Hey, I've got "followers!" Like, y'all are following me.
So maybe I'm a little slow. When I popped onto my dashboard the other day and saw that I had "followers," I didn't know what it meant. Then I clicked on it and saw familiar names.
Kinda makes a gal feel loved.
Anyway, I've had an "epiphany" this week and I'm hoping some of you will share your own epiphanies in the comment box.
I've been shopping my completed novel to agents for some time. The most interesting and frustrating thing (besides the constant rejection) has been the personal feedback about what was good and why the ultimate answer was "no." You see, it's never been the same reason. This was good, that was good, BUT.
But, but, but.
And if your "buts" match, you've got a clear red flag. As in, this is the fatal flaw and you need to fix it.
But my buts didn't match.
Aside from the fact that I harbor a seething hatred for the word "subjectivity," I've been wondering how, exactly, I can bring my novel up to snuff so that the "buts" go away.
And I've had a Eureka! moment.
In thinking hard about the feedback from three people in particular -- and in listening to the sage insight from Mr. Authoress, editor extraordinaire -- I've realized something about my main character. She's a bit too...gooey.
Mind you, it's subtle. She's really pretty feisty with lots of potential. But she goes "inside her own head" a little too much. Not long, drawn-out, obviously-purple prose. Heck, I'm not a neophyte. But it's just enough to weaken her. Make her come off...emotionally ponderous. Wishy-washy.
She sighs too much. And, yanno, I did a major get-rid-of-the-sighing sweep round about revision 2 or so. And she still sighs too much.
That sort of thing.
So I've gone through six chapters so far with the devoted Mr. Authoress by my side (my dialogue guru, at the very least). And the results are amazing.
Removing a handful of words here, changing a word there, modifying a tag or a beat or scratching out a complete sentence -- this has had an amazing effect on my MC. And since the entire story is from her POV, the novel's overall voice is affected.
Are you following me?
I'm beyond stoked. This is like manuscript CPR. A defibrillator for my story.
Guess what I'll be doing all weekend?
It's so simple, it's ridiculous. And now I'm finally -- finally! -- seeing the golden thread of continuity among the various "buts" I've received. Responses like "meandering" and "passive" and the flagrant "I don't like your MC's voice" suddenly seem to be cut from the same cloth after all.
Wow.
I haven't been this excited about my novel since the first request for a full rolled in.
So there you have it. My epiphany. I'd love to read about yours. We're all in this together!
Epiphany?
ReplyDeleteI think my main WIP is still too soft. I just can't get the hard edge you need for punk writing. And I'm not sure if I'm going to change it. I kind of like punk with some fuzz on it... like looking at a man who could hurt you and noticing he has the softest lips and the gentlest touch.
But, we'll see. I think I'm a few baby steps (and another complete draft) from being ready to query. And, if the reviews say no.... all the flab will go and I will just have to kill more people.
So, Just_me, let me ask you this, since you're a "punky" author:
ReplyDeleteWhat would you call Pullman's HIS DARK MATERIALS? I've just had the epiphany (ya, another one!) that it's not fantasy at all, but steampunk. (Splitting hairs, since steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy.)
Didn't like the book AT ALL, so I'm not sure why I was pondering this this week. What do you think?
My epiphany: it's been over a month since I looked at my blogger dashboard. Thanks for the heads-up on the followers stuff! *goes to catch up on news and features*
ReplyDeleteEpiphanies are good. So are followers. It's especially good when the people you've been following before they realized it also (at least say they) follow you, too.
ReplyDelete*subtly clears throat in hopes that hint is received*
My latest epiphany: A new direction for chapter goals at the beginning of my WIP. Why didn't I think of that all along?
Dear Authoress,
ReplyDeleteNow that you've had your epiphany, and can turn your so-so manuscript into a wow manuscript, what do you do with the agents who have already said no? My understanding is once they've said no, they do not want to see revisions. What if you've exhausted all your agent interest on a pre-epiphany script?
An excellent question, Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteThe one who have said "no" to a partial or full will not be re-queried. That would be a faux pas, for sure.
However, I've got requested material to about 5 agents right now. I've already touched base with one of them and attached the "new" partial, which, in her words, was "no problem."
It's a case by case decision, naturally.
If one of my partials turns into a full, obviously I will send the new full.
And, too, there are still a few agents out there that haven't been queried at all. So my novel is far from "dead in the water."
