The Best Laid Plans

You remember that time when I told you I was going to blog the next day? And have pictures? And, you know, words?

You remember how I didn't do it?

I'm totally not sorry. Because while I was supposed to be writing that post, I finished editing Dann and Resni!!!

Eek! This is exciting news, people! (Aside from the fact that it's totally boring and all.) D&R ARE ONLY, LIKE, A FIFTH OF THE BOOK!!! And to make it even more awesome, I checked some numbers this morning and realized I have edited over a third of my book. That is a lot. The edited portion of my book is as long as most full novels.

Yeah, my book is really long. But that's the other exciting news! It's getting shorter! I've cut over 25k from my first draft length. Not bad, considering that I've only edited a third of the book. If I can cut another 25k, I'll be under 200,000 words total.

So to commemorate this momentous occasion, I'm going to give you some interesting facts about the D&R plot thread. (I'm not sure how much this will mean to people who haven't read the book. But you'll at least pretend to be interested, right?)

Fact #1: At 40k, D&R is the second shortest of my four plot threads. (Of course, that might be because they're edited. But I'm pretty sure they'll keep that ranking.)

Fact #2: They were also the second-last to be created: I only came up with their story a few weeks before I began work on what eventually became my first completed draft. (As opposed to Sara, who's been there since the beginning of time, N&M, who came into being on my second failed attempt to write the book, and Jia, who was actually added mid-book. As in, I was 20,000 words in before I thought of her.)

Fact #3: D&R were what kept me going through that first draft. They were just SO FUN to write! I remember times when I was frustrated with all my other characters and ready to throw my laptop out the window, and then I'd write a D&R scene and the world was interesting again. They saved my neck.

Fact #4: They were not nearly so fun to edit. For some reason ... perhaps their late addition to the story ... I had a really hard time latching on to voice for these two. I would guess about half their scenes had to be totally rewritten. What. A. Pain.

But am I happy with the finished product? OH YEAH!!! There's something incredibly fulfilling in looking at a completed story in the chaos that is my first draft. Something that makes sense from beginning to end, that I wouldn't be ashamed to show to an agent. Now I know it's still a long way from finished. There's a lot more polishing that needs to be done. But what I have now is so much better than what I had before. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see if I can polish off N&M too. Then we'll really have a party.

I Have Returned!

This post is here to tell you all I'M BACK!!!

And also to tell you my blogging plans. Because I have plans. Obviously.

Um. Plans?

I plan to blog. Tomorrow. About my family reunion. And this time, I'll actually have pictures.

After that, I'll take Aunt Ardie's advice (because she was the only one awesome enough to offer it) (just joking, I love you anyway) and talk about a pet peeve. And not just any pet peeve. This one is fluffy. And doesn't bark.

After that, I will have new ideas. Unless, of course, they are sucked up by my book. Again. People talk about baby brain? Try book brain sometime. Hyper-active, one-track, overtired book brain. It's like ... like ...

Ooh, look! A butterfly! OH MY GOODNESS BUTTERFLIES WOULD BE SO CUTE IN THAT ONE SCENE ... AND THEN HE WOULD SAY ... HA HA HA THIS IS SO AWESOME!!! WHO CARES ABOUT BLOGGING WHEN THERE ARE BUTTERFLIES?!

(See what I mean? Writing is hard.) (Scratch that. Writing is easy. Writing good stuff? That's hard.)

On The Road Again

Well, tomorrow I'm off again. To BC this time. Sigh.

Don't get me wrong -- I love BC! Can't wait to see friends and family. But I'm a homebody at heart, and two long trips in a month is a bit much for me. Especially when I'm just starting to be productive again in my writing. (Cut 2k yesterday and wrote 3 new scenes!) But that's life.

At least I don't have to camp again. Camping=Blegh. For me. You can like it if you want to.

See you when I'm back.

Totally Not Worth The Wait

So. Um. Hi?

I had a great time at my family reunion. Loved seeing everyone and even meeting a few new people, like my adorable six month old cousin Gus.

[Picture of me holding Gus that I do not have.]

But the reunion was also tiring. Between taking care of younger cousins and an unfamiliar bed, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Three days after I got home, I am still ridiculously tired. So tired that I'm having trouble coming up with a brilliant blog post that will make you all laugh and be totally worth the weeks I've been gone.

[Long pause, in which I stare at the pretty blinking cursor and do not think. At all.]

What? You're still here? Oh, sorry about that. I ... don't remember what else I was going to say. I think I'll post again when I can do advanced calculus. (What's that? I haven't learned advanced calculus yet? Oh well. I guess you'll be seeing me in a couple years. Goodbye.)

Insert Witty Title Here

So. I had my blog post for today all planned out, and written out, and even posted. And then I realized that there were pictures of me holding someone else's babies in it, and that I had to check and make sure it was okay to post those pictures. So here I am. Posting. With no cute pictures to distract you from the really obvious fact that I have nothing to say.

Um. Well.

It's all summer's fault. I hate summer, you know. With the bugs and the pollen, I'm stuck lying on my couch day after day, taking allergy medication and littering Kleenex all over the house. I've been making the most of it. I've been plotting and scheming intensely over the weekend, and I've done a lot of outlining and file-sorting and a lot of other things that really don't matter to you.

So what does matter to you? I'm really open to suggestions. What do you wish this post were about? What should my next post be about? Suggest a title, or a subject, or ask me a question ... anything.

If my next blog post isn't interesting, it's your fault.