Category Archives: Works

Updates on works by Jordan McCollum

Works

Dance of joy!

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Coming up this week, more deep POV techniques: conveying the view from inside your character’s head and doing that in “real time.”

Woot! I just finished the latest round of revisions on my current project. I’m really glad I undertook this latest round (although actually it was two rounds at once—not my best idea ever; very easy to forget where you are in the book that way!). I’ve made some semi-major changes and strengthened and clarified a lot of things. It’s a stronger book for my efforts. And I switched the titles for the sequel and this one, since I think they actually fit the books better this way.

But now I have another problem: it’s right around 101,000 words. In seven or eight rounds of revisions, I’ve added 12,000 words. So my next goal is to trim it back to 95,000 words, max.

Sigh. It’s such a burden to keep having good ideas 😉 . I’m surprised that I’m still having ideas on this book, since I finished drafting so long ago (or it feels like it’s been so long). I’m starting to wonder if it’ll ever be “finished,” or, like George Lucas said (quoting someone else), it’ll be abandoned, never finished.

Do you find yourself having to cut or add words during/after revisions? What do you think is the best way to cut—go through and take out a few words here and there, or cut whole scenes? How do you know when you’re done? How is your writing progress coming along?

Photo credit: Richard Dudley

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Works

Welcome!

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Woot! Today my guest post is live on literary agent Nathan Bransford’s blog. Many thanks to Nathan for opening up his blog while he’s away! If you’re wondering what the top seven things every aspiring author’s website must have are, head on over to check it out. Looking to set up your website? I recommend my host, BlueHost, for domain registration and website hosting!

Meanwhile, if you’re coming from Nathan’s, welcome to my website/blog! I tried to make sure I was implementing my own advice before the post went live 😉 . Here on the blog, we discuss writing technique, grammar mechanics and other fun stuff—feel free to jump in!

This month, we’re doing a series on deep POV. We’ve covered defining deep POV and how to get into our character’s heads and tomorrow we’ll start looking at specific techniques for establishing deep POV.

Last month, we discussed creating effective character sympathy, from theory to practice. Last month’s posts are also available as a free PDF guide to creating character sympathy.

Please introduce yourself in the comments, whether it’s your first time here or your fiftieth! I’d love to get to know one another.

Photo credit: typofi

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Works

Progress report

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Note: coming up in our deep POV series this week: Getting into our characters’ heads in two different ways!

Well, we’re almost a week into Tristi Pinkston’s July Writing Challenge. I admitted when we started that my goals were rather lofty, especially given that I’ll be spending the rest of the month with family in town. Plus, my library due date is fast approaching. So I’m revising my goals a bit, and reporting on the progress I’ve made so far.

  1. Edit 350 pages of my MS:
    • Go through my writing partner’s notes on the last ten chapters. Down to the last five!
    • Go through the second half of the book last eight chapters again to make all my planned changes, add two scenes one scene to go! and cut out the parts people skip
    • Get as many chapters to my critique partners as they can stand. 😉
  2. Read my library books:
  3. Read at least one book off my Summer Reading Thing list.

  4. Continue to mull over the exact plot, premise and motifs for my next WIP. (If I’m feeling really ambitious—or, y’know, stuck on a long road trip—even outline one book or the full story arc.) (Mulling away!)
  5. Stay current on critique partners’ edits.

Even if you’re not part of the challenge, how is your writing (or your vacation 😉 ) coming along?

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Works

Where is fancy bred?

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This morning, it happened to me again. I had a dream. And not just any dream, a dream: one of those dreams that inspires a big, big story.

I’ve sketched out the characters from the dream, the scene, the basic plot idea, and I did a little research (it was a historical dream). Evernote (which I learned about yesterday via The Creative Penn) is my new friend. I haven’t decided if this is what I should write next, although what I was planning to work on is only slightly less sketchy at this point 😉 .

I’ve had a couple stories begin as dreams before, and so far, that’s probably my most common source for story ideas. What’s yours?


(there’s a poll in this post; click through to participate)

Oh, and if you’re wondering, the post title is from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice:


Tell me where is fancy bred,
Or in the heart or in the head?

But I’m not afraid to admit that I know it more from Willy Wonka.

