I think I May Be a Little Too Focused

I've been working like a madwoman trying to get ready for the conference. I'm finding I get a lot done if I work in 2-hour spurts. Any more than that, and I burn out and I'm no good when it comes time for another writing session.

So, I haven't done much of anything else. I'm planning a series of posts for next week that will cover various aspects of writing technique. Basically, a bunch of really good posts that didn't really get categorized anywhere else ;) Seriously, I have stuff on crafting, editing, rhythm, style. Should be a good week. Until then, I'll focus on getting this draft done and printed out.

The Dread Monastery

Oooh... Lesson 10... sounds ominous. Okay, maybe not to you, but it does to me. Lesson 10 means the Monastery.

(To read more about my HTRYN lessons, click here. To get to the course page, click here.)

Okay, so let me explain what the Monastery is. Basically, you shut yourself up in a cave. Seriously. No writing, no reading, no writing blogs, no forums, no tv, no contact with anything that might give you feedback or inspiration. Because the Monastery is all about what's already in your head--your story.

So you shut off everything around you and find a quiet place. (Fortunately, I can schedule my blog posts ahead of time, so you were unaffected. Lucky you.) And then you write, scene-by-scene your entire book. From memory and whatever else may pop into your head and catch your fancy.

Sounds basic.

It's not.

My story took shape during this lesson. It changed my book completely. More conflict, more tension. My characters are acting for themselves, instead of relying on others or circumstance. The book is now character-driven. I can't express it.

Also, my book got longer. I think this exercise helps you to get your book closer to its perfect length because some students were saying their book got shorter. But I write short. Sometimes very short. I think my current draft of Shadow Bound is just over 50,000 words. It was 68 scenes if I remember correctly.

After the Monastery, I had 112 scenes**. It's absolutely amazing.

Have I mentioned how much I love this course? I thought I was a thorough reviser. Ha. This course could cut the time it takes for me to get published in half. I feel like I've learned things that would have taken a decade to learn on my own. I really hope these lesson reviews are helpful.

I'm not allowed to post much more than this on a public website, otherwise I would.

**Note: I did go back later and combine some scenes, cleaned up a few threads, etc.. Now it looks like Shadow Bound will be closer to 100 scenes.

Why Your Email Account May Be Getting You Rejected

Short and sweet today, but very important. This article on the Swivet gives some vital advice to anyone who is querying or who may be planning on sending out queries.

Nearly all agents have a "no attachments, please" policy. If you've ever queried before, you know this. Agents open hundred of emails a week and aren't going to risk their computer files (or waste their time) opening attachments from complete strangers. So the policy is: paste everything in the body of an email until I ask you specifically to send an attachment.

And if you don't? Nine out of ten, the agent will delete your query without giving it a second thought.

BUT apparently, so email clients and signatures could contain unsolicited attachments without you even knowing about it. Read the article and DOUBLE CHECK your email before querying!

Morning Pages: Results

Before I report on my Morning Pages, I want to let you all know that I plan to attend the Pennwriters Conference May 14-16. It looks like a great writer's conference that covers a wide range of genres (including Fantasy, YA, mystery, horror, sci-fi, thrillers, etc...) and it fits in with my schedule. (Or I'll make it fit!) Plus, some top agents will be there. It'd be great to see some of you there, if you can make it.

Now. The Morning Pages. Two weeks ago, I blogged about a technique that could cure writers block called Morning Pages. I tried it.

For 14 days, the very first thing I did when I woke up was write three pages of whatever popped into my head. I'll admit, some days were hard. If my little girl woke up early, I had to fight her while I wrote. But most days, I woke up (on my own!) early enough to get my pages done before anyone else woke up. (Let me tell you, for me, that's a miracle.)

The result: Wow.

Writing those pages relieved so much stress. Anything that was on my mind, all those little oh-no-I-have-to-do-this things floating around in my head suddenly seemed like nothing to worry about. I remembered to do them. And I didn't worry about them. So pluses for memory and stress reduction.

As for getting up early, I'm not sure how I did it. I think the memory pages must have helped. I'm wondering if maybe the morning pages helped me to wake up 15-30 minutes earlier than usual without an alarm. And I haven't been as tired during the day. There are a number of factors that could have helped with this, but it all began when I started morning pages, so I thought I'd mention it.

I got more creative work done. I was less stressed, less tired, and so I was more motivated to get work done. And the quality of work wasn't too bad, if I may say so. I wrote out some new scenes for my book (by hand) and I was impressed. Setting, character development, and voice improved without me giving much thought to it.

Cons?? 3 pages seemed to take a long time on some days. It never took more than 15 minutes, but sometimes if felt like a lot longer. And then the thing with my daughter. That was a little difficult. But it only happened twice. There was one day when I had to take care of her first and then write my pages, but I still got them done before 8am. Overall, not too bad.

I'll definitely keep this habit going. :)

Rachelle Gardner had a recent guest post on journaling and unlocking creative thinking.