Comments on: Second Draft Complete

By: Belinda

Belinda — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:22:00 +0000

@Eliza – Thanks! How exciting, that you're on your last rewrite! I'm kind of jealous, I have to admit. At the same time, I'm glad I'm not there yet. I'd feel sad that the door was almost closed on that work.

@Laughingwolf – Thanks for letting me know. :)

By: Belinda

Belinda — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 08:22:44 +0000

@Eliza – Thanks! How exciting, that you’re on your last rewrite! I’m kind of jealous, I have to admit. At the same time, I’m glad I’m not there yet. I’d feel sad that the door was almost closed on that work.

@Laughingwolf – Thanks for letting me know. :)

By: laughingwolf

laughingwolf — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 01:37:00 +0000

sorry belinda, it's a series he's writing, much of it tongue-in-cheek, showing some of the absurdities we all face in the publishing world

to get a better picture of what he's saying, one must begin at the beginning of the series

By: laughingwolf

laughingwolf — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:37:56 +0000

sorry belinda, it’s a series he’s writing, much of it tongue-in-cheek, showing some of the absurdities we all face in the publishing world

to get a better picture of what he’s saying, one must begin at the beginning of the series

By: Eliza Wyatt

Eliza Wyatt — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:03:32 +0000

Congratulations, Belinda! You know I’m not part of the genre (and killing myself besides), and therefore not crit-partner material, but I’m thrilled that you’ve made it! Way to go!

I’m at 72,500 on my third draft and last rewrite. :) I’ll be back online regularly as of the new year.

By: Eliza Wyatt

Eliza Wyatt — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:03:00 +0000

Congratulations, Belinda! You know I’m not part of the genre (and killing myself besides), and therefore not crit-partner material, but I’m thrilled that you’ve made it! Way to go!

I’m at 72,500 on my third draft and last rewrite. :) I’ll be back online regularly as of the new year.

By: Belinda

Belinda — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:35:59 +0000

@Laughingwolf – I started to read the entry but got confused pretty quickly. Is he saying you shouldn’t rely on word counts? If that’s the case, I suppose I should admit that I’m not relying on a specific word count. It’s just that I knew the first draft was far too long, and that the second draft would most likely be shorter. 85k was an arbitrary number that sounded good…it’s a complete coincidence that it worked out that way.

On the other hand, if he’s arguing that one must be economical with one’s words, then I completely agree. I know that I tend to overwrite, which is why I’m looking for beta readers to tell me when I’m waxing poetical.

By: laughingwolf

laughingwolf — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:13:32 +0000

forgot his name: it’s ferrel [rick] moore

By: laughingwolf

laughingwolf — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:13:00 +0000

forgot his name: it’s ferrel [rick] moore

By: laughingwolf

laughingwolf — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:10:41 +0000

hi belinda

published writer, rick [rick's... link on my blogger page], is doing an extended series on creative writing at his site, and just completed an entry on word length… an eye-opener!

but i think you are committed to your publisher’s ways…

something to chew over, if you have time, though

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:48:33 +0000

Thanks for the info and the well wishes. You can send it to me whenever you are ready! I’m excited to read it after reading that first chapter you showed to your independent study prof.

Emily

By: Belinda

Belinda — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:35:00 +0000

@Laughingwolf – I started to read the entry but got confused pretty quickly. Is he saying you shouldn't rely on word counts? If that's the case, I suppose I should admit that I'm not relying on a specific word count. It's just that I knew the first draft was far too long, and that the second draft would most likely be shorter. 85k was an arbitrary number that sounded good…it's a complete coincidence that it worked out that way.

On the other hand, if he's arguing that one must be economical with one's words, then I completely agree. I know that I tend to overwrite, which is why I'm looking for beta readers to tell me when I'm waxing poetical.

By: Belinda

Belinda — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:05:29 +0000

@Evangeline – I hear you. I wouldn’t expect a quick turn around on this, by the way. Due to my taking an advanced fiction writing course next semester, I won’t be working on this piece for three months. It should provide a lot of reflection time and might change my style a little, but I’m actually kind of looking forward to it.

@Word Nerd – Thanks! I have to finish formatting it so that it’s readable (I wrote it in a different word processor) but I’d love for at least one reader to be outside the genre to help me combat cliches.

@Emily – Congratulations on the new addition to the family! I’d love to have you read it. Like I said to Evangeline, I won’t expect it to come back until… oh, the first of May? So you’d have plenty of time to read it.

For the cover, I actually don’t have rights to the painting (Getty), which is why I only ever show a small version. I’ll have to commission an artist to make something very similar, though, because I love the image. I took the painting and then layered the translucent white block and text on top of it with Paint Shop Pro 9. Paint Shop Pro 9 is essentially a cheaper version of Adobe Photoshop.

If you’re looking for similar and free software, check out Paint.NET, or GIMP.

By: laughingwolf

laughingwolf — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:10:00 +0000

hi belinda

published writer, rick [rick's... link on my blogger page], is doing an extended series on creative writing at his site, and just completed an entry on word length… an eye-opener!

but i think you are committed to your publisher's ways…

something to chew over, if you have time, though

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:48:00 +0000

Thanks for the info and the well wishes. You can send it to me whenever you are ready! I'm excited to read it after reading that first chapter you showed to your independent study prof.

Emily