Motivation

Yeah, okay, I don't have any. Basically here's the low-down.

1. I've been rewriting my book.
2. Finished (yay!)
3. Had a weird moment where I thought the first 2/3 were actually good.
4. Maniacal laughing.
5. Sent it off to betas. (just the first 100 pages)
6. Two crits come back.
7. Status: Not bad. Fixable. Embarrassing slips/mistakes. No problemo. Cut, reword, done.
8. Send the first 100 to gammas.
9. Get opinions before they're done reading on the beginning.
10. Get third beta read back.
11. Now have three opinions that basically say the same thing.

*insert WALL here*

*stone*

*mortar*

*twenty feet high*

*with guards*

*guards with guns*

I see what they're saying. My problem? I have absolutely no motivation to do it.

Why? (imagine that in my best whiny voice) Why don't I want to dive right back in and fix this? Do I agree? Does that matter? Do I go with my gut? What is my gut even saying? Maybe I'll just go watch High School Musical 3 again. For the fourth time this week.

What do you do when you don't have the motivation to work on your novel?

Revision Stats

Okay, so it's no secret that I'm revising my novel. It went pretty well, actually. That's right, you read that as if the revisions were done. That's cuz they are. I have the MS out with my gamma's (thanks for the tip, Beth!) right now and I'll go over their notes one last time before I really throw my arms into the air and proclaim, "It is done!"

Here's some stats for you:
1. Words cut: 7000
2. Chapters completely rewritten: 3 (written into 4 new chapters)
3. 2-Liters of Ginger Ale consumed: 5
4. Packages of Red Vines thrown back: 2
5. Number of times "Single Ladies" played: 196
6. Number of times I re-watched GLEE (episode "Preggers") for inspiration. Yeah, for inspiration: 6
7. Hours of sleep lost: too many to count
8. Days without facebooking, twittering or blogging: 9
9. Books read: 5 (The Other Side of the Island, Catching Fire, Graceling, The Magic Thief, Evermore)
10. Revisions: brilliant (well, at least I think they are)

So there you have it. What are you working on right now? Do you have some stats to share? Me being the math geek, I'm all over the stats.

If Writing Were A Reality TV Show

It would be The Amazing Race. Totally.

Scott posted about giving your characters problems to solve in the middle of the novel. He has some reasons why, so you should just go read his post from last week.

Anyway, immediately my brain went to reality TV. I mean, whose doesn't. *snarf*

And writing.

So writing + reality TV = The Amazing Race!

This is how I make things connect in my brain. I told you it was a scary place to be.

Anyway, have you seen the show? No? It's pairs of people (married couples, sisters, engagees, fathers/sons, whatever) and they race from place to place around the globe. If they arrive last, they're out.

But it's not that simple. Along the way, they have to complete tasks. There are two main types of tasks: Roadblocks and Detours. In a Roadblock, only one person on the team can complete the task (like climb to the top of a building and jump off). In a Detour, both members have to do something (like build a desk or find a slip of paper inside a pie) together.

Anyway, so how does this relate to writing? I'm getting there.

We all know the basis of fiction is conflict. We want to keep the reader turning pages. So we have to set up the roadblocks--the problems--we need our characters to solve. Things that will help their character arc, help them grow and change into the kind of people they need to be at the end of the book.

In The Amazing Race, roadblocks are done by one member of the team, and here's the kicker: they don't know what the task is before they choose which person will do it. So if you're deathly afraid of heights (which I am), and you have to jump off a cliff...yeah, it makes them grow and change. Makes them solve problems.

So writers tackle the roadblocks themselves. We do the actual writing ourselves (unless you happen to be the luckiest person in the world and have a kewl sister to write with. I'm looking at you guys, Lisa and Laura).

Then we finish the book. And we turn to our Detours, aka Beta Readers. They tell us where we got off track, where we need more gasoline, where we need to hit the brakes, all of it. We get to work with another person to build something beautiful.

So writing is totally like The Amazing Race! Totally! And it feels good with every leg you manage to complete. Writing THE END. Writing the query. Sending the query. Getting a request. Sending material. Even waiting.

Writing really is The Amazing Race.

What do you guys think? Isn't this an amazing journey we're all on together?

I Beg To Differ

Bubble gum, bubble gum in a reed,
How many Betas should you heed?

Okay, that was totally lame, but I just don't have the brainpower to come up with anything clever.

My question is coming at the beginning of this post: How many Beta readers do you need?

I'm really interested in knowing. I've been reading about how people have betas in the double digits. Of course, this terrifies me a bit. Then I start to do this: Do I need that many? What if just one more person points out something that could be fatal to my MS? What if s/he says the same thing as Beta C or Beta D? What if this? What if that?

The "What If?" game is only effective in writing. Not in anything else, trust me.

I sent my WiP to 7 Betas. They were awesome. Pointed out great things, some things were suggested multiple times by different people. I did revisions and actually asked a couple of them to reread those parts.

Do I think I needed more Betas? Absolutely not.

And here's why.

Sometimes you can have too many cooks in the kitchen, yanno? Then it isn't helpful, it becomes a blood bath. People pointing out all different things. You frantically trying to revise everything, instead of the places that really need it. For me, this causes major freakage. And frankly, I don't have time for that. Of course I want my MS to be the best it can be before querying. But I believe that this can be done with a handful of trusted, honest, wise Beta readers. More is not always better. In fact, it's all in WHO is reading your novel, not HOW MANY.

For example, lets take a look at the pantheon judges--which your Betas should be. That's why I have it capitalized. They are that important to me. They are my pantheon judges. And that means that you don't need billions of them. And going through all their comments? That can take weeks just by itself. I think it's best to have only a few people that you trust explicitly so that you can best use your time to get your MS ready.

So onto the pantheon judges.

American Idol: 4 judges. Used to only be three. And if you've ever seen the show, you know they don't always agree. They have different things to say. Just like your Betas.

Best Food Network Star (starts soon!): 2 executives, usually a chef judge, sometimes an additional celebrity judge for a total of 4. Again, too many cooks....

Survivor: A jury of 7 individuals who've played the game. This is perfect for your MS.

Heck, the Supreme Court of this country only has 9 people making the decisions. Life and death ones. New laws, unconstitutional stuff. In my opinion, I definitely don't need more than that reading my novel. Especially if they are of the caliber of Supreme Court justices. And mine are.

So maybe that's where you should start. Are your Betas Betas with a capital B? Or are they fish? Are they honest, trustworthy, well-read in the genre, knowledgeable about the publishing industry, writers themselves?

What do you think? Have you benefited from having dozens and dozens of readers? How many do you usually choose to read your novel before submitting it? Why do you choose that many? How has it worked for you?

I'm so interested in this. Let me know! I feel some chartage coming on....