In Which I Received (3) Critiques

I know I mentioned a few days (weeks?) ago that I won Chimera Critique's first contest. The prize was a gift card (which I spent on Karin Lowachee's Gaslight Dogs and World War Z and promptly added them to my TBR pile (Karin Lowachee goes to the top though. OOH I hope it's half as good as War Child)). The secondary prize was a first chapter critique, which was awesome.



I did a quick line edit (super quick, just looked for passive voice, typos (of which there were many) easy to fix adverbs and adjectives etc)(also Palindrome and Teebore took a quick look as well) and then sent if off.

Then I hit my funk (which has now mostly cleared, which is good). They said it would take about two weeks but I got the first (of three) crits back in less than a week. How awesome is that?
I peeked at it and then promptly stashed it away.

Note to self: do not look at crits while in a foul mood. It will not help.

I knew I needed to sit on it to try and get some emotional distance. I planned on giving it 4-5 days but instead (after I had written my post about my funk) I decided to suck up and brave it.

As it turns out, reading the firs crit cured my funk immediately. I wish I had known that. I felt a little silly the next day reading about my funk when it had more or less gone away.

The crit contained a line edit (which looked terrible because as I've mentioned in the past I need around 3-4 line edits so 1 didn't cut it) But what was even better than the line edits (which were very helpful, don't get me wrong. They caught a few things I most likely wouldn't have noticed on my own) were the overall feedback paragraphs. What they liked, what they thought needed work.

They clarified a few things that I had questioned myself. For example, everyone loves MC Quill (I do too. She was really fun to write) but people don't love MC Fox as much, which is the pits because he's like THE MC. But I had already suspected that Fox needed some work and had come to a few conclusions how to zazz him up.

Also they helped clarify where they thought the hook was (it was where I suspected) and therefore helped me come to terms with a better way to start off.

Overall I was very very pleased with the crit.

If you're looking for a crit yourself, you should give them a try.

So now I feel like I'm back on track with the revisions. Let's hope I stay there.

In Which I Fight A Funk

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Sure I set myself a goal. But since then, I've done really no editing.



I got my first chapter crit back from Chimera Critiques and I can't even really bring myself to look at it (OK, I glanced at it, but I know I've got to let it sit aside for a bit before I dive in. Got to separate myself from any emotions so I can look at it objectively).

I think my funks align directly with my "day job". If I'm a bit fed up there (like now, because I've got all these projects to do that I'd just rather not) then it bleeds over into real life.

Mostly I just want a few weeks off from work where I can sleep in and relax and do nothing. (I've never had more than 10 days off from any job I've ever held. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have more that two weeks off from work. I bet I'd never want to come back)

In the past I know a cure for a nice funk is just time. If I wait long enough, it will go away. But I feel like I'm just wasting time. I would love to be at the next stage, seriously crafting a query to send out. I'm not even worried about if Foxfire will be accepted or rejected. Obvs acception (...is this a word...?) would be AWESOME, but I don't have a problem with trying again if it's not.

Le Sigh. Stupid funks. Messing things up.
I think I'm going to start line editing some of Foxfire. That's an easy revision process that I can just do without any commitment. I mean, I'll need to do 2-3 more line edits later so one right now won't hurt anything.

Then maybe I can tackle some of the bigger changes that have to happen (heightening conflict, making MC Fox as likable and enigmatic as MC Quill, working on that hook).

Is it the weekend yet?

In Which I'm In A Funk

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. I think it's directly related to finishing the WIP.

At first it's fun to have it done and getting some free time again. But then, the free time just sits there and I know I should fill it with things (like cleaning, finishing up a final revision on a short story, or better yet, starting a new WIP) but every time I think about doing one of those things, or something else, I just think, meh I don't want to do that.

Hence, a funk.

I don't really know the cure for a funk. I suspect its mostly just time. And actually yesterday I did a bunch of cleaning all before 9:30AM so I think that may have erased much of the funk.



On the plus side, I've only got to really sit through another week before I can break open Foxfire and get to work on revisions!

On the negative side, I actually have to read the manuscript before I can start editing. Boo.
Not because I don't want to read it, just because that will take up some more time before I can start on the edits.

Sigh.

Unless you think I could start reading the manuscript a few days before...so then I can start the edits exactly 4 weeks after I finished it...

Hmm.

Of course all of this is just based on a timeline I made up, so I suppose I can also make up my own rules.
Excellent.

So how does everyone else get themselves out of a funk?