Over the hump!

33,033 / 63,000 (52.4%)

I'm FINALLY over halfway done with my rewrite. This is very exciting news for me. It does not put me on track for finishing before October 31st since it took me twelve weeks to get to this point, but I'll be optimistic and pretend like it could happen. I mean, anything's possible, right?

In other news, my online YA writing class ended last week. It was a really great experience for me, and I highly recommend Liesa Abrams as an instructor. She'll be teaching this class again for MediaBistro in October, so if you're starting a new project and feeling like you'd like feedback and structure, this class is a great medium for that. Or, if you're like me, needing some help figuring out what to do with your mess of a first draft, it's effective for that, too!

In case you're wondering, I don't think anyone came close to finishing their draft in the twelve weeks. Which is to be expected, I think. Also, the lecture part of the class is helpful, but kind of basic if you've taken YA specific classes already. But the feedback part of the course is really amazing and helpful.

I wish the class could have gone on for another twelve weeks so I could have had Liesa's help for the whole rewrite! But I'm going to continue working with some of my classmates, so I'm hopeful we can keep each other on task.

Revelation high!

I was just in the bathroom putting on mosturizer and stuff when I had a Major Plot Revelation for my manuscript. I've come to the conclusion that I have too many events unfolding in scenes instead of summed up in narrative. (A strange problem to have, I know.) If things keep going as they are, my manuscript will be close to 70,000 words! My instructor says that is fine at this point. I should be writing all of it and then ruthlessly cutting after I'm done and I can see what I don't need. Still, I've been peeking through my outline trying to think of scenes to cut. I can't help myself!

Naturally, this brings me to my Major Plot Revelation mentioned in the first sentence of this post. A Very Important Conversation between the Love Interest and the Protag takes place in scene 29 of 53. They later rehash this conversation and expand on it in scene 38. It occured to me that it will have more impact and meaning if they don't have the original conversation in scene 29.

And so, I can cut a scene (which was originally seven pages and, like, 2,000 words) AND make the whole manuscript stronger at the same time. Yay! I got so excited I felt almost sick. (You know that feeling, right?)

Calendar.

When I started this manuscript, it was 2006. I used a 2007 calendar for my story, thinking I'd be done before 2007 got too far underway. (Ha!) Seth's story has always been in the future for me. But now, my life is finally catching up to the dates where his story starts. The first scene took place September 1, 2007 (although I don't mention the year in the story, so readers won't know that). I am currently working on a scene that takes place September 10th - which was yesterday.

It was sort of weird being at work all day yesterday, being able to look at the clock and know exactly what Seth would be doing if he was a real person and my story was a real account of his life. While I was eating lunch in the sun with my boss, he was in class. While I was getting on the city bus heading from the office to the clinic, he was having a discussion/argument with Rosetta in his school parking lot.

And I don't have to guess what the weather would have been like for him anymore because I'm experiencing it myself. It will be interesting when I get to October 13th to see if the big storm I wrote in is going to happen.

Slow and steady wins the race?

30,508 / 63,000 (48.4%)

I just turned in my last homework for my class. Sad! But I made arrangements with a few of my classmates so we can keep working together with weekly deadlines and feedback. We shall see how that works out. Whatever happens, I'm going to do what I can to keep going at the same pace. (Or even faster? Is that possible?)

Relevant scenes

I've been working on the same scene for WAY too long. And now, I'm almost done with it, almost pleased with the quality of the writing, and with what I've done here. But as I'm reading through it again, I'm having this kind of sinking feeling that it really doesn't work. It does advance the plot. For sure. It's interesting. I think. It has some tension, hints at some conflict, and in just a few words, it gives a tiny piece of backstory about Seth that readers should find surprising, but not entirely so.

Sounds good, right? I don't know though. I can't quite figure it out, but it just doesn't feel right. I almost feel like I could cut the whole thing and it wouldn't make a huge difference. Which sucks. Because like I said, I've put a lot of work into it.