tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post6780584625778784251..comments2024-03-26T17:32:38.865-04:00Comments on YA Outside the Lines: Finishing and Starting (Stephanie Kuehnert)Brian Katcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15159532800819759917noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post-15804551501775543982011-08-20T15:24:39.952-04:002011-08-20T15:24:39.952-04:00Very true, Vicky. Well, I haven't had a child,...Very true, Vicky. Well, I haven't had a child, but from what I imagine...Stephanie Kuehnerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15337734171729461782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post-10338324354479556952011-08-17T10:08:52.745-04:002011-08-17T10:08:52.745-04:00Thanks for your honest description of the process....Thanks for your honest description of the process. I wish books flowed effortlessly out of me too but I guess it's more like childbirth--some are easy, some are hard, but they all hurt!Vicky Alvear Shecterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17570828339389206203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post-61126874392647412502011-08-16T16:06:53.100-04:002011-08-16T16:06:53.100-04:00Thank you guys for commiserating and offering advi...Thank you guys for commiserating and offering advice! Ara, you are totally right. I know that I can't keep the same pace as I could toward the end of a book, but yeah, it takes me so long to finish a book that I always forget what beginnings are like. Plus every book is different. I feel like one day ONE of them should flow out of me easily though! Maybe I'll try the old jump around to what is taking my attention route.<br /><br />Zoraida, I think the fear of the middle is a big problem for me too... so much so that I can't see past like the first ten pages.<br /><br />And Lauren, you damn well better submit that book, girl! I'm glad I'm not alone in struggling with plot, but I am going on a writing retreat at the end of November so maybe I will think of November as a big writing month for me and give myself a little more leeway time to plan and scribble things down.Stephanie Kuehnerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15337734171729461782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post-82990117384332915892011-08-16T11:34:04.581-04:002011-08-16T11:34:04.581-04:00Sometimes I feel weird talking about my fiction as...Sometimes I feel weird talking about my fiction as I am not published yet, but here goes:<br /><br />I just finished the final (for now) draft of a novel I've been working on for two years. Meaning now, I have a choice: I can either submit it to agents or I can sit on it forever. At times, the latter is sounding mighty tempting. I really loved and believed in this story, except when I didn't and I was questioning myself and wondering whether all this blood, sweat and tears were worth it. I know I need to submit it, though. It takes a lot of courage, which I am trying to work up right now.<br /><br />In the meantime, I wrote a crappy first draft of another story, which is now being reviewed by some beta readers, but I'm not sure if that one is going to be worth revisiting. I really love the two main characters, but the plot needs a lot a lot a LOT of work.<br /><br />And then in January, I had this other shiny new idea (in a dream. How cliche, right?). I've been working on the characters (Stephanie, I was working on the protagonist the last time I took your class!) and have some of the plot figured out, plus I know how it will end. However, I always struggle with plot. Also, I'm pretty sure this is going to be a book for adults rather than YA, so that's new for me too. Basically, I just write write write. I keep at least one notebook on me at all times, and I went to a writers' retreat this summer, which really helped me work on some of the scenes and plot points. I use NaNoWriMo as a motivator to write my first drafts, so I've got until then to figure out as much as I can. I'm a total planner before I write my first draft. I'm a dork like that.<br /><br />Good luck, Stephanie, and keep us posted! Enjoy your vacation. :)miaohdeuxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11829709456145455233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post-28801194837286868702011-08-16T11:16:48.185-04:002011-08-16T11:16:48.185-04:00Before my agent sold The Vicious Deep, I was worki...Before my agent sold The Vicious Deep, I was working on a magical/realism kind of adult novel. I knew where I wanted it to start and end, but just couldn't write the middle bits. <br /><br />That's when I started writing this crazy mermaid urban fantasy that kept poking its little head and demanding attention. It just came out! <br /><br />Right now I'm trying to start book 2, which is more difficult than book 1. I know where it starts and ends, but I'm almost scared to write the middle. <br /><br />*le sigh*Zoraida Cordovahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16469617007989909356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3388578325782539013.post-91002948140092628682011-08-16T10:47:02.676-04:002011-08-16T10:47:02.676-04:00Stephanie, I know exactly what you mean when you s...Stephanie, I know exactly what you mean when you say, 'I want to have that blissful feeling I had a few months ago when I was finishing the last project.' I had that exact same hope when I started my new novel, and became terribly depressed when it never happened. As it turned out, I was being incredibly unfair to myself because the beginning of a book is never, ever like writing the end, when you can see the goal ahead and everything is coming together. I had spent so much time writing my first book, I didn't remember that it took me a while to find my footing in the first place. For me, at least, I jumped all over in timeline and had to put all the pieces together later... using the old Columbia formula to write "whatever captures my attention," as you know. When I was at the end of my first book, I was knocking out 20 pages at a time, and I expected to do the same when I started my next book. That didn't happen. In fact, I could barely get more than 2 pages out at a time. I started to freak out. It took me months until I thought I had a story worth pursuing, and all during that time, I compared it to my last novel and wasn't into it as much as my first one (which had taken me 5 years to write). <br /> After several months, I had strung together enough small bits of writing to make up a nearly completed novel. It didn't come out as easily, nor as fun as my first book, but maybe they're not all supposed to be so simple. (As if any writing is actually simple. HAH) What got me through it? Well, discovering new music, for one. Also, letting myself take extended breaks where I didn't dwell on my book. I had to let it go for long periods and then come back to it so that every scrap I had previously written didn't seem so precious any longer. You may not be having so desperate of a time as I was during this second book, but know that others completely understand your feelings right now and empathize! Good luck with your new project. I'll be rooting for you!Arahttp://aratrask.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com