Holly Lisle: Writer

Back, slightly rested

I hope your Thanksgiving was good (if you celebrate Thanksgiving). Mine was. Got to see my older son again; first time since last Christmas. He’s now stationed within sorta-driving distance. It’s a trek, but at least it isn’t the other side of the country, or the other side of the planet.

Writingwise, I did nothing physical over the holidays. Didn’t realize how much I needed to get away from it for a while until I did. The vacation was great, and I found myself playing with world development, characters, and suddenly a story that I think I’ll be ready to send to Robin to pitch to the interested editor in a few days.

I also came back ready to get back to work on The Ruby Key. I’m making good progress in revising what I already have to fit the changes Lisa Sandell, my new editor, requested, and keeping good notes on how I can carry these changes through the series and get the most out of them (using WriteItNow). No nifty increases in word counts, but plenty of progress.

I’m glad to be back.

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6 responses to “Back, slightly rested”

  1. Jim Avatar
    Jim

    Holly,

    It sounds like you had a good holiday, and I’m glad you got to meet your daughter in law and that things are working out for visits. Have fun and enjoy youself — and the pending change in your life — when the time comes.

    We had a nice quick trip and visit with Mom, which is impressive mainly because it means I’m finally recovering from that inner ear infection which knocked me out of driving for a while. Left work behind and spent my spare time playing with the family history files.

    Everyone, good luck with work as the year winds to an end, and best wishes for a Merry Christmas, or for your own special celebration.

    And as a note to Writewize: Kay, I beg to differ — some — but projecting yourself into a story is NOT necessarily a fatal flaw. It depends on many factors, and it seems as if the story is built on your own experiences — and “write what you know” is also a key directive. That said, if pulling back makes for a better story, keep the errant drafts for your own edification — both as a person and as a writer — and use what you can to build a better story.

    Once again, happy holidays, all.

    Jim

    Reply
  2. eitje Avatar
    eitje

    the same thing happened to me. after a good week of almost-nothing, i was able to push out a whole presentation and fix a bug that had been haunting some of my software for two weeks. 🙂 in all, an incredibly productive first day back to work.

    Reply
  3. TinaK Avatar
    TinaK

    We had a good holiday weekend Holly – thank you!

    Glad to hear you finally got to meet your daughter-in-law and got to spend some time with the AF kid!

    I’m so happy to hear that you are feeling rested and ready to go again.

    Reply
  4. The English Rose Avatar
    The English Rose

    Sorry to hear that, shawna. I hope that things work out for the best.

    Good to have you back, Holly. Glad you’re rested and ready to go! Best of luck with the project, of course.

    Reply
  5. shawna Avatar
    shawna

    Mmmm… mostly good weekend here. Wonderful, actually, til last night. Great holiday gathering with family, got my birthday wish (snow!) yesterday… only mark against it was that kids’ great-grandparents were in a car wreck late yesterday and g-grandma is not doing so well- she was already very fragile, this does not help… so now I’m trying to figure out if or when to tell them. Sigh. Not going to stay a secret for long– the grandparents live next door and are running on very-upset-and-stressed mode at the moment.

    Reply
  6. writewize Avatar
    writewize

    I think I’ve read about 3/4 of the writing articles on your “whole site” now. I cannot believe how much whollop they pack. I like your articles almost as much as your books. (almost)
    Unfortunately, the more I read, the more I realize I’ve made a grave error in my WIP novel. I’m ditching it. Something I should have done a long time ago. Well, I’m going to make it into a short story or novella instead. The protagonist was too closely based on Me! Everyone who is anyone says not to do that. Including You. The collective “they” also mention not using flashbacks and I was determined to go that route as well.
    I ‘ve been trying to make this novel work for almost 10 years now to incorporate a bit of my own childhood haunts and I’m ready to give up on that and work on the other “real stories” in my head. I’m also hard at work on several short stories I feel good about.
    The novel became like “my baby” and giving it up feels surprisingly good. I thought I would mourn.
    Thank you for all the lessons you teach us aspiring writers. Your writing diary gives us hope, teaches us, inspires us, and shows us that you get tired (and sick) just like we do.
    Congrats on the story progress and the new editor.
    Glad you are feeling better.
    You gave ME your horrid cold and I am still SICK as a dog.
    (cough cough) See, I share too. (evil grin)
    kay

    Reply

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