How do I love thee...Nathan Bransford???

Okay.

Prepare yourself.

I am totally in love--in-a-very-non-commital-non-threatening-notreallythatsortoflove-type of way--with Nathan Bransford. You know who he is. That wonderful literary agent over at Curtis Brown. The one who has us hanging on his every word, whose blog is tatooed with many a shiny award sticker saying how great he is.

ANYWAY...he had a totally awesome (NO, another one) post today. All about the errors we (I) make while writing. It was so in depth. So perfect. Shiny (yes I used that word before). I can only write like him when I am hopped up on goofballs...figuratively speaking of course. (No, I haven't edited this post).


To give you a clue I will quote said post:


"Description Overload: Upon this page there is a period. It is not just any period, it is a period following a sentence. It follows this sentence in a way befitting a period of its kind, possessing a roundness that is pleasing to the eye and hearty to the soul. This period has the bearing of a regal tennis ball combined with the utility of a used spoon. It is an unpretentious period, just like any other, the result of hundreds of years of typesetting innovations that allows it to be used, almost forgotten, like oxygen to the sentence only darker, more visible. And it is after this period, which will neither reappear nor matter in any sense whatsoever to the rest of the novel, that our story begins."

Yes folks, pure poetry. This was my favorite one, BTW.


Click on Nathan's name above for a link to the whole post. There is many a nugget in them thar hills.


It's totally awesome

and so are you!

First Chapter Blues or Manuscript Mayhem?

If the plot is the skeleton or framework of the story, the story the meat or mortar, then the first chapter must be the foundation … right? (well, and other things)

Taking a look at my lovely MS I found a FEW cracks in the mortar, a few places to be smoothed, maybe an appendage or two that needed trimming…and then…I look down. My first chapter. Is. In. Ruin. It’s crumbled. It’s distorted. It’s a blundering mess. What happens then? If the first chapter, THE BASE, of your novel is crumbling, is the rest salvageable? Can I grease up the mortar, water it down, shove the pieces together, hold it in place until it has hardened into the beautiful shape I am hoping it will take?


This is my dilemma. But I’m working on it. Silly that such a ‘little’ thing as a foundation should cause so much upheaval in my brain today that I just couldn’t let it alone…I had to blog about it. Hahaha. Yes, craziness is a part of genius. (or is it?)


Please tell me your horror stories of writing. I would love to hear them!

Yes, this about sums it up. The caption here would read : NO, Please! Not another revision!!

First Page Dos and Don'ts

I had a humbling experience today. For months (okay, maybe years), I have struggled getting my first page/chapter down to a perfect form. This has been frustrating. I write an inspiring opening scene, add beautiful prose and voila!

A MESS!


Why is it a mess? Because the scene I just wrote belongs in the middle of the book, or no where at all.


Did I give up? No, of course not. I kept revising, editing, taking out, putting something new in. Then...my cousin Andrea Pearson, author of The Key of Kilenya sent me a 'Tweat' of a very helpful website. Granted, I have found several (see side panel), but this one came at just the exact moment I needed it. The website, How to Get Published, had a post today called : How to Grab Them on Page One. I read it, took notes and then skipped back to another even more helpful post called: Garlic Breath, or What Not to Do on Your Opening Page


Very insiteful. Very helpful, and yet everything I should have known before.


Note: I was breaking all but ONE of the rules! 


Plan: Completely re-write my first chapter(s)


Now, aren't you glad you can learn from my mistakes? I'm sure I am *giggle* Stay Tuned for--THE AMAZING BLUNDERS OF KATHRYN ROBERTS!

For Historical Purposes

Anyone want to donate a brandnew laptop?

Oh the joy! My computer, on which I am typing my MS, loves to shut down without a moments notice, making it hard for me to save my work. It is, of course, plugged in, because it never holds a charge...it is VERY old. 

But NOW it won't even register that it is plugged in and tells me VERY frequently that I need to change my power source because the battery life is spent. Yeah! I re-plug in my cord. The display shows it recognizes my action. (Note: It doesn't usually recognize this action). I continue typing. The next thing I know the screen is blank and my computer is shutting down...work unsaved. sa;sa#$#&simf**sinfl!!!

So, that is how my day is going.  Anyone else want to share? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?