Recently in Neither Hide Nor Hair Category

I don't know where I found my second wind, but I spent pretty much the entire day revising Neither Hide Nor Hair. My manuscript now clocks in at 118 pages, and feels much more like a y/a novel. But am I finished? No way. I still have one more pass. I have to clean up the characters, the dialogue and the description. I was taken off guard by how well the last third of the novel hung together. Maybe it was because so much of it was action that I didn't have to worry about the mechanics.

The only concern I have right now is the last ten pages. I need to create a sense of resolution for the novel, but keep the cliffhanger so people want to go to novel number 3 (which I start writing on Monday or Tuesday... depending on whether or not I want a long weekend).

Also, I threw something in at the last minute which could be have a bigger impact on the story that I'm letting on in the final third. After I've had some time away from the novel, I'll revisit my idea and see if it adds to the story or detracts from it. Right now, I think it adds, but I won't know until I get some perspective.

Anyway, I can now shut down the novel for the weekend. Phew! Just in time, too. I have a swack of speaking gigs that I have to prep for. I'm hoping to do a lot of the prep over the weekend so that I clear some time and brain power for next week's sprint to finish a first draft of book three.

Tough slogging again today, but I was able to finish 20 pages of revisions on Neither Hide Nor Hair. The timer game isn't working so well as I realize that I can just reset the time when I feel like I need more time. I forced myself to keep writing after the timer went off and I only now reached a point where I can shut down for the day. My brain hurts, but at least I won't feel guilty if I don't touch another page on the book.

I have to figure out a new motivation trick this week so that I can finish the revisions to this book and write the first draft of the third novel. Maybe I'll disable my internet for two weeks. Ack! That's like saying I'll stop eating Pringles.

The morning started well. I woke early and hit the gym for a little workout. Then I came home and started working on the revisions to Neither Hide Nor Hair. But before the timer went off, I made the silly mistake of checking my email. The wheels fell off shortly after that.

The email that knocked me off my stride was about the picture book. I was hoping to see the proofs today, but they won't arrive until tomorrow. Plus, the press check date has been sset, and I have to arrange to fly my illustrator to Winnipeg for that. The problem is timing. I have to sort out schedules and flights. I could wait until the end of the day to do that, but I'm just so excited to get this book off the ground that I don't want to wait.

I'm back at the computer and writing now. Another 6 pages to go and I will have met my daily goal. So what am I doing blogging? Or is this blogging any more? I think I'm less a blogger and more a twitterer... or maybe I'm just a twit. Back to work!

I don't know if it's the news of the weekend or a chance in the weather, but trying to work on the Sasquatch novel was slow going. I managed to revised 15 pages, but it took a lot longer than I expected. The timer isn't working as well today. I was hoping to be much faster.

Oh well, I did get my minimum pages revised, and I found time to revise and send the Legacy article. Tomorrow, I really have to get cracking on the revisions of Neither Hide Nor Hair, because I'm expecting the proofs from True Story, and I'll lose the afternoon to that project. The whole day is going to be pretty hectic.

Not a pretty finish, but I'm done. I turned off the timer today so that I could just concentrate on wrapping up the first draft of Neither Hide Nor Hair. Big mistake. It took me about 3 hours just to get five pages, but I did manage to eke out the ending. The draft is ugly and clunky and needs a lot of work, but I am finished my unofficial first draft. Yay!

Lesson learned is that the timer is very important to drive me to write. I have to keep it going even in the final stretch.

Now, I'm going to shut down for the weekend and recharge. Next week, I will start going through this draft to shape the story. The real work begins next week.

When I was in grade five, I had the privilege of being asked to serve on the school patrol. Part of the perk was to go to summer camp to learn the rules of school patrol safety.

I hated the camp as soon as I got there. I didn't know anyone and everything seemed so different and new. Then, as I got to know some of the other campers, I started to think things weren't so bad. I started to have fun. By the last day, I just didn't want camp to be over and I hated the idea of leaving.

That's exactly how I feel right now about Neither Hide Nor Hair. I'm at the tail end of the first draft, and I'm reluctant to work on it because I know it will mark the end of my "summer camp" experience. I know I'll revisit the story several times, but there's only one "first time" that a writer finishes their manuscript. Okay, I'm off to either finish the draft or to play tetherball.

Cracked off another 12 pages of Neither Hide Nor Hair this morning. I was pretty happy with how they turned out. I even gave a little nod to Yann Martel's Life of Pi. Let's see how many kids pick up on that allusion.

Anyway, I was glad to smash through the pages, because the afternoon I started to lose steam. Odd, how my burst of creativity coincided with the warm spell and now that we're back to winter temperatures, I'm starting to feel like a hibernating bear.

The good news is that I think I'm within striking distance of the ending. If I kick things off right tomorrow morning, I should have the first draft finished. That would give me the chance to take the weekend off and enjoy the weekend.