I can’t seem to stay focused on one project, and it’s becoming a little discouraging. This weekend I’ve been working on The Seventh Sense, and I’ve been making changes on a printed version. Here’s one page with my edits.

This is one of the more heavily edited pages of the manuscript. I know it will make the book better, but it’s a bit slow-going at the moment. At this rate, it will easily be more than 40,000 words, so I’ll have to make sure that’s OK. I’ll probably switch back to the Halloween story soon to save my sanity.

Speaking of the Halloween story, I’ve figured out some important elements of my fictional paranormal world, so I’m ready to get back to it. Should be fun.

I mentioned in a previous blog entry that I am going back through The Seventh Sense to cut out junk words. The biggest offender?

That.

I use “that” 450 times, which wouldn’t be so bad in a 300-400 page manuscript. Since it’s a little over 100 pages, the number of incidents seems a bit excessive. I’ve brought it down to 175, but I’d still like to cut that this number in half. Looks like I’ll be doing that for the next few days . . .

After hitting a wall with The Seventh Sense (TSS), I started a new project. Yes, it’s Tony’s as-yet-untitled story. He’s pleased I’ve started working on it.

Here’s what I forgot while racing to the finish of TSS. Writing goes more smoothly for me when I switch back and forth between projects. Apparently that didn’t sink in the last time. There’s always a primary project, but I need to get better at realizing when I run out of steam so I can switch.

So, I’ve been working on Tony’s story for the past few days. I think I might be ready to return to TSS.

In other news, I’ve been bad at keeping track of my word count for the Write-Ons. I will add a new graph to my sidebar to help me keep track. Right now, I’m at 42,672 words. I’m not sure if I’ll make the goal, since I don’t expect to do much writing in July between my day job (which will require scads of overtime hours that month) and RWA’s conference. Still, I forge onward. Don’t count me out yet!

I’m trying to take Laura Kinsale’s words (see the previous post) to heart. I hadn’t realized how much an internet junkie I’ve become until now, but the past few days I’ve written 1,000 to 1,200 words before even thinking about going online. There are a few sites I’m avoiding completely. This will be better for me as a writer.

It looks like The Seventh Sense will be longer than I anticipated, and that’s OK. As long as it’s within 40,000 words, it will be fine for this project. At this point, I’m estimating it will end up being about 35,000 words. I hope to finish this week or early next week, so I can send it to my readers/critiquer, get some feedback, and move ahead.

Two other stories are waiting for this one to be finished.

I found a fascinating and beautifully written post from Laura Kinsale about the relationship of author to book, author to reader, and book to reader. The entire post is wonderful, but I was particularly struck by this section:

A book is a magic thing. It has a life of its own. Do you doubt it, in the small hours of the night when you sit up in bed reading and reading, living in a world you never made, unable to bear to leave it until the last page closes and it vanishes into thin air?

Do you think it is any different for me when I write it? It is magic, but so fragile. So hard to find and easy to lose.

Now there’s this internet, another magic thing with a life of its own, a million voices roaring whispering screaming over your shoulder into the quiet place where the stories come from. You can either shut it out entirely or try to open one tiny window and hope you aren’t washed away in the flood. It’s foolish to open the window, frankly. You do that when you’re stuck with no magic at hand, and you’re bored and discouraged and fretful but you have to stay at the computer just-in-case. It’s like having a bottle of liquor in the drawer.

The entire post is insightful, but this particular section was a lightbulb moment. I’ve been feeling off my game for a few weeks–the writing has slowed tremendously.

Now I realize one reason why. I’ve been listening to the million voices until my own voice is lost under the sound. Even before my first book has come out. It’s so easy to hop on the internet and see what everyone is up to, find out what everyone is talking about, follow the latest hot topic.

That’s going to change. I need to focus on the writing and use the internet as a tool or when needed to refuel me.

Erin and Luke (The Seventh Sense) have been waiting, but they have a story to tell. I’m going to listen.

