Digging deeper than ever into my revision
It's amazing how deep you can really dig into a manuscript and how parts that seemed to work from the beginning suddenly aren't strong enough. It's a long, hard process...but it's also really fun, too. I love learning new things about my characters, and often get up and happy dance around my office when I make a breakthrough.
I sent Mom Wars to three wonderful beta readers right before I went on vacation with my family. Even though I thought about my novel a lot, I only worked on picture books and critiques while I was away for ten days.
Here are photos of my girls hanging out with their grandpa (who they haven't seen in way too long because we haven't been to NY in years) and the unusual band that played next to us at Jekyll and Hyde (one of our favorite restaurants in NYC).
I found out that Mom Wars is great...but it could be even better. So I dug in deeper than ever because I'm determined to make it knock-your-socks-off fantastic. The feedback was incredibly helpful (thanks again a million times over, awesome beta readers), and the time I spent away from my novel helped me see it in a new way. Sometimes I zoom through areas, immediately knowing how to make them stronger. Other times, I get stuck on a paragraph or two for more than a day. But I'm constantly moving forward, and loving every minute of this revision.
I'm planning to make Mom Wars as strong as possible, get a little more feedback, and hope to find out that it's bullet proof enough to send. It's hard to hold back sometimes--it's been quite a while since I've submitted anything. But it's exciting to know that I'll have a really strong and totally unshopped middle-grade novel to send out soon. I have a feeling you'll all hear me celebrating when I finally hit the send button!
I'll take a short break to dedicate some quality time to the picture books I've been neglecting, then roll up my sleeves and get ready to tackle revisions on the MG I wrote in November--My Sister is NOT Human. I've missed working on it, and can't wait!
I usually write the first draft of my novels during NaNoWriMo (sometimes in as short as 11 days). Then, I send it in chunks to my critique groups as I revise. I do at least several full rounds of revision, interview my characters, and dig as deep as possible. I also try to bring each manuscript to at least one workshop or intensive. When it's as strong as possible. I send it out to a few betas, revise, revise, revise. Then I try to have at least one or two fresh eyes to make sure I've done everything possible to whip a manuscript into shape before sending it out. How do you usually work on revisions?
I sent Mom Wars to three wonderful beta readers right before I went on vacation with my family. Even though I thought about my novel a lot, I only worked on picture books and critiques while I was away for ten days.
Here are photos of my girls hanging out with their grandpa (who they haven't seen in way too long because we haven't been to NY in years) and the unusual band that played next to us at Jekyll and Hyde (one of our favorite restaurants in NYC).
I found out that Mom Wars is great...but it could be even better. So I dug in deeper than ever because I'm determined to make it knock-your-socks-off fantastic. The feedback was incredibly helpful (thanks again a million times over, awesome beta readers), and the time I spent away from my novel helped me see it in a new way. Sometimes I zoom through areas, immediately knowing how to make them stronger. Other times, I get stuck on a paragraph or two for more than a day. But I'm constantly moving forward, and loving every minute of this revision.
I'm planning to make Mom Wars as strong as possible, get a little more feedback, and hope to find out that it's bullet proof enough to send. It's hard to hold back sometimes--it's been quite a while since I've submitted anything. But it's exciting to know that I'll have a really strong and totally unshopped middle-grade novel to send out soon. I have a feeling you'll all hear me celebrating when I finally hit the send button!
I'll take a short break to dedicate some quality time to the picture books I've been neglecting, then roll up my sleeves and get ready to tackle revisions on the MG I wrote in November--My Sister is NOT Human. I've missed working on it, and can't wait!
I usually write the first draft of my novels during NaNoWriMo (sometimes in as short as 11 days). Then, I send it in chunks to my critique groups as I revise. I do at least several full rounds of revision, interview my characters, and dig as deep as possible. I also try to bring each manuscript to at least one workshop or intensive. When it's as strong as possible. I send it out to a few betas, revise, revise, revise. Then I try to have at least one or two fresh eyes to make sure I've done everything possible to whip a manuscript into shape before sending it out. How do you usually work on revisions?