Current mood:

awake

Still No Bears
Whew, it's Friday. 

Yesterday we went over the first chunk of the novel and it was tremendously helpful. I got dinged on stuff I should have gotten dinged on, people made great suggestions, and I'm getting a much clearer idea of how I need to structure what I've got. People pointed out that I've mainly got a string of vignettes, without much tension or suspense going on, and I think that's what I need to focus on - what Connie calls the connective tissue as well as making that first part carry the reader along rather than forcing them to jump from spot to spot.

There was, of course, a printing glitch that made everyone think I was a much more experimental writer than I am. Huge sections were in all caps with strikethroughs through them. Yargh. I should have checked that the first day but it never occurred to me.

Between the intensity of the crits and the lectures from Connie and Walter, the days are a bit exhausting.  But it's a fun exhausting, and I'm still learning much more than I had thought I would. Yesterday we learned how to do a plotting exercise that I'm keen to try with some friends sometime. And krisname, I'm getting a lot of ideas for our project. ;)