Journal Entry #3. The Muse is withholding all inspiration until I write another update.

It was a tough writing weekend. Not that I didn’t know what to write. I knew what I had to write; I just didn’t know which words to pick.

1. I spent time on Saturday and Sunday working on a query submission for a local agent. It requires a pitch, synopsis, and other pertinent info. The challenge is in the distilling of 188,000 words into a couple hundred. It’s a great exercise, tbh. It forces you to hone in on the core idea of your story. But…..it’s damn hard, perfectionist desires aside. I’ve spent my adult life editing, dabbled in the restrictive word count of flash fiction, and write with the “Murder your darlings” philosophy. And still I struggle to rein in the information overload.

It comes down to the old saying, “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote a long one.” Being succinct is tough, and I get why agents push for it.

2. Monday night, I tinkered with the finished manuscript, like a naughty author. But hey! My book, my rules. Anyway, I was listening to Starfish and Coffee by Prince, and it occurred to me that Tildy shared similar characteristics to Cynthia Rose. They’re both odd ducks and unconcerned with people’s opinions of their quirks.

As a nod to Prince, whom I adore, I gave Tildy mismatched socks like Cynthia wears. Bonus: Here’s the Muppets video I’ll always associate with the song.

Alright, now I can get back to the manuscript and query.

Good luck with your writing!

Mike

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© Michael Wallevand, November 2019