Tuesday, May 3, 2011

UNEXPECTED Progress

Those who visited the Alleyway yesterday know I took the last few days off to participate in a few dance shows and to recover from the exhausting weekend. Missed it? Interested? Scroll below. :) However, being gone for three days has left me with a mountain of emails and to-do's, so I might be a bit scarce this week. TY for understanding.

I wasn't available to give the A-Z Challenge the proper adeu! *Waves, eyes glaze over and a tear trickles down my check* I enjoyed the challenge far more than I thought I would. Giving me a letter to focus my ideas on helped to collect my thoughts more readily and write more concisely. *HOTHEADS!!* 

Before I move on to my Tuesday Progress Report, I must give a huge shout-out to Author Elizabeth Mueller for giving me this:

Too cool!! I'm sure lots of you received it, too. *Round of Applause!*

Just as helpful as the alphabet challenge was for me, so now is the ROW80. Setting goals is important; something I'm constantly pointing out to my kids. And joint-pledging with three other writers has made it that more pleasant and meaningful. Not to mention, I've gained an amazing new CP out of it. :)

Goal #1 ~ I am making serious strides in my rewrite of MARKED BEAUTY. I've even reposted my brand new opening on a separate page.

I'm in the middle of Act II, threading in a new plot twist and discovering even more about my two main leads but also, myself--THE WRITER. I've come leaps and bounds in communicating my thoughts more concisely and recognizing my errors in my first completed manuscript of MB--probably the reasons the three agents in January who pursued the manuscript eventually passed. Editing and structure of ideas. Collectively, each mentioned that I could write and the story was quite unique. I think it was the amount of restructuring and the time it would take which gave them pause.

I've been very sensitive to that, careful what, where, and when I feed the reader back story or internal thought information. I've spread it out, giving crumbs through dialog and ponderings from secondary characters, and even at a few points a piece of a character's internal revelation in hopes to reveal it all at the climax.

I mentioned yesterday that I've had great progress. But I've also had some unexpected interest in my rewrite from one on the original agents who passed. Once I complete my rewrite, said agent would like to take a look at it. *Another round of applause!* But those claps aren't for me. They are for you and all who've stuck by my side in spite of the last few months when I was less than a blossoming flower of enthusiasm. Thank you. I am determined not to disappoint. :)

Goal 2 & 3 ~ Basically, I'm putting plotting and outlining my other three stories on the back burner because of the interest in my rewrite. As far as my picture books, I haven't worked on them but I've been lead to an amazing PB critique group who I can't wait to start working with.

Please take a peek at the three lovelies who are in this ROW80 with me.

Susan's PROGRESS
Margo's PROGRESS
C.Lee's PROGRESS

Do you have WIP PROGRESS to share? 

25 comments:

  1. That's so awesome the agent said she/he'd reconsider your manuscript. Hope you have good news soon.

    I'm plodding through my voice revisions. But I think I've nailed the voice better. I'm pretty busy with work, yard work, school activities, and swimming these next two weeks so I'll just do what I can do. That's all we can do.

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  2. Yay for agent interest! And one of the best ways I've seen the handling of backstory is this: treat it as something precious, to be revealed at just the right point where it will have the maximum impact. Not easy to do, but then none of this is!

    Keep going on the great progress!!

    p.s. the laughing zebra cracks me up. :)

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  3. Congratulations! That's awesone news on a revise and resubmit. Go YOU!!

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  4. Excellent news on the rewrite! Go Sheri!

    And, I have an award for you on my blog. Do pop over when you can.;-))

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  5. Congrats on agent interest! That's so huge!!! Wouldn't expect anything less of your fabulous self!

    I've currently started writing again. It's been a good six months since I've written anything of substance and now I feel my mojo coming back and I'm over the moon!!

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  6. Congrats, girl! You are so gonna make it!

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  7. Row80 sounds like a great challenge! I'm currently editing and writing. I have to keep writing while I edit to keep up my craft as well as prevent insanity. I'm writing a cozy, locked-room mystery now.

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  8. Heading over to read that revised chapter just as soon as I say YAY here! I love the term "threading a new plot twist". I think I mentioned that before but that's what I'm doing too. SOOOOO COOOOOLLLLL about the agent re-interest! I would be so thrilled to have a writer that I've gotten to know more personally get a success story. Keep on, keep on, never give up as Elana says, I am behind you all the way!!! (esp. after that awesome comment you left me today... thank you!)

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  9. Congratulations on your progress! I've learned a lot more about myself as a writer while writing my second book than I ever did with the first one.

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  10. That's great news on MB! Best wishes for continued progress. It's so exciting to see a story come together like that. And doubly exciting if someone has expressed interest in it. Congratulations on that! :D

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  11. Hey that's awesome news! I'd concentrate on the rewrite too if I were you. ;D

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  12. BTW my daughter loves your ribbons on the side she says it looks cool. Congrats on all your success!

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  13. Wow. That is fantastic news! Definitely concentrate on re-write only!

    Ellie Garratt

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  14. That's awesome news! Definitely helps with the motivation during the rewrite! Good luck!

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  15. Congratulations on making it through the challenge. I enjoyed it too. Great news! Focus on the rewrites!

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  16. woo! You did it! Congrats, and wow. You're unstoppable. Go, girls! :o) <3

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  17. That's awesome news about the agent's interest - go you!!! Best of luck with the rewrites, it's great seeing how much you love them :)

    Hugs,

    Rach

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  18. It sounds like this 80 day challenge is really doing good things for you. I'm one of those people that gets shifty when I actually put goals down in writing. The pressure does bad things to me and I end up doing less just to spite it. I know, great huh?

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  19. Congrats on having an agent want to take a second look at your rewrite! Whoo hoo! My fingers are crossed for you. Hard work pays off. ;)

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  20. Hurray for revisions and rewrites and learning curves and growth as an author! (And hurray for the agent who wants another look!) I think you *know* how many revisions it took for Strange Truths to attract an agent offer. And if I learned one thing, it's that the real story and the real writing and the real growth happen in rewrites.

    I'm working on two WIPs simultaneously, and I would never dream of showing either of those first drafts to my agent! Probably not even the second drafts.

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  21. wow, that is wonderful news!

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  22. Good luck with the rewrite. I know you can do it! Just hang in there and keep believin' in yourself.

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  23. Good luck with your rewrite and with that agent! I'm making progress in that I'm starting to plot a new novel - hooray!

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  24. Best of luck! Congrats on the rewrites and agent interest! I'm putting my final rewrites/plot filling for my first novel on hold to finish the end of novel number 2. But what I'm most excited to do is entertain my ideas and outline novel number 3! I think/hope I'm getting better each time! christy ("team 3" crusader)

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  25. Happy to be a new follower! Sounds like you're making amazing progress!

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!SPLAT Your Awesomeness! I'd love to hear from you!

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