How My Editor Became My Home Inspector

I mentioned in the last post that I was going to address the issue of hiring a freelance editor.

Now is that time.

I recently had the pleasure of working with the lovely, and rather brilliant, Cassandra Marshall. I met Cassandra by way of an agent's general recommendation. I now owe them both some sort of mutant fruit basket that encompasses many thank-you's! Working with Cassandra has been one of the most positive and enriching experiences in my writing adventure thus far. So having said that, let's go back to the beginning.

I first considered entreating the help of an editor after an agent requested my full. Said agent pointed out my tendency to overwrite and told me to work on that. While you can't take every person's advice on everything, this was spot on.

A few weeks later, this same agent blogged about Cassandra and her services as a freelance editor. I did my research (I'm very thorough with this stuff), checked out Cassandra and her blog and emailed her my information. (Cassandra does it ALL by the way. Right down to query help!) Her response was prompt and professional. She sent over a sample contract detailing her services, fees--which are VERY reasonable--and a non-disclosure agreement. I looked it over and decided she'd probably do a good job.

She more than exceeded my expectations.

Within ten days, Cassandra had my MS back to me--all slashed in red no less. My first instinct was to ball up in the fetal position and never so much as look a keyboard for the rest of my life. But I got over that and eventually read her notes. (Do this slowly, by the way. Rushing through them to see how it goes, never ends well. At one point, I thought she said, "Do you even know what you're doing?" She totally did not say that! She asked if I realized I was doing it. There's a HUGE difference there. I almost went into the fetal coma again.) But I thought about what she pointed out. I considered why she said what she did about the correction and what impact it had on the story overall.

*Side note-I ramble and repeat in my writing. This is very irritating to a reader, in case you were wondering. Don't say something that is better left unsaid. If it doesn't move the plot forward or contribute to the story, leave it alone.

So in my tendency to overwrite, the version of my MS she received was around 95K. This was for *half* of a story. Yikes, I know! Cassandra cut around 40% of that out. I was floored when she said this. Before I actually read the revised MS, I couldn't see how it was possible. *When I say revised, I mean she nixed a lot of stuff. She didn't rewrite it.

The following weeks have been spent in a harried state of revision. I've questioned every line cut or scene reconstructed. I was stuck at not knowing how to proceed with combining the story or trying the alternate route of splitting. (See previous post) Long story short, if that's possible, I combined them to form one, hideous story consisting of 176K words. Every agent's dream come true! This is sarcasm in case you missed it.

I'm still in the process of revising--in case you were wondering the point of all my seemingly senseless rambling when this is supposed to be a post about Cassandra's awesomeness. I said ALL of that, to say this. Reading through her notes and concentrating on the things she singled out, I learned some important things that I had never thought about before. I don't have an English degree or a master's in creative writing. Until last year, I had never considered writing as a serious life choice. I enjoyed reading but as a reader, you don't think about structure. You look at the outside with your questions. Is it interesting? Did it end well? How hot is the love interest in the story? ;) While those things matter, a fancy house isn't going to stand if it isn't structurally sound. My writing foundation was a bit crumbly. Cassandra swept through with her metaphorical mortar and patched things up for me. But not only did she patch them, she showed me what to look for and how to remedy them myself. What she did for me in one MS edit, she did for all my future writing endeavors.

So, my verdict on a freelance editor? Resounding yes! You can't count on an editor to build you novel but you can count on one to help you learn how to construct. They aren't carpenters--they're home inspectors.

In the best way I can, I want to send a thousand thank you's to Cassandra. You have been such a huge encouragement and inspiration to me during this process. No matter where I go in my writing career, you have made all the difference. You taught me how to build.

TMI for one post

So it's been WAY too long since I last posted anything. There are several reasons for this, the main ones being spotty internet service and lack of time. So now I'm going to attempt a partial catch-up post. This is basically a synopsis of posts to come.

Since April, I have enlisted the help of the wonderfully talented and much appreciated help of free-lance editor Cassandra Marshall. (The how's and why's of going the route of an editor will be another post. That's a really long story.) Cassandra spent a harrowing week and a half looking over my MS and came back with some much needed information. In essence, here are the issues you're going to have with "Plot A" or "Character B" type stuff, work on them. So work I have... A LOT. I have torn apart, reassembled, rearranged and rethought every possible aspect of my story. Why all trouble, you ask?

It is NEVER a good idea to split a story into two!

Again, why is this? Because then you end up with half of a story. Even if you wrap it up nicely, it still isn't finished. There's junk just hanging out there, left unfinished. In my case, there wasn't enough excitement because the big BANG! of the story would've ended up in the beginning pages of Book 2. Not much encouragement for finishing Book 1 there. Really, who wants to experience a day in the life of... ? No one. That's boring. So lesson learned from my POV. I hope, hope, hope none of you try this because it never works and is a huge pain in the rump!

What does all of this mean for me? Back to the drawing board to see what fits the best. Perhaps after cutting out the fluff of Book 1, I can combine them into one story again. More than likely however, I'm going to end up filling in some scenes with enough excitement that the BANG! of Book 2 will be it's own surprise and not related to Book 1 in any way. I guess we'll see :)

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!

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!

Killing time...

