Wow ... it's been a long time since I've been here! Almost two years, is that right?
Well, the manuscript I was working on back then has become my "resting in a drawer" ms. I'd always heard that the first ms is often squirreled away, never to see the light of day, and it turns out to be true in my case.
In the end, the story didn't work. I tried to force characters into situations that didn't fit them, and the story ended up being dated and contrived.
Two agents read the whole thing: one read a very early (and I'm sure, truly awful) manuscript, and the second read the last version. She had some good things to say, but it was mostly bad news, and so I put it to bed.
One agent read a partial, and his main comment that stuck with me was that I tend to tell rather than show.
Ugh. I hate that.
But I do see it in all of my first drafts. I've discussed this with my writer friends. I tend to write down the scene as I picture it playing in my head, so a first draft of a scene is TEDIOUS with detail.
She stands up.
She walks over to wear he's sitting.
She puts one hand on her hip and says, ....
BOOOOORING!
All that crap usually gets slashed during editing/rewriting.
I learned SO MUCH with that first ms.
This second one should be much, much better.
The second one is a genre I'd never thought I'd write: young adult. In between the first and this second complete ms, I toyed around with another story that never went anywhere. I had intended it to be another women's fiction, but the characters' voices felt very young to me.
So ... I changed gears. The characters in my new story are in high school/early college.
And it's kind of romance-y. I'm not sure I can call it a full-on "YA romance" but it has a romantic bent.
I officially typed the first draft's last words late last night.
I actually sat there in front of my computer for a couple of minutes, staring at the screen and wondering if I actually just completed it.
I did. :)
And now, I have lots of work ahead of me: editing, rewriting and agent research.
Of course, I'll query the agents who requested my ms in the past, assuming they represent YA.
But other than that, I have to start my agent list from scratch.
As for editing: I really need to look at my female lead's story ... I fear she's missing some tension, or maybe the tension that is there is resolved somewhat undramatically.
So, anyway ... I'm excited to have another ms finished. I've ridden the "Wow, I have some talent/Ugh, I'm a complete hack" roller coaster throughout the draft, and I'm sure I'll continue the ride during the editing process.
We'll see what happens ...
