As some of you (and now all of you) know, I’ve been working on a book for over two years now. It has been a long, exhausting, and amazing process…and I am still right in the middle of it.
The book has changed and changed and changed again since I started working on it. Everything from the title to the subtitle to the format to the writing voice is different from when I began writing it in September 2007, and it is still a work in progress.
The good news is, I really feel like I’m getting closer. I feel like I’ve got the right title, subtitle, and format now. (and folks whose opinion I trust seem to agree). And I feel like my writing voice for this book is finally emerging. There’s still a ton of writing and rewriting left to do, but I’ve got my second wind and I’m focused on the finish.
What’s next, you ask? My goal is to get my polished proposal and sample chapters to the agent I’ve been speaking to before the end of the year (hopefully by the end of the month). If they are deemed ready and potentially salable , then we’ll move forward and try to get a book deal. If not, then I’ll either need to find a new agent, a new book idea, or a new reason to get up at 5:30am.
So yeah, that’s what’s going on with that. Now you know, whether you wanted to or not.
While we’re here I also have a favor to ask of you. I’ll be spending a majority of this weekend at a friend’s guest house just down the road, doing nothing but writing. By Saturday evening I’m going to be mentally exhausted and questioning my own sanity, and it would be nice to get some encouragement or something to make me laugh.
So here’s the deal. I’m not going to read ANY comments to this post until Saturday evening. Give me some encouragement, make me laugh, belittle me with soul-crushing insults, tell me I look great with Joel Osteen’s hair…whatever you like. I won’t read a thing until I’m on the verge of jabbing a quill into my temple.
If you’re game for it, leave me a comment now.
I don’t care what angle you take, just help me clear my mind for a few minutes.
PS…I know some folks have been having trouble leaving comments recently. Email me if your comments are being deleted automatically and I’ll do what I can to fix it.
Posted by Bryan Allain
I secretly set up GoToMyPC.com on your computer. Every time you save a draft of something you've written, I take it, re-write it, delete the original, then wish I had an ice cold Dr. Pepper to wash down this lean pocket I'm eating.
So, your draft about that one time in little league that originally read, "After the game, I knew I had to congradulate the other team, though it almost killed me", now reads, "I went to the other team and asked them all for their home addresses so I could invite them to a pizza party. I then forwarded their info to Theordore Kaczynski, as he was a personal friend."
Also, congratulations is spelled with a "T", not a "D". You can thank me later.
you, my friend are ridiculous. i cant wait to write the later chapters of this book in which you appear. i will make sure you are the most tender character in the whole book.
remember rehab is for quitters, not writers. keep it up
thanks greg. i shall not quit.
if you think writing this book is tasking your sanity, wait till it comes out and you have to google your name and the book title every three seconds. Every good review will send your soul to great heights, every bad review will have you pulling out your hair in frustration. But good luck.
(I, for one, will buy your book and post nothing but good reviews.)
i already google my name, so we're good there.
but thanks in advance for buying the book. i will be sure to mention in the proposal that Saskia has already promised to buy a copy.
I LOVE the fake joel cover. The original had been scaring me, both from joels grin and the strange graphic design
glad you love the fake cover, but it is scaring my wife. looks like I wont be growing that curly mullet after all.
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!
If you're happy and you know it, then you're probably not a writer
So it's time to stop your writing and get happy.
(Rhymes are overrated.)
that made me laugh. just for a second though. now i'm upset again and ready to tap into my inner darkness and rip out some more pages.
The first thing that came to mind was my son's favorite joke:
Why did the chicken cross the playground?
To get to the other SLIDE!!
Yep, it kills in the preschool circuit. If you need to throw it in the book, I give permission!
I'm thinking this might be the prologue of the book. it really would set the tone for the idiocy that follows.
Dude, you have a bigger forehead than I remember! Or is your head just getting that much bigger now that you are "almost signed?"
almost signed. haha, good one. talk to me when my potential agent has actually seen my sample chaps and is still interested. THEN my forehead will be so big, you'll be able to project Full HD movies onto it.
How about a quick Bible study?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar_k8JjVWQA
that was actually pretty funny. (not that i doubted you)
So hey Bryan it's Saturday night now. How are you? Oh that's too bad. I hope you start feeling better.
Hey, did you remember to lock the door back at your place? You should probably check on that.
I'd like to tell you that you look great with Joel's hair, but you don't… it's an abomination. I don't think you have enough money to pull it off.
Anyway, have fun finishing up this little mini-marathon… hopefully you didn't spend the first 12 hours watching Sponge Bob Squarepants clips on youtube.
thankfully no wifi where I'm at so no spongebob on youtube (i'm on a lunch break right now at a WiFi friendly establishment). all doors are locked and i actually just got my haircut before lunch so i look nothing like joel. and now I must get back to my unlocked cabin.
"I'd like to tell you that you look great with Joel's hair, but you don't… it's an abomination." I SECOND THAT!
Here is a quote for you:
An optimist is someone who falls off the Empire State Building, and after 50 floors says, 'So far so good!'
Bryan…SO FAR SO GOOD!! (minus the Joel hair. Blah….)
perfect Lori, so far so good is exactly what I'm feeling.
I hope that you bought a couple books with you to the guest house. Reading always helps me write more. I guess that I copy the ideas better when they are fresh in my mind.
I hope that you brought a couple of books along. Reading always helps my writing. I guess I just remember the ideas I am copying a little better when they are fresh in my mind like that.
good call David, I actually did just that.
I brought along 4 books:
churched by Matthew Paul Turner
the life and times of the thunderbolt kid by Bill Bryson
free range chickens by Simon Rich
Seinlanguage by Jerry Seinfeld.
they've all provided good breaks and inspiration.
After you do finish your book, don’t take any trips to Austrailia to visit any publishers. Gary Troup learned that the hard way. He also walked in front of a spinning jet engine and that didn’t help much either.
too funny. i actually saw Bad Twin on my bookshelf this week and thumbed through it. I was hoping i would stumble across the key to LOST's final season. Obviously i didnt.