A Quoi Bon Dire?
Seventeen years ago you said
Something that sounded like Good-bye;
And everybody thinks that you are dead,
But I.
So I, as I grow stiff and cold
To this and that say Good-bye too;
And everybody sees that I am old
But you.
And one fine morning in a sunny lane
Some boy and girl will meet and kiss and swear
That nobody can love their way again
While over there
You will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair.
Charlotte Mew, The Farmer's Bride (1916).
http://firstknownwhenlost.blogspot.com/2012/02/quoi-bon-dire.html
Saturday, March 3, 2012
100 Statements/Questions About Grace at War
My latest ploy to get back into the novel, saving the good parts and changing the weak ones. It is a journey into thickets and dark corners. So trying. A trial. All my words are in the dock--and I am defendant, judge and jury.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Guest Post
Letting Go of Your Work
By Charlotte Rains Dixon
Letting go is hard to do, especially when you're trying to let go of your creative baby. I know, because I'm in the midst of sending my novel to another round of agents. Now, if you're in the muddle in the middle of your novel right now, it may be hard to anticipate that you'll ever have difficulty sending your work out because right now you feel like you'll never be done. But, trust me. It is indeed so. All of a sudden you're nearing the end and your work slows way down. All of a sudden the thought of sending your baby out into the world causes anxiety attacks of the highest order. What to do? Go through the following checklist to make sure you're ready.
1. Critique. Have you gotten a writing group (I'd not do a thing without mine) or found trusted critique partners with whom to share your work as you finish various drafts? Have you gone through and over elements of plot and character and made sure they work together and contribute to the novel as a whole?
2. Edit. Have you gone through the final manuscript one more time, reading as a line editor would? Have you checked over every bit of grammar and spelling? And please, please, please, have you made sure there are no red or green underlinings left over from Word's grammar and spell check efforts?
3. Research. Have you looked for the right agent or publisher to whom to submit your work? Have you drawn up a list and made certain that your potential agents all work with whatever genre you're selling? Have you carefully read the submission requirements?
4. Gird yourself emotionally. Have you prepared yourself for the process by remembering that rejection is part of it? Do you have emotional reserves gathered through whatever works for you—meditation, exercise, yoga, prayer?
5. Send it off. Enough said.
6. Celebrate sending it off. Are you willing to celebrate your accomplishment? Of course you are. Break out the bubbly!
7. Keep working. Are you ready to keep at it? To work on building your author platform through social media and other outlets? Are you willing to start on the next book or article?
Source:Writer, mentor, and coach Charlotte Rains Dixon is passionate about helping writers, coaches, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals succeed, achieve, and profit in their careers and lives through writing. Visit her for more tips and techniques on writing—and living—at www.charlotterainsdixon.com.
By Charlotte Rains Dixon
Letting go is hard to do, especially when you're trying to let go of your creative baby. I know, because I'm in the midst of sending my novel to another round of agents. Now, if you're in the muddle in the middle of your novel right now, it may be hard to anticipate that you'll ever have difficulty sending your work out because right now you feel like you'll never be done. But, trust me. It is indeed so. All of a sudden you're nearing the end and your work slows way down. All of a sudden the thought of sending your baby out into the world causes anxiety attacks of the highest order. What to do? Go through the following checklist to make sure you're ready.
1. Critique. Have you gotten a writing group (I'd not do a thing without mine) or found trusted critique partners with whom to share your work as you finish various drafts? Have you gone through and over elements of plot and character and made sure they work together and contribute to the novel as a whole?
2. Edit. Have you gone through the final manuscript one more time, reading as a line editor would? Have you checked over every bit of grammar and spelling? And please, please, please, have you made sure there are no red or green underlinings left over from Word's grammar and spell check efforts?
3. Research. Have you looked for the right agent or publisher to whom to submit your work? Have you drawn up a list and made certain that your potential agents all work with whatever genre you're selling? Have you carefully read the submission requirements?
4. Gird yourself emotionally. Have you prepared yourself for the process by remembering that rejection is part of it? Do you have emotional reserves gathered through whatever works for you—meditation, exercise, yoga, prayer?
5. Send it off. Enough said.
6. Celebrate sending it off. Are you willing to celebrate your accomplishment? Of course you are. Break out the bubbly!
7. Keep working. Are you ready to keep at it? To work on building your author platform through social media and other outlets? Are you willing to start on the next book or article?
Source:Writer, mentor, and coach Charlotte Rains Dixon is passionate about helping writers, coaches, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals succeed, achieve, and profit in their careers and lives through writing. Visit her for more tips and techniques on writing—and living—at www.charlotterainsdixon.com.
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