The Art of Expansion

This is a subject that I suspect I will be dwelling on for quite some time. In my editing/rewrites, I have found quite a number of scenes which require a good deal of changing. This is all as a result of having expanded the history of my setting and characters through the short stories. The changes are nothing drastic to the plot, but merely proving extra layers.

I've already touched on the way I rewrite a few times here. It's not nearly as tedious as it sounds. Though, I have developed a habit Tolkien had for most of his life. He tended to rewrite, and rewrite constantly. But each time, he started over from the beginning. It's why there are so many variations of tales in his history of Middle-Earth. Many are not even finished.

While Tolkien is my hero and inspiration, I do not want to fall into some of the same issues he had. First, I refuse to allow myself to leave work unfinished any longer. I already have too much of that. If I have to rewrite or change something, I try to limit myself to restarting at the beginning of that scene. This is only after trying to go in and tweak line by line.

I am also trying to condense my various drafts into one. There are quite a number of tales where length requirements required me to make a lot of cuts. I always save each version, but then review them all when trying to rework a story. My current project is seeming to require me to start from the beginning just because it's been through so many changes. But more on that later.

The other danger of expansion is simply padding on scenes and words to fit a minimum length requirement. You have to make every word actually count for the story and the characters. This might limit your market of submissions, but it's worth it. I had actually been in touch with an editor that I thought would be a good fit for one of my steampunk novellas. Even though she liked the pitch, she said they simply could not accept it because of the length. She and I both agreed adding a few thousand words would not be the right choice, and I would have to carry on the search.

On the same note, this is why I want to stop finding a market and then writing. It's really putting a limit and strain on the Muse. Write first, then find a publisher. It's what I used to do, and want to want to get back into. The work itself should come before all else. And if that doesn't work, there is always self publishing!

WIP Wednesday!

Rewrites can be so very demanding. I have about nine pages I'm redoing right now, and it's driving me bonkers. The new notes and ideas in my head are so much better than what I put on the page months ago. Tweaking the original document is not quite working out as well as I thought. So it's opening a blank page and re doing the entire thing! Thank God, there is no deadline.

It's worth it for the story, in the end.

"What on earth was that?" she inquired, but no one stopped their own revelry in the rain to answer her. She dropped her skirts despite the mud gathering under her feet in order to shield her eyes from the consistent downpour. Her head turned towards the continuing rattling noise, and then jolted at the sight of smoke billowing from a mechanized carriage.

A Brief Look Back

This is a lovely little feature from The Submission Grinder to show how my attempts at actually getting published are going. I'll admit the numbers are not entirely impressive, but everyone starts somewhere. It helps to stop and take pride in what you have actually accomplished. 

First, this isn't really a "Lifetime" status. It's missing the sporadic submissions and writing I did before 2014. It doesn't count the attempts at getting any of the novels published either. It really just shows how things have been since before I "restructured" my attempt to get published. 

All my life, I've had the same end goal. It's the one most writer's share. Now, I'm trying to get more serious about the whole thing. Not that I ever wasn't serious. I just thought someone would stumble across me and instantly publish everything I ever penned. How silly of me! 

So now I'm trying to keep myself on the straight-ish path. Writing, editing, constantly sending stories out. I'm about to start querying book agents. I wish I had taken this a lot more seriously before, and maybe the Acceptances would be larger. Or maybe just the Rejections would have grown. 

In the end, I'm proud of all 16+ of those pieces. I'm proud of how far the Muse and I have come. Things are different from the first rejection, where I spent the following days curled up in a ball refusing to leave my misery. We will get to the dream one of these days, won't we? I have faith.

A Most Stubborn Muse

She really is the worst, isn't she? The best as well, which I do not intend on forgetting. The fair Muse has decided that editing is in fact very inspiration. So inspirational, that she is filling my head with ideas for novellas. 

The novella market is growing, so I am happy for any new ideas. I just wish she would have provided these ideas months ago when several publishers has open calls for novellas. Oh well. More will come. 

The "plan" now is to try and split my time between editing and writing. It's worked before, and it shouldn't slow me down at all. I really don't have any hard deadlines at the moment, or any open calls to respond to. Plus, this isn't really straying from the idea of finishing longer works while sending out the already finished shorter ones. 

I will say, that I tend to write better with looming deadlines. It discourages me from slacking off or telling myself it can wait five more minutes...and another five more minutes. I'll have to set up better self imposed deadlines. 

Slight Deviation from the Master Plan

I suppose that doesn't come as a suprise.  My schedule keeps on changing, but this should not derail things too much.

I'm still focusing on getting the novel finished. But it doesn't seem wise to leave the pile of 15 or so short stories just sitting there. I've decided to spend one day a week sending out an old story to a new market. To be honest, I should have been doing this all along. I did a few times, but the constant cycle got tiring. I think spacing it out to once a week or every other week will be better for my state of mind.

I'll of course give each one a quick edit, but it won't be constantly switching between projects like before. Plus, I think this might help when I get stuck on editing The Resurrected Thief.  But I am following up on avoiding themed submission. Hopefully that helps with the whole "not quite the right fit" rejection I get all the time.

Here it goes!