I can't believe it's been a whole month since my last post. I was in a so-so place last month but I'm feeling much more cheerful this month (which is funny since I have a few more rejections under my belt)
Anyway, at the end of last month I ended up, by pure chance, finding a beta reader who gave me excellent feedback and told me exactly what I needed to fix to make my book work. As soon as I read her notes, I knew she was right .
I went BACK to revisions and, for the first time, I'm feeling rock solid about the book. I always liked my middle/end...I just wasn't a thousand percent sold on the beginning. I think it's way better now, so I'm currently really happy. It gave me a huge sense of accomplishment to fix what was wrong and make it so much stronger. I'm SO glad I took my reader's advice!
I entered Pitch Wars (along with the rest of the world) and am anxiously awaiting to hear if I've been chosen. I'm supposed to be entering PitchMas tonight, but it's in a half hour and I'm so tired I'm not sure I can make it. haha. I guess what will be will be.
That's been my motto of the month. To let thing fall where they will. Once I'm done something (and I feel it's good) I'm on fire to start the querying process. Having the patience to NOT do that--to, instead, sit through numerous beta-readers/critiques, a million revisions etc...etc...has been a hard lesson for me.
BUT I'm seeing the pay off in a manuscript that is much stronger than it was even a month ago. And, if I'm chosen for Pitch Wars, maybe I can make it even stronger.
Bottom line is--the lesson I learned this month was to restrain my enthusiasm for being "done." DONE has become a seriously subjective word. I'll just keep going slow. I'm making sure I do all that I can do.
Hope you guys are all doing well and that you are having an awesome holiday season!!
Finding the perfect beta is a huge step. Sometimes you can be too close and not see the obvious improvements!
ReplyDeleteHi Tamara! Thanks so much for coming by my blog today, I'm so glad to meet you! And I loved reading this post, how wonderful that you are feeling so good about your work right now. Your "bottom line" is a good thing to remember.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have to say I just LOVE Shel Silverstein and that quote so the title of your blog really made me smile. :)
Sounds like we have the exact opposite problem - I tend to embrace that wait, desperately trying to dig out each and every nuance to come up with *perfect* manuscript.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
Best of luck with the pitching contests. I would have entered, but I've already queried all the reps and they said no, or, still have material I'm waiting to hear from. Glad your beginning is rock'n solid! :)
ReplyDeleteThat's great you feel your story rocks now! Sometimes it takes another set of eyes. Good luck with the Pitch Wars!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great point. I had to learn to set something that was 'done' aside for a while and then go back. Only after two drafts do I even let someone else read it.
ReplyDeleteI'm always the shakiest about my beginnings, which is usually not a great place to be shaky about when pitching your story to strangers!
ReplyDeleteSuper good luck with Pitch Wars! I didn't enter this one, but am eager to follow it...hopefully you get matched, =)
And good luck with your new rock-solid story, too...it is great when things feel good and right about your writing. =3
I tend to jump the gun too, and having betas/CPs really helps when it comes to determining if the ms is "done" or not. Did you end up doing PitchMas?
ReplyDeleteI'm not commenting on this post but your previous post. For some reason, I can't comment on that post. My cursor will not appear. Obviously, I am able to comment on this post. I've seen it with one other blog. Something is definitely going on with Blogger.
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