August Goals!

July 31, 2018July 31, 2018 ~ shawnaborman ~ 1 Comment

Howdy, howdy! Can you believe it’s already August? I feel like I’m still stuck in June. Time just keeps getting faster and faster. Am I alone in this feeling? Yeah? Well, okay then. I don’t really have much to talk about at the moment, though I am trying my hand at some revision techniques that are new to me. If they work out, I’ll probably talk about them more next week. Anyway, since this Wednesday actually falls on the first, I decided to simply share my August goals with you.

original — It’s a pretty picture. That’s all.

So, without further ado and in no particular order, I present to you…

August Goals:

1. Submit stuff 8 times (2 every Monday) to semi-pro markets or higher. This is one of my goals for the year (submitting two stories to magazines or anthologies every Monday) and I’ve been doing really well with it. I haven’t missed a week yet, though I do believe I submitted stuff on Tuesday a couple of times. Sometimes, I’ve dreaded submitting or felt like I’ve submitted everywhere I possibly could, but I pushed through it and found new places anyway. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep it up!

2. Write 50+ words OR revise 1+ pages EVERY DAY. I’m back to the small goals every single day thing. It’s just really helpful to me when I feel like I’m between projects. In my head, I know I’m prepping for in-depth revisions on LR, but if I don’t keep track of words or pages, I don’t feel productive. This goal might change once I find my rhythm with LR. For now, though, it’s good for me.

3. Read 2 books. This is another one of my goals for every month this year. Honestly, I’ve kind of lost track of how many books I tend to read in a month because some overlap months and others I deliberately read over a longer period of time (almost always craft books). But I do know I’m up to 18 books this year (thanks to GoodReads tracking feature), so I’m ahead of schedule.

4. Make time for people. I’ve been a bit reclusive recently, though I still try to answer every message I get. I just don’t initiate as many conversations as I should. This is nothing new. It’s something I struggle with all the time (as you know if you’ve read earlier posts). I’m just far too comfortable not talking to people and stalking them on Facebook instead. Yes, I’m creepy like that. My friends know this and many of them do the same. But I really do want to be better about socializing. I swear.

5. Finish timeline for LR. This is one of those new-to-me techniques I mentioned earlier. There’s about one more day’s worth of plotting before I have a timeline that I can work with (I’m plotting it on the computer before I write anything out). I even bought a bunch of Post-It notes in pretty colors to make everything easy to differentiate. I just have to figure out where to stick them that’s easy to see. Then, I have to recruit Dad to do the sticking. I bet he never thought my novel writing would include work for him.

Habitación-de-los-post-it-destacada-600x600 — That’s a lot of Post-It notes.

6. Work on revisions of LR. Hopefully the timeline will make revisions go more smoothly than usual. It’s already given me ideas for new scenes and how to rework some old ones, so I’m cautiously optimistic. I should have some updates on this in the next couple of weeks. Wish me luck!

Those are my goals for the month. What about you? What are you hoping to accomplish before September? Feel free to share your goals or thoughts here or on my social media pages!

Revision Prep: The Initial Read-Through

July 10, 2018July 10, 2018 ~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! I recently started the initial read-through of LR (code name for novel attempt 2, draft 1) in preparation for beginning the editing process. Yes, I know I should’ve done that a couple of months ago, but I didn’t. So, here we are. This is the part of revision where I haven’t looked at the story in a while (about six months for this one), so I’m reading it mostly in reader mode. I have to remind myself that this is not the time for my inner editor to nag at every little thing, it’s time to just enjoy the story and see how it goes. However, there are things I keep on the look out for in the back of my mind while I’m reading. That’s what I want to ramble about today: the five things I look for during this read-through.

The sooner I acknowledge it’s shitty, the easier it is to tune out my inner editor until I need her.

1. Gut reactions. What makes me laugh? What makes me want to cry? What do I glance over? I’m looking to see what parts of the story elicit emotional reactions and which parts are blah. I want to keep the former (if possible) and tweak or get rid of the latter. Also, I want to know if I still enjoy the story as much as I did when I wrote it. I’m only like six chapters into LR as a reader, but I’m actually super surprised at how much I love it. Yeah, it’s a shitty first draft, but the characters and story still really amuse me. It makes me think I’m doing something wrong, because I feel like I’m supposed to hate it at this point.

