I’m going to speak here now like I know what I’m talking about, and I suppose I know just enough to be dangerous, but the point of this post is to put forth a question. When it comes to suggested revisions, how long do you stick to your guns . . . and when is it time to give in?
I’m discovering that revisions are a necessary evil for a writer. For me, it seems like I’m always nibbling away at my novel. Continually changing a word here, description there, or moving a paragraph to achieve a stronger impact. But those aren’t the type of revisions I want to discuss today. I want to focus on those significant alterations that substantially re-define the premise of your book. These types of recommended changes can come from numerous sources. They can be self-induced, brought on by your own re-imagining of a plot line, character motivation, or one of a hundred other reasons. Input from a critique group is another basis for making radical changes. Yet another, and one that is on my mind right now, are those suggested by a prospective agent.
I have read that it is not uncommon for agents to send back a manuscript, declining representation, but offering to reconsider their position if certain revisions are made. What do you do if this happens to you? Let’s make it even more difficult by saying you don’t really agree with the recommended changes, even though you can see where it might make the book more marketable. Do you move on to querying the next agent on your list, hopeful that he/she will like your book as it is? Or are you just thrilled that you received a response back at all, and dive head first into making the changes. If the agent still passes on your manuscript, even after making the requested changes, which version of the book do you query then?
How willing are you to compromise the integrity of your book in order to make it commercial?
Does that sound too cynical? After all, the goal is to be published, isn’t it? And publishers (and therefore agents) won’t touch a book unless they believe they can make money with it. I wonder though, how often does the aspiring author give-in and revise their books too soon.
So I’m curious. Would you consider making revisions to your manuscript you’re not 100% comfortable with?
Tickle Me
I really wanted to think of a way that I could give back to this community I’ve become a part of these past six months. But I’m just an ordinary writer with tall aspirations. I can’t offer marketing advice like Shelli does at Market My Words. I’m unable to supply query guidance like Bethany & Suzette do over at Shooting Stars, or even absorbing author interviews like Sia McKye’s Thoughts…OVER COFFEE. What can I put forward? How can I help?
The answer I came up with is both perfect in its heartfelt offering, and its uncomplicated delivery.
We’ve all experienced one of those days. A day where anything that can go wrong…does. All of the negative energy in the cosmos has seemingly coalesced around you, spinning and swirling, causing you to get up from the wrong side of the bed. The vortex continues on to create a black hole that pulls in criticism, insults, sarcasm, rebukes, rejection, and even worse, anonymity. If we’re lucky it soon passes, moving on to the next unsuspecting soul. But there are rare cases where it last for days, weeks, even months. Its affect on our psyche, although temporary, is profound.
God knows I’ve experienced my share of those days. Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot more since I made a commitment to becoming a published writer. But when I find myself in the throes of depression brought on by a ‘bad day’, I remember a conversation my wife had with our son Boo. She was working in her office, I was in the kitchen making a sandwich, when our son (age 7 at the time) came into the room and stood beside her. He remained there silently for a minute, watching her type at her keyboard, and then --
"Mom"
"Yes"
"Can you tickle me?"
She stopped what she was doing and turned to face him. "What for?"
"I want to laugh"
The simplicity of his request brought a smile to my face. It was so straight-forward and innocent.
So I'm taking a hint from my son and offering the following to anyone reading this. Take a post-it-note and write this e-mail address on it (tbone.don@gmail.com), along with two other words. Take the note and stick it on your monitor or somewhere else close to where you write. If you ever find yourself in the midst of one of those days and you’re desperately searching for way to lighten things up… find that note and send an email to that address. In the subject line you’ll type the other two words from the note . . . TICKLE ME.
I’ll respond as quickly as I can with a joke, story, or maybe even an amusing limric (all PG-13). No probing questions. No meddlesome inquiries (although I’m a good listener/reader if you do want to spew). No strings attached.
Someday I hope to be able to provide more. Maybe it will be advice, counsel, guidance, or even inspiration.
For now all I can offer is … a giggle and a smile.
The answer I came up with is both perfect in its heartfelt offering, and its uncomplicated delivery.
We’ve all experienced one of those days. A day where anything that can go wrong…does. All of the negative energy in the cosmos has seemingly coalesced around you, spinning and swirling, causing you to get up from the wrong side of the bed. The vortex continues on to create a black hole that pulls in criticism, insults, sarcasm, rebukes, rejection, and even worse, anonymity. If we’re lucky it soon passes, moving on to the next unsuspecting soul. But there are rare cases where it last for days, weeks, even months. Its affect on our psyche, although temporary, is profound.
