Can you write a mystery in (now less than) 48 hours?
The Spring 2008 Three Cheers & A Tiger short fiction contest is now open.
Remember: This is a mystery.
Word count: between 1850-1950
Theme: http://www.toasted-cheese.com/images/3c1-2008-crocus.jpg (The First Flower)
Send your entry, titled "Three Cheers and a Tiger Contest Entry" to threecheers08[at] toasted-cheese.com
Deadline is 48 hours from the time of this post. (5 PM ET Sunday)
Further details here: http://www.toasted-cheese.com/ezine/contest.htm#3cheers
Remember: NO ATTACHMENTS!
I'm a judge so if you do it, don't tell me anything about your story. If you have questions, you can post them at TC. Spread the word & have fun.
I just sent a new query. Maybe I'm not supposed to pore over every single agent, research the agency, figure out if the agent might actually like my stuff, etc. but I really do pick and choose the agents I'm querying. So I think sometime in the next 10-20 years, I'll be able to exhaust the querying process for RFM and switch over to WS.
I never heard back from the one who still has the full via e-mail. I wrote and asked him if he could tell me that he got it & never replied to that either. So I don't know to be passive-aggressive and sit back & wait in a case like that or get all up in his grill. I think I'm going to do some more querying and then if nothing pans out, I'll send a brand new e-mail asking if his silence means he's passing or what the deal is. *sigh*
Ah, querying. ;)
I finished putting in the changes to Nine and along the way I lost about 5400 words (current WC around 47k). I made one of the cuts I was hoping to do but I didn't make any huge changes to the general storyline. Now I think I'm going to have to reread w/o working on it if I want to figure out what happens next.
Or of course I can do a harsh edit on RFM but since it's still in the hands of one agent, I think I'll hold off. Plus I'm totally digging the book I'm reading that I didn't write and I want to finish it.
So I finished my edit on WS at like 3 a.m. the other night. It's a good sign when you can't put a book down, even if you know what happens in it. Now I just need an agent to feel the same way...
That said...
I need another ellipse here, I think...
Anyhoo, I'm having such residual Jakefeeling that I'm really not able to plunge into another book right now (in terms of editing or writing). Luckily Jam recommended a book to me that I'm really enjoying and it's getting Jake out of my mind. Not that I mind him there b/c I luffs him but if I wanted to move on to something new (which is what Maggie tells him... hrm...)
Ellipse...
So that's where things are. No new writing. No submissions. I should send out that Cole story. I think I have a final draft here. Yeah, maybe I'll do that. Damn I need a title. I think I'll call it "Ellipse."
Dot dot dot.
Last week I was busy putting Nine changes into the electronic ms. I felt very confident that I would get all my changes in in about a week and then I would pick it up and start writing on it again. I don't like it just sitting there. I like the story a lot and I like the MC. I even like writing in present tense (inside TC joke there).
Then on Thursday night Hawk was out (1) at a meeting and (2) playing D&D. So I had the kids downstairs, which is easiest, and I didn't want to play Sims or start a new story. So I looked on the computer and saw WS -- the rewrite I'd done in January 2007 (according to how I titled the file). So I thought, "Okay. I'll read a book."
Then I saw a change I wanted to make. Changed it. Kept reading. Another change. Then a line to cut. Then I'm thinking, "Ugh. Why does he keep using all these extra words?" So I start editing in earnest.
Because of his language, I felt distanced from Jake (the narrator) and I felt like I didn't get to know enough about his character. So I kept making cuts, mostly small ones. Then I got further in and I still felt like he was telling me too much and I wasn't learning about who he was. Now I'm getting frustrated.
So I get up to the scene where he goes for tea and it's like it clicks in that all of those things he's telling me in the beginning actually are telling me about him. I know what he notices and what he thinks is important and what he really has on his mind. Then when he goes for tea and Maggie gets him to open up some, I realized, "Okay, here's why he's been kind of a guarded narrator up to this point. Now someone else is making him show things about himself that he might not have wanted to show me (the reader) and he won't have any choice but to open up." I felt like a therapist with a client sitting across from me who wants to tell me things but wants me to chip away at his little layers.
I wondered if that might not be too much to ask of a reader, to stay tuned until we're 40 pages in.
Then I read Pt 2, wherein we switch narrators, styles and time periods. I really, really like that section and I like how it falls into the story. I admit, when I wrote it, I was concerned that the diary format was gimmicky but I forgot that I was reading a "diary" as I read it fresh last night. And yes, when I start to read part 2, I always read it in a day -- a sitting if I can.
I think structurally it hooks you out of part one and pulls you to the top of a hill and you just go with it and roll from there. The pace increases over part 2 and we learn a lot of things that, I think, reflect on and enhance Part 3 (where we go back to Jake and "present day"). I haven't reread Pt 3 yet; I'm doing that today. I need to get more of the stiffness out of Jake. I understand where he's coming from, based on how he would have had to present himself to people and the time when he lives. How he'd be guarded about his thoughts and emotions. But Seth (RFM) is the same way and he didn't hold back. I knew who he was on page 1. So I'm wondering if it really works: is it better to discover who your narrator is as the story unfolds or do you want to know who he is from the beginning? I think it depends on the story.
I'll let you know how part 3 goes and if my opinions change.
And then I'll get those Nine change fixed and then I'll probably dig into RFM again just because.
Well I submitted a story. I wrote it on Saturday after I found the listing at Duotrope. It's a WD story contest so there'll probably be a bazillion submissions. It was free, flash and had a good theme to use. I did a couple of rewrites, including one after I posted a second draft at TC. I know if I futz over it too much, I might miss the deadline (the 10th). Who knows what'll come up in the meantime? So I put it in. I don't know if I'll do something else with it if it's not picked. I might. I mean, it's here, I might as well send it off to some flash journals. Oh and the best part is I never had to title it ;)
I haven't put my changes to the "Cole" story in the computer yet. This flash story, I never edited it in hard copy. I edit flash electronically b/c I'm always kissing the word limit, cutting & adding and I want to know where I stand w/ that. I also make a lot of little edits w/ flash.
It's been a long time since I submitted anything. Especially something other than erotica. So this is fun to get back into. I like the idea of working with a theme. I know from our contests that a lot of writers try to shoehorn in the theme. I think from that standpoint, I have a good chance w/ this piece and with any other themed writing piece I might want to try.
Next I'm going to work on the "Cole" edits and I have some AB stuff to do.
