How Much Can an Old Dog Learn in Six Years?

About six years ago, I was eagerly awaiting the cover for my first book. After two completed, gawd-awful manuscripts on dusty floppy discs, I was finally going to be published (insert happy dance). Now, here I am, twelve active titles later, three books back in my possession for self-publication, an inclusion in a romance bundle with four other authors,  and I'm waiting for cover number seventeen. Frankly, I'm just as excited as I was back in 2010.

I never knew how much I had to learn until I--a self-proclaimed know-it-all--started writing on a serious daily level. Thank goodness for RWA online classes and those conducted by state and online branches. What they taught me was invaluable. In fact, I'm taking one on deep point of view as a refresher course. After all, a writer's learning curve is continual.

That's one thing this old dog has learned. I forget things. I slip into old patterns and my writing suffers. Deadlines loom and, in my rush to meet them, I turn out crapola. I get sick. So does Calvin. Life happens, as we say, and once again my writing weakens. I need to keep the basics fresh in my mind.

Before I start a new book, I read over those basics.

I need to plot more. Gone are the days where I can just type Chapter One and keep on going, making up names and characters as I go along. My "beginner's luck" has run out. Now I need to display more professionalism. Plan. Get my GMC straight for both the hero and heroine. Nail down the basic plot. I've yet to reach the place where I list the main points of each chapter, but I do have a clearer vision of the storyline.

And then there's time management. Now there's a concept for writers. We've got emails, facebook, tweets, chores for our street team to do (and boy, oh boy, am I grateful for mine!). As a member of other writers' street teams, I have things to do for them to help with their promo. A couple blogs to visit and comment on and--SNAP!--a few hours have evaporated.

Frankly, I'd sooner be writing. But, we have to keep our media platform strong and our brand (our writing names) in front of readers. I'm still learning how to do that. And darn it, as soon as I get a grasp on things, they become passé and something else is all the rage. Meanwhile, this ol' dawg keeps limping along.

But I've learned for the sake of my husband's happiness and my health, I need to balance my time better. I need to stop and smell the roses. In short, I need to be Vonnie, the person, more often and give Vonnie, the writer, a mental rest.

I'm still perfecting my opening hook. My characters need more development, especially my heroines. Sometimes my plots, like my hips, are too heavy. My endings need more emotion and resolution. ACK! The list goes on.

Basically, I've learned to keep on learning, experimenting, and deleting. Not only do I write a shitty first draft, but the second and third have a foul odor, too. As Hemingway said, "Writing is rewriting." I'm going to have to use the patience word here, aren't I? I've got to patiently fiddle with my manuscript until I work out the kinks, the faults.

FIRST, I'VE GOT TO IDENTIFY AND FACE MY FAULTS!

Why am I so concerned about all this? I read new authors. I feel their energy, sense their burgeoning talent, and think gosh how many years do I have to write to catch up? I read authors who take their time to write a deeply emotional book and turn pea-green with envy.

A writer needs to realize there's an unattainable goal ahead of her or him. It's called perfection. Few of us, if any, will reach it. For what one reader adores, another refers to as "Meh."

So I've learned I can't write to please everyone. It'll never happen. My goal? Write to please myself and my editor.

Those one and two star reviews glaring neon orange among the pretty yellow four and five stars will have to shine on.

We all enjoy reading different things written in various styles. But, please, please let my stories be well-written.

What have you learned in your writing career?

MAKING A PURSE OUT OF A SOW'S EAR

Idle time for a writer is not a good thing, especially in my case. Bordom sets in. I've emailed my romantic suspense, Mona Lisa's Room, back to my agent with the first round of tract changes completed. We'll go through this process once more before she feels the manuscript is good enough to "shop out" to publishers. Keep your fingers crossed, folks. An editor at The Wild Rose Press has my short story--or novella, if you prefer that term--and will get back to me by July 5th on Waiting on a Dream. So, what do I do now as I wait?

Dawn Dowdle, my agent, suggested I dust off Indigo Blooms, my first novel. She loved the story and fell hard for Fae, the little girl who wanted a Mommy. I must admit Fae was my favorite character in the book, too.


Dawn said since my writing's so much stronger now, perhaps I could polish the book into a more marketable format. In Pennsylvania Dutch lingo, she's hoping I can make a purse out of a sow's ear--a sow being a female pig. Perhaps now you're getting a visual of what I'm facing.

I rewrote the entire first chapter. Changed a lot of the back story. One could say the plot has many holes. And, honestly, at times it reads like it's written in a different language. Gee, and I thought it was so perfect at the time...sigh... Passive language, point of view issues and characters that overreact. No wonder she couldn't sell the thing.

I'm not sure Wonder-Woman-Writer could salvage this story. Still, fool that I am, I'm trying. I think it's because I want you to meet Fae, the real heart-stealer in the book. Of course her veterinarian father, muscled hunk that he is, can make a woman's heart stutter at twenty paces. He's worth the trouble, too. The heroine, her heart locked in a protective vault, has no defenses established against the charms of an exuberant child--who does?


How much do I keep? Dawn's already told me I need to take out two chapters that make the story "too dark," according to publishers she queried. So do I lighten up on the tension or just hit the delete key? What will I put in its place? Or do I simply start fresh with that section and go in a completely different direction? What to do...what to do...

Tell me, how do you revamp a weak story? How do YOU make a purse out of a sow's ear?