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Posts Tagged ‘revision’

Manuscript Evaluation

Posted in Agent Review, Conferences, revision, Seminars, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 1, 2013| 1 Comment »

imagesWell, today was the deadline to submit 15 pages for a manuscript evaluation at the upcoming Crime Bake Conference, sponsored by Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

After several revisions, I managed to condense the first 13 pages of my story to end with Chapter 2 where the initial hook hopefully sinks in. The first page was a cover sheet, and the second a one-page synopsis. How difficult was that to write??? All the broad strokes on one page!

My submission will be assigned to an agent, an editor, or a published mystery writer for evaluation. I’ll find out who when I register on November 8.

The two of us will find a quiet corner in the Hilton Hotel and spend fifteen minutes together. She will tell me what she thinks of my story and my writing. It will be a nerve-wracking experience, but a necessary evil. After sending my story through two separate writing groups, eliminating my original opening chapters and many unnecessary scenes, plus rewriting the first page a gazillion times, I can only hope that my evaluator thinks my story is in pretty good shape.

During this conference, I will also pitch my book to the attending agents. Maybe I’ll finally get a bite!

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Borrowing Found Phrases

Posted in revision, tagged , , , , , on August 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

phrasesEver since I stepped onto the pathway to write a novel, I’ve never stopped reading or listening to stories written by the many talented authors we now enjoy. Whenever I hear a phrase that rings true to my characters or my plotline, I jot them down for possible use in my own story. I can usually picture the exact scene and paragraph in my manuscript where a particular phrase will fit perfectly.

At the various conferences and workshops I’ve attended over the years, several class leaders have advised that this “borrowing” is an accepted practice, and that the original creator of the phrase should be flattered!

However, in the interest of not plagiarizing another author’s efforts, I strive to alter the actual words while keeping the spirit of the phrase intact.  Here are a few examples of recent gems:

“She drew a shaky breath”; “her voice vibrated with rage”; “he eased off the gas pedal”, “she cast a suspicious look”; “he nodded her into a chair”; “she depressed the disconnect button”.

I will continue to listen for other delightful phrases that have potential to transform my story into a more textured and interesting read.

 

 

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Cape Cod Writers Conference

Posted in Agent Review, Conferences, Seminars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 9, 2013| 3 Comments »

group discussion2This week heralded the 51st Anniversary of the Cape Cod Writers Center Conference. Previously hosted in the quaint village of Craigville, last year the conference organizers found it necessary to move to the larger and more attendee-friendly Resort and  Conference Center of Hyannis, Massachusetts. With the growing number of attendees, the need for additional parking and WiFi access became crucial.

The classes offered were top-notch, with instructors from around the country. One of my classes was titled, “Five Pillars of Promotion”, and detailed the actions necessary ahead of publication, along with a timeline to insure that a newly printed book is well received.

Another class was called, “Pitches, Queries, and Proposals”. This workshop was taught by a husband-wife team who entertained us with their friendly disagreements.

My third and final session was named, “Conference Idol”, and was perhaps the most valuable hour I spent this past week. Three agents sat at the front of the room. Each attendee submitted their first page, identified only by title and genre. As the page was read, each agent lifted her hand when she heard something that would cause her to stop reading. When two hands went up, the reader halted her recitation, and the agents explained why they would go no further if this story was submitted to them for consideration. Whether they were commenting on my first page or someone else’s, the insight garnered from the perspective of the agents was invaluable.

As a bonus, one of those agents offered to sit down with me and review my first page word by word. I readily accepted, and she suggested several improvements, among them moving a strong sentence halfway down the page to be the first sentence. What a difference that made! I must have rewritten that first page more than twenty… or more!…times, but I now think it’s finally beginning in the most provocative part of the story.

I’m looking forward to my next conference, held in November, called “CrimeBake’, sponsored by the New England chapter of Sisters in Crime. This conference is devoted to mysteries, and will no doubt be as equally valuable.

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Hook vs. Normal Building

Posted in Agent Review, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 7, 2013| 2 Comments »

sketch of question personOK… so I’ve been wrestling with my opening chapter for what seems like forever. I’ve read many writing craft books. One craft book says the author can’t mess with normal until your reader knows what normal is.

And so I’ve arrived at a quandary… how do I hook my reader [and my first reader is an agent] with the inciting incident and show my main character’s normal life at the same time?

A while ago, I attended an event at a local library called Author Idol, where the 25 authors sitting in the audience had each submitted their anonymous first three pages. The four agents up on stage raised one hand when the reader came to a place where the agent would reject the manuscript. Two agents’ hands in the air signaled the reader to stop. Would it surprise you to hear that most of us didn’t get past the first two paragraphs???

How scary is that???

How perfect does that opening have to be???

What happened to editors???

If an agent is not willing to read at least the first three pages, what hope do I have of ever getting published?

So it’s back to the drawing board. On Saturday, I’ll submit to my writing group yet another attempt at my opening. My fingers are crossed that I’m at least getting closer.

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Malice Domestic Conference

Posted in Conferences, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 9, 2013| 6 Comments »

sketch of question personThis past weekend, I attended the Malice Domestic Conference in Bethesda, MD. Although this mystery gathering is more an opportunity for fans to meet their favorite authors, a writer can also glean valuable information from the various panels.

In addition to author breakfasts, interviews, and the Poison Lady, I chose these panels: When Secrets and Lies Descent into Murder, Mysteries with a Touch of Magic, How Seasons Effect Story, Sleuthing with the Dead, When Music and Painting Lead to Murder, and Cozy in the City.

Carolyn G. Hart, one of my favorite authors who is publishing her 50th novel this year, spoke with me about writing, and not letting anyone try to change my words into their own.

