Yesterday when I had stacks of dishes to do, a little flutter of excitement ran through me. There was a story I wanted to get back to reading to see how it turned out. Then I realized it was my manuscript I was thinking about. Crazy! I know how that story ends–I wrote the ending. Then I revised the ending. Then I rewrote the ending. I’ve been working on some revisions and made some significant changes to one particular scene this week. Thus the tummy flutters. When I was composing this book, I frequently felt that excited pull to see what my characters would say or do next. I love that feeling. I’m glad it’s back. It goes with the creative process and not so much with the revising.
I’m sorting through feedback and hopefully making my last revisions before I begin the submission process. My sister has been the absolute best at picking my work apart. Thankfully she’s seen the flaws and given me a lot to work on. I have another friend who has picked out annoying phrases I overuse and reminded me to show not tell. Then there’s the online writing group I joined recently. Two members read the first chapter and agreed that there was too much detail–they got lost from the story. For all of these criticisms, I am very grateful.
Then my sister said the one thing I needed to work on now was getting inside my MC’s (main character’s) head. Putting that suggestion with the comments about the description getting in the way of the story helped me realize that inside the MC’s head is where the story really is. So how do I show that without launching into page after page of monotonous narrative?
I decided to do some research so I went to the library and picked up four books. One was The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale which I thoroughly enjoyed. Two others were by an author who self publishes so I was interested to see how her work was. I decided she really needed an editor–too much repetitive monologue/narrative.
The last was the most helpful to me at this point in my revision: The Icing on the Cake by Elodia Strain. I would classify this as LDS Chick Lit. This was a delightfully fun read. It is written in first person as is my novel. I was fascinated by the voice of this piece. The main character Annabelle is nothing like my main character yet I could see exactly what my sister meant by letting the reader inside the main character’s head. Annabelle tells her story with a lighthearted and often humorous touch. I know exactly what’s going through her mind without long expositions and it’s never boring. Hopefully I’ll be able to do this with my manuscript.
Today in my revisions I tried to implement more of my MC’s thoughts into the story. I also fixed a scene that left the reader to wonder, “Why didn’t she do it this way? It would have been a lot easier.” I’m so much inside my characters’ heads I forget that the reader doesn’t know all the motivations and thinking behind the different character’s actions. Are there any other things I should be on the look out for in this last revision? Anything that bothers you in books you’ve read? I’m looking for any help at all since I really want this to be the last time through the book.
I am so curious to know what self-published books you picked up! I think it is very very hard for people who self-publish. We don’t realize how much extra we have until an outsider forces us to cut it. One might be an excellent writer but still unable to recognize when enough is enough.
I love that excited feeling, when you can’t wait to get back to your ms. I’m different though. The best part for me is revising. Writing that first draft is super hard. I can hardly wait to get it written so I can start revising. That’s why I spit it out as fast as I can.
I’m a very critical reader. Typos irritate me. Characters acting irrationally without an explanation annoy me. Cheap thrills and action scenes just to increase the tension and not further the story along bore me. But mostly, the characters must be rich and dimensional and real. No cutting corners.
I read a book by an author and I thought the book was shallow. Relied too heavily on plot conveniences, stories and dramas that had been done before. I couldn’t get into it.
Wow, you have a passion. I’m not sure I’ll ever have that. I’ve said it before, and I’ll repeat: I think it’s awesome you’re doing this! Good luck.
Dishes, schmishes.
Hooray Kate! A writing post! With all the gardening and business of your summer, i am surprised that you can even think about this. Must be the kids back in school!
Anyhoo–what I absolutely hate and will stop me every time is a poorly edited book. Therefore, I don’t think I could read anything self-published, because i am 100% with Tamara here. And with Kristine Princevalle when she says that writers need editors just as musicians need teachers.
Otherwise…ouch. The words will hurt my ears and I won’t be able to finish the book. That has been my problem with LDS fiction generally. Are there no good editors working for DB, Covenant, Cedar Fort??? Sorry if I am offending anyone here, but geesh!!
If you’re a publishing company, you had better darn well have a good editing team or just forget it.
Best of luck to you Kate in your rewrites! You better send it in to WiDo when you’re done!
Jenni-dishes, schmishes–you can always make me laugh.
Tamara and Karen–Thanks for the tips and encouragement. I want to be finished, but I’m getting really nervous to submit.
When do i get to read this book? It seems everyone has heard about is except your other sister. That would be me. I would love to view it also unless you want me to wait like everyone else. Would love to get a sneak peak though. Take care. Hope all is well and no more racoons go up the pole. Betty
Sorry Betty. I didn’t tell anyone for the longest time. I only told Shandrae because I desperately needed some editing help. Then Nate convinced me to start this blog and I put up the book as one of my goals this year. So people found out as they found my blog. I should have told you earlier.