First edit complete

... and I managed to reduce the rough draft down to 88,427 words. So not really much progress there at all. Maybe I have to resign myself to the fact this is going to be a long book. And to the fact it is just going to be the first one in a series.

Still, it isn't ALL bad. Some of it, in fact, is quite good, even if I do say so myself.

Taking a month off from it. Going back to my 09 nano and trying to beat it into shape. mean cutting out one entire strand of the novel - oddly, the strand I originally started writing. Dunno what is left once that is cut out, but there is something. Some of it not very nice, and most of it very poorly written.

93908

Total word count for the first draft of 'Honey Bees.'

Editing starting this month.

Alas, I see that Cormac McCarthy and Jim Crace have both released books this year with similar themes - the world after some unspecified catastrophe. Fortunately, neither of them has thought to set their story in New Zealand. Still a gap in the market for me ...

Back to work

Tonight, I wrote 500 words of The great unnamed Story I Have Been Working On Since June. This is the first thing I've written since Nano, due to all sorts of reasons. It was scheduled - I'd set the date of the 3rd of January as the date I'd start again, and just forced myself to sit down and write.

500 words isn't very much, and they weren't very good, but it is a start. And i'm amazed at the quality of what I wrote back in September-October. It is outstanding, even if I do say so myself.

Of course, at the time I thought it was rubbish, just like I think what I wrote tonight was rubbish. But that isn't important. I can see the end of this story. It makes sense. It works. I'm really quite excited.

Starting out

I've been wanting to start a writers' critique group for a little while now: a real-life group in Palmerston North, for people who are serious about their writing.

Here are my thoughts:

1. Monthly meet-ups


2. A communal blog (i.e. this one) which members can post to and share things between meet-ups


3. The blog could also be used for posting excerpts of writing to share with the public for feedback, if desired


4. Before each meet-up, writing is emailed out to other members, who read it BEFORE the meeting and come prepared to critique.


5. You wouldn't be required to send out your writing for critique, although helping with others' critiques would be required to get your own critiqued by others. This is a give-and-take group.


6. Critiques would be phrased as helpful, constructive criticism. Saying something is crap would not be allowed; saying you don't like something because the dialogue is stilted, or you don't feel sympathy for the main character, or something similar, would be fine. Constructive is the key word here.

I think a small group (4-8 members) is probably best — especially since Palmerston North isn't exactly a huge city.

At this stage, there's only me and lurgee. So are there any other Palmerston North writers out there who are looking for a critique group? Keep in mind that none of the above notes are set in stone — all are open to suggestion! What we're really wanting at the moment are other writers to help us critique each other's work. With the right mix of people, this could be really fun — and useful!

One more thing: any ideas for names? I've stuck a generic "Palmy writers" title on the blog for now, but it'd be good to have an actual name for our group. Any ideas are welcome!

So leave a comment if you have any ideas, or would be interested in signing up. Hope to hear from you soon!