WEEK IN REVIEW
Okay, so what did I do last week...?
Last Week's Writing
I spent last week revising my 3rd draft of Pink Knight (my YA fantasy novella), mostly trying to clean up those annoying missing words and clipped sentences. I do both a lot and I thought I caught all my missing words in the 2nd draft, but I found nearly twice as many in my 3rd draft. (My eyes are rolling.) I also needed to add over 1,000 more words to it, but only managed about 500 more. Now, it stands at a total of 28,700 words.
Last Week's Reading
I started and tried really hard to get into my ARC of Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff, but this book is super, super boring! It does have a few annoying misuses of the honorific "-sama," but only when the main character, Yukiko says it. Not anyone else, which is really weird. Does she not know her own language?
I got so busy with so many other things, anyway, along with revising my 3rd draft, I decided to put Stormdancer on hold until next week. I continued to read The Click Moment by Frans Johansson, which I'm reading slowly. It is super good and I wish I could just read it all in one go!
This Week
This week I have my critique partners reading Pink Knight, so I moved up to actually getting eyes on my work. Their feedback will likely come next week, or later, so I can just fret about it all week long. How fun!
I hope to get Stormdancer finished and find something good about it, after all. But, slow reading is slow. I have a book on self-editing for writers that I also plan to get started on (Self-Editing for Fiction Writers). I seriously can never have enough books on writing craft. I'm always reading one and have been for the past two years straight. Many of them have been really helpful, so I'm glad I picked up this little habit.
That's it for me this week. I hope you guys are getting your NaNo novels going and keeping up with your word counts. Any advice for how to deal with feedback on my manuscript? I'd love any help I can get there, since I'm nervous.
Don't you hate finding those little mistakes even after you've read it a dozen times? And good to know I'm not the only one who has to add to a manuscript.
ReplyDelete@Alex: Yes, I hate finding those stupid errors in my writing that I think I've gobbled up already! Drives me nuts. And, yeah, I tend to write as minimalist as possible, since when I did not, I got hammered by critiquers for using too many adjectives and writing awkwardly long sentences. Criticism forced me to write far less, but sometimes, I write way too little and it doesn't flesh out my scenes enough.
DeleteI always tend to have missing words and clipped sentences in my WIP as well. I don't think I'm going to read Stormdancer at all now. I've read too many reviews that mention how info dump heavy it is. If you want to read an awesome Japanese inspired novel you should try Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn. It's an amazing book!
ReplyDeleteI'm back at work on Thurs so I'll probably have PK back to you a little after that as I want to print it out to read. Plus it's better that way as my computer insists on being really temperamental!
@Lan: If you still wanted to try out Stormdancer, just go to your awesome local library over there so you don't have to spend money on it. My guess is you'll not like it because you always say how much you can't stand overly descriptive reads, and this one is MAJOR on the description to the detriment of the entire novel. Read a sample and you'll see what I mean!
DeleteThanks for the recommendation of the other Japanese novel! I've put it on my wishlist. I'll give it a try, since you like it so much.
Take your time with PK and just get to it when you can. I know you have so much NaNo writing to do, so make your own novel more important to get finished.
I am so bummed to hear that Storm Dancer isn't all that good! It was next up on my reading list, but I'd hate to waste $10 on the ebook if it's boring. Who has time for boring books?
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed by all the writing craft books your read. I seriously need to follow your examle. I read Self-Editing for Fiction Writers back in college, and I have no recollection of what it's about!
I've got the next 3 nights slotted out for PK. I should have my crit complete by Wed evening. I like the fonts you chose for the title and chapter headings, BTW!
@Camille: I know, right? It's such a bummer that Stormdancer is a disappointment. I had high hopes.
DeleteNot all the books on craft I read are so great, but, luckily, many are. I'm picky about the ones I do buy, usually.
Take your time with PK! No need to rush. I have plenty of time. And, I found those fonts in my MS for free on a site somewhere.