Gasping for breath, some might say, but not dead yet. ;)
There is actually an editor who said she'd read it again if I changed my MC's voice. So that's a wide-open doorway, should all the agents fall through. It's not every day that an editor says "I'll read more of your work, and even this travesty, if you fix it up for me!"
No epiphanies on my novels, just one on my writing. Last weekend I dove into a free-writing short story, spent the first couple of paragraphs shifting things around, etc, and then just stopped. I realized I was trying to be too clever, too layered, too 'I must move the plot forward and be ultra-revaltory with every word.' I wasn't telling the story honestly, or naturally. After I decided to just write the character (it's in first person) as he is, doing what he does, interacting with people as they come (no contrived encounters or characters,) the words, the plot, the dialogue, the characters just gushed onto the pages. In short, I stopped trying too hard to be impressive in one fell swoop; that's what the subsequent drafts are for. I really had fun writing it.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the weekend was over faster than I would've liked and I didn't get to finish the story. But, hey! Thank goodness its Friday!
My epiphany? That one of my supporting characters is actually a villain :O And, as usual, I like my villains better than my protag. Must work on making him less whiny.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'm starting the novel all over again for NaNo: New names and everything! Squeeeee!
For me, it's not an epiphany, but something that resembles a bit your discovery regarding your MC.
ReplyDeleteMy MC is at times a bit hesitant and reacts to events, instead of him steering the events. I understand that this is a problem. BUT it is realistic.
I know many people (myself included) who with certain events are reactive, not proactive. I think it's realistic, I believe it's a character flaw that readers should be able to identify with. And in the end, my MC takes matters in his own hand.
I'm still afraid that it's not enough; that readers want an MC who at least tries to take control of his life...
Sorry for the long post. I guess I'm venting my doubts here. It helps a bit.
Luc2, I understand what you're saying.
ReplyDeleteI think it's hard to draw the line between what is psychologically realistic (for instance, a protag who hesitates a lot out of insecurities stemming from past events) and what is compelling enough in a character to make the reader LIKE him and want to read on.
So yeah, I hear your "vent." These are the subtleties we either work out as we go, or that sink us.
I don't think you're sinking, Luc2. :)
Hmm... I don't think I'm far enough along in the rejection game yet to have any epiphanies... unless it's that my novel has arrived finished and marketable about two years too last. :S My one rejection so far on a full request simply states they just bought something similar right before reading mine and didn't realize it, not to mention there's a lot of books with that theme out there at the moment. *sighs*
ReplyDeleteI wish I could tell if a "it's not your novel, it's us and the market" is actually that, or if it actually is the novel afterall.
Maybe I'll settle for the thought that if I don't catch an agent with this one, I can catch one with the next one... Or maybe that I'm too sensitve to rejection to have been doing the submission thing for 9 months and only have 11rejections so far.
Perhaps I should go in a different direction and decide my epiphany is that editors actually really don't care for be verbs and after editing my e-book this weekened to carefully remove most of them, I'm probably going to never want to see another be verb in my life...
Is it an epiphany when you get a page or two into a chapter and suddenly realize it's not working? I was writing late last night and gosh darn it, everything I did for the last hour or so was wrong, wrong, wrong!
ReplyDeleteWrong reaction, wrong direction, kind of like taking a left instead of a right turn, and having to backtrack. I put my pen down and went to bed, to let my subconscious deal with it for awhile.
Anyhoo, congrats on your recent developments, Authoress! Isn't it great that those rejections came in handy after all? :)
Isn't it great that those rejections came in handy after all? :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful perspective; you're exactly right!
And yes, yours is an epiphany, too. The same thing happened to me just yesterday. I wrote a scene and then this morning realized it was completely wrong. There went yesterday! So I've just re-written and finished off the chapter to boot.
Whew!
No major epiphanys, except that creating obstacles for characters is fun and makes the story exciting!
ReplyDeleteMy epiphany this week was that writing a novel sure takes a hell of a lot of time. I have been at it for over a year and, after a hundred visions and revisions, have only managed to scratch out something incredibly rough. I think it's fabulous you even got to a point where you were able to send yours out. I'll be lucky if I still have teeth when mine's ready. And then my author's biography picture will scare away any potential reader.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Authoress! That's awesome news! There's nothing like feeling a story come together.
ReplyDeleteMy epiphany, though, will blow your socks off. It's amazingly deep.
If I want to write beautiful prose, I'm going to have to type letters on paper. And if I'm going to type letters on paper, I'm going to have to stop doing other things that aren't typing letters on paper :(
Try and wrap your brain around that!