And the Skies Opened...a Revising Miracle
I have some positive news to share regarding my revising stalemate!
And boy is it positive.
A few posts back I shared that my second novel was in a state of frozen frustration. I honestly didn't know how to move the book out of my second round of revisions. I had received a few comments saying the book didn't get good until page 110...a fate of certain death if you are writing for adolescents. If you can't hook 'em in the first 10 - 15 pages they just may put it down and do the other 50,000 things vying for their attention...in my humble opinion.
I do teach these fantastic creatures language arts, remember?
My manuscript finally got into the hands of two of my teaching colleagues. One read for character inconsistencies while the other read for plot stuff. They finished the book in a mere 4 days (YAY!!) and came back with AMAZING feedback. Amazing in that their feedback unlocked my mental stalemate. They gave me the feedback to get the first 110 pages out of that state it was in.
My one colleague, Heather, put it like this, "Right here is where I put the book down. You are trying to tell me too much information here. I'd like to have the main character explain this to me, briefly, instead of the narrator (which is me) tell me."
An enormous smile spread across my face and I started to jump up and down. (what can I say, I am easily excited) I replied back, "Heather! That's it! That's what I needed to hear. I know what to do now!"
My other colleague, Jennifer thought so deeply when she was reading that she found two major plot points that simply couldn't be...if the characters really are who I am making them out to be.
They kindly spent 30 minutes with me discussing their findings, their questions and their feedback. It was magical for me - magical AND miraculous. I swear it to be true.
I have a job to do. My heart races with excitement when I even think about going back in to my story. I'm talking Christmas-morning-as-a-kid excitement. That's how I know I want to do this writing thing forever.
p.s. no word yet from dream agent
And boy is it positive.
A few posts back I shared that my second novel was in a state of frozen frustration. I honestly didn't know how to move the book out of my second round of revisions. I had received a few comments saying the book didn't get good until page 110...a fate of certain death if you are writing for adolescents. If you can't hook 'em in the first 10 - 15 pages they just may put it down and do the other 50,000 things vying for their attention...in my humble opinion.
I do teach these fantastic creatures language arts, remember?
My manuscript finally got into the hands of two of my teaching colleagues. One read for character inconsistencies while the other read for plot stuff. They finished the book in a mere 4 days (YAY!!) and came back with AMAZING feedback. Amazing in that their feedback unlocked my mental stalemate. They gave me the feedback to get the first 110 pages out of that state it was in.
My one colleague, Heather, put it like this, "Right here is where I put the book down. You are trying to tell me too much information here. I'd like to have the main character explain this to me, briefly, instead of the narrator (which is me) tell me."
An enormous smile spread across my face and I started to jump up and down. (what can I say, I am easily excited) I replied back, "Heather! That's it! That's what I needed to hear. I know what to do now!"
My other colleague, Jennifer thought so deeply when she was reading that she found two major plot points that simply couldn't be...if the characters really are who I am making them out to be.
They kindly spent 30 minutes with me discussing their findings, their questions and their feedback. It was magical for me - magical AND miraculous. I swear it to be true.
I have a job to do. My heart races with excitement when I even think about going back in to my story. I'm talking Christmas-morning-as-a-kid excitement. That's how I know I want to do this writing thing forever.
p.s. no word yet from dream agent
