"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
- Mark Twain
The moment I decided to write historical fiction, I left my safe contemporary harbor and moved into the rough waters of World War II France. From the moment I set sail, the voyage became one of exploration and discovery. But the dream sometimes becomes a nightmare. Like it did last Friday when I thought I'd made one HUGE historical error which would cause the entire story to collapse.
After I clawed my way out of the pit of despair, I remembered my source and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Having weathered that research storm and many others, I continue to move forward. Saturday I reached the 1/4 of the way mark. Yay!!!
How about you? Have you sailed away from your safe harbor? What have you explored, dreamed, or discovered with your WIP?
I also have a nice, safe contemporary harbor, although I have a mess of a fantasy WIP tucked in a drawer somewhere. Eventually I will pull it out and work on it more.
ReplyDeleteBut until then, I'm still working on my contemp revisions - I didn't get as much done quantity-wise this week, but I got through a few chapters and jotted notes for the remaining ones. I'm hoping I'll be able to push out the rest of the revisions by the end of the month, if I shut myself in my office for a few days the remaining weekends.
You sound just like me. Let's push out the rest by the end of the month!
DeleteI haven't done a wip check-in in awhile and figured today would be a great day to start.
ReplyDeleteAngelina, I think that is pretty cool you've broken away from what is easy for you. I love a challenge!
Good luck on your revision Jennifer:)
As for me this week, I've sent my ms out to a couple of beta's and am looking for a couple more. I am also having my moms read said wip out loud to catch any weird stuff that way and doing beta reads myself.
Excellent, Deana! Reading MS outloud is one of my favorite revision tactics.
DeleteHello all, and wow, was I glad to double-read that sentence where you said you only THOUGHT you'd made an error. Isn't that a terrible feeling?
ReplyDeleteI sat down with my WIP for the first time since before Christmas this week, and I managed to hammer out more than 4,000 words! It's weird; I've always been a plotter, but I'm kinda pantsing this time around. It's working so much better than it did last time I tried it, and I think the reason is that I now have confidence in my ability to finish the story. The first time around, I was terrified I'd take a wrong turn somewhere and waste 100 pages with crap.
Does this mean I'm a... ...pantser??
Congrats on 4K, LisaAnn. That's fabulous!!! Maybe you're a pantser, or maybe you're a writer who uses whatever method is needed at the moment. ^_^ Thanks for checking in!
ReplyDeleteYes, I've left my safe harbor. I"m still writing YA contemp, but as you know, this book is not set in the US, which is a huge challenge (but also a huge inspiration!) Just got word back from my two beta readers. Digesting their input, organizing my thoughts, and I hope to dive back in again by next week.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, still working on my grief workshop and catching up on some interviews.
Yes, you literally sailed into unknown seas. ^_^ Have a great week!
DeleteWell I'm writing a YA contemporary but there's no safe harbor. Tricky subject matter that I'm trying to make subtle and soulful. And I do love alliteration. I wrote about 4.5k last week if I count this morning's words
ReplyDeleteSo relieved for you that you had things work out okay Angelina - tearing apart a manuscript is so scary.
Thanks, JRo. Congrats on the great progress. Subtle and soulful are wonderful goals.
ReplyDeleteWow, this theme seems strong today. David B. Coe wrote a post on ambition at Magical Words that I think is worth sharing:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.magicalwords.net/david-b-coe/on-writing-the-value-of-ambition/
I answered there, but basically, yes, I feel that with the work I'm querying, I did leave my safe harbour. It's just hard to judge exactly where I am right now.
As for my goals ...
1) Yes, I did finish the revision spreadsheet. Last week, I believe. I haven't sent any new queries, though. I think I was too stressed out by work and not sleeping well (not just because of work). So I went straight to the root of the problem and finally saw my doctor about it. I've slept well since Thursday. Feeling much more with it, so I hope to send a few queries this week.
2) No reading accomplished this week, though I did acquire more books. Gah, I have got to be better about addressing the books already *on* my TBR shelf!
3) I haven't been tracking very well, and I've stopped caring as much. I am aware of what I'm eating. I also haven't been able to exercise because I'm still recovering from my sprained ankle. I think the important thing is that I've been sleeping better these past few days, and that has helped.
4) I have been writing ... sort of. I'd like to make my brain settle down and get deep into a manuscript again. Once more, I think the regular sleep *will* help. But that's where I'm at right now.
Sleep is key to everything else. Happy to hear you're resting well again, Laura.
ReplyDeleteI was in rough waters this summer. I tried writing a paranormal, when I'm a realistic-contemporary writer, and I haven't touched it in months. I was about two chapters into it.
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm writing a historical, although it's not as long ago as yours. I'm going to stick to it.
Good luck out in the rough waters, and it seems like you're making great progress.
Hang in there, Medeia. I'm about to step away from my historical comfort zone and into the contemporary world when this WIP is done. The ghosts will follow, but they will have a very different environment.
DeleteGood luck with your project!
Thanks, Medeia. I'll look forward to reading your historical one of these days. ^_^
ReplyDeleteGreat metaphor, Angelina. From all I'm seeing on twitter, looks like people are really pushing through. Congrats on those word counts!
ReplyDeleteI finished my agent list but didn't write at all except to do post-critique group editing and query swaps. I think I need to be patient and all myself not to write until the pre-query process finishes. I just can't seem to get into the next book while this one's still in need of tweaks and combs.
And the beautiful thing is, you are your own boss! Do what you have to do, Lora.
DeleteYAY! Way to go, Angelina! LOVE the quotation!
