Wednesday 29 August 2012

The past is always tense, the future perfect.

“The past is always tense, the future perfect.” - Zadie Smith

I haven’t blogged in so long I don’t know what I have and what I haven’t said. In brief I have had quite a few rejections now for The Bittersweet. Two with a positive feedback about the plotline and title and a note saying that my sentence structure needs to improve. I have to admit that this last comment traumatised me slightly – so after all my ranting of who has time for commas I have realised that if writing is my passion- if its what I said I want to do with the rest of my life then perhaps I need to bite the bullet and do a English Grammar course.

I feel like a traitor going back on my word that grammar is not worth it- but I have come to realise it is- we send our manuscripts off to get some feedback right? So if we don’t pay attention to that feedback we are shooting ourselves in the foot.  The court of public opinion is what I said counts for quite a bit when it comes to self publishing and I stand by my word. Recently when my friend from writing group added all the commas for me in my submission he said that my grammar is not so bad- I always thought it was terrible. I still think it is but I guess him saying that means there is some hope for me. I cant go though life closing my eyes to bad grammar – I have a problem (gee I feel like an alcoholic)

Although now I am curious to what an editor does- because surely I write the story and the plot- they do the edit?! It’s a bit like do what you are good at. I am no good at editing and grammar so surely someone else should do that- The publishing world have spoken and no they expect it from authors! Again I am no good at cleaning but I don’t have a cleaner (yet!)

I found a course from The Publishing Training Center called Grammar at work for £45 it’s a 12 month on-line course that should improve my grammar- who knows from then on I might even be able to do a editorial course and then I will be self sufficient as a self publisher---well maybe I am getting ahead of myself! First I need to learn to walk.

So after I have finished The Bittersweet Edit- don’t ask the edit is so painful right now- chapter 40- what was I thinking? It doesn’t make sense – half of it was useless chat- I had to pretty much re-write the whole chapter- it took more than a couple of hours. I have only reached chapter 41- I have another 13 to go. – I will the do my grammar course

Where has the year gone? I am still only 25,000 words into Chupplejeep – will I finish the first draft by December? I doubt it.

It all sounds very drab today. Have I lost my writing spark? Most certainly not – Am I becoming obsessed with The Big Bang Theory and New Girl ?Absolutely- for some strange reason I have become addicted to these two programmes. I guess I need some time out – all the short story writing, all the researching into different writing tips, how to improve characterisation, write better , edit better has just worn me out and I need a break. A relaxed Grammar course is what I need to get me back on track and a holiday.

End note: I found another quote which sounds  makes me smile when said with a Pooh accent: “My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh