I haven't posted much, because as stated above, I've been revising (again . . .). I've yet to hear from the two agents who currently have my ms, but I've decided to start on the revisions anyways. The storyline is still the same, but I have been doing more slicing and dicing than a sous chef.
Deep down, I believe my first chapter was killing me- I've had a couple agents tell me so, and according to everything I've read online, my opening chapter committed just about every sin a first chapter can commit (too much backstory, off-putting to the reader, etc.). Sooo . . . I totally gutted it. Of course, there were parts I really liked (and that are important to the story), so I'm going to plug those in at different spots throughout the ms.
I am very surprised by how long this revision process is taking me. At the rate I'm going, I figure I won't be done proofing for another six weeks. The difference this time? Well, I'm really taking my time to read through each chapter with "cold eyes." The previous times I proofread, I was mostly concerned with making sure the plot flowed nicely, and stayed on course. This time, I want to make sure every sentence sparkles, which means, taking out all the "well's, really's, that's, just's, etc." Needless to say, it's AMAZING how "wordy" of a writer I tend to be, and how many mistakes you can find when you change your perception. I'm reading each chapter approximately three times, and each time, I find something . . .
At the end of this journey, I want to be able to say, I did everything I could to get my ms represented/published. I'm not ready to give up on her yet! The girl sitting on the bleechers is getting a make-over, and hopefully when she's all done, she won't be sitting on the bleechers very long!
Deep down, I believe my first chapter was killing me- I've had a couple agents tell me so, and according to everything I've read online, my opening chapter committed just about every sin a first chapter can commit (too much backstory, off-putting to the reader, etc.). Sooo . . . I totally gutted it. Of course, there were parts I really liked (and that are important to the story), so I'm going to plug those in at different spots throughout the ms.
I am very surprised by how long this revision process is taking me. At the rate I'm going, I figure I won't be done proofing for another six weeks. The difference this time? Well, I'm really taking my time to read through each chapter with "cold eyes." The previous times I proofread, I was mostly concerned with making sure the plot flowed nicely, and stayed on course. This time, I want to make sure every sentence sparkles, which means, taking out all the "well's, really's, that's, just's, etc." Needless to say, it's AMAZING how "wordy" of a writer I tend to be, and how many mistakes you can find when you change your perception. I'm reading each chapter approximately three times, and each time, I find something . . .
At the end of this journey, I want to be able to say, I did everything I could to get my ms represented/published. I'm not ready to give up on her yet! The girl sitting on the bleechers is getting a make-over, and hopefully when she's all done, she won't be sitting on the bleechers very long!
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