Skip to main content

Falling Into Place

Finally, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Granted the tunnel is really far away. But, I can see the light.


These past two weeks I feel like I've made some progress. I started with my list. I needed to organize my thoughts and lay everything out so that I know what I've done and what I need to do. My work, school, and home life balance have been all out of whack. But somehow, I managed to find some time to stick with a revision schedule and do the work I need to do to submit my revisions to my agent, John.

I've completed two out of four of the things on my list. And that's an accomplishment. I was able through all of the chapters and move up the chapters where my main character Mya meets her Millburn friends. Which forced me to read through a lot of my early chapters and find the moments where the pace of the story can be quickened.

In reading through the story for what feels like the twentieth time I am still seeing places where I can make things better. Going back and reading the story with a different lens afforded me the ability to look at the text with a different perspective. I was able to take into consideration different things like themes, continuity with plot and characters. I also took a closer look at my peripheral characters to make sure they were holding their weight in the story. I made some tough choices and cut out a  supporting character by pushing her more toward the background. I also had to weave in some moments of foreshadowing and connect some plot lines that seemed to appear out of nowhere. This is different than just writing the story out for the first time. This feels more purposeful. I have to be more disciplined as a writer. Not only am I looking at the text as the author of the piece I also have to live inside it as a reader. Asking myself the questions as if I were encountering the work for the first time. This helps me to cut add, and connect the dots that don't seem to make sense.

My characters have lived inside of my head for so long that they've become a part of me. I know them. But I have to make sure that with these revisions people that will read this work will know them too. I want them to feel for them, laugh with them and yell at them if necessary. In order to accomplish this, I have to make sure that word choice tells the story in such a way that it's not only entertaining but meaningful as well with three dimensional non-sterotypical characters.


I also started thinking about writing a forward or my author's note. I'm thinking a lot about the message I want to share or put out into the world. Questions such as:

Why did I write this book?

What am I trying to say to the world?

How is the city of Newark being represented? 

What is the big picture?

Answering those questions will allow me to think about the compendium. Luckily, I have a solid idea of my next steps. Which as of right now involve writing the two new scenes. I'm praying I can get it done this weekend because I'm off on Monday. Once I get this off my plate I can fully focus on digging into what I like to think of as the heart of this work.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Now the Real Work Begins

Photo: Twitter @Jarredamato These books are my inspiration.  Now, I have to admit that I haven't read all of them. In fact, I've only read two of them and yet, I have all of them in my collection. Sitting on top of my bookshelf staring at me, patiently waiting to be cracked open and read. The reason I haven't read these books is well, totally work related. Yea, I blame it all on my job. It sounds really lame, but it is true. I want nothing more than to read and occasionally binge watch This is Us . But well, the way my life and responsibilities are set up... that is just not in the cards. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.  Like I said, these books are my inspiration. Last week we had the pleasure to video chat with Barbara Ganley  @bgblogging. Alan was there too, but Barbara's feedback and input was amazing.  I couldn't write down my notes fast enough. She said so many "quotable" things that I just couldn't keep up. Barbara

Onward

Maybe the hardest part of this process is behind me. Maybe. Or it could be that I'm just over this one very big hurdle. Either way. I'm one step closer to the finish line. And it just so happens that I have two different end goal. The first one is to finish out this semester and earn my Masters degree. The second is to sell my book to a publishing company. It would be really cool if by graduation in May my novel, Misunderstood has already been sold to a publishing company and the announcement has been made in the Rights Report (a place where publishing companies announce newly acquired book deals weekly.) Talk about a full circle moment. I'm going to put it all the way out there in the universe my making this declaration. By the time I walk across the stage in May to earn my diploma, I will have sold my book-- which was started during my time as a graduate student. Okay, so this week was pretty stressful but I made it though. After reading through 328 double-spaced page

Barely Holding On

It's safe to say I don't know what I'm doing. Well maybe I do know, but I'm overwhelmed. I can't seem to find the time to get it all done. I thought I was ahead of the game when I submitted my work to my agent ( I am very aware of every time I say this. I feel like I sound self- important. However, I do have an agent.) Anyway, I sent my work to my agent and I thought, "Whew, glad that's off my plate." via GIPHY Now, didn't think that I was done with my revisions. However, I also didn't think he'd read and respond and critique my new work within a week. He gave me more notes and now I have to go back through my manuscript from the beginning and read it like a reader and a copy editor simultaneously. The problem is where do I get more hours in a day. I haven't had a moment to breathe, let alone think about all that I have to do. My youngest daughter was sick that threw me off my game. Add that to their grueling cheer schedule of pra