On writing, rejection, and Pitch Wars (warning: maudlin)

[lisefrac]

Originally published at Lise Fracalossi. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been writing a lot more lately. You probably noticed.

A funny thing has happened - I’ve turned into one of those people whose happiness seems to be dependent on how well their writing is going. To be fair, I’ve always had a bit of this; it’s just that in the past, there

Comments

[sovay]

(The short stories I have out there, while certainly flawed, are basically to the point where I don’t know what or how to fix - truly they’ve escaped more than being released).

Do you have beta-readers for your short fiction as well as your novels?

I know there are things I would do differently if I were writing this novel today; the beginning probably could benefit from some editing along these lines. Hell, it could be completely rewritten.

Similarly, can you get the sort of feedback that will tell you if it's fear talking or if a rewrite from scratch is necessary?

[lisefrac]

I do have beta readers for my short stories -- I have a ready-made writing group with my VPeeps. The two pieces I'm circulating now have been through two rounds of edits with them. I've made what changes I thought jibed with what I was trying to do, and I've fixed what I know how to fix. In general, though, the readers I have don't provide a lot of "this is how you should fix this" feedback, because we all seem to agree it's of limited usefulness.

Getting beta readers for my novels is actually the harder part. Even getting people to take a peek at the first chapter is hard. On the other end, I have people who read them and love them, but don't provide feedback.

On the other other hand, I've never specifically asked for feedback of the "revise, rewrite, query, or trunk it?" variety.

[sovay]

On the other other hand, I've never specifically asked for feedback of the "revise, rewrite, query, or trunk it?" variety.

I don't think it could hurt. One of my freelance jobs is as a developmental editor and the problems you're describing with Gods & Fathers sound like they're in that field: is there a deep structural issue with this novel that I can't see because I've been writing it for so long/is the pacing of the novel off in ways I don't know how to fix/does it need a complete sentence-level rewrite or is the language basically fine and the ordering of the narrative is the problem/other narrative issues? So if you don't have beta-readers with this skill, there are totally people out there who will do it for you! (Although if you trust your regular beta-readers, I'd start by asking them straight out and see what happens.)

[lisefrac]

I am curious, since while I've heard of developmental editors, I'm not sure in what context they work. Do you do it for a publication, or can anyone hire you?

[sovay]

Do you do it for a publication, or can anyone hire you?

I cannot but imagine that there are developmental editors employed by publishers like any other kind of editor, but I work freelance: I charge $15 per 1000 words and my latest reference would be

[lisefrac]

Oh, I love Yoon's stuff! I just listened to the podcast of "Snakes" earlier this week. Fabulous.

I am somewhat asking, but I mostly didn't want to jump on you ;) That seems like a reasonable rate! I will consider it.

[sovay]

I just listened to the podcast of "Snakes" earlier this week. Fabulous.

Yoon is awesome. I had nothing to do with "Snakes," but it is a great story.

That seems like a reasonable rate! I will consider it.

Of course! Let me know either way.

Even if you don't show it to me, may I ask what the premise for Gods & Fathers is?

[lisefrac]

Sure! Gods and Fathers is my novel about a god-touched prince and his silver-tongued adopted daughter, and what happens when the daughter is "liberated" by birth parents she didn't realize she had. She tries to run away, he tries to find her, gods conspire to get between them, etc. It takes place in a vaguely Indian-inspired fantasy setting, and it has divine word magic, prostitutes who double as priestesses, and sentient apes

[sovay]

It's about 93,000 words, so if I wanted you to review it, I'd really have to decide if I want to invest $1500 for something which I may decide not to salvage. It might just be better to Write the Next Thing (tm).

That's fair enough. If you really just want to write Lioness, you might as well write Lioness. If you think there's something salvageable in Gods & Fathers, it's your call. I am here on LJ no matter what.

[lisefrac]

I'll have to think about that. In any case, I really appreciate you taking the time to reply :) It helps me to feel less like I'm yelling into the void!