What an interesting few weeks it has been.
I’ve been the typical sort of busy, finishing summer school exams, starting semester one, going on road-trips to see Bruce Springsteen... exploring New Zealand in my tireless bid to see it all and doing Pilates in the lounge.
But what has really been keeping me busy is Tellan. Whilst writing the second instalment of my epic series this summer I came to the realisation that I was abandoning all of the gruesome parts of being a writer in favour of weaving more stories.
Query,
Synopsis,
Word-count.
If you follow this blog then you know that I have been going back and forth between the second book and the above issues for about a year now. And I keep coming here to complain about it.
I have been a terrible person.
So. Instalment #2 was put on hold yet again, so that I could finally address the above problems with maturity and self-respect before steam-rolling on to make more boo-boos.
I had been clinging to a lot of crap. Holding on to wordy queries and unnecessary literary events in the hope that they might magically become important. I'd told myself that I had editted and it was fine, but deep down I knew that I had big issues to address and I needed to freaking fix them.
Problem #1.
That insatiable demon that is the query. My awful query letter skills leave a lot to be desired. I'd done some research and thought I had something passable, but I’m kicking the word passable from my vocabulary. I needed something better. I hit the internet and found a forum of people who could help, I posted my atrocious query letter, sat back, and watched it get ravaged by some very helpful hyenas....
Reassembling, disassembling, chatting, critiquing, re-reassembling and maybe, just maybe, I am getting somewhere.
This exercise has also taught me how subjective this whole business really is. When you get three critiques that contradict each other and realise that you can’t please everyone. You start to understand that no one is wrong. We just all like different things. So, next time I get a form rejection which says “keep trying, we’re subjective,” I’ll get it. It’s not for you, it’s for someone else.
(Hopefully the next rejection will be more about subjectivity that my extraordinarily poor query-letter skills. Because it was s**t. And I am so glad that I was finally able to get some perspective on that.)
I’ve learned along the way that no one finds this part easy (and no one thinks your vague query is as mysterious and cool as your think it is).
Problem #2: Synopsis.
Honestly. See above. It’s the same Demon but longer and more confusing.
I still have a lot to learn about writing synopsis.’ But again, I feel like I’m getting somewhere.
Problem #3: word-count.
We all knew that I cut 20,000 words out of Tellan (because I was so proud that I had pulled it off that I told everyone who would listen). I had decided that that was enough and was determined that the rest was important. It wasn’t. A few friendly Critiques on the book and I have realised that a further 8000 words were unnecessary. Thank you.
Add to this the shovel-full of advice on grammar, story, prose, etc, etc, etc.. and you find a much more educated Jennifer. Who sees a far more satisfactory finish line, that isn’t just passable but pride-inspiring.
