Skip to main content

New cover and a new plan.

Ok, so the cover was bothering me.  It was VERY Twilight.  If you like Twilight, more power to you, but my book is nothing like Twilight, so to have that connection made would be a mistake.  So, I did a little work and came up with this.


I really think this conveys Fantasy more than the last one, but still feels very pigeon holed to me.  I'd really love to be able to shoot a cover...and have control of every aspect right from the start.  NaNoWriMo's twitter account challenged everyone to make a post-it note sketch of our covers.  I came up with this. 

Warning: I'm a writer, not an artist.  We can't all be Christopher Paolini and do both. :) 


Anyway...It's not like the cover matters, because I'm not finished with the second draft yet.  Covers can come later.  First things first, editing.

So once again, I find myself a NaNo rebel but I'm finding my form of rebellion is common AND people have figured out a formula for it.  Since the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50K words, it can be hard for people editing to win since...ideally...you've got most of your words written.  The formula that has been suggested for editors counts 1 hour of editing as 1k words...then adding the number of new words you've added (not subtracting any words you cut) and that is your daily total.

This means, if I can edit two hours a day, I can achieve my word goal this year. 

Well, that is all for now.

Oh, one more thing.  I messaged Taryn to seen when she'll have an opening for editing.  I'm hoping to be able to get this second draft to her ASAP. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"Ab ovo" versus "In medias res"

"From the beginning" versus "In the midst of things" I have heard two very different schools of thought on where to start a story.  It is such a contested subject that there are words for both methods. Ab ovo: From the beginning.  Followers of this method argue that a reader cannot car about a story if they do not first care about the character.  In this method the story starts with the main characters day to day life and gives you an opportunity to get to know them and care about them.  This does not necessarily mean you see the them from birth, you just see their normal life before the inciting incident (the event that happens to the protagonist to change their life from the norm and sparks the action of the story). For example: We see Dorothy in Kansas before she goes to OZ.  We see Katniss in District 12 before the reaping.  We see Harry with the Dursleys before the owls start to show up.  There are many who start their stories in the most lo...

Emails, and freak outs, and swords! Oh my!

So I was supposed to send my manuscript to the editor April 11th.  Today I received a surprise email, she had finished a project and could take my MS early. Yep, I totally freaked out.  You can ask my co-workers.  "Is my face red?  I feel like my face is red.  Oh god, I'm not supposed to be this scared am I?  That can't be normal.  Oh god." I was so excited, so scared, so nervous, all at once.  It is amazing that one person can feel some many emotions together.  I don't know anything to compare it to. So, I came home, gave it a once over, made sure the format was correct to Taryn's specifications, and then I did the scariest thing I've done in my writing career.  I sent my MS, my 10 year journey, my 4 month old baby, to an almost complete stranger. Taryn said she should be done by this weekend, but life happens so it may be longer.  Until then I am supposed to stay occupied.  Shouldn't be hard as I have a stac...

Constructive criticism: Reader Report # 2

So last week, I handed over my manuscript to my editor and asked her to tear it apart and tell me what I did wrong.  It's never easy receiving criticism, but this was about as painless as it comes.  My editor is so wonderful.  She has taken an experience that could potentially be so frightening and made it a breeze.  I cannot say it enough.  If you need editing and/or critique services, check out Taryn Albright .  You won't regret it. This is my second Reader Report from Taryn.  The last report prompted some major changes and a lot of work.  What did she have to say this time?  Well, I'm on the right track.  There are a few things that still need work, but the good news is the major changes I made the last go round worked well.  Basically there are things here and there that need to be improved and I need to work on my use of commas and periods, and dialog tags. (Confession: I suck at grammar.)  So at least one more pass is n...