Writers' Group Feedback

As I posted on Friday, I had my first meeting with a novel writing group this week. I got great feedback on the first chapter of my novel (3rd+ draft of said chapter...). I thought I would record some of the edits want to make in the next draft here. I want to move ahead and get the 3rd draft of chapter two finished, so this post will serve as a reminder of what I took away from my groups' comments when I get back to chapter 1.

Opening: Move the section where Emily swings on the ledge of the balcony up, and the part about listening to the party noise below it.

Throughout: Watch the mentions of the rain. A bit heavy handed/seemingly metaphorical.

Scene with Hugh: Make it more distinct from scene with David. Maybe Hugh gets mad that she didn't tell him about her sister's death. He definitely should be aggressive and push her toward contacting Colin. Then the chapter will end with her not quite deciding what to do yet.

*******
typ Things to do
I want to end with a short list of things I hope to get done this week:

**Finish typing up long-hand version of chapter 2; then go back and write out longhand the end of that chapter.

**Apply to the two writers' residencies I flagged

**Revise Darfur and Marriages' Mysteries

Next scenes

In the spirit of getting back into the 30 pages/30 days challenge, here is a list of scenes I want to write. I'm not sure if they'll make it into the novel, but they will certainly inform my understanding of the characters and backgrounds:

** Emily (the protagonist) and her sister Carrie as kids, at home before their parents got divorced. What was the relationship like between her parents? What did Em understand about it, at the time and in retrospect? What did the house smell and look like? How close were Em and Carrie as children?

** The family vacation that scarred Carrie (I won't give away how on the blog!). What does Em remember of it? What did that house look, feel, smell like?

** Emily and Carrie in Boston together as adults. They don't share an apartment, but they hang out all the time. What do they do together? What is there relationship like? What are their exchanges like?

I'm sure I can get 23 pages out of these!

Sunday Scribblings: Dear Past Me, Dear Future Me

It's been a loooong time since I scribbled. But I like this prompt and am going to use it to brainstorm from the point of view of the main character in the novel I'm working on. Here goes.

Dear Past Me/Future Me,
What the f*ck? Is this some therapy bullshit? That crap does not work, I don't care what all those shrink-a-dinks say.

Ok, that skepticism out of the way, here goes. I wish I could tell a past me to cherish my time with Carrie, that the time will end much too soon. And that things are not always what they appear. Someone who seems much more stable and happy than you yourself are might actually be way more f*cked up. F*cked up enough to take her own life. Oh, and past me? You yourself are not suicidal and you never will be, so give up on that messed up "dream" before it takes hold of you and won't let go until a monsoon-like October after your 30th birthday.

Future me? What can I tell you? I don't even know who you are. And I guess that's as exciting as it is scary.

XO,
Em

Writing the Novel: Class #1

I think I'm going to like my class. My professor, Bill Holinger, seems very smart and funny (and looks just like Dennis Quaid!). And the group seems serious about writing.

As a way to introduce ourselves, instead of the normal "why are you taking this class" line of questions, he had us list a good book we've read recently. I took copious notes, so I now have a long list of books to check out. Whoo! (See below)

We also talked a lot about the process of writing a novel, and the conversation left me daunted! It's so very different from writing stories, it seems. But for the moment, I am just going to focus on getting the first two chapters revised and focused.

If you have a novel that you're revising, you might find some of these suggestions interesting:

• Put each scene on an index card and lay them out on a table in order. Read through them and see if the progression makes sense. Move index cards and insert ideas for new scenes, as needed.
• Print out the whole book, and lie each chapter on a table. Read each chapter, leaving a handwritten note atop each chapter regarding what scenes need to move, what character details need to change, etc.
  
• Tape index cards with scenes/notes on what happens in each chapter to the wall, and rearrange them as need be.

Partial list of recommended books
To Serve them All my Days (The prof recommended this one)
Brick Lane
Potato Factory
A House at the End of the World
Angle of Repose
Cloud Splitter
The Knock Out Artist

Anyone read any of these? If so, let me know what you thought!

A snowy weekend

This weekend is probably going to be quieter than I planned, with the impending snow storm and all. I've given myself a writing break to allow myself to recover from the madness of NaNoWriMo and also to embrace the madness of the holidays. I'm thinking a snowed in weekend might be a good time to get started on that revision.

But where do I start? That's a question that's been plaguing me. But Chris Baty of NaNo fame (he's the founder), gave the following advice and I'm going to follow it:

Make a 10- or 20-page book synopsis that travels through your whole novel, laying out the key things readers learn and see in each chapter.

I'll let you know how it goes!