...about expansion.Have you ever tried to stretch something to proportions it wasn't supposed to attain?Like, stretching one biscuit to feed four people? Or, stretching a pair of size 12 jeans to fit a size 16 body?That's the situation I've dealt with over the past few weeks. I finished my 20,000 word paranormal novella, Tugger's Down. Great. But then, two test readers told me I must expand it to full novel size.Hmmm.Have you ever tried that? It's excruciating.After much mumbling, hair-pulling and tears, my poor novella has attained a size of almost 40,000 words. Not nearly enough. But I had to take a break from the torture, so I'm currently editing two other novels I finished (finished? ha!) last year.Writing is fun. Rewriting, editing, stre-e-e-e-tching, is for the birds...
...about challenges.
What is there about a challenge that makes it irresistible? Wish I knew. Because I fall prey to every challenge that comes along. NaNo. Mini-NaNo. ScriptFrenzy. You name it, I have to take it on.
Recently, a friend in my critique group issued a writing challenge: write a 20,000 word novella, either romance or mystery, in 10 weeks. Very doable.
So I set aside my work on Deep in the Valley and Scribbles (yet again) to take up the challenge. As of now, my paranormal romance novella, Tugger's Down, stands at just over 17,000 words.
Take heart, Niall and Bridghe, Meg and Johnny -- I'll be getting back to you soon...
...about submissions.
I've tweaked, corrected, rewritten and added subplots. I've polished, "washed behind the ears" of my two novels, and I think they may be ready for presentation to the public.
At least, I hope they are.
So. I wrote a query letter and a synopsis and compiled a list of agents. And ten submission packets are now sitting in slush piles somewhere in New York City. We'll see if they succumb to the slush or if they rise above it.
Meanwhile, I'll prepare the next batch of packets, and.....
Something is nagging at me. My unfinished sequel to "High on a Mountain" and my unfinished NaNovel from November 2007 have begun to jealously demand attention. So, I suppose I should give in, resume work on those two first drafts with one hand while the other hand assembles submission packets....
