Waiting Around for a Yes or No

Not much to report on the agent front. I've decided that I'm going to put everything I've got into rewriting a new synopsis and query letter, since I feel that both aren't doing my novel justice. I've also started writing a new book. Not sure what the title will be yet but I have the outline down and have started writing parts of it.

Question for those of you who write. Do you write an outline? Do you start writing from Chapter One and go forward, or do you jump around? How about page lengths? Do you try to keep each chapter a certain number of pages?

I've read from authors who feel that they have to have a complete outline before they start writing and other authors who don't use an outline at all. I find, for me, a general outline works the best. I know my main characters, what brings them together, some of the struggles they go through and the ending, but there are a lot of holes that I still have to fill in. I also jump around in my writing. If I get a scene in my head I can't get it out until it is down on paper, even if it’s a scene near the end of the book. With my novel, The Pier, I started with three scenes and the store developed around them. It was one of the most amazing things to see it all come together even though I had absolutely no idea how I was going to get there, it gave me the chills.

I've been really disappointed with how little I'm writing lately. I think the daunting task of getting The Pier back in the computer is putting a wall up for me. I find myself staring at a brick wall as I hold my breath thinking about how I have no upper body strength to pull me up. I can see the white tethered rope that is taunting me, making me feel like it's there to help but really it laughs as I slip back down and fall to the ground. Instead of picking myself back up and dusting off the hard warm dirt, I crawl away with my head tucked. I'm not having writers block. I'm having a case of the "you aren't good enough’s".

I vow that tomorrow I'm going to straighten my ponytail, retie my shoes and give everything I have to NOT let the rope or the brick wall beat me. I'm going to sit down and write. I'm going to sit down and work on The Pier and I'm going to conquer that wall no matter what obstacles get thrown at me.

Alright, enough writing on this blog. I'm going to go to "The Waiting Place" as I work to make myself the best that I can be.

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

"Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting."

The dog ate my homework

In elementary I remember a girl, with a side ponytail, an overly large shirt that was tied at the side and leggings, telling our teacher her dog ate her home. Did she really just say that? I thought. It obviously was the same thought the teacher had because she didn't buy it and her name went on the board.

It has been well over fifteen years and I think that I somehow inherited her dog. No my dog, an Akita, didn't eat my homework, she ate a book. Cover, pages, spin and all. This isn't the first time she has done this but the fourth. The first time was my brand new bible. (You should have seen the teenagers faces when I told them the reason their Sunday School teacher didn't have her bible. It was priceless.) All of the books she has eaten have been kept on a book shelve but since she is so tall she is able to get them and pull it off. I’m thinking about buying a safe to put my books in but that would have to be one really big safe.

When I got home to discover the book in shreds on my bedroom floor Megg, the dog, was sitting at the backdoor with her tail and head tucked not making eye contact. I asked "what did you do?" and she laid down not wanting to look at me. *Sigh* thank goodness this is the only problem I have with her otherwise I would find a new home for her. But I can't. The way she protects the kids and our house is something that I will never part with. I just wish that she had a thing for grabbing bags of bread off the counter to eat, like my good friend Holly's dog, instead of $20 plus books.

Now I'm just wondering if one day my kids will have to use the same excuse that girl did so many years ago. "Um Mrs. Fill-in-the-blank, my dog ate my homework. No really! She did!"