The Journey Here: 1587263 Drafts Later
Completing a first draft is a huge milestone. If you've never done it before, it's almost unbelievable. To look back and see a whole novel that you wrote, with all these scenes, and events, and characters and things.
Then there's editing.
For most people, I think this is a dreaded step. For me, the only way I was able to finish the draft was to say, "No editing allowed until the full first draft is finished." It was like an itch I was desperate to scratch, and when I finally got the chance to unleash the edit-monster, it was glorious. I plowed right into it. Oh how much I love chewing apart the prose, cutting needless paragraphs, tweaking and pruning and making each chapter shine.
This part of the story is a little blurrier in my memory. I did most of it after school while looking for work, and I think I plowed through so much editing, it's hard to distinguish. I gave each chapter to alpha readers, then rewrote, then asked a writing group about it, then rewrote, and so on and so forth. I made Skype dates with my best two writing buddies. And every time I hit the ending, I had a stack of "Things To Fix" notes ready for restarting at the beginning.
I don't know how many drafts I did. Maybe seven or eight, if you put all the bits and pieces together--it wasn't a very linear process. I eventually hit a point where I felt ready enough to send the MS to beta readers. I'd been looking forward to that step for a long time, because I finally involved reader-friends as opposed to strictly writer-friends. I'd even been planning what I might say in the facebook post for several weeks. The response was very positive, and getting the fresh perspectives was a fun experience. I sent it to about ten people, and six of them read it and got back to me.
Ultimately, there had to be a point where I felt ready to query agents. I'd already been reading Query Shark for a year or two, and written numerous query drafts well ahead of time. There was the issue of writing a synopsis, which was a headache, but didn't take that long. What I really needed was to decide when the MS was ready.
I made a lot of strong improvements after my beta readers gave me feedback. What really helped, honestly, was that I was getting terribly sick of looking at the thing. I couldn't bear to read those chapters again, no matter how much I wanted to polish more. I gave the latest edit to one or two more people to give their stamp of approval, and I started looking up agents. A Google search brought me to the Manuscript Wishlist, and I tentatively looked for the sci-fi/fantasy agents. I distinctly remember opening up the first bio, and getting horrible butterflies in my stomach. He sounds perfect. What he lists as "interested in" is a description of my novel. And another agent, the same thing. Oh man, I love her tastes.
And another, and another, and for the first time, I realized there are tons of agents out there looking for LGBT leads, multiple POVs, non-linear structures, moral gray zones, political intrigue, space opera adventures, strong female characters, and every other thing that I love. Where at first I thought I might only find a handful of prospectives, I realized there was this huge list full of them. And the thought of querying one tied my stomach into knots.
A few days of tweaking query and synopsis went by, and I set up a "practice" outgoing email to format things. Then it occurred to me... why wait? What do I have to gain by waiting? So, in a moment of madness, I snagged the email of an agent who seemed like a poor fit (good for breaking the query ice) and SENT IT OFF. It was night-time, and I had planned to wait until the weekend, but I didn't. I just wrote the email, put the cursor over send, closed my eyes, and clicked. Then shouted to husband, "There! I sent it! I sent a query!"
Which, as we all know, is the first plunge on a hardcore emotional rollercoaster. Much like high school (or vet school!), it's the kind of thing we writers tend to look back on and feel very glad we don't have to do over again.
And here ends my "previously on" story saga, because this is right where I picked up with my 3-post series on querying, and what I went through to get an actual agent.
Then there's editing.
For most people, I think this is a dreaded step. For me, the only way I was able to finish the draft was to say, "No editing allowed until the full first draft is finished." It was like an itch I was desperate to scratch, and when I finally got the chance to unleash the edit-monster, it was glorious. I plowed right into it. Oh how much I love chewing apart the prose, cutting needless paragraphs, tweaking and pruning and making each chapter shine.
This part of the story is a little blurrier in my memory. I did most of it after school while looking for work, and I think I plowed through so much editing, it's hard to distinguish. I gave each chapter to alpha readers, then rewrote, then asked a writing group about it, then rewrote, and so on and so forth. I made Skype dates with my best two writing buddies. And every time I hit the ending, I had a stack of "Things To Fix" notes ready for restarting at the beginning.
I don't know how many drafts I did. Maybe seven or eight, if you put all the bits and pieces together--it wasn't a very linear process. I eventually hit a point where I felt ready enough to send the MS to beta readers. I'd been looking forward to that step for a long time, because I finally involved reader-friends as opposed to strictly writer-friends. I'd even been planning what I might say in the facebook post for several weeks. The response was very positive, and getting the fresh perspectives was a fun experience. I sent it to about ten people, and six of them read it and got back to me.
Ultimately, there had to be a point where I felt ready to query agents. I'd already been reading Query Shark for a year or two, and written numerous query drafts well ahead of time. There was the issue of writing a synopsis, which was a headache, but didn't take that long. What I really needed was to decide when the MS was ready.
I made a lot of strong improvements after my beta readers gave me feedback. What really helped, honestly, was that I was getting terribly sick of looking at the thing. I couldn't bear to read those chapters again, no matter how much I wanted to polish more. I gave the latest edit to one or two more people to give their stamp of approval, and I started looking up agents. A Google search brought me to the Manuscript Wishlist, and I tentatively looked for the sci-fi/fantasy agents. I distinctly remember opening up the first bio, and getting horrible butterflies in my stomach. He sounds perfect. What he lists as "interested in" is a description of my novel. And another agent, the same thing. Oh man, I love her tastes.
And another, and another, and for the first time, I realized there are tons of agents out there looking for LGBT leads, multiple POVs, non-linear structures, moral gray zones, political intrigue, space opera adventures, strong female characters, and every other thing that I love. Where at first I thought I might only find a handful of prospectives, I realized there was this huge list full of them. And the thought of querying one tied my stomach into knots.
A few days of tweaking query and synopsis went by, and I set up a "practice" outgoing email to format things. Then it occurred to me... why wait? What do I have to gain by waiting? So, in a moment of madness, I snagged the email of an agent who seemed like a poor fit (good for breaking the query ice) and SENT IT OFF. It was night-time, and I had planned to wait until the weekend, but I didn't. I just wrote the email, put the cursor over send, closed my eyes, and clicked. Then shouted to husband, "There! I sent it! I sent a query!"
Which, as we all know, is the first plunge on a hardcore emotional rollercoaster. Much like high school (or vet school!), it's the kind of thing we writers tend to look back on and feel very glad we don't have to do over again.
And here ends my "previously on" story saga, because this is right where I picked up with my 3-post series on querying, and what I went through to get an actual agent.
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