quote:Welcome to this week's Novel Support Group (NSG). Anyone can join. If you're new, tell us a bit about who you are and what project you are working on. Feel free to update the NSG Work in Progress thread with your current projects. Although we can report on any number of things, here is a list of suggestions (suggestions welcomed).
What were your goals last week and did you accomplish them? Describe what you worked on. Set goals for next week. Did you learn something during this week?
Here is a list of things that you can do each week as we work on our novels (suggestions welcomed).
Writing on a novel Characterization World Building Relevant research
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I'm glad to keep doing this for those of us who like to have goals to work toward.
As for me.
Last Week's Goals:
FIRE AND EARTH (formerly known as SEVEN STARS): Plan an e-book release. Eh. Sort of. I have decided to do both ebook and print this time, though.
BLOOD WILL TELL: Contnue serialization on wattpad to try to create more interest. Yep.
THE BARD'S GIFT: Send out three queries. Yes.
MAGE STORM: Wait for feedback. Ongoing.
MAGIC'S FOOL: I'll work in this one as time allows. No time, yet.
"Magic and Power": Continue first draft. Let's say Chapters 10 thru 14 as a goal. Oops. Too much time on FIRE AND EARTH. I'm only on Chapter 11.
FIRE AND EARTH (formerly known as SEVEN STARS): Prepare for launch.
BLOOD WILL TELL: Contnue serialization on wattpad to try to create more interest.
THE BARD'S GIFT: Send out three queries.
MAGE STORM: Wait for feedback.
MAGIC'S FOOL: I'll work in this one as time allows.
"Magic and Power": Continue first draft. Okay, let's say Chapters 11 and 12. Next week--after the launch of FIRE AND EARTH--will hopefully be more productive.
My MC in Angel Kin is...is...uhm, actually I'm not sure what she is doing next. I put in something that builds to the end when those who are seducing her to the dark side may have won. And since I couldn't think of anything I decided to have her start digging. She and her new friends are looking for burial site with a very powerful force in it.
My MC in Stone Within is about to have the guy who likes her check out the top of the back of one thigh. It's been sliced up a lot which is unusual for her. After that I'm not sure. And I will have to add another new character somewhere earlier.
And I worked a tiny bit on the two revisions. Interrupted both with revisions of stories. One for WotF and one to send out some week. It's already taken two weeks longer than planned.
posted
Not entirely sure what to do, or how this works.
Last week I finished editing my MC of the Return of the Gods. I am feeling pretty damn confident with it, thanks in part to the critiques I've received from the chapter exchange groups. Now I need to finish the query letter for it (which is really hard!).
Have gotten four chapters into the sequel Flight of the Gods. Still learning the story and where it's going to take me. I've switched narrators for this one. I've gone from 3rd person present to first person past. Learning that it is very different writing. The voice was much easier to find though.
Working on the WotF story. Ambivalent about it.
A Life Dreamt is still on the shelf. Haven't had the guts to pick it up again, yet. I really need to just sit down and read what I have and see where I'm at with it.
Posts: 90 | Registered: Jun 2012
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quote:Originally posted by Jed Anderson: Not entirely sure what to do, or how this works.
Welcome. You're doing fine. Most of us use this group to post our goals for the coming week and then report how well we did. Goals can be motivating.
Oh, and yes, queries are hard. Almost as hard as synopses. Hardest of all (for me, anyway, are short pitches). This is the (unfortunately necessary) underbelly of writing.
Posts: 4633 | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
How long are synopsis' supposed to be? I've managed to get mine down to about 65 words. Is this too long?
It's been fifty years since the Purification, and Mankind fights for survival in a post-apocalyptic world against the Mayan Gods. Beings that have returned to Earth from their war in the stars. But, hope is spreading as the story of a Godslayer sweeps across the ruined land. It is said he will bring war to the creatures that steal mankind's most precious possession, his children.
Posts: 90 | Registered: Jun 2012
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quote:Originally posted by Jed Anderson: How long are synopsis' supposed to be? I've managed to get mine down to about 65 words. Is this too long?
It's been fifty years since the Purification, and Mankind fights for survival in a post-apocalyptic world against the Mayan Gods. Beings that have returned to Earth from their war in the stars. But, hope is spreading as the story of a Godslayer sweeps across the ruined land. It is said he will bring war to the creatures that steal mankind's most precious possession, his children.
Okay, that's a pitch. And the answer as to length is--"It depends". Sometimes there's the opportunity for a pitch contest and then they'll tell you how long it's allowed to be, either a word count or a number of sentences. Sometimes there's a pitch contest on Twitter which naturally is limited to 140 characters including the hashtag for the contest.
True synopses can be from one to four pages. Conventional wisdom is to have two or three at different lengths to match each agent's preference. Personally, I try for about two pages.
As to your pitch:
quote:It's been fifty years since the Purification, and Mankind fights for survival in a post-apocalyptic world against the Mayan Gods.
IMO, move "the Mayan gods (lower case g) right after "fights for survival". It's just clearer that way. Then I'd change "Beings" in the next sentence to "The gods" or something similar.
quote:Beings that have returned to Earth from their war in the stars. But, hope is spreading as the story of a Godslayer sweeps across the ruined land. It is said he will bring war to the creatures that steal mankind's most precious possession, his children.
There's room to tighten this if you need a shorter version.
Posts: 4633 | Registered: Dec 2008
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