I recently found another source for information on writing.  It’s excellent as a reference, but I’m also following them on Twitter so that I can get information like this!

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/index.php?s=emailing+a+literary+agent

Because that’s the next step, after all.  I really would like to make my novel more comprehensive before I start sending it out there with query letters, however.  I’ve heard there’s nothing worse than trying to pitch your story without it even being finished.  Of course, that’s even something that slightly irritates me.  When people hear that I’m working on being a published author, they immediately start to tell me about their story idea and how they’ve always wanted to write a novel.  I shouldn’t sound so bitter.  It doesn’t happen all the time, but enough to make me wonder–why they just don’t sit down and write it, then?  Wow.  Did I just sound really snobby there?  Goodness.  That’s not like me.  Ha.

And yet another informative article from Fuel Your Writing.  But why wasn’t this one the first posted instead of the 10 Tips for Improving your Website Writing?  I suppose it doesn’t matter, because I’ve already done exactly the wrong thing with my first post.  I suppose I should go back and rework it into a “mission statement.”  It does make sense.  More and more I’m realizing it would be nice to have actual input from others on getting your first work published.

http://www.fuelyourblogging.com/what-to-write-for-your-very-first-blog-post/

I never thought I would be so focused on counting words. It’s like an obsession with me now.  I even struggle with Twitter.  I’m usually right at the 140 limit there.  Do I really have such a hard time limiting what I’m saying?  Do I talk too much?  Maybe just write too much?  After the past few days of editing what I had already edited and trying to sort out all of the confusion, I think I’m even dreaming in word count.  My conversations are going to start being limited to noun-verb interactions only.  Nothing superfluous.

Some of the changes I’ve made have impressed me, however, so at least I’m headed in the right direction.  The first draft of Part One was somewhere around 45,000 words, and I’m down to 35,000.  And reading through it, I didn’t even miss all the stuff that I had taken out.  That’s definitely in the right direction.  Kill your babies.  One of those sayings like “Show, don’t tell” and “Write what you know.”  Hm.  “Kill your babies” sounds so hostile though.  I suppose it has to be hostile because it’s really hard to do.  It has to make an impact.  Surprisingly enough, it’s getting easier as I’ve practiced at it.  I’ve kept entire sections–pages and pages–simply because there’s ONE funny joke that I managed to work in, or a really good line or two of dialogue that I don’t want to get rid of.  But I’ve discovered that if I really want to work that joke or dialogue in, I usually can somewhere else, and it might even work better.  I just need to remember that.