In Which I Draft

So I've been working hard the last few weeks. And hopefully that trend will continue. I'm written 30 new pages on my WIP (still just titled WIP. At some point I'm going to need to sit down and try to come up with an actual title. I HATE not having a title, even a fake one, for a WIP. Drives me crazy).

(I've been thinking of my WIP as a cross between these two things. Whether that will hold up the farther I get into it, we'll see)

I'm aiming to get another ten pages done this week. My MFA mentor said she wants me to revise my first 40 pages and that she'll read up to another new 40 pages if I want and I aim to take her up on that offer.

I've done a bit of revising on the first 40. Fiddled around here and there and addressed a few things, but some of the revisions I need to do are larger, so I think I won't start to tackle those until I print it out (it's easier for me to "see" spanning changes on hard copy as opposed to a screen) and I don't want to print it out until I finish my next 40 pages so I can print it all out at the same time.

The story is going well. I don't LOVE it yet, but I do like it and that's good enough for now. I've come to realize that I'm a person who likes revising more than I like drafting. So I can't wait to finish something so I can get down to fixing it and making it better. Or at least that's the theory anyway.

How about you? Do you like drafting or revising better? And do you prefer to have a title when you're drafting, or is it something that can wait until later for you? (and if you have any ideas for a title for my WIP of which you know nothing about, then feel free to shoot them my way)

In Which I Hodge-Podge

Bit of a mix post today. Mostly because I'm just so frickin' busy.

I spent the last two weeks doing revisions on ATR for the agent (tee hee). I tried to pump them out as fast as possible, for multiple reasons, but I also didn't want to do them so fast that the quality suffered, you know? But I think I did a good job. I definitely felt accomplished when I sent them back to Mollie.

And now I have two weeks to finish up my MFA assignments for my first packet, which is due on the 4th. I've already written my 40 pages, which is great, but I haven't revised them at all yet. Which is not great. I was also hoping I'd have another 40 or more pages done, so I'd be prepared for the next packet, but no such luck. I'm hoping that the next few weeks will be a little less hectic so I can start putting out some daily pages for it. I haven't yet reached the "I love this story" phase yet, which makes writing pages not as fun as I know it could be. But hopefully that will happen soon.

I also need to write a 5 page paper for my packet. I've read the book and I know my topic and some of the thoughts I want to tackle etc., but I still need to do it, and even though I wrote a paper to get accepted into the MFA, I'm still out of practice with paper writing, so I'm a biiiiiit worried. Not too much, but I'll feel a lot better once it's done.

And I have to write a process letter, which shouldn't be that difficult.

And, of course, at some point I need to get back to my reading list. I was burned out on reading a bit, so I took a break to read some NF, but once that's done, I need to get back into the saddle and start plowing through that MFA list.

Yesterday, I visited my good friend T.L. Conway's writing group. I'm a people person, so I always like meeting other local writers. It was honestly a big reason for why I wanted to do the MFA.

So I visited their writing group and we worked on queries and it was a lot of fun!

Tonight I have my own writing group. My goal was to start bringing my WIP for critiques, but since I haven't revised them yet, I decided to hold off until the next meeting. I just didn't want to rush it and feel even more stressed.

Lastly, I've got some news on the blogging front. I was invited to be a contributing blogger for YA Confidential! 

True story, I was always a bit jealous of peeps who were part of group blogs, so I was so flattered to be asked and I jumped at the opportunity. I haven't written a blog post for it yet, because of the aforementioned "business" of my current life, but I hope I do soon. But in the mean time, my operative profile has been posted and I've participated in a roundtable and the From the Vault questions and it's been a lot of fun, so maybe check it out!

So, what's up with you? Are you busy busy busy? Or are things a bit more sedate? Fill me in!
 

In Which I Return

So, I'm back from my MFA Residency!

And it. Was. AWESOME!!

Guys, guys! It was so great I can't even. I made so many cool new friends. I mean, check out my class!

from left to right, Top: Gary Mansergh, Josh Hammond, Zachary Wilson
Middle: Jessica Mattson, Jennifer Wilson Coates, Kate St. Vincent Vogl, Anna Dielschneider
Bottom: Brita Sandstrom, Me.

Everyone was such a good writer. So good. We all read at student readings and I was seriously blown away by their talent. I'm not even exaggerating.

