Lisa Stiles's Posts - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T13:05:09ZLisa Stileshttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/LisaMShttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/60987851?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://crimespace.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=LisaMS&xn_auth=noAn Unwelcome Guesttag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-10-12:537324:BlogPost:808132007-10-12T14:45:44.000ZLisa Stileshttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/LisaMS
Revising this novel has been like walking through molasses. Keeping momentum is difficult, and when I’m not working quickly I can’t outrun my Inner Critic.* Unfortunately, he has moved in and set up camp.<br />
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<i>He is now ensconced in a recliner chair in the corner, booted feet crossed, smoking a pipe. With one lift of a sardonic eyebrow, he shoots me silent questions and comments. Who are you to plot an entire novel? I can completely see who did it the first time you introduce that person. Why…</i>
Revising this novel has been like walking through molasses. Keeping momentum is difficult, and when I’m not working quickly I can’t outrun my Inner Critic.* Unfortunately, he has moved in and set up camp.<br />
<br />
<i>He is now ensconced in a recliner chair in the corner, booted feet crossed, smoking a pipe. With one lift of a sardonic eyebrow, he shoots me silent questions and comments. Who are you to plot an entire novel? I can completely see who did it the first time you introduce that person. Why set in Scotland? You’re not Scottish. So what makes you think you can write a Scottish character? Your Scottish friends will laugh their heads off at it. You’re spending a lot of time writing thi,s and it probably won’t come to anything anyway. I mean, most writers don’t get published until at least their fourth book, if that. Probably best to stick this in the bin.</i><br />
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And so on and forth. He needs a firm eviction notice.<br />
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*Inner Critic is not to be confused with Inner Editor, who is a firm but kindly soul.The road so far...tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-09-06:537324:BlogPost:698942007-09-06T21:39:37.000ZLisa Stileshttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/LisaMS
Two years ago my brother challenged me to do Nanowrimo. Until that point, I had only attempted short stories, never believing I had a novel in me. I didn’t quite make the Nano goal of 50,000 words by the end of that month. That first novel never went past the first draft, but it did show me that I was capable of more.<br />
<br />
I started Nano again this November, and when I hit 50,000 words, I kept going. I didn’t attempt to outline and I had a vague idea of the plot. In February I attended a one-night…
Two years ago my brother challenged me to do Nanowrimo. Until that point, I had only attempted short stories, never believing I had a novel in me. I didn’t quite make the Nano goal of 50,000 words by the end of that month. That first novel never went past the first draft, but it did show me that I was capable of more.<br />
<br />
I started Nano again this November, and when I hit 50,000 words, I kept going. I didn’t attempt to outline and I had a vague idea of the plot. In February I attended a one-night writing class by Tasha Alexander. I finally finished the first draft on Memorial Day at 83,000 words and promptly put the whole thing aside for six weeks.<br />
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At the end of that period I couldn’t even remember half the book, so it was with excitement and anxiety that I picked it up and read through it, discovering that I had a skeleton that needed a lot of flesh.<br />
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And after a weekend at the Killer Nashville conference and some encouraging feedback I realized I needed to completely restructure the first half of the book.<br />
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This had been a royal pain in the derriere. I love it, I hate it, and I sometimes amaze myself that this is what I do for fun. But I keep doing it because after so many years of sitting on ideas and stuffing writing scraps on my hard drive it’s like a faucet that I can’t turn off.