Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Looking forward

So it's been way too long since I updated. Things are still moving forward. I'm revising and polishing and buffing and moving...all the things that continue until you receive an actual book in hand.

I did want to share something that is very important however. After all, what's the point of blogging if I don't have anything to contribute. I don't think that highly of myself :) I've been readjusting the age of my MC. When I began the story, I didn't have a target age range in mind...mistake by the way. Always know your audience. In all fairness though, I never thought of trying to get anything published when I began the story. I just wanted to explore a dream I had and it turned into a whole, big lotta pages! Anyway, my MC's age was twenty when I finished writing. Not a problem except I thought my MS was more geared toward the YA group. Twenty is way too old for YA! I personally don't see the problem but that's a whole different topic. So per the advice of those who matter, I've been editing my MS since I knocked a couple of years off her age.

Changing my MC's age isn't a huge deal in my case. It doesn't alter the plot in any way. It simply means that I need to change a few side items to cause everything to align. Time consuming when you have two little ones underfoot, a household to manage and everyone's sanity to maintain. Still, what little time I have to invest in my project is worth it. The more I write, the better I get. I can look back and see such progress, even if I'm not where I want to be yet! So, writers, keep working. Every line you add, every paragraph you edit brings you closer to that dream!

Friday, April 2, 2010

Just because it has been a while

It's been a couple of weeks now. Nothing of any real interest worth writing about from my perspective. I did hear from the agent I've been really excited about. She suggested I go through my MS and do some, "ruthless cutting." A fair judgment since I have a very bad habit of being an adverb junky. And in the words of the famous Stephen King: The road to hell is paved with adverbs. So the past couple of weeks have been spent, cutting, smoothing and retying my MS. After I'm finished, I'll resubmit it to the the agent who is so graciously giving me a chance to right my wrongs! I have to say, she is the shiz!