review: death cloud

Death Cloud – Andrew Lane

It is the summer of 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is fourteen. On break from boarding school, he is staying with eccentric strangers—his uncle and aunt—in their vast house in Hampshire. When two local people die from symptoms that resemble the plague, Holmes begins to investigate what really killed them, helped by his new tutor, an American named Amyus Crowe. So begins Sherlock’s true education in detection, as he discovers the dastardly crimes of a brilliantly sinister villain of exquisitely malign intent.

go big. go bold. go dangerous.

So, two weeks ago, I officially started writing the first draft for the sequel to The Clockwork Giant, but since starting, I’ve written very little. Yes, last week, we installed laminate floors, and as a result of that, I had a lot of projects to do during the day that couldn’t wait until I was done writing for the day. That said, I don’t think I would have gotten much written anyway. Something’s wrong with my plot, and until yesterday, I didn’t know what.

Now, being NaNoWriMo, this is as good a time as any for this post. Oftentimes, writers come to a standstill in the middle of a project. All of a sudden, nothing makes sense. It’s all crap. Every last bit of it. Might as well scrap it and start over. When I was a pantser, this happened to me all the time. I just sort of wandered around until things made sense. Oh, that’s what I was trying to say? Okay, now I can write properly.

tricks, treats, news, and surprises

So, a few things today:

First off, Happy Halloween! When I was a kid, this was my favorite holiday of the year, and it still is. Unfortunately for this night of candy, costumes, and fun, I’ve been too distracted by the approaching release date for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, only eleven days away! If I would have had the focus or time this year, I probably would have made a costume. Even though we don’t go anywhere for Halloween, I like dressing up for handing out candy. I wanted to make a Victorian dress for this year, but obviously that didn’t work out. Time I would have spent sewing the costume was instead spent installing laminate floors throughout our house, which is nearly complete. We still have to put floors in the closets and get transitions for the bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen, but for all intents and purposes, it’s done. Last year, I went as a pirate lass (which just so happens to be my fallback costume when I fail to make a new one). Guess I’ll be shouting YARRRRR when I hand out candy tonight.

happy (or not-so-happy) endings

A lot of industry professionals and other writers can’t seem to stress enough how important a solid beginning is for a novel’s success. I mean, when we submit novels to agents and publishers, most of the time, they require the first ten pages, or the first chapter. There are numerous blog posts that discuss how to hook a reader. And yes, I agree that beginnings are important. We have to make the reader care in a page or less and then keep them caring long enough so they want to know what happens next. It’s a difficult skill to master.

But equally important, if not more important, are endings. The final note of a book can oftentimes make or break a book. I don’t pretend to be an expert on writing good endings. In fact, I think endings might be my weakest skill as far as writing goes. I don’t know how to tie everything into a neat little bow at the end, and it sort of comes out as a tangled knot that needs much reworking before being even close to presentable. I can, however, analyze endings and decide whether or not the ending could have been better.

do-it-yourself proofreading

It’s been a while since I’ve actually discussed anything writing related. Reason: I haven’t been doing much writing. I did start writing the sequel to The Clockwork Giant on Friday, but that has officially been put on hold until Monday, at the earliest. For those of you who don’t follow along on Twitter and Google+, my husband and I are doing some major renovations to our house, and if we’re to get it all done in a timely manner, I have to sacrifice my writing time. In fact, I have to go do some drywall right now so that I can paint it this afternoon. …

Now that’s done, I can focus on this blog post.

So, the new novel has about 1300 words, and they may or may not be utter crap. That’s first drafts for you. But, I don’t want to talk about first drafts today. I want to talk about second drafts, third drafts, twelfth drafts, and zomg-worked-on-for-ten-years drafts. I was lucky enough to go through one major revision and several smaller revisions. If I want to be technical, The Clockwork Giant went through half a dozen drafts, but I call the current draft the third draft because it includes me changing material that came about in the major revision that I call the second draft (which was really the fifth draft, but I don’t want to confuse you).