Troubles with Writing

I am having trouble finishing the last chapter of my book. I thought I was done back in May, and so I haven't been doing too much with it. However, after a critique from my sister/editor, she let me know that I am far from done. In this last chapter, I need to tie up every single question that arose from the other chapters.

My problem is that I know this story so well that I am assuming my reader will be able to link their questions to the answer without having to spell it out. My editor tells me that that may be true, but they need confirmation that they have the correct answer.

So after brainstorming how to answer every question using conversations and events, I will be working day and night for the next two weeks to bring it about.  Wish me luck.

I wish my vacation was not already over for the year.

Writing

Back from vacation. I was able to work on polishing the first six chapters while camping. I have Chapter Nineteen at my editors and should hear back from her next weekend.
I'm having difficulty working on the last chapter, and so reading the entire novel should give me the proper perspective to finish strong.

To try and become better in the craft of writing I have been working on an exercise using the five senses.

 Looking at something and then describing by feeling it, looking at it, listening to it, smelling it and lastly describing what it would taste like. It it much harder than you would think. Try it, and let me know what you think.

Writing process and Colorado camping

We are editing the last two chapters. The ending is tricky because it has to answer all the questions and do so quickly and concisely. It may take a couple weeks to get them right. I could not have made it this far without my sister/editor. She changes the wording to make the scenes clearer and has polished every single section she has touched. I think it is finally coming together. And the amazing part about it is that even if no one else reads it but my family, I still feel that she has made it so much better.

I cannot say that it was fun. It was hard work on top of more hard work. After we finish going over the last two chapters, we will reread the entire book and polish it one more time before sending it to a publisher. That will take a few more months. But my hopes are high. Once it is sent off, then I will start on book two. I wrote this book about five years ago and it is the second in the series. I look forward to seeing how that story will transform in the days and weeks to come.

I'm going camping for now in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

Writing process

I began sending my sister/editor a chapter a week. When I sent it off, I would feel wonderful, believing that she would be astounded when black ink turned into gold. She would send back favorable reviews. Instead, what I received was. 

This isn't plausible. That could never happen. The way you set up that scene is odd. This part is confusing. What were you trying to say?

Then began the working and reworking of chapter after chapter. In a nine month time period, I was only on chapter 10. To make matters worse, at that point she mentioned 40 chapters needed to be condensed into 20. I had to start over on page one again. 

And so I did. 

Writing process

With the tools in place, I was ready to dissect each scene. With the outline, I would be able to set the pacing of each chapter. Having said that, some scenes were now obsolete. Others were too boring.  Have you ever just skipped over a section of a chapter because it was uninteresting? Now I was able to see that that section does not work. The goal of each scene had to be realized, but it could not be written.

 For instance, a line such as -- She was bored, cannot be written. You must show the feeling not write it. Revised - She picked up her sewing and immediately dropped it without making a stitch. Going to the piano, she caressed the keys for less than a minute letting each note ring out strong but rose from the bench before the piece was finished.

Writing process Pink polk-a-dot gown

Now that I had the story line going, I needed to work on my pacing. In order to do that my sister/editor showed me a great tool. It basically is for each scene in a chapter. Each chapter should have 3-5 scenes.

1.  What is the character's problem?

2.  What is stopping the problem from being solved?

3. What is the complication that prohibits problem from being solved?

4. How does character solve the problem?

Bridge

Next Scene

It looks easy, but when you start to look at each scene and then have to decide what does the character actually want . . . I had a lot of thinking to do.

Family life

Wow! May is always a busy month. I always look forward to May but then when it comes it seems like there is too much to do. This year, our youngest graduated from high school. So there was graduation and a party to throw for him. Our second daughter graduated from college. So there was another graduation and a celebration lunch. My parents were able to come so that made it even more special. My husband has been traveling and then his bosses were in town making for long days and weekends of working for him.

Then there was Mother's Day and a visit to my Mom, which was wonderful. But it was snowing and my kids and I usually plant flowers and so instead we had a dinner the night before. Again, very nice but a little hectic. Then my dad had a show, he's a musician. He sang and played the accordian. I always think he is the best out of all the performers.

Then my sister's class performed a worship dance program where my niece danced. It was quite beautiful.

So what I am trying to say, is that I have had no time to write this month. A few edits. A correction or two, but nothing to report.