Words About Writing

That horror of horrors: querying. I'm doing it. I sent out 3 queries yesterday, three today, and intend to do three tomorrow. Everyone says "5-10 at a time", so I thought 3 a day would make a nice NINE queries out before Nano, and then I can do an additional one as rejections come back, or turnaround times pass. Tonight, I got my first rejection! I'm so excited! Looking at the email the agent responded to, I noticed that this is one of the queries that did not include any part of the manuscript. Most ask for a few pages or chapters. So that tells me that my pitch needs work. It's good feedback. Three queries a day may not seem like much, but for each letter I'm consulting the agent's website, their preferences, my own spreadsheet, and for some, the draft query letter I'd already written. So it takes about an hour for each one. It's a mentally and emotionally taxing job. Anyway, I'm excited to be sending out the letters. I hope I can remain posi...

Whew. All feedback is compiled and the consensus is: I need to curate a better list of readers. Two got back to me a week early. One had very general, gushy comments. (One of the friends that they say never to use as readers.) The other early finisher had more complete notes, and valuable ideas. Which is good, because the last two never finished the book. I managed to pull a few detailed notes from them, but will never use them as beta-readers again. The good news is, I have good ideas for fixing the beginning, which I knew was a problem for querying. So I'm into the final reading and edit. All the simple changes are done, and I started working on the troublesome beginning, but need a little more work there. Then I'll just do a final reading and fix tiny things I notice as I go. As far as querying, I finished the list I was working on, then went to one of the other websites I'd found. I made a new page on my spreadsheet (to track which website I'm getting names from) an...

I've decided querying is the most boring part of writing. I'm so glad it will only (hopefully) happen once.  When I last wrote I was in the heady exhilaration of trying something new. It's not new now. It's repetitious. It was easy to begin compiling a list of potential agents, but I have less than 50 in my spreadsheet, and everyone talks about "hundreds", so I figured I'd find more to add later. Next step was to fill in details about the agents and decide which were the best fit. I expect to query all of them, but I'm adding an element of prayer and instinct to my list: As I read bios and company information, who do I think is likely a good fit for me, and vice versa? This is the long part. The research part. The "opening websites to find an agent, only to find that the website is inactive or that the agent is no longer there" part. It's tedious. I never was a fan of research. I'm giving myself until the 14th to finish polishing this...

Yesterday was exhilarating. After a day or two focused on tracking down readers (two noes, two yesses, one ghosting, and finally a third yes) I started looking into querying. I re-watched an old Nanowrimo video about the process, then started on my own process. So far I have: 1. Created a spreadsheet to track agents, letters sent, responses received. 2. Composed a draft of a generic query letter. This will be vastly changed: personalized to each agent, as well as updated after I receive reader feedback.  I've asked my readers for feedback "by October" so I have a little over a month to research agents and work on my elevator pitch to go in the query letter itself.   I'm also debating about a possible 4th reader. Three readers is my minimum, and I'd like to be over my minimum, but not if it's the wrong reader. So there's something to think about there. I honestly can't believe I'm here. And I'm actually doing it! Doing the legwork to get it don...

Done! As of yesterday, I finished this edit. It felt weird to step away from the novel with that idea. This is, officially, my last draft. Next is lining up my readers and sending it off to them to get their feedback. I didn't want to slacken off - I'd been so good at getting in and working on it every day - that right away today I made it my task to send out the messages verifying readers. I had a growing list of possible beta-readers, collected from people I'd met in person and on line, names of readers from the first time around, and a couple old friends who were interested. They say not to use people who know you well because they are likely to be less critical, but these two are significant for different reasons and I didn't want to leave them out. This morning, I sat down and sent out 5 messages to 5 people who had expressed at some point an interest in doing this. As of tonight I've heard back from three of them. Two definite yesses and one with questions bef...

