novel through the traditional approach can take years.  If I’m going to do this, I need a place to start, and this seems like a good one.

As such, for the next few weeks I’ll need to devote some time to putting the finishing touches on Wide Horizon.  Once Pitch Wars submissions begin, whatever I have is what I will, at least for the time being, be going with.  I have a few ideas for refining the story I’ve tossed around over the past month, and I may ultimately make some fairly significant changes to key points.  If I’m going to do this, it’s now or never.

Short Fiction

While I do plan to fit in time to keep up my daily free writes (somehow), there are two major developments coming this week:

First, after giving Going Dark a final once-over, I plan to shop it around to several science fiction journals, hoping for that elusive “yes”.  Wish me luck.

Second, tomorrow I’ll be posting August’s short fiction piece here on the website.

Another busy week, but one that I hope will be fulfilling in the end.  Read, comment, and dare to dream. – MK