God knows I’ve experienced my share of those days. Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot more since I made a commitment to becoming a published writer. But when I find myself in the throes of depression brought on by a ‘bad day’, I remember a conversation my wife had with our son Boo. She was working in her office, I was in the kitchen making a sandwich, when our son (age 7 at the time) came into the room and stood beside her. He remained there silently for a minute, watching her type at her keyboard, and then --
"Mom"
"Yes"
"Can you tickle me?"
She stopped what she was doing and turned to face him. "What for?"
"I want to laugh"
The simplicity of his request brought a smile to my face. It was so straight-forward and innocent.
So I'm taking a hint from my son and offering the following to anyone reading this. Take a post-it-note and write this e-mail address on it (tbone.don@gmail.com), along with two other words. Take the note and stick it on your monitor or somewhere else close to where you write. If you ever find yourself in the midst of one of those days and you’re desperately searching for way to lighten things up… find that note and send an email to that address. In the subject line you’ll type the other two words from the note . . . TICKLE ME.
I’ll respond as quickly as I can with a joke, story, or maybe even an amusing limric (all PG-13). No probing questions. No meddlesome inquiries (although I’m a good listener/reader if you do want to spew). No strings attached.
Someday I hope to be able to provide more. Maybe it will be advice, counsel, guidance, or even inspiration.
For now all I can offer is … a giggle and a smile.
Chicken or the …Blog?
I was thinking about this blog the other day, mapping out possible strategies for luring enticing more followers, and I started ruminating about its origins. It’s kind of an interesting story. Wanna hear it? Of course you do (like you have a choice).
I’ve been technically “blogging” since long before I had an official blog. I played around with the concept on Myspace five or six years ago and became enamored with exploring my creative side. The only thing I had written for fun before then, dating all the way back to my high school days, was our families annual Christmas letter. I do write a lot where I work, but those are technical journals and procedure manuals, so the opportunity to create something with some personality appealed to me. Mostly what I wrote was tiny slice of life episodes mixed in with the occasional fiction, posting maybe once a month. You can say I cut my blogging teeth on Myspace.
After a couple of years I migrated to Facebook because most of my friends and family were coming on-board there. I was still posting very infrequently, but I found the mechanics of blogging inside the Facebook conglomerate too cumbersome. I began to search for a way to make the process easier.
One of my earlier posts, way back during the Myspace phase, was my reminiscing of a road-trip with a group of my buddies to Panama City, Florida, during a college break. When I wrote that story I had already begun expanding my creative endeavors to include composing a few short stories. I took the seed from that road-trip post and decided to turn it into something fictional. What I created ended up being closer to a novella at 40 pages in length. My wife loved the story (she’s the only person that’s read the original novella) and more importantly, I was on-fire more than ever with an unquenchable desire to continue writing. I was like a man who had just dined on Chinese food, hungry again just a short time later.
I had to find something else to write about, and fast! I stared at the pages of the story I had just finished and asked myself, “What if I took my 40 page novella . . . and turned it into a book?” The more I considered the idea, the more the fear of attempting such a huge feat lost its grip on me. Besides, if I set a goal to produce a 300 page novel, I already had 13% of it written.
So off I went writing my first novel. The main character was a middle-aged widower with two grown children whose only claim to fame was a semi-popular blog he authored. When I set about assigning a name to his blog, I thought long and hard until I finally came up with Cruising Altitude. I don’t really remember where the idea came from, I just fancied the feeling it conveyed.
I finished the book (Slow Dancer), stuck it on a shelf for reasons discussed here, and moved onto my second novel.
Now during this point in time I’m still pseudo-blogging on Facebook and I decide it’s time for me to step out and create a real blog. Although it would serve a lot of purposes, its primary focus would be to document my path to published author...or dejected wannabe. A lot of the blogs I followed on a daily basis used Blogger as their tool of choice, so I figure why not me too. There I was, poised to create my official blog, and I get stuck on the very first question.
What do I want to name it?
I contemplate this for a time, then I’m struck with a thought – why not use the same name as the blog in my first book? It could be kind of cool. If I ever do get published and my passionate readers decide to Google the blogs name to see if it’s real . . . ‘lo and behold . . . they’d be delivered to the author’s (me) personal blog. Cruising Altitude would be the name!
I created the blog in January 2009 , but I didn’t really get serious about using it to promote my writing until August. I currently have 34 followers (38 when you include the links to Facebook) and 1153+ site hits (probably 1100 of those are me checking to see how many visitors I've registered). Fledgling, I know. But it’s young and has yet to stretch its legs. Give it time.
