1,336 Words - 4,212 Total

Moving along and desperately trying use my life without using my life. It's a good lesson in creativity. To dare yourself to stray away from the real story and turn it into something different, while also making sure that the emotions you wanted to carry through are there. I think I succeeded with today's bit of writing. I was also able to go back and change some of the old stuff, even though I know we aren't supposed to be editing, I think it gave me peace of mind and a better direction.

Watching some 30Rock right now while I straighten my hair, doing dinner and wine with the boyfriend and the parents, and then back to writing until my eyes close on themselves. Can I write 7000 more words before the end of tomorrow?

Day 3 - 484 Words - 2,876 Total

Hit a bit of a snag yesterday and most of today, so I didn't get started until pretty late. I feel as though I keep making a thousand excuses. Probably because I do. Anyway, since the Google Document thing didn't work because it uploaded incorrectly, I'm switching to a keychain USB to carry with me wherever I go. So I can work on it at work - like I wanted to do today. And then when I go to the boyfriend's, I can work on his laptop while he plays poker! It's a WIN WIN.

Man I love WIN WINS.

Young to Publishing Seminar

It was better than what I expected and worse than what I expected all at the same time. On the one hand, there was no hobnobbing with the publishing elite. I handed out none of my fabulous personal business cards made especially for the occasion. There were only tons of people just like me - assistants, whether editorial, marketing or publicity. I know that someday, they (and hopefully I) will be among the elite, but it's still strange trying to suck up to and hand your incredibly dorky business cards to one of your peers. But on the other hand, I learned a lot. A lot about how publishing works, how many of these "elite" started and, to my great relief, how many of them dove in head first feeling as though they had no clue what they were doing.

Though every single speaker/panel was eye-opening and wonderful, there were two sessions in particular that left me in awe of this giant profession that I've chosen for myself. I can only hope that one day I'll have changed and shaped the industry in the ways that they have. The first was opening keynote speaker, Morgan Entrekin, President and Publisher of Grove Atlantic. The second was Closing Keynote Speaker Kate Medina, Associate Publisher, Executive Editorial Director and Executive Vice President of Random House along with bestselling author, Anna Quindlen.

Morgan Entrekin took the time to speak to us plainly about his entire journey. He started judging manuscripts with Yes, No, Maybe and moved up from there. The greatest and most awe-inducing points of his story was his discovery and promotion of Brett Easton Ellis and how he became Kurt Vonnegut's editor. Brett Easton Ellis! KURT VONNEGUT!! These authors and publishers will never cease being celebrities to me. Could I someday discover a writer as unique and influential as Ellis and have the courage and strength to promote what I believe in? I can only hope.

The evening ended with Kate Medina and Anna Quindlen talking about the dynamics of their relationship as editor and author. Kate spoke of her editing process and Anna of her writing process, and for someone who can't decide if she wants to discover the next great novel or write it, both women had so much to say that I listened to with much awe and attention. Not to mention these were two women who made themselves into something great - a great editor and a great writer so that young wanna-be girls like me can aspire to that same greatness.

I tell everyone I'm going to be a big deal someday. And sometimes I think think, seriously? You? But listening to everyone speak today made me feel like I am on the right path and I really am going to be a big deal someday.

In conclusion, here's some important stuff from the seminar. Words of advice, etc:

• Always have the courage of your convictions.
• Follow your instincts and your passions.
• Understand all facets of publishing. Most importantly, the economics of it.
• Experience the international publishing community and learn another language. Most international publishers can speak at least 3 and it brings something extra to the table.
  
• READ!
• Get a good mentor.
• It's okay to say you don't like a book.
  
• Right now is a really good, albeit scary, time to be in publishing.
  
• No matter what you do all day, the only thing that matters is that you deliver your book to the consumer when s/he wants it, where s/he wants it and how s/he wants it. Meet the consumers' needs.
  
• In 1975, people had 8 different media choices - television having just come on the scene in a biggish way. Today, there are over 20. How do we compete?
• [SEARCH] has changed the way we gather information completely over the past 10 years.
  
• When marketing a book, make it simple for the consumer to talk about and share how great they think the book is.
  
• We all do this for that I NAILED IT feeling.
  

I know I do.

Day 2 - 904 Words - 2,392 Total

8:30 - And about to start writing. I have a half hour before I have to start preparing for tomorrow. I was invited to attend the AAP's Young to Publishing conference tomorrow and need to straighten the hair and do the nails and turn myself into a true professional that doesn't show up for work in frumpy clothes and sneakers. 3 minutes gone! Blog procrastinating. Let's go!

8:40 - Boyfriend called and interrupted process.

9:04 - Phone call ended. Devoting another 10 minutes before beautifying process begins.

9:15 - 420 words and taking a break. Will continue when beautifying process is complete. One of the guys upstairs is talking outside my window again, and he's lucky I'm in a good mood. That's all I'm saying.

