La-Tessa Montgomery

I reached another milestone in my journey towards publication. Yesterday, late afternoon-ish, in the midst of a very trying day, I received my very first rejection letter.

And oddly enough, it made me feel better.  Yes, I have been accused  of being strange (in fact I was told to my face quite emphatically this very thing yesterday by a friend  ), but it my mood actually improved after I read it. 

Yes, I’m disappointed that the very first agent I pitched to, and sent my very first submission packet  to, didn’t connect with my writing as I’d hoped.  But this is more than a simple “Thanks, but no thanks”, it’s  badge of courage, as well as part of the progress.  Several of my writing buddies were very supportive of me in accomplishing this milestone and have the courage to “put myself out there” as they put it.

Rejections are par the course for writers.  Success in the publishing game is all relative.  You can be hot today and not two weeks from now.   Many authors, after selling one, or several, books  find themselves in a position where they’re having a tough time selling  their new book(s).

So cheers to me on my very first, and probably not last , rejection letter and to me accomplishing one of my writing goals for this year. Woohoo!   So in the spirit of true perseverance, I will carry on with my wip, polish it up til it shines, and shop it around again.  Who knows, I still have one more submission package out there so there’s hope I may get a request for a full.

After a couple of weeks of preparation where I completely reevaluated by contemporary romance. Once I thought about what it was I wanted to do and the general direction I wanted to take, I tucked in and: redefined my characters (I had a lot to learn about them apparently), reshaped their GMC’s, drafted out a timeline, then worked on my W Plot. 

Once I got these 4 things done, I had the foundation I needed to do my synopsis.  The synopsis took a lot of work, even though I told myself to keep it high level and to concentrate on just moving the story from beginning to middle to end.  So 4 hours and 7 pages later I had the complete synopsis in my hand.  (And yes, it took me 2 hrs longer than I’d planned to finish it).

So today, I woke up with a plan.  A plan to get through at least the prologue and first chapter of the new & improved draft.  Silly me, I went into this little challenge  thinking this would be a breeze since I already had (in theory) the prologue through chapters 7 already done (from the previous draft).  Let me tell you, small changes to an outline can have a huge impact to the actual chapters.  So about 6 hrs later (probably more, but I refuse to acknowledge that I have now been sitting on my butt in one spot for over 6 hrs), I have my new prologue and chapter 1 down in the books.

CHA-CHING!!

I had to do a fair amount of deleting (painful), re-writing & tweaking of old words (time consuming) and addition (which was flowed much better than I’d thought).  I produced 4.895 words today, a personal best for me; yet one I don’t think I will ever try to do again.

You may or may not know, but I have been actively working on my first contemporary romance novel.  I spent some time getting my characters and plot together, then I hit the ground running.  I ran into a few snags here and there, but I pushed through it because that’s what writers do.  Then I got to the halfway mark and felt I was pushed into a corner.  Things were not moving along fast enough for me, I wasn’t feeling a particular element of the plot and I was far more interested in working on a new project I’ve been brainstorming.  Not a good sign.

So last week while chatting with my CP, I told her of an earlier version on my story and something clicked.   I turned away from an idea in favor of what I thought was a better plot point.  Now, 12 months later, I’m going back to my original idea because apparently that new idea was NOT the way to go.

So I’ve started over by rethinking the plot and doing some indepth character development.  I must say, I am really feeling a better energy surrounding this project now so I am beginning Worth Fighting For anew.  My goal is to complete my first draft within the next 4 to 5 weeks.  I know I can do it, I have fresh energy & motivation on my side, plus I have close to 50,000 words from the first draft that can be salvaged in some way, shape or form. 

I’ve reset my word counter, untied myself from the current draft (which was much harder than I thought) and now it’s time for me to get busy.  Today is Day 1 on my new journey with this project.

Nina Simone said it best with:

     It’s a new dawn
     It’s a new day
     It’s a new life
     For me
     And I’m feeling good

2009 marked my first full year of taking my writing seriously and actively pursuing my goal of becoming a published author.  I started the year with a set of goals and a plan.  I looked over my 2009 writing year and I have some things to be proud of, and some things to work on.  It’s these things I learned about myself that shaped my writing goals for 2010.

My overall objective for this year as a writer is to the cultivate my strengths while depreciating my weakness.  This means eliminating distractions, excuses, and negativity (especially the self-generated kind).  Actually, as I think about it, this is no longer my goal for this year; this now is my main focus as a writer, period. 

So to help me reach my goal this year, here are some specific, concrete goals I will strive to complete in 2010:

1.  Set a writing schedule and stick to it
2.  Read my top 3 craft books
3.  Complete at least 2 manuscripts this year
4.  Send least 5 queries or submissions this year
5.  Set up my office
6.  Create a binder to better track my writing activities (workshops, conventions, receipts, etc.)

So here’s to a success year.

Ok, it’s the last day of the year. My first year of actively writing and working on my novel. I set some goals Jan 1 of this year, and I’ve been updating my progress throughout the year, but it’s time to do one final recap on the year:

Goal 1: Write for one hour a day, minimum
Ahhh…yeah,  I soo sucked at this goal. I had my moments and long stretches of time where I did this, but not consistently enough for me to say I accomplished this goal with any amount of honesty at all.

Goal 2: Have at least 2 completed manuscripts by Dec 31, 2009
I gotta say no to this one as well.  At one point in time, somewhere around Qtr 2, I just knew I would accomplish this task. But alas, I fell short.  As of right now, today, I am currently reworking a plot point to my current wip, which means I have to redo and tweak all of what I currently have.  Since this change makes the story much better for me, I am very excited about this understanding and know I will be able to wrap up my contemporary romance very soon (you have to come back for my 2010 Writing Goals to see when though.)