That’s my story of a blog that was fiction, before it became reality. Or is it the other way around?
What's the story behind your blog?
I’ve been technically “blogging” since long before I had an official blog. I played around with the concept on Myspace five or six years ago and became enamored with exploring my creative side. The only thing I had written for fun before then, dating all the way back to my high school days, was our families annual Christmas letter. I do write a lot where I work, but those are technical journals and procedure manuals, so the opportunity to create something with some personality appealed to me. Mostly what I wrote was tiny slice of life episodes mixed in with the occasional fiction, posting maybe once a month. You can say I cut my blogging teeth on Myspace.
After a couple of years I migrated to Facebook because most of my friends and family were coming on-board there. I was still posting very infrequently, but I found the mechanics of blogging inside the Facebook conglomerate too cumbersome. I began to search for a way to make the process easier.
One of my earlier posts, way back during the Myspace phase, was my reminiscing of a road-trip with a group of my buddies to Panama City, Florida, during a college break. When I wrote that story I had already begun expanding my creative endeavors to include composing a few short stories. I took the seed from that road-trip post and decided to turn it into something fictional. What I created ended up being closer to a novella at 40 pages in length. My wife loved the story (she’s the only person that’s read the original novella) and more importantly, I was on-fire more than ever with an unquenchable desire to continue writing. I was like a man who had just dined on Chinese food, hungry again just a short time later.
I had to find something else to write about, and fast! I stared at the pages of the story I had just finished and asked myself, “What if I took my 40 page novella . . . and turned it into a book?” The more I considered the idea, the more the fear of attempting such a huge feat lost its grip on me. Besides, if I set a goal to produce a 300 page novel, I already had 13% of it written.
So off I went writing my first novel. The main character was a middle-aged widower with two grown children whose only claim to fame was a semi-popular blog he authored. When I set about assigning a name to his blog, I thought long and hard until I finally came up with Cruising Altitude. I don’t really remember where the idea came from, I just fancied the feeling it conveyed.
I finished the book (Slow Dancer), stuck it on a shelf for reasons discussed here, and moved onto my second novel.
Now during this point in time I’m still pseudo-blogging on Facebook and I decide it’s time for me to step out and create a real blog. Although it would serve a lot of purposes, its primary focus would be to document my path to published author...or dejected wannabe. A lot of the blogs I followed on a daily basis used Blogger as their tool of choice, so I figure why not me too. There I was, poised to create my official blog, and I get stuck on the very first question.
What do I want to name it?
I contemplate this for a time, then I’m struck with a thought – why not use the same name as the blog in my first book? It could be kind of cool. If I ever do get published and my passionate readers decide to Google the blogs name to see if it’s real . . . ‘lo and behold . . . they’d be delivered to the author’s (me) personal blog. Cruising Altitude would be the name!
I created the blog in January 2009 , but I didn’t really get serious about using it to promote my writing until August. I currently have 34 followers (38 when you include the links to Facebook) and 1153+ site hits (probably 1100 of those are me checking to see how many visitors I've registered). Fledgling, I know. But it’s young and has yet to stretch its legs. Give it time.
That’s my story of a blog that was fiction, before it became reality. Or is it the other way around?
What's the story behind your blog?
We interrupt this blogcast...
So Bethany and Suzette are having a contest. Who are they and why should I care, you ask. First, they are awesome sisters who happen to be authors and share a blog. You don't have to be an aspiring writer to enjoy what they blog about, but if you are there is lots to interest you.
The winner(s) of the contest I mentioned can recieve a query critique, first five page critique, or a signed book from a new author. I'm shooting for a query critique. All you have to do to enter is write a blog post about the contest. That's easy . . . done. You can also increase your changes of winning by tweeting about it as well as linking your facebook page to their blog. I can do that! There may have been something else about relinquishing a first born child somewhere in the fine print, but I'm too psyched to care.
Both Bethany and Suzette are also contributing writers to the QueryTracker blog. Listen to what they have to say, they know what they're talking about.
Crap . . . I almost updated without copying a link to their blog. What a boob!
Here you go:
http://suzettesaxton.blogspot.com/2010/01/suzette-and-bethanys-wicked-awesome.html
The winner(s) of the contest I mentioned can recieve a query critique, first five page critique, or a signed book from a new author. I'm shooting for a query critique. All you have to do to enter is write a blog post about the contest. That's easy . . . done. You can also increase your changes of winning by tweeting about it as well as linking your facebook page to their blog. I can do that! There may have been something else about relinquishing a first born child somewhere in the fine print, but I'm too psyched to care.
