Christmas is coming !

Outline : Split into 3 different ones.
New Target : Outline 3
Progress : 15%

Hooray for Christmas!

What with the credit crunch it's not felt particularly festive this year, but finally in the week before Christmas all those lights and decorations are finally having an effect!

Personally I do find it a bit of a trial putting them up, even though they look great when you've finished. There's something about touching tinsel that makes my skin crawl ( static electricity? )

This year I've decided not to buy 15 times my own body weight in food, or every kind of liquor under the sun ( last year the cupboards were heaving. )

I was reading a few blogs yesterday ( hey, why write when you can procrastinate ! ) and I noticed one Editor's Assistant screaming in frustration about the query letters she was getting. Strangely, as she was ripping through the 500 queries in the pile there were a number that had the words " ... or did she?"

It made me think a bit about the query process, which is a pleasure I aim to explore late next year. It made me speculate that the odds of capturing an agent or stimulating their palate are probably astronomical. Still, this is why we throw ourselves like lemmings at the slush pile, in the hope that at least one agent will take an interest.

On an equally wry note I started reading some posts by a writer called J A Konrath, and he had some very 'challenging' statistics regarding the odds of success in publishing. From what I can remember, the odds of achieving a bestseller slot are something like 336,000 to 1.

I did smile when I read that, as I am in this for the long run, and realistically I don't think I will be able to contemplate giving up the day job until I've managed to write ( and naturally sell ) 5 - 10 books. Writers often dream about sitting at home in a lounge robe taking phone calls about sequels and movie deals, but I think that is probably the reality for very few writers.

What I did find interesting ( JA Konrath has a pdf book called "A Newbie guide to Publishing" ) is the amount of self promotion he undertook to launch his books. I admire that amount of commitment to a project and I think that there are many things that can be learnt from his experiences. After all, as a new writer you are very green in industry terms, so any friendly information is gratefully received and carefully analysed.

So, how is the outline going?

Hmmm....

There are actually 3 different projects emerging here, which was a surprise as I sat down shuffling plot notes and characters. I have decided to, despite the fact that Outline 1 has some neat plot and characters and dialogue, put it aside as it contains elements of the paranormal and magic. Dear HP has skewed / drowned the market to the extent that readers aren't as sold on that kind of thing right now. Also, I'm not sure if it counts as YA or Adult, or which way I should push it.

Outline 2 looks like a quirky humour book, but I'm not sure that the conflict 'has legs' as they say. I'm not convinced that it's viable without a lot more work, so I shall shelve that for a while.

Outline 3. This really interests me. I've only got about 20% of it, barely 6 - 8 chapters, and I'm not sure why anyone is doing anything, but it has an undeniable feeling of pace. The central characters immediately had depth and a back history. However, it was the genre that came as a surprise. It may actually be a genre fusion, and one that I have not seen in the market. It's taking some real thought to move forward on this, but the prospect is quite appealing.