Author Archives: Holly West

Over the weekend I came to the sudden realization that time is running out for me.

In November, I'm going to a writer's conference in Boston, during which I've committed to a meeting with an agent and a 5-page manuscript critique. For this I will need, if not a polished manuscript, a fairly good start at one. Right now, I'm nowhere close.

I'd like to get my second draft finished by October 10. I have about two days per chapter for editing between now and then. Considering it took me three months to get to Chapter 3, this is a lofty goal indeed.

By next Sunday (9/19), I need to be finished editing Chapter 7.

I've settled into an editing routine that is more or less working for me. I read a chapter to get a rough idea of what I'm dealing with (i.e. how bad is it?) then I read it again, this time writing down key things that need to be edited to make the chapter makes sense and jives with the rest of the novel. Sometimes this means I add passages, sometimes it means I delete, sometimes it means I move sections to different parts of the chapter or to add it to a different chapter altogether.

Sometimes it means I just sit at my desk drooling or pulling my hair out.

It feels very much like I'm putting a puzzle together. There are all these elements that exist and now it's my job to put them together so they make a pretty picture.

I leave you with this video about editing a novel. Lara Zielin's debut novel, Donut Days, came out last month and the video is a fun take on her experiences with the road to getting published:

Yesterday, people on Twitter were posting pics of their workspace. Here's mine:

In the last few weeks I've tried to make it as comfortable and clean as possible (I do spend a large portion of my day here, so it helps if it's organized). My favorite thing in it is the picture above the desk: it's a David Hockney print of his two dachshunds.

I recently added something I've wanted to have for a long time:

It's just an inexpensive chandelier from IKEA, but I love it!

See my poor little bookcase in the corner? Doesn't hold a candle to Neil Gaiman's library, but I'm working on it!

In an effort to keep a more organized blog schedule, I've decided to give each day of the week a different subject. Friday is, you guessed it: Link Day!

To start us off, I'd like to revisit a post about Twitter I wrote awhile back:

Why I Tweet (and You Should Too) - I've been active on Twitter for about 8 months now and I've found it a valuable information resource and networking tool. Say what you'd like, I wouldn't have any of the writing contacts I have now without it. Choose who you follow carefully and you will find a great group of people who share your interests.

If You Give a Girl a Pen - This group of female writers are at different points in their writing careers and all give great insight, tips, links, etc.

Make the Most Out of a Writer's Conference - The name of this link speaks for itself, and as someone who will be going to a few writer's conferences this year, I found the information helpful. (via @WritersDigest

Grammar Girl: How Many Spaces After a Period? - This has been hotly debated by me and a couple of my friends. I learned to type on a manual typewriter many moons ago and of course back then the rule was to use 2 spaces.  Has that changed?

Eye on Books with Bill Thompson
Interview with Joseph Finder, author of Vanished, the book I'm currently reading (and loving)

Since I returned from London, I've suffered a productivity crisis the likes of which I haven't seen since the days when I dreamed of writing a novel but never did anything about it. Kind of ironic since that trip was meant to be inspirational, don't you think? It was frustrating being in a place where I desperately wanted to write (or edit in this case) but did everything I could possibly think of to distract myself from actually doing it.

I've talked about using a timer as a productivity tool but I'd gotten out of the habit of using one to keep me working. When I simply could not stand my inability to write even one sentence in a given day (or even open up Word to look at my manuscript) any longer, I went back to my trusty timer and set it for 30 minutes. Yup. For 30 minutes I could do nothing but work on my manuscript, but at the end of that time I could do whatever I wanted–make the bed, surf the net, eat a sandwich, whatever. After sufficient time wasting, I set the timer for 30 more minutes and the cycle begins again, then again, and so forth.

It might sound silly, but I get solid work done this way. I'm hoping that eventually I'll be able to stop playing games with myself in order to be productive, but until then it's ready, set, write.

Richard Cory
By Edwin Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean-favoured and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good Morning!" and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich, yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine — we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked and waited for the light,
And went without the meat and cursed the bread,
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet in his head.

I was a senior in high school when I first read this poem in AP English. It resonated with me then and it's one of the poems I've never forgotten over the years. Seems I had a darkish center even back then. Hell, especially back then.

I suppose as a teenager the ending was shocking enough to appeal to my macabre side, but as an adult I recognize it's really about the illusion of perfection and the fragility of the human mind. If only I was thinner, richer, lovelier, smarter, more successful–then I'd be happy. But for beautiful, rich, well-regarded Richard Cory, none of it was enough and I suspect it wouldn't be enough for me either.

Sometimes I wonder how many people I know are truly happy. Some people's unhappiness sticks out on them like a neon-pink sign over their heads, but for most, I think it's more subtle, especially since humans are very good at creating images and keeping up appearances.

Being the depressed sort, happiness does not come naturally to me. I have to work at it. But instead of thinking "this is the cross I have to bear, woe is me," I've begun to believe that perhaps happiness is something most people have to work on to varying degrees. In this way it's no different than watching one's weight. Sure, there are those lucky bastards who never have to worry about what they eat, but in reality, most people do, at least to some extent.

In conclusion, I'll take this topic back to writing. For the longest time I was a writer that didn't write. There was a part of me that believed that if it didn't come naturally (i.e. didn't require practice, discipline, and persistence) then I wasn't a writer. I understand now that's complete bullshit. Just like working to be happy and working to be healthy, I also have to work to be a writer. Wow. Who knew?