Both Bethany and Suzette are also contributing writers to the QueryTracker blog. Listen to what they have to say, they know what they're talking about.
Crap . . . I almost updated without copying a link to their blog. What a boob!
Here you go:
http://suzettesaxton.blogspot.com/2010/01/suzette-and-bethanys-wicked-awesome.html
Resolute
Second verse . . . same as the first.
Let’s face it, for most of us it’s not like we sit down and dream up these wild pledges to ourselves at the first of the year. They get re-cycled from year to year or from points within the year. At least that’s the way it is for me. The changes I contemplate are either on-going struggles or transformations I’ve abandoned or neglected already. Shrink our bodies (Lose weight . . . eat healthier . . . exercise more). Expand our brains (read more . . . write more . . . take a class). Invigorate our being (be a better person . . . listen to others . . . strive to become more involved). What this time of year offers is simply a new starting line.
What’s different . . . and the key to realizing these desired changes . . . has to be our resolve. The obstacles, lying in wait to trip us up, are numerous. Expect them. Plan for them. Fortify yourself by remembering that stumbling across one does not end the journey. That’s what life is all about, overcoming barriers. I see far too many people every year who give up on themselves because of one simple slip. Sometimes I think that they secretly welcome it, using their perceived failure to escape the burden of trying. But if they just saw for what it is, a setback, one that they could have even anticipated, then they wouldn’t have to settle for “maybe next year”.
Enough of the soapbox. What am I personally going to stop spinning my wheels over? Thirty pounds – gone. I’ve done it before and I’m at that age where letting it creep back on isn’t an option. I’m also going to come out of my shell more. This one will be much more difficult. I’ll have years of introversion working against me, but I’m up for a challenge. Just expect plenty of awkwardness . . . and goofy smiles.
From a writing perspective, I’m going to stop dicking around and see if I have what it takes to be published this year. My novel is almost at the point where I’m confident enough to send out query letters, and I’m going to stop looking for excuses to put it off. As a preamble I’m going to grow this blog. How do I do that? Not by pulling in followers by offering contests or give-a-ways (although I’m not saying I’ll totally against that), but rather by being entertaining and having interesting things to say. There is hundreds of aspiring author blogs out here, all documenting their own quest for publication, and if I can’t stand out amongst them then what hope can I have of achieving my own dream?
So 2010 officially starts Monday (no self-respecting college football fan can start a diet during bowl season) and so does my new attitude. A resolute one.
Let’s go!
Let’s face it, for most of us it’s not like we sit down and dream up these wild pledges to ourselves at the first of the year. They get re-cycled from year to year or from points within the year. At least that’s the way it is for me. The changes I contemplate are either on-going struggles or transformations I’ve abandoned or neglected already. Shrink our bodies (Lose weight . . . eat healthier . . . exercise more). Expand our brains (read more . . . write more . . . take a class). Invigorate our being (be a better person . . . listen to others . . . strive to become more involved). What this time of year offers is simply a new starting line.
What’s different . . . and the key to realizing these desired changes . . . has to be our resolve. The obstacles, lying in wait to trip us up, are numerous. Expect them. Plan for them. Fortify yourself by remembering that stumbling across one does not end the journey. That’s what life is all about, overcoming barriers. I see far too many people every year who give up on themselves because of one simple slip. Sometimes I think that they secretly welcome it, using their perceived failure to escape the burden of trying. But if they just saw for what it is, a setback, one that they could have even anticipated, then they wouldn’t have to settle for “maybe next year”.
Enough of the soapbox. What am I personally going to stop spinning my wheels over? Thirty pounds – gone. I’ve done it before and I’m at that age where letting it creep back on isn’t an option. I’m also going to come out of my shell more. This one will be much more difficult. I’ll have years of introversion working against me, but I’m up for a challenge. Just expect plenty of awkwardness . . . and goofy smiles.
From a writing perspective, I’m going to stop dicking around and see if I have what it takes to be published this year. My novel is almost at the point where I’m confident enough to send out query letters, and I’m going to stop looking for excuses to put it off. As a preamble I’m going to grow this blog. How do I do that? Not by pulling in followers by offering contests or give-a-ways (although I’m not saying I’ll totally against that), but rather by being entertaining and having interesting things to say. There is hundreds of aspiring author blogs out here, all documenting their own quest for publication, and if I can’t stand out amongst them then what hope can I have of achieving my own dream?
So 2010 officially starts Monday (no self-respecting college football fan can start a diet during bowl season) and so does my new attitude. A resolute one.
Let’s go!