The workshops were great and wonderful, the lectures were awesome, I got my copy of I'M WITH STUPID signed by Geoff Herbach (if you ever get a chance to hear him speak, DO! He's hilarious), got to sit next to Kate DiCamillo (true story) and spoke with Jane Yolen (also a true story).

And I get to do it all over again in July!

We were assigned mentors for the next 5ish months and I'll be working with Anne Ursu, which I'm super excited about because she's awesome and cool and loves cats (as expected).

And besides the residency, some awesome crazy huge event happened too, which I'll be blogging about soon (soooooon).

I know, I'm such a blog tease. I don't mean to be, I swear, but I like to keep things close to my chest until things are more clear, you know?

Yeah.

Anyway, how have you been? Anything exciting or fun or different happen the last two weeks?

Insecure Writer's Support Group

Today's the first Insecure Writer's Support Group of 2014! Woo!

Tomorrow is my very first day of my MFA in writing for children's and young adults. It starts off with a 10 day residency (11 if it's your first semester) which includes readings and lectures and workshops and other awesome stuff I'm excited about.

I'm actually not really nervous at all. Anything I am nervous about is just logistics stuff, like lunches and dinners and whether I'll have time to work out in the morning before I go. But I know all of that will be resolved probably after the first day. 

Mostly I'm just excited to get going and meet a whole bunch of new, awesome writers.

I also have a friend from one of my classes last year who was also accepted to the MFA program, so it will be nice to know someone who'll be going through the same program as me. At the very least it means I'll already have one friend.

I dunno. I guess this isn't a very good insecure writer post, because I'm feeling pretty secure. I think. Of course maybe tomorrow morning I'll suddenly be nervous or scared or something. I guess we'll see.

But, because the residency is pretty much all day for 10 days, I won't be blogging at all until it's done. So I'll be on hiatus for the rest of this week, all of next week, and at least part of the week after.

Wish me luck!

In Which I Look Back At 2013 Goals

Another year, another list of goals met or failed.

Looking back at this time last year, these were the goals I'd made for myself for 2013:



2013 GOALS

1. Revise All That Remains
2. Query All That Remains
3. Take at least one writing class before querying ATR
4. Start another novel
5. Lose weight
6. Read 62 books
7. Revise Break Free (again)
8. Seriously consider getting my MFA

1. CHECK (mostly). So I did revise the crap out of it. Then I started sending it out. But, as these things work, I'm back to doing some revisions on it. All for good, exciting reasons, but still.

2. CHECK. I did indeed start querying ATR. On Halloween as a matter of fact. It's going really well, though I did take a short hiatus over December and probably won't start again until after my residency (or maybe not until I hear back from some agents. We'll see)

3. DOUBLE CHECK. I took 2 classes this year, a YA novel class and an advanced children's writing workshop. I met some great new people which has been one of the best parts of the classes

4. CHECK-ISH. I've written 15 pages on my next WIP. So, not a lot, but still. It counts I guess.

5. UNSURE Probably I should have written down my starting weight somewhere... But probably I haven't lost anything significant

6. HUGE CHECK I smashed my goal out of the water. As of writing this post I've read 103 books and I'm on schedule to finish 1 or 2 more before 2013 closes out.

7. CHECK It was just a small revision, but I still got it done.

8. BIG CHECK I considered it hard, applied and was accepted. My first semester and residency begins on Thursday, the 9th. I'm so excited! My workshop faculty for the 10 day residency includes Anne Ursu, which will be awesome. And I'm excited to see who I get paired up with for a mentor.


So, looking at all that, it seems 2013 was pretty successful. I have to think on some goals for 2014 (and the next few days/weeks could change things one way or another) but once I get back from the residency I'll make my 2014 goals list.

How about you? Did you meet your 2013 goals? Are you making goals for 2014?

In Which I Am So Busy

I am ridiculously busy and probably will remain so for the next month or more. Outside of the holidays, which is, of course, taxing my time some, I have workshop pieces to critique for the MFA residency before the 9th (10, 15 page critiques to dole out) a manuscript I have to read for a friend (paying what I owe and all that), writing group critiques and revisions on All That Remains.

