I want to back up a little bit in my story and give you all a little insight into the writing process as I have seen it progress. Initially, I was encouraged by my wife and Stephenie Meyers of all people to just write a story. I had begun a few screenplays and worked on some other ideas for stories, but had never really taken them seriously. Let’s just say I had really boring jobs and wanted something to do while I waited for my next project. Stephenie taught me one thing which I’ll be grateful for; you don’t have to write like some scholarly dude from the 1800’s, or fill the pages with lavish details for a book to be good. Simple details, that keep the story moving forward was something I felt she’s good at.
With my story well underway I started reading a lot more than I had in a while. Writing gave me a renewed excitement about reading. With all this new inspiration flowing through my veins I changed my idea about my book. See, at first I just wanted to complete it. I didn’t really care if it was good, I really just wanted to say I started something, and completed it. But, a friend who read my first chapter realized I needed help and told me to check into a few books that could help with my writing. Honestly, I don’t remember which books he suggested, but I went to the library and checked out, ‘A Complete Idiots Guide to Writing a Novel.’ I don’t remember the author off hand, but it was amazing, the book gave me so much more information. I read it each day, and was inspired to not only complete my book, but make it really good. I checked out a few more books on the subject, and the more I read, the more inspired I got. The second book I read was called ‘Revision and Self-Editing,’ by James Scott Bell. If you’re a budding writer, or an expert I suggest reading both books, buy copies, and review them from time to time.
Even with this new knowledge, I still needed help and honestly still do. I turned to a friend to read my first finished draft. I’d like to say his input was good, but I think he got bored with my misspellings and gave up. This didn’t shake me up though, because another friend stepped up to the plate and helped review it. His input was much better and he actually finished it, and I thought… now I’m done. Nope, this was I believe the third revision, but the book still needed help. I talked a friend who loves reading, and asked about punctuation, because I knew I still needed help in that area. Still to this day, I don’t think anyone has really defined the rules and stuck to them. I digress. So, I ended up taking another pass at my novel, which meant starting from chapter one, and going all the way to the end, again.
My mom kept mentioning wanting to read my book, and I didn’t want her to have to wait until it got published, so I sent her a few chapters at a time and she’s actually been really helpful in finding things that I missed. I’ve now decided it’ll never be perfect, but if the majority is good, and the story is interesting a publisher will edit it, and possibly want more revisions. That is not to say I haven’t worked my butt off to get it the best I can I just know that even if it’s perfect someone will see things I never could. It’s all about making it better.
So, I believe this gets us up to date. Next week, if all goes well, I will send out my first query letter. After finding out Kathryn Stockett who wrote ‘The Help,’ had 60 agents turn her down before finding one that would work with her, I’m prepared for the rejections.
If I’m blessed enough to find one quickly, than thank God, if not, I just hope that with every failure, or rejection I can just become a better writer, and guess what, I’ll still thank God.
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