Bubble Burst

I have been working on After the Dream for two years now.  I have had readers and more readers go through it.  Some have made little suggestions or even significant recommendations for entire scene changes.  I listened and shifted scenes and characters accordingly.

When I felt it was as good as I could get it, I sent it to a publisher and waited five months only to have it rejected.  I asked right away if they could give me some kind of idea about what didn't work for them.  Their response left me somewhat puzzled because it was so vague.  Then recently, I had a good author in my writer's group go over it.  Her feedback sounded like a much more specific and detailed version of what the publisher had sent me.  And it left me reeling.

I've received and given the feedback that a story started in the wrong place, that a whole section should simply be cut.  But to receive feedback that the entire first 100 pages were unnecessary and should be woven into flashbacks and such was something for which I was totally unprepared.  She also said she would cut it down to one point of view character and round out some of the characters.
I had multiple reactions to this.  One was, "Oh, that explains what the publisher meant."  Another was, "Well, that would turn it into the stereotypical romance story just like everyone else's." Yet a third was, "Well, that shows me how to get it down to the word count I'm seeking."  My emotions were all over the place because, although it's my story with which I can do as I like, I can't simply ignore feedback that so eerily echoes the publisher's.  I am waiting for a local editor to set an appointment to read through my manuscript.  If I do nothing, I will likely get the very same feedback all over again and learn nothing new.

On the other hand, I have a certain vision of what the heart of my romance novel is, and it's not just the standard once upon a time, boy meets girl. That is what would come of following this advice to the letter.  I see my novel as at least as much about healing from trauma as it is about romance.  If I cut the trauma entirely, it's not the same story.  If I cut the dream of pursuing a fairy tale/stereotypical romance only to find that both can go very wrong if not carefully considered, I cut out the heart of the story. On the other hand, it's true that most people would struggle with that first segment.  And if people don't get past that, they don't get to the part where the main character and the narrative come alive.  And to me, the man's point of view is as important as the woman's in this story, especially with the fact that my second novel also uses both points of view.

I give the advice all the time to help people care about the main character as step one.  Give them a reason to care, and they'll follow you to the ends of the world.  I thought I had but clearly not.  I have rewritten the first scene entirely to bring in the humor and the heart before launching the dream and nightmare.  I have included most of the dream but only a small fragment of the nightmare, the part that matters most. I have also included the part where she seeks comfort from a trusted confidante.  And now, alakazam, 80 pages of what was apparently drudgery becomes [I hope] 15-20 pages of meaningful backstory without extensive flashbacks.  My overly long manuscript becomes about the right length.  Now, to smooth it over and weave in the critical missing pieces.  Here's hoping the local editor and readers approve.

Another first draft!

Yay!  I finished the first draft of my middle-grade book Doomimals Book 1: Cock-a-doodle-DOOM. My readers in my writing group are almost done with it and tell me they're enjoying it.

I have a committee of family members reading it and eagerly anticipating each new chapter.  So much so that my little girl would not be happy until I wrote the first chapter of the next book Cat-a-clysm, plotted based on "The Three Little Kittens" just as the first one was plotted based on "Chicken Little."  They've been a lot of fun to write.

But now I have a problem: I have three drafts in various stages of completion, one that I thought was done that needs to be tweaked and two that just have a first draft.  Two need to be read aloud with my husband [and one run through my editing software] while the third needs some revision based on feedback.

And my little girl has now listened to my first chapter of Cat-a-clysm and is addicted.  She must have MORE.  Not to mention a list of other things I need to do in the day.  So now, I have to figure out how to fit everything at once.  And the increased humor in book two means book one needs to get funnier.

I wonder if there's an app for finding more time in the day, maybe expanding my day to 30 hours instead of 24.  I guess there are worse problems than having too many manuscripts, like staring at a blank page and wondering how to find those first words.  I've been there, too.  One of my early blogs covers that.  I'd rather have this problem.

Crossroads

I'm at a crossroads.  I have now finished the rough draft of book 2, Pigs Fly.  I would like to go through and work on my next reading through with my husband, who is a good writer in his own right.  He will help me add more humor, more snark, as well as more of the spiritual.  I have a willing audience, fans who have read my first book who have expressed an interest in reading the second.

On the other hand, I have a local editor who has given me a discount and will be putting my first book, After the Dream, on their summer schedule.  It needs to be refined and tweaked to the best of my ability before they look at it and tell me what else it needs.  And what if I make substantial changes that impact book two?  Is there any point in revising book two until I know what's going on with book one?

For now, I've been reworking short stories I wrote and won prizes on 14 years ago, thereby improving my editing skills as well as figuring out how my editing software works for when I tackle the big pieces.  The contest due date is tomorrow, so it's not like this delay will go on for much longer.  I suppose it's back to book one for me.  I just hope it doesn't take long.

Polishing

Once upon a time, 15 years ago, I entered three short stories in the League of Utah Writers contest, and I won first prize on all three.  The next year, I figured it would be no problem to win some more since I had such luck the first time.  I got a couple of second prizes.  Not bad.  The next year, I entered a few more pieces and won nothing.  I gave up for a while.  I've entered a few contests since, have gotten a few honorable mentions here and there, including with Writer's Digest.  But otherwise, I have struggled to repeat the glory of that one shimmering year.

I've started assembling several short stories, including the prize winners, into a short story collection called "One if by Starlight" about women finding confidence in an insecure world.  It has kind of a slim plot in a frame story.  I'm not sure if I should publish it as a whole or hold onto the individual stories against publishing indie if I have to go that route with my novels.  For now, I'm polishing the best of the stories to submit them in a contest for prior winners.  The part that makes me feel really good is that I'm finding so much to fix.  The last time I tinkered with them several years ago, they were as polished as I could get them.  Now, I'm finding more to polish and fix.  I guess that means I've improved as a writer.  I know it couldn't hurt to get some more wins on my resume for when I submit my novel to another publisher.  Now if only I could find time to do everything at once.