Tag Archives: Tiger Princess

triangulation rejection

For a story that I wrote, revised, and submitted over the course of 30 days, I’m surprised I received such a quality rejection. I’m pleased she went into such detail, points being positive and constructive. I figured a personal rejection from Triangualtion would be myabe a paragraph, some feedback on whatever ailing issue destroyed the story. But no — it was a page long. I am very grateful and will definitely be revising this one before sending it out again.

And I think the response has encouraged me to maintain the theme in the story. I don’t think I can pull the rainbow out too easily. I’ll revise the rest of it and start submitting it elsewhere and see what happens.

What I learned? Don’t wait until the last minute. I was stuck on the idea for the longest time before I finally wrote it, and had only enough time for two decent revisions. One more revision round might have been enough. When next year’s theme is announced,  I’ll be getting to work on it right away. I want to get better at deadlines. I’ll write and revise better. This is my first year of serious submission: it’s my training-wheels year. Next year, I’m riding a two-wheeler.

bomb’s away

Two submissions made today. Yes, I made my deadlines. The last one I made by about 15 minutes. :) But it’s done.

tiger princess cont’d and complete

Working hard and making progress, but not done yet. 8 pages revised today, with a total of 25 in the story (double space), so I doubt I’ll finish tonight. Maybe in the morning, or over lunch? Here we go…

Edited 11:23pm to add: And v02 is complete! I’m printing and will reread in the morning before I send off for crit. It’s my usual length, 5k (25 pages double spaced). I think it’s good. :)

continuing tiger princess

Friday I wrote another 1/3 of the Tiger Princess story, but Saturday and Sunday were nonwriting days (aka kids, kidfun, laundry, groceries, more laundry, etc etc etc). Finally, I have some time to myself after prepping for the week, and am almost ready to sit down and write. I’d like at least a scene tonight if nothing else. I should be able to finish up the story tomorrow with three hours of writing over the course of three planned writing sessions. I’m actually giving up the lunchtime writimg tomorrow to hit the gym.

It might seem silly considering I have two big deadlines coming up, but if this is what I’m going to do with my life, I’ll always have deadlines coming up. If I don’t fit in my workouts now, they’ll never become a solid part of my routine, and it will always compete with my writing. Aside from those workouts I’ve managed to plan for a good 20 hours per week on writing, including attempts on Saturday and Sunday which don’t always work. I figure I lose a quarter of what I plan on due to family stuff. So still, 15 hours a week on top of the day job? I’m happy with it. Especially since adding the early morning sessions. I’m been getting up at 4:30 and get onto the computer by 4:45, giving myself 45 minutes to write. This week, I’m moving it a tad earlier: up at 4;15 and onto the computer by 4:30. It’s amazing how much the writing flows at that hour, and I found that I kept creeping past my 5:30 mark, and getting our morning going late.

Goals for this week: complete Tiger Princess first draft, revise Orchard and send for crit, and then start on the Tiger Princess revision.

Here’s to a busy week, and a sucessful one! Good luck with your plans/goals.

tiger tiger growr!

Engrossed in the tiger story, about 1/3 done.  Started early this morning, got a half hour in around 4:45am, and then again over lunch. I was going to take the kids to the library today, but. . . I think I’ll be going alone and writing. Sorry kids, but I’ve got some momentum going which can be good for stories on a deadline.

deadlines

Lonely Orchard is prepped and ready for revisions. Considering a title change. Possibilities are: Her Father’s Orchard, Valla’s Orchard, Valla’s Lonely Orchard, The Magic of Trees. I do like Lonely Orchard, and it has an underlying meaning that she sees the orchard as being lonely without her father, when it’s truly her that’s lonely without him. So maybe it’ll stick.

Running out of time: stepping it up on the Tiger Princess draft. I think the title is going to be Rise of the Tiger Princess.  We’ll see. I finally transcribed all my notes, organized them, and worked out the outline and ending options. I think I know which ending I want to go with, though the creepy one is tempting. I have to see how Vandana develops and see which one is more natural for her.

Oh and it doesn’t help that I’ve found James D. MacDonald’s writing posts on Absolute Write. I’ve been stalking the internet to learn more about the viable paradise instructors, and I’m actualling learning stuff about writing in the process. :)   I found a suggestion for an exercise, an idea I briefly considered myself a few weeks ago and dismissed, but am willing to consider it again.  The idea was to type a published short story or novel opening in order to study it. When I was in college, that was exactly how I studied: I typed out important notes and study guides. I learn through typing. There’s just something about it. I thought maybe typing up someone’s short story might give me a better understanding, but I figured it’d take too much time, and I have deadlines right now. But it is a good idea, and I might just do it when I have more time.

In the meantime, it’s write write write. :)

forging ahead

Resubmitted Fading Light after a quick revision. Definitely fixed some minor problems I didn’t see with the story before submitting it to Writers of the Future. Darn it. Better luck at this next place…

Working on Tiger Princess, actual title expanded to Rise of the Tiger Princess. And it’s got a whopper of an ending.