So I've been sitting here for *way* too long, agent stalkering. (If they don't want to be stalked, they shouldn't post information on so many sites ;) The world of query waiting is much, much more difficult than I originally thought. Typically things are slow moving. It's a cramped environment when it comes to querying writers. The agent who has my MS right now has had over 600 this year and that's only because she's just beginning her career as an agent! Imagine what it's like for the folks are well established because they've been around umpteen years! Yikes! So seeing as it's only been a few, harrowing days, I really can't complain. It is a competitive market! That's one thing all in the literary world can agree on!

It's an interesting process, querying. Writing really isn't like any "normal" profession where you have acceptable, unacceptable or just plain messed up. It's subjective. From agent to agent and writer to writer. Even in the exact same genre, people see things differently. I don't know how many times I've heard, "ABC is the way to go! You can't go wrong with ABC!" Only to check another source to hear the complete opposite! "A little flattery doesn't hurt. It shows you've done some research..." "Oh no! Never use flattery! It's absolutely unprofessional!" Really? Can't we come to a consensus? Can't there be even a little bit of "this is the right way...?"

So where does this leave the very green, very anxious writer? ...I don't have an answer to that. I was really just asking myself. Just one of a million questions I have about a career I want more than anything.

I keep seeing suggestions for joining this writing group or that literary club. But to be honest, I'm not really the gregarious type. I'm more the socially awkward, turd in the punchbowl type. I write. I can always go back and edit. Conversation, even typing, is instant communication. I tend to babble uncontrollably, driveling on about stuff that's irrelevant, uninteresting, nerdy, or just plain inappropriate. Don't get me wrong. I'm not being rude or crude, but I'd venture a guess that 95% of people don't know or don't care what I'm actually saying. I'm not complaining about my introverted status. I rather like it in fact. I like not having to go to this and that and make conversation. I'm typically the wallflower. And that works for me. No worries. Needless to say however, I don't fall in under wanting to have a group to discuss my ideas with. I much prefer one or two close friends that will be honest and tell me if what I'm writing is droll or confusing. It would be nice to have someone that I could really pester who really knows the "business" of writing. Someone who could tell me, "Hey, back of the adjective; you're being redundant" or "That's too choppy in the middle. Try whittling the chapter down." There's blind panic in wondering what an agent thinks of your work. Constant, mental nagging and rethinking on my part.

Since this has already run too long, I'll bid you adieu!

Waiting is the hardest

Well, I received an email from Ms. Agent requesting that I send her my MS as a .doc instead of a .docx. Oops! Seeing as I had no idea what that meant, I was panicked. I called my sister who is a computer whiz. Her suggestion: Google it! So yeah, God bless search engines. (For future reference, a .docx is an MS Word format that versions 2007 use. If you aren't using a windows based program to read the document, it comes out as squiggles and senseless lettering.) So I went back and re-saved my MS as a Word 97-03 edition (which is readable by other programs) and sent it off. That was a couple of days ago and yet it feels like an eternity!

The waiting is tough. It was different when I first sent the MS several days ago. I had no idea when she would get to it or if she was reading it at any given moment. When she sent the request for me to resend my MS, it meant she was trying to read it! That's crazy intimidating! It's like watching your professor grade your test, all the while, he determines whether or not you graduate! I haven't heard anything one way or another, so I'm assuming no news is good news. She obviously hasn't put it down thinking, "This is terrible." Otherwise I would think she'd send me an email saying so.

That leaves me here...swimming in my thoughts with a squishy stomach and an accelerated heart rate. In the plus column though, my hero Aprilynne Pike has been in touch. She is just the best!!! I can't say enough wonderful things about her. She doesn't know me from Eve, but she's been there answering my silly questions, critiquing (with amazing talent for it) my query letter, and offering me endless support and encouragement! She's just a Godsend! Hopefully I can one day do something, anything, to show her my appreciation. She is the person who has lead the way in my writing, giving me direction and awesome suggestions. She is the woman responsible for my querying the wonderful agent who is perusing my MS right now! If it weren't for Aprilynne, I don't know that I could've made the progress that I have. So THANK YOU, MS. PIKE!!!

WoW, heck of a start!

Couldn't sleep but it's all worth it!

Okay, so I decided that this should be an open and honest blog detailing my adventures of my pursuit to publication. Today (well, technically yesterday I suppose) was day one of query letters. I sent out three through email requests. Within 5 minutes I had a rejection. Not so devastating. It's all part of the finding-an-agent game. Plus, it wasn't a huge surprise. I really like this guy, he has a great and very useful/insightful blog. He's been a tremendous help to me personally. However, I never really got the feeling that he rep-ed my kind of stuff. I still think the world of him. Hopefully I'll figure out how to get a link up on my page :/

Next, I queried two other agents. One I have yet to hear anything from...the other has put in a request to read my full MS! I won't lie, I'm absolutely thrilled! This particular agent had me concerned because she places such an emphasis (and well placed, it is) on the age of the protagonist. My genre is YA but my protag doesn't fall in the age range she should. This has raised some concern for me. I feel her issues aren't "adult" and her being "college age" doesn't really come into play because nothing is set in school--it's summer. She isn't a grown-up by any stretch of the imagination, so her age is a bit more flexible. Should a potential agent feel that needs to change, I can definitely accommodate that, but I feel like she's fine the way she is now. I said all that to say this...this particular agent is fabulous and I really, really, really hope she's into my stuff. I follow her blog, her facebook and all the other stalker-like venues and I feel like I kind of have a read on her. From my perspective, I think we would be a good match. So here's to waiting. *sigh*

Keeping my fingers crossed and still swimming... :)