Day Seven- All is not tighty whitey

While I think my dialogue, as prevalent as it is in my stuff, is one of my strengths, sometimes I go on... well tangents.

I know. You're shocked. Possibly horrified.

No one likes a smart aleck, by the way. (So tempted to say "smart ass" but, as you know, my mom reads this, so I refrained.)

So, as I'm reading industry blogs and blogs of agented and published authors, they're all quick to champion "tight" writing. I read an author interview with a guy that bragged that his seven hundred page epic fantasy was "tightly-written" and all excess had been removed. First of all, yikes and really? Second of all, is the goal to have svelte, no-tangent, cut and dried fiction such a wonderful thing?

Some of the stories and dialogue and side plots in my manuscripts have no bearing on the plot whatsoever. Yes, I'll admit it. I'm not the super model novel writer. They're not unrealistically free from "fatty goodness." Some help with character building--so they might slide by. Some--just are the random tangents that make it realistic, in my opinion. (Thank goodness for betas who can cut with reckless abandon because I can't tell which of my tangents takes us so far off the road that we can't find the map again.) I will say that tangents that are later cut, get filed in my mind as back-story, so I'm okay with cutting them, and it becomes this private little secret between me and my characters--and my betas.

(See this is why you want to beta with me. We have secret handshakes, virtual cookies, and all these dirty little secrets. Plus, you get the chance to find my typo Easter Eggs that can be so comically horrendous that you get crowned with official typo finder for the book. David won for the first Honor--repel--nay--rappelle, Mon Ami. Jaime won for one of the books--I bet she remembers which one. Heidi has won a time or two. I won for discovering that I'd managed to "diss" Mars in a mnemonic device. Oh... the irony.)

Yes, the above was a random tangent. Please refer to the comment above regarding people that point out the obvious.

So, I don't think my writing is "tight" as far as plot and dialogue goes. I try to cut out the excess on attributions, adjectives, and adverbs. (Not alliteration, because who doesn't like a little alliteration.) I'm trying to tighten it up in those areas. As far as the story goes--I'm the boxer shorts of the fiction world.

It's nearly ten a.m. and you know what they say about ten a.m.

Have a good Saturday, everyone--for whom it's Saturday.

Onward... onward... onward....

So, I just finished editing the YA project I was on and sent it to LULU to print out so I can go nuts with a green pen on it.

I'm thinking about where to go with Honor now. I noticed some more typos in my last run through it, and Heidi is suggesting a Prologue. So, that is on my mind. Overall, I'm not as disappointed about DAW's rejection as I might have thought I'd be. DAW is a ten on awesomeness, and I'm sure they have enough of their own authors with books to print that very little in the way of breakthrough novels makes the cut. There is another agent that I'm considering sending this book to.

I have a printed copy of Re: straint that I need to go through. Stephanie did a once through on it already, so I'm adding my green pen to her pencil. After I've gone through it, I can think about where to go with that.

I also should finish up some of those other projects. I know where I'm going on Honor six... and so it should go fast when I start plugging away at it. I also should work on the Sci-fi dystopian.

I really, really shouldn't start a new book. Really... really.... I can feel this story wiggling its way into my gray matter, though. GRAY! Crap... I was going to do a search and find on that last book to see if I switched between grey/gray. It's a stupid little thing, but I live my life in the details. I also generally do a toward/towards check also. Dang it.

Ehh... I doubt any of my proofreaders will need to gouge their eyes out over a grey/gray issue.

Well, this is a boring rambling post.

Yay! Tomorrow is contest day! I'm excited. I work well under pressure. Woo woo. Tonight is going to be like Christmas eve for me. I'll hardly be able to sleep for excitement. There won't be sugarplum fairies dancing in my head, though. All this cold medicine has made me start having those dreams where you suddenly realize you're naked in a public place. Two nights ago, it was in a restaurant. Then last night, it was a Target. I must be getting old and married because after a bit at the restaurant, I just tried to play it off like it was no big deal. "Yeah... I'm naked. Whatever...." I leaned back and cross my legs while kicking a foot. "So what... it's unhygenic but I'm not wasting soap." The people around me actually bought it too. Suckers!

Okay... I'm going to go read a book.