Monday, April 27, 2009

Ahhhh...

It felt so good to shower and get into my own bed last night. Not that I've been getting into anyone's elses...I just love coming home from vacation. We made triple sure little man had plenty of sunscreen and only his cheeks got a wee bit pink. Which is REALLY good for a strawberry blonde kiddo with fair skin. Hubby and I are crispy fried. I even reapplied sunscreen 3 times. *sigh* I definitely didn't get the Native American skin from my family. The beaches aren't nearly as pretty as they are in Florida and hopefully we'll be able to go there next time. Little man had fun so that's what matters the most. The concerts made the entire trip worth it. Super crowded, hot and muggy...but we loved every sweaty minute!! My tummy is a little mad at me because of all the crap I shoveled into it. But I promised I would be good this week and started my morning out with All Bran cereal and yogurt. *Ugh*


And although the weekend was fabulous...I am soooooo ready to get back to work. I've talked with crit partners and I've decided to put my current WIP aside and work on another story I have outlined. they believe that I would have a better chance with my ms at a later date due to the current release that is similar to my plot. A friend/crit partner has read the published book and agreed that the plot is too similar to mine. At this point if I were going to submit within a few months...it would be easy for the editor to have the pubbed book fresh in mind and reject mine.


So this brings up a good question. Do you write the story of your heart or do you write geared toward the market? I love writing, but I also look at this as a career. A job. If the boss wants a particular story...then I'll do my best to give her what she wants. I've talked with several author friends who have editors request a certain story or twist in the plot. I hate shifting gears away from current characters I've grown to love...but my fun begins with creating another conflict filled story. Call me crazy. My favorite exercise in school was when the professor wrote a paragraph on the board and we had to write a story based off of the blurb. eHarlequin has done this several times and it's called Pass the Plot. I'd love to participate but I feel guilty enough taking time away from my work to blog;)



Have a very productive day!

9 comments:

Cyn said...

I guess you have to learn to make whatever you're working on at the time the book of your heart. :)

(Talk about a mouthful.)

Welcome home, Chelle!

Jody Hedlund said...

Selling a book is all about need. So I agree, we have to find a new, fresh plot to fit market needs. I absolutely dread doing all the work on my novels and then having someone beat me to the publisher with the same ideas! But I guess that's the chance we take!

Chelle Sandell said...

Good morning, Cyn!! Good to be home;)

Jody ~ I totally agree;) I hate it when I've invested so much into a story and have to put it aside... but I'm in it for the long haul and will come back to it later. No biggie. I'm doing what I love.

Chicki Brown said...

Maybe starting a new story is a good thing. There comes a point where you have to let go of a story. I had to put two (The Real Thing and Have You Seen Her?) aside and move on when I couldn't get a bite from agents/editors.

I write what's in my heart/head. The A-A market (except for Kimani) is a little different in that most of it is not category, so it gives A-A authors a little more leeway in what they write.

Chelle Sandell said...

Chicki ~ It might also give me a little perspective when I go back to it. At least I'll have a strong foundation in case I can get the series pubbed.

Bethanne said...

It's hard to start fresh... as a matter of fact, I spent all weekend celebrating and eating with my family. Woke up this morning at 6:30 and thought, I should get up and walk. Then didn't. :P Good for you starting your morning with bran. ;) I like what Cyn said, make the story from your heart. Give it your voice, your love and--hopefully--that seemingly passionless, targeted story will be your special one. :)

Heather Rae Scott said...

I've been around the block quite a few times and will admit that I did not sell my first story that I'd ever written. In fact, it'll probably never see the light of day. I didn't sell the second story I'd written either--not at first. I sold the third one I'd written and then the second one--out of sequence.

And it gets tricky. You should be writing the book of your heart while targetting the market. The problem lies when you love that story so much that you tweak it to fit a certain line and when it doesn't sell there, you tweak it to fit another line. Then, your characters don't sparkle as much. I've known a lot of people who are on one of those child's sit and spin's. They keep redoing the same story over and over and in doing so, it isn't moving your career forward. Your writing isn't getting as strong as it should be. I sat on the second story for three years until I finally saw the direction it needed to go in, but I wrote other stuff. This is a hard business.

That's just my buck-fifty. ;)

Stephanie said...

I'm thinking it's good to write toward the market. Here I am with The Picture and no market in mind. It was a story of the heart. And now I'm in a heap of trouble to know where to send it (when/if!). you're on the right track and I LOVE MTSS, so hurry it up with the next chapter!!!!

Kerrie McLoughlin said...

totally irrelevant to your post, but i think you are great just b/c you can write fiction! i have no imagination and so choose to make fun of stuff around me! keep it up!