Oh, also, before I go. I think I found some sort of direction for my story. It opens with the line I mentioned yesterday and the character discusses his childhood depression, loneliness - etc. His "suicide" isn't really a calculated suicide and has more to do with a child's desire to slip away, disappear. He talks about this with a bit of childhood innocence, a bit of humor. Anyway, the story really starts at his second suicide, a death he fakes to escape his life and start over. There's this mother son thing going on in the first part, and so I think I'll have him watch his own funeral and react to his mother's pain.

Thoughts?

10:18 - starting again, slowly, with wet nails. But it's a fab dark eggplant-y color. Very professional.

10:48 - I am so tired and can't continue. After sitting up way past midnight last night, I don't think I can hack it again tonight. But I am glad I have some sort of maybe direction.

This was fun!

Oh - I'm something like 3000 words behind, but need to have something like 11,500 words by the end of the week. I'm going to put it on Google Documents so that I can work during my lunch breaks. Seeing as how I only have a few hours at home to myself, that may be the only way to reach my goals realistically and without killing myself.

Here's the excerpt I posted to my NaNoWriMo page:

There were other things too.

The time Eric bet me I couldn’t knock that nest of baby birds out of the tree with the rock he had in his hand. Not wanting him to know that I really didn’t want to knock the nest of baby birds out of the tree, I took the rock from his hand and hoped that the smirk on my face matched his. Heavy, hard and cold. It pressed against my fingertips and I twirled it slowly, watching my target. There was a shrill cry from the tree and I could see at least 2 little heads reaching up towards their anticipated lunch. If their mother came home just now, maybe she’d eye Eric and I and know what we were up to. Maybe she’d swoop down and poke out Eric’s eyeballs, giving me enough time to drop the rock and run for it. She’d leave Eric bleeding on the lawn and fly after me, but I’d be too fast for her.

Eric looked at me. “Scared, Mark?”

“Nah.”

I twirled the rock one more time, drew my arm back and threw. My aim was perfection and the nest exploded, sticks, mud, thread and tiny baby birds bursting up into the air. Then it all came down and their tiny bodies hit the ground hard. Bounced once. And all was still.

“Cool,” Eric shouted, running to inspect the chaos.

I followed more slowly and quietly contemplated the murder I’d just committed.

There was the time I called Donny a nigger because I’d heard the word on TV and I was pretty sure I’d applied it correctly, but also wasn’t quite sure how much damage the word would do. He told his mom and then his mom came to my house and told my mom. My mom said she’d never teach her son that word, which was true because she hadn’t. And Donny’s mom said maybe she should have taught me not to say it. And my mom said that you never know what kids hear and she was sure I was sorry, which I was sorry that my mom was getting yelled at but I wasn’t sorry I called Donny a name because he had stolen my backpack. Donny’s mom answered very rudely and my mom asked her to leave. Then Donny stole the stick and that was the last I saw of him.

There was the time I told mom everything about myself. Everything I was and everything I feared that I was. And she took me in her arms and told me it would never matter to her, but her eyes looked so sad and scared.

Nov 2 - 1,488 words - 1,488 total

I got it going, which is nice. But it still reads like a short story and doesn't have much direction. It starts:

I was 9, the first time I tried to kill myself.

I meant to get to 1,667, but I'm tired and it's already incredibly late. I can make up the extra words on the weekend. If my computer weren't so bulky, I could carry it with me through the day. Oh well.

I do really want to do this.

I think I'm going to do this: National Novel Writing Month, or as it's more lovingly known in the sphere: NaNoWriMo.

Basically, the point is to write a 50,000 word novel by midnight on November 30 - completely giving yourself away to 'literary abandon'. That's 1,667 words a day and I'm already one day behind! Luckily, how much you write is the aim - not what you write. The point is not creating a work of pure genius, but sitting down and writing. Just writing. Commitment is the point.

I got 159 words done at work today. Just to get myself started. 1,508 left for tonight, plus yesterday's 1,667.

How Would Readers Respond, Real Life

My co-worker and I, I'll call her Schmegan, (no I won't, that's just ridiculous) are doing our usual thing- yelling through our cube walls to carry on a completely inane conversation. Today's was about a romance novel that she's reading. (She's always reading romance novels. It's what I don't understand about her.) Apparently, she hates the main character in this new book, as it's already obvious that the character is going to cheat on her fiance out of boredom. He's a nice guy, I guess.

You have to wonder - in this situation, are your readers going to route for the nice-guy fiance, or are they going to hope for the lurid affair? It's the same for any decision a character has to make. Will readers be for or against it? And while a writer can certainly persuade the audience to feel a certain way, I'm sure that they can't always get the intended result.

This reminded me of something, this presentation of plot. And I'm wondering if anyone else out there does this also.

I yelled over/through the wall: "Have you ever had a really big decision to make and so you think about your life like a story you might be reading and think about what the reader's reaction might be to both of your choices and decide that way?"

Her answer: "No! But that's a really good idea!"

I'm sure only the bookish would be inclined to ever think this way, but maybe I'm just being prejudiced. Or maybe, I'm the only crazy out there. What do you think?