...and as I wrote that last bit, I totally just realized I forgot to print off my own 15 pages for my critique at the MFA. Nice move, Sarah. DERP.

I plan to keep up blogging here and there, but don't expect posts from me on the actual holidays and also I'll take a short hiatus while I'm at the MFA residency, just because it's ten full days of stuff and I won't have much time to check emails, let alone respond to comments etc (and I hate writing posts when I can't respond).

I wish I had more time. There are some great movies out right now that I'm worried I won't get a chance to see (Though I did get to see Desolation of Smaug this last weekend. Holy frickin crap how great was it? (spoiler: so great))

But Christmas Eve is tomorrow, which is awesome. I actually prefer it over Christmas day because my family has a delicious meal of crab legs and poté , and clam chowder throughout the day and we'll open one present each and play games and sit in the hot tub and be fat and merry.

yum...Poté

Christmas day, while full of awesome presents and stuff, is a bit too much of "we're required to go see other family" and while I enjoy seeing family, sometimes I wish I could just spend the day relaxing.

Anyway, this was a really roundabout way to say my posts will be sporadic for a bit.

What about you? Have you seen Desolation of Smaug? Do you have any Christmas traditions?

In Which I Read As A Writer

My MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults starts on January 9th. Or at least that's when my first residency starts anyway.

The residency is where everyone enrolled in the program travels to campus and spends 10 days work shopping and listening to readings and lectures by the faculty or visiting writers. We'll be assigned our mentors and then we'll work with them for the next 6 months until the next residency in the summer.

So yes, that's my actual start date for the MFA. But obviously I've been doing a lot of MFA work already. Mostly reading.

I've read about 50 of the 120 books I need to read by the end of my first year. We're supposed to have 40 done before our first residency so I'm a bit ahead of the game.

this picture would only be accurate if there was a lot more snow

Also the vast majority of my reading has been novels, which means the reading will just get easier as I go along and start to tackle the picture books and easy readers.

Well, not easier I guess. Just faster.

Because we're supposed to read the books critically, and write up 3 - 4 sentences regarding an element of craft.

And this is something that is often difficult for me. Especially if it's a book I like. If I don't like a book, it's easy for me to examine why I don't like it. But if I love a book, it's really hard for me not to be swept away.

I've got a few books on my list that I read that I didn't write anything about because I just didn't know what to say.

And sometimes I feel like I'm saying the same things over and over again. This book has a great voice. This one too. Ooh and this one.

But, I definitely think it's sinking in more. At the very least it's easier for me to get in the mindset of looking at a book critically.

Though I will add, it's a fresh breath of relief when I can read a book just for fun (even if some of the critical thinking slips in. Which, I suppose, is the point of it all)

What about you? Do you ever read critically? Is it easy for you? Or hard?)

In Which I Hodge-Podge

I can't believe we're into week two of December. 2013 went fasssst.

So the Baker's Dozen auction went well for me! (and thanks to everyone who stopped by and commented on my entry. Totally made my day)

I walked away with a full MS request, which I've already fired off. Starting on Wednesday, any other agent who bid or didn't get a chance to bid, can request pages as well and Authoress will forward any info from lurking agents.

Will I get any further requests? I have no idea. I reached my goal just by getting in so anything else is just icing on the cake.

(mmmmm cake).

I also submitted my 15 pages for my MFA workshop. So now I don't have to worry/stress about that anymore, which is good. I have 4 extra books I need to read for the MFA residency before Jan 9th. Luckily the library had all 4 in. Unluckily no one could find the picture book I needed so now I've got to wait for an email for when it appears. (Picture books, man. I can never find them).

And Wednesday we find out who gets picked for Pitch Wars. I'm excited. Not just for myself but to see if anyone I know or am rooting for gets picked too. I'd be excited if I got picked, no doubt, but I'd be perfectly fine if I wasn't.

Otherwise, this week I've got to start tackling some revisions and brainstorming others, which I'm excited about (but also a little scared. Because, let's get serious, I run through all the gamut of feels like all the time.)

And also try and finish up my Xmas shopping.

And that's me in a nutshell for another week. How about you? How are things going? Did you finish buying all the presents you need to buy? Have you been feeling all the feels? And staying warm (I can't express how cold it's been here (actually I can. Like -10.))