I was going to come in and write "DONE!" because I finished adding in the extra text chats that tie the two subplots together, but then I saw that I've been overusing the word "done". I'm not truly done. I am, again, done with a step. It did not take long at all, after reviewing the manuscript and writing in what I wanted where... so easy to just drop that into the Scrivener version. According to my to-do list the next step is sending it out to beta-readers, but I was impressed by the weakness of my writing as I re-read it the last couple weeks, so I may be in for one more edit. I need to liven things up.  Some scenes are great as-is. I'm really proud of them. Other parts I know I'm just trying to fill in blanks. And do I really need all of it? Also, I noticed a lot of passive voice. I'm not sure what I'll do, so I'm taking a day or two to try and figure it out.

Yes! A few days ago I finished the edit of my WIP. Woohoo! Such a relief. It's not done, of course. I printed out the manuscript (I had exactly the right number of pieces of paper for it - whew) and now I'm going through to find places to add a new element. To connect the two subplots, I want to insert some text chats between the main characters while they are apart. So now I'm reading the manuscript to do that... and trying not to add edits. 🙈 I am noting typos and a few word changes, but refraining from wholesale editing. My reasoning for the small edits is simply to make the next version more readable for my BETA READERS! The last time I sent this to readers, at least one of them consistently pointed out typos (not her purpose). If I can eliminate them, it will not be a distraction and my readers can focus on characterization and plot-points. SO, to sum up: 1: Now adding text convos and minimal typo corrections into printed manuscript. 2: Next putting those into the sc...

Three days until the end of the month, when I should be able to begin the next draft. Two days ago, I contacted the 4th reader, who I've not heard a word from, just to see if she was still on track. She had read the first couple chapters, then got busy with work. She hoped to read some more the next day. I know from the other three readers that the start is slow and confusing in places. My guess is she got bored and stopped. I hope she gets a bit further into it, but I'm not holding my breath. My point being, I need to better prepare my readers, and prepare my book for my readers, next time around. And I have now read multiple blog posts and articles about using beta-readers, and they contradict each other in various ways. After I figure out what works and doesn't (so, a few years down the road) I will write my own "how to use beta-readers". I guess it's different for everyone. As unexpected as this process has been, I can honestly say, it helped. Ju...

Feedback has started rolling in from my Beta-readers. I'm learning a lot. First off, it's valuable feedback, but the first two readers to finish did not do as I had expected. Notes are not as in-depth as I had requested, and one even wasted time pointing out typos or missed word placement, which I distinctly said not to look for. But I do have a couple things that I know I need to fix for the next draft, and I'm so glad I'm doing this before seeking an agent, etc.! I do know that the two who have supposedly finished will not be readers for me at this stage on future books. One gave broad, sweeping notes, and said that the grammatical issues were a distraction for her. The other seemed to think of it like reading a pre-release - just make a couple notes and give a review? I would love to have them read at a later stage on a future book. It's all good information for me. This is a learning process. I think next time I might ask on my blog, or on twitter, and s...

I got my first feedback from a reader! Basically, after the first 100 pages, she sent me some general notes. It was very useful. I'll have to rename some characters to prevent confusion, and I might have to "kill my darling" as one scene that I love and find a cute interlude in the story put my reader to sleep. Haha! So... the work is going. I haven't officially sat back down to write, but I have done a few word-sprint writing exercises, all of which seem to help illuminate a WIP that I had set aside thinking it's too big for right now. I might keep doing these sprints to help illuminate that story, but I really want to get to plot-work soon, too. I figure September will be editing the manuscript that is currently with readers. We'll see how long that actually takes.

Woohoo! I finished my revision yesterday! I was delayed a few days by a cold. I can't think straight with a head full of phlegm, and wasn't about to try editing in that state, but still, the 10th is not too far off schedule. During those phlegm-filled days I contacted a few additional readers, so by the time I closed the manuscript I had them all lined up. Today I am busy formatting the manuscript to send to four readers in different parts of the world. I'm pretty excited about that. One is an excellent writer and reader with a knack for finding plot-holes and mistakes. One was an English/Creative Writing major in college, with an unpublished novel under her belt. Two are avid readers with diverse tastes who have a firm grasp on the process. It's my first time reaching this step, so here's for posterity: I am sending an electronic copy of the manuscript to each reader in their preferred format. I set up a group in Messenger, and gave a clear list of what I am ...