Wow. This month's Secret Agent is leaving AMAZING feedback. If you haven't started snooping around for the SA comments, start doing so!
I'd like to take a moment to say WELCOME to all the new readers (and new contest participants); the influx seems to have swelled lately. Remember to check the left sidebar for important links, like the Secret Agent contest rules, helpful writerly web sites, and, ur, the fact that I am not Miss Snark.
Yep. I know you're a noob if you call me Miss Snark. I don't love you any less, I promise. Just get it right next time. My blog is a tip of the hat to the famous (infamous?) Miss Snark, but I am not she.
I am her first victim. And that story's in the sidebar, too.
Now, will you huzzah with me? I have just sweat large droplets of blood over a chapter rewrite. Okay, not really. But the changes are huge; the whole direction, the whole THING is so different.
As in, it actually has tension now. Mr. A was bored, so I knew I had to do something.
Dead bodies are helpful in achieving this.
Anyway, I'm pressing forward today, and won't be a bit surprised if my entire ending turns out differently. It probably needs to.
I'll say it again. I LOVE EDITING. This is the meat of it. This is the MAGIC.
I'd like to share huzzahs for your accomplishments this week. Share them in the comment box and know that I'll be cheering along with you!
Miss Snark's First Victim
Huzzah! I really needed to hear some positive on editing. I normally like it, but it has been frustrating the last few days, perhaps because all I've heard about editing is negativity since I've been online.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I've gotten my first chapter from people being bored to loving my MC and being hooked. It is still rough, but I am getting closer to nailing it every second.
Woo-Hoo!
ReplyDeleteI've only checked out a few entries this time around - too much to do and too little time. Some great stuff out there.
Have a great Friday.
S
Hooray and Huzzah!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to get to editing. :)
My hooray is that I've stuck with my word count goal and now I'm on pace to finish by mid-September, ahead of goal. HOORAY!
Hi there Authoress! And a huge thanks for your outstanding blog! I have broken the rules by replying to critiques. I read the rules before entering the SA contest, but didn't read the comments until just now where you suggest entrants sit on their hands, chew their nails, etc. rather than respond. Mea Culpa!
ReplyDeleteNote to self: Get an end loader to move that dead body around. LOL Sounds like you're having fun.
ReplyDeleteI've been working on a tricky transition and up to my elbows in YA Book II. I'm also charting out Book III. I, uh duh, didn't realize that I'd need to edit a bit here and there in the original to solve problem set up in the following book. As a result, I want Book II and Book III firmly outlined before going forward.
It isn't completely necessary and I could juggle it, but I prefer that the books mesh smoothly together as a cohesive unit.
Oh my, I guess that is what I'll be doing for several weeks!
I've enjoyed the entries this week-and I agree, there's some great feedback.
ReplyDeleteAs for personal success, I finally polished a piece and submitted it to a magazine. Whether it gets accepted or not, it was a highly personal subject (I lost my mom ths summer) and the writing of it was cathartic. It felt great to capture some of what I was feeling in words.
Editing here as well. With massive, story-changing differences in the works. Trying to get back on some sort of schedule after the family vacation.
ReplyDeleteI even wrote down some goals. Ten pages a week. I know, that's not much, but until we get set on a schedule again and little girl goes back to school on Monday, that's all I can be sure I can handle and not too far in the future, the changes will snowball large enough it will almost be like writing it new. Sigh.
And even with these minor goals, I should be able to finish by mid-September, have two weeks for outlines on -- what is the Monty Python line? And now for something completely different? -- a new story to begin with NaNoWriMo. I have ideas, they float around enticing me, but this must be finished first!
Slowly losing momentum in editing and trying like crazy to get it back. I'm excited that I revised 6 chapters -- and I mean totally revised; several of them had to be completely deleted and re-written! But I'm proud of my first 6 chapters... if only these next couple would be more cooperative, I could get through them and gain more momentum.
ReplyDeleteSounds like August has been a month for editing! Good luck to everyone out there in various stages. It really is a blast/chore/fun/frustration... :)
I'm a new poster to the blog, although I've been lurking off and on for a little while.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the Secret Agent stuff, it's great to have feedback from peers and professionals.
My accomplishment, 41k on the new WIP in two weeks. It's writing itself and it keeps my mind from query-time on the finished book.
I'm another one who loves editing.
LOL, I want to love editing, I really do, but my inner editor is either too harsh, or not harsh enough. It's hard for me to be unbiased about my own work, but I usually won't let anyone crit for me until I've got a finished second draft.
ReplyDeleteI didn't enter this month's Secret Agent, but I really enjoyed reading the comments.
It sounds like you're on a roll with your changes. So exciting, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff on Secret Agent!
brilliant vid!
ReplyDeleteHuzzah! And you were right about the Secret Agent comments...very cool. In fact, lots of very helpful comments all around.
ReplyDeleteMy accomplishments this week are finally getting a chunk of my nonfiction book for Llewellyn (#5) worked out, and the first few chapters done. Then running it past my editor and getting early edit suggestions. Grrrr..... I mean, "yay, edits!" Still, it is moving along, for which I am grateful.
W00t!
ReplyDeleteUm, my accomplishments for the week? Getting smashed in Vegas (I'm being a little over-dramatic, but it was still fun!) I WISH I were in the editing stage of my new WIP. Got 10K written in 1 week a month ago, and then realized I need to change the location, which is a huge deal and now I'm in research mode again.
Awesome for you though, plow through, go go go!
Authoress,
ReplyDeleteIs the secret agent still working on the entries? I read through about half, and I couldn't find her/his comments on the earlier ones (30-ish and earlier).
Just curious.
I've been online.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I've gotten my first chapter from people being bored to loving my MC and being hooked. It is still rough, but I am getting closer to nailing it every second.
--
glovin
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Thanks for the positive energy re: editing. I've had two beta readers review my manuscript this summer, and I'm just about to do the final edit on my novel, so I need all the good vibes I can get!
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, your blog is so awesome that I'm honoring it with a B-I-N-G-O Beautiful Blog Award. Congrats!
Huzzah! for everyone. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm in query letter writing mode. I have the two manuscripts ready for query, but am considering how I should send them out.
Send just one out and hold back the other one? Or send them both out, but just not to the same agents?
I agonize much more over writing the query letter. It's a very challenging part of the process for me.
And then, I've decided to pilot Pagefour with my next novel (inspired by Authoress' adventures with Scrivener) - which I plan to get started on while my manuscripts are out for query. Nothing like working on something new to take the edge off waiting for responses on a query.