2. Continuity errors. Have I randomly changed someone’s name? Did I move an entire building somewhere else halfway through? Was someone right handed and suddenly they’re left handed? Stupid things like that. Some are glaringly obvious while others will only be noticed by a really close reading. I already know my main character randomly goes from fourteen to seventeen (because fourteen was too creepily young for this particular story). One of my “bad guys” changes her race halfway through because I originally couldn’t decide what group of shifters she belonged to, but then decided on one that was completely different from how I imagined her in the beginning. And of course there are a bunch of little things as well.

plot-holes-plot-holes-everywhere — I feel like I’ve used this before, but it’s appropriate.

3. Plot holes. Have I left any threads undone? Did I randomly start something in the middle with no lead up to it? Is what the character’s doing feasible in the world I created? Is it something they actually would do? These are definitely things I have to make notes about so I can fix them or change them or remove them entirely. There’s this thing with a fox in the first chapter of LR and by chapter two, it’s been completely forgotten. I have no idea where that was going, but if I don’t figure it out by the end of this read-through, I either need to cut it or make something up. These are important changes for me to consider as I read.

4. Useless characters. Do I have any characters who are just there to do one thing and then they disappear? Can someone more pertinent to the story do the thing? Could that character become someone important? I know most books have at least a couple of superfluous characters, but I like to weed them out if I can. In LR, there’s the principal’s secretary whose sole job seems to be giving my main character his late slips for class. I’m debating whether or not to combine her with another character or just giving her a bigger role in the next book. Then again, I might keep her as she is because that’s life. Someone has to pass out the tardy slips.

Lucifer1 — Went looking for typo demon pictures and got distracted by manga demons. It’s Lucifer from Kaori Yuki’s *Angel Sanctuary*.

5. Blatant typos and grammatical errors. These aren’t things I actually look for in this read-through, but if they pop out at me, I either make a note or fix them. I try to save this stuff for later read-throughs, though.

What about you? Do you have anything you look for when you’re getting reacquainted with stories you want to revise? Feel free to share your thoughts and comments here or on my social media pages!

The Revision Struggles Begin…

April 17, 2018April 17, 2018 ~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! It finally happened. On Saturday, I wrote THE END on the shitty first draft of novel attempt number three! Yay!!! I celebrated by doing nothing productive whatsoever on Sunday. Monday, I slowly dipped my toe into the revision pool by revising a micro fiction piece before sending it and another piece out into slush land. Which brings us to today (because I’m writing this on Tuesday). Now, the real revision struggle begins. Sure, I have a short story that needs to be doubled in length and smoothed out. That’s my immediate focus. But then, I have to decide which novel attempt to revise, two or three. And that’s what I plan on rambling about today.

Option 1: revise novel attempt two (LR from here on out). In my head, I know this would be the smart choice. For one thing, it would give me a break from the one I just finished, which is always encouraged so that when it comes time to trim the fat away, you won’t be blindly attached to it. I’ve had more than enough time away from LR to be able to make the hard cuts. I’m still super excited about LR, so that’s a plus. And I really do miss being around those characters.

The downside of revising LR first: while I love it, I’m not really sure it has much potential in the way of attracting agents. Are dragons even “in” anymore? Or are they passé? I know I shouldn’t worry about stuff like that, and I should work on whatever my heart tells me to, but it’s something I think about. I’ll have to do some research on the trends right now/where the trends seem to be headed. Plus, I’m concerned that if I get caught up in LR’s world, I’ll lose steam in the other one.

Don’t worry, Toothless. You’ll always be cool.

Option 2: revise novel attempt three (DS from here on out). Some of the advantages include that the plot is fresh in my mind and I still remember what all my little revision notes mean. From that perspective, it makes sense to dive right back into DS. It’s also a genre that’s always in high demand, but with a supernatural twist. So, I feel like it has a better chance of catching an agent’s eye. Plus, I’m completely in love with these characters and their stories.

The problem with starting with DS is that I wouldn’t have much time away from it, so I would probably still be super attached to all the fluff that needs to be chopped out. I have trouble decluttering my room because of sentimental values, decluttering a story isn’t any easier. It would also mean more time away from LR, which has been randomly popping into my head the last couple of months. Plus, I’m not entirely sure if the supernatural elements will be attractive in this particular genre or if it’ll be confusing and off-putting.

Too-many-options — I’m being indecisive and procrastinating all at once.

I guess I’ll read through both of them and see which one pulls me toward it more. Until then, I have a short story to focus on. What about you? How do you decide which projects to revise and when? What’s your method of making these kinds of choices? As always, please feel free to leave your comments or thoughts here or on my social media pages!

