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Monday, December 17, 2012

WIP Madness Week 3: December Check-in

Eight days 'til Christmas! WHO IS EXCITED?

Today I'm posting from Salt Lake City! A twelve-hour drive in the cold and snow certainly makes me appreciate home all the more. Unfortunately, home=distractions, but I refuse to let that slow me down. I WILL HAVE THIS DRAFT DONE BY JANUARY. (There, I said it, now all of you need to hold me to it!)

If I fail in this goal, maybe I'll do another giveaway. ;) (But I shan't fail...)

Speaking of giveaways, please stop by my interview with Kristy Stewart to enter the giveaway for a great new Christmas anthology, just in time for the holidays. She's giving away four copies!

With most agencies and publishers closing down until January, it's time to put a hold on the queries and focus on pushing through those drafts, getting nitpicky with edits, and honing those pitches. The days are getting busier, but let's make writing a gift to ourselves, eh? ;)

So WIPsters, what are your goals for this week, and how did you fair over the last seven days?

24 comments:

  1. Hi Charlie - I actually think I will finish my draft this week. It's wrapping up sooner than I expected, so my hunch is I've rushed some stuff but that's what revisions are for. I hit 52k this am and imagine I've got another 2 or 3k to finish up this draft. Though I may surprise myself.

    Anyway - other than that, I'm still trying to sort through my feelings r.e. the shooting last week. This is my 11th year of teaching and it's hitting me super hard on a ton of levels. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer but it's kind of where I am with it.

    Anyway, I hope you have a fabulous holiday everyone and here's hoping the Mayans are wrong and we'll be here to check in on Christmas Eve!

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    1. I hope you are doing better, JRo. I have been thinking about you and my other teacher friends all week. :(

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  2. After a harrowing ten-hour drive in the snow, I arrived safely in my new home. Soon I will settle in and be able to return to a writing routine. I hope.

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    1. Glad you are there, safe and sound.

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    2. I hope things will be better for you now that you're there, Angelina, and that you'll find contentment there.

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  3. Hi Charlie! Congrats, JRo-you're so close! Angelina, my heart and thoughts are with you.

    This week, I plan on editing my newest picture book. There's something magical about revising a work so small, but packing it fulled of jeweled words. My third read through / revision I attempt to weed out all the unnecessary, leaving creative room for the illustrator to fill in beauty.

    I hope everyone's week is filled with tons of wipmadness, revisions, editing, or reflections on writing.

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    1. Uh, that would be "full" of jeweled words. Duh.

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  4. Hey hey! The last seven days mostly about reading with a wee bit of writing. The same will apply these next seven days. Reading with a bit of writing. Came up with a new chapter book idea, so thinking I will poke away on that in my no read times, too. SO! The goal:

    -get the cybils reading done and my shortlist finalized so I am ready for our online meeting
    -write a little each day to explore both novel ideas I have and some picture book ideas, as well. This is when I doodle, take notes, think, explore, wander inside my head

    Good luck with your draft, Charlie. You. Can. Do. It! And good luck to all my fellow wipsters, too!

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  5. Good luck with your draft, Charlie. December can really be great for wipmadness, so hope you can stick with it and push through to finish.

    Same to you, JRo! I always write a little short and add more in revisions. Nothing wrong in knowing where it needs to end up!

    So glad you made it to you new home safely, Angelina.

    I've been trying to stay off the computer since the terrible news on Friday. I haven't been able to do much up until now, but I hope to make some more progress with my revisions this week.

    Hope the rest of you have a productive rest-of-the-month, too.

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  6. I finished the first draft of my YA fantasy Glass and Gold last week. I began it during nanowrimo and finished at 66 K.

    This week it's back to Angel Eyes for (hopefully) a light 4th draft revision, working on character arcs and such. (Depending in part on what my beta readers have to say!)

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  7. Still plugging away at my WIP. I'm feeling a little discouraged by it, but I think I got a new small epiphany last night that will help.

    I have lots of things I *should* work on after this, but none I'm terribly excited about. I'm just in kind of a slump, I guess, which is okay, because if I didn't have the slumps to compare to, I also wouldn't recognize the mountaintops :)

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    1. Take time for yourself this week, Denise. Immerse yourself in your family's celebration of Christmas and hopefully you'll find refreshment that will spill over into your writing in the New Year.

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  8. I'm working away at revisions. I'm really happy with what I wound up doing: By working on a backburner story in a totally different genre when I can't work through my beta-partner's revision notes (because that would be cumbersome or I wouldn't be able to focus), I've made progress on both. Backburner story has no deadline, but it does take place in Vancouver at Christmastime, so it works out to be writing it now. I also have the week off between Christmas and New Year's, so I hope to be extra-productive then.

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  9. This week plan to be in the Cybils cave. I have so many books I still need to read!

    Also plan to finish these copy edits. I got behind after the whole Friday tragedy thing which hit too close to us as my own sister was brutally murdered with a gun.

    This week will be better. My heart and prayers go to those victim's families.

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    1. I'm so sorry to hear about your sister, Kim. I can't imagine how much more horrifying this tragedy must have been for you. You are in my prayers.

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    2. Blessings to you, Kim. This has to have been a terrible week for you.

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  10. Hello, my friend! I didn't get much writing done this week, although I can feel the story patiently waiting for my return. I will keep my fingers crossed that you get your draft done by January... I BELIEVE IN YOU!! :)

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  11. OOH! Yay for coming to SLC! That's awesome!
    I try to get a chapter done every other day if possible, but sometimes the holiday festivities interfere with plans. :)
    Hope you have a great Christmas!

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  12. You can do it, Charlie! All quiet here mostly because I'm either going down a research black hole or surfacing to take notes. =)

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  13. GO SLC! We might've bumped shoulders already! LOL.

    I love goals. And I love the new year energy with goals. It's SO fun. And it's also great to take advantage of this period when the pub world slows down---we can use it to our advantage and WORK HARD. :-)

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  14. My goal: finish revising the last 40 pages of my manuscript and write a few pitches. I'm looking forward to querying in January!

    And for my New Year's Resolution--rough draft of my next novel finished by the end of the year.

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  15. No #wipmadness last week. Just madness.

    It seems as though the cosmos had tough things in store for everyone last week. From Wednesday night on, my life was filled with tough moments. I spent the next several days at the hospital with my son, traveling to and from Macon, or on the phone begging to be heard by a bunch of inept staff until I finally got through the the right person and the right doctor.

    I don't want to go into detail, but it was scary. Things have settled down now, and everyone is back home safe and sound. My heart breaks for everyone in Connecticut. You just never know. When I was teaching, I had a boy in my class all year...quiet, withdrawn. That summer, he killed his mother with a gun.

    For all that discussion about the darkness of YA lit not so long ago, all we need to do is look around us to realize that kids already know what darkness is and they need to know they are not alone.

    God bless you all and may your fingers find a million perfect words.

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  16. Sorry I missed the check-in this week. It just hasn't been an average week. I've managed to spend a couple hours each night on my current project, but I'm not well focused on it and I know it's not great writing. It's one of those times when you push through, regardless... getting words on the page so they can be reworked later.

    I don't have a goal for this last week. Family and Christmas are going to absorb me, and that's as it should be. I'll get writing done in occasional quiet moments if and when I find them. And I wish all of you the blessings of Christmas--peace, joy, hope and love.

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