I love hearing this from other writers. Where do you get most of your story ideas from?

Photo by Gravity X9

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Works

July Writing Challenge

Tristi Pinkston is hosting a July writing challenge! For the month of July, we’re setting goals for what we’d like to accomplish in our writing projects, whether that’s words written, pages edited or even research done.

July is set to be a pretty busy month for me—festivities for the Fourth of July (seriously; my husband just called and said he got us tickets to four different events next week), my family here for most of the month, two family reunions, a road trip. . . . I think I’m getting a little ambitious. But we’ll try, anyway!

  1. Edit 350 pages of my MS:
    • Go through my writing partner’s notes on the last ten chapters
    • Go through the second half of the book again to make all my planned changes, add two scenes and cut out the parts people skip
    • Get as many chapters to my critique partners as they can stand. 😉
  2. Read my library books:
  3. Read at least one book off my Summer Reading Thing list.

  4. Continue to mull over the exact plot, premise and motifs for my next WIP. (If I’m feeling really ambitious—or, y’know, stuck on a long road trip—even outline one book or the full story arc.)
  5. Stay current on critique partners’ edits.

This is a great way to help us reach our goals. By writing them down, we have something concrete to work toward. And part of the challenge is checking regularly at Tristi’s challenge blog, where you get accountability and encouragement. And at the end of the month, we report to Tristi for our final dose of accountability. All of these things can help us achieve our goals.

So what are your writing goals for the next month (well, five weeks—my goals start from today for me)? Share them in the comments or on your blog to participate in the challenge!

Photo credit: Richard Dudley

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

 
Technique, Works

Editing ambivalence

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This month’s series will be on creating sympathetic characters! But that’s for tomorrow.

I love editing. I love eradicating errors (where did all those typos come from?!); I love finding better, more vivid ways to say things; I love rewriting scenes on the whim of inspiration for something that is much, much better.

On the other hand, I hate editing. I hate slogging through my book for the third fifth eighth time only to discover that it’s still not perfect; I hate feeling that I don’t know whether this latest change is any better than the last three versions of this sentence; I hate getting directly contradictory opinions over something I’m torn about myself.

This is the definition of ambivalence. (Go ahead, look it up—ambivalence means feeling strongly both ways about something, although the common misusage has naturally bullied its way in to many a dictionary. Ambi in Latin means ‘both’—like ambidextrous—and valence comes from the Latin verb meaning ‘to be strong’—the same root as valiant, for example.)

These days, however, my scale is starting to tip towards hate more and more. I think I’m burning out on my latest round of revisions. This will be my third round in two months, so I suppose fatigue is only understandable. But I haven’t written anything new in almost as long (aside from new/rewritten scenes), and that’s something that I really need to do.

Unfortunately, none of my many ideas is screaming “write me now!!!” at the moment. But rather than run myself ragged on revisions, I think I’m going to try to start on another book—just the first three chapters. The big risk here is that if my idea isn’t really ready, writing is like wringing blood from a stone—it’s just as tiring as another round of revisions.

Do you have a love/hate relationship with editing? How do you avoid editing burn out?

Photo credit—Book heart: Piotr Bizior; screaming: ralaenin

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Works

The run up

I’ve been gearing up for the LDStorymakers Conference tomorrow. I registered after encouragement from Annette Lyon online and off, and I’m getting excited (even though I’m a fairly shy person and a little nervous about meeting new people).

So I’m thinking about what I’m going to do with this site. So far I’ve used it as mostly a writing journal, chronicling the biggest milestones in my manuscripts. (On that note, I got Duty back from my critique partner on the third and finished the latest round of revisions on Tuesday.)

I’d like to do more with the blog portion of the site. I’ve had a few ideas for posts on grammar mechanics and writing technique, as well as some fun activities. I’ve been holding off for a formal “launch” for the website. Subscribe to the blog to get RSS updates (or email updates) so you don’t miss anything!

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Works

Happy birthday to me!

My birthday present to myself: finishing revisions on Evidence!

My birthday present to you: an excerpt from Duty of the Priest!

Presents that feel this good without costing a dime (no comment on opportunity cost): priceless.

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!