Easy does it

Thought I'd drop in a quick update.

I have all but one of my submissions rejected, the remaining one is still in the field. Unless I forgot one. I got a very nice note praising the work and the talent of the writer's group which was encouraging if a 'I'm full, sorry' rejection. It helped me keep my head above water. I discovered later that this agent already represents one of the group, who was able to confirm the poor person really is up to their ears in work.

The rewrite is going much slower than I anticipated, but I am taking my time, honing, filing, tweaking, rearranging, and crucially, adding. It often feels bad at the time and I think I might appear ungrateful whenever I get a critical session from the writer's group. But I'm not, not in the long term. As I can't write notes it takes a while to sink in. I have to look again at the work. And in this instance I have four sets of comments which act like a gallery with me being able to call the writers up like holograms and question them as I re-write. (Really!) There are still comments I disagree with but there should be. Meantime I move ever onward.

An Actor's Life For Me

Had my first acting lesson last night. My intentions being to a) learn more about creating/becoming a character and b) get out of the house. It certainly looks like the next few weeks will be entertaining, but it will take me a little longer to get enough of an idea to fully immerse myself into 'method writing'.

Illumination

I once joked in a semi-serious way that I could easily be a monk, devoted to quiet contemplation. In one of those life-laughs-at-you ways that is not too different from my current existence. I quietly sit illuminating manuscripts (sometimes with dusty light). At least monks have other people to talk to (if they've not taken a vow of silence).

My solitude is at least productive. I now have three new chapters at the front of the book. Returning to my moment of brilliance that I have been, quietly, so frustrated at not replicating, I now have a speed-dating intro to the book, which nicely brings into light many aspects of our hero's character. Followed up by a flash back to his first meeting with Kate. Then we have a frantic piece of detection as the original case gets its breakthrough. I started to look at the original chapter one again and the change in writing is now rippling through this like a shockwave.

I didn't want to write the whole thing again, and it doesn't feel like I am right now. But it does seem like a fresh viewpoint is turning this how I wanted it. We'll see how we get on; had two more rejections at the weekend. Five left in the field. Act in haste repent at leisure.