Leap of Faith
Writing is a lot of fun. It's a lot of work, too, mind you, but it is fun. For the last year I've enjoyed my first attempts at the novel form, my first real attempts at fiction. Thank goodness I didn't show any of my early efforts to anyone, though. Even after so little time I can tell they're drivel. Perhaps useful drivel -- I wouldn't mind pulling out a couple of key scenes for use somewhere else -- but drivel nonetheless. Not fit for human consumption.
But I reached a point where I realized I was working in a vacuum and wasn't moving forward. There really was nothing else for it: Time to take the leap and show my copy to someone else.
Easy enough to think about, but actually doing it? That's hard! Even choosing who to share my early drafts with has not been an easy decision. In the end I decided to share them with someone I'e done copy editing for, myself. They've had enough exposure to the sharp pointy end of my editing pen to have plenty of reason to draw their own with vengeance in mind. And so they did! When I got my first draft of the opening chapter back from them, it was fairly dripping with red and whimpering!
But for all that some wondrous things came out of it. Among other things, they actually liked it. They liked the characters. They liked the opening scene. They liked where the story was going, and even said they'd read the next chapter. They also gave me countless suggestions for changes, countless notations on where they were confused, where they lost interest, where the action had stalled, etc. I edited. I revised. I rewrote. And I handed them another draft that came back a little less beat up, a little less messy. And at the very end, wonder of wonders, the notation, "Well written."
Reading back through that revised draft, they may be right. I certainly can't say the earlier drafts were well written. Before incorporating their feedback it was anything but well written. And I know there are many hurdles yet to be leaped before it's ready to submit to a publisher. But I can see that happening now. I'm in the process of revising the second chapter for their review, and am writing the third one. I can't wait!
-- Pencil
But I reached a point where I realized I was working in a vacuum and wasn't moving forward. There really was nothing else for it: Time to take the leap and show my copy to someone else.
Easy enough to think about, but actually doing it? That's hard! Even choosing who to share my early drafts with has not been an easy decision. In the end I decided to share them with someone I'e done copy editing for, myself. They've had enough exposure to the sharp pointy end of my editing pen to have plenty of reason to draw their own with vengeance in mind. And so they did! When I got my first draft of the opening chapter back from them, it was fairly dripping with red and whimpering!
But for all that some wondrous things came out of it. Among other things, they actually liked it. They liked the characters. They liked the opening scene. They liked where the story was going, and even said they'd read the next chapter. They also gave me countless suggestions for changes, countless notations on where they were confused, where they lost interest, where the action had stalled, etc. I edited. I revised. I rewrote. And I handed them another draft that came back a little less beat up, a little less messy. And at the very end, wonder of wonders, the notation, "Well written."
Reading back through that revised draft, they may be right. I certainly can't say the earlier drafts were well written. Before incorporating their feedback it was anything but well written. And I know there are many hurdles yet to be leaped before it's ready to submit to a publisher. But I can see that happening now. I'm in the process of revising the second chapter for their review, and am writing the third one. I can't wait!
-- Pencil
posted by pencil at 3:44 PM
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