In Which I Regret Not NaNoing

I slightly (sliiiightly) regret not doing NaNo this year.

Yes I miss the camaraderie and I feel a twinge of envy whenever I see anyone with their word count  tallies (even those of you running behind. Yes, I'm envious of you too).

But it's more than just missing out. Come early January I have to attend my first residency for my MFA. And we have to have 15-20 pages to workshop.

What we workshop doesn't have to be what we work on with our mentors. It can be something different or completely separate. Or it could be a chunk of what we're going to work on for the semester too.

I could probably bring a chunk of All That Remains. But I've just started querying it, and the idea of workshopping it while it's out and about, makes me feel a little sick. I dunno, I just don't think I'm the type of person who can do that.

So that leaves something new. And that leaves under two months to come up with it.

Now, I've been brainstorming a new novel, but I've been taking my time, trying to come up with a side plot, trying to think of more ways it can get worse for my MC, trying to make sure he stays active instead of reactive (which is always a problem for me). I'm making good headway in the prep, but not enough to write an outline yet, which I need to have before I start drafting.

So. I've decided to set myself a goal/deadline. Spend the rest of November brainstorming and doing the rest of my pre-draft prep, but come December, time to start writing the new novel. I don't need to finish it, obvs, before the residency, but I would feel much happier and less stressed out if I could at least get like 20K or so down beforehand.

I wish I had realized all of this before NaNo had started. Then maybe I would have tried harder to get ready before November and join in with everyone else. But I had stuff going on with All That Remains, and that had to be my priority at that time. Anyway, nothing much I can do about it now.

How about you? Are you NaNoing? Or did you skip it this year?

In Which I'm Going Back To School

So, one of my goals/resolutions for 2013 was to look into Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. It's a low residency program which means if I decided to apply I'd be able to keep my job, which is a requirement when you have like a mortgage and junk.

So look into it I did. I did Internet research and I attended a luncheon info session. And everything I saw made me like the idea even more.

So I got my ducks in a row and I applied. And then I tried not to think about it. I was pretty sure I had a good chance of getting in, but of course you never know. I knew of one person who had applied and didn't get in so it was clear they didn't just take anyone, you know?

But then a few weeks ago I got a phone call from Hamline and they told me I'd been accepted!!!

Yay! Woo! I'm so super excited!

I'm also excited because two of my local writing pals may also be applying, which would be awesome if they did and they got in.

I don't start until January (they asked if I wanted to start in July, that they'd make room for me, but I said no. Way too soon for me) which means I've got around 5 months to prepare. I have to read 120 books by the end of my first year and they want 40 of them done before you start so I'm going to get started on that immediately. I also am going to try and curtail a lot of my frivolous spending. It's never too soon to start saving for those student loans.

Exciting times in the future for me!

So how are things going for you? How's the summer treating you?

In Which I Have Lunch

So, as mentioned on my 2013 Goals post, one of the things I plan to do this year is to seriously consider getting my MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Lucky for me, I was invited to a luncheon at Hamline to learn more about their low-residency program. I thought about not going, but then Twin more or less smacked me upside the head and told me I should go and I realized she was right and I was mostly just trying to be lazy.

So anyway, I went to the event on the 19th. And man, am I super glad I did!

So the way the low residency works is, you're assigned a mentor (a published author) who works with you the whole year. You have a packet, which is, more or less, monthly assigned work. And then twice a year you attend an 11 day residency at the campus.

The luncheon event took place during one of the days of the current winter residency, so the prospective students (me and about 8 others) got to sit in on two of the lectures, then have lunch with some of the faculty, alumns and the director of the program, and then we were invited to stay for the rest of the day.

The lectures were great (I'll probably post more on them next week with specifics) and there were about 45 students currently enrolled in teh MFAC program. And it was clear they were an awesome little community of writers. And I totally want to be part of it.

Lunch was great. Well, the food was no big deal, but I sat next to a girl who also wrote YA novels so we talked a lot, and then we got to ask questions of the faculty and director.

When lunch was done, myself and two others walked out to our cars together (none of us had planned on staying) and the three of us talked about how awesome the program seemed. I know for me, it made me wish that I was already enrolled.

So as it sits, I'm pretty sure there's a high probability I'll be applying for the MFAC program for the 2013 winter semester. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to talk about in the future.