Looking Forward: 2018 Goals

December 13, 2017December 12, 2017 ~ shawnaborman ~ 4 Comments

Howdy, howdy! A couple of months ago, a friend asked me if I would be interested in creating some writing goals for the new year and sharing them with each other for accountability purposes. I agreed, because accountability is the best way to motivate me. So, since we’re (not so) slowly making our way through December, I thought I would go ahead and share them with everyone. As I’ve probably said before, I don’t care for the idea of making resolutions, because they’re usually vague things (eating healthier, exercising more, going out more, spending less, etc.) that people keep up with for a few days or even weeks then forget. Goals, on the other hand, tend to be more specific, thus easier to keep track of and definitively complete. So, here are my writerly goals for 2018.

a97b5a57e4783f1a81aafdab7e4498e2 — Pretty much.

1. Finish the first draft of DS1 (code name for my novel-in-progress). I probably should’ve finished this by the end of December, but I hit a road block and decided to work on my fetish fairy tales for a little while. I’ll finish the fairy tale I’m working on this week, then get back into DS1. I should finish that by the end of January/middle of February.

2. Revise LR1 (code name for the shitty first draft of the last novel I wrote). I’m actually really interested in getting back to this one. No idea if it’s still as awesome as it felt while I was writing it (first drafts never are), but I’m looking forward to tearing it apart and making it better. Hopefully revisions won’t take me more than two months, but we’ll see. I’m not the best at revising things.

front — It’s not wrong. Though, I’m still using .doc instead of .docx.

3. Revise DS1. Despite getting a little stuck on this one, I still absolutely love the idea and the characters. I hope I feel the same way after I finish it. My biggest problem is that I know the ending, I just don’t know how to elegantly connect it to what I have thus far. I guess I’ll smash it all together and smooth things out during the revision process!

4. Query 100 agents for LR1 or DS1 depending on which is better. I’ve decided to put G&G away for a while and focus on the other two novels. Hopefully one of them will have more appeal for agents. I can always go back to G&G later, but after 100 rejections, Bailey definitely deserves a nice little break.

5. Write 10 short stories/flash pieces OR 1 new novel. I really want to use 2018 as the year of revision. But at the same time, I also want to keep producing new work. I’m leaning more towards the short stories/flash fiction option because I could take a couple of days off of revision each month to work on something fresh, but like I mentioned above, I don’t really know how long revision will take me. If it doesn’t take too long, I wouldn’t mind working on another novel.

6. Submit short stories/flash pieces (2+ subs a week). I admit that I’ve been neglecting my short story submissions this year. I want to change that in 2018. Maybe I’ll eventually snag someone’s attention!

542c38f804ca62fd98385151e1b647fb8fe02a81acf76a6a07712df4563d6359.jpg — Maybe. I doubt it. Reassurance, please!

And those are my writing goals for 2018. Do you have any goals for next year yet? Feel free to share them here or on my social media pages!

Achievement Unlocked!

September 16, 2015September 15, 2015 ~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! So, as of Saturday (09/12), I finished a round of major revisions on Garnets and Guardians. Huzzah! What did I do to celebrate, you ask? Well, I got a flu shot; a round of antibiotics for something completely unrelated, but blah inducing; and decided to take a few days off before working on another novel while this one is away with a trusty reader. Yeah, I’m not an exciting person.

leftTheHouse — I had to for the flu shot.

Since this is one of my days off, this post is going to be short, so I can get back to laziness. I just wanted to share my achievements with anyone who might be interested (a girl’s got to brag some times). I posted once before about how rewards are necessary, and wanted to let you know that I’m following my own advice. My lazy days have been filled with:

1. Music. I’ve been kind of obsessed with James Blunt recently (don’t ask), but also getting back into stalking some J-rock bands.

005 — Bonus points if you know who this man is!

2. Crossword puzzles. You can blame Dad for that. I usually do Mondays-Wednesdays of the syndicated NYTs puzzle, and I attempt Thursdays, but I’m behind on those.

3. Watching Charmed reruns on Netflix and catching up on Sailor Moon Crystal (no, I still haven’t finished). P.S. I’m pretty sure all of your current favorite sci-fi/fantasy actors had bit parts in Charmed. So many familiar faces.

Misha Collins to Pheobe: “You must be an angel.” (Or something close to that.)

Me: “No, you are.”

Anyway, I’m going back to vegging. Next week, I will return with something more interesting to ramble about! Until then.

