Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Pride Cometh Before a Fall


OK, not so much pride, and not so much a fall either.

I have a couple of published authors reading Finding Angel for possible endorsement. I won't tell you who they are until I get the official go-ahead from them, but I will tell you some of the feedback I've gotten.

One author has told me she is finding it very suspenseful. She hasn't gone into specifics, but she seems really enthusiastic.

The other author is a bit more pragmatic. Her comments have been things like, "This is great! But, you've got some extra wording that can be shaved down." I as much as admitted that in my last post. The difference is this author has thrown a new light on specifically which words/phrases to trim.

I know to stay away from passive voice and all the other traditional no-nos. But she's pointed out some unnecessary explaining I've included, and I agree with her. So, the word count is shrinking. I still do not believe Finding Angel will drop to the "recommended" 80,000 words for Young Adult. But, I may be able to shave it to under 100,000.

She has also said things like, "I really want this to succeed." And, "This is so close."

The thing is, I still believe in my story, and my writing. Yes, I still believe it is good. I still believe it has been submission-ready, that a publisher who actually read the writing and not my query only might have said, as the aforementioned author did, that all that's required is cutting away a few extraneous words and phrases to give it that final gleam.

As I said, not so much pride and a fall, but rather posting about arrogance and then coming back to say, "Well, one more polish."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome. I can't tell you how much beta readers and crit partners have helped my stories. And mostly it was, "You need to cut here, don't need this. Over-writing here." They really helped trim up my writing.

Write on, my friend!

Anonymous said...

Hey! I stumbled onto your blog via a few other writing friends' blogs, and thought I'd take a look around.
I really like your confidence--that's something a lot of people lack. Having the ability to say, "Hey, it's not perfect, but it's still great!" is wonderful.
I hope your roads lead you to publication. I will look for your name in the YA section!
I, too, am an aspiring author. I've begun querying my first YA novel this month, so I know how all of this feels! Good luck!
You've earned yourself a new follower. :)

<a href="http://documentingimagination.blogspot.com/> Put it on Paper </a>