Monday, March 22, 2010

I'm So SICK of this manuscript!

For any of you that have the misfortune of finding this blog, let me just tell you that the whole reason I'm writing it is to track my own progress through the writing/publishing process. I am very aware that it will hold little interest for anybody else, but there's just something about writing to the unknown masses that appeals to me (which should seem obvious since I'm aspiring to be a writer)-- even if the masses are comprised of a grand total of three or four people... ever. AND I free associate, ramble, and misspell things a little bit. So if you keep reading, you've been warned.
I wrote my manuscript in about eight months, but I have worked for over a YEAR on revisions. Does it show? Hmmmm, that's debatable. My protagonist is a college freshman. I just learned that Young Adult books are NOT about college aged kids (my last post, perhaps a bit of an overreaction but still true, was my response). But I feel that my story is most definitely intended for YA. What does that mean? Yep, another revision.
But I had no sooner moved my protagonist into high school than I get word that a well known New York editor is looking for literature aimed at the young 20ish crowd. What?! Of course, I still have my old version (NEVER make huge changes to your manuscript without saving the original-- I learned that by sad experience). The only unfortunate thing is that I really like some of the changes I made to the second version. Changes that I could also go back and make to the original (that have nothing to do with whether the character is in college or high school). But do I really want to have two versions of the same manuscript to edit? What a pain! Especially considering that neither one may ever get published (I don't have an agent yet-- so that well known New York editor will most likely never get my manuscript, whether it's perfect for him or not).
I'm just done. I'm ready to write a new story and be done with this one. I think I will read it through one last time, make whatever revisions I see fit, and then send it off to agents and bid it farewell for now. So far I have a grand total of TWO people that I've sent it to, with one rejection already under my belt (haven't heard from the other one yet). My list is 10. 10 agents and I'm done with this book, even if all I get is rejections.
Now, I'm off to write the next story. What will it be? I honestly have no idea. I come up with about ten new ideas a day, but none of them sound at all interesting after a good night's sleep. I did have one or two that lasted as long as 48 hours, so maybe I'll pick one of those and see where it goes. Sometimes I really wish I had one of those dreams or light bulb moments that I've heard certain other authors describe (curse you Meyer and Rowling).

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