More Revision? Ugh…

July 29, 2015July 28, 2015 ~ shawnaborman ~ 2 Comments

Hey all! I know I would usually do a food review today, but I haven’t really been anywhere. I could gush about Dad’s cooking for a while if you wanted, but I don’t know if you want me to, so I won’t. I do plan on going somewhere this week, so hopefully I’ll have something delicious for you next Wednesday. Anyway, what shall we talk about today? How about another discussion about revision? Namely, my revision process (which is being quite evil this go around).

So, I don’t recall if I’ve shared this, but I’ve recently started revising G&G (see a description here). My problem is that I’ve never really revised anything on this large of a scale. I only ever wrote short stories before. Needless to say, my usual approach to revision failed me miserably. Normally, I do a read-through then another read-through/dive right into revising. I did my read-through (of course I hated it again), then I hit a wall.

I tried to work my way through it, but when I hit the third day of staring at the screen with my eye twitching, I decided something had to give. I went and I added an extra step (a read-through with notes), which I finished Monday. It actually went pretty well. I feel much better about going in and skinning my baby alive then fattening her up and making her all pretty again.

Part of me wonders if maybe I was simply suffering from some random bout of angst or something. I normally don’t have any major attachment to my writing (don’t judge me), but maybe after nursing this thing for two or more years, I was feeling a little clingy. However, when you write yourself a note that says “Is it necessary or was it simply to meet word count?,” it becomes a lot easier to take a knife to that section. Ah well. At least I feel much more confident about getting into the big changes now.

I guess what I’m trying to say is be open to tweaking your routine. A lot of people call me OCD because I like to do things certain ways, but at the same time, if something isn’t working, I’m willing to change it. Writers need to be flexible when it comes to these things. After all, we all know the definition of insanity.

78b5227b687eb6bd7bb4d05a75d277aa — If you say so…

Anyway, enough about me! Let’s hear about you. What’s your revision process? Do you just jump right in? Maybe you make notecards or charts or something. Do you print your manuscript and lay it out everywhere? What kind of revision magic do you work?

Until next week!

Revision: Why So Serious?

April 8, 2015April 8, 2015 ~ shawnaborman ~ 1 Comment

Welcome, new and old visitors! I noticed that I have a few strangers stalking me, so first things first… It’s nice to meet you! Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy day to check out my ramblings.

On to today’s topic of choice, revising (also known as majorly editing your own work). I know a lot of people who seriously despise the whole revision process. I used to be one of them. It was tedious and boring and the words we write should be perfect the first time around, right? Wrong! Once I actually started editing my work for more than spelling and grammar (in case you haven’t noticed, I use revising and editing interchangeably since I do both at the same time. See the chart below for the difference), I realized that it was really only tedious and boring in spots because the story itself was bogged down or too light in those spots. In other words, the original writing wasn’t perfect, thus revisions were needed. It’s a vicious cycle, I know.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve actually learned to enjoy revising my work. Not just because I know everything will be better for it, but because it can be fun. The key is to not take it so serious. Sometimes, it will take multiple revisions to mold a story or poem or whatever into something you deem presentable. That’s okay! So, here are the top three reasons I like revising.

1. The story is most likely done, so there’s no pressure to find an ending! You’ve got one. Now, it’s about polishing the words on the page to make everything make sense. You already know where the story’s going, you just have to fill in the plotholes and give the reader a smooth ride.

2. Nothing is set in stone! You can make all the changes you want. If you don’t like a change you made, change it back. See a major flaw? Guess what! Revision is your chance to fix it. Don’t like that adjective? Find a new one. Think a character needs to be removed? Do it. This is your chance to fix all the things, big and small.

3. Lastly, you have a chance to look objectively at your work. I know that sounds like utter BS to most writers, because we’re so invested in our characters’ lives during the writing process that they become special to us. However, it’s important to get some distance, then honestly evaluate your own writing. It not only makes for a better story, but if we recognize our weaknesses, it makes handling criticism a whole lot easier. You don’t want to be like this cat.

As much as I have come to like the revision process, I want to conclude with a word of caution. I know I said not to take the process too seriously, but you also can’t take the end result too serious. We all strive for perfection (which is great and all), but don’t let it stop you from getting your work out there. I’m sorry to say that there will always be someone who doesn’t like your writing. No matter how much you change, it’s not going to please everyone. As long as you like it, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Imperfection is a wonderful thing! It makes it real.

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