Goal 3: Query/Submit at least one manuscript this year
Yes, I successfully completed this goal!  I had the opportunity to pitch my book several times this year and received four requests!  I’m still waiting for the results, but in the meantime, I am plugging along. 

Goal 4: Enter at least one contest
I knocked this goal out of the part by entering not one, but four contests.  I didn’t do so well on the first three, but I received some great feedback.  I make some adjustments, and more importantly decided to trust my gut.  It all worked out because I ended up placing in the fourth contest.  Woohoo!

Goal 5: Cycle through my craft books
Hmm, this one is tough to yay or nay.  The purpose of this goal was for me to continue to improve my knowledge and application of the craft of writing.   I got through one craft book, and about one forth through another.   However, I did improve my craft knowledge by attending two great conferences this year (RWA Nationals in DC and Moonlight & Magnolias in Atlanta), attending some workshops, and participating in several author, agent, and publisher chats.  So, I didn’t get through the core craft books I wanted to read through, but I still learned a lot of new things over the year.

So this is my 2009 Writing Year in review, goal wise.  Definitely didn’t make two of my goals, definitely made one, and I’m about 50/50 on the last one.

Overall, I learned a lot about myself this year.  The most important thing being that I CANNOT write at home.  I believe it was Einstein that said “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  Well, just let me say I was more than a bit insane this year in thinking I could successfully ignore all the distractions that reside in my house (chores, the kids, the dog, the hubby, the internet-lol) and write at home.  :-)  But I can do some writing related things at home and be productive. 

Some other keys things I discovered this year is my writing “Golden Time”, a very good brainstorming kit, the fun part of writing, as well as the low part, and I’ve learned to have more trust in myself, my instincts, and my writing.  

So all in all, I had a good 2009 writing wise, I didn’t accomplish all I set out to, but I’ve come further in my journey than I was on Jan 1, 2009.

Yes, I know it’s December 29th, and technically I still have 3 more days of working on the current wip in my mad dash attempt to finish if by the end of the year.  I can do it! (Do I hear crickets…)

Anywho, my CP (the best one in the world) spent pretty much all day Sunday brainstorming and sludging through my idea for my Urban Fantasy.  I now have a loose outline for all 3 books in this series, better character defintion, and he backstory is gelling a bit.

Oh, I still have miles to go before I sleep on this one, but I have a good starting point.  Now, if I can only NOT work on this one while I strive to finish up the contemporary…

Mary McCall, a fellow RCRW member, wrote an article on the creative process using military lingo that really spoke to me and my critique partner–don’t ask…. .

I really enjoyed the article and gained some insight. From now on, I will let my Scout have it BEFORE  I call my Strategist in for consulation (who and I kidding, I will probably have to drug my Strategist to keep her out of the process until I’m ready for her, but I digress).  And only once the Strategist has had her say, will I present my ideas to the Commander (otherwise known as the bitchy inner editor) for approval. 

if I follow this progress, I bet my Solider will by much happier once I give her the ok to do her job since the Scout and Strategist won’t be interfering nearly as much as they currently are, and the Commander won’t be inclined to make many as visits to check on progress.

Check out her post in full here.

Final Word count for 2009 NaNoWriMo effort:

I didn’t quite meet my 50k word goal, but that was 100% my fault.  I flaked out on my daily writing schedule more times that I care to admit for a variety of reasons.  I could make excuses, but I won’t. 

I’m actually proud of my progress this year, I managed to do 662% better than I did in NaNo ‘08.  Last year, I only managed 3,980 words (yeah, I really sucked). So maybe 2010 will be my NaNo year

Ok, back to the grind.  I have a manucript to finish & polish, and another to brainstorm and outline.

Oh, and ROCK ON to my 14 NaNo buddies that won this year!!!!

I did it. 

I pulled the trigger and hit the “Send” button this morning, emailing my first two submission packets off.

Oddly enough, I’m not feeling nervous and anxious, like I thought I would be.  Instead, I’m feeling good, confident in the quality of submission.  Now, let’s hope they see something in my manuscript and are interested.

Now, time to get back to polishing the current wip, plotting out my next one, and cracking out the words on my NaNo project as I await feedback.

Decided to do a NaNo check in today, so here goes.  It’s Day 6 and I’ve not written today yet (but I plan to, no worries.) 

And I will admit, Day 1 & 2 were more than a bit rocky.  For one, I’m still actively writing and polishing up my contemporary romance (Worth Fighting For), so that keeps me busy.  But determined to get a good, more than good actually, start on my Urban Fantasy, I decided to challenge myself this month and give working on two manuscripts a chance.

It’s also been slow going because I decided to undertake this challenge without a plot overview/outline or character sketches.  Apparently, just jumping in feet first is soooo not my style. 

Now, I knew this going in, but I am always trying to make myself a better, more productive writer; and that means I have to challenge my established procedures from time to time to make sure I’m not bogging myself down with unnecessary processes.

So I decided to spend time during my lunch break this week to work on character profiles for my main characters.  So far, I have 3 out of 5 done, and the story opens up more and more each time I complete one.  Yesterday, I had my best day yet, clocking 700 words on my NaNo project. 

Yes, is far below the daily word goal of 1,667, but I’m very encouraged by it.  Now that I have I clearer view on my story, I know longer have to wonder around in wide circles, waxing poetic about nonsensical things.  (Because trust me, I have.  If you could only see some of what I’ve written thus far-lol) 

I’ve been rolling along nicely, and I hope the trend continues.