Blogs have been scarce for several reasons. I’m finishing the second of two voice classes. Planning two day-long intensives and arranging those trips (during which I will see one son in NYC and the other will go with me to Florida–yippee!). Mainly, however, I’m working on the MIP. The chef interview was fantastic and he gave me some more resources, so I’ve been reading and working and rearranging, looking up headers for the tops of the chapters. It’s not a finished book by any stretch, but it really is time to send my agent what I have and let her have a look. If I don’t do it now, it will be the middle of November before I can get back to it. I asked a writer friend to have a look last week. She said she had to stop in the middle and go eat somthing because it made her so hungry. A good sign. 🙂
So, I’ll send out around 150 pages at the end of the week. This woke me up in the middle of the night last night and I was scrolling through the pages at 3 am, moving a word, changing a sentence, a verb, deleting extraneous dialogue tags and adverbs. Passive to active. Telling to showing. All those ordinary polishing things. Not that it’s a finishing kind of polish. More like tying a kindergartener’s shoe before she goes off to school the first day.
Aside from that golden period before I actually start, everything about the writing process makes me fret. I fret about starting and finishing. I fret about synopses (because I am wretched at writing them) and about titles and about releases. It’s brilliant and exciting, but also nerve-wracking.
What’s been brilliant and nerve wracking for you lately?
I have to admit I love my blog. It has turned into a great place to just be and talk about things I’m interested in and what’s happening in my life. OTOH it’s nerve wracking! While I try to focus on it being fun and just for me which is why I love it, people visit, which I love too but then I worry about content and keeping it interesting. Isn’t that silly? Hardly on the scale of writing a book, I know, but my little corner of neurosis.
Hey, Rosie, blogs are very satisfying and challenging things. Love your design.
There are a bunch of yoga practitioners here (including me).
Surprisingly, the fun/fretting has come from the day job. Probably for the first time in my life! Lots of meetings coming up and it’s fun to get that sorted and to meet all the delegates from around the world but the fretting comes from making sure the countries are seated correctly around the table and everything’s ok–no Cyprus anywhere near Greece, no lobbyists near the US delegation, if we don’t mention China in this document then we offend them but if we do then we offend Taiwan. Ay carumba! Then we pull it all off and take a deep breath and the chair gives us roses–phew!
Enjoy your trips, and all your cooking.