ReplyDeleteI guess it is sort of "steady as she goes" time, trawling through the storm. (Sorry, my metaphor is a little wonky!) I finished another chapter on Friday, but spent the weekend in bed with a stomach bug :P. But now I am standing at the precipice, ready for the final face-off. So time to GO BIG!
Here's to a solid word-count this week for everyone!
Sorry about the stomach uck. Hope this week is ENORMOUS!
DeleteOooh, better late than never. Hi, #wipmadness friends! Love the analogy too. I have had those terrifying moments too, of HOLY CRAP DID I GET THIS RIGHT? Your source looks great. So awesome to be able to read texts in the original language.
ReplyDeleteI'm working with a new crit partner now, and we're exchanging a chapter a day, revising them and turning around the next. It's wicked intense, but I'm already working on chapter 6, which is way faster than I expected. So much easier to hear from someone how your words strike them rather than trying to figure it out on your own.
I'm keeping up with that this coming week, and I also want to get a little more time in on my new WIP, which has been suffering with all this revision time. It's my reward. :-)
I'm also trying to read more this year (only read 61 last year, and I was shooting for 100, sigh), but I've already read 5 great books this year, so I'm hoping I can keep up the momentum.
Cheers and good #wipmadness vibes to all!
Kip
Wow, Kip. That's intense! I've got a huge pile of books to read and since the snow is piling up outside, I should have lots of time for them. Congrats on the high speed revision. At that rate, the new WIP won't be neglected for long.
DeleteKIP-- I'm terrified of that pace and jealous! Keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteAngelina -- Dear lord, I can just imagine the heart palpitations. So relieved you found your resource again.
I basically need a kick in the backside. I have research to do that I'm only picking at, but it's stalling out further progress. I have two POVs that are quite comfortable and two from another country... Oh boy. I just gotta get over that I need time to research when all I really want to report is a high word count. Quality over quantity, yes?
All my friends are nodding....
Get it done fast or write it well. The choice is yours. ^_^
DeleteI feel as though I’m constantly away from that safe harbor, especially beginning with Rogue 5. Before that point, I’d never written romance. Then again, that’s not entirely true. I’ve always had romantic *elements* in my writing because I’ve always been a bit of a romantic at heart. I grew up with romantic elements, whether Elric’s doomed love for Cymoril in the Saga of Elric of Melnibone, or Caramon and Tika’s evolving love throughout the Dragonlance Chronicles, or films such as, Say Anything, Sixteen Candles, Better Off Dead (yes, everything I know of romance I learned from a Cusack movie ;) ), Pretty In Pink, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe theme was almost always there in my works, though not to the degree they are now. I actually started writing in the romance genre because my wife assured me that I had a talent for it, based on all the romance she’d read. Rogue 5 was my first true Romance novel AND my first science fiction piece (aside from a sci-fi short story with zombie sub-genre leanings), as well. Most of what I’ve written before has been epic fantasy. I cut my reading teeth, so to speak, on epic fantasy. It’s what I know well. So, dropping into two genres I didn’t normally write was an interesting leap.
Now it seems that sci-fi romance is all my brain wants to think about. I just wrote up the premise for my next work, which is a sci-fi romance in the vein of Firefly or Star Wars, with that space western type feel. Amusingly, I’m going to be using some expected tropes from romance that in the last two works I purposefully shied away from, so we’ll see how that goes. Hopefully I’ll pull ‘em off realistically.
The Avon project is also a bit experimental, as it’s the first time I’ve actively used my own thoughts and fears of current events to create a piece. I try not to put messages in my work. If people find some, it’s cool, but not necessarily intended. ;) However, the events were plaguing my head to a degree that I couldn’t help but use them as an outlet for the piece. It seemed like a no-brainer based on the open call requirement.
Beyond that, I’m always experimenting with putting together themes and genres normally at odds, pushing the envelope, so to speak. It may make it more difficult to sell the finished works when I do it this way, but I think they’ll stand out more in the end.
Far as WIPMadness goes, I’m still awaiting final beta feedback on the Avon thing. I may have to finalize it myself if I don’t hear back soon from one of the betas. Ah well. It feels pretty strong. I think this week I’ll be finishing the brainstorm for my next work and get back to finishing the first draft on book 2 of my epic fantasy duology. I think I was about halfway through it before I hit the brakes for the Avon open call. I’m hoping to have that duology finished and revised by my birthday (end of March). We’ll see how that goes. Which means I’ll be starting the next work around then...if I can wait that long. ;)
Sounds like you're focused and busy. Keep it up!
DeleteYeah for you! I've been there many times. And it's scary. But sometimes when I lose my way, it helps me in the end.
ReplyDeleteHi Angi, glad to hear your "mistake" wasn't one. That must have been a terrible feeling indeed.
ReplyDeleteI left many safe harbors this past year, both with my work and literally as well (living abroad) and I've loved the adventures that have resulted.
When a picture book manuscript I was playing around with felt like something else I found myself just going with it and writing something else. The experience has been filled with surprise, play and thrilling rushes. But at times it has also left me wondering what I've gotten myself into. I suppose I could say that the adventure has sort of been akin to the adventure of living abroad, which seems appropriate. But I'm so happy I took the leap, in both respects. And now I've nearly finished writing an early mid-grade novel! Also too, like Denise above, my book isn't set in the U.S. which has been an interesting and fun challenge.
That's awesome, KJ! Can't wait to see what you've come up with. ^_^
DeleteI've sailed away several times. Lol I started out with historical fiction, but ended up adding fantasy that may not work well with that story. I have yet to revisit and correct. Some time, I will.
ReplyDelete