You may recall that last year I sent my manuscript to the Cornerstones literary consultancy in London for a review – and received an eighteen page report telling me what was wrong with it. Devastation! But I gave myself some time and, taking on board all that had been said in the report, set about rewriting the story from scratch – keeping to the same basic idea but working on the actual writing style, tightening the plot, focusing on showing not telling, improving the pace, recreating the voice of my main character and improving characterization – and cutting out about 35 000 words, including a whole lot of unnecessary backstory.
A few weeks ago I sent the manuscript back for a second review and last week I had the report.
Shall we say I’m a happy camper? Shall we say I’m truly delighted? Yes, let’s – ‘cos I am! It was a terrifically affirming report, and a tremendous acknowledgement that all the hard work I’ve put in is paying off. The report includes phrases like “…you have real talent and this now a cracking story”, “a book with real potential”, “fast paced and gripping as any thriller could be, and atmospheric too” and, “a very promising novel”.
You have no idea how much that means given how close I was to chucking the story completely and trudging off to the bottom of the garden to eat worms for the remainder of my life. For the first time ever I feel like I am truly on the right track with my writing and as though I’m finally getting somewhere. They do say it takes the average person 10 years to get published… Let’s see, I’m now at year um, er…eight (admittedly five of those eight years was spent being very ill).
All that said, there is still work to be done and while the reader thought the last two thirds of the book worked really well, she’s recommended some changes to the first 50 pages. So that’s what I’ll be doing for the next little while. Which means, I'm afraid to say, that blogging will be taking a backseat yet again. A girl has to get her priorities sorted, you know.
I’m hugely fired up and I really do want to make this novel the best I possibly can. Once I’ve made the changes, I’ll send the manuscript back to Cornerstones and we’ll see where it goes from there. The reality is that few manuscripts are ever perfect, even when they’ve found an agent and publisher. The process is one of continual honing and continual learning, because writing, as much as anything, is a craft that can and must be learned if one is to succeed.
Meanwhile, in case you find yourself with the need to procrastinate (whaddayamean you never procrastinate...!?!) I’ve found a new way of creating stories which you may like to try… Browse through your bookshelves and see if you can create a short short-story using book titles…! Here are some of my attempts...
Sabriel, across the nightingale floor is how I live now. Just listen, the truth about forever proves time stops for no mouse.
Mister Monday, under the brilliance of the moon, Molly Moon's hypnotism and old magic caused the fall of Fergal.
Midnight, the Devil's kiss is parasite positive. Lirael gave a pure swift cry.
