.jpg)
The time has come. I finished my current WIP, polished it up, wrote a cover letter and synopsis, and sent the query to my editor. Within twenty-four hours (I truly do love how fast The Wild Rose Press is...) she asked for the full and I sent it off to her.
So...now it's time to tackle another project I've put off. Not totally intentionally, I was under a bit of a deadline with the one I just submitted, so that took priority. I need to overhaul another mss. I'd sent this one out and the editor said she liked the story, but it needed some tweaking before it was ready to be published.
Of course I was devistated at first. I thought the story was perfect as it was. Putting some distance between her e-mail and working on the rewrites has been a good thing, however. The short-comings she found in the story are viable ones. Her comments will help me steer the plot in a direction I didn't think to go, but will make a lot of sense for the story-line. It really will make the story a better one overall.
Big chunks of it will need to be cut and rewritten to fit the new outline. My heroine's motivation needs a little revamping in order to make her more consistent. I need to eliminate some repetition.
I have a lot of work ahead of me.
I've made copious notes, printed out the entire mss, and I'm ready to go...
Let the overhaul begin!
Until next time,
Happy Reading!
Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
Go for it, Debra! Knowing what needs fixing is the hard part.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the overhaul, Debra. It's good that you've been able to distance yourself from it for a while, so you can come back to it now with fresh eyes - and enthusiam too!
ReplyDeleteI had to do that with the novel I've just had accepted. It was a complete overhaul of one I wrote about 4 years ago. Had to get rid of a lot of backstory, and add more 'events' to show the developing relationship between the characters. I even moved the whole story from America to the UK!
Thanks, Ana. It was a bit overwhelming at first when she first asked for a rewrite...putting it away for a while really has helped.
ReplyDeletePaula, I'm going to need to make similar changes. I'm keeping some of the backstory since it is the reason behind the heroine's motivation, but I need to use it in a different way.
I kept the backstory but didn't go into it in as much detail, and introduced in bite-sized portion, not all at once (as I'd done in the first version).
ReplyDeleteGood luck! I know you'll end up with another wonderful story.
ReplyDelete