Thin and Stretched

Life has been very crazy here. Hence, the long, dry spell continues.

Still, I managed to work on a short story for Writing Group. I think it will be a great story if I ever finish it, but if I only write 2 1/2 pages a year (current rate of progress), I probably will not finish for two more years.

The good news is that I'm up to five pages, and they are five pages that I really like. My peeps seem to like it, too, which is wonderful motivation. I have strong ideas, characters that interest me, and an excellent general idea of what happens. Now if only I could download the theme and how the story ends from the literary mothership, I would be in good shape.

Meanwhile, after the initial flurry of rejections, the query responses seem to have settled. This means some are still "out there." This is good. I am also still waiting to hear from one of the agents from Writer's Weekend, to whom I would really love to send my full manuscript. I can't decide if this wait is good or not, but I must wait nonetheless. And my short story is still out there as well.

And that's all. Teaching resumes Tuesday with a whole new crop of freshmen. It means I will have a lot less time to write, but that doesn't seem to matter. I think I work better when my schedule is chock full and I'm sleep-deprived.

A Long Dry Spell....

Procrastination is an ugly thing.

A blank brain is uglier. Not only have I not had the time to write/ revise; even if I had the time, I don't have the brain. Until this morning, when I channeled a completely random scene from the sequel to Book One (which shall henceforth be known in blogland as Book Two), I literally haven't had a thought about my writing.

Hmmm.

I think this is all J.K. Rowling's fault, actually. Had Deathly Hallows not been so all-consuming and freakin' brilliant, I might have gotten a lot more done. Oh well.

Time to recommit. Happily, the scene I downloaded from the mothership this morning solves a longstanding plot problem that led me to put that book away last winter. Unhappily, I have too many irons in my writing fires to go back and spend any length of time on Book Two. After all, I've got polishing of Book One to finish (although I'm convinced that I'm through the worst of it) and characters to Get Out of Danger in the YA. I'll make it a goal to jot down that scene tomorrow, then onward with the other projects.

On the business side of things, I've started officially sending off my almost-contest-winning short story. It hasn't come back yet, but if it does, I intend to make it my publishing ping-pong game of the summer, slamming it back over the net until I score. Wish me luck.

Waiting

Today I really hate the USPS.

I'm not good at waiting, which is why the whole publication process, in general, is very frustrating. What is even more frustrating is having to wait longer than I should to know whether or not I've been accepted to Viable Paradise.

This is where the USPS comes in.

Had they correctly delivered my application packet the first time I sent it, at the beginning of April, I would be receiving my acceptance/rejection this week. However, now, not only have they just received my second packet, I am also certain that my chances of being accepted at all are greatly diminished.

Honestly, I'm good enough at self-sabotage without the USPS helping me out.

Meanwhile, I am also waiting on another level. I am waiting to "download" the next installment of the YA novel so that I can write it. In other words, I have no idea what happens next. Today, in a fit of whimsy, I considered having one of my two main characters slip and fall off the roof and die. That would certainly move the story! However, it would move it in a completely wrong direction and necessitate the introduction of a totally new character to fill in for this one, so I decided to just close the blank notebook page and go shopping instead.

So, I'm three tank tops, three new t-shirts, and a little sundress closer to knowing what happens next in the story.

It's better than just sitting around, waiting.