Sunday, May 27, 2012

Word Watchers (My MS's Diet Plan)

I know, I know, I promised to post the second part of my querying rant last week...but I got caught on other (less fun) stuff. Exams are coming up, tennis preseason is grueling, clubs need to be wrapped up, newspaper articles need to be planned for next year and new staff must be chosen, church functions have to be taken care of for the summer, piano competitions need to be prepared for, and then there's jazz band concerts and AP homework and summer job forms...gah. I'm tired.

So. I know I promised more about the querying process--and it'll come, hopefully sometime soon. But recently, my agent informed me that I need to cut about 20-25K from my MS...which wasn't a surprise, but it still left me feeling somewhat helpless as I stared at my overweight novel. So today I'd like to talk about the surgery table--the terrifying process of cutting words from the manuscript.

Yes, it's hard. Yes, it makes you want to cry (not that I do, of course. *sniffle*) to slice away words you had invested so much time in. But I've known from the beginning that my novel needed to go on a Word Watchers diet and lose some of that padding...I've just been putting it off, telling myself that, you know, I'd do it later. Eventually.

My agent's exact words to me: "Well, now it's later!"

Me: "Aw, boo."

So...here marks the beginning of a long, painful, unavoidable process of revising once again, only this time, I'm strictly NOT ALLOWED to add words. Seriously. I wrote it in all caps on my whiteboard and everything. This is happenin', guys. (I'm hoping that if I keep telling myself that, it actually will happen. Positive reinforcement. Though, I got up yesterday morning at five to cut, and ended up adding a thousand words instead. But. Thinkpositivethinkpositivethinkpositive).

My posts might be a bit sporadic from now on, though. I was kind of hoping I'd have more time this summer, but after drawing up a Master Calendar (Summer Edition), it looks like between guiding my MS through a Word Watchers diet, working, summer gym, tennis practice, AP Chem/History/Lit homework, SAT/ACT studying...OH, COME ON. I JUST WANT ENOUGH TIME TO SLEEP IN FOR ONE DAY. ONE. IS THAT REALLY TOO MUCH TO ASK?!

Oh! And I almost forgot: I've recently started a new blog with the fabulous Mark O'Brien. Go check it out! forloveofya.blogspot.com


1 comment:

  1. Eep, how you teens maintain such full schedules is beyond me. Do make sure you get enough sleep, though!

    Cutting (especially so much) can be a daunting task, but I know you can do it! Good luck!

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