On the other hand, when I asked a panel of published mystery authors when their body drops, here are their answers: first sentence, first chapter, first paragraph, and prologue. Another author on a different panel said it has to drop no later than the last chapter you submit to an agent, which is usually the first three. That beats the crap out of my body drop 1/3 of the way through my story. So now I need to decide whether to tackle a major rewrite and move it forward…sigh.

Not sure I will attend this particular conference until my own novel is published. That could be next year or a decade from now…who’s to know?

 

 

 

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Craft of Writing

Posted in revision, tagged , , , , , , , on December 5, 2012| 4 Comments »

emotion

Traveling this long and interesting road since I decided to try my hand at writing a novel has been a real eye opener. Who knew there was so much involved in putting my story on paper? I respect authors who have written an engrossing story, then managed to find an agent and a publisher. On the other hand, I’m sometimes disappointed with the quality of writing, wondering how a book managed to get published at all.

This brings me to my fear of putting my story out there if it’s not as perfect as I can make it. Fascinating characterization, interesting setting, thoughtful plot line, and control of back story.  I’ve become a great lover of books written to educate a new writer. Most recently, I bought one called “The Emotion Thesaurus”. It  provides a laundry list of examples to write the emotions of your characters without falling into the trap of cliche. As my writing group points out on a regular basis, I sometimes forget to include my protagonist’s emotions, assuming that the reader understands what’s going on in my characters’ heads. Wrongo!

As I’ve been reading through this new how-to book, I’m inspired to go back into my story and find places where the emotional impact of a scene can be more accurately shown…never told!…to make my protagonist more human.

If you have a favorite book about the craft of writing, I’d love to hear about it. Always looking for new volumes to add to my ever-expanding library.

 

 

 

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Online Class

Posted in Online Course, revision, Seminars, tagged , , , , , , on September 3, 2012| 3 Comments »

During the past two weeks, I’ve been participating in an on-line course titled: “Revising Without Getting Sick of Your Manuscript” by Sylvie Kurtz.  The lessons were provided daily via both email and the Yahoo Group website. Each day brought a different aspect of writing fiction:

8-20 – 1.  Introduction

8-21 –  2.  General Outlook

8-22  – 3.  Plot and Structure

8-23 –  4.  Point of View

8-24  – 5.  Scenes

8-25 –  6.  Characters

8-27 –  7.  Dialogue

8-28 –  8.  Backstory

8-29 –  9.  Opening and Endings

8-30 – 10.  Voice, Style, and Details

8-31 – 11.  Conclusion

Sylvie is a fount of knowledge for each topic and provided examples to illustrate the point of each lesson. Her explanations and guidelines were easy to understand. But the best part of it all was her feedback! With her guidance, I now own a respectable pitch that I can send off to agents and publishers.

If you ever have the opportunity to take a course with Sylvie, I highly recommend that you do!

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Too Many Characters

Posted in revision, tagged , , , , on August 1, 2012| 2 Comments »

There’s a dramatic scene toward the end of my novel that begins to resolve the mystery. But I had the hardest time getting this chapter through one of my two writing groups.

The intention was to show frenetic activity as each character stumbled over the others. At first, I had each character’s actions shown in full. Then I tried alternating paragraphs of each characters’ actions to show everything happening at once.

Yesterday, as I went back and forth between the group comments and my subconscious muse, I finally figured out what was sending this scene off on the wrong track.

Too many characters too soon!

And so, I’m busy re-sequencing the timing to bring them into the scene one at a time instead of having all of them there at the beginning. One character finishes before another one enters to interact and move the story along. It seems to be flowing much better. Such a relief.

But wait! I shouldn’t get too excited yet… what if the group still doesn’t think it works???

 

 

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The Dastardly Beginning

Posted in revision, tagged , , , , , , , on July 4, 2012| 2 Comments »

I’ve been fighting with my opening scene for quite some time now.

First is the opening sentence… how to come up with those clever words to convey not only the necessary hook, but have the thought connect indelibly to the plot?

And then there are those opening paragraphs and the scene itself. An agent recently told me that beginning with a phone call was not interesting enough, so I’ve moved it to my character’s arrival at the music shop, where the inciting incident happens. But in those first few pages, I also need to introduce my protagonist, set the scene, and connect what’s happening to her story-worthy problem, even if she doesn’t know what it is yet. And all without a lot of back story… my personal downfall.

A tall order? You bet! I’ve managed to arrive at the inciting incident by the end of page 6, but I’m thinking that’s still not soon enough.

And so, I will continue to massage the words on the page until it reads as succinctly as I can make it.

Will I ever have a manuscript worthy of submitting to an agent or publisher? Good question.

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Is it ever really finished?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on April 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I key-stroked “The End” on my first mystery months ago, but continue to revise, revise, revise. Sending chapters through two different writing groups always elicits valid comments. Although the story reads easily with active verbs and definitive description, there might be a glitch with a chunk of dialogue or a mis-match of logic to previous clues. It all needs attention.

And so I’m nervous about sending a query to a publisher who requires that my novel be finished and POLISHED. Will my story ever REALLY be polished enough to submit? I’ve heard it said that we could revise our story forever if we choose to do so. At what point do we stop? I suppose the fall-back position is that even if I think it’s done, my agent–if I ever find one–and the editor at the publishing house—if they ever hold my manuscript in their hands–will have their own ideas about sections that need revision.

Actually, to put a little pressure on myself to finish the first novel, I have begun my second. Not very far in, but I know who is done-in, and who-done-it. The inciting incident has been established. I’m wrestling with the reason behind the crime. Several possibilities are floating around in my head. I just have to pick the one that seems most logical and can be justified to a degree that is believable.

Well, that’s enough moaning and groaning for this morning.

 

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