First, I have to point out that co-worker and published tech author Jim ripped me today for having only three posts before giving up. And so I return for this game, at least for three more posts.
Between July 2, 2008 and September 24, 2008 I contacted 30 or so agents. A handful asked to see the first 50 pages. One even offered several constructive comments. None, however, thought it was the type of project that fit "their list". And that's fine with me, for now.
My first novel, titled BENEFICIARY, was written over two years - 6/8/06 to 6/7/08. The reason I say above that it's fine with me is that only now can I really, honestly see the glaring flaws in my style and structure. The first third of the book, from 2006, might as well have been written by a different author than the final third.
I'd prefer to rewrite most chapters to make it consistent with how I write NOW, very different than how I wrote 2+ years ago. That's a bear of a project though, and quite frankly, feels like jogging in place rather than moving forward.
My second book - for now titled A Hunger - is coming along great. I'd say I'm ~40% done and the goal is to shorten the total time to 12 months. July 2, 2009. Can it be done?
Coming soon: excerpts from both books
2 comments:
Try not to forget Rousseau's admonishment: 'however great a man's natural talent may be, the art of writing cannot be learned all at once.'
Don't give up on editing the initial third of Beneficiary while writing your second book. When getting started, writers tend to fall into a few common traps. For instance, when they get done writing something of substance and length, first time novelists are in such a rush to get their work published that they don't allow themselves the proper time and distance to let their work 'settle' before doing a more sweeping edit of the finished piece as a whole. It's natural that most people who take 2-3 years to write a first or even second novel fall prey to unintended changes in style, tone, tempo, texture and even perspective between the early chapters and the late chapters of their work. That's completely understandable. However, many have a really hard time after completing their book re-immersing themselves back into the work for what I'd call a soup to nuts "consistency" edit.
In fact, I think that this type of holistic consistency edit is really valuable not just because it tightens up the work but also because it tells you alot about what you learned about writing over the time frame it took to complete the work. Of course, the ultimate irony is that a young writer is often most inconsistent in terms of technical polish across the first several chapters of their work - the exact same several chapters that they ship out to agents, editors and publishers.
If your first novel is salvagable (and not just something that in retrospect you chalk up as an overly flawed but helpful product of an important writing exercise), then you shouldn't shy away from putting in a little more time cleaning up the manuscript. But you do have to be honest with yourself about how much time and creative effort that you want to invest in this. If, in retrospect, you think that Beneficiary has real merits to stand on its own some day as a published work of which you can be proud, don't be afraid of taking a turn or two at refining it now! And doing wo while you're working on a new work can provide a much needed change of pace, while also supplying some valuable, relevant and timely lessons learned about creating greater consistency in your newer work while it is still in its first draft.
Good Luck
I really appreciate the suggestions and encouragement. Further fuel for my commitment to the craft. I'm also quite shocked that someone, other than me, is reading and paying attention. Have I taken the first step on an unintended "soft marketing" campaign? Again, thank you for spending the time with me and my thoughts.
I do intend on re-working Beneficiary and I believe it can be for more than just my sympathetic friends and family. I'm an accountant and yearn for order ;) so I think I need to establish "editing time" in addition to my writing time. Where I find said time becomes my next goal.
And now that I think about it, how can a robotic, by-the-book accountant double as a creative writer. Are the halves of my brain waging war on each other? Which will prevail?
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