cathschaffstump | Oct. 8th, 2008

At the end of the day, I received the first of 3 pivotal calls for my research trip to Chicago. The Chicago Zoological Society wants me to send off my vitae, Endowed Chair Information, and book synopses so they can make an informed decision about letting me see life behind the scenes of a keeper at Brookfield. Cool. I’ll shoot that material off to them upon my return to the office on Thursday.

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Other than that, the night was spent at a church meeting. Bryon and I are Outreach coheads, and our mission this year is to invite congregations displaced by the flood to our harvest and holiday events, helping them miss their own less. I have to write a speech to go speedily deliver around town in two Sundays, as well as come up with a really zany travel schedule that Sunday. It’s actually a very friendly, welcoming thing to do, as well as a good way to raise money for flood relief in the community (most of the dinners and bazaars have a fiscal component), so I’m down with it.

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And, have the Halloween costumes mostly in line. As of now, I have two Man from U.N.C.L.E. female agent outfits almost ready to go, both kinds from all 4 seasons. But that’ll get some attention over in the awelkin universe.

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Not sleeping. Love steroids. Love ‘em.

Catherine

Originally published at Writer Tamago. You can comment here or there.

Hulk Hercules: Revised and whacked the Golden Hind scene. It’s much sharper now. Many parts of it were introduced earlier in the first draft. Next session: Leo asks Diana out–all new material, and the Fall Festival at school–all new material. I need a good subplot for Bianca to surface in here, and I’m considering several possibilities for her friend Dalton and her crush Tim. Not sure which way I’ll go yet.

15 / 39
(38.5%)

***

Substance: Like every writer, I believe we have doubts about the quality of our work from time to time. I’ve been the full gauntlet about my novel, especially since it’s been rejected several times. Others judgments are not how I measure my work, but that does have some effect whether we want to or not. Given this opportunity to revise, I am trying to give the prospective agent what he wants, but part of me is insecure. What if he has something else in mind? I’ve done a really good job on the first 75 pages, as he’s provided me extensive notes and edits, but he’s only seen the first 75 pages. What if the remaining 300-and-some-odd pages go in a totally different direction? What if I can’t execute the changes as he’d like? What if? What if?

A moment of clarity suggests that it doesn’t matter. The only thing I can do is revise, based on what I think is good and what I think he’s suggested. The world is not going to end if another agent says no. All I can do is what I’ve always been doing–write the best book I can and hope someone bites. Stay true to myself as a writer, and enjoy what I do. Keep sending things out.

I wish that we writers didn’t play such mind games with ourselves! At least we can get out of it if we work on it!

***

So, then, I revised chapter 7. Chapter 7 has been written a lot, and I’m not convinced there’s a lot of surplus in it, although I cut a little empty dialogue. Milo, Errol, and Stephanas shine here, as do almost all of the supporting characters. I’ll be interested if the agent will be more interested in what happens with Michael and Shari in the wings, but I don’t know if that will detract from the main thrust of Esme’s trial.

That’s the first two thirds of the book revised. The next major section is Errol’s Trial, and jumps forward in time. It really does need some firming up. I doubt I’ll get through it so fast.