Friday, January 20, 2012

Ink, Paper and 75,625 of My Words

Man, it has been one roller coaster of a week. Some ups - all the awesome critiques on my query over at the Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment. Some downs - crazy shit happening at work. But, I am excited for the weekend because I'm finally ready to print out Noir for my first full read-through!

I finished the first draft of Noir on December 4th, and have been letting it have "marinating" time, so my eyes are fresh when I start making editing notes. I did a little work on it over the Christmas break, not editing but researching various things. I never do that during the first draft, but put an @ sign wherever I need to look something up so I can easily search later. And over the last couple weeks I've gone through and replaced all the @ signs with the appropriate stuff, including changing the end slightly because I'd written something inaccurate about Mt. Rainier that was fairly vital.

So, now I'm done, and that baby's ready to see it's first printing! Tomorrow I'm headed to Office Depot and then on Saturday night I'm going to try to read it straight through. I'll only look at big picture issues on this first round (plot, flow, character consistency, areas that need cutting/plumping). I'm super excited!

What are your plans, my friends? Writing or otherwise... I'd love to hear from you!

17 comments:

  1. Yay for printing it out! Congratulations! That's such a big goal to get to, and I love that you let it marinate for a while. Good luck!

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  2. Attack that manuscript!
    I hope to have the outline for my third book polished and dive into writing. (I have been writing out a few scenes here and there.)
    Already drooled over Kate tonight (saw Underworld: Awakenings) so nothing else should distract me.

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  3. Joining a new writing group this weekend, and I'm kind of nervous.

    I'm with Alex, jump on that manuscript!

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  4. Ah, the first print.
    Very cool and
    exciting. I look
    forward to hearing
    more about your
    adventure.

    Me? I am working
    prep each morning
    this weekend.

    Next weekend I get
    Saturday off with
    Hubby.

    Cheers.

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  5. Awesome!! Having a full printed copy in your hands will be an awesome feeling.

    Next week is my last week on my current job - after that I'm working on a project for a few weeks and then starting a new job! Whoo!

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  6. Noir is a great title.

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  7. I love that feeling when I can sit down with my own work and read it like a 'real' novel, like it was somebody else' work. Enjoy.

    After the computer/internet follies I've been having I was going to take the weekend and not even turn the darn thing on, then I was informed it was up and running 'good' this morning, so here I be.

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  8. Good luck! I always love/hate that first read through. I am actually finishing fixing errors a friend of mine flagged in a copyedit of my second novel this weekend. Seems like the weekend for editing!

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  9. Congrats on reaching this point with your manuscript. Fun! Nothing like seeing that massive stack of paper.

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  10. Yay for the first printing! Good luck with the edits. And congrats on the positive feedback for your query. All my fingers are crossed for you. =o)

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  11. Ah, editing fun, I have a manuscript that I need to get edits done on, but I've gone and started a new WIP so all my excitement is there right now =)

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  12. I've never actually printed up my ms to edit. Always electronic. What a novel (he he) idea. Seriously. I'll bet it removes you from the role of author and makes you a little more objective. Good luck. :)

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  13. It's both fun and nerve-wracking for me to do the editing phase. Good luck to you!

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  14. Ah, I love the first printing stage! It always feels completely different to me to see the words printed on paper. I catch so many things that way. Good luck, girl!

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  15. I'm coming back to my MS after a rest period as well, it's an exciting time. Good luck!

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  16. Sounds like fun! I don't print out very often - actually I've only done it once - but it really gives you a different feel for the ms. Have fun! :)

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  17. Best of luck with Noir. Cool title. Love the genre myself. What's up for now? Well, I have a story coming out in February sometime in Space and Time Magazine (www.spaceandtimemagazine.com) and I sold a short nonfiction piece recently. Another editor said he wanted to hold onto my submitted story for awhile longer, so that's good. This week now? Just payin' The Man and doin' the writing--and not enough of both!

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