The Benefits to Hyper-Focus - Get out of my way!!

Reading.
Writing.
Reading some more.
Writing some more.

That's what my week has been like.
I've been totally consumed and focused on the task at hand...My career.

So this is what it feels like?
I'd forgotten.

Anyway, as I poke my mole head out of my hole, I've come to realize a few things.
1) My right eye twitches when it's had enough.
2) I have a fiery temper that flares it's ugly head when I'm hyper-focused and people attempt to distract me with things less important - like food.
3) When I'm on a roll, it's best to keep rolling. Except, of course, if I'm rolling OVER someone, in which case, I'd better get a grip.

The Good News:
1) I finished a new and market-friendly version of THE LINE.
2) I have read 4, count them, FOUR novels that include the issues of teen prostitution, modern day slavery and human trafficking. So, you can't tell me I'm not aware of the uphill battle I'm about to undertake.
I get that.
3) I also read and critiqued a friend's YA paranormal romance - and it was good! (Coming from a person who doesn't normally LIKE paranormal romance, that's saying something)

The Bad News:
Nothing huge to report yet.
One can only hope all this eye-twitching won't go to waste.

The Next Big Project:
Re-writing THE BEAST REIGN - Yay!

After the week I just had, it'll be nice to concentrate on something less stressful.

Where to Go From Here

I've been in research mode all week.
Not much writing has gotten done, but I've been reading like a maniac.
Since I'm an author, I get to call "reading" research.
Coolest job perk ever!

Anyway, I've finally read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, since every person and their mother has compared The Line to it. I can see why they did, there's a similarity in the voice (very matter-of-fact) and, of course, the storyline. Not too close that I'll be accused of copying it - which is a relief.  I actually had to change certain aspects of my original draft because someone told me it was too similar to Hunger Games, and after reading it, they were right. Still, I may end up scrapping the whole thing and starting over from scratch...Who knows.

I'm starting Suzanne Phillips' Chloe Doe next because it's about teen prostitution.  Next after that will be Sold by Patricia McCormick. Then after that will be Trafficked by Kim Purcell.

So, no one can tell me there isn't a market for these kinds of books, because there are quite a few out there!

It's just the trick of finding someone willing to champion something of that caliber.

After I am done "researching" I'll be able, I hope, to wrap my head around a possible rewrite of The Line, and I also hope to continue work on The Beast Reign second draft, and the release of Shut Up - which could be days or weeks...I'm not entirely sure.

Plus there's that idea for a new book that's been floating around my head and distracting me from everything.

I hope it's still lurking in the crevices of my subconscious by the time I get to it.

Missed You

Something happened yesterday that hasn't happened in a super-duper LONG time, and I'm cautiously optimistic.

So, as many of you know, I'd been working part time at a digital publishing company which was altogether not a bad experience.  That time has come to a close, however, and now I'm concentrating on myself and my writing for the first time in a little over a year.

During the course of that year when I was working, I tried desperately to write, but mostly failed.  Though I did manage to write some agent notes on THE LINE, and finish the first draft of THE BEAST REIGN (which, by the way, needs a TON of work), I also managed to blog, and keep my household afloat (barely), but it was a struggle - as I really only have from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm to work, plus all the other duties I have, you know, like groceries, pets, blah, blah, blah - life!

No excuses!
Right?

This is not an excuse.
This is me looking back and analysing myself because, well, that's what I do...Always. Constantly. I'm sure my friends have grown used to it, but I'm sure they find it annoying at times.

Anyway, I carry on...

During that year, my creative energy, or really, my desire to write, was worn down to a nub, just out of pure lack of discipline because I did not set out a designated "time" for me to write - I wrote whenever I had time, and ultimately, that was my mistake.

It's like marriage and children.
There was never a perfect time to do those, and there was never a "perfect" time to write either.

But now, I'm on the other side of this year, and yesterday, after languishing on the couch sick with a nasty virus for a week, I managed to lift my head long enough and write.

For fun.
Imagine that!

It was 1,000 words - which in the grand scheme of life isn't much - but for me, it was a colossal triumph.
I wrote, 1) because I wanted to, 2) because it felt perfectly natural, 3) because it was FUN, 4) because I needed to.

This is huge.
This is life altering.
This is what I'd been missing.

I'm not entirely sure I will use what I wrote yesterday, but really, that's entirely besides the point.

I'd been worried I wouldn't get my "mojo" back.
And if yesterday proves to be any indication...

It's on its way.

This is a happiness so deep down I'm not even certain I can articulate it correctly.

With tears in my eyes, I cautiously raise my hands to my keyboard and sigh, "Missed you."

Vertical

I've got a cold.

So much for diving into rewrites and setting a regular writing regiment.

I'm just trying to stay vertical.

--Anne

Critique Droids

Over the course of my writing "career" - if you want to call it that - I've tried a couple of different writer's groups, because, after all, according to all the wonderful writing seminars and conferences I've been to, they all say that in order to improve your work, you MUST join a critique group.

So, I'm like, "Okay!"

I've tried a few.  Most of my problem was that very few, well none of them really, were writers of Young Adult.  Most of my writer friends are from my television days, so when I joined these groups, we mostly talked screen writing craft, story structure and plot, dialogue - which is ALL GOOD - but none of them could read my work and help with phrasing, tone, word-smithing, or the fine art of crafting a paragraph. Screen writers are visual by nature, as they should be - and they care little about specific word choice, the careful placement of starting a new paragraph, or the voice of the narrative.

Still, I persisted.
I'd finish a draft of my latest work, send them off to my screen writer friends, and get loads of notes I either couldn't use, or were completely besides the point.  Or, I got notes that were purely visceral, "I got so mad reading this! This character is acting so stupid, it made me mad!"

Yes, well, characters don't always behave as they should, and I made the terrible mistake of thinking that because the reader was MAD at a character, that it was a flaw in my writing, when in fact, it was a great compliment because the reader cared enough to get pissed off.  But what does it mean in regards to the writing?

Anyway, years passed.  I continued to go to writers seminars and classes and meet a myriad of different writers.  Most were not in my area, meaning they were geographically challenged.  We could email and call back and forth, but there would be no meeting for coffee, so drafts dropped off on front porches, nothing like that.  But with modern technology, it wasn't absolutely necessary.
Still, I didn't find anybody I particularly jived with.  Or, if I did, they'd already be in a writer's group and I felt like a total dork waiting for an invitation, which never came.

Perhaps there was something wrong with me?
(that's a loaded question)
Do I talk too much?
(Sometimes when I have too much caffeine, yes)
Do I not listen well enough?
(Sometimes when I have too much caffeine, no)
Do I give off a bad vibe?
(I've been accused of appearing "aloof" before, so I've been spending the last few years perfecting my "Open for Conversation" face.  It's an effort)

But low and behold, after years of waiting, I think I've found a writer's group.

Not only are they Young Adult writers like me, but we are all on the cusp of launching careers (some a bit closer than others) and we are all able to talk craft, talk life, talk kids, talk locally, talk books, and talk, and talk, and talk.

I have to admit...This feels like a big deal.
Could it be?
Could I finally have met a group who will read my work and give me usable notes?

Oh, the sheer joy.
An actual critique! Not an anonymous proof-read I have to pay $50 to get from a writer's seminar - but an actual analytical breakdown, telling me what's missing, telling me what's to be done, telling me how to make it better?

Let's hope so.
Keep your fingers crossed for me, because if this is true...It could change everything.