I had an asthma attack yesterday morning. I hadn't had one in almost five years. I sort of knew it was coming. I keep waking up to cough at night, and I cough almost every time I exercise. All of these are signs of asthma. I felt puny from it until about noon, and then I sort of rebounded and felt better.
I think the lack of exercise is getting to me, and due to the asthma attack yesterday, I didn't ride the bike at all. I'm feeling like I'm getting out of my routine exercise-wise, and it's driving me nuts. I like the outlet. And speaking of outlets: let's talk about writing for a bit...
I've been slowly submitting my first work to agents. I am also almost constantly editing. I've added a few more aspects to my character, tried to make her real, three dimensional. I had a lot of feedback that she seemed cold, out-of-touch, heartless in her relationship...so I changed that. I didn't want her to come across like some heartless person. I wanted her to come across as a person who needed to make a tough decision in her life to see where she needed to go next. We've all been through that right? Tough decisions.
The revision process is hard. I actually really hate it. I hate reading through and trying to act like I have new eyes. I hate adding and cutting, and trying to add feeling that wasn't there in the first place. In fact, I found a great cartoon that shows exactly the way I feel when I revise, except for I do my revisions on the computer, not on paper. Don't kill all those trees!
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| From: http://secondary-writing-instruction.wikispaces.com/The+Writing+Process |
I received three rejections in a span of two days. I've made a spreadsheet to catalog who I've sent out to, who has sent me rejections and who I haven't heard from. I still have four out there I haven't heard from. I haven't submitted at all this week, because mostly I've been working on a new piece.
I was taking a different route and working on a piece of historical fiction from the 1920's, but I haven't had time to research. I had some inspiration from the Boston bombings recently, and I spun another story, which is surprisingly easy to write. In fact, the words just roll out, and much less research is involved (although still some--there is always some). I actually am feeling pretty good about this new work, and I've already written about 10,000 words. I work on it every day, and it seems to be coming together.
I'm reading Rust Hills, "Writing in General and The Short Story In Particular," and so far it's ok. I tend to question how much an actual book or actual class can teach you about writing. I'm sure I could learn something about structure, flow, plot, character sketches, but I tend to write without an outline. The story is just drawn out of me like coal from a mine, somewhere deep inside where it's stored, and then it pours out onto the paper. I think most natural writers have this tendency, and maybe there is something to learn from the plotters and planners, but I haven't found it yet. I've never been a plotter. Still, I'll gleam some hint of new information from this book and others that I read, even if it just propels me to write and to submit more, then it is useful.
That's where I am in the world of writing. I'm getting organized, finding out how to submit, where to submit, and what to do. Eventually I will get published, even if it takes the rest of my life.
