It’s funny how things work out. I finished my manuscript back in April and then set it aside to “simmer” while I started thinking about getting an agent. Every now and then I’d pick up the manuscript, open it to a random location, and read. I did this to give me a bit of an objective eye to my work, and I liked what I read. There were a couple of nits but nothing major – my work was as good, and in some cases better, than anything I’d read commercially.<\/p>\n
Of course my opinion is biased, I’m sure, and some of what I’m up against has been sitting on the NYT “Best Sellers” list, but I remain convinced my writing and my story have what it takes to knock a 450 foot homer.<\/p>\n
After starting a query letter, though, I decided to have another “another set of eyes” look at it, the first chapter in particular. This is the chapter that agents are going to evaluate, so it had to be extra perfect.<\/p>\n
The value of outside input cannot be overstated. There were two transitions that needed some work. As the manuscript developed I went at it with the editing knife and managed to nick a tendon. I had mentioned a character and it got circled as being confusing, as if I were trying to build a sequence of events where no sequence existed. The particular event is important to the story, but it did seem a bit out of place. The solution? Add detail.<\/p>\n
I thought it would be a tough call since the manuscript was up at 91000+ words already, but I managed to keep it under control and bumped the word count only slightly. But boy what a result! Bam! I fleshed out the scene and, true to my style, the reader isn’t going to see it coming. I am charged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s funny how things work out. I finished my manuscript back in April and then set it aside to “simmer” while I started thinking about getting an agent. Every now and then I’d pick up the manuscript, open it to … Continue reading