'Tis true!
Your comments yesterday were so helpful, insightful, thought-provoking, and, yes, inspiring.
I've never done NaNo, so my questions were borne from an honest desire to learn what "cooks" inside you when you do this. It's fascinating to read your different approaches; some outline, some would rather cut their arms off than outline. Some crave the imposed deadline, some just write and let the word count average itself out each week. Some have gone on to edit the results into a workable novel, others haven't.
Lots to think about! Thank you for your responses. Lots of nice, juicy, long-winded ones thrown in there. Gotta love that.
And on the "how you all inspire me" note, here's what I'm working on (thanks to Luc):
I really do like the "let's do a whole chapter for one reader at a time" concept. If it's done sparingly, it'll work. So I've set up a board on RallyStorm by invitation only. I'm thinking, if you want to include your first chapter at some point, you send me an email asking for an invitation. And as long as you're not some scary creature posing as an aspiring author, I'll let you in.
Once you're "in," your chapter will be "thrown in the pot" whenever I choose one at random (as in, names in a hat sort of thing). You won't have to "resubmit" your chapter if you do major edits before getting a turn, either, because I won't ask for the actual chapter until your "number" is drawn.
How does this sound? Could you give me some feedback before we actually go live?
Many humble thanks!
Miss Snark's First Victim
E-mail already sent. Sounds like an awesome plan, Authoress!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds organized and do-able, Authoress. I think it's a great idea!
ReplyDeleteNot going to send my email yet. I really need to redo my first chapter. Ugh.
It's okay as is, but it could be so much better!
What are the rules when it comes to how much you can put online before your publication rights go out the windo because you've already "published"? I'll admit I'm nervous about putting anything online because I don't want to hurt my chances at publishing...
ReplyDeleteI love this idea, Authoress! **runs to send email**
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you're picking this up, Authoress.
ReplyDeleteWhat is RallyStorm?
Good question by Anette. From what i've read (I'm no expert!), posting one or two chapters from a full novel would not constitute a problem. When it's a very long chapter from an eight-chapter novella, it may be a bit more difficult.
For that, and to keep this contained in general, I would propose a limit in world count.
Luc -- RallyStorm is a web site of forums designed by the creator of Query Tracker, with the unique needs of writers in mind. (My thanks to Heather for pointing me in this direction!)
ReplyDeleteAnette -- Welcome to the blog! Posting a chapter for critique will not hurt your publication chances. And anyway, I am considering removing the chapters I post once all the feedback has been given. Because, let's face it; none of us want our "old stuff" out there after we've refined and perfected it. :)
Oh, and Luc -- it might be tricky to put a limit on chapter length, since books can differ vastly, and we definitely want the whole chapter. KWIM? I was thinking more like a "statute of limitations" on the life of the post.
No limit on chapter length? Fine. You're the Mistr- er, I mean Authoress.
ReplyDeleteI'm not entirely clear about the RallyStorm thing? Just checked it out, looks nice. Is that where we'll post our chapters? I assumed this blog is THE place for it.
No, no chapters over there. All chapters will be posted here.
ReplyDeleteIt's just a place to keep track of everyone who is interested in participating, and gives me a "master list," as it were, to draw from when we're going to do a chapter crit.
This is still The Place, of course. I mean, of COURSE! :)
I just need an online place to keep track of "readers in good standing," so to speak. And, too, you can leave a post by your name over there if, say, you've suddenly decided to rip your entire chapter apart, and I won't include you in the hat-drawing until you say it's ok to do so again. That sort of thing.
Oh, and you can all get together over there to plan big surprise parties for me, and take donations for chocolate, and have pow-wows to promote my e-book, and...well, ya. All that.
:D Or not.
Sounds interesting, but I'm feeling over committed at the moment. Several projects seem to have "gone live" all at the same time. But, if you still have room come January, it sounds good :o)
ReplyDeleteWould be all right if I joined the board but didn't submit any chapters? O:)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I'd be able to do the chapter thing as a commitment and for critique purposes I already have critters... but I'd be happy to try and comment on occasion when you post things here. :D
(And I do think taking chapters down, say, after a week or so would be a good thing.)
Sounds fun anyway!
~Merc
Just to clarify:
ReplyDeleteThe RallyStorm board is NOT for posting chapters. It is NOT for critiquing.
It is simply a place to corral names of folks who would like their first chapters to be thrown "in the pot" whenever I decide to have a "critique this chapter" week.
It will happen once a month or much less (depending on Secret Agent contests, etc.).
If you join the RallyStorm board, you are not obligated to offer a chapter. You can pull out at any time. You can say "no, thank" if your name is drawn.
It's really for administrative purposes. It's NOT a place to crit.
Any other questions, please post 'em!
I am a member of RallyStorm and would be interested in joining your forum there, though I don't have anything ready for crit yet. What's the name of the forum?
ReplyDeleteUr, I don't remember what I named it. It's by invitation only and I'm still setting it up (haven't had much time today to play around with it). I will post all the info as soon as I have it up and running to my satisfaction. (I'm still a little...befuddled.)
ReplyDeleteOoh! Interesting. I'm a sci-fi writer but have some mainstream stuff I'd really like to test out and this is such a great group of readers here. *mulls this over*
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. I just can't get my head around the 250 word crits. A whole chapter sounds a lot more meatier.
ReplyDeleteI'm in.
Umm... sorry. What email address?
ReplyDeleteI have way too many critterly type commitments as it is, so I can't commit to one more, but it's great to see so much enthusiasm for this. I'm a big fan of the 250 word snippete we do here, so I'll stick to that. Thanks, authoress!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds fun, and as a member of RallyStorm, it's a great place to chat and bounce ideas off each other. Are we emailing you, Authoress if we're interested? facelesswords at gmail dot com?
ReplyDelete