polished

Remember it’s the first draft.

/ hemmiemartin / 1 Comment

This should be my mantra, currently, as my WIP is over 58,000 words and I’m suffering with fluctuating emotions.
I read a wonderful quote on Twitter – I forget from who, but if it’s you, please let me know – that reads, “a novel is not written, but rewritten”- repeat after me….
It is so easy to forget, as one ploughs along, writing from the brain and heart. As has been mentioned by numerous people, it’s easier to edit words that are on the page/screen, than have no words to edit at all.

I have to periodically remind myself, that to get  Attic of the Mind  to the standard I felt worthy of sending out, it took five rewrites, plus a final polishing. Hence, I should realise that my current WIP is a long way from being the polished article I would be happy to send out.

There is a tendency to believe that others around one are writing better – faster – more wisely than oneself, but we all have moments of word-freeze and self-doubt – it goes with the territory. Far better to remember that everyone has to work and rework a story before it becomes the novel worthy of belief.

Sometimes, it is wise to let the words flow, regardless of their ugliness or redundancy. The more one reads and writes, the more the mind will register relevant words and ideas that will produce the rich text that forms the intricate plot line.

Never give up – the first draft is what it is – the first draft.

Happy Word Flow One & All

The rush to find an agent.

/ hemmiemartin / 2 Comments

Hindsight is a marvellous phenomenon which we are all blessed with when it’s too late.
Last year, I sent Attic of the Mind  out to a few agents, but without success except for one partial request.
Six months later, I re-read the ms and discovered that it still wasn’t polished to my liking. I had to remove paragraphs that were leading nowhere, and chop around the structure in places to improve the flow and pace. After a fifth rewrite I felt a warm glow about the result – ah – that warm glow feeling we so seek.

I am, however, someone who learns from mistakes – why make them otherwise – and I realised that my synopsis needed a face-lift. @Bubblecow (Twitter) talks about the synopsis being a marketing tool – a way to sell oneself. So, seeing it with this in mind, I wrote another one that I believe to be more appealing, snappy and attention grabbing – I hope.

I have read more about the Kindle and ebooks – as this may be forward for me – who knows?
Okay – I have tentatively begun the search for an agent – but I’m aware that querying agents can have an addictive undercurrent – so I must tread with caution, and continue to learn from my mistakes.
I feel hopeful about 2011 – let’s hope it doesn’t let me down.

Happy Word Flow One & and All