I’m linking to an interesting discussion about what makes a happily-ever-after for readers. Some want exchanged I-love-yous, marriage, and kids in the epilogue. Others are content with a committed couple.

I’m in the committed couple category. If it works for the story, then I love yous are terrific. Sometimes, though, “I love you” doesn’t seem realistic.

I’m revising The Seventh Sense now, but it currently ends with the hero/heroine as a committed couple rather than more. It’s clear this couple belongs together, but they’ve known each other less than a week by the end of the story, so a marriage proposal didn’t seem appropriate. I think it’s the best, most realistic end to the story.

I finished the first draft of The Seventh Sense. It’s rougher than most of my first drafts, since I need to revise the the first part of the story. I know the characters better now. I also know the villain better, so I need to adjust that part. There are a few more parts to fill in.

But the draft exists. And it feels good to have gotten it to this point.

I did something stupid yesterday. I printed The Seventh Sense and started reading it. I know that doesn’t sound like a stupid thing to do, but here’s the thing: I’m not finished with the story yet. I’m nearing the end of my first draft, and I’ve learned a lot more about my characters than I knew at the beginning. I’ve also got some layering to do.

I started reading and a case of I-suck-itis set in.

This morning, I realized how unproductive I-suck-itis is. Every writer has moments when they doubt their abilities. Along with most feelings, this too shall pass. More importantly, I learned that I need to respect my writing process. I’ll print out the story when it’s ready.

In other news, my jewelry arrived yesterday! It’s all very nice. I received a thick ring with a gecko pattern (which I’m wearing now), two pendants, and the ring for an upcoming contest. (Enter now! Sign up for my newsletter.) The pendants are a little smaller than I expected, which isn’t the company’s fault. I need to pay better attention to the listed measurements.

Would this be a good time to mention I have three more pieces of jewelry coming? I have no willpower.

The Seventh Sense continues to move along. I’ve written almost a third of it, although I’m not sure what the final word count will be. Today I am close to finishing my outline for it, so I know more about the direction of the story. That’s incredibly helpful for me, especially with the suspense thread. I finally know who the villain is.

I’m looking forward to writing several upcoming scenes, and there are some interesting challenges ahead, too.

I received some good feedback regarding In Her Eyes, but I’m finding it difficult to whip the book into shape. I think part of the problem is that my writing has come a long way since I wrote it. My point of view is deeper now, for one thing. I may try the First Draft in 30 Days suggestion of printing the story, cutting it into separate scenes, and then figuring out whether each individual scene needs to stay, go, or be rewritten.

In other news, I’m putting the finishing touches on my May newsletter, which will be my premiere issue. Newsletter subscribers are eligible for subscriber-only contests and will receive excerpts that aren’t posted anywhere else. To subscribe, simply enter your e-mail address in the box in the upper left corner of this blog.

I didn’t get as much done tonight on The Seventh Sense as I’d hoped. The good news there is that I can put off more plotting for another day or two. And it’s not like I’ve come to a standstill. I’m still plugging away at it. The story is in first person, and I’ve reached a point where I’m not sure how I feel about that. Luke’s point of view is lost this way, although I’m trying to show readers who he is through his actions and words.

I’m also a quarter-way through the story and they haven’t kissed yet. It feels right for this story–they’ve seen each other twice, so it doesn’t seem appropriate to have them kiss at this point. In addition, I shouldn’t compare it to a Tryst-length story, which involves fewer words and therefore offers less time to develop the story. Also (don’t hold me to this), this story may end up being closer to 40,000 than 30,000 words, and that gives me even more room to work with.

At the moment, I have one or two ideas about increasing the sexual tension, and I hope more ideas will follow.

I spent a lot of time tonight revising two pages of In Her Eyes. Yes, I did say two pages. I wrote this story for National Novel Writing Month last year, and so I (a) was writing quickly, and (b) have learned a lot about writing since then. I don’t think I’ll have any problem expanding it to 90,000 words.