What's past is prologue

[ksmith]

Chapters. Definitely chapters.

Chapter One That Once was Prologue just pupped into two chapters, which means they will now be bound together as Part One--Insert Profound Title Here.

I had wanted to get away with a two-chapters-and-a-synopsis proposal, but it has to be three chapters now. I need a modern-day chapter.

We're officially in the nailing-smoke-to-the-wall phase, which will last for the rest of the damned book.

Comments

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

We're officially in the nailing-smoke-to-the-wall phase

Descriptive. And I hear WisCon was heavily anti-hetero and anti-any traditional form of religion. So your weekend was probably better spent writing!

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Descriptive.

And too damned true. A character I thought was out of the picture after chapter 1 is coming back to make trouble.

And I hear WisCon was heavily anti-hetero and anti-any traditional form of religion. So your weekend was probably better spent writing!

Are you talking about this Wiscon just past, or as a whole?

For me, Wiscon has always been like a troublesome but charming boyfriend. It's my favorite con--I love the hotel, State Street/Madison, the people. The whole package. OTOH, there are aspects that get under my skin and lie there and burn. There are panels I avoid. There are discussions I avoid. There are people I avoid. There are attitudes that drive me bugfuck crazy.

Maybe this is the aspect that keeps me coming back. That I'm dealing with an entity with a personality rather than another cookie-cutter con.

That being said, I did need some extended off-time that didn't involve running around like a chicken with my head cut off. And I did make a good dent in the proposal. And the yard looks pretty darned good.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

The writer I talked to was speaking of this year's con. She is a Sensitive, and the vibes were very hostile, she said. She found only two or three panels the entire weekend that she wanted to see. Didn't think to ask if she did programming!

It might be interesting to go sometime, but right now low stress cons are the ticket for me.

So why am I helping out the film production for SoonerCon? Because Yard Dog Press is the hardest-working publisher around trying to get people to attend readings! This is to introduce people to the publisher, and to one of the best-selling series.

Argh! Stage Fright!

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Argh! Stage Fright!

You'll rock. You're gorgeous and, from what I recall at cons past, good in front of people.

And stress you take on yourself is better than stress that others thrust upon you.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

And stress you take on yourself is better than stress that others thrust upon you.

That's very true -- I can handle it better if I have control of it. But I put too much on myself at WFC. If I go this year, I'm going to be much more laid back about the whole thing. I haven't bothered to ask for programming, but I suppose I should at least offer up my services. And if I do go -- I'll make a point of telling Jon. Maybe if he has enough clients up there, he'll stop by!

I don't know if I'm going to be gorgeous or not. I'm going to be Katie Ellen Stonebender, one of the Stonebender sisters. (Cary Osborne is going to be Carrie On, the sister who wants to go Hollywood.) We're part of The Merlene Show -- a crafts section. It hopefully will be very silly! We're doing beer can angels, or things you can do with beer cans after all the windows have beer pyramids. I need to make the wise men out of long-neck bottles, pill bottle cotton and aluminum foil... ;^) I may not write for the Bubba anthologies, but I can help sell them -- which means my publisher stays in business!

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Ooh hoo! Part One works well! Hooray! :)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Dang it. I kept checking the page count of the chapter--I like to keep chapters under 20 manuscript pages, with 25 as my absolute upper limit. We were creeping up to 20 and past, and I still hadn't moved to the next pivotal event. So, NPE gets its own chapter.

Blasted thing is putting out tendrils...

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I typically write chapters of 3-4000 words. I was therefore totally astonished when this book (the one with the first chapter that happens 10 years before any of the rest of the book) had chapters that were a minimum of 4500 words and went up to about 9000 words. Three chapters was 100 pages. I was like, "AGH!" But then I got used to it. :)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Assuming 225 words/page, that's about my average chapter/page count--15-20 manuscript pages. I usually try for shorter, for no other reason than a first reader for the proto-draft of CODE complained that my chapters, which were running 20-25 pages, were too long. I didn't have enough experience to realize that sometimes the things readers complain about aren't what's wrong with the work--the reason she thought the chapters were too long was because the book had problems and lost her in places.

Be that as it may, I now have a complex about chapter length that works like an invisible fence, with me being the dog. As I approach, I can feel the light shocks through my collar. Once I'm there, it's like, No! No! *argh*! If I ever work up the momentum to push through to the other side, I'll